KBUU NewsScript Tues Nov 16 – Thanksgiving Covid Surge Feared – How Many Low Income Houses For Malibu? – MHS Principal Worries Kids Not Taking Computer Work Seriously
Written by 991KBU on November 16, 2021
Thanksgiving is in just nine days.
And health officials across California are getting more and more worried about people traveling and gathering with their family during the holiday season.
Satte health director mark Ghlay in Sacramento.
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“Get that added protection for the Thanksgiving holiday events that you might attend. Certainly going into the other winter holidays it is important. What we are seeing is that more cases among those who are vaccinated early. We are concerned about what that means for hospitalizations and pressure on our healthcare delivery system. But ultimately for your safety and protection. So now is the best time to consider getting the shot.”
Get that added protection for the Thanksgiving gatherings that you may attend.Certainly going into the other winter holidays it is important.What we are seeing is that now more cases amongst those who are vaccinated. Earlier we were concerned about and pressure on our hospitals and our other healthcare delivery systems, but ultimately for your safety and protection. So now is the best time to consider getting that shot.
L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer warns again that the initial rounds of vaccinations are diminishing in power.
And if vaccinated people contract the virus … they may or may not get very sick.
Chances are they may b infected but without symptoms.
And that means they can infect others who really could end up with very serious illness., Vaccinated people will be at greater risk of breakthrough infections, which can lead to hospitalizations and death among the most vulnerable.
Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s secretary of health and human services, said during a briefing last week that California parents are stampeding to the vaccination centers with their kids.
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“Over 110 thousand young people 5 to 11 in California as of this morning have received their first shot. That is tremendous effort, that is just the beginning, with over nearly 1.6 million shots here in California available to young people.”
In Malibu … the death toll remains at 11… with another six people who worked in Malibu and part of the local community also killed by the disease.
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The pandemic … quarantines and school closures … have been hard … very hard … on school kids worldwide.
Malibu is no exception,
Malibu High principal Patrick Miller is asking parents to check their kids progress on the computer Parent Portal … and then have a sit down with the kids.
The principal says some students are not performing in-line with our expectations, in-line with past performance, and likely not in-line with yours, the parent’s expectations. He says computer work assignments are being viewed as … what he calls just “school work.”
Students must do their part … Miller says.
He worries that the school is seeing more and more negative and destructive social behaviors including vaping, drug and alcohol use.
Miller says whatever the problems might be, progress will be faster if parents talk to their kids … and work with the teacher to resolve them,.
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If you were in Malibu in 2008 … you might remember a huge controversy back then over the city’s plans to low income housing.,
Every eight years … the state requires every city in California to come up with places for housing to be constructed.
Every city gets a number of new housing units that it must accommodate … and that is a big mess in a place like Malibu … where nearly all the residential lots in the city had been built out.
But this time … Planning Director Richard Mollica says no problem.
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“There is – unlike our past our first housing element back in ’08 and 2010 – there is no rejoining or upzoning (that) is part of this.
Mollica does say Malibu does need to make some changes … to better accommodate ADUS and to streamline construction.
Malibu is supposed to accommodate 79 housing units over the next 8 years.
Multi family lots could be built on landzoned for two lots on PCH across the highway from Paradise Cove … which have been zoned for multifamily apartments for decades.
One issue … the number of new housing units is based on population … and Malibu’s population has shrunk from 12 thousand to 10 thousand.
Two factos there … the Woolsey Fire burned down a lot of houses …
Also … a lot of houses have been purchased for vacation use.
Plus … the number of buildable lots in Malibu has skyrocketed … because of 460 houses that burned down … and more than half of those lots sitting vacant.
The city’s housing consultant … John Douglas … says the state really ignored any community’s special circumstances when it gave Malibu its goal,.
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“It was a snapshot in time and it doesn’t take into effect some recent events. It doesn’t take into effect the Woolsey Fire. That’s the formula that has been handed to us by the State Legislature as we do this housing element update.”
The housing element update now goes to the city council … then has to be approved by the state.
City officials emphasize that Malibu does not have to rezone any land this time … and does not have to subsidize and low income housing.
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City planning commissioner John Mazza says he wonders why Malibu is not acting like a similar coastal city … undergrounding power lines and creating a fire break between the city and the mountains.
At last night’s planning commission meeting … Mazza said he is watching what is happening in Laguna Beach … where he owns a house.
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“I have a house in Laguna and they’ve been proactive on the fire prevention. They are putting a fire break around the whole city. They are also in the process of doing it right now and they’re also in the process of undergrounding every powerline on Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach, which is the same geography that we have with the mountains on one side. And they are doing this all with grants.”
Above Malibu …. There are a few fire breaks from the 1950s up in the mountains.
But no fire break has been created … or existing fire break even improved … in more than 30 years.
Park agencies and some environmentalists have opposed the construction of firebreaks … or the removal of brush and wood from the existing fire breaks.
And a state proposal to follow the county fire department’s recommendations … and use a controlled burn to build a fire break int he Big Rock area … was rejected.
The local county supervisor … Sheila Kuehl … shot down the controlled burn after the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation raised objections on environmental grounds.
County fire department says there’s about 400 acres of invasive brush and trees… Not native plants… In the big rock area… And that presents a major fire hazard to the 300 or so houses there.
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One other item of interest at last night’s Planning Commission meeting.
The Planning Commission elected a chairman.
It is Kraig Hill … voted in on a unanimous 5-0 vote.
At the last meeting there was a big controversy … Hill could not win the election after the commission deadlocked 2-2.
Last nights unanimous vote surprised even Hill.
It being the Planning Commission … there was a little controversy.
Dennis Smith was nominated fore the vice chairman job.
John Mazza said it was his turn … and he nominated himself.
No deadlock this time … as mark Wettton was sworn in as the fifth commissioner.
It was 3-2 … Dennis Smith over John Mazza.
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It may be just us … but we are noticing a dramatic increase in the number of monarch butterflies in our little corner of Malibu.
Now comes news from up the coast that this year’s winter migration of Monarch Butterflies in our region, is bringing hope to the declining numbers seen in previous years.
The Goleta Monarch Butterfly Grove near UC Santa Barbara is seeing a small rebound in the number of butterflies.
Last year … only 16 butterflies wintered at the site.That’s 16 … compared to 48 thousand ten years earlier.This year … the grove near Santa Barbara is starting to see the numbers come back up but not really to the level where they should be.
Scientists are cautiously hopeful. Monarch butterflies across North America have been disappearing add an alarming rate… with the loss of habitat partly to blame.
But some scientist also blame the use of insecticides… and in particular… Herbicides like round up which are used on agricultural fields to control pests.
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Malibu High School’s Sharks Fund is hosting a Holiday Boutique …
This Thursday … at the school.
Swimwear … jewelry … candles… orchids.
A lot of the vendors are Malibu residents and parents of children in the school.
Proceeds go to fund arts teachers …. Science technology engineering and math tutors … athletics.
Aid from the Santa Monica school district … Malibu property tax money that flows to Santa Monica … is not flowing back out to Malibu ..
The history … is that Malibu parents used to lavishly donate to the local schools.
The Santa Monica school district said that was no fair … parents in Santa Monica could not afford that,.
So Santa Monica took the donations from Malibu.
Malibu parents stopped donating.
Santa Monica parents began raising money in a big way … and with Malibu parents still angry … donation money began to flow from Santa Monica to Malibu.
So the school board cut that off.
As a result … for example … Santa Monica elementary schools now have arts teachers.
Malibu elementary schools don’t.
This makes the PTAs at the elementary schools … and the Malibu Middle and High School Shark Fund even … even more instrumental than ever.
That brings us back to the Malibu High Shark Fund Holiday Boutique.
This Thursday … from 8 to 4 at the high school.
