Tag Archive for: The San Diego Union-Tribune

OPINION: Part-time Sweetwater Authority Board Members Don’t Deserve Costly Insurance Perk

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune

Board members with local water agencies — often politicians or politically connected people — don’t always bring a lot of relevant expertise to the job. They generally meet no more than a few times a month, basically to bless staff recommendations. They do not have demanding positions. Against this backdrop, the recent 6-1 vote by members of the Sweetwater Authority board to give themselves access to heavily subsidized health insurance for their dependents is a pathetic and cynical act. The authority, which serves 190,000 people in National City, Bonita and parts of Chula Vista, approved significant rate hikes last year despite public criticism of compensation practices that provide authority workers with average salary and benefits of $176,000.

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San Diego Again Gets Drenched By Overnight Rains, And There’s More Coming Tonight

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins

For the second time this week, drenching rains spread across San Diego County during the overnight hours. And it will happen again late this evening and early Thursday, says the National Weather Service. So far, the rainfall has been impressive, in a cumulative sense. Since early Monday, parts of San Diego have received more than two inches of rain, including Palomar Observatory, which got 2.87 inches, Henshaw Dam, which got 2.25 inches, and Julian, which got 2.16 inches. San Onofre received 1.63 inches.

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New Escondido Council Poised To Rescind Siting Of Recycled Water Plant

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby J. Harry Jones

The new majority on the Escondido City Council appears poised to rescind the former council’s 2017 decision to locate a $44 million recycled water plant in the middle of a residential area. “It’s the wrong location,” newly elected Mayor Paul “Mac” McNamara said Friday of the site in the center of the city at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Ash Street. ”I’m seriously considering moving it. It’s in the middle of a neighborhood. It’s not the right location. It never was. I totally get it. It might cost us a few more bucks, but in the long term, it’s better to have it where it needs to be.”

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There’s A Lot More Solar San Diego Can Tap, Siting Survey Says

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Rob Nikolewski

Home to more than 100,000 solar installations, San Diego is one of the nation’s leaders when it comes to renewable energy. But according to a just-released report, there are many more locations where the sun’s energy can be harnessed. A nonprofit based in Northern California released a “solar siting survey” that identified 500-megawatts of locations with potential for large-scale solar deployments within the city limits of San Diego and pinpointed more than 120 prospective locations that could be home to projects of a minimum of 1-megawatt.

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New Escondido Council Poised To Rescind Siting Of Recycled Water Plant

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby J. Harry Jones

The new majority on the Escondido City Council appears poised to rescind the former council’s 2017 decision to locate a $44 million recycled water plant in the middle of a residential area. “It’s the wrong location,” newly elected Mayor Paul “Mac” McNamara said Friday of the site in the center of the city at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Ash Street. ” I’m seriously considering moving it. It’s in the middle of a neighborhood. It’s not the right location. It never was. I totally get it. It might cost us a few more bucks, but in the long term, it’s better to have it where it needs to be.”

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Why SDG&E Wants To Get Out Of The Business Of Buying Electricity

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Rob Nikolewski

With California’s grid going through dramatic changes, San Diego Gas & Electric has approached the Legislature in Sacramento with a proposal that, at least at first blush, sounds pretty radical — it wants to get out of the business of buying and selling electricity. Instead, the company is calling on the state to create a separate entity that would handle all those transactions.

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Women’s Future Careers In Water Topic Of Cuyamaca Event

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Karen Pearlman Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Mount Helix resident Kathleen Coates Hedberg is a registered civil engineer, a grade 4 water treatment operator and cross connection specialist. On the board of directors of the Helix Water District and San Diego County Water Authority, Hedberg knows what it is like to be in a male-dominated field. “There’s only six of us on the county water board out of about 36 members,” Hedberg said. She’d like to see a shift in those numbers, and is an advocate for women seeking — and succeeding — in careers in the water and wastewater industries.

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Skies Clear After Weekend Storm Drenches San Diego County

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Lyndsay Winkley

Skies cleared Sunday after a Pacific storm drenched much of San Diego County over the weekend, making way for a drier, but still cool week, forecasters said. The latest system dropped more than an inch of rain at Palomar Mountain and Lake Cuyamaca, and nearly an inch at Lake Henshaw, according to Sunday rainfall totals. San Diego International Airport reported 0.9 of an inch of rain, pushing its seasonal total to 5.3 inches, almost two inches above average.

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OPINION: Jerry Brown’s Four Biggest Incompletes

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune

As Gov. Jerry Brown leaves office amid high praise and some criticism, it’s impossible to give him anything but a grade of incomplete on several major issues. The most prominent of these is criminal justice reform, where Brown has sought huge changes to the overly punitive system he helped create in his first stint as governor. His decision to sign the Uniform Determinate Sentencing Act in 1976 was a major early step in an excessive war on crime that peaked in 1994 when California voters passed the nation’s harshest “three strikes and you’re out” law.

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2018 In San Diego: Mostly Dry And Warm; What Does 2019 Hold?

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Robert Krier

San Diego’s weather in 2018 was almost uniformly warm and dry. Until late in the year, when it was neither. 2019 begins with its own personality: cool days and cold nights, with a couple of storms over the next week that should get the month off to a fairly wet start. Rain is expected to begin Saturday night and continue off and on through Sunday evening. Another storm should arrive Wednesday or Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. That’s quite a change from the bulk of 2018 — until December arrived.

 

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