EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

September 5, 2023 (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 round-up stories include:

LOCAL

STATE

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

LOCAL

Grossmont Union school board reaffirms decision to change mental health provider  (KPBS)

For decades, the East County district has contracted with San Diego Youth Services to provide licensed therapists and other programs to its 17 campuses.  However, two weeks ago a majority of the school board sided with community members who objected to gender-affirming and other LGBTQ+ mental health programs that were offered…

Supervisors pass policy supporting voter OK for water district departures  (KPBS)

The county Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 Tuesday to support state legislation that would require a vote by all customers served by water districts within the County Water Authority before individual districts can leave the authority.

San Diego’s Eye-Popping Electricity Rates Get National Notoriety (Voice of San Diego)

No matter which way you slice it, San Diego has the most expensive electricity in the country. And it’s beginning to draw eyes from across the nation. 

America’s Most Wanted fugitive Donald Santini used bankruptcy to finance life on the run  (10 News)

Donald Santini, the alleged hit man who was featured on America’s Most Wanted for a cold case murder, filed for bankruptcy under an alias at least three times as he owed dozens of people and companies hundreds of thousands of dollars while living life on the run. Over 20 years of court records reviewed by Team 10 are giving a glimpse into the life of Santini, who had been living in Campo, Calif., under the alias “Wells/Wellman Simmonds” for years until he was arrested in June by U.S. Marshals.

Rolling in money and talent, San Diego State University is emerging as a major player in science

The school brought in nearly $200 million for research last year and has been recruiting notable scholars in fields as different as biology and literature

Citizen brings to light questionable spending in Ramona cemetery district (KPBS)

Pete Smith is a throwback. The 71-year-old longtime Ramona resident doesn’t engage with anyone on social media, but he’s a big believer in civic engagement. One of the ways Smith serves is by sitting on the San Diego County Audit Committee, which reviews the work of county auditors. It was while doing this work in October of 2020 that he came across an audit report on the Ramona Cemetery District.

Nathan Fletcher & Lorena Gonzalez sitting on a combined $2.3 million in campaign funds (KUSI)

Disgraced San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, and his wife Lorena Gonzalez, are sitting on a combined $2.3 million in campaign funds.  Fletcher resigned from his position as San Diego County Supervisor after a former MTS employee filed a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment…  Nathan Fletcher has over $980,000 in a campaign account, and has returned no money to his donors, hasn’t reimbursed San Diego County for special election costs, and hasn’t reimbursed MTS for legal fees stemming from his acts.

Former SDSU football player connected to gang-rape case pleads guilty on child-porn charge (NBC)

20-year-old Nowlin Ewaliko faces up to three years in state prison at sentencing, currently set for November

San Diego City Council approves use of 'smart streetlights,' automated license plate readers (10  News)

The council voted 7-2 to authorize the use of the streetlights and 6-3 in favor of the license plate readers.

Thousands of gallons of sewage spills after South Bay plant pumps fail  (10 News)

The International Boundary and Water Commission confirmed that about 20,000 gallons spilled onto Hollister Street on Monday afternoon.  Pictures taken of the spill showed the sewage covering the road outside the pumping station at the wastewater treatment plant. On Tuesday, most of the sewage was gone, but the odor sat heavily in the air. The IBWC said…after the pumps failed, leaking flows from Goats Canyon and Smugglers Gulch in the Tijuana River Valley.

Tijuana's illegal sewer hookups linked to cross-border pollution  (KPBS)

Up to 40% of homes in Tijuana are not hooked up to the city’s sewer system.

Venezuelans make way in San Diego, join 1.9 million migrants nationally in legal 'twilight zone'  (KPBS)

 Between October and July, immigration authorities in San Diego encountered Venezuelans more than 4,300 times. That’s three times the amount encountered during the entire previous fiscal year.

UCSD ranked 3rd, San Diego State at #16 on Forbes' Top 25 Public Colleges list  (10 News)

Forbes' criteria for the list includes student success, student debt, alumni leadership and influence and return on investment. The business magazine compiles a list of the best 500 colleges, both private and public, in the United States annually.

STATE

U.S. sues Southern Calif. Edison over 2020 California wildfire (Reuters)

The U.S. government on Friday sued Southern California Edison, accusing the Edison International (EIX.N) unit of negligence that caused the 2020 Bobcat Fire, which burned close to 180 square miles (466 sq km) in one of the largest wildfires ever in Los Angeles County.

A new gray wolf pack is found 200 miles south of California's nearest-known pack  (KPBS)

California wildlife officials say they've confirmed a new gray wolf pack in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains. / The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said Friday the pack was found in Tulare County — the farthest south a pack of wolves has been detected in the state in more than a century.

As California maternity wards close, preterm birth rate rises  (KPBS)

California is rapidly losing birthing hospitals. More than 1 in 5 closed between 2019 and 2020. This year, hospitals in Poway, Oceanside and El Centro closed their maternity wards. / Hospital closures may be contributing to a startling statistic: Last year, more than 1 in 10 babies in the United States were born before their due date. / It’s the highest U.S. preterm birth rate March of Dimes has ever reported, according to Jessica Wade, Maternal Infant Health Initiatives manager for March of Dimes in San Diego and Imperial Counties.

California aims to introduce more anglers to native warm-water tolerant sunfish as planet heats up (KPBS)

…as the planet heats up and threatens many cold-water game fish species like trout, the Sacramento perch may be on the cusp of a comeback, thanks in part to its ability to tolerate warm water and extreme conditions.

Closure of 3 Southern California power plants likely to be postponed, state energy officials decide  (KPBS)

The California Energy Commission voted Wednesday to extend the life of three gas power plants along the state's southern coast through 2026, postponing a shutoff deadline previously set for the end of 2023. The vote would keep the decades-old facilities — Ormond Beach Generating Station, AES Alamitos and AES Huntington Beach — open so they can run during emergencies.



 

 


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.

Weddings in East County

Hot Coupons