County News Service; photo via PhotoSpin

June 16, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)--With prolonged high temperatures expected to reach up to 115 in San Diego County deserts over the next few days, County health officials are reminding the public to take precautions to avoid heat stroke and other heat-related illnesses.

The National Weather Service in San Diego has issued a heat advisory in effect now through Sunday at 7 p.m. for the lower desert areas of eastern San Diego County. Temperatures inland will be anywhere from 5 to 10 degrees above average with high temperatures forecast of 112 to 115 degrees. Nighttime temperatures will only drop into the 80s. Mountain and foothill areas in the county are expected to be warm as well with highs in the 90s. Coastal areas will be near-normal temperatures.

The County operates the Cool Zones program and has designated more than 115 air-conditioned buildings as cooling centers. Locations and hours of operation can be found on a new interactive map on CoolZones.org or by calling 2-1-1 San Diego. The sites are identified by a light blue Polar Bear Cool Zone logo.

June 16, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• FDA To Food Companies: This Time, Zero Means Zero Trans Fats (NPR)
• Deaths from synthetic marijuana use rising sharply in U.S.: CDC (Reuters) 
• HIV resistance clue found (U-T)
• How An Economist Helped Patients Find The Right Kidney Donors (NPR)
• Data Dive Suggests Link Between Heartburn Drugs And Heart Attacks (NPR)
• San Diego Autism Researchers Are Testing A New Use For An Old Drug
• The Painkiller Sending Adults 55+ to the ER (AARP)

TECH

• Using lasers to level farm land saves water and energy (NPR)
• Why Smart Meters Don’t Make A Smart Grid (NPR)
• Lost comet lander awakes, sends 'hello' from space (CNN)

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

June 16, 2015 (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

• Judge upholds ruling for Alpine vs. Grossmont (U-T)
• FAA eyes changes to flight paths around SD airports (U-T)
• Nearly 40K SD homeowners 'underwater' (U-T)
• There’s Still Not Much Transparency Surrounding Those Transparency-Boosting Body Cameras (Voice of SD)
• County approves 175-acre land deal (U-T)
• Tow company campaign trickery alleged (U-T)
• Lemon Grove Woman Fears for Safety After Posting Surveillance Video of Theft (NBC)

STATE

• Bills show power rate disparities (U-T)
• In Los Angeles, a national model for how to police the mentally ill (CS Monitor)

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

June 16, 2015 (Julian) --Artist Michael Steirnagle will be giving a demonstration of his techniques on June 23 at 6 pm in the Julian library. Sponsored by the Julian Arts Guild, this demonstration is free to the public and all who are interested are welcome.  It should be a wonderful program.  His work is outstanding.

Abused child’s death is symptom of national high rate of violence suffered by Native American children

By Miriam Raftery

Photo courtesy ECM news partner 10 News

June 15, 2015 (Lakeside) – An autopsy report released this week reveals disturbing details in the death of 3-year-old Roland Eagle Eyes Meza Sandoval, whose body was found in a home freezer on the Barona Indian Reservation in January. The child's death is symbolic of the high rate of violence suffered by Native American children on reservations, often at the hands of non-Indian men.

According to the Medical Examiner, the child died of asphyxiation after beatings and abuse that also resulted in blunt force injuries of his head, neck, and torso as wella s bruising on his limbs, a fracture of his upper jaw, hemorrhaging and organ damage.

June 15, 2015 (Julian)--California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials are looking for a minimum-security inmate who walked away from the La Cima Conservation Camp #42, located near the community of Julian, in San Diego County.

A smokin' hot place in a cool location!

By Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna

June 15, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - Who would have known there's a Chateau on a Lake in the Coachella Valley? I certainly didn’t - that is until now…

East County News Service

June 15, 2015 (Washington D.C.)--The House of Representatives will soon be considering the 21^st Century Cures Act (H.R. 6), important legislation that will accelerate the process of translating scientific advancements into new treatments and therapies. The bill would support efforts to develop potential treatments and interventions for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, childhood leukemia, Down’s syndrome, congenital heart disease, autism spectrum disorders, sleep apnea and epilepsy, to name a few.

By Miriam Raftery

June 15, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Helix Water District’s Board of Directors will vote on whether or not to close the campground at Lake Jennings in Lakeside. The vote is set for Wednesday, June 17^th at 2 p.m. at the board meeting at the district’s headquarters, 7811 University Avenue in La Mesa.

The vote is slated despite huge gains made in stemming financial losses, from $200,000 in 2013  to just $24,000 this year, plus increased profitability of other attractions and activities with potential for more, including state approval to add kayaks just  last month.

Director Kathleen Coates-Hedberg urges the public: “If  you want to see Lake Jennings Campground stay OPEN for the future and would like to voice your opinion, please come to the Board meeting or send an email to our Board Secretary and she will forward to Board Members. Board Secretary, Sandy Janzen, Sandy.Janzen@HELIXWATER.org.”

By Suzanne Potter, Public News Service

Photo: Flare burns at an oil field near Bakersfield; photo by Chris Jordan-Block/Earthjustice.

June 13, 2015 (Sacramento)--California environmental groups filed suit Wednesday to block a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plan to allow fracking and oil drilling on more than one million acres of public land.

Dear SharonAnn:

June 14, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - I will be 66 years old and retired by year-end. I am single, in good health, my parents are still living and healthy, and my grandparents passed away in their late 90s so it is likely that I have at least 30 years ahead. I am concerned that my nest egg will not last as long as I do. I want to know for sure! Is there a way to prove the projections made by my financial advisor? I have about $1.5M in 401K investments, I own my own home outright, and Social Security will be $2350 per month.

Photo: KaBoom! Playground previously built at Wells Park in El Cajon

June 13, 2015 (El Cajon)--Once again, the City of El Cajon plans to build a playground in a day.  Volunteers are needed to help with the assembly of a one-of-a-kind, customized playground at Bill Beck Park on June 18 and June 20.  The existing playground at Bill Beck Park was over 50 years-old.  So, a new playground is planned to provide youths with a better area to play and have fun.  Some of the volunteers who have registered so far include off-duty Heartland Fire & Rescue Firefighters and El Cajon Police officers, along with other City personnel and members of local civic groups.

By Miriam Raftery

 “This is a recipe for disaster, potentially putting us in harm’s way AND increasing our already high fire insurance policies…This is a project that could generate dangerous chemical fires that when spread, could cause property damage as well as loss of life.”—Danielle Cook , member, Jacumba-Boulevard Revitalization Committee

June 13, 2015 (Jacumba Hot Springs)—A proposed industrial-scale solar facility near Jacumba is sparking heated controversy, with some residents raising concerns over fire danger and impacts on  local water supplies, wildlife, traffic and public safety.

NextEra Energy, a division of Florida Power and Light, wants to cover 108 acres of a 304 acre site in the Jacumba area with 81,109 solar photovoltaic modules on 2,253 tilting rack panels—along with a collector substation, transmission lines, and lithium battery energy story systems in containers the size of cargo cars.  Ultimately, the project would produce up to 20 megawatts of power, according to a draft environmental impact report prepared by the consulting firm DUDEK.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: U.S. Department of Agriculture

June 12, 2015 (Sacramento) – Ever since California established its water rights system back in 1914, senior water rights holders with claims before 1914 have been able to freely use as much water as they could pump.  But for the first time ever, the State Water Resources Control Board has ordered curtailment of water use by 114 of the state’s oldest water rights holders, including farmers, rural and urban water districts in the Sacramento delta as well as the Sacramento and San Joaquin river watersheds.

By Robert Gehr

Photo: U.S. Health & Human Services

June 13, 2015 (El Cajon)  In response to your article, Smoking hot debate: El Cajon Council votes to support raising age for tobacco use, I ask: 

• Why are tobacco companies seemingly allowed by our government to produce a highly adulterated, toxic product which is very addictive that can maim and kill people?

• Why do they contribute heavily to political campaigns?

• Why are they allowed to be in business at all?