No Comment From Santa Monica On Malibu School Declaration Of Financial Independence

The silence is deafening … in Santa Monica.

No reaction … no reaction at all … from Santa Monica school board officials.

Two nights ago … Malibu city council members said they had reached agreement with Santa Monica school officials on a 56 million dollar divorce package between the two cities. 

40 million dollars out of the joint district’s budget to set up a Malibu district … 

And 16 million dollars in Malibu tax revenue per year … siphoned off to Santa Monica to make sure their students (and employees)  are not financially hit by losing Malibu’s valuable property tax revenues. 

Santa Monica school officials have not issued any statement as of this morning … neither confirming or denying Malibu’s declaration of independence from their school system.

And no school board member has responded to a request for comment from Radio Malibu.

A district spokesperson says that a request for interviews has been forwarded.

And that a press release is coming out … as soon as a Spanish translation can be produced.

MIDDAY UPDATE: The puff of smoke, indicating a news release arrival, has been spotted in the KBUU mailbox.  Update coming.

In Malibu .. the city will hold a workshop for residents on the separation topic … that’s one week from this Saturday. 

Similar meetings will also be called by the school district in Santa Monica. 

It’s important to note that the financial deal is the most important issue … according to Malibu officials. 

But two other agreements must also be reached … on splitting property and on a joint operating agreement to manage the schools in both cities while a Malibu school board is being set up.

Any final deal will have to be ratified by the Malibu City Council and voters in Malibu.

Santa Monica claims voters there will also have to OK the deal … but Malibu officials are not sure. 

The proposed split will also have to be approved by the state Board of Education… And possibly the state legislature.

A district spokesperson tells KBUU … they are waiting for a Spanish translation.

 

More Traffic May Bypass 101 Closures at Night Via Malibu

Caltrans officials are getting ready to close the 101 freeway overnights … in the Agoura Hills area … starting Monday.

Traffic heading from Ventura towards the San Fernando Valley will be blocked off five nights a week … starting with lane closures at about 11 at night. 

Agoura road … the old Frontage Road … will be open as a detour … but it is expected to clog up very quickly. 

Traffic will be officially detoured up the 23 freeway and east into the valley via the 118 freeway in Simi Valley.

But you can expect many drivers to say to hell with that … and opt instead to take Pacific Coast Highway through Malibu. 

Starting Monday night … the 101 east will be closed overnights …. To allow cranes to lift 140-ton beams over the freeway.

This is… of course … to build a wildlife crossing linking the mountains above Malibu to wildlife corridors connecting the vast wilderness north of us.

More than 80 long concrete beams will be lifted by cranes into pace above the 101 Freeway … near Liberty Canyon Road.

The beams are being fabricated in Riverside County … and are being trucked to the wildlife bridge north of Malibu. 

Caltrans officials say they hope to complete the freeway part of the crossing by late 2025.

But then comes phase two … extending the bridge south over Agoura Road.

That involves filling in a canyon and relocating utility lines …including underground petroleum transmission lines … big water and sewer mains … and overhead power lies.. 

The total coast and completion dates are not known to Caltrans.

The wildlife bridge is viewed as crucial by mountain lion advocates … worried about inbreeding in the big cats … as they  are isolated in the Santa Monica Mountains.

It will be interesting to see if drivers use PCH to get past the traffic jam.

UPDATE:  Late last night … the temporary traffic light to handle Tuna Canyon Road traffic heading onto Pacific Coast Highway was installed.

Southbound Tuna Canyon is a detour for the long-term closure on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, caused by a landslide that slipped again during the last week.

No northbound traffic is allowed on the narrow, twisty route.

The speed limit as been dropped from 45 to 35 in that zone, by installing little 35 signs under the existing 45 signs.

The 45 signs have not been covered up, gripes Unit 2.

 

Homeless Man Found Dead At Zuma Maintenance Shed

A homeless man in his 70s was found dead Zuma Beach at sunrise yesterday.

His body was discovered next to the beach equipment shed … run by LA County Beaches and Harbor.

An employee made the sad find when reporting for work.

He apparently had a head injury … described by the medical examiner as a natural death … with no signs of foul play.

No name has been released.

 

Ye God!  Kanye Can’t Unload His Malibu Road Mess

Kanye West has cut the price of the beachfront home that he destroyed on Malibu Road.

TMZ says the stable genius has cut the price from 53 million dollars to 39 million dollars.

It once was a four bedrooms, five bathroom mansion, a party palace.

West stripped it to bare walls … looks more like Beirut than the bu.

Tadeo ando’s masterpiece has been stripped of all wiring … doors … windows … plumbing.

The ultimate fixer upper. 

West now goes by the name Ye.

Yeeesh.

 

SM Cops Explain Why Malibu Was Cut Off For An Afternoon

Santa Monica police say they needed to close Pacific Coast Highway in both directions because a crazy man was hiding in the cliffs next to the highway … but that he was not armed.

The man had threatened to jab people on the beach with a sharp metal rod.

According to the Santa Monica police statement … the homeless and crazy person ran from them, and approached multiple bystanders, while still holding the rod. 

When the officers intervened, the subject ran into the bluffs overlooking PCH. 

Due to the risk of the suspect falling onto PCH … Santa Monica police made the call to close not only the northbound lanes next to the cliff but the southbound traffic as well.

The California Highway Patrol was brought in to close Interstate 10 at the tunnel … and Santa Monica cops turned around PCH traffic just past Entrada Drive.

But no police or traffic officers were brought into the detour … where conditions rapidly crusted over into total stoppages on Sunset Boulevard.

Thousands of people were stuck … while cops tried for 90 minutes to convince the crazy man to give up.   

Traffic reporters at radio station were not given any information.

Freeway signs were not updated with the PCH closure. 

Tens of thousands of people were affected …. As SMPD referred all questions to an answering machine.

They crazy man … 38 year old Michael Vincent Parrett … was eventually subdued by a police dog and arrested.

He was booked for assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to inflict great bodily injury.

PCH is seven lanes wide … all the activity was on the cliff above the northbound lanes … while southbound lanes were closed as a precaution. 

 

Cross Creek Turning Into Bivalve Boulevard, As Oyster Bar Planned For New Complex – Miami Health Food Eatery Planned Also

Here they come. 

The first two restaurants in the gigantic new Cross Creek shopping center go before the Malibu Planning Commission on Monday.

The shopping center has been in the works for 15 years … Cross Creek Ranches a mammoth shopping center and office complex …. 118 thousand square feet of brand new buildings on top of an underground parking garage.

Tenant one is Clark’s Oyster Bar. 

They signed up for 10 thousand square feet the front of the new shopping center … right next to the entrance to theWhole Foods In The Park shopping center.

And that is practically within sight of the entrance to the home of Broad Street Oyster Company … their neighbor in Malibu’s Oyster Center.

Clark’s Oyster Bar needs to get a Conditional Use Permit from the Planning Commision.

They propose a full-service dining restaurant with indoor and outdoor dining areas … about 24 hundred square feet of dining area. 

Food service would be offered daily from 11:00 a.m. until 1 in the morning Friday … Saturday and Sunday nights. 

Just around the corner … opposite the library … Pura Vida Miami has pulled a permit request.

Pura Vida Miami is described as a health-conscious South Florida restaurant chain.

At just under 13 hundred square feet …. it will be about half the size of its neighboring oyster bar.

The new Cross Creek Ranch shopping center has city permits for 10 thousand square feet of dining areas. … meaning there is room for about four more similarly sized dining areas at the new project.

 

Must Be The Weekend – Storm Coming

Another late season storm moves into the region. 

Rain will begin tonight … ease up tomorrow … then wave 2 will bring showers lasting through Sunday. 

A 15 percent chance of thunderstorms with this one.

Maybe a half inch of rain early Saturday … maybe a tenth of an inch Sunday.

More snow in the mountains.

A warming trend will begin Monday with dry weather next week.