EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

March 15,  2016 (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

STATE

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

LOCAL

Plan would allow Cleveland forest development (San Diego Union-Tribune)

A battle over East County sprawl has taken root in the Cleveland National Forest — with the legal implications of climate change mandates once again looming over regional lawmakers. A proposed plan by the county of San Diego to allow more development on thousands of acres of privately held lands within the nationally protected forest pits landowners and a local tribe against conservationists.

Anza-Borrego Desert wildflower watch (DesertUSA)

Beautiful photos of the desert in bloom.

San Diego Doctors Win Long Campaign For Higher Medicare Pay (KPBS)

San Diego area doctors seldom complain to their patients about low Medicare pay. But for two long decades, many have complained bitterly to each other.That's because an old and complex federal formula reimburses physicians here as if they were practicing in "rural" areas, and assumes their costs of rent and staff are low, resembling those in Fresno or El Centro rather than Anaheim or Los Angeles.

Rideshare bills stall in Hueso's committee (San Diego Union-Tribune)

How a state senator — whose family is in the taxi business — put the brakes on two Uber bills

San Diego Region Gets A Break On Water Conservation Goals (KPBS)

California water officials are giving water districts in San Diego County a break when it comes to saving water because the region's conservation targets are now significantly lower.

Documents Raise Questions About San Diego Aquaculture Project (KPBS)

Reports of diseased and deformed fish are raising questions about Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute’s role in running a proposed fish farm four miles off San Diego’s coast.

Huge housing projects continue slow march forward (San Diego Union-Tribune)

More than 5,200 homes have been proposed for four separate communities that would be built in Valley Center, Pala, the San Pasqual Valley and the Twin Oaks area just north of Escondido.

Lawsuits cloud bid to build Rosarito desalination plant (San Diego Union-Tribune)

As a critical deadline approaches, two partners in a group proposing to build a 100 million-gallon-a-day desalination facility in Rosarito Beach are are bitterly at odds.

STATE

California Lawmakers Approve Raising Smoking Age To 21 (KPBS)

California lawmakers voted Thursday to make the nation's most populous state the second to raise the smoking age from 18 to 21. Hawaii was first to adopt the higher age limit statewide.

California To Permit Medically Assisted Suicide As Of June 9 (NPR)

Terminally ill Californians will legally be able to get medicine from doctors to end their own lives. The end of the state's special legislative session Thursday made it official.

Report: Criminal Justice System Errors Cost Taxpayers Millions In California (KPBS)

A new study says mistakes in California's criminal justice system cost taxpayers $282 million between 1989 and 2012.

At Calif. Campuses, A Test For Free Speech, Privacy And Cybersecurity (NPR)

The University of California president, former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, secretly ordered data monitoring across the system after hackers broke into the UCLA medical center.

Judge Keeps High-Speed Rail On Track In California (KPBS)

Efforts to derail California's high-speed rail plans fell short on Tuesday. A Sacramento judge ruled the project didn't violate promises made to voters when it comes to financing the effort.

How Southern California Gas Could Make Up For Aliso Canyon Disaster

Methane that escaped from the blown-out well caused a significant setback in California’s efforts to control greenhouse gases, but Southern California Gas has promised to mitigate the damage to the environment.

Storms replenish key reservoirs amid California drought

Full reservoirs and lush snowpack in Northern California are critical for the entire state. Lake Shasta, the state's largest reservoir, is at 79 percent capacity.

California's biggest reservoir, Shasta, rises to key milestone

Shasta Lake hit 101 percent of its historic average on Sunday, having risen 117 feet in the past three months.

 


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.