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

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Cold, cold winds due Tues thru Thurs

If you think it has been cold and windy this winter … wait til tomorrow.

We are going to see wind chill values of around 30 in Malibu … even colder in the windiest mountains.

Cold temperatures and powerful winds will sweep across Southern California this week.

Light rain might arrive tonight in Malibu … just ahead of a blast of very cold air.

, prompting warnings about potential damage.

Temperatures on Tuesday and Wednesday nights could drop into the 40s on the Malibu beaches … and down into the 20s in the Santa Monica Mountain canyons.

And the winds will be fierce … gusts are expected to reach 50 to 70 mph at the mountaintops … and 40 to 55 mph for the coasts.

Wind chills along the beach may drop below 30. 

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Major SoCal Water Supply Lake Up 189 Feet, Malibu Mountain Water Restrictions May Ease

January’s series of storms have raised the level of one major lake that supplies Malibu by 189 feet. 

Lake Oroville is 400 miles north of L A County … but it is a major supplier of water for all of Southern California.

And while the Colorado River basin is still in a terrible drought … our supplies from northern California appear to be bountiful this year. 

And now … we may get a listing of the one-day-a-week watering order.

Last year, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California required us to cut outdoor watering to one day a week by June 1.

Directors at the wholesale water agency that sells water to Las Virgenes water district will vote Wednesday to immediately suspend enforcement of one-day per week watering.

People in the Santa Monica Mountains region  including all of Malibu outside city limits … would be able to water their plants twice a week.

Waterworks District 29 has not yet announced if its conservation orders will change. 

But don’t think the drought is over.

It has not rained substantially in weeks.

In fact … The U.S. Drought Monitor still classifies most of California to be in moderate to severe drought.

Malibu shows up as abnormally dry … but not technically in drought conditions.

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Suspected Transient Fire #2 This Year, In The Brush Above PCH

Another small brushfire… possibly caused by a transient camp… Burned in thick brush near Malibu Friday.

This one was near a known homeless camp that frequently appears at the base of the Pacific Palisades… Above Pacific Coast Highway and north of Chautauqua Boulevard.

It broke out at 5:10 PM Friday afternoon… Just in time to snarl evening traffic on PCH.

Firefighters from Los;Angeles and santa monica had the fire out in 50 minutes.

Unfortunately that was not the end of the problem for traffic.

A car took out a light pole on th einland side of PCH near Moonshadows.

PCH traffic in both directions was blocked for more than an hour.

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Residents Clamor To Ask City To Remove Dead Trees

Dozens of Malibu landowners have signed up to have dead trees removed from their property by crews hired by the City of Malibu.

And names are still being accepted on the waiting list. 

The city’s Fire Safety Liaisons are still adding names to the list to remove trees under the City’s Hazard Tree Removal Program. 

The trees must be dead to be considered for this program . 

And it can only be on land … that is owned by the person requesting the service.,

In other words … you cannot request that dead trees on someone else’s land be removed.

The Malibu city manager says it is a first-come, first-served program … and there are currently dozens of properties already on the list.

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City Council To Consider Free Appeals Of Planning Comm Decisions

Not much of major interest … frankly. … on tonight;’s official agenda for the Malibu city council.

As we’ve been telling you last week … there is a proposal to allow votes by the Planning Department to be appealed to the city council … at no cost to the appellant.

This has been talked about for decades …. this time … council members Bruce Silverstein and Doug Stewart are jointly proposing to drop charges for appeals.

The idea is to reduce the number of appeals to the California Coastal Commission … which oversees Malibu’s zoning laws.

Right now … it costs money to appeal a Planning Commission tot he city council.

The fee covers staff time.

But if the land sits in the coastal appeals zone .. meaning along the beaches or near a canyon … an appeal can go straight to the Coastal Commission.

That’s free.

But it bypasses the City Council.

Silverstein and Stewart complain that bypass denies the elected City Council an opportunity to decide whether it agrees or disagrees with the decision of the appointed Planning Commission. This removes an element of local control.

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Permanent Malibu Skate Park Slides One Year

When will the permanent Malibu skate park be built?

The design was supposed to be finished already … but the project got put on the back burner after the Covid emergencies caused a shift in priorities at City Hall.

The City staff says they had planned to complete the Skate Park design by this month.

The city council tonight will vote on extending the design contract by one year … to give the design firm time to prepare the final design documents for review and approval. 

Once completed, the project plans will go before the Planning Commission for review before final approval by the Council.

Some skateboard fans will not doubt feel let down.

The project has been dragging on for years.

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City Ends Fiscal Year With Bank Savings Swollen By STR Revenue

Malibu’s budget audit is finished.

The city has increased the amount of money in it s various bank accounts by about almost 25 percent.

As of last month … the city had $74.6 million in the bank.

Tax revenues increased by $5.2 million.

Half of that is from swollen revenues from short term rentals and hotels … a $2.4 million dollar windfall.

The city says that B and B money came in due to a fee hike and increased enforcement.

Sales tax revenues … primarily restaurants … increased by $1.5 million. 

Tech city council will discuss the financial data tonight … at 6:30.

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Malibu Native Films Documentary As Winds Of War Swirl Around Crew

A famous movie director went to make a movie … and a war broke out.

The movie …  a documentary about a comedian and TV actor who ran for president.

And won.

The president …Vladimir Zelelnsky.

The famous director … Sean Penn.

The Malibu native was in Kyiv interviewing Zelensky the day before there bombs started falling.

The documentary … “Superpower” … debuts at the BerlinFilm Festival this week.

Penn tells Daily Variety he was not intending to make a war movie.

He was interested in Zelensky’s unusual career trajectory — four years ago he was a comedian playing a history teacher who got elected as Ukraine’s president.

Zelensky confounded Vladimir OPutin ,… in nearby Moscow … and got elected as Ukraine’s president.

Penn says th original story was like .. imagine Martin Sheen running for president of the United States out of ‘West Wing.’

Plans were made to shoot the documentary in the Ukraine four years ago … but the pandemic struck. 

When Penn met Zelensky in person on Feb. 23 of last year,  Penn says the president was dressed in a suit “as would be a head of state at the presidential palace.”

As Daily Variety reports …. the next day, Feb. 24, Russian missiles came raining down upon Ukraine.

And the movie changed.

Superpower” opens this week at the Berlin Film festival this week.

One Malibu publicist … Jeremy Walker … says premiering the movie in Berlin “has global implications on that side of the world that can serve the strategic needs of Ukraine better than a gathering at a ski resort in Utah.”

Penn has famously given one of his two Oscars to Zelensky as a gesture of support.,

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Malibu’s State Senator Declares War On Texas, Florida And Other Red States Over Climate Change

Malibu’s state senator has been pretty quiet since he lost the primary election to become the westside LA County supervisor.

Henry Stern has another two years to serve in the State Senate,

Now … he is teaming up with two other senators for fire back at anti-science … pro-big energy moves in red state legislatures.

Florida … texas … and other southern states are taking punitive steps against businesses that commit to fighting global warming.

Stern and two other senators are sponsoring a trio of bills that … they say …. leverage the power of California’s market to continue the state’s long tradition of setting the gold standard on environmental protection for the nation and the world.

Stern’s bill … SB 261… will require companies to disclose financial risk related to the climate crisis.

Leaders in Texas, Florida, West Virginia, and elsewhere have bowed to anti-science activists and fossil fuel interests … 

Those states are threatening to punish companies that have attempted to disclose and cut climate pollution.

A joint press release from Stern and two other coastal democratic state senators accuse the red states of stoking anti-science sentiment …driving strong pushback against responsible business practices like risk disclosure.

Under a measure introduced by state Sen. Scott Wiener, companies that bring in at least $1 billion in revenue and do business in California would have to annually report their greenhouse gas emissions to the public. The bill passed the state Senate last year but fell one vote short of clearing the Assembly.

Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), Senator Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) introduced the Climate Accountability Package, a suite of bills that work together to improve transparency, standardize disclosures, align public investments with climate goals, and raise the bar on corporate action to address the climate crisis. 

The bills seek to leverage the power of California’s market to continue the state’s long tradition of setting the gold standard on environmental protection for the nation and the world, the senators said. 

Corporations play a critical role in any effort to make deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. Studies have found that as much as 71% of all historic greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to just 100 companies. Without corporate action to reduce these emissions, California would be unable to meet its climate goals.

Attention Costco Gas Shoppers: Cheap gas To Move Five Miles Closer To Malibu

Finally today … 

Camarillo is getting a new Costco.

The warehouse shopping chain plans to build an outlet just west of the Home Depot … at the 101 at Las Posas Road. 

Although the Costco store over the hill … in Westlake Village … is closer to Malibu … the new outlet will have a gas station … unlike the Westlake store. 

The new store will be on the south side of the 101 Freeway … between Home Depot and the  Springville Drive interchange.

Camarillo officials say putting a Costco gas station in the new Camarillo store will capture nearly 400 thousand shopping trips now made to nearby cities by Camarillo residents.

That’s a lot of sales tax.

The Camarillo city manager says Costco will quickly become one of the top ten sales tax generators for the City,” shared City Manager Greg Ramirez.

Assuming all goes well … Costco anticipates opening its Camarillo gas station and store in 18 months.

Let’s hope they have those three-vehicle gas islands. 

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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.

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Support for KBUU radio comes from Mad Interior Art.

Based in the fashion capital of the world, Milan, Mad Interior Art selects remarkable crystal, porcelain and stone art objects with a remarkable artistic depth …  created by the biggest names on the Italian and international scene.

Shop from home.  Fast shipping.

Mad Interior Art dot com … from Milan to Malibu … supporters of Radio Malibu. … KBUU.

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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.

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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.

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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.

The tap room at Trancas Country Market is open… 

And the Malibu Brewing Company is serving its Oktoberfest fest beer … a traditional lager with notes of toffee … moderate malt flavors and delicate hops. 

A chef prepared menu to enjoy on the patio or inside.

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