FIRE SHUTS DOWN HIGHWAY 80 IN FLINN SPRINGS
Update: ECM writer Nadin Abbott is at the scene; authorities except this incident to last another 3-4 hours and the fire fully extinguished. February 25, 2013 (Flinn Springs) — A fire at atowing facility has shut down Olde Highway 80 at Flinn Springs, CHP’s incident page reports and IPN confirms. “It is on or near…[a towing facility] 15289 Old Highway 80,” Russ Park, who shot the photo at left, told ECM. The blaze is at least 100 yards off the main road. Park confirmed an early IPN report, with both indicating the fire originated at a pile of junked cars. IPN reports propane tanks nearby. Visibility on I-8 is also now affected. Burning tires are sending billlows of black smoke visible across the area, the Alpine Community Network reports.
FROM PARKS TO PARKING, ALPINE PLANNING GROUP ANNOUNCES AGENDA FOR FEB 28
February 25, 2013 (Alpine) – Parks, housing, a proposed county equine ordinance, Forest Conservation Initiative lands, and Viejas’ plans for a parking garage are among the items on the agenda for the Alpine Community Planning Group this week. For a full agenda and details, read more. Alpine Community Planning Group Agenda P.O. Box 1419 Alpine, CA 91903‐0819 NOTICE OF REGULAR MEETING Thursday, February 28th, 2013 6:00 P.M. Alpine Community Center 1830 Alpine Boulevard, Alpine, CA 91901 I. Call to Order II. Invocation / Pledge of Allegiance III. Roll Call of Members Jim Archer Travis Lyon Lou Russo George Barnett Nicole McDonagh Richard Saldano Aaron Dabbs Mike Milligan Sharmin Self Jim Easterling Tom Myers Kippy Thomas Roger Garay Leslie Perricone John Whalen IV. Approval of Minutes / Correspondence / Announcements 1. Minutes: Jan 24th , 2012 2. BOS letter on Alpine Heights Rd 3. B. APG Statement: The Alpine Community Planning Group was formed for the purpose of advising and assisting the Director of Planning, the Zoning Administrator, the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors in the preparation, amendment and implementation of community and sub regional plans. The Alpine Community Planning Group is only an advisory body. V. Open Discussion Any member of the public may address the group on topics pertaining to planning, zoning and land use which does not appear elsewhere on this agenda. Upon recognition by the Chairman, each speaker will be allowed up to three minutes to speak (organized/special presentations up to fifteen minutes). There can be limited discussion with no vote on any issue (s) so presented until such time as proper public notice is given prior to such discussion and vote VI. Prioritization of this Meetings Agenda Items VII. Group Business 1. Subcommittee membership, subcommittee chairs will offer for approval, proposed members of their committees 2. Review Standing Rules for comments and approval of 2013 Standing Rules 3 – Parks & Recreation Subcommittee Chairman Jim Archer will report to the ACPG on the 2/12/13 subcommittee meeting where 2 motions were passed: 1st motion identified a partnership with “PLAY” to operate and maintain the potential future acquisition of APN 403-190-85-00 on Arnold Way. 2nd motion recommended the Planning Group request the Board of Supervisor’s to name the potential future park Vinnie Higgins Park. This is a 16 year old boy that played football and brought the community together with his passing on December 2, 2012. Notice of Completion (NOC) of a Tribal EIR for a Proposed Parking Structure (Adjacent to Viejas Hotel & Casino) The Draft Tribal Environmental Impact Report (TEIR) is expected to be published on or before Thursday, February 14, 2013. The draft document can be reviewed on the World Wide Web at http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/pds/ceqa_public_review.html, at the County of San Diego Department of Planning and Development Services (PDS), 5510 Overland Avenue, San Diego, CA 92123, or at the Alpine Public Library. Comments on the Draft TEIR will be accepted from February 14, 2013 through March 30, 2013. Please send any comments on the TEIR to the attention of Robert Scannell, Viejas Enterprises, 5000 Willows Road, Alpine CA 91901. VIII. Organized / Special Presentations: 1. Housing Element Update. County staff Dixie Switzer will discuss the Housing Element Update released for a 30-day public review on January 29th . Since the Update is not proposing any changes to the General Plan land use map or goals & policies, its primary component is a Sites Inventory. The Sites Inventory identifies properties in Alpine that have a density of at least 10.9 dwelling units per acre. The presentation is intended to provide the planning group with an opportunity to provide comments prior to the Planning Commission hearing scheduled for March 1, 2013 [15 minutes] 2. Forest Conservation Initiative Lands GPA. County staff Bob Citrano will discuss the Forest Conservation Initiative Lands GPA. A Draft Supplemental EIR (SEIR) was released for a 45-day public review on February 1, 2013. The environmental analysis for this SEIR is based on the land use map endorsed by the Alpine CPG on April 26 and September 27, 2012. Staff will: a. Identify proposed changes this project would make to Alpine Community Plan b. Identify the roads that will result in significant impacts with build-out of the proposed project as determined by the traffic study prepared for the Supplemental EIR c. Provide an update on the project status and next steps [15 minutes] 3. A representative from Sprint will be coming to discuss a modification to the cell site near 6163 alpine Blvd, Alpine, Ca 91901, Minor Use Permit # ZAP96-013W1; APN: 406-140-24,25. Presentation, Discussion and Action. 4. A representative for Sprint will be coming to discuss a modification to the cell site near 844 Tavern Road, Alpine Ca 91901, Permit # ZAP12-002W1; APN 403-380-80-00. Presentation, Discussion and Action. 5. Sharmin Self will discuss the comments and concerns submitted by the public during the Public Facilities Subcommittee of February 20, 2013, regarding The County of San Diego’s Draft Supplemental EIR (SEIR), which was released for a 45-day public review on February 1, 2013. The environmental analysis for the SEIR is based on the land use map endorsed by the Alpine CPG on April 26 and September 27, 2012. The Alpine ACP will submit these to the county before their March 18, 2013 deadline. Discussion only. 6. Jim Archer will discuss the Parks and Recreation Subcommittee recommendations to have the County of San Diego purchase parcel 403-190-85-00 at 1311 Arnold Way, Alpine. The County of San Diego will need a letter to the Director of Parks and Recreation, copying Supervisor Jacob, requesting the County to move forward with the acquisition negotiations to acquire the property. Discussion and Action. 7. “The County of San Diego has released their “Tiered Equine Ordinance Draft EIR” for 45 day Public Review. The Public
PROJECT REFUGE BROUGHT HOPE: NOW PROGRAM SEEKS ANGEL DONOR TO SURVIVE
ECM previously profiled the amazing efforts of Project Refuge and its efforts to help new refugees who arrive alone in our region. But now the organization has fallen on hard times and was recently forced to shut down its housing for local refugees, including many torture victims. The nonprofit seeks angel donors to help revive its efforts. Read the stories of survivors helped, as well as Project Refugee organizers, below. By Ariele Johannson The following story is the journey of “Mr. Horeb Michael,” an East African refugee. His name is withheld for protection from reprisal: February 25, 2013 (San Diego)–You must cross through 20 countries before you arrive in San Diego, to be detained once again. You have no plan to go to America. Your only goal is to escape. To do this you must leave your life: your family, livelihood, friends, and future. A freelance journalist, you live in the country of Eritrea north of Ethiopia. No foreign journalists are allowed. Now they are closing the newspapers for writing about conditions in the country. So, no free press at all, nor free speech. They have sent 15 ministers to prison, including the Minister of Defense. The Pentecostal Christian churches are shut down. It is a crime to be born-again. Only Catholic and Orthodox churches remain open. When you defy the rules, you are imprisoned by the government and tortured for your crimes: writing the truth in private newspapers. Released from prison after one week at the age of 21, you are swiftly conscripted into the military. Everyone must go to fight. You didn’t go at age 18, because you passed the high school exit exams. Out of 8,000 students, only about 600 pass per year. So, you were allowed to study at the university. But you watched as three brothers and three sisters were taken into the military, where they can keep you indefinitely. Fifteen years later, two brothers and a sister are still in the military. After two years, you know you must get out. So you desert. Some families will sacrifice all to get one child out of the country. Generations of a family’s savings of gold buried in the back yard will, perhaps, be dug up. The house might be sold to pay human smugglers. You are the fortunate one to leave in your family, but you earn all of the money. You apply to an American organization called The International Rescue Committee. They hire you to organize communities to construct dams and wells. You are now in hiding. They cannot protect you, but you prevail. After working for them for two and a half years, you save enough. Your journey begins when you are helped to leave Eritrea. Most have to pay the equivalent of $4000 to get out, hoping to start a new life far away. You arrive at the capital city, Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia. The year is 2006. Though life is better here, you have no papers to work. You find out your mother was thrown in prison after you escaped. It happens to everybody-your family is threatened—or worse–when spies find out you left. She is held for the equivalent of $2500 bail. She cannot pay this kind of money. Should you return? They will capture and torture you again, perhaps even kill you. Mercifully, you find out from your brother by e-mail that authorities released your mother without payment after three months. You cross on foot into Kenya, making your way to Nairobi. During that week, you befriend another refugee you meet; together you decide on South Africa. The economy is better there, and South African has free churches. Smugglers take $800 from each of you to go through Tanzania to Malawi. They get you passports and visas, but make no guarantees. Sometimes, they even refuse to tell you where you are going. After that, you travel again, this time through Mozambique and Zimbabwe. You arrive in South Africa with $100 and use the money to sell clothes door to door. The economy is better here. After earning another $100 and buying a car, you rent a small boutique shop. You feel God has blessed you. You make a lot of money, but they hate foreigners in South Africa. You are robbed and beaten, with no recourse. Life becomes hard. You look over your shoulder. Business is good, but your rights are violated. You learn the police question your mother periodically in Eritrea. She tells them she has heard nothing since you disappeared. You decide to move to Pretoria, South Africa. You rent an apartment and open a clothing business. Great happiness awaits you when you find your faith. A friend ministers to you, and you become a born-again Christian. You used to read the Bible in Eritrea but not that seriously. You get baptized, and this changes your life. But thieves rob you again, this time with a knife. You decide to escape with the money you made the last four years. You give the smugglers $2000 this time to get papers to fly to Dubai, then to Brazil. You are on your way to the United States. You say this part of the journey is the scariest. You may not make it. The Columbian guides leave you in the bush after two days, still
READER’S EDITORIAL: HIDING THE SLAUGHTER
“…Killing rare protected species was a crime at both the state and federal level. So with the help of government agencies, the industry went to work stripping and changing environmental laws…”—Jim Wiegand By Jim Wiegand, wildlife biologist February 25, 2013 (San Diego’s East County)– In 1984 the California Energy Commission made the following statement in their Wind Energy Program Progress Report., “The development of wind energy in California has been very rapid, and the foundations for a significant new domestic energy industry are in place. As should be expected however, with any fast growing industry using a new technology, there are many institutional, engineering, environmental, and economic issues which must be resolved before the industry is secure and it growth assured.” Though it was not clearly stated, the primary environmental issue the California Energy Commission was speaking about was the extreme hazard that wind turbines posed to raptors. With over 4700 wind turbines installed by 1984, the industry was already experiencing a horrendous number of raptors being killed by turbine blade strikes. This mortality issue, even though the California Energy commission said it must be resolved, has never resolved. Instead these impacts have been covered up, so this industry could market this killer to America. Raptor mortality was one of two primary obstacles for this industry, the other was environmental law. At the time killing rare protected species was a crime at both the state and federal level. So with the help of government agencies, the industry went to work stripping and changing environmental laws so their industry would be appear to be compliant. This process took over 25 years and it to this day is still going on with laws pertaining to the killing of bald eagles and whooping cranes by wind turbines. But despite how any of these laws currently read, there is nothing about the killing of rare species by turbines that is “incidental.” The industry is completely aware of the dangers from their turbines, and every move they make is highly calculated, including their hidden slaughter. Since the early 1980’s, the industry has known that there was no way to ever make their propeller style wind turbine design safe for raptors. With the exposed blades tip spinning in open space at 200 mph, it was impossible. The industry has also known for decades that they were sitting on a public relations nightmare. Images of eagles and hawks cut in half or wandering around wind farms for days with limbs missing would not set well with people. But it does happen and it happens often. To hide this unsettling truth, strict wind farm operating guidelines were established long ago. Some of these guidelines were to maintain high security at wind farms, require strict gag orders from lease holders and employees, and to avoid meaningful studies. For the industry this business plan has succeeded quite well in keeping a lid on their mortality problem. While the public has some understanding that birds are killed by wind turbines, they haven’t a clue about the “numbers”. I happen to have a good idea because of my extensive wildlife background and the research I’ve done relating to this industry. I can not give precise numbers without conducting my own studies, but I certainly understand enough to say with complete certainty that the vast majority of mortalities caused by wind turbines are not being reported. For me this is especially disturbing because the cumulative damage of killing thousands of raptors and rare species a year from limited populations will eventually have disastrous consequences. Some of these consequences have already begun to show up with the declining whooping crane population and the golden eagles living in the regions around Altamont pass and in Southern California. It is also can be seen from the mortality lists compiled at Altamont that this wind farm operates with a huge negative environmental footprint. More than 75 species including some that travel for thousands of miles are being killed by the Altamont turbines. To fully grasp the wind turbine mortality problem one needs to refer back at a report from the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA) that was published in 2004. The study (Developing Methods To Reduce Bird Mortality In The Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area) lasted for 5 years 1998-2003 and despite wind industry interference, was actually a very fine effort. Even so it did have some flaws. One of the primary flaws was that search intervals when looking for fatalities around turbines, were much too far apart. At 30 days or more searchers were missing a high percentage of the carcasses to scavengers. Smaller bird species and bats were especially absent from the lists compiled from mortality searches around turbines. This study tried to compensate for the unknown number of causalities with statistical adjustments taken from scavenger studies, searcher efficiency, and other factors for carcasses removal. The report even suggested that there were errors (on the low side) in
BOIL WATER NOTICE LIFTED IN ALPINE AFTER SINKHOLE REPAIRED
Update February 24: The boil water notice has been cancelled. View notice here. Photo courtesy of the Alpine Community Network February 23, 2013 (Alpine) – Yesterday’s water main break and sinkhole continue to cause problems for merchants and residents in Alpine, where a boil water order remains in effect to protect public health. (View map of affected areas.) Padre Dam indicates it may be up to 72 hours before the problem will be resolved. “In the meantime almost ALL of our Alpine restaurants had to close last night (on a busy Friday night),” Angela Brookshire, editor of the Alpine Community Network, told ECM. Alpine restaurants and other businesses have already been hard-hit due to two years of Sunrise Powerlink construction to underground the line, as well as county work on Alpine Boulevard. For details on the boil-water order, visit : http://www.alpinecommunitynetwork.com/2013/02/boil-water-notice-for-parts-of-alpine-as-a-result-of-water-main-break-on-alpine-blvd-2-21-13/