EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

July 23, 2023  (San Diego) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego's inland regions, published in other media.  This week's round-up stories include:

LOCAL

• Study Says Public Takeover of SDG&E Could Save San Diegans Money (Voice of San Diego)
• Westfield Mission Valley sold for $290 million, developer plans to add housing (CBS 8)
• Fentanyl seizures in San Diego area on the rise, law enforcement says (KPBS)
• San Diego State to remain in Mountain West, receive $6.6M initially withheld after decision to leave (NBC San Diego)
• San Diego to get $25M for conservation in legal settlement over Trump border wall funding (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Newspapers Are Marching Toward a Cliff; The U-T Thought its Owner Would Build a Bridge  (San DIego Union-Tribune)
• CBP agent took bribes to let vehicles with drugs cross U.S.-Mexico border  (NBC San Diego)
• Nonprofit turning shipping containers into homes for homeless San Diegans (KPBS)
• After San Diego arrest, rapper Boosie Badazz challenges law that prohibits felons from possessing guns  (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• California’s homeowners insurance crisis is growing and spreading to car insurance (KPBS)
• More than 220K people kicked off Medi-Cal in its first checkup since COVID (CalMatters)
• New bill would change requirements for domestic abuse reporting by hospitals (KPBS)
• Feinstein says late husband’s trust not paying her medical bills, asks court for more control (Los Angeles Times)

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

LOCAL

Study Says Public Takeover of SDG&E Could Save San Diegans Money (Voice of San Diego)

Even if the city of San Diego had to pay $6 billion to buy its power grid off San Diego Gas and Electric, the savings to ratepayers could eventually top $180 million over 30 years of the sale.

Westfield Mission Valley sold for $290 million, developer plans to add housing (CBS 8)

…Westfield announced the sale Friday, with Lowe and Real Capital Solutions purchasing Mission Valley East, the larger shopping mall.  Westfield Mission Valley West, which is home to retailers and restaurants that include Trader Joes and Old Navy, was sold to Sunbelt Investment Holdings in a separate deal.… Lowe has plans to turn the shopping mall into a walkable, mixed-use village with shopping, restaurants, entertainment and residential apartments. 

Fentanyl seizures in San Diego area on the rise, law enforcement says (KPBS)

Authorities seized nearly 3,000 pounds of fentanyl in San Diego County between March and May, marking a 300% increase from the same time last year….Nearly half of all fentanyl seized by authorities along the U.S.-Mexico border so far this year was seized in the San Diego area. The effects of the national fentanyl crisis in San Diego have been acute. More than 2,300 people have died from accidental fentanyl overdoses since 2019 , according to data from the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.

San Diego State to remain in Mountain West, receive $6.6M initially withheld after decision to leave (NBC San Diego)

The Aztecs are the conference power in basketball and earlier this year made the national championship game before losing to UConn

San Diego to get $25M for conservation in legal settlement over Trump border wall funding (San Diego Union-Tribune)

The feds settled lawsuits that accused the Trump administration of illegally using certain funding, including military money, to build new U.S.-Mexico border wall

Newspapers Are Marching Toward a Cliff; The U-T Thought its Owner Would Build a Bridge  (San DIego Union-Tribune)

When Patrick Soon-Shiong, Los Angeles’ richest man, bought the San Diego Union-Tribune as part of a package with the Los Angeles Times, he came to speak to anxious and excited…

CBP agent took bribes to let vehicles with drugs cross U.S.-Mexico border  (NBC San Diego)

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer has been charged in an indictment unsealed Monday with allegedly accepting bribes to allow drug-laden vehicles across the U.S.-Mexico border….charged along with several others with conspiracy to import and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego….Others charged in the indictment allegedly coordinated the smuggling of methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine and heroin from Mexico into the U.S.

Nonprofit turning shipping containers into homes for homeless San Diegans (KPBS)

An affordable housing project under construction in San Diego’s El Cerrito neighborhood is getting ready to become homes for people who are currently homeless….People Assisting The Homeless (PATH) wants to finish the project quickly so they are using prefabricated units. In this case, shipping containers that used to move products across the ocean are being converted into studio and one bedroom apartments.

After San Diego arrest, rapper Boosie Badazz challenges law that prohibits felons from possessing guns  (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Attorneys for the rapper argued that the Supreme Court’s landmark Bruen ruling should open the door for him to legally possess firearms, joining similar challenges nationwide

STATE

California’s homeowners insurance crisis is growing and spreading to car insurance (KPBS)

Ken May owns an insurance agency in Carlsbad. He laughs as he says he used to be mostly ignored at the monthly mixers for local real estate agents and industry leaders.

More than 220K people kicked off Medi-Cal in its first checkup since COVID (CalMatters)

Many of the people who lost Medi-Cal are likely still eligible for health care coverage if they can get their paperwork to county offices in the next 90 days.      

New bill would change requirements for domestic abuse reporting by hospitals (KPBS)

Under current California law, medical staff must call the police when a person with visible injuries shows up at a hospital or doctor’s office and domestic violence is suspected. But that would change if a bill making its way through the state Legislature is passed and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Feinstein says late husband’s trust not paying her medical bills, asks court for more control (Los Angeles Times)

After acute health problems that kept her away from Washington for months earlier this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein is now engaged in a legal effort to gain more control of the finances from her late husband’s trust.