EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

October 17, 2013 (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

• San Diego home prices back on the rise (UT San Diego)
• New requirements for boaters crossing into Mexican waters (10 News)
• Hannah Anderson tells of zip-ties, handcuffs and Russian roulette during her kidnapping ordeal (10 News)
• Lakeside shooting and molestation defendant sentenced to multiple life terms (SanteePatch)
• Southern California tribes resist giant solar project (Budget and Tax)
• Paranormal investigation – the haunting of the American Legion Post 282 (East County Californian)
• Padre Dam supports Castlerock annexation (U-T San Diego)

State

• California health exchange reports nearly 100,000 application starts (Sacramento Bee)
• Prop 39 energy retrofit funds heading to California schools (Sacramento Bee)
• Shutdown hits town near Yosemite already hurt by wildfire (CBS)

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

Local

San Diego home prices back on the rise (UT San Diego)

San Diego County home prices ticked up in September after dipping slightly in August, but the number of transactions declined for the third straight month, DataQuick reported Wednesday. The median price in the county last month was $422,000, up from $415,000 in August and $417,500 in July. Over the past 12 months, the county’s median price has risen 20.6 percent.

New requirements for boaters crossing into Mexican waters (10 News)

$23 dollar fee per passenger, online visa required

Hannah Anderson tells of zip-ties, handcuffs and Russian roulette during her kidnapping ordeal (10 News)

The Lakeside teenager tells a frightening tale. "He handcuffed me and zip-tied my feet and then sat me down on the couch and told me what his plan was," she said in an interview with the Today show.

Lakeside shooting and molestation defendant sentenced to multiple life terms (SanteePatch)

Daniel Robert Witczak changed his plea to guilty in the 2012 shootout that injured two lawmen and the child molestation charges that started it all.

Southern California tribes resist giant solar project (Budget and Tax)

Native American tribal leaders are protesting a proposed giant solar power project in southern California they say will do irreparable harm to nearby historical artifacts. The tribal leaders asked the California Energy Commission to make substantial revisions to the project to safeguard their heritage. The Quechan Indian Tribe’s Historical Preservation Office filed comments with the California Energy Commission (CEC), blasting the design of the project and what it says is a rush by CEC and the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to approve the solar project.

Paranormal invsetigation – the haunting of the American Legion Post 282 (East County Californian)

… Tomas Luna, Commander of Post 282, is a 10-year Marine Corps veteran, beginning in 1978. His sea duty included service in the Persian Gulf. His military training and level-headedness are unassailable. Luna believes that the building housing his Post is haunted.Luna, among several others associated with Post 282, believes this because of frequent phenomena at the Post that defy natural explanation

Padre Dam supports Castlerock annexation (U-T San Diego)

With the Castlerock development on track toward annexation in Santee, the Padre Dam Municipal Water District board on Wednesday voted unanimously to provide water, recycled water and sewer services to the planned community. It also voted unanimously to support the city of Santee's application to the Local Agency Formation Commission, which rules on municipal annexations.

State

California health exchange reports nearly 100,000 application starts (Sacramento Bee)

Two weeks after opening its doors, the state insurance marketplace announced today that nearly 1.6 million individual visitors had come to its online portal and more than 104,000 customers called into its service center through Saturday. Covered California began enrolling customers on Oct. 1 for insurance plans that start Jan. 1. Average wait times at call centers improved significantly - to less than two minutes from 15 minutes - and roughly 94,500 applications were started at CoveredCA.com through Saturday.

Prop 39 energy retrofit funds heading to California schools (Sacramento Bee)

State officials have directed $381 million to California schools to retrofit aging campuses for energy efficiency, releasing a list Tuesday that shows how much each district will get.The money comes from voter approval last year of Proposition 39, which raises taxes on out-of-state corporations.

Shutdown hits town near Yosemite already hurt by wildfire (CBS)

Groveland, Calif., is the western gateway to Yosemite National Park and depends on park tourism. The Rim Fire in August wrecked the summer tourist season, and now the government shutdown is forcing at least one business to close.