Community Corner

California Transportation Committee Grants $47M to San Diego County

The funding will be applied to various projects in the region.

Transportation Funding

The California Transportation Committee Thursday allocated more than $47 million to fund projects in San Diego County.

The projects include:

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-- $40.2 million for an access ramp from Mira Mesa Boulevard directly onto express lanes for car pools, transit buses and FasTrak users;

-- $7 million to the San Diego Association of Governments and North County Transit District for a train control system.

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-- $27,000 for construction of a segment of the Sweetwater Bikeway near Plaza Bonita.

Transit officials believe the first two projects will improve on-time performance for buses and trains.

When complete, the bikeway will run for 24 miles through the South Bay.

$6 Million Foreclosure Fraud Scam

A man who participated in a $6 million foreclosure fraud scheme in which he stole the identities of several notaries and forged hundreds of deeds across California pleaded guilty Thursday to multiple felony charges, including rent skimming, forgery, identity theft and conspiracy to commit grand theft.

John Zepeda, 60, agreed to pay restitution and will be sentenced to 12 years in prison on February 21.

Zepeda's brother, David, also is charged in the case but remains at large, Deputy District Attorney Nida Rice said.

The conspiracy, which prosecutors called "huge" and "brazen," involved hundreds of victims in San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and Los Angeles counties, as well as Clark County in Nevada, prosecutors said.

No Chargers Blackout

The Chargers sold enough tickets this week to have Sunday evening's home game against Baltimore shown on local television, the team announced Thursday.

Team officials said Tuesday they had to sell 2,000 seats so they wouldn't run afoul of the NFL's blackout policy for the second week in a row. The league requires all but the priciest seats to be sold 72 hours before kickoff.

Qualcomm Stadium, which will temporarily be renamed Snapdragon Stadium beginning Friday as part of a promotion for a new line of mobile processors, holds more than 70,000 people for football.

The 5:30 p.m. contest against the playoff-bound Ravens is the Chargers' last home contest this season.


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