EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

East County News Service

August 30, 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

• MD Anderson Center, Scripps Health announce partnership  (NBC 7)
• Judge denies injunction against vaccine law (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Housing crisis: death of California’s American dream? (Union-Tribune editorial board)
• Fact check: Will a sales tax hike relieve traffic congestion? (Voice of San Diego)
• San Diego Blood Bank Working To Comply With FDA Mandate To Test Donations For Zika (KPBS)
• Fire board member steps down (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Plans move forward for Montecito Ranch in Ramona (Ramona Sentinel)

STATE

• Utilities face new disclosure rules (San Diego)
• Major changes in California elections are on the way if Gov. Jerry Brown signs this bill (Sacramento Bee)
• New rules on small drones: what you need to know (Los Angeles Times)
• Officials at odds over government providing storage lockers for homeless (Daily Bulletin)
• Woman kidnapped, held for 18 years cannot sue U.S. over parole failures: court (Reuters)

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

LOCAL

MD Anderson Center, Scripps Health announce partnership  (NBC 7)

Scripps Health has entered into a decades-long partnership with one of the nation’s leading cancer research centers that will lead to greater access to  treatments and clinical trials.

Judge denies injunction against vaccine law (San Diego Union-Tribune)

…The ruling, made by U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego, means that all kindergarteners and seventh graders in public and private schools across the state must prove they are fully inoculated against 10 different diseases, from diphtheria to tetanus, unless they have a medical exemption form signed by a licensed doctor.

Housing crisis: death of California’s American dream? (SD Union-Tribune editorial board)

With the legislative session in its final days in Sacramento, it would take something bordering on a miracle to resuscitate Gov. Jerry Brown’s ambitious proposal to clear obstacles to adding housing stock. A coalition of local governments, environmental groups and unions that oppose changing our miserable housing status quo — and reducing the influence they have over building decisions — has persuaded enough lawmakers to take the easy way out and do nothing.

Fact check: Will a sales tax hike relieve traffic congestion? (Voice of San Diego)

 The San Diego Association of Governments hasn’t been shy about touting the benefits county residents will feel if they pass its proposed ballot measure in November. One of the proposal’s major selling points is that the projects the measure would fund will relieve traffic congestion. We found SANDAG thinks of traffic relief differently than a typical commuter might.

San Diego Blood Bank Working To Comply With FDA Mandate To Test Donations For Zika (KPBS)

The San Diego Blood Bank is working on a plan to comply with the FDA's requirement to test donations for the Zika virus.

Fire board member steps down (San Diego Union-Tribune)

McMillan, one of three directors to oppose canceling the CalFire contract, tendered his resignation in a brief letter dated Aug. 16. In an interview Monday, McMillan said the 4-3 vote had nothing to do with his decision to vacate his seat months before he would have been up for re-election. Instead, he said he was in the process of downsizing and had moved into a home outside the district boundary. "I would have liked to stay and fight the good fight," he said. "Now I have an opportunity to run for the Helix Water District."

Plans move forward for Montecito Ranch in Ramona (Ramona Sentinel)

Public hearing Sept. 13 on residential development.

STATE

Utilities face new disclosure rules (San Diego)

Power companies and other businesses who want to keep secret records they submit to state regulators will have to explain why their documents should be confidential, under a ruling by the California Public Utilities Commission.

Measure phasing out  neighborhood polling places goes to Jerry Brown (Sacramento Bee)

California is on the verge of sweeping changes to its election system intended to boost plummeting voter turnout. The state Senate on Monday sent a measure to Gov. Jerry Brown that would begin shifting California away from its network of neighborhood polling places to primarily mail ballots.

New rules on small drones: what you need to know (Los Angeles Times)

Forr companies that want to use small drones, a new era began Monday….Under the new commercial-drone rules, operators must keep their drones within visual line of sight …and can fly only during the day, though twilight flying is permitted if the drone has anti-collision lights. Drones cannot fly over people who are not directly participating in the operation or go higher than 400 feet above the ground. The maximum speed is 100 mph. Drones can carry packages as long as the combined weight of the drone and the load is less than 55 pounds. Before Monday, people needed a pilot’s license to fly a commercial drone. Under the new rules, people over age 16 can take an aeronautical knowledge test at an FAA-approved facility and pass a background check to qualify for a remote pilot certificate.

Officials at odds over government providing storage lockers for homeless (Daily Bulletin)

The city of Pomona’s agreement to provide nearly 400 storage lockers to the homeless to settle a federal lawsuit last week is the latest in an ongoing legal battle over the property rights of homeless citizens…The settlement ended a federal lawsuit filed in March on behalf of more than a dozen homeless residents and North Towne Christian Church, who alleged city officials... confiscated and discarded their personal belongings, including the ashes of dead relatives.

Woman kidnapped, held for 18 years cannot sue U.S. over parole failures: court (Reuters)

 A woman who was kidnapped near her California home at the age of 11 and held captive for 18 years by a convicted sex offender cannot sue the U.S. government for failing to properly supervise him on parole, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday.