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

Support for KBUU Radio comes from Rancho del Cielo.

For 8 years … Rancho del Cielo has been a partner to public radio in the Malibu.

 

Mountain Lion Alert: Students Warned To Stay Inside After Dusk At Cal State Channel Islands

Stay inside your dorm at night.

That is rather warning from police at Cal State Channel Islands … the small public college 18 miles up the coast.

Students living in residence halls have been “strongly encouraged” to stay indoors between dusk and dawn.

A young mountain lion is on campus.

The Ventura County Star reports it was a “a difficult situation  … ongoing sightings near residence halls of a juvenile mountain lion that is not collared.

That is a statement from the Channel Islands police department chief … in a release.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has been brought in.

Landscaping has been trimmed back tightly  … to prevent the mountain lion from hiding. 

Residents of the adjacent University Glen neighborhood were advised to sign up for campus alerts to stay updated. The alerts also provide information during wildfires, earthquakes and other incidents.

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Support for KBUU Radio comes from Sea N Soul Surf, at Zuma Beach Plaza

A coffee barista … the locals’ place to find entry level surfboards for a grom … or a handshaped blade for a pro. 

Sea N Soul Surf… clothing, coffee and boards for the Malibu lifestyle … under Spruzzo’s …across from Zuma Beach.

 

Norm Haney’s Hotel Will Funnel $800,000 To MRCA Campground In Ramirez Canyon, Below Kanan-Dume Road

UPDATE 12:35 PM WED – The California Coastal Commission at midday unanimously approved developer Norm Haney’s proposed hotel near Nobu, after a parade of Malibu dignitaries endorsed it, and despite the fact that it will find an MRCA campground on Kanan-Dume Road.

Details on the Thursday news.

Last week. … KBUU News reported that the funding package for the Billionaires Beach hotel proposed by developer Norm Haney looked like a funding mechanism for campgrounds in Malibu. 

The California Coastal Commission will take up the proposed hotel … across from Nobu … this morning. 

And in a report filed yesterday … our suspicions were confirmed. 

The money will likely pay for construction of a campground in Malibu… to be built by the MRCA.

Coastal Commission staff say the 39 room hotel across from Nobu will not have any low cost rooms.

Haney has to pay 800 thousand dollars into a special account … to fund low cost overnight accommodations for tourists in Malibu.

And the MRCA – the Mountain Resource Conservation Authority – has latched on to that 800 thousand dollar extraction … to fund a campground to be built in Malibu … just off Kanan Dume Road in Ramirez Canyon. 

Joe Edmiston’s agency has been picked by the coastal commission staff as the likely recipient of the 800 thousand dollar hotel mitigation fee.

That campground has been bitterly opposed by many Malibu residents. 

They fear fire … despite the fact that MRCA will not allow campfires or cooking fires over open flame at the campground.

The Haney hotel has been eagerly sought by some city council members in Malibu.

They have cast it as a tax revenue source … which could replace lost revenue from short term rentals … if those are reduced in number in Malibu. 

But trading a reduction in short term rentals will mean Malibu has unwittingly made a deal with the devil.

We will get a new 39 room hotel in what is becoming Malibu’s entertainment district … PCH at Nobu.

And we will get a campground on Kanan Dume at the northern city limit. 

The deal goes before the California Coastal Commission this morning … they are meeting on the computers only this month. 

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One side note … as part of the hotel deal … Norm Haney has also agreed to provide 250 thousand dollars to a nonprofit East Los Angeles group called “Los Courage Camps.”

That group is dedicating to bringing new families from the Los Angeles barrios to enjoy a day at the beach.

And to teach the new generation a sport that has completely changed the life of its founder … Giselle Carrillo.

Haney proposes a quarter million dollars to Los Courage Camps to pay for a large bus and driver, lunches, towels, wetsuits, surfboards, surfing instructors … and a grant writer to seek additional grant funding. 

The Norm Haney hotel .. and funding for the Kanan Dume campground … goes before the Coastal Commission this morning at 9 on the computers. 

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Support for Radio Malibu KBUU comes from the Mark and Grether Real Estate Group.

Combining the talents of Tony Mark and Russell Grether…

The Mark and Grether Group offers concierge-level service… personalized attention… to buyers and sellers… landlords and tenants … here in Malibu.

The Mark and Grether Group… a top producing team with 35 years of experience… and over $1 billion worth of real estate sold in least… from Malibu’s coastline to the canyons.

 

 

Malibu Beaches Apparently Covered By New LA County Ban On Guns

The mass shooting last month in Monterey Park has prompted the LA County Board of Supervisors enact several new gun control measures.

These are taking effect in unincorporated parts of LA County .. including the hills above above Malibu. 

But also … on L A County property.

And that would include Malibu’s public beaches …. Above the high tide line.

The county now prohibits carrying firearms on county property even if the person has a concealed carry permit.

That includes , which includes beaches, parks and and county buildings … like the library …. college building and other facilities at the Malibu Civic Center. 

At yesterday’s board of supervisors meeting … members of the public were overwhelmingly in favor of restricting gun rights. 

NEWSCART A73912 GUNS VOX POP

VOICE 1:  “I’m just here to speak really quickly about gun regulations for our young people. For they need a mindset of change so they can have a different strategy about life.”

VOICE 2:  “Get rid of the guns.  Get rid of the guns.  The best way of regulation or however you guys see it. Let’s make a difference. Nobody needs to be cut down.”

VOICE 3: “Preliminary 2022 data shows that suicides accounted for 56% of firearm deaths … and homicides were up 41% percent. 

And also firearm deaths per100,000 people grew 13% between 2019 and 2020…. Those are the years we have the most recent data for.   

And we are losing tens of thousands of people every year that we don’t need to lose.” 

VOICE 4: “Despite claims for the industry that firearm ownership keeps us safe the overwhelming research shows us a different story.  The overwhelming research shows us that having more guns does not make us safer.”

The supervisors not only banned carrying guns on the beaches.

They also asked the county’s lawyers to start drafting three separate ordinances aimed at keeping guns solely in the hands of those who know how to use them.

One … signs would be required at gun stores warning that having a gun in the home increases the “risk of suicide, homicide, death during domestic disputes and unintentional deaths to children.”

Two … require gun owners to have liability insurance for their weapons. 

And three … guns kept at home must be safely stored in a locked container or disabled by using a trigger lock.

This rules will only affect malibu residents who live outside city limits.

Malibu’s city council has never addressed gun safety regulations in Malibu.

It did spring into action after the Uvalde Texas school massacre … and has moved to increase security at Malibu’s public schools.

But … Malibu has no gun safety regulations.

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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.

Two brand new beers have just been released!  A crisp, classic style pale ale, and a new-school style West Coast Pilsner.  

Stop in for new menu specials, including their fan-favorite Pastrami Rueben, Honey Chipotle Wings along with rotating scratch-made soups.

Malibu Brewing Company, Malibu California.

 

Nat Gas Price Jumps May Have Been Caused By PG&E Financial Trick, Industry Analyst Says

You may be hearing about cold weather and pipeline problems for your natural gas bill tripling.

The California Public Utilities Commission held a hearting on that yesterday.

But a  stunning charge yesterday … the real reason for your gigantic natural gas bill may be an accounting change made by the largest gas retailer in the state. 

The massive Pacific Gas and Electric company took advantage of a change in state regulations … and reclassified the gas in its system.

The P G and E accounting change shifted the gas from stored gas … to working gas.

P G and E found that more profitable. 

But that suddenly caused the amount of natural gas stored in California to plummet … on paper. 

After the reclassification, the amount of natural gas in storage at PG&E facilities declined from 73 billion cubic feet … to 22 billion cubic feet.

The loss of two thirds of the stored gas at PG and E told the natural gas market that there was not enough gas stored on the west coast to supply everyone 

Michael Williamson is a natural gas trader … he buys large volumes of the gas for his industrial clients. 

He testified yesterday. 

NEWSCART A73916 NATGAS WILLIAMSON 

“The gas didn’t go anywhere. It just got reclassified it was an accounting measure.

“However the market as a whole does not see it that way. And they were clearly expecting PG&E to inject more gas in the storage which they did not. Current storage levels were not adequate.”

We asked P G and E for a response.

Why did they perform an accounting trick in Oakland … which is affecting gas prices across the state???

They say: not us.

Here’s P G and E spokeswoman Melissa Subottin … in an email voiced by a KBUU reporter:

NEWSCART A73914 NATGAS PGE MELISSA SUBOTTIN

“The reclassification was simply a name change … that reflected how the gas had been used in our system for the past decade, to ensure gas reliability … 

“Further … there was no evident regional impact to gas prices … immediately follow(ing) the reclassification name change.”

Not quite.  

There actually was an evident regional impact … in the form the major natural gas cost increase we just saw … when the first major cold weather snap hit … after PG and E took the accounting change … 

Last winter … temperatures were relatively mild and there was no huge upward pressure on the gas supply.

The past two months … very very cold … changed that.

It has since warmed up … demand is down … and prices charged to Southern California Gas Company customers have dropped … they are still significantly higher than they were last year. 

And one major impact from the spike has yet to be felt.

Southern California Edison owns or controls 12 electric generating stations fed by natural gas.

51 hundred megawatts … about half of the SCE power generation … comes from natural gas.

An Edison Company vice president …. Bill Walsh … told the PUC yesterday that the dramatic spike in natural gas prices will mean electric rates will have to go up too.

NEWSCART A73913 NATGAS SCE BILL WALSH

“So the market moved too much … we’re required to file an application for an additional rate increase to take care of those unexpected costs.

“We made that finally near the end of January requesting close to $600 million in a rate increase that would be effective June 1.

“That’s about a 4.4% increase.”.

Side note … Malibu gets its electricity from an Edison competitor …the Clean Air Alliance … and maybe power rates in Malibu  rates mayn’t spike so much.

But the bottom line here is that an accounting change to increase profits at P G and E is very likely responsible for a market overreaction … and the first cold weather snap triggered a tripling of your natural gas bill.

And it’s going too happen again ,… the best time there is a major cold snap … or a pipeline disruption … or some other sort of supply versus demand problem.

Again …. Natural Gas trader Michael Williamson.

NEWSCART 73915 NATGAS WILLIAMSON 222

“The market price is back to normal in California. Market prices are below five dollars. But if we don’t do something now, then the same thing will continue to have happen again and again.

“One of the solutions we have to have as we have to look at the Pacific storage region. Whether PG&E re-classifies back some of that 5,1 billion cubic feet working gas back to storage gas… Because it never left the system anyway.”

So …  bottom line … weather has warned … the market is back to normal … and you may be paying through the nose for PG and E to make more money.

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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.

Two brand new beers have just been released!  A crisp, classic style pale ale, and a new-school style West Coast Pilsner.  

Stop in for new menu specials, including their fan-favorite Pastrami Rueben, Honey Chipotle Wings along with rotating scratch-made soups.

Malibu Brewing Company, Malibu California.

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Support for KBUU radio comes from Saguaro Technology.

Based in Malibu … Saguaro Technology offers software development and other engineering services across the entire product life cycle… and across several industries.

Life sciences, automation, robotics. 

Saguaro Technology engineers work side-by-side with the client to extend engineering teams… to create and launch products faster… and more cost effectively. 

Saguaro Technology can be reached at saguarotech.net

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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.

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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