EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

November 17, 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

• 3 cities (including Santee) face a climate dilemma: to build or not to build homes in risky places (NPR)
• San Diego Selling Back Some Pricey Colorado River Water for Cheaper Met Water (Voice of San Diego)
• What's that smell? Some East County residents complain of strong odor in the air  (10 News)
• San Diego County asks organizations to host ‘sleeping cabins' on their property in homelessness fight (NBC)
•  San Diego residents charged up about high electricity prices (KPBS)
• San Diego Tourism Authority celebrates over $14 billion in visitor spending last year  (KPBS)
• San Diego gets closer to zero waste goal, but is still behind schedule (KPBS)
• How the Union-Tribune’s new owners could impact democracy in San Diego County (KPBS)
• How big will the Cardenas fallout be? (Voice of San Diego)
• San Diego man's car insurance retroactively canceled after he got in an accident (NBC 7)
• The Supposed Volunteers Keeping Major San Diego Venues Staffed Are Often Paid Under the Table and Below Minimum Wage (Voice of San Diego)
• Restoring Cuyamaca’s tree canopy is years away. Some birds may never return. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• Thousands Forced To Switch Insurance As Yet Another Provider Leaves CA (Patch)
• Newsom pushes California universities to boost campus safety as protests rage over Mideast war (Politico)
• California's electricity bills could soon be based on how much you make — and some people are furious (Business Insider)

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

LOCAL

3 cities (including Santee) face a climate dilemma: to build or not to build homes in risky places (NPR)

Why it's so hard to stop building homes in places at risk from climate disasters  -

With climate-fueled disasters killing hundreds of Americans annually and costing communities billions of dollars, a growing number of local governments are asking a basic question: Are there some places where people shouldn't build homes?

San Diego Selling Back Some Pricey Colorado River Water for Cheaper Met Water (Voice of San Diego)

A deal between formerly warring parties could generate more water supplies in the drying West. 

What's that smell? Some East County residents complain of strong odor in the air  (10 News)

Some residents in San Diego’s East County said they've been dealing with a bad smell in the air for several days now and they want to know what is going on... The Lakeside Water District told ABC 10News that the county thinks it’s the soil along the San Diego River that saturated from the water flowing from the El Capitan Reservoir, giving off a rancid vegetation order.

San Diego County asks organizations to host ‘sleeping cabins' on their property in homelessness fight (NBC)

San Diego County officials put out a call Wednesday for businesses or organizations to place sleeping cabins on their property to expand emergency housing options for unhoused San Diegans.

 San Diego residents charged up about high electricity prices (KPBS)

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) proceedings were intended to gather information about how the utility divides the revenue it is allowed to raise from different categories of ratepayers….. But CPUC commissioner Genevieve Shiroma got an earful about high electricity prices, solar energy, billing and flat income-based utility fees.

San Diego Tourism Authority celebrates over $14 billion in visitor spending last year  (KPBS)

The San Diego Tourism Authority estimates 30.5 million visitors made their way to San Diego during the 2023 fiscal year and generated $23.48 billion dollars in total economic impact.

San Diego gets closer to zero waste goal, but is still behind schedule (KPBS)

San Diego has made progress toward its "zero waste" goal by diverting 71% of its waste from landfills last year, the highest diversion rate on record. But the city is still behind schedule, having missed its goal of 75% diversion by 2020. / Future goals are an 82% rate by 2030 and 90% by 2035, with the ultimate goal of zero waste added to landfills by 2040.

How the Union-Tribune’s new owners could impact democracy in San Diego County (KPBS)

“In American politics, access is local, it’s not at the state level, not at the federal level,” Loveridge said. “But there’s no access if you have no information. And the absence of information makes the democratic conversation locally almost nonexistent.” As a result, whole communities are divorced from the give and take of formulating public policy, a fundamental tenet of democracy. Also, without a robust news environment, elected officials and power brokers can obscure the truth with only the facts that suit their needs.

How big will the Cardenas fallout be? (Voice of San Diego)

For a long time, Cardenas has been a jack-of-all-trades throughout San Diego County politics but particularly in South Bay. And now that District Attorney Summer Stephan has charged him with multiple felony counts along with his sister, Andrea Cardenas, for an allegedly fraudulent application for a Covid relief loan from the government, the web of trades in which the Cardenas siblings were involved could ensnare many.

San Diego man's car insurance retroactively canceled after he got in an accident (NBC 7)

Your auto insurance may not protect you as much as you think.

The Supposed Volunteers Keeping Major San Diego Venues Staffed Are Often Paid Under the Table and Below Minimum Wage (Voice of San Diego)

What started as a win-win for professional sports teams and charities has now morphed into a system where some supposed volunteer groups are providing a cheap, off-the-books labor source to third-party concession companies.

Restoring Cuyamaca’s tree canopy is years away. Some birds may never return. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

‘There has been a measurable loss of wildlife species and, for many of them, we need a forest to bring them back’

STATE

Thousands Forced To Switch Insurance As Yet Another Provider Leaves CA (Patch)

Farmer’s Insurance has started sending non-renewal notices to its California customers, with policies set to begin expiring next month.

Newsom pushes California universities to boost campus safety as protests rage over Mideast war (Politico)

Gov. Gavin Newsom waded into the bitter disputes between student groups over the Israel-Hamas war that have roiled college campuses in California, insisting that education leaders take more decisive action to quell related acts of hate. 

California's electricity bills could soon be based on how much you make — and some people are furious (Business Insider)

... The new state law aims to make higher-income people shoulder a greater burden when it comes to paying for the power system's modernization, The Washington Post reports.  It doesn't totally take out of the equation how much power each household uses: Part of each bill will still be based on that. But each bill also will have "fixed charges" that will be set based on income.