August 2, 2012 — (San Diego’s East County)–East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:
LOCAL
- East County hit by 700 lightning strikes (UT San Diego)
- Is boy, 10, competent to stand trial in killing? (UT San Diego)
- Ailing nuke plant, San Onofre, may restart by 2013 (AP News)
- $4 billion in unpaid hospital bills (Voice of San Diego)
- Teen wins $25,000 for science fair project (UT San Diego)
STATE
- Editorial: Is a sequel of Enron scandal scamming state? (Sacramento Bee)
- Most California for-profit colleges lose Cal Grants (Sacramento Bee)
- Cal-State reaches tentative agreement with faculty (Sacramento Bee)
- Gov.. Brown: Earth’s future more important than preserving East County Vistas (La Mesa Patch)
- Californians consume 4th lowest amount of energy in nation (Scoop San Diego)
- Scientists looking for large local quake (KPBS)
- Leaue of California Cities touts openness but shuns disclosure requirements (Reader)
Read more for excerpts and links to full stories.
LOCAL
East County hit by 700 lightning strikes (UT San Diego)
JUly 29, 2012 — Powerful thunderstorms produced about 700 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes Monday in East County and dumped up to two inches of rain in some areas, briefly causing driving to become hazardous on Interstate 8 near the border of San Diego and Imperial counties, says the National Weather Service.
A fresh round of thunderstorms is expected to clobber the county’s mountains and deserts today (Tuesday), followed by isolated boomers on Wednesday.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/29/big-thunderstorms-could-rock-mountains-monday/
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/29/big-thunderstorms-could-rock-mountains-monday/
Is boy, 10, competent to stand trial in killing? (UT San Diego)
July 30, 2012 — Criminal proceedings against a 10-year-old East County boy accused of stabbing his young friend to death with a kitchen knife have been suspended while the court determines if the child is competent to stand trial.
Juvenile Court Judge Carlos Armour on Monday morning ordered a mental competency hearing for Aug. 21, when it could be decided if the small, 3½ foot tall boy, can understand what is happening to him and if he can assist his lawyer in his defense.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/30/boy-10-competent-stand-trial-killing/
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/30/boy-10-competent-stand-trial-killing/
Ailing nuke plant, San Onofre, may restart by 2013 (AP News)
July 30, 2012 — The operator of California’s troubled San Onofre nuclear power plant told state regulators the damaged reactors may restart by the end of the year, according to documents obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
The tentative dates – Nov. 18 for the Unit 2 reactor and Dec. 31 for its sister, Unit 3 – provide a glimpse at when Southern California Edison could revive the plant that has been shuttered for six months.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/30/4676096/apnewsbreak-ailing-cal-nuke-plant.html#mi_rss=AP%20State%20News
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/30/4676096/apnewsbreak-ailing-cal-nuke-plant.html#mi_rss=AP%20State%20News
$4 billion in unpaid hospital bills (Voice of San Diego)
July 31, 2012 — Area hospitals have been reporting a dramatic rise in the number of patients who don’t pay for their care and in the total cost of uncompensated care. Together, the trends help explain why your health insurance bills have been climbing. When the uninsured receive emergency care and don’t pay for it, part of the cost is passed on to your insurance premiums.
Teen wins $25,000 for science fair project (UT San Diego)
July 25, 2012 — Jonah Kohn was trying to play a guitar riff for a friend in a noisy classroom when he put his teeth on the top of the instrument and realized he could hear the strumming despite the din.
That sparked his idea for a science project that garnered top honors in county and state science fairs. This week, it netted him a $25,000 scholarship in the second annual Google Science Fair.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/25/teen-wins-25000-science-fair-music-project/
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/25/teen-wins-25000-science-fair-music-project/
STATE
Editorial: Is a sequel of Enron scandal scamming state? (Sacramento Bee)
July 30, 2012 — Customers of PG&E and other utilities may have thought that manipulation of the electricity markets was a sorry part of California history, one that ended when Enron, the thieving Texas energy giant, went bankrupt amid scandal and federal indictments.
But it has come back, if accusations leveled by the California Independent System Operator are true.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/30/4672483/is-a-sequel-of-enron-scandal-scamming.html#mi_rss=Editorials#storylink=cpy
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/30/4672483/is-a-sequel-of-enron-scandal-scamming.html#mi_rss=Editorials#storylink=cpy
Most California for-profit colleges lose Cal Grants (Sacramento Bee)
July 31, 2012 — California’s move to tighten eligibility requirements for its Cal Grant program will eliminate or reduce awards to 14,500 students, most of them enrolled in for-profit colleges such as the University of Phoenix,the California Student Aid Commission announced Tuesday.
The commission released a list of colleges that are no longer eligible to receive Cal Grants under tougher standards passed by the Legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown in June. The rules were adopted to save an estimated $55 million and address the state’s budget deficit.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/31/4678702/most-calif-for-profit-colleges.html#mi_rss=AP%20State%20News
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/31/4678702/most-calif-for-profit-colleges.html#mi_rss=AP%20State%20News
Cal-State reaches tentative agreement with faculty (Sacramento Bee)
July 31, 2012 — California State University has reached a tentative agreement on a four-year contract with its faculty that largely preserves current contract terms and calls for no salary raises, the university and faculty union said Tuesday.
"It’s a fair agreement in the context of hard times," said Lillian Taiz, who heads the California Faculty Association, which represents 23,000 professors, lecturers, and other professional employees. "We are disappointed we were not able to get a raise, but that wasn’t in the cards. It was a tough pill to swallow, I won’t kid you."
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/31/4678188/cal-state-reaches-tentative-agreement.html#mi_rss=AP%20State%20News
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/31/4678188/cal-state-reaches-tentative-agreement.html#mi_rss=AP%20State%20News
Gov.. Brown: Earth’s future more important than preserving East County Vistas (La Mesa Patch)
July 26, 2012 — At ceremonies dedicating the Sunrise Powerlink, Gov. Jerry Brown suggested the future of the planet is more important than preserving land in East County.
“We all love the backcountry, but we love the planet more,” Brown said Thursday morning as part of a 16-member group of federal, state and local officials gathered at the new Suncrest Substation in Alpine.
http://lamesa.patch.com/articles/gov-brown-earth-s-future-is-more-important-than-preserving-east-county-vistas
http://lamesa.patch.com/articles/gov-brown-earth-s-future-is-more-important-than-preserving-east-county-vistas
Californians consume 4th lowest amount of energy in nation (Scoop San Diego)
July 26, 2012 — Californians consume the 4th-lowest amount of energy per person nationwide, according to the nonprofit website EnergyTrends.org.
EnergyTrends.org is a project of the Lexington Institute, a think tank based in Arlington, Virginia.
"Americans’ awareness and understanding of energy seem to be increasing, but major changes in energy consumption don’t happen overnight," said Don Soifer, Executive Vice President of the Lexington Institute. "This year, increased use of natural gas in most of the Southeastern states was the strongest trend."
Scientists looking for large local quake (KPBS)
July 26, 2012 — Imagine for a second that the San Andres and San Gabriel faults erupted in the same moment. The result could devastate Southern California.
That’s what happened off the coast of Indonesia in April of this year. The earthquake was too far from the land to cause any destruction, and no one was hurt, but the result was an 8.1 magnitude quake, the largest of its type that scientists had ever seen.
Now researchers at Caltech in Pasadena are wondering if that could happen in Southern California. They’re looking at the faults to see if any similar phenomena has happened over the past thousand or so years.
League of California Cities touts openness but shuns disclosure requirements (Reader)
July 25, 2012 — Every year, the City of San Diego pays dues of $100,476 to the Sacramento-based League of California Cities, a large and powerful advocacy group representing most of the state’s 482 cities.
“We believe in conducting the business of government with transparency [and] openness,” avows the league in its mission statement.
So Mel Shapiro, San Diego activist, asked the league for information under the California Public Records Act. He was told that the league is “a private nonprofit corporation” not subject to the act. Then Shapiro asked if the league was subject to the Brown Act, which guarantees the public’s right to participate in legislative meetings. He was told that the league is not a legislative body as defined by the Brown Act.