=. The rain has blown out … downcoast winds up to 45 miles an hour possible today.

=.  A big hoo-hah…. groundbreaking for the cougar bridge today on the 101 at Liberty Canyon.

=.  But nobody has talked to the people who live next door … who will have an artificial hillside brought in behind their homes.

=.  Malibu needs two or four million dollars for a new sheriff’s station … and may hike the sales tax to get it.

=.  The minimum wage goes up to almost 16 dollars an hour this summer.

=.  It was supposed to be 15 dollars … but blame inflation.

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

A personal note:  This newscast is written under tight deadline pressure, without a proofreader.   We publish and broadcast a huge volume of news. 

Your writer has very bad eyesight.  Corrective eye operations have been delayed two years due to the pandemic. 

Typos slip through.   Voice dictation often makes errors transcribing the script.  And there is a radio broadcast underway as news is written.   

Bellyachers about typos will be given cheerful refunds. 

About 2/3 Inch Of Rain Last Night, Big Winds Today

That was on intense little rain front that moved through Malibu last night.

During the 10 p-m hour … intense rain was reported along the coast.

More than a half inch at the west end of Malibu …

All the roads are open … as the rain ended by 11.

It being a Malibu rainstorm … there was at least one transformer explosion.

Souther California Edison has a particular problem with its equipment getting wet … which doesn’t happen very often.

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Support for KBUU radio… for eight years now… has come from Rancho Del Cielo. Perched high above the Pacific Ocean and overlooking Paradise Cove… Rancho Del Cielo is a partner bringing public radio to the Malibu.

People Living Next To Wildlife Bridge Welcome Cougars, But Ready For 2 Years Of Noise And Dust

A huge ceremony … big enough to close freeway ramps … planned for today.

The 87 million dollar project Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Bridge has its official groundbreaking ceremony this morning.

The plan is to build a set of concrete tubes over the freeway … and over Agoura Road … in Agoura Hills… 

Then … the freeway tubes will be buried … the canyon will be filled in with tons and tons of dirt. 

One problem.

No one has discussed this grand plan with the people who live in two small subdivisions …. right next to what will become a new hillside and wildlife freeway.

Hyde Park Drive is right next to the new tunnels and artificial hillside. 

We walked the street yesterday … and found that people support saving cougars … but they feel a bit steamrolled. 

Like this man … his first name is Houman.

NEWSCART A73303 BRIDGE DONT SEE

“Uh … not to sound self-serving or conceited … or selfish or anything like that …

“Animals’ lives are important. We definitely like to preserve them. 

“However … while we don’t want to encroach not their territory … it’s kind of unfair that they are starting to encroach in our territory.

“Now I understand the purpose of the bridge is to connect both sides so that they can migrate and be able to better breed across different bloodlines … and all of that.

“That’s absolutely important. 

“Personally I just don’t know if I see how this is going to really really work and pan out.”

One woman named Tammy lives on Hyde Park Drive will have an artificial hillside built right outside her fence.

And Tammy says she’s okay with that … but is worried about animals that will be displaced by the massive construction. 

NEWSCART A73305 BRIDGE INTO MY YARD

“Just snakes another little critters coming up because they are going to be upsetting their home for a little bit so I put some chicken wire back there so they don’t come into my yard.”

The bridge at the 101 west of Liberty Canyon area will relieve the biggest “pinch point” for mountain lions in the region. 

But here are other places where mountain lions get frequently hit.

Like Malibu Canyon Road … and Kanan Dume Road.

And there are some places where mountain lions have wandered into traffic … with fatal results … while trying to cross into areas where they really don’t stand a good chance of a happy life.

Like the mountain lion killed several weeks ago trying to cross PCH … with only a row of beachfront houses on the ocean side of the road. 

And the 405 freeway near Getty Center … where a young male mountain lion looking for fresh habitat got killed by a vehicle yesterday.

The crossing near Liberty Canyon is set for completion in 2025.

Until then … Houman on Hyde Park Drive is resigned to what’s ahead.

NEWSCART A73304  BRIDGE DISRUPTION 

“It is going to make a lot of noise and bring out a lot of critters. 

“It’s gonna be a tremendous amount of disruption to traffic… to debris… to life around here.”

And his neighbor Tammy???  She says she’s not worried about cougars in her back yard,

NEWSCART A73302 BRIDGE WE LL SEE

“Ummm … no I’ve never seen one.”

REPORTER: “But if they build the bridge they might come?

TAMMY: “If they build it they will come?”

REPORTER: “Maybe.”

TAMMY “We’ll see (laughing). We’ll see!”

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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 

‘The Mountain’ Arena And Student Center Plans Will Be Unveiled By Pepperdine Next Month

Pepperdine University is going to unveil plans next month for its proposed new large new field house  … an indoor athletics gym …and student recreation center.

So big … they call it “The Mountain.”

Plans are to be unveiled at a fundraising dinner on May 7th … according to the student newspaper … the Pepperdine Graphic. 

Fundraising and construction hit delays due to the Covid pandemic. 

The student parking lot on the upper campus will be replaced with an underground parking area … the large field house … and a student recreation center. 

A 250 million dollar price tag has been floated … bout half of that has been raised … although exact details have not been released.

Conceptual plans for the Pepperdine University Field House … a large indoor basketball stadium … have been approved already by the Coastal Commission.

The City of Malibu is cut out of the discussion … the city limits lines were drawn 31 years ago at Pepperdine’s request to exclude the Pepperdine campus from the Malibu city limits.

The existing field house is a multipurpose arena built in 1973.  It seats 3,104 for sporting events and up to 5,000 for concerts, graduation ceremonies, and lectures.

The new field house may be three times that capacity. It’s effect on traffic on Pacific Coast Highway … not exactly clear.

Again … specific details have yet to be announced.

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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.

The Malibu Association of Realtors …  supporters of our local community … and supporters of local radio 99.1 KBUU. Malibu’s city budget is going to get some attention next week.

Council Win Discuss Budget And Possible Tax Hikes Next Week

On Monday … the city council will discuss how it can guarantee city services will survive any possible economic downturn.

Also .. how to come up with the several million dollars it will cost to ramp up operations at the new sheriff’s station in the Civic Center, 

They city council will discuss several possible tax increases to be put before city voters.

Maybe an increase in the sales tax.

About half of the cities in L A County do that.

Raising the sales tax by a half cent per dollar purchased would yield about 2.8 million dollars per year …. about the cost of the new sheriff’s station.

Santa Monica and Culver City have recently jacked up the tax levied on the sale of real estate … particularly expensive … high-end real estate.

That’s an obvious possibility.

And another is adding the 10 percent parking lot tax to the fees paid to valet parking operations.

Let’s call that the Nobu tax.

Any tax hike would require four out of five council members to vote to send it to the voters …. And then … a majority of voters to approve. 

That’s on Monday night.

And Wednesday night at 6 … at a special city council session …. They will start work on the city’s budget for next year 

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But getting back to Monday’s meeting … as we’ve reported already … the council will talk about possibly walking back its decision to have in-person meetings starting in three weeks.

Also … the controversial matter of whether to use the city owned lot at PCH at Heathercliff as a temporary lot to stored cars that get towed away for blocking fire lanes or driveways.

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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.

$15.96 Minimum Wage Goes Into Effect In Malibu In July

The minimum wage in Malibu is climbing to almost 16 dollars an hour. 

And now …., Malibu employers are required to post a city notice of that minimum wage at the workplace.

A city announcement yesterday said the new $15.96 wage includes a 6.4% cost of living increase.

That’s based on federal statistics for the cost of living in the local region.

And it takes effect July First.

This is the first time that the city had to adjust the local minimum wage upward to reflect the actual cost of living inn the Los Angeles and Long Beach area.

And beginning now … all employers within the Malibu city limits are required print out and display a poster explaining the ordinance, worker rights and protections.

You can get the poster at  https://www.malibucity.org/MinimumWagePoster

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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. The weekly melees at the Santa Monica Pier are going to cost another half million dollars to control.

Santa Monica Grapples With Increasing Costs To Prevent A Bacon Grease-Encrusted Pier

Santa Monica’s city council next week will consider an emergency $485,000 contract extension with a private security contractor to continue providing beefed up private security at the Santa Monica Pier.

The extended contract with CA Panther will help code enforcement continue to crack down on illegal vendors who overrun the Santa Monica Pier on weekends.

It’s a bad scene … a melee … with hot dog vendors arguing … tourists getting harassed … health codes violates… and molten hot dog and bacon grease being dumped own the wooden structure or into the water.

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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