EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

February 3, 2015 (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

• One firm gets most schools' legal work (UT San Diego)
• Outside Attorneys, Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Fees Cost City More than Settlements, Jury Awards (NBC)
• Lemon Grove’s last dairyman Grossmont High grad, dies (Mt. Helix Patch)
• La Mesa  Schools: Babbit joins La Mesa-Spring Valley Board  (La Mesa Today)
• First memory care homes in California to be built in Spring Valley (EC Californian)
• California man convicted in 'revenge porn' case (Reuters)
• Officials: Why Isn't There More Solar On San Diego Apartment Buildings, Condos? (KPBS)

STATE

• California runs risk of financial relapse, ratings agency says (Los Angeles Times)
• AG cites possible felony crime in raid on ex-utility boss (U-T San Diego)
• Amid report Michael Peevey's home searched, Jerry Brown praises PUC (Sacramento Bee)
• APNewsBreak: Boy Scouts settle California suit over abuse U-T)
• Suspected Ebola patient admitted to California hospital (Reuters)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

LOCAL/REGIONAL

One firm gets most schools' legal work (UT San Diego)

More than 35 school districts in the region turn to the county Office of Education for help with certain legal issues, and an obscure agency in that office assigns most of the casework to one firm.  Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz received $4.6 million of the $6.6 million in legal work distributed through the legal clearinghouse in the past three fiscal years, or nearly 70 percent, public records show.... Critics say the setup is insular and cozy among insiders at the agency, known as the San Diego County Schools Risk Management Joint Powers Authority. The JPA’s executive director, Diane Crosier, once worked for Shinoff.... The consortium also has two other firms it picks from when assigning legal work -- Winet Patrick Gayer Creighton & Hanes and Gibbs & Fuerst, LLP.  

Outside Attorneys, Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Fees Cost City More than Settlements, Jury Awards (NBC)

 The city of San Diego is settling a pension lawsuit for $70,000 after spending more than $2 million on outside attorneys.  In a gender discrimination case, it’s granting $875,000 in legal fees to a plaintiff’s attorney to whom a jury awarded $101,000 damages. All that money could cover the salaries of 65 new police officers, or 25 percent of a new fire station’s cost....  

Lemon Grove’s last dairyman Grossmont High grad, dies (Mt. Helix Patch)

William “Bill” Miller once opened your unlocked kitchen door and placed milk bottles and butter directly into the fridge. Those days are gone forever, but they spoke to the down-home, familiar trust that once existed in Lemon Grove and other small towns.

La Mesa  Schools: Babbit joins La Mesa-Spring Valley Board  (La Mesa Today)

Steve Babbitt, a Spring Valley pastor and a local web designer, was selected from among six applicants to fill out the incomplete term of board member Bill Baber.

First memory care homes in California to be built in Spring Valley (EC Californian)

Noah Homes, a non-profit organization in Spring Valley that has provided life changing services for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities for over thirty years, hosted a kick-off event to celebrate their plan to build the first memory care homes in California for adults with developmental disabilities who are fighting against Alzheimer’s, dementia, or other issues related to aging.

California man convicted in 'revenge porn' case (Reuters)

A San Diego man who prosecutors say ran a "revenge porn" website featuring nude pictures of women often posted by jilted ex-lovers wasconvicted on Monday of identity theft and extortion charges, prosecutors said....  Boellart, who was taken into custody after the verdict, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on April 3. 

Officials: Why Isn't There More Solar On San Diego Apartment Buildings, Condos? (KPBS)

 The San Diego-based Center for Sustainable Energy is getting just over $700,000 to explore why efforts to encourage solar on multi-unit complexes are falling short.

STATE

California runs risk of financial relapse, ratings agency says (Los Angeles Times)

 When Gov. Jerry Brown released his latest budget proposal earlier this month, he said California's finances were balanced but remain precarious.  On Wednesday, a report from Wall Street ratings agency Standard & Poor's echoed the governor's concerns and questioned how sustainable California's recovery will be....  If the stock market shifts from gains to losses, Standard & Poor's said, the budget could be dramatically affected because about half of the state's revenue comes from the wealthiest 1% in California.

AG cites possible felony crime in raid on ex-utility boss (U-T San Diego)

State agents seized bank statements, computers. miscellaneous files and a host of other materials from the Los Angeles area home of former California Public Utilities Commission President Michael Peevey this week, indicating a public-corruption case is growing more serious.  According to the search warrant and an inventory of materials seized by Attorney General’s office investigators, Peevey is suspected of committing at least one felony offense.  

Amid report Michael Peevey's home searched, Jerry Brown praises PUC (Sacramento Bee)

Even as it was reported that state investigators seized computers and other items from Michael Peevey’s home, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday offered only praise for the former president of the California Public Utilities Commission.

APNewsBreak: Boy Scouts settle California suit over abuse U-T)

 The Boy Scouts of America settled a sex abuse case Thursday involving a 20-year-old California man who was molested by a Scout volunteer in 2007 — a decision that will keep years' worth of "perversion" files detailing sex abuse allegations secret from the public.

Suspected Ebola patient admitted to California hospital (Reuters)

A patient suspected of being infected with Ebola was admitted on Thursday to the University of California, Davis, Medical Center in Sacramento, the hospital said in a statement.