EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

March 19, 2024 (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

• City of San Diego proposes new ballot measure for stormwater infrastructure repairs (10 News)
• Battling over San Diego's energy future  (KPBS)
• A SDG&E funded report finds the city’s electric grid could be worth more than $11 billion  (KPBS)
• SDSU Mission Valley river park is officially open  (KPBS)
• Lemon Grove nonprofit provides medical resources for flood victims (KPBS)
• Migrant Drownings in Pacific Spike by 3,200% in Years Following Raised Border Wall   (Times of San Diego)
• San Diego Gas & Electric made nearly $1 billion in profits last year
• (KPBS)
• Here’s how many San Diego customers are behind on their utility bills  (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Here's how — and what — assistance FEMA will provide to San Diego flood victims   (NBC 7)
• Concerned about disrespectful behavior at public meetings, San Diego considers civility policy (San Diego Union-Tribune)

STATE

• California agrees to long-term cuts of Colorado River water  (Cal Matters)
• A new California bill seeks to bar landlords from banning pets in their rental units (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Powerful California blizzard shuts Tahoe, Mammoth roads; 190 mph winds reported (Los Angeles Times)
• High avalanche danger, winds topping 100 mph as blizzard slams Tahoe, Mammoth, Sierra Nevada (Los Angeles Times)
• California seized enough fentanyl last year to kill everyone in the world ‘nearly twice over’ (Los Angeles Times)
• After heavy storms, Death Valley is now open to kayakers: The return of ghostly Lake Manly (Los Angeles Times)

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

LOCAL

City of San Diego proposes new ballot measure for stormwater infrastructure repairs (10 News)

The City of San Diego acknowledges that its stormwater infrastructure needs to be upgraded and it is looking to create a fund to make the necessary repairs. The City Council’s Rules Committee on Wednesday voted on a proposal and passed it it unanimously. The committee will move forward with coming up with a ballot measure for San Diegans to vote on in November.

Battling over San Diego's energy future  (KPBS)

The group trying to fire San Diego Gas & Electric and replace it with a municipal utility called out the utility Tuesday, for its effort to stop the measure. Power San Diego supporters have until May 14 to raise about 80,000 valid signatures to put the initiative on the November ballot. Proponents hope to convince voters that buying out SDG&E’s city operations would lower the cost of electricity.

A SDG&E funded report finds the city’s electric grid could be worth more than $11 billion  (KPBS)

San Diego Gas & Electric says the purchase of the city of San Diego’s electric distribution system could cost between $7.4 and $9.3 billion. The utility said costs could climb above $11 billion if franchise agreement fees and property tax revenue are factored into the equation.  SDG&E only shared the executive summary of the report, making it difficult to evaluate the complete estimates. Even so, the utility numbers are much higher than the valuation in two city-funded studies

SDSU Mission Valley river park is officially open  (KPBS)

The SDSU Mission Valley development that includes Snapdragon Stadium, officially opened a 34-acre River Park on Wednesday. The park includes recreational fields, miles of walking and biking trails and a children’s play area.

Lemon Grove nonprofit provides medical resources for flood victims (KPBS)

For the last three weeks, Joint Initiatives for Racial Equity in Health, also known as JIREH Providers, has been hosting a weekly well-being event in the Mountain View neighborhood. JIREH is a mobile clinic that has been bringing much needed medical resources to flood victims…. If a community member needs follow up care, JIREH has partnered with the primary care clinic Innovative Wellness Clinic, or IWC. They can also assist with replacing medications lost in the flood.

Migrant Drownings in Pacific Spike by 3,200% in Years Following Raised Border Wall   (Times of San Diego)

In the four years since the border wall height was increased from 17 feet to 30 feet along the US-Mexican border, drowning deaths of migrants in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego increased by 3,200%, according to a study published Thursday….in the journal JAMA.

San Diego Gas & Electric made nearly $1 billion in profits last year

(KPBS)

Power San Diego is circulating petitions to gather more than 80,000 signatures before the middle of May so an initiative to fire the investor-owner utility gets before voters in November....The measure would direct the city of San Diego to buy all of the utility’s infrastructure and then serve customers like municipal utilities in Riverside, Los Angeles and Sacramento.

Here’s how many San Diego customers are behind on their utility bills  (San Diego Union-Tribune)

26.7% of customers are at least one month behind on their bills, but the dollar amounts are trending lower.

Here's how — and what — assistance FEMA will provide to San Diego flood victims  (NBC 7)

For victims of January's historic storm, there is a cap on financial aid of $42,500 per household.

Concerned about disrespectful behavior at public meetings, San Diego considers civility policy (San Diego Union-Tribune)

San Diego officials say concerns about name-calling, interrupting and other disrespectful actions at public meetings have prompted them to begin creating a civility policy that would discourage such behavior. The policy would prohibit abusive conduct and verbal attacks, especially attacks that focus on someone’s character or alleged motives. It would also require city officials to listen attentively during public discussions, instead of ignoring speakers they disagree with.

STATE

California agrees to long-term cuts of Colorado River water  (Cal Matters)

California, Arizona and Nevada would cut their allocations about 20% when reservoir levels drop. But other states have their own opposing plan. Now the federal government has to decide how to manage the drought-plagued river. 

A new California bill seeks to bar landlords from banning pets in their rental units (San Francisco Chronicle)

Assembly Bill 2216, authored by Matt Haney — a Democrat from San Francisco — would prohibit landlords across the state from instituting blanket bans of common household pets in their rental units. The bill defines common household pets as domesticated animals, such as a cat or dog, that are kept for personal instead of commercial purposes... Haney’s press release goes on to say that of the 17 million families and individuals renting in the Golden State, close to 12 million, or 70%, are pet owners. He also estimates that blanket pet bans have led to more than 829,000 tenants across California secretly keeping a pet in their unit... shelters reported that the leading cause for owners giving up their pets was a lack of pet-friendly housing,

Powerful California blizzard shuts Tahoe, Mammoth roads; 190 mph winds reported (Los Angeles Times)

The most powerful California blizzard of the winter sent gusts of up to 190 mph to the Sierra Nevada, and heavy snow and strong winds forced officials to shut some roads in the Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Mountain areas. 

High avalanche danger, winds topping 100 mph as blizzard slams Tahoe, Mammoth, Sierra Nevada (Los Angeles Times)

... Officials Friday warned of high avalanche danger through Sunday in the Central Sierra slopes and the Lake Tahoe area. 

California seized enough fentanyl last year to kill everyone in the world ‘nearly twice over’ (Los Angeles Times)

The total amount of the potent synthetic opioid seized last year “is enough to potentially kill the global population nearly twice over,” Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Tuesday.

After heavy storms, Death Valley is now open to kayakers: The return of ghostly Lake Manly (Los Angeles Times)

Storms pummeling Southern California have dramatically transformed Death Valley National Park, doubling the size of a vast temporary lake that is even visible to orbiting spacecraft.