ECM PADRES REPORT: PADRES’ EFFORTS IN VAIN AS ROCKIES TAKE SERIES IN EXTRA INNINGS
Like our sports coverage? Donate to help support ECM’s sports section! Follow @ECMagSports on Twitter for live sports coverage and stories! Story by Liz Alper Photo via @Padres on Twitter May 4, 2017 (San Diego) – Last night was bad for the Padres. But they still had a chance to win the series from Colorado in a day game at Petco. Kyle Freeland started for the Rockies against Luis Perdomo. It was a nice day ruined for San Diegans when Alexi Amarista singled in the second, scoring Ian Desmond (the guy who had caused the Padres so much pain last night) and the Rockies took a 1-0 lead. It was a low-scoring game; Ryan Hanigan hit his first home run as a Rockie in the seventh to give the Rockies a 2-0 lead. Hunter Renfroe narrowed the gap to one with an RBI double that Yangervis Solarte scored all the way from first on and the score was 2-1. The Padres finally tied it up in the eighth when the Rockies couldn’t make a double play on a grounder by Solarte that Luis Sardinas scored on and with an inning left, the game was tied at two. The Padres loaded the bases in the ninth, but Erick Aybar popped out to center and couldn’t get the winning run in, so we got some bonus baseball. Extra innings didn’t take that long, even though it felt like it. In the 11th with the bases loaded, Hanigan grounded to short. Sardinas backhand tossed it to Aybar at second, but Aybar couldn’t make the catch, the runner was safe at second and Desmond came home and the Rockies essentially walked it off with the 3-2 win and the 2-1 series win. The Rockies leave and the Dodgers come to town for a weekend series starting tomorrow night at 7:10 p.m. Kenta Maeda starts for LA against Jhoulys Chacin.
LITTLE, THOMPSON SELECTED TO MOUNTAIN WEST ALL-STAR TEAM TO TOUR EUROPE
Collins-Parker to coach MW all-stars Source: goaztecs.com Photo courtesy goaztecs.com May 4, 2017 (San Diego) – San Diego State senior middle blocker Baylee Little and sophomore setter Indigo Thompson have been named to the Mountain West All-Star Volleyball Team that will travel to Europe this summer to compete at the European Global Challenge. In addition, SDSU’s Deitre Collins-Parker will be the head coach of the squad and will be assisted by MW assistant coaches Megan Burton (Nevada) and Sammi Stuart (Utah State). The Mountain West all-star team includes two setters, one libero, three middle blockers and six outside/opposite hitters from nine of the 11 MW member institutions. It marks the fourth year in a row that the Mountain West will be sending an all-star women’s volleyball team to Europe with Little and Thompson becoming the sixth and seventh Aztecs to play on the squad. Little, a native of Gilbert, Ariz. (Highland HS), redshirted for the Aztecs during the 2016 season, but was named to the all-Mountain West team as a junior in 2015. That year she averaged 2.27 kills and 0.54 blocks per set. Thompson, who transferred to SDSU from Virginia Commonwealth for the 2016 season, started 21 of SDSU’s 32 matches last fall as one of three setters who saw action during the season. She ended the year with average of 9.10 assists per set along with 1.91 digs per set. She was named to the all-tournament team at Art Carmichael Invitational in Kingston, R.I. Collins-Parker completed her eighth season at San Diego State last fall where she has compiled a record of 130-112 and her teams have finished .500 or better in conference play each of the past seven seasons. As a player, she was a three-time AVCA All-American at Hawai’i and a member of the U.S. national team. Her 21-year head-coaching career has also seen her in charge at UNLV and Cornell. Twelve Mountain West student-athletes make up the team that will travel to Maribor, Slovenia for four days of training sessions and friendly matches against national teams from the region. From July 11-14, the team will compete in the 2017 European Global Challenge in Pula, Croatia, featuring junior national and club teams from throughout Europe. The last three Mountain West squads have each placed third in the Brijuni Division at the Global Challenge.
SDSU MEN’S GOLF RECEIVES 19TH STRAIGHT NCAA REGIONAL BID
Aztecs garner seventh seed in Washington Regional Source: goaztecs.com Photo courtesy goaztecs.com May 4, 2017 (San Diego) – The San Diego State men’s golf team will venture to the Pacific Northwest for the 2017 Washington Regional May 15-17 as announced Thursday by the NCAA selection committee. The 37th-ranked Aztecs earned a No. 7 seed for their school-record 19th consecutive regional appearance and 22nd overall since the regional format was launched in 1989. Under the direction of 14th-year head coach Ryan Donovan, SDSU claimed one of 50 at-large bids after posting their sixth top-five team finish of the season with a fourth-place performance at the Mountain West Championship, April 21-23. A total of 81 NCAA Division I schools received invitations to compete in one of the six regional tournaments that will also be played concurrently in Stanford, Calif. (Stanford), West Lafayette, Ind. (Purdue), Baton Rouge, La. (LSU), Austin, Texas (Texas) and College Grove, Tenn. (Middle Tennessee). The top five squads and lowest individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships, slated for May 26-31, at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill. The fifth-seeded Washington Huskies will serve as host to the Washington Regional, which features 14 teams and five individuals in addition to the Aztecs. The teams and individuals will play 18 holes (54 total) on each of the three days at the par-71, 6,885-yard Aldarra Golf Club, following a practice round on Sunday, May 14. A live hole-by-hole scoring link will be available for all three rounds courtesy of Golfstat on GoAztecs.com. SDSU was one of just three Mountain West schools to earn a regional berth in 2017, joining UNLV (No. 3 seed) and New Mexico (No. 8 seed), which will both compete in the West Lafayette Regional. In addition, the conference will be represented by four individuals, including Nevada’s Grant Booth (Stanford Regional), Boise State’s Brian Humphreys (Stanford Regional), Colorado State’s Jake Staiano (Austin Regional) and Wyoming’s Ryan Wallen (Washington Regional). The Aztecs last traveled to the Evergreen State in Sept. 2014 for the Husky Invitational, where the Scarlet and Black placed third out of 15 teams at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash. Despite the loss to graduation of two star seniors, coupled with some nagging injuries, SDSU has produced yet another successful campaign, recording two tournament victories thus far to go with six top-five placements, while five different golfers have led the squad through 11 events. Individually, junior PJ Samiere tops the Aztecs with a 72.06 scoring average, followed closely by senior Nahum Mendoza III (72.36) and junior Blake Abercrombie (72.42). The trio recently collected all-Mountain West honors, giving SDSU three all-conference picks for the fourth year in a row. In addition, the Scarlet and Black has received a boost from senior Gunn Yang (72.74), who is coming off a third-place tie at the MW Championship. The Aztecs have qualified for nationals 23 times in school history, including eight occasions (1999, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016) since the regional format was adopted. SDSU claimed its first-ever NCAA regional crown in 2011, after finishing in the top spot by seven strokes as the No. 2 seed in Tucson, Ariz., followed by runner-up performances at Stanford, Calif., and New Haven, Conn., respectively, in 2012 and 2015. Last season in the Albuquerque Regional, the Aztecs gained the fifth and final spot to the NCAA championship series after defeating Texas A&M on the first hole of a dramatic sudden-death playoff. NCAA Washington Regional Aldarra Golf Club (Par 71, 6,885 yards) Sammamish, Wash. May 15-17 Host: Washington Teams (Seeds in descending order; automatic berths in parentheses) 1. USC 2. Kent State (Mid-American Conference) 3. Texas A&M 4. Florida State 5. Washington 6. Alabama 7. San Diego State 8. UTEP (Conference USA) 9. Penn State 10. Michigan 11. Michigan State 12. Seattle (Western Athletic Conference) 13. Marquette (Big East) 14. Bryant (Northeast Conference) Individuals 1. Hidetoshi Yoshihara, UCLA 2. Tim Widing, San Francisco 3. Ryan Wallen, Wyoming 4. Cole Madey, UCLA 5. Michael Colgate, Nebraska
SPRING STORM COULD BRING SNOW THIS WEEKEND
By Miriam Raftery May 4, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – A late spring storm will bring gusty winds, rain and snow as low as 4000 feet this weekend, the National Weather Service advises Starting Saturday afternoon, expect strong winds, with blowing dust and sands in desert areas producing hazardous driving conditions in some areas. Rain showers will fall starting Saturday night, lasting as late as Tuesday, with a chance of thunderstorms Sunday and Monday. Heavy but brief downpours could result in hazardous driving conditions across the region.
TRUMP TO SIGN “RELIGIOUS FREEDOM” ORDER
By Miriam Raftery May 4, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order today that would order the IRS to take a hands-off approach to churches that endorse political candidates. It also orders federal agencies to exempt some religious groups from a requirement to provide birth control to employees. But a third provision has been scrapped, which would have allowed businesses to discriminate based on sexual orientation and other moral grounds. The measure is opposed by the American Civil Liberties union, women’s rights and gay rights groups, and organizations favoring strong church/state separation. The ACLU has threatened a lawsuit, tweeting, “If President Trump signs an order that would allow religion to be used as an excuse to discriminate, we will sue. “ The measure takes aim at the Johnson Amendment in federal tax code, which allows the IRs to investigate churches and take away their tax exempt status if they support or oppose any political candidate. The law cannot be repealed without Congress, so Trump ordered the IRS to “exercise maximum enforcement discretion to alleviate the burden of the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits religious leaders from speaking about politics and candidates from the pulpit.” The second part of the executive order provides regulatory relief for religious objector’s of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) provisions requiring employers to provide birth control to employees and staff, a matter previously addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Hobby lobby case. Gay rights groups had been protesting in Washington over the third provision, since removed, which would have allowed businesses to discrminiate based on sexual orientation, such as in a high profile case of a baker who refused to sell a wedding cake for a gay marraige. The White House has announced that the President will sign the revised measure today, which is National Prayer Day.
AARP MAINTAINS FIRM OPPOSITION TO HEALTH BILL
Measure slashes coverage for Medicaid, nursing homes, in-home care, and pre-existing conditions, nation’s largest organizations of seniors warns East County News Service May 3, 2017 (Washington D.C.) — AARP Chief Advocacy & Engagement Officer Nancy A. LeaMond sent the following letter today to all members of the U.S. House of Representatives in response to the Upton Amendment to the health care bill, urging them to vote NO on the bill. Here is the letter in full: May 3, 2017 Dear Representative: Older Americans care deeply about access to and affordability of health care. With the introduction of the Upton Amendment, we once again write to share our opposition to the American Health Care Act (AHCA) and urge you to vote NO. Changes under consideration that would allow states to waive important consumer protections — allowing insurance companies to once again charge Americans with pre-existing conditions more because they’ve had cancer, diabetes or heart disease — would make a bad bill even worse. This would be devastating for the 25 million Americans 50-64 who have a deniable pre-existing condition. The Upton amendment will do little to reduce the massive premium increases for those with pre-existing conditions. Throughout consideration of the AHCA, we have been expressing serious concerns about the impact that this legislation will have on older Americans. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO)’s last estimate further demonstrates the harmful impact of this bill on older Americans and some of our most vulnerable. Specifically, the American Health Care Act will weaken the fiscal sustainability of Medicare; dramatically increase premium and out-of-pocket costs for 50-64 year olds purchasing coverage on the individual insurance market; allow insurance companies to once again discriminate against those with pre-existing conditions; substantially increase the number of Americans without insurance; and put at risk millions of children and adults with disabilities and poor seniors who depend on the Medicaid program to access long-term services and supports and other benefits. Our members and others 50 years of age and older care deeply about health care and want to know where their elected leaders stand. Recognizing the importance of the upcoming vote on the American Health Care Act, AARP intends to inform our members, and others over age 50, how their elected officials voted. We’ll communicate the results of the vote in our widely-circulated publications, in e-mail alerts, in our online channels, and through the media. Again, we urge all Representatives to vote NO on the American Health Care Act in its current form. Medicare The American Health Care Act repeals provisions in current law that have strengthened Medicare’s fiscal outlook, specifically, the repeal of the additional 0.9 percent payroll tax on higher-income workers. Repealing this provision would remove billions from the Hospital Insurance trust fund, hasten the insolvency of Medicare, and diminish Medicare’s ability to pay for services in the future.1 Individual Private Insurance Market Currently, about 25 million Americans age 50-64 have a pre-existing condition, about 6.1 million purchase insurance in the non-group market, and nearly 3.2 million are currently eligible to receive subsidies for health insurance coverage through either the federal health benefits exchange or a state-based exchange (exchange). Since passage of the ACA, the number of 50-64-year-old Americans who are uninsured has dropped by half. We are deeply concerned that the AHCA would be a significant step backwards and result in millions of older Americans who cannot afford their health care, including many simply losing their health care. Based on CBO estimates, approximately 14 million Americans will lose coverage next year, while a total of 24 million Americans would lose coverage over the next 10 years. Affordability of both premiums and cost-sharing is critical to older Americans and their ability to obtain and access health care. A typical 50-64-year-old seeking coverage through an exchange has a median annual income of under $25,000 and already pays significant out-of-pocket costs for health care. We have serious concerns – reinforced by the CBO estimate — that the bill under consideration will dramatically increase health care costs for 50-64 year olds who purchase health care through an exchange due both to the changes in age rating from 3:1 (already a compromise that requires uninsured older Americans to pay three times more than younger individuals) to 5:1 (or more) and reductions in current tax credits for older Americans. CBO concluded that the bill will substantially raise premiums for older people and force many into lower quality plans. Age rating plus reduced tax credits equal an unaffordable age tax. Our previous estimates on the age-rating change showed that premiums for current coverage could increase by up to $3,200 for a 64-year-old. In addition, the bill reduced the tax credits available for older Americans to help purchase insurance. We estimate that the bill’s changes to current law’s tax credits alone could increase premium costs by more than $5,800 for a 64-year old earning $15,000. Overall, both the bill’s tax credit changes and 5:1 age rating would result in skyrocketing cost increases for older Americans. In their analysis, CBO found that a 64-year-old earning $26,500 a year would see their premiums increase by $12,900 — 758 percent — from $1,700 to $14,600 a year. Current law prohibits insurance companies from discriminating against individuals due to a pre-existing condition. The bill would repeal pre-existing condition protections and would once again allow insurance companies to charge Americans more – we estimate up to $25,000 more — due to a pre-existing condition. As a result, the 40 percent of 50- to 64-year-olds (about 25 million people) who have a deniable pre-existing condition risk losing access to affordable coverage.2 The Upton Amendment, which would add funds to address the impact of premium increases for those with pre-existing conditions, will do little to mitigate the massive premium increase for some of the most vulnerable Americans. AARP strongly opposes any weakening of the law’s pre-existing condition protections which benefit millions of Americans. Medicaid and Long-Term Services and Supports AARP opposes the provisions of the American Health Care Act that create
ECM PADRES REPORT: REVENGE OF THE ROCKIES IN GAME TWO TOO MUCH FOR PADRES
Like our sports coverage? Donate to help support ECM’s sports section! Follow @ECMagSports on Twitter for live sports coverage and stories! Story by Liz Alper Photo: Local athletes, coaches and staff who participated at the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria. Via @Padres on Twitter May 3, 2017 (San Diego) – Big offense helped the Padres take game one against the Rockies last night and they looked to do it again tonight with a rookie, Antonio Senzatela, on the mound for Colorado against Jered Weaver. The Rockies struck back with a vengeance against the waning Weaver. D.J. LeMahieu singled to center in the first to score Charlie Blackmon and Colorado was up 1-0. Nolan Arenado doubled to left to score him and make it 2-0. Ian Desmond capped it off with a two-run homer–his first as a Rockie–and Colorado doubled their early lead to 4-0. The Padres got a tiny bit of reprieve in their half of the first with Yangervis Solarte’s sac fly that scored Cory Spangenberg and the score is 4-1. The Rockies pulled further away in the fourth thanks to two errors in one play by the Padres. Wil Myers couldn’t make the catch at first and the ball rolled through to shallow right. That was the first run. The throw to Hunter Renfroe at third was way off. That caused another run to come home and increase the Rockies’ lead to 6-1. Blackmon scored on a sac fly from Arenado and it was 7-1. Desmond led off the fifth with his second home run of the game, this time a solo to give Colorado an 8-1 lead. A pitching change didn’t help; Craig Stammen came in and Dustin Garneau lined to left for a single and a run in Gerardo Parra to make the score 9-1. LeMahieu singled to score Alexi Amarista and the Rockies reached double digits, 10-1. Erick Aybar did his part in the Padres’ half of the fifth with a solo homer that made it 10-2. Myers redeemed himself with an RBI double that scored Jabari Blash to make the deficit seven at 10-3. The Rockies pulled back to an eight-run lead in the seventh with Blackmon’s RBI double that scored Garneau and the Rockies surged back for an 11-3 win in game two. Day baseball tomorrow for the finale; game three is at 12:40 p.m. Kyle Freeland takes the mound for Denver against Luis Perdomo.
REP. HUNTER TAKES ON AIRLINE INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES OVER LACK OF COMPETITION
By Miriam Raftery View video: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4667910/rep-hunter-ti-hearing May 3, 2017 (San Diego) – During a Congressional hearing yesterday, Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) grilled airline executives over monopolistic practices and lack of competition in hub markets. Hunter noted that he flies regularly from San Diego to Washington D.C. but that United is the only airline offering direct flights. Executives for multiple airlines including United, American Airlines and Southwest answered questions posed by Hunter, at the hearing aired on CSPAN. At some hub cities such as Dallas, a single airline controls 60% or more of flights, airline executives admitted. The scrutiny comes after United received adverse publicity for having Chicago police forcibly remove a doctor who refused to give up his paid seat to accommodate airline personnel on a full flight. United has also faced scrutiny for a high number of pets that have died in transit and for denying boarding to a passenger wearing leggings. Hunter posted the terse exchange on his Facebook page yesterday with a note reading, “My [very candid] conversation with the airline CEOs today.”
PUBLIC RECORDS SOUGHT ON PROTOTYPES FOR TRUMP’S BORDER WALL: ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP SUES, ASKS IF PROTOTYPES SLATED IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY VIOLATE THE LAW
Source: Center for Biological Diversity May 3, 2017 (San Diego) — The Center for Biological Diversity, a national nonprofit conservation organization, today filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking public records on whether planned prototypes for President Trump’s border wall in Southern California comply with laws meant to protect wildlife, people and wild places. Their request this week to the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection seeks records related to border wall prototypes that will reportedly be constructed on federal lands in San Diego County near Otay Mesa. The request seeks the agencies’ documentation of compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act and other laws in the prototype construction process. “The public has a right to know if the Trump administration is breaking environmental laws while building these prototype border walls,” said Brian Segee, a senior attorney with the Center. “If Trump can’t even follow the rules with these small models, what can we expect if he tries to build his wall along 2,000 miles of borderlands?” On April 12 the Center and Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva sued the Trump administration over the proposed border wall and other border-security measures, calling on federal agencies to conduct an in-depth investigation of the proposal’s environmental impacts. At least 100 species near the border are already endangered, including the Sonoran pronghorn, gray wolf and ocelot. Studies show that border barriers divide natural habitat, affect breeding levels and can make it more difficult for animals to forage for food and water. Since 2001 — the last time the federal government reviewed environmental impacts on the U.S.-Mexico border — enforcement programs and associated environmental impacts have increased exponentially, including the deployment of thousands of new border agents, construction of hundreds of miles of border walls and fences, construction of thousands of miles of roads, the installation of operating camps and other military and security infrastructure. These physical impediments, as well as 24-hour surveillance lighting and road network all function to block critical movement routes and threaten the survival of numerous species.
BANDS AND BBQ AT JACUMBA BLUES FEST MAY 6
By Miriam Raftery May 3, 2017 (Jacumba Hot Springs) — The Jacumba Arts Council invites you to hear “finger-pickin’ good” blues bands at the Jacumba Blues Festival this Saturday, May 6 starting at 1 p.m. There will also be barbecue food, vendors and a raffle to benefit local arts. The Blues Festival will be held at the Jacumba Hot Springs Spa & Resort, 44500 Old Highway 80 in Jacumba Hot Springs. For directions and more information visit www.JacumbaResort.com.