EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

October 15, 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/REGIONAL

• San Diego County wins Special Districts award (UT San Diego)
• SDSU Professor Selecting 'Tweeters' To Spread Emergency Messages (KPBS)
• Effort Started To Get More Recycled Water From Padre Dam (KPBS)
• Peters gets backing of 11 ex-Chamber of Commerce execs (Times of San Diego)
• How San Diego Hospitals Would Handle Ebola (KPBS)
• Curtains for Thomas Jefferson School of Law? (SD Reader)
• Cohn Group unveils $10 million floating party space (UT San Diego)
• Woman crushed by car ID'd as chamber VP   (UT San Diego)

STATE

• Is California headed for a ‘megadrought’? (UT San Diego)
• Thousands Of Mail-In Ballots Going Uncounted In California (KPBS)
• California woman freed after 17 years, declared innocent of murder (Reuters)
• Editorial: Michael Peevey leaves a mixed legacy as CPUC president (SacBee)

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

LOCAL/REGIONAL

San Diego County wins Special Districts award (UT San Diego)

Members include Helix Water, San Miguel Fire and Grossmont Healthcare districts.

SDSU Professor Selecting 'Tweeters' To Spread Emergency Messages (KPBS)

Ming-Hsiang Tsou, an SDSU geography professor, is compiling a list of 1,000 influential Twitter accounts based in San Diego, so emergency messages about evacuations, road closures and the like can be spread faster or targeted more closely to certain locations.

Effort Started To Get More Recycled Water From Padre Dam (KPBS)

Officials broke ground Monday on a $275,000 project that focuses on expanding the Padre Dam's recycling facility in Santee so a more reliable water supply may be possible for the East County.

Peters gets backing of 11 ex-Chamber of Commerce execs (Times of San Diego)

The Scott Peters campaign said Tuesday the congressman has received endorsements from 11 former board chairs of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce in the race to represent the 52nd District.Last month Peters also earned the endorsement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which wrote, “We believe your re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives will help produce sustained economic growth, help create jobs, and get our country back on track.”

How San Diego Hospitals Would Handle Ebola (KPBS)

San Diego hospitals are stepping up patient screening and reviewing protective equipment procedures in case an Ebola patient should show up at their door.

Curtains for Thomas Jefferson School of Law? (SD Reader)

 Two publications, City Journal, published by New York's Manhattan Institute, and JDJournal, which specializes in law-related issues, are essentially playing taps for San Diego's debt-plagued Thomas  Jefferson School of Law. .. Thomas Jefferson consistently has a very low bar-exam pass rate among California's 21 accredited law schools.

Cohn Group unveils $10 million floating party space (UT San Diego)

Harbor Island events complex takes place of iconic Reuben E. Lee.

Woman crushed by car ID'd as chamber VP   (UT San Diego)

Ratcliff served as the chamber’s vice president of marketing and events.

STATE

Is California headed for a ‘megadrought’? (UT San Diego)

For three years now, Californians have fixed leaks, ripped out lawns and shortened showers, adjusting to what officials call the most severe drought in memory. Imagine what changes might come next if the drought continues for the rest of our lifetime. Megadroughts — dry periods that last decades or even centuries — are very much a reality in the Golden State. They have occurred several times during the past millennium, and researchers said there’s a high chance that California is about to enter another super-long dry spell.

Thousands Of Mail-In Ballots Going Uncounted In California (KPBS)

 Kim Alexander with the California Voter Foundation said thousands of ballots go uncounted each election. She says in June three percent of mail-in ballots were not counted.  In the 2012 general election more than 50 percent of votes were cast by mail. In the 2014 June primary that number shot up to 69 percent....

California woman freed after 17 years, declared innocent of murder (Reuters)

A 59-year-old California woman who spent 17 years in prison for murder was ordered freed on Friday by a judge who said she was wrongly convicted on the basis of testimony by a woman known to be a habitual liar, the Los Angeles Times reported on Friday.

Editorial: Michael Peevey leaves a mixed legacy as CPUC president (SacBee)

 Michael Peevey’s relationship with PG&E made his departure from the California Public Utility Commission inevitable. He had become beleaguered, but it wasn’t always that way....