=.  California shifts from pandemic to endemic … what does that mean for your weekend weather?

=.  Alex Villanueva is furious that “deputy gangs” are being called “deputy gangs.”

=.  5 out of 6 Malibu gas stations are unable to keep their lights from spilling onto PCH.

=.  There are more kids than in years in Malibu Little League … the fields are at capacity.

=.  And pork belly alert … the 626 Night Market is headed to the 310. 

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This is Malibu’s Only Local Daily News … the Friday edition … I’m Hans Laetz reporting.

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PCH Traffic Snarled By Trancas Crash, Possible Escape Route’s Gate Left Locked

A three car crash yesterday at Zuma Beach sent two men to a hospital … and closed PCH eastbound for more than an hour.

Traffic backed up past Trancas… Back to the Broad Beach Road stop sign… There was no way around.

The driver of a very small pick up truck had tried to make a left turn out of Guernsey Avenue… I got nailed by a jeep heading towards Trancas.

A van heading the other direction got hit. 

No major injuries.

The western gate at Zuma Beach could have been opened… To allow the mile long back out to detour past the wreckage using the Zuma Beach parking lot. 

If that thought had occurred to the sheriffs deputies… they decided not to do it … maybe for safety reasons.

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You are listening to the latest news from Radio Malibu.

Support for KBUU’s radio covers from Orbit Homes Inc.

Prefabricated homes are the future of construction. Easy to get permits. Fast to build and install. Cost effective … little construction waste.

In Malibu, Orbit Homes has a showroom between City Hall and the Malibu racquet club.

Fire victims can check them out in person … and visit them on the web at www.orbithomes.us .

LA Mask Requirement Remains As State Enters Next Covid Stage: Living With It

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“We have all come to understand what was not understood at the beginning of this crisis: that there is no end it… There is not a moment where we declare victory.”

That’s Governor Gavin Newsom … yesterday … standing in a giant warehouse in Fontana … packed with Covid masks and medical supplies. 

The governor yesterday announced that California will be the first state in the union to formally shift from a “pandemic crisis” to an “endemic status quo” approach to the coronavirus.

Newsom announced a semi-pm,ernanent polka … with emphasis prevention and quick reaction to outbreaks.

As opposed to mandated masking and business shutdowns.

The governor envisions a return to a more normal existence … backed by billions in new spending to more quickly spot surges or variants, add health care workers, stockpile tests and push back against false claims and other misinformation.

“We are moving past the crisis phase into a phase where we will work to live with this virus … “

he says.

One of the goals is to avoid business closures and other far-reaching mandates. 

But …. However, he said the state’s requirement that schoolchildren be vaccinated against coronavirus by fall remains in effect.

He says “… Some counties, obviously L.A. County is one of them, may take a little more time, but I’m confident they’ll get there very very shortly.”

The governor says California is uniquely positioned to make the transition.

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“50% lower death rates in California then a state like Florida… 35+ percent lower death rate than the state like Texas… lower death rates than Illinois and Pennsylvania and New York… I could go on.’

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Villanueva Demands LA Supes To Stop Calling Deputies In Bandidos Or Executioners ‘Gang Deputies’

Another front in the war between Sheriff Alex Villanueva and the LA County Board of Supervisors.

The sheriff has fired off a cease and demand letter to the board of supervisors… His political nemesis.

He is demanding that the board stop using the term “deputy gangs” to refer to secret groups of deputies known to operate within the department.

The term “deputy gangs” has been used for years … sometimes by high ranking sheriff’s department officials … to refer to the secret societies.

In fact … at one point … a federal judge referred to gang deputies.

A new state law bans “deputy gangs.” 

The L A County Inspector General Max Huntsman is appointed by the supervisors to provide oversight of the Sheriff’s Department.

He says the agency has identified deputies who have tattoos associated with the Executioners and the Banditos … two deputy groups that operate at the department’s Compton and East L.A. stations.

Huntsman said the two groups have very few, if any, Black or female deputies, which he said could mean they qualify as a law enforcement gang under a new state law banning such groups.

Huntsman last month requested that Villanueva provide the names and contact information of any potential member of a “deputy gang” to aid the inspector general’s investigation into the groups.

Viullanueva is highly offended.

His letter states “This willful defamation of character has injured both individuals and the organization,” Villanueva wrote in the letter, dated Wednesday  and obtained by the LA Times.

“It also serves no purpose other than to fuel hatred.”

“Using this term as a blanket statement,” he wrote, “is political cowardice and opportunistic pandering.”

The sheriff demanded that the supervisors name names of deputies in gangs,.

That would appear to be exactly the point of the inspector general’s inquiry to the sheriff … which deputies are Bandidos and Executioners.

Villanueva’s is running for reelection this year… and is his election three years ago… he relied heavily on support from the sheriffs deputies union. 

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You are listening to the latest news from Radio Malibu.

Support for KBUU’s radio covers from Orbit Homes Inc.

Prefabricated homes are the future of construction. Easy to get permits. Fast to build and install. Cost effective … little construction waste.

In Malibu, Orbit Homes has a showroom between City Hall and the Malibu racquet club.

Fire victims can check them out in person … and visit them on the web at www.orbithomes.us .

Gas Stations Ask City To Loosen Rules On Spilling Light Onto Coast Highway

Malibu’s outdoor lighting rules are still not being enforced …. with one major exception.

Gas stations. 

Malibu has six gas stations … and they have in past years been a major source of complaints.

Lit brightly to attract customers … the gas station operators have been slow to comply with the city’s dark skies ordinance. 

Outdoor lighting at gas stations was supposed to be dark sky friendly 27 months ago.

Of the six gas stations …. all but one have failed miserably. 

At the other five gas stations … lighting fixtures have been rearranged … many lights removed.

But the canopies over the gas pumps shed too much light onto adjacent property. 

The City’s has brought in a lighting engineer as a consultant to work with gas stations to obtain compliance.

Jim Benya says these gas stations are following the cities rules to the letter… and even when they dim their lights to only 30% of normal output … PCH is lit up.

The Malibu city council is going to consider what to do about the gas station light pollution issue at its meeting in 10 days.

Then comes the thorny issue of what to do about homeowners or renters… Who violate the city light ordinance.

Many homeowners can comply simply by changing lightbulbs or pointing fixtures downward. But if you have to put in a new fixture… The city says you need a $177 building inspection.

Then comes the issue of violations.

A homeowner could be fined $354 per day… Actually per night… For violations.

But the city doesn’t have enough staff to go around patrolling at night to warn homeowners that their lights are too bright. 

And existing city policy means that complaints about zoning violations cannot be made anonymously.

Residents began clamoring for dark sky rules more than a decade ago.

The city council passed the rules in 2015 … and made them effective in 2018.

Since then … implementation and enforcement has been delayed over and over again.

The city Council is coming up with a $25,000 public education and outreach program… 

skies are getting brighter and brighter.

Malibu’s nighttime way of life has been destroyed by people lighting up their property … and the skies above their neighbors’ property. 

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Support for KBUU Radio also comes the the Malibu Association of Realtors.

When choosing someone to represent you when you buy … sell or rent a house … local knowledge is very important.

Malibu zoning rules … Coastal Commission rules …

Members of the Malibu Association of Realtors are local experts.

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Malibu Little League Blossoms to 240 Kids, But Kids Are Out Of Field Space

Malibu’s Little league is a whole lot more than a place for kids to play baseball and softball.

For decades … it has been a vital part of the community in Malibu.

Malibu is almost 30 miles long … and parents in one neighborhood do not really know parents down the PCH.
Little League … since the 1940s … as brought Malibu together.

For the past two year s… after several years of declining numbers of players … Little League enrollment is up. 

Way up.

Malibu Little League president Nick Shurgott.

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“Our enrollment is up to about 240 kids so there’s a lot of excitement… we’ve got about 65 girls for softball that’s included in the 240 number… And that’s up from again about 10 girls two years ago so there’s a lot of work being done on the softball side… And that’s super exciting… In 2021 we were up to about 205 kids and this year were up to about 240 kids.”

Malibu’s Little League starts the season in two weeks. 

Bluffs park is already seeing some changes … the snake bar and equipment storage containers have been shuffled a bit … 

There are some major changes … says Nick Shurgot.

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“We started to make some capital improvements to sort of make the experience nicer. We spent about $10,000 last year fixing up the batting cage and we have another 60 or $70,000 in capital projects pending for this year.

“We’re going to extend the batting cage… cutting in half so there are two batting cages… we’re going to redo the infield dirt on the majors field because that sort of turn to a standing hard concrete surface… which is not very playable.

“So getting those to infields totally redone and then redoing the stack shack in cooperation with the city. That’s always been a super fun part of Little League is going to get some big league chew or a Coke or some popcorn or whatever.

“This year we’re going to have the snack shack set up just as Ted rules and chairs as we work on replacing the stack shack for the 2023 season. So there’s lots of exciting stuff and we’re super excited.”

With 240 kids on the field … the fields at Bluffs Park are on overload.

Malibu for years has been talking about additional sports fields … at first at Bluffs park … then on other land.

The city has bought two large fields … the chili cookout site and a large field on Point Dume  

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“We could use… I know soccer could use some more fields and we could certainly use one more baseball field. That would allow us to keep going growing the league to maybe 300 to 350 and maybe host some tournaments which would bring in some excitement as well.”

Malibu Little League President Nick Shurgot. This spring’s baseball season… And softball season… Begins with the opening day ceremonies in two weeks… On Saturday, March 5th.

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Support for KBUU Radio comes from the Malibu Foundation.

The Malibu Foundation underwrote the KBUU solar panels and batteries at the transmitter … which keeps KBUU’s FM transmitting on 99.1 during storms and blackouts… 24 seven… on clean renewable Malibu sunshine.

Delectable 626 Street Food Coming To The 310

Finally this morning … the 626 Night Market is coming to Malibu adjacent.

What is the 626 Night Market???

Well .. it’s named after the 626 area code East of L.A …. A two hour drive on a typical weeknight from the westside.

The 626 Night market is a festival of street food in the San Gabriel Valley … 250 vendors offering Asian delights.

And starting in next weekend … a smaller version of the 626 Night market will open up at Fifth in Arizona.

The Santa Monica Daily Press has that great news. 

When the event is in full force at the Santa Anita race track … it regularly attracts around 100,000 attendees per three day weekend and includes food, merchandise, artwork, crafts, games and live music.

The smaller scale version of the 626 Festival will run for five weekends … starting next weekend … at Fifth and Arizona in Santa Monica.

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Support for KBUU Radio comes from the Malibu Brewing Company.

Malibu Brewing Company is a locally owned craft brewery, proudly supporting our community, and local public radio. 

Just released: a limited, holiday-spiced Winter Ale …  a perfect fireside companion.

It makes a special gift for the beer-lovers on your list.

Find Malibu Brewing Company premium craft beer in select retailers, or order direct at brew malibu dot com

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You can hear the news live every morning until 9:30 on KBUU.

FM 99.1 in western Malibu.  Also: streaming at www.radiomalibu.net

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If humanly possible, the KBUU NewsScript is usually published at around midday at www.radiomalibu.net