EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

March 19, 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

• Green-Friendly Rules Adopted For San Diego County Homes (City News Service)
• Drought Deepens But No New Water Restrictions For San Diego County (KPBS)
• We’re Having the Wrong Conversation About Civic San Diego (Voice of SD)
• El Cajon business stripped of ability to sell alcohol (U-T)
• SDPD chief: Cameras defusing confrontations with public (Times of San Diego)
• Ticking Time Bonds: San Diego Homeowners Face Big School District Tax Bills (KPBS)
• San Diego Has Spent $15 Million on Community Plans. It’s Only Finished One.  (Voice of San Diego)
• Helix Water District in upgrade mode (U-T)
• San Diego Storage Company Accused Of Selling Service Members' Belongings While Deployed (KPBS)

STATE

• California Officials Set Modest Plans For Vanishing Salton Sea (KPBS)
• Gov. Jerry Brown, lawmakers propose $1 billion drought relief bill (Sacramento Bee)
• Two Californians sentenced in plot to kill U.S. troops: newspaper (Reuters)
• UC won't get Peevey party money (U-T)

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

LOCAL

Green-Friendly Rules Adopted For San Diego County Homes (City News Service)

The Board of Supervisors voted to amend the county's building code to require developers of single-family home projects in unincorporated areas to prepare their new houses for solar panels and electric vehicles.

Drought Deepens But No New Water Restrictions For San Diego County (KPBS)

California’s new water regulations that put limits on outdoor watering days will have little effect on San Diego County because similar conservation measures are already in place here.

We’re Having the Wrong Conversation About Civic San Diego (Voice of SD)

Recent opinion pieces published on Voice of San Diego about Civic San Diego and Assembly Bill 504 have mostly focused on development efficiency versus public process. While the debate is important and interesting, it does not answer the most basic question about Civic San Diego: Is it legal?

El Cajon business stripped of ability to sell alcohol (U-T)

Sky Fuel on East Main Street , first of 3 businesses to face Planning Commission hearing.

SDPD chief: Cameras defusing confrontations with public (Times of San Diego)

The presence of cameras on the uniforms of San Diego police officers appears to be defusing many tense situations with the public, Chief Shelley Zimmerman reported Wednesday… in the last six months of 2014, complaints against officers dropped 40.5 percent in three divisions where the cameras were deployed, compared to the first six months of that year….The chief added that in a three-month period at the end of last year and early this year, the need for officers to use force against an individual…dropped 46.5 percent…

Ticking Time Bonds: San Diego Homeowners Face Big School District Tax Bills (KPBS)

 The tax bills, homeowners pay for school bonds, can come to hundreds of dollars a year. And people in some of the poorest districts pay some of the biggest bills

San Diego Has Spent $15 Million on Community Plans. It’s Only Finished One.  (Voice of San Diego)

Updating community plans helps the city avoid big fights between developers and communities. And yet, this fix for delay and dysfunction within communities has itself been marked by delay and dysfunction.

Helix Water District in upgrade mode (U-T)

 The Helix Water District is investing $6 million over the next three years in computer hardware and software programs that aim to make the agency more efficient.

San Diego Storage Company Accused Of Selling Service Members' Belongings While Deployed (KPBS)

Daniel E. Homan and his company Horoy Inc. is accused of violating the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. 

STATE

California Officials Set Modest Plans For Vanishing Salton Sea (KPBS)

California officials say the state set an unrealistic bar to save the Salton Sea and have outlined a series of small projects aimed at staving off the demise of the state's largest lake.

Gov. Jerry Brown, lawmakers propose $1 billion drought relief bill (Sacramento Bee)

With California entering its fourth year of drought, Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders will propose more than $1 billion in emergency legislation Thursday for flood protection and water supply projects and to alleviate impacts of the drought. The legislation, similar to a measure passed last year, includes money for upgrading farm equipment with low-polluting equipment and for emergency food for farmworkers out of work due to the drought, a source said. The bill’s funding will rely on a combination of sources, including the General Fund, revenue from California’s cap-and-trade program, flood bond revenue and money from the water bond voters passed last year. The legislation comes after California regulators on Tuesday ordered water agencies in California to limit the number of days each week customers can water their lawns, an unprecedented measure.

Two Californians sentenced in plot to kill U.S. troops: newspaper (Reuters)

 Two California men accused of training to carry out attacks on U.S. military bases and personnel in Afghanistan were sentenced to federal prison on Monday. 

UC won't get Peevey party money (U-T)

 Soiree for embattled former PUC president was supposed to benefit Goldman school.