EAST COUNTY ROUNDUP: LOCAL AND STATEWIDE NEWS

April 14, 2023  (San Diego) -- 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

• SDG&E proposes adding flat fee to utility bills (KPBS)
• Duncan Hunter Blamed in Friendly Fire Incident That Killed 2 Marines in Fallujah (Times of San Diego)
• Fletcher Resignation: What Are Next Steps for County Supervisors and How Much Will It Cost? (KPBS)
• Proposed ordinance banning homeless from camping in public places sets off fiery debate (10 News)
• Border Patrol: Armed bandits robbed 3 migrant groups in Otay Mountain wilderness (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• three migrants shot and wounded in the same vicinity.
• Supervisors delay vote on sewer rate increase for 8 unincorporated communities (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Julian Man Dies From Flesh-Eating Bacteria After Chasing Dog Into Pond (NBC 7)
• Man surrenders to deputies, taken in for psychiatric evaluation after 7-hour standoff in Dulzura  (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Bankruptcy court OKs sale of Borrego Health to DAP Health; regulatory approval pending  (Desert Sun)

STATE

• Feinstein asks for Judiciary replacement after calls for resignation (The Hill)
• Los Angeles, Las Vegas and other major cities could face huge water cuts in feds’ proposed plan to save the Colorado River (CNN)
• California Government Cuts Back In-Person Press Access in Post-COVID Era (Cal Matters)
• Ocean temperatures hit record as El Niño looms (CBS News)
• California’s snowpack is among the deepest ever. Now get ready for the perilous ‘big melt’ (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Undocumented California farmworkers would get path to state residency under new proposal (Sacramento Bee)
• Lawsuit seeks to uphold closing California’s last nuke plant (AP)

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

LOCAL

SDG&E proposes adding flat fee to utility bills (KPBS)

California regulators could completely upend how utility bills are calculated thanks to legislation passed last year. Assembly Bill 205 requires the California Public Utilities Commission to create an income-based fee for the state’s utility customers.

Duncan Hunter Blamed in Friendly Fire Incident That Killed 2 Marines in Fallujah (Times of San Diego)

A disturbing report from National Public Radio on Thursday said former Rep. Duncan Duane Hunter, when he fought in Fallujah, was partly to blame for a friendly fire incident that killed two fellow Marines and an Iraqi interpreter.

Fletcher Resignation: What Are Next Steps for County Supervisors and How Much Will It Cost? (KPBS)

How will the San Diego County Board of Supervisors fill the District 4 vacancy once Nathan Fletcher's resignation is effective on May 15?

Proposed ordinance banning homeless from camping in public places sets off fiery debate (10 News)

An ordinance that would make it illegal for the homeless to camp on public property in San Diego when shelter beds are available is attracting fierce debate at the city’s Land Use and Housing Committee.

Border Patrol: Armed bandits robbed 3 migrant groups in Otay Mountain wilderness (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Armed bandits have robbed and assaulted groups of migrant border-crossers at least three times in recent weeks near the Otay Mountain wilderness area, Border Patrol officials said Thursday. The attacks come six months after Border Patrol agents found three migrants shot and wounded in the same vicinity.

Supervisors delay vote on sewer rate increase for 8 unincorporated communities (San Diego Union-Tribune)

On May 3, county board will consider proposed rate increase of 5.75 percent per year for next five fiscal years

San Diegan Man Dies From Flesh-Eating Bacteria After Chasing Dog Into Pond (NBC 7)

Infectious disease physicians say Necrotizing Fasciitis kills 20 percent of the people it infects.

Man surrenders to deputies, taken in for psychiatric evaluation after 7-hour standoff in Dulzura  (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Deputies were called to the home around 8:15 p.m. after receiving a report of a man firing a gun and setting a mobile home on fire; the man surrendered to deputies around 3 a.m.

Bankruptcy court OKs sale of Borrego Health to DAP Health; regulatory approval pending  (Desert Sun)

Borrego Health has 18 clinics, two pharmacies and six mobile clinics in Riverside and San Diego counties.

STATE

Feinstein asks for Judiciary replacement after calls for resignation (The Hill)

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced on Wednesday that her return to work in Washington has been delayed due to ongoing health complications and called on the Senate to appoint a temporary replacement for her on the Judiciary Committee. 

Her announcement came hours after Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) called for her to resign from the chamber. Feinstein has been sidelined since late February after being diagnosed with shingles. Her absence, coupled with that of Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), has left Democrats working at an even 49-49 at best…

Los Angeles, Las Vegas and other major cities could face huge water cuts in feds’ proposed plan to save the Colorado River (CNN)

In both of the federal government’s scenarios, states, farms and tribes could be forced to cut nearly 2.1 million more acre-feet of their Colorado River usage in 2024, on top of existing water-conservation agreements struck in past years.

California Government Cuts Back In-Person Press Access in Post-COVID Era (Cal Matters)

Like so much else about California, its state government is large: A $300 billion budget. More than 230 departments and agencies. More than 234,000 employees. Keeping the public apprised of everything that’s happening in that massive bureaucracy requires its own small army of communications staff, who craft messages, write press releases and answer questions from journalists covering everything from the governor to welfare programs, prisons to water policy. Lately, however, the information isn’t flowing as freely — raising transparency concerns among the press corps that acts as a watchdog for Californians.

 Ocean temperatures hit record as El Niño looms (CBS News)

Scientists have watched in astonishment as ocean temperatures have steadily risen over the past several years, even as the cooling La Niña phenomenon had a firm grip on the Pacific. The oceans have been record-warm for the past four years, scientists reported in January. Then, in mid-March, climatologists noted that global sea surface temperature climbed to a new high.The incredible trend worries experts about what could lie ahead…

California’s snowpack is among the deepest ever. Now get ready for the perilous ‘big melt’ (San Diego Union-Tribune)

California’s wet and wintry start to the year has resulted in perhaps the deepest snowpack recorded in more than 70 years, officials said Monday. The snowpack is so deep that it currently contains roughly 30 million acre-feet of water — or more water than Lake Mead… the dense Sierra Nevada snowpack will soon melt, potentially unleashing torrents of water and creating considerable concern about spring flooding in valleys, foothills and communities below.

Undocumented California farmworkers would get path to state residency under new proposal (Sacramento Bee)

A California lawmaker is trying to create a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of undocumented farmworkers.

Lawsuit seeks to uphold closing California’s last nuke plant (AP)

An environmental group on Tuesday sued to block Pacific Gas & Electric from seeking to extend the federal operating licenses for California’s last nuclear power plant.