=.  Covid cases are up 24 percent in LA County … and Malibu High had a positive case on campus this week.

=.  Anyone exposed to this person at the high school has to wear a mask fro the next 10 days.

=.  Too many cops on quads on Zuma Beach … the sheriff’s office agrees … the beach patrol gets a “fat trim” this summer. 

=. A third whistleblower says Alex Villanueva is lying about what he knew and when he knew it.

=. And this person is a 34-year veteran of the department … a high ranking official who says Villanueva demoted her when she refused his blackmail.

= Surf’s up. … a clean 3 to 5 … Says Mo.

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

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MHS Gets A Covid Notice, Masks Required For Anyone Exposed

Malibu High School has sent out a notice.

Last Sunday … Monday … and Tuesday … at least one person with infectious Covid 19 was on the campus at Malibu High. 

It’s not clear how many people were exposed.

Under the county health guidelines … all individuals who were exposed on campus may return to school as long as they do not have symptoms of illness.

Children may remain in school and participate in all school activities, including sports and extracurricular activities, provided they have no symptoms.

And … the bad news … that means mandatory face masks again … through next week.

All exposed students and staff are REQUIRED to wear a highly protective mask around others indoors, except when eating or drinking, for 10 days after the last date of exposure.

More details on that may be coming today. 

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LA County Covid Case Load Up 24%, But Hospitalizations Do Not Indicate ‘Sixth Wave’

L.A. County has seen its case rate rise by 24% in the past week,.

On a per person basis … LA County’s case rate right now is 142 cases a week for every 100,000 residents. 

A rate of 100 or more is considered a high rate of transmission under the thresholds established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Variant upon variant is appearing … each more infectious than the last. 

The culprit behind last winter’s wave was a subvariant known as BA.1.

BA 1 is 50% more transmissible than the Delta strain that hit California last summer.

It has mutated into a child sub subvariant called BA.2 … which is about 30% more transmissible than the parent. 

And BA 2 has now mutated into a new sub-subvariant — or “grandchild” of the original Omicron 

BA.2.12.1 is 25% more contagious than BA.2.

And here is the really bad news … 

Indications that two even newer subvariants are able to reinfect people who previously survived an infection with Omicron.

L A County officials are not yet calling this a “Sixth Wave.”

So far there is no accompanying spike in hospitalizations and deaths associated with the increased case positivity.

“All of our waves in the past, I … want to note, have been characterized not just by an increase in cases but also by an increase in hospitalizations a couple of weeks — two to three weeks — later, and then an increase sadly, in deaths,” Ferrer said. “So, we haven’t seen either of those and we’re way past the three-week mark.”

Back at the local schools … no cases have been detected at Malibu Elementary or Webster Elementary schools. 

Just the one case at Malibu High. 

And exposed individuals are required to test with an FDA-authorized viral COVID-19 test … either a PCR or antigen test … , including at-home tests within 3-5 days since the last date of last exposure.

The district is doing antigen tests for all SMMUSD students and staff today … at Malibu Elementary School on Pint Dume only.

That’s from 8:30 to 1:30 daily.

PCR tests are being administered only at John Adams Middle School … on 16th Street just north of Ocean park Boulevard… in Santa Monica … also from 8:30 to 1:30 on school days.

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Beach Team Goes On A Diet, Fewer ATVs At Zuma Planned – 15 Loud Exhausts Removed From Cross Creek

The summer beach team on Zuma Beach is being cut back … by as much as 50 percent.

No more will there be 8 deputies riding next to each other on All Terrain Vehciles … patrolling the beach for people drinking beer or wine. 

Last night … Lieutenant Chad Watters said the sheriff’s office has reviewed past staffing levels … and agrees … that was overkill … and it was time to “trim the fat.”

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“I guess the best way to put it is that we trimmed the fat.

“There was a lot of excess in there that did not need to be there so we took that out … and we really focussed on what we really needed the most.”

Malibu taxpayers paid 905 thousand dollars last year for the patrols on the beach … which the sheriff’s office now agrees was excessive.

The new plan … 

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“Basically what it is going to end up being is about 4 to 6 deputies in the Zuma area… and another 2-4 more deputies in the pocket beaches and down in the area of Surfrider.”

Two sergeants will be on the beach team on heavy beach use days.

It’s not clear if the city will be charged less this year than last year’s $905,000 cost for the Beach Team,

Watters also made it clear that the deputies on the beach … on the ATVs .. also have squad cars that they can jump into to do other duties …if the crows is thin or if something major comes up.

And although the deputies are being paid overtime to work the beach … the sheriff’s office eats the cost of the OT … and only charges Malibu the deputies’ hourly pay. 

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15 Loud Exhausts Removed From Cross Creek, As Car Shows Wane

And also at the Public Safety Commission last night …the sheriff’s office announced it has been able to force 15 drivers to remove loud exhaust systems from their vehicles.

It’s against the law in California ti  rot remove emission equipment … yet apparently some men with apparent testosterone deficiency insist on making their little cars go vroom vroom vroom.

Sheriff Lt Chad Watters said cars that have been modified to make loud noise have been cited … their owners required to return them to factory specifications … and the owners fined.

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“We’ve had … in the last month … about 15 state referee tickets given out… 

“Which means those people have to go to an actual state referee… licensed through the DMV… They have to have the vehicles inspected… then they get fined… And the vehicles have to be put back too stock ,,,, so they don’t have any modifications done that are not California legal.”

Sheriff Lt Chad Watters says told the Public Safety Commission last night that this type of enforcement is now getting noticed on the Internet. 

Attendance at the impromptu and illegal car shows at the Cross Creek shopping Center has been dropping as a result.

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Members of the Malibu Association of Realtors are local experts.

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Villanueva’s Office A Mess, 2nd Top Official Claims Coverup

Alex Villanueva is hit with lawsuit number three.

A third top ranking official ensure of Alex Villanueva’s office has come forward with a lawsuit against the county taxpayers… alleging that Villanueva covered up video of deputy misconduct during the George Floyd misconduct trial.

This third lawsuit comes from former LASD Chief Lajuana Haselrig.

Hadselrig is the second former high ranking sheriff’s official to point to evidence that the sheriff demoted her in the midst of getting his story straight during a cover up of what he knew … and when he knew it. 

Haselrig … a former chief in the sheriff’s office …makes a smilier claim as Roberta Limon… the former assistant sheriff to Villanueva, 

The attorney for the third plaintiff .. Vincent Miller … told ABC 7 yesterday that Villanueva demanded his top-ranking officials agree to cover up his desire to deep six the videotape

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“After sheriff Villanueva got caught red handed on March 29th when the video of the excessive use of force was leaked to the news media … Sheriff Villanueva then panicked and was desperate to cover his tracks.”

Miller was interviewed yesterday by ABC 7. 

The lawsuit was filed yesterday by former LASD Chief Lajuana Haselrig … who had worked for the sheriff’s office for 34 years. 

She claims that “due to the Sheriff’s illegal conduct, (Haselrig’s) long career in law enforcement is over and illegally destroyed by the County of Los Angeles and its employees.”

Villanueva is sticking to his story ,… at a camapiogn event yesterday … that he never even saw the tape in question … back in March of last year … as alleged by three lawsuits.

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“And the fact is … by November 18th … when I had knowledge of the incident … the administrative investigation had already been instigated … the criminal investigation had already been initiated … so there is no whistle to be blown … because that’s the two things that had to happen … happened.

“So we have to put this in the campaign context.”

Villanueva says that happened November 18th.

Two if his former top aides … now demoted … say that happened back in March … and that they got demoted by refusing to go along with Villanueva’s time line. 

No matter who is right in this nasty battle … Villanueva’s office is clearly beset by internal squabbling at the highest level. 

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Deputy Charged With Abusing A Woman On Duty By County District Attorney

And there is another case of alleged deputy misconduct unfolding. 

In the San Fernando Valley … an L A County sheriff’s deputy has been accused of two counts of  felony counts of assault under color of authority and one count of making false statements in a report.

Deputy Konrad Thieme, 37, was charged with assaulting a woman in Chatsworth while on duty and falsifying a report about the encounter.

Thieme and two other deputies responded to a disturbance call on April 10, 2021, in the 9300 block of Cima de Lago Street in Chatsworth.

Prodsecutors allege the deputy assaulted a 32-year-old woman who was unarmed, prosecutors said.

No details were released about what led to the alleged assault.

Prosecutors said Thieme later falsified a report about what went down.

A portion of the encounter was captured on body-worn camera video.

Thieme is on administrative leave, the Sheriff’s Department said. 

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

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MHS Plans Get Aired At City Hall Today

The plans to rebuild Malibu High School make their first appearance before a city commission today.,

The city’s Environmental Review Board will review the 100 million dollar project this morning at 9.

This is an advisory board … the sanitation and drainage experts who will review the plans and make recommendations to the Planning Commission.

Last December … the Santa Monica Malibu school architects applied for city permits to rebuild the school.

It’s taken almost a half year for city planners and engineers to review the plans … a schedule that has delayed the entire project to the point of near crisis. 

If construction doesn’t start this summer … it is likely that the project’s cost will escalate to the point where the school district will run out of bond money.

Inflation is eating away to the taxpayer bond money approved to rebuild Malibu High. 

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747 Tanker Readied For California Fire This Fall

A 747 Supertanker is on track to be available to fight wildfires again by the late summer or early fall of this year.

The web site “Fire Aviation” says the 747 has been fighting filters around the worlds … but is now back in the United States undergoing testing.

It’s owners have to demonstrate that it is safe … and that it can distribute an even flow of fire retardant as it passes over any particular spot.

Right now … the 747 is undergoing necessary modifications will be made to the air frame including installing the retardant doors in the belly, the wiring, and other components in the cockpit to operate the system. 

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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