EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

East County News Service

March 15, 2017 (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

• Google Earth images alarm critics of San Onofre nuclear waste plan (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Population of San Diego County Expected to Hit 4 Million By 2050 (KPBS)
• New California Assembly Bill Would Reform SANDAG, Local Transit Agencies (KPBS)
• Will San Diego's drone rules be strong enough? (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Police Respond to Another Bomb Threat Against Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center (KPBS)
• Judge strikes down Rep. Issa’s $10 M lawsuit against Doug Applegate (Times of San Diego)
• This Democrat just emerged to run against the richest man in Congress: another challenger is eyeing Rep. Darrel Issa’s seat  (Mother Jones)
• San Diego, Tijuana mayors double down on cross-border partnership (Times of San Diego)

STATE

• Newsom to propose universal healthcare as California’s governor race grows crowded (Sacramento Bee)
• Afraid of jail? Buy an upgrade (Marshall Project)
• Owners to Get $125M Payout for San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant Closure (KPBS)
• Republicans call California sanctuary state bill a threat to public safety (Sacramento Bee)

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

LOCAL

Google Earth images alarm critics of San Onofre nuclear waste plan (San Diego Union-Tribune)

... The latest Google Earth images show a series of rectangular spaces that eventually will hold the massive steel-lined casks designed to store the spent fuel. For decades, the waste has been stored in cooling pools between the twin reactors, Brown said. Edison is now transferring it into so-called dry-storage canisters that will be within 100 feet of the shoreline.

Population of San Diego County Expected to Hit 4 Million By 2050 (KPBS)

San Diego County's population is expected to swell to nearly 4 million people by 2050, and almost 4.14 million a decade later, according to projections released this week by the state Department of Finance.

New California Assembly Bill Would Reform SANDAG, Local Transit Agencies (KPBS)

Legislation that would introduce reforms to the embattled San Diego Association of Governments and two area transit agencies was introduced in the state Legislature Monday.

Will San Diego's drone rules be strong enough? (San Diego Union-Tribune)

San Diego officials say the city’s proposed drone regulations strike a proper balance between boosting safety and respecting the rights of hobbyists, but a group of critics is calling the proposed rules irresponsibly weak.

Police Respond to Another Bomb Threat Against Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center (KPBS)

…It was at least the fourth phony threat made against the local Jewish community center in recent months amid a rash of similar hate crimes across the country.

Judge strikes down Rep. Issa’s $10 M lawsuit against Doug Applegate (Times of San Diego)

Rep. Darrell Issa’s $10 million libel lawsuit against Democratic challenger Doug Applegate has been struck down, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. San Diego Superior Court Judge Richard Strauss ruled against the congressman Thursday and then affirmed his decision Friday. The judge issued an anti-SLAPP motion, “a provision designed to stop lawsuits filed to dissuade people from speaking critically on public issues,” the U-T reported.

This Democrat just emerged to run against the richest man in Congress: another challenger is eyeing Rep. Darrel Issa’s seat  (Mother Jones)

Mike Levin preempted his bid to take on the wealthiest man in Congress by trolling him. "Over the holiday season, I sent Darrell Issa a book called Climate Change for Beginners," Levin says…. adding that he hoped it would prod Issa, a nine-term Republican congressman who represents parts of California's Orange and San Diego counties, to correct his claim to being "unsure of the science" behind climate change. This week, Levin, a Democratic activist and environmental lawyer, announced that he hopes to challenge Issa in 2018 because, as he tweeted on Wednesday, "I care deeply about the type of country my young kids grow up in."

San Diego, Tijuana mayors double down on cross-border partnership (Times of San Diego)

The mayors of San Diego and Tijuana signed an agreement Monday reaffirming the partnership between the two cities separated by the world’s busiest border crossing.

STATE

Newsom to propose universal healthcare as California’s governor race grows crowded (Sacramento Bee)

Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is drafting a health care plan for California that he plans to unveil as a core component of his gubernatorial run, based in part on the universal health care program he signed into law when he was mayor of San Francisco.

Afraid of jail? Buy an upgrade (Marshall Project)

How California's pay-to-stay jails create a two-tiered justice system….In what is commonly called “pay-to-stay” or “private jail,” a constellation of small city jails… open their doors to defendants who can afford the option. But what started out as an antidote to overcrowding has evolved into a two-tiered justice system that allows people convicted of serious crimes to buy their way into safer and more comfortable jail stays.

Owners to Get $125M Payout for San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant Closure (KPBS)

Southern California Edison announced Monday that the utility and two other owners of the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in northern San Diego County were awarded $125 million from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, stemming from the plant's closure.

Republicans call California sanctuary state bill a threat to public safety (Sacramento Bee)

Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, is among the most vocal opponents of Senate Bill 54, which he has dubbed the “sanctuary state” bill.