EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

November 10, 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

• 410 acre open space acquisition in  East County helps meet regional environmental conservation goals (East County Californian)
• Justice rally for Anastasio Hernandez Rojas (San Diego Reader)
• Council unanimously opposes transfer of Guantanamo detainees to Miramar (Times of San Diego)
• U.S. Border agency staff rejects body cameras (I0 News)
• SeaWorld to phase out killer whale show in strategy change (Times of San Diego)
• Court rules in water district’s favor (Ramona Sentinel)
• Former Bush aide to challenge Rep. Peters for Congress (Times of San Diego)

STATE

• Poll finds most Californians dissatisfied with state's economy  (Reuters)
• California bans commercial crab fishing amid toxin scare (Sacramento Bee)
• Full disclosure: what California home sellers must tell buyers (KPBS)
• Rail authority has shameful excuse for its deception (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Now the FPPC wants to limit disclosures?(San Diego Union-Tribune)

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

LOCAL

410 acre open space acquisition in  East County helps meet regional environmental conservation goals (East County Californian)

Collaboration between the Endangered Habitats Conservancy, SANDAG, and the U.S. Department of Defense has resulted in the preservation of a 410-acre property in East County that’s home to valuable habitat and wildlife, including a robust population of the threatened coastal California gnatcatcher. The property known as Lakeside Downs is located west of State Route 67 (SR 67) in the unincorporated Lakeside area…

On Monday (November 9), several hundred people demonstrated their anger and disappointment with the U.S. Department of Justice's decision to clear the federal agents involved in the death of Anastasio Hernández Rojas — a decision that came more than five years after his death.

On May 28, 2010, just west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry, Hernández Rojas was tasered at least four times while handcuffed and hogtied on the ground. He reportedly suffered a heart attack. He was revived and lived two more days brain-dead before life support ended.

Council unanimously opposes transfer of Guantanamo detainees to Miramar (Times of San Diego)

The San Diego City Council Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution opposing a potential transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. President Barack Obama is reported to be finalizing plans to shut down the detention facility, which houses reputed terrorists at a Navy installation in Cuba, and moving the inmates to the U.S.

U.S. Border agency staff rejects body cameras (I0 News)

Customs and Border Protection staff concluded after an internal review that agents and officers shouldn't be required to wear body cameras, positioning the nation's largest law enforcement agency as a counterweight to a growing number of police forces that use them to promote public trust and accountability.

SeaWorld to phase out killer whale show in strategy change (Times of San Diego)

Bowing to pressure from animal-rights groups that has hurt attendance, SeaWorld Entertainment plans to phase out its iconic killer whale show in San Diego and replace it with a conservation-oriented whale exhibit.

Court rules in water district’s favor (Ramona Sentinel)

The class action lawsuit against the Ramona Municipal Water District will not move forward as a judge has ruled in the district’s favor in Phase 1 of the trial. The suit, filed in 2014, on behalf of a commercial property owner, claimed that RMWD’s method of charging sewer fees based on a parcel’s assigned equivalent dwelling units (EDU) bears no rational relationship to a parcel’s actual wastewater use and violates Proposition 218.

Former Bush aide to challenge Rep. Peters for Congress (Times of San Diego)

Denise Gitsham, a partner in a public relations business in Little Italy and a former Washington, D.C., attorney, announced Thursday her candidacy for the Congressional seat held by  two-term Rep. Scott Peters.

STATE

Poll finds most Californians dissatisfied with state's economy  (Reuters)

 Sixty percent of California voters are dissatisfied with the state's economy, with those in inland areas hardest hit by the recession of recent years expressing greater pessimism than voters in coastal areas, according to a poll released on Monday.

California bans commercial crab fishing amid toxin scare (Sacramento Bee)

…California’s top fisheries official on Friday delayed the start of the commercial Dungeness crab season in response to a massive coastal algae bloom that has infected crabs with a toxin that is potentially fatal in humans.

Full disclosure: what California home sellers must tell buyers (KPBS)

Did you know you have to disclose if someone died in your home to a potential buyer? That's just one of many disclosure codes on the books in California intended to eliminate unnecessary litigation between sellers and buyers after the sale of a home.

Rail authority has shameful excuse for its deception (San Diego Union-Tribune)

In the private sector, when publicly traded companies are caught hiding crucial financial information from stockholders and potential investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission routinely hammers the deceptive firms. In some cases, criminal prosecutions result. But when it comes to the California High-Speed Rail Authority, not only is such crucial information withheld, it is kept from the public on the grounds that it is not in the public's interest for such information to become public.

Now the FPPC wants to limit disclosures?(San Diego Union-Tribune)

The state watchdog agency used to champion transparency.