Mountain Lion Shot And Killed After It Grabs Kid, Seriously Injures Him

A 5-year-old boy was grabbed out of the jaws of a mountain lion at a picnic area near Malibu Canyon Road at Piuma Road … Sunday afternoon.

The boy is recovering in a hospital … 

After originally being released … he was brought back for treatment for his eye injuries. 

The mountain lion was shot and killed by fish and wildlife rangers. 

There were more than 40 people at the large picnic area … on the west side of the canyon … at 4:30 Sunday afternoon. 

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says several children were playing near the family’s picnic site, with at least six adults present.

The mountain lion grabbed the boy by the head and started to run.

The dad and the lion grappled for a brief time before the mountain lion ran off.

Last fall, a mountain lion attacked a hiker and their dog in Solstice Canyon … in Malibu. 

That was about six miles away … it is not known if that lion was the same one that attacked Sunday.

State Senator Says Not A Bad Idea To Call Governor’s Office To Urge Signature On Malibu Speed Camera Bill:  (916) 445-2841

As KBUU news reported Friday afternoon… The state legislature passed the special bill that will allow Malibu and Malibu only to set up an additional five radar cameras… To catch speeders along PCH.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has the final decision on whether to allow automatic speed radar cameras … five of them … to be set up on Pacific Coast Highway inMalibu.

And it’s not a slam dunk that the governor will sign it.

The bills sponsor is state, senator Ben Allen of Malibu… And he says it’s up to the governor to decide whether to sign it or not. 

And that’s not a sure thing he says..

70541 BA FEEL GOOD

BEN ALLEN: “I feel good. I feel good.  I mean, of course I can’t make any guarantees. 

REPORTER: “Should Malibu people call the governors office and ask him to sign it? 

BEN ALLEN: “It couldn’t hurt. It couldn’t hurt for his people to know that people care about this. This is  ultimately about saving lives on the highway. He’s got so many different issues flying around on his plate getting this on his radar screen couldn’t be a bad thing.”

Getting the bill through the state legislature was a real challenge … Senator Allen tells KBUU that other cities wanted to be included… including Santa Monica … West Hollywood and others.

But a lot of state legislators have real problems with speed cameras… And their constituents let them know that they don’t like getting tickets from robots.

Santa Monica and West Hollywood had to be stripped out of the bill to get passage in the Senate… Alan says.

And then there was the state Assembly Transportation Chair Lori Wilson … 

She  represents a suburban section of the San Joaquin Valley. 

70543 BA WILSON 

“We then went over to the assembly side, where the chair had a lot of problems. We really had to get it out of that committee.

“We ultimately did with every other member of the chair voting for it, except the chair of the committee.”

Allen says the bill was not watered down … but protections against low income people … being hurt by the fines … were added. 

70543 BA COMPLY

“the bill has a number of privacy, provisions, a number of signage and notice provisions to ensure that there’s no gotcha going on here.

“There’s some equity provisions. There’s a diversion program for people who are very low income, who can’t afford fines, so there’s gonna be an alternative path to help them.”

Additionally, SB 1297 would require the City of Malibu and the California Department of Transportation to use excess revenue for traffic-calming measures along a 21-mile stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway in the Malibu area.

“The approval of SB 1297 is just one more piece of the puzzle to save lives along one of the most dangerous stretches of highway in California,” explained principal co-author of the SB 1297, Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin. “This legislation builds on our efforts that led to Caltrans to spend over $4 million on road safety improvements along PCH over the past year.  Our work to make Malibu safer and to save lives has only just begun.”

PCH ‘Undulations’ To Be Repaired Under 2 Active Landslides In Pacific Palisades

Caltrans engineers are trying to get to the bottom of an active landslide that may be deforming the pavement of Pacific coast Highway eats of Malibu. 

The Northbound lanes of the road are undulating … being pushed uo from beneath.

The undulations start at Temescal Canyon Road, break off at Sunset Boulevard, and then deform the pavement again between Sunset and Porto Marina Way

That second location is where a landslide took out one of the two northbound lanes last winter… a closure that lasted three months and that completely snarled Pacific Coast Highway headed towards Malibu.

Last week .., one lane of PCH was closed for two hours while a construction crew assessed the work area in advance of an overnight repaving operation that will occur in the coming weeks.

Beneath the pavement… soil is sliding onto Caltrans right away from privately owned property up the hills, a Caltrans spokesman told KBUU.

About 10 years ago, there was a similar fluid landslide under westbound PCH approaching the big rock signal. Caltrans crews carved out 4 feet of accumulated pavement that had been laid down over the ripples over the decades, and the road has been smooth and straight ever since.

Uhring Urges Residents To Let Him Know “Comments” About City Manager’s Job Performance Before Review

City council member Steve Uhring wants members of the public to testify tomorrow morning. .. before the city council meets behind closed doors to consider the job performance of Malibu city manger Steve McClary.

Uhring … who is running for re-election ,… was the only one of the city council members to vote against Uhring when he was hired in 2021.

Since then … he has kept up a barrage of criticism against city staff members.

Riding on the next-door Civic Center webpage… Uhring said he requested that the city Attorney encourage residence to participate in the performance review by speaking at the meeting… Or by sending in communications with their thoughts.

Says Uhring … the city Attorney did not do that… So he is trying to fill in the gap.

The city Council meeting is scheduled for 10:30 in the morning and before the council goes behind closed doors… Members of the public are allowed to speak.

Five years after dive boat fire kills 34, Coast Guard has not lifted a finger to improve safety, NTSB head charges

It’;s been five years since 34 people were killed when a dive boat caught fire in the SantaBarbara Channel.

The 33 passengers and one crew person were trapped below decks when the wooden boat … the Conception … caught fire and burned to the waterline. 

The crew .. all but one … jumped into the water to save themselves.

They had not been trained to prevent fires … no night watch had been assigned … the captain later convicted of maritime manslaughter. 

And it was the Coast Guard’s fault.

The Coast Guard had ignored urgent recommentdsations from the NTSB …. The National transportation safety board… That safety regulations be enacted.

And in the five years since the conception disaster… The Coast Guard still hasn’t done anything.
NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy stood on the Santa Barbara Pier yesterday.

70544 JENNIFER HOMENDY 

“How many times does the NTSB have to issue this recommendation again before Coast Guard will take action? How many deaths have to occur?”

No reply to that question from the Coast Guard.

Audio for that story is from KEYT in Santa Barbara.

CHP Officer Shortage: 16% Of Jobs Are Vacant

From Calmatters:

About one in six California Highway Patrol positions were vacant last year, a rate much higher than in 2019, despite recent historically high raises.

The jobs were unfilled at a sensitive time for Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose administration earlier this month agreed to a new contract with the union that represents CHP officers. The deal is expected to cost $489 million over the next three years through a combination of raises and enhanced pay incentives.

CHP officers got a 7.9% wage increase in 2023, marking their biggest raise in 20 years. In 2022, they received a 6.2% general salary increase. Both are historically high raises for the officers.

Rookie CHP officers today can expect to earn up to $117,000 in the first year on duty, according to the agency.

After this story published, the CHP released information showing its vacancy rate had declined to 12% as of last week. It is on track to exceed its hiring goal for the year, CHP spokesperson Jaime Coffee wrote in an email to CalMatters.

The agency pointed to two trends to explain its higher-than-usual vacancy rate. It suspended its academy during the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed the start dates for a class of new cadets by more than a year. The CHP also has seen retirements increase since the pandemic.

Raises for CHP officers by state law are based on the average compensation at five other law enforcement agencies: The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office and the police departments in Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland and San Francisco, the five biggest police jurisdictions at the time the law was passed in 1974.

It’s considered a good deal for the union, the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, because it doesn’t have to negotiate with the governor over wage increases. It’s the only state employee union with that arrangement.

When it comes to pay, most California Highway Patrol officers don’t live in the five biggest police jurisdictions in the state, and the Legislative Analyst’s Office wants to know why they’re paid like police and sheriff’s deputies in California’s most expensive metro areas. The office in 2007 encouraged lawmakers to repeal the provision in state law that gives CHP officers automatic pay raises.

Heat Wave To Toast Malibu To A Bronze, Valley To A Crisp

The Malibu coastal strip will remain cooler than inland this week … but inland will be 18 degrees above normal. 

Predicted highs along the Malibu coast will be in the 85 degree area for the next 2 days … then actually start to drop back Friday.

But inland … the Santa Monica Mountains will be 101 today .. 102 tomorrow. 

Expect big beach crowds all week … it will be 108 in the San Fernando Valley tomorrow … 108 Thursday.

Plenty of electricity … says the state.

The fire danger will be increasing as the brush dries out.