=.  Crash in Malibu Cyn 1 mile south of tunnel.  Avoid both directions til 9 a m.

=.  Winds will return to blast Malibu today … gusts up to 490 expected between 8 and 2.

=.  Covid levels plummet to near zero in Malibu schools. 

=.  The snarling Malibu city council may hire a facilitator to smooth things over.

=.  ADUs… granny flats … the future of Malibu growth … before the Planning Commission tonight.

=.  Santa Monica is taking detectives and putting them in squad cars to get more cops on the street now.

=.  First …an Amazon warehouse … next … more car carriers on PCH.  Oxnard’s industrial growth may squeeze traffic into Malibu.

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

Rare Whale Put To Sleep After Beaching At Surfrider

A beached whale at Surfrider beach has been put to sleep.

It was a pygmy whale .. it had numerous bloody gashes.

The whale was discovered in the 5pm hour Sunday.

Californi Wildlife Center experts arrived within an hour to transport the bloodied creature.

But it could not be saved … and was put to sleep.

Number Of Coronavirus Cases In Malibu Schools Plummets 

Malibu High had 10 students diagnosed as positive with the Coronavirus in the first week of February. 

But in the last three weeks … altogether …, 4 students and 1 staff in the last three weeks.

Malibu Middle school … had only 5 students diagnose positive in the entire month.

On Point Dume … Malibu Elementary School … five students diagnosed positive all month.  Last week … zero.

And at the Civic Center …. Webster Elementary had only two positive tests results all month. 

On Point Dume… at Malibu Elementary … right now there are no classrooms under a modified quarantine. 

At this time masks are still required indoors at school.

The official worldwide global death toll from COVID-19 is on the verge of eclipsing 6 million — underscoring that the pandemic, now entering its third year, is far from over.

The death toll, compiled by Johns Hopkins University, stood at 5,997,994 as of Sunday afternoon.

Travel is resuming and businesses are reopening around the globe.

Remote Pacific islands, whose isolation had protected them for more than two years, are just now grappling with their first outbreaks and deaths, fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant.

As death rates remain high in Poland, Hungary, Romania and other Eastern European countries, the region has seen more than 1 million refugees arrive from war-torn Ukraine, a country with poor vaccination coverage and high rates of cases and deaths.

And despite its wealth and vaccine availability, the United States is nearing 1 million reported deaths on its own.

Death rates worldwide are still highest among people unvaccinated against the virus.

“This is a disease of the unvaccinated — look what is happening in Hong Kong right now, the health system is being overwhelmed” said one researcher.

“ “The large majority of the deaths and the severe cases are in the unvaccinated, vulnerable segment of the population.”

Wrong Way Head-On Crash Kills 2 At Bar Closing Time In Oxnard-Ventura

A head-on crash at 2 in the morning Sunday … bar closing time … on the 101 Freeway northwest of Malibu.

The wrong way driver entered the southbound freeway at Oxnard Boulevard … and made it two miles before causing the crash. 

The driver of the wrong way car … and the driver of the car he hit … both dead.

On passenger was injured.

The southbound freeway was closed for six hours Sunday morning.

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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

One Councilman Proposes A Mediator And A Special Meeting To Hash Things Out

Malibu’s city council is dysfunctional in several key areas.

It’s unable to hire a new city manager … 10 months after the previous one was ousted,

Political sniping abounds.

Snarling.   Apologies accompanied by more snarling. 

One city Councilmember wants to bring in a facilitator. 

Mikke Pierson wants to bring in a facilitator … and orgaiomnze a retreat.

It would have to be open to the public to observe … and it would have to be in Malibu.

Pierson proposes that the facilitator should start by interviewing key persons …and then a workshop that involves discussions and consensus building on what the most important issues are to the organization.

From this, top priorities or a strategic plan could be created to fulfill the goals of the workshop.

The proposed workshop is called a retreat … although the state laws prohibit meeting outside city limits and require the public to be able to watch. 

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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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ADUs Go Before Planning Commission Tonight

Tonight … the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on A D Us in Malibu.

Auxiliary dwelling units… guest houses… splitting houses… Auxiliary Dwelling Units… A D Us.

Some Malibu planning commissioners have said that widespread ADUs in Malibu are dangerous … 

The entire city of Malibu is a Very High Fire Hazard Safety Zone … and we basically have one road in and out. 

Adding additional residents would add to the inevitable traffic jam next time there is an evacuation.

But the city may have found a way to deny widespread ADUs.

First … the state law that requires them exempts the Coastal areas under Coastal Commission jurisdiction … where the commission as local plans in effect for each city.

Malibu has an LCP.

Second … make it much harder to put an ADU into a property that does not have two very wide driveways or streets for access.

Those ADUs would have to have interior sprinklers … increased setbacks … other costly measures.

Thew city staff report on the issue is highly technical and runs 17 pages.

The city Planning Commission will hold a hearing on all this Monday night. 

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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 .

 

Oxnard Wants To Increase Car Unloading At Port, Likely Increasing Truck Traffic On PCH In Malibu

If you live in Malibu… You’ve no doubt seen those car carriers the big trucks carrying cars driving down Pacific Coast highway. 

Trucks are banned on PCH through Malibu… but one company has figured out that the ban applies only to trucks with more than three axles… 

And they’ve built a fleet of trucks with three axles to transport cars. These brand new cars are unloaded from ships at Port Hueneme… then driven in the Los Angeles via Malibu to escape heavy traffic and the CHP truck inspection on the 101 freeway.

Now comes news that the city of Oxnard plans to expand car shipments through Port Hueneme.

Oxnard is considering a plan to build a new parking lot next to Ormond beach in South Oxnard.

This would allow the shipping company to consolidate its operations and bring more car unloading moves to Port Hueneme.

There’s an environmental impact report out on this… and nobody notified anyone In Malibu. 

The issue of trucks on Pacific Coast Highway… which is closed to through trucking… it’s not examined.

This is the second major industrial development in Oxnard that apparently will affect Pacific Coast Highway.

Amazon is building a gigantic regional fulfillment center near the north end of PCH … next to the 101 Freeway at Rice Avenue.

Oxnard recruited Amazon and the hundreds of jobs it will bring.

The city council approved the project under a code name.  

And Oxnard did an environmental impact report about the project’s traffic impact.

But the E I R did not discuss delivery vehicles … 

It said the project will have 119 big trucks arrive and depart daily … with round the clock operations. 

The way that Amazon often operates … is that big trucks bring stuff in … and little vans take stuff out.

Will delivery vans be loaded at Oxnard?  If not there …. Where???

Will this giant 24 hour warehouse send delivery vans out to affect Malibu???

Delivery vans are not addressed in the Oxnard traffic analysis.

It’s possible … we don’t know but it is possible … that delivery vans will be traveling between Oxnard and West Los Angeles.

On Pacific Coast Highway…. through Malibu.

Getting back to the proposed parking lot for imported cars at Port Hueneme. 

Oxnard says the proposed parking lot will primarily be used by Hyundai … Kia and General Motors to unload increasing numbers of electric cars. 

Which will be unloaded and shipped through Malibu on large diesel trucks … specifically designed to get around the state law against trucks on Pacific Coast Highway. 

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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.

La Costa Beachfront Home Owner Picks Up Massive Party House Above Bel Air

A fashion billionaire who owns a house on La Costa beach has emerged as the new owner of a mega mansion in the Hollywood hills called “The One.”

The one is the mega mansion on the hill top that is the size of a large resort…

Richard Saghian is the winning bidder. … he spent $141 million to buy “The One” mega-mansion.

Saghian beat out four other bidders Thursday for the 105,000-square-foot house on a Bel-Air hilltop — the largest home in Los Angeles.

He bought his oceanfront house at La Costa from Netflix boss Ted Sarandos last year for $14.7 million.

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In news from downtime coast … Santa Monica’s new police chief is taking immediate steps to increase the number of cops in cars taking calls.

Chief Ramon Batista is taking detectives… Traffic officers… And others from police headquarters and putting them in squad cars… for at least a couple of shifts a week.

The Santa Monica Daily Press reports that the crime rate for serious crimes in Santa Monica has gone down… But the crime rate for less serious offenses has gone up creating the perception that crime is out of control.

Batista told the Santa Monica Daily Press that the SM PD had been staffed with the same number of officers for 15 or 20 years.

In that time the city’s population and business districts have grown.

Batista told the newspaper there are around 10 or 11 current officer vacancies in the Department … plus a lot of police officers out on injury leave.

Batista was brought in by the Santa Monica City Council after a disastrous couple of years for the department.

Police were widely faulted of their Black Lives Matter debacle … when the police were concentrating their attention on a p[eaceful parade for civil rights at the pier … at the same time that organized bands of looters were pillaging downtown Santa Monica. 

 

 

 

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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

Between 10 and 2 … you can hear the newscast playback loop on KBU2. That’s on FM 99.1 HD2 in your car, or streaming at s7.viastreaming.net/6500

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