STORMY WEATHER FORECAST
August 17, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Temperatures are set to cool off while humidity will rise in San Diego’s inland areas starting Monday through mid-week, bringing relief from sweltering triple-digit temperatures in some portions of East County. Afternoon thunderstorms are possible over mountains and deserts across Southern California starting Wednesday, according to the Southern California Geographical Area Coordination Center, which issues fire weather reports. Winds at 5 to 15 mph southwest to northwest this weekend will shift to become southeast to southwest winds at the same speed next week.
EL CAJON COUNCIL APPROVES NEW LEGAL CLINIC FOR CITY RESIDENTS
Council also gets update on hotel/motel crime prevention program and Hauntfest By Janis Russell August 15, 2014 (El Cajon)—El Cajon’s City Council voted 5-0 on Tuesday to fund $5,000 for a legal clinic program through the Thomas Jefferson School of Law to open in El Cajon. Lilys McCoy, director of the Center for Practitioners at the school, gave a presentation. The legal clinic began in 2013 in San Diego’s District 8 with a city grant and a second grant was received this year. The school mentors young attorneys, who provide free help to under-served people with legal issues. This will be the first expansion into East County. As an example of a success story, she said a technician at a local car dealership was approached by an out of state company for a deal that he could use for his son. He was promised an interest rate of 1.9%. A month later, he got letters and emails saying the interest rate was actually 13%. So he went to Thomas Jefferson School and met with an attorney there. The attorney wrote a long letter to the company, which apologized and cancelled the deal. The program also hopes to provide support and help for victims of domestic violence. When Councilmember Tony Ambrose asked McCoy how soon they could move to El Cajon. McCoy replied, “We could move very quickly, probably in about 30 days.” Councilmember Bob McClellan made the motion to designate the money towards the program, which was seconded by Mayor Bill Wells. After that, Council also heard a progress report over the crime free motel/hotel program. Chief of Police Jim Redman told Council, “We put a lot of effort into this program.” Then Captain Jeff Arvan gave a PowerPoint presentation on the program, which includes training for property owners/managers including resident selection, evictions, self defense, combating illegal activity and dealing with noncompliance. Certificates are issued once the owners/managers complete the program, and there will be continued communication with the police department. Officer Ryan Briley has met with all 17 properties. On July 23, properties’ representatives were invited to a “round table” event hosted by the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce, though only eight of those property managers or owners attended. McClellan mentioned that the police put information about this program on their website for the public to see. Arvan assured him it could be done. No action was taken for this item. To read a past article about the crime free motel/hotel program at a Council meeting, view it at: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/may/13/el-cajon-hope-crime-free-hotels-motels/. In other news, Debra Emerson from St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center discussed the upcoming Hauntfest event. She told Council that 25,000 or more people attended last year’s Hauntfest. Council voted unanimously to approve Hauntfest for this year and to review and approve the submitted road closures and traffic control plan. As ECM previously reported, Council also voted to move forward with a partnership allowing the Rock Church to lease space in the East County Performing Arts Center and build a second building that would be shared space initially, reverting to City ownership in 30 years.
CHECKING RECEIPTS IS THE FORMULA FOR BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPING SUCCESS
County News Service August 17, 2014 (San Diego)–OK, it’s back-to-school time, Let’s start off with a little math review. 20.34%. That’s the percentage of stores the County inspected last year that had overcharges at checkout registers. 100%. That’s how much of the time you should check your receipts – for back-to-school shopping or any type of purchase. Every year, San Diego County’s Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures inspects thousands of businesses to make sure that all the devices that scan, weigh or measure the things people buy are actually charging customers accurately and that people are getting what they pay for. Those stores found overcharging averaged nearly $3 per error. And while $3 doesn’t seem like much, it can add up when you consider that total back-to-school spending is expected to reach $26.5 billion — that’s billion with a “B” — in the U.S. this year. So you might just want to make the “check your receipts” message your children’s first lesson of the new school year — because they’re consumers too. This back-to-school season, teens are expected to spend $913 million of their own money, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey. So here are some great tips to show you how you can protect your wallet and spend your precious dollars smarter than ever before this back-to-school season: Protect Against Overcharging: Always verify receipts and immediately notify store management of any price discrepancies. Take sales advertisements with you when shopping to verify prices. Know that stores cannot legally charge more than their lowest advertised, posted or quoted price. Shop Smart: Plan ahead. Start watching for store sale fliers, flea markets, garage sales, clearance sales, etc. Make a list of what you need. Comparison shop with at least five different sources for the best values. Don’t buy everything at once. Establish a spending plan and timetable to buy what you need over several weeks or months to take full advantage of future sales and true bargains. Call Agriculture, Weights and Measures at 1-888-TRUE SCAN (1-888-878-3722) to report overcharges you can’t resolve with store. For more information, visit the department’s consumer protection Web page.
RAYMOND LUTZ TO SPEAK ON PROPOSED $3.3 BILLION CPUC DECISION
August 16, 2014 (El Cajon)–Raymond Lutz, national coordinator of Citizen Oversight Projects (COPs), will present his message regarding the proposed $3.3 billion settlement before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) at a public meeting on August 21, 2014, at 7 p.m. The East County Democratic Club (ECDC) is the host for the event. The site is Coco’s Restaurant, 1025 Fletcher Parkway, El Cajon. Through COPs, Lutz has actively opposed the settlement that will require ratepayers of San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) and Southern California Edison, co-owners of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), to pay the entire costs of the shutdown and closure of SONGS. Since the closure was, in part, due to mismanagement of the operating station, Lutz and others who oppose the proposal believe that the costs should be borne by the shareholders alone. As founder and national coordinator of COPs, Lutz has been an activist for many years. He led local efforts to ensure that Blackwater/XE/Windzero/Precinctu did not create a training range in Potrero, use Southwestern College to cover its recruitment activities there, or use Imperial Valley College for the same purpose. He also joined with citizens of the area to oppose the Sunrise Powerlink Project by SDG&E. In addition to these, he worked with Occupy San Diego to ensure that local grievances were heard. While doing this, he was arrested for registering voters; the city of San Diego made a cash settlement with him, after he sued the city for the unwarranted arrest. He organized a Save ECPAC group to prevent the city of El Cajon from razing the public structure; the city is now proposing to lease the same property to a church. As a leader for the people, Lutz has led many other efforts, too numerous to summarize in a few words. Lutz has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from San Diego State University, specializing in electronic engineering. He is president of Cognisys, Inc, a producer of biofeedback equipment. He is also an owner, with his wife Jill, of the Chase Ranch Montessori School. A past president of the ECDC, Lutz was also an unsuccessful candidate for the 77th assembly district and the 52nd congressional district.