From Editordude’s Desk: News You May Have Missed

Straight from Editordude’s desk. Here are a number of articles and issues that you may have missed, published in mainly local media.  Here they are, straight, without humor or much comment.

Protest to greet Ron Paul – speaking tonight at UCSD, Friday, May 4th.  Presidential candidate and right wing libertarian Paul to speak at Warren College at 7 pm, with limited seating to open at 6pm.   Students are planning a protest either at the event or outside.  Here’s the protest facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/events/292622367489388/296447457106879/

Crime in San Diego County is at a 30-year low.  On average, violent crime – defined as homicide, rape, robbery or aggravated assault fell to about 11,000 in 2011. But the county experienced an increase in homicides and domestic violence-motivated murder, according to the “Thirty Years of Crime” report by SANDAG.  msnbc San Diego

Maintenance District guru LiMandri in Hot Water.  Expert on assessment districts reviewed LiMandri’s proposal to loosen how districts are created – unsuccessfully advocated by Assemblyman Juan Vargas – and sees it at as  ‘a full-employment act for LiMandri, who would get a lot of new business as a consultant for forming maintenance assessment districts.’ The San Diego Reader

 Palomar Campgrounds Reopen After Successful Fund Drive – At least eight campgrounds at Palomar Mountain State Park opened today after being closed for months.   The campgrounds were closed by the state in October due to budget cuts.   Palomar was among 70 parks across California with facilities slated for closure. But a nonprofit has raised $78,000 so far to keep Palomar’s campgrounds open.   The fundraising campaign launched by Friends of Palomar Mountain State Park resulted in a three-year deal, in which the group will raise $60,000 annually to keep the campgrounds open. KPBS

Net Immigration from Mexico Falls To Zero – Possibly Less.  The largest wave of immigration from a single country in the history of the United States has come to a halt, according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.   In the past 40 years, more than 12 million Mexicans came to the U.S. But that migration flow has stopped – and possibly reversed, according to the report released today.   The flagging U.S. economy, stepped-up border enforcement, and a rise in the number of deportations, and the growing dangers associated with crossing the border all may play a role in the drop off. National Journal

 Sailing boat may have hit rocks, not ship.  An online tracking system shows that a vessel identified as the Aegean struck a jagged island, potentially upending the original theory that the 37-foot sailboat was smashed by an oncoming tanker or freighter.   The boat, one of more than 200 vessels competing in the annual Newport-to-Ensenada race, was destroyed Saturday off the Mexican coastline. All four crew members were lost, though authorities are still searching for one of the bodies.  Fox 5 News.

 Torrey Pines Park Extension often ignored.  The Torrey Pines State Reserve Extension, located just across Los Peñasquitos Lagoon from the main reserve, offers spectacular pine specimens as well as a rich collection of other coastal sage scrub and chaparral plant life. Here, the magnificent Torrey pine is relatively abundant, yet it grows nowhere else in the world except a thin strip of coastline south of Del Mar and a tiny fragment on Santa Rosa Island of the Channel Islands. With only a few thousand individuals in the wild, the Torrey pine is considered rare, threatened, and endangered by the California Native Plant Society. It is a perfect example of why San Diego is globally known as a “biodiversity hotspot.”  The SD Reader.