EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

May 22, 2014 (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

• At Least 65 Homes Destroyed In San Diego County Wildfires (KPBS)
• Why Firefighters Aren’t Using Drones to View the Blazes — Yet (Voice of San Diego)
• Helix Water District customers get some good news  (UT San Diego)
• San Diego’s undercover drone companies fight the feds (Voice Of San Diego)
• Efforts to boost inmate fire crews lag (UT San Diego)
• Teen ran toward flames to help save homes (UT San Diego)
• Walton lends star power to future Boys and Girl Club (UT San Diego)
• San Diego Water Rates Could Go Up By Almost 4 Percent Next Year (KPBS)
• Body camera policy unveiled (UT San Diego)
• Fire chief: Crews saved Legoland, cash stash (U-T San Diego)
• Carl DeMaio Apologizes for Lifted Pension Report (Voice of San Diego)
• Experienced teachers to leave SD schools (UT San Diego)

STATE

• Federal courts limit mandatory detention of immigrants in California (RawStory)
• Gov. Brown signs law requiring political nonprofits to identify donors (Sacramento Bee)
• Federal court upholds California water transfer (Sacramento Bee)
• NSA data-gathering may run into California roadblock (Reuters)
• Huge fish die-offs in California and Minnesota. What's happening? (CS Monitor)
• Green Party candidate for Governor: Imagine a new California (San Diego Free Press)

For excerpts and links to full stories, scroll down.

LOCAL

At Least 65 Homes Destroyed In San Diego County Wildfires (KPBS)

At least 39 houses were destroyed in the San Marcos Cocos fire, and another eight were burned in the Carlsbad Poinsettia fire. An 18-unit apartment building also was destroyed in the Carlsbad blaze.

Why Firefighters Aren’t Using Drones to View the Blazes — Yet (Voice of San Diego)

Drones have helped capture images of the Rim Fire and other big blazes. But so far, the images of the fires burning in San Diego County have come from hobbyists.

Helix Water District customers get some good news  (UT San Diego)

In a bad news/good news scenario, the Helix Water District will again raise its rates this coming fiscal year. However, the district's 268,000 customers who were preparing for an average 6.2 percent increase over the next two years (about $8.23 per bimonthly bill for those using 25 units of water), as passed by the five-member District Board last August, will now be looking at rates that will increase between 4.3 and 4.5 percent.

San Diego’s undercover drone companies fight the feds (Voice Of San Diego)

A business owner in your neighborhood may be battling the FAA over his moneymaking device. At least 15 San Diego area companies use drones to take photos or video footage or help develop the small unmanned systems that do so….the FAA effectively banned commercial drone flights in 2007. But now the FAA’s policy is under fire and the San Diego companies are fighting back.

Efforts to boost inmate fire crews lag (UT San Diego)

The wildfires roaring through San Diego County this week have renewed a debate over whether more inmates should work preventing fires in the offseason — and fighting them once they erupt. The county now has 16 inmates assigned to state-run fire camps. But for decades the county ran its own network of camps before the program was reduced, then eliminated altogether.

Teen ran toward flames to help save homes (UT San Diego)

Chris Simmons left a note in one stranger's home to apologize for tracking mud. He'd slipped inside to drink water after hours of dousing hot spots.

Walton lends star power to future Boys and Girl Club (UT San Diego)

One grew up in La Mesa and went on to become a successful businessman and philanthropist. The other also grew up in La Mesa and became famous -- enormously famous -- on the basketball court.

San Diego Water Rates Could Go Up By Almost 4 Percent Next Year (KPBS)

 The San Diego County Water Authority announced today that it is preparing to raise water rates as high as 3.8 percent for next year.

Body camera policy unveiled (UT San Diego)

San Diego’s plan to begin equipping police officers with body cameras next month is spurring debate about how to make sure officers use them consistently and when citizens will be told the cameras are rolling.

Fire chief: Crews saved Legoland, cash stash (U-T San Diego)

Urban search and rescue expert Kevin Lynds crept through the smoky, crumbling ruins of a Carlsbad apartment building Friday, searching for an elderly couple’s secret stash of cash. The Carlsbad fire captain’s risky task was to find their savings amid the charred debris before a demolition crew leveled the place.

Carl DeMaio Apologizes for Lifted Pension Report (Voice of San Diego)

After plagiarizing a National Journal investigative project to make a case against his opponent, the California Republican says he's "mortified."

Experienced teachers to leave SD schools (UT San Diego)

t least 447 experienced educators will retire from San Diego Unified this year, taking advantage of an incentive that would shave millions off the district’s looming multiyear budget deficit while downsizing a teaching force that’s too large for the declining student population.

STATE

Federal courts limit mandatory detention of immigrants in California (RawStory)

U.S. immigration authorities cannot detain without a bail hearing California immigrants who have been convicted of certain crimes unless the immigrants are transferred to their custody directly from jail, a judge has ruled. Under federal law, immigrants who commit crimes including drug offenses and assault can be deported, even if they are in the country legally. The class-action lawsuit is challenging an element of the practice of mandatory detention, under which prisoners are not given an opportunity to argue before a judge that they should be released or allowed to post bond while fighting deportation.

Gov. Brown signs law requiring political nonprofits to identify donors (Sacramento Bee)

Nonprofit organizations that make political contributions in California will have to disclose more information about the source of their money under a law Gov. Jerry Brown signed Wednesday.

Federal court upholds California water transfer (Sacramento Bee)

A federal appeals court says environmental reviews were properly done on the nation's largest farm-to-city water transfer, the latest ruling to uphold a 2003 agreement on how California agencies divide that state's share of Colorado River water.

NSA data-gathering may run into California roadblock (Reuters)

 The federal government would need a warrant from a judge if it wants the cooperation of California officials in searching residents' cellphone and computer records, under a bill making its way through the state legislature. The bill, which passed the state Senate with just one opposing vote on Monday, was introduced in the wake of information leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden showing massive internal surveillance of U.S. citizens by the NSA.

Huge fish die-offs in California and Minnesota. What's happening? (CS Monitor)

Huge fish die-offs in the waters off California and in a lake in Minnesota may be caused by the same thing: lack of oxygen. But oxygen deprivation was brought on by different sources.

Green Party candidate for Governor: Imagine a new California (San Diego Free Press)

… It’s about time we had new ideas, new imaginations, and an encompassing and inclusive governance. It’s about time a candidate ran that can be trusted to: 1) end poverty; 2) provide clean, green and efficient energy and healthy environment; 3) overhaul the bloated and failing prison system (the largest in the world after the U.S. federal prison system); 4) institute single payer quality health care from the cradle to the grave; 5) provide free—non-debt—quality education from pre-school through university; 6) create access to art, music, dance, theater, books, writing, festivals, murals, and more in every neighborhood.