SDG&E to cut power at high-fire-risk times

San Diego Gas & Electric Co. announced a new policy Thursday to shut off power in much of the backcountry during conditions of extreme fire danger.

THE REGION EAST COUNTY – A sick golden eagle was recovering last week at a La Mesa veterinary clinic after it was rescued on the Viejas Indian Reservation. The female eagle was lying on the ground and unable to fly when a security guard spotted it. The eagle was dehydrated and appeared to have kidney problems, said veterinarian Todd Cecil, who was treating it with antibiotics and intravenous fluids. The bird is expected to be released once it is healthy enough to hunt. MISSION BAY – Gel-like blobs that caused parts of Mission Bay to be closed to body contact for nine days this month turned out to be decaying sea sponges, not human sewage, it was reported last week. The material began washing ashore Sept. 17. At the same time, high bacteria readings prompted county health officials to close the waters off Fiesta Island and De Anza Cove. NORTH COUNTY – The two-year marriage of an elderly couple who eloped while living in a nursing home was annulled Thursday. A Vista Superior Court commissioner agreed with the man's sons that he wasn't mentally competent to consent to marriage. Herbert Woodward II, 88, and Wani Bielinski, 86, wanted to stay married. Woodward's family filed the case to annul the marriage, saying he wasn't acting in his best interest, and that the family trust needed to be protected. EL CAJON – A Fletcher Hills Elementary School student has been diagnosed with whooping cough, county health officials said Thursday. The student has been immunized against the disease, which is highly contagious and causes severe coughing. School officials notified parents Wednesday by letter and e-mail about the students' possible exposure to the disease. CHULA VISTA – A proposed power-plant expansion drew criticism at a hearing Thursday from residents of southwestern Chula Vista, who blasted the plan proposed near their enclave of homes, a school and a community center. They said if the California Energy Commission allows it, their health would suffer. BALBOA PARK – A second residence for families of troops receiving treatment at the San Diego Naval Medical Center opened Friday. The new building at the nonprofit Fisher House, on the hospital's campus in Balboa Park, can accommodate 12 families. The 8,000-square-foot home cost about $4 million to build and furnish. It was designed with an emphasis on comforting stressed parents and spouses of injured service members. “We try to give families the feeling of home,” said David Coker, president of the Fisher House Foundation.

When strong Santa Ana winds are blowing and humidity is low, power will be cut to homes and business in fire-prone areas, SDG&E officials said. Urban San Diego County will not be affected, the utility said.

SDG&E is facing numerous lawsuits related to the Witch Creek, Guejito and Rice Canyon fires, which its lines are blamed for igniting.

Reaction to the plan was mixed.

Officials at the Cleveland National Forest were warned last month about the new policy. “We do have some concerns,” forest spokesman Brian Harris said. “It has to be very well-coordinated.”

Home prices predicted to fall for 2 more years

Home prices in San Diego County are likely to continue dropping for an additional two years, PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. said last week.

PMI said it considered 17 of the 50 largest metro areas in the United States to be at high risk of price declines, with San Diego County's risk at nearly 96percent. Spikes in foreclosures and rising unemployment led to the projected price drops.

Communities in California and Florida topped the list of areas facing price drops nationwide.

Kelly Cunningham, an economist for the San Diego Institute for Policy Research, said the PMI report isn't surprising given the nationwide credit crunch.

“We were hoping the housing market would stabilize in San Diego,” Cunningham said. “This (report) says the situation is more dire. I have to agree that housing prices will drop if people are not going to be able to get loans.”

Horton Plaza revamp to scrap fortress look

Horton Plaza is poised for a $50 million makeover by owner Westfield Corp., it was reported last week.

Downtown's first big shopping center, built in the 1980s, was designed as a fortress, with blank walls facing First and Fourth avenues. It was meant to make shoppers feel safe inside with their money.

These days, after a downtown renaissance sparked in part by Horton Plaza, Westfield feels it's time to embrace the street.

Plans show glass storefronts facing outward. A modern-looking, white facade would replace the pastel stucco walls on Broadway and Fourth Avenue. The Australia-based owner wants to start early next year and finish in early 2010.

Scripps institute slated for AIDS vaccine grant

The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla is receiving a $30 million grant for a five-year project to study the development of an AIDS vaccine with an approach that uses antibodies to block HIV from infecting cells.

The grant, announced Tuesday, will fund a five-year, 60-member project. Several leading AIDS scientists from around the world and their research staffs will start working at Scripps in a few months, said Dennis Burton, a Scripps immunologist and the program's scientific director. They will join four other researchers already studying AIDS vaccine strategies at Scripps.

Funding comes from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, a large philanthropy in New York.

CHP cites road rage in I-8 shooting incident

Road rage led to a shooting Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 8 that wounded a passenger, authorities said.

The 21-year-old man, who was shot in the face, underwent surgery Wednesday and was expected to recover, the California Highway Patrol said. Fragments of the bullet lodged behind the man's right eye.

The victim was riding in the front seat of a pickup traveling west on Interstate 8 near Morena Boulevard about 12:30 p.m. alongside a sedan, CHP Officer Marc Hale said.

Hale said the drivers of the two vehicles argued after one cut off the other. The victim said he was shot as the sedan's driver took the Morena Boulevard exit off the freeway, Hale said.

Canoeist rescued after outrigger breaks apart

A man whose outrigger canoe broke apart Tuesday evening off Oceanside said thoughts of his four children helped him survive as he swam for almost three hours in the sea.

Nathan Talauega, 45, an information technologist from Carlsbad, said he paddled out in the single-person canoe from Oceanside Harbor about 4:45 p.m. and expected to return before sunset.

When he did not return by nightfall, a search was launched.

A lobster fisherman saw Talauega in the water about 9 p.m. and pulled him to safety a quarter-mile south of the harbor entrance, said Rich Dann of the Coast Guard.

Talauega said he has had some challenges before, but nothing compared with this. He said faith and determination helped him keep going.

“I've got a lot to live for,” he said.