EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

November 17, 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

• Access To Care Challenging In San Diego County's Backcountry (KPBS)
• Legal costs of Alpine high school fight top $1.7 million (Times of San Diego)
•  MWD’s troubling move to buy islands in Sacramento Delta (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Disney exec moves Chargers closer to L.A. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
•  Man accused of tampering with beer bought at stores (10 News)
• SDSU professor, family inducted into hall of fame (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Scripps Gets $700K For Earthquake Detection System (KPBS)
• All the times Local Governments Missed Red Flags About San Diego’s Towing King (Voice of San Diego)
• San Diego Nonprofits Go to Work for the Government (Voice of SD)
• Regional plan fails to prioritize transit (San Diego Union-Tribune—Cleveland National Forest Foundation editorial)
• San Diego Ambulance Service Says They’re Now Meeting Response Times (KPBS)
• Aguirre pushing for Brown’s emails (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Stand-down order at San Onofre questioned (U-T)
• The Purple Pipe Price War, Explained (Voice of San Diego)

STATE

• Sex offenders sue state, claim Megan’s law site put them in danger (Sacramento Bee)
• Appeals Court Rejects Challenge To California Death Penalty (KPBS)
• Gov. Brown Appoints New San Diego Superior Court Judges (KPBS)

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

LOCAL

Access To Care Challenging In San Diego County's Backcountry (KPBS)

The Community Health Center in Campo sits in a double-wide trailer. Other than Indian Health Services on the Campo Indian Reservation, it’s the only place to get care in an area that spreads over 950 square miles.

Legal costs of Alpine high school fight top $1.7 million (Times of San Diego)

No matter how the courts rule on the Alpine school district’s lawsuit against the Grossmont Union High School District, the financial winner can be declared. Attorneys for both sides.

MWD’s troubling move to buy islands in Sacramento Delta (San Diego Union-Tribune)

San Diego County and its water wholesaler on different tracks to future.

Disney exec moves Chargers closer to L.A. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Bob Iger may swing NFL doors wide open to Chargers, Raiders

 Man accused of tampering with beer bought at stores (10 News)

Team 10 uncovered a local man is accused of tampering with beer, then returning it to the stores. A search warrant affidavit shows investigators believed the man was emptying the beer bottles, then refilling it “with a soapy solution similar in color to the beer it was replacing.”

SDSU professor, family inducted into hall of fame (San Diego Union-Tribune)

A nonprofit that usually recognitions individual careers in education recently broke with tradition by inducting an entire family of a San Diego State University adjunct professor into a hall of fame. Youth on the Move International Educators’ Hall of Fame has recognized about 620 people from 30 countries since its creation in 1992. Last month the hall added Eleanora Robbins of SDSU, her sisters Penni Rubin, Thea Iberall and Val O’Conner, their 102-year-old mother Helene Iberall and their late father, Arthur Iberall.

Scripps Gets $700K For Earthquake Detection System (KPBS)

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla announced a $700,000 gift from a private firm to support an earthquake detection system in Southern California.

All the Times Local Governments Missed Red Flags About San Diego’s Towing King (Voice of San Diego)

…Had the city performed the background checks it would have found that Nash Habib, the owner of Angelo’s Towing, had committed two felonies – something Habib hadn’t disclosed on his bid to the city even though all bidders were asked to disclose any felony convictions.

San Diego Nonprofits Go to Work for the Government (Voice of SD)

Dozens of San Diego nonprofits hold contracts with city, county and state entities, sometimes taking on gigs you’d expect government workers to perform. In other cases, local nonprofits pick up tasks local agencies aren’t equipped to handle on their own. 

Regional plan fails to prioritize transit (San Diego Union-Tribune—Cleveland National Forest Foundation editorial)

It’s time to face facts: SANDAG’s 2015 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy is a failure. It fails to set the county on a course for a transit-friendly future, it fails to meet the state’s long term greenhouse gas reduction goals and it fails to address the reality of climate change.

San Diego Ambulance Service Says They’re Now Meeting Response Times (KPBS)

Officials with American Medical Response said Thursday they're now meeting the city of San Diego's benchmark ambulance response times, following months of shortfalls by predecessor Rural/Metro Corp.

Aguirre pushing for Brown’s emails (San Diego Union-Tribune)

The California Public Utilities Commission is withholding more than 60 records showing Gov. Jerry Brown’s office was in contact with regulators overseeing the investigation into what went wrong — and who should pay — for the failed San Onofre nuclear plant.

Stand-down order at San Onofre questioned (U-T)

A number of experts and consumer groups are questioning whether it was appropriate or safe to grant Southern California Edison exemptions from emergency-planning rules and reporting requirements at the San Onofre nuclear plant.

The Purple Pipe Price War, Explained (Voice of San Diego)

There’s a showdown looming over a water rate hike the city is proposing, but it’s not the one that would increase city residents’ bills by 40 percent over the next five years. It’s the city’s plan to raise the rates for undrinkable “purple pipe” water....

STATE

Sex offenders sue state, claim Megan’s law site put them in danger (Sacramento Bee)

Two registered sex offenders are suing California for alleged lax management of an online sex offender database, saying a lack of timely information prompted vigilantes to attack them for past crimes.

Appeals Court Rejects Challenge To California Death Penalty (KPBS)

A federal appeals court has reversed a lower court ruling that found California's death penalty was unconstitutional because of excessive delays.

Gov. Brown Appoints New San Diego Superior Court Judges (KPBS)

Gov. Jerry Brown appointed two Democrats — James Mangione of San Diego and Tilisha Martin of La Mesa — to the local bench.