=.  Cross Creek Road gets a third vehicle sales showroom … as it morphs into Van Nuys Boulevard.

=.  Malibu has gone nine months without a permanent city manager … and the search is starting over again.

=.  Steve McClary is going to get a 33 percent pay hike and health insurance … as the city council wants to keep him … temporarily.

=.   After 3 years of failure … the city is going to spend some big bucks to curb light pollution.

=.   And ugly racism rears its head over the hill. 

=. And bad weather … winds .. may have caused a dolphin to beach itself on the rocks at Point Dume.

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

Cross Creek Road Turning Into Van Nuys Blvd With Opening Of Third Showroom

The conversion of Malibu’s neighborhood shopping district into a regional car sales center continues.

Harley Davidsion has opened a store offering electric motorcycles for sale.

Harley Davidson calls it the Livewire Malibu Experience Center. 

It’s opened in the Malibu Village Shopping Center … on Cross Creek Road … just down from the Chipotle. 

Inside … sales persons demonstrate the electric Harleys and scheduled demonstration rides.

Sales orders are done online … using computers thoughtfully provided inside.

This is similar to the Tesla store … near Whole Foods,

Audi has also opened up a design center … on Cross Creek Road … basically a low-profile sales demo office for persons buying high end Audis. 

These are not car dealerships … not like the old days.

These are new-generation car sales offices.

Not exactly what was contemplated when the city’s zoning codes were written decades ago.

The Malibu Village zoning is CV 1…. Commercial visitor serving,.

And yes … this is the shopping center where the impromptu car shows are happening on Sundays,.

But like the clubhouse proposed by a social club in Malibu Park … and like the Pacaso time share houses … and like the so-called bed and breakfast party houses … zoning codes are being stretched by entrepreneurs anxious to use new technology and market disrupting sales techniques …. To make a buck.

Opening car sales offices … or electric Harley sales offices … is turning Cross Creek Road into car sales row.

Of course … biggest question about electric Harleys may well be … how loud are the4 damn things???

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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.

9 Months Into Search, City Council Renews Efforts To Find Permanent City Manager

Human babies have been conceived and birthed in less time than the Malibu City Council has spent … trying to find a permanent city manager to lead its controversy-wracked City Hall.

The five part-time city council members have been unable to entice several top acceptable candidates to take the full-time job … running the city government.

When former city manager Reva Feldman was run off last year … some government experts said it would be hard to find a qualified replacement given the polarization and rancor.

Steve McClary has been the interim city manager for 9-1/2 months now … with no permanent job offer … at a salary that its less than that paid to his predecessor … Reva Feldman.
McClary would like the job … and by all accounts has been successful as the temporary fill-in.

But the city Council doesn’t feel he’s the right guy for the permanent job. 

Yesterday … after nine months … they put out a statement that said the city council has interviewed multiple experienced candidates. 

Apparently the multiple experienced candidates have all given Malibu a thumbs down. 

In the statement issued yesterday… The city Council said they understand the community is eager to have a permanent city manager. But they voted to re-open the search effort to find the right person.

Quoting now …  “… The community’s patience is appreciated… Steve McClary will continue to serve as interim city manager… The council is grateful to Mr. McCleary’s continued service.”

Next Monday … the city council will vote on its proposal to give McClary a raise for sticking around.

A 32 percent pay hike.

They will thoughtfully give McClary health insurance … retirement contributions … and disability insurance. 

A cash bonus … and a rolling three month contract.

The bottom line here is that the city’s recruitment process has failed spectacularly. 

A recognized California city manager headhunter was a brought in … and started off by soeaking at a city council meeting and saying he was happy to be in Camarillo. 

Turns out … this man was having some pretty severe health issues …and has not exactly done what the city council expected. 

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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

Dark Skies Emerge From Years-Long Tunnel

After three years of failure … Malibu’s city government is going to try again to enforce a dark skies ordinance. 

Many Malibu residents have been campaigning for decades to limit light pollution.

The mountains between Malibu and other cities used to shield our skies from urban glow … and as little as 10 years ago … the Milky Way was gorgeous against a black velvet sky … many nights.

No more.

A dark skies ordinance was passed in 2016.

But enforcement has been delayed due the Woolsey Fire … and due to a lack of P R efforts from City Hall. 

The city staff now proposes a strategy of  public outreach, citywide workshops, application review, and code enforcement.

135 thousand dollars is proposed to kick start the program/

About half of that would go to prepare the materials necessary for establishing the permit requirements.

 $25,000 to design, print and distribute the outreach materials for the Dark Sky Ordinance. 

This goes before the city council on Monday.,

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Malibu Actor Jailed Overnight On Trespassing Allegation

A Malibu actor spent the night in jail two nights ago.

A neighbor accused Michael Madsen of trespassing  … and tried to perform a citizens arrest.

That resulted in sheriff’s deputies showing up at Madsen’s house … apparently near Broad Beach. 

Deputies took him to West Hills Hospital for some reason ,… then took him to the jail at the Lost Hills Station. 

He spent the night … then was released on a 500 dollar misdemeanor bond and promise to appear. 

He was released at about  7 a.m. yesterday.

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You are listening to the latest news from Radio Malibu.

Support for KBUU’s radio covers from Orbit Homes Inc. 

Prefabricated homes are the future of construction. Easy to get permits. Fast to build and install. Cost effective … little construction waste. 

In Malibu, Orbit Homes has a showroom between City Hall and the Malibu racquet club.

Fire victims can check them out in person … and visit them on the web at www.orbithomes.us .

Ugly Racism Over the Hill

An anti-racism anti-hate ordinance has been passed by the Thousand Oaks city council … one year after it refused to do so.

The change of heart came a week after a dozen white supremacists unfurled banners from a U-S 101 overpass.

The banners said “White Lives Matter” … “Honk If White Lives Matter” and the white power slogan … “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”

Civil rights advocate had blasted the Thousand Oaks city council a year ago for failing to adopt an anti-hate statement.

Meanwhile … two Black teenagers who were wrongly detained at the Westlake Village Target store have filed a lawsuit against the store … and the L A County sheriff’s office.

They say deputies from the Malibu Lost Hills station aggressively handcuffed them and threw them into the back of squad cars.

The kids were on their way home from church … stopped at Target to buy snacks … and walked into the aftermath been a smash and grab incident … 

Target security employees pointed at the kids because they are Black …, according to the suit. 

Target apologized and fired one employee.

According to the Ventura County Star … Capt. Chuck Becerra at the Malibu-Lost Hills Station corroborated the wrongful detainment of the juveniles.

Becerra also said an internal investigation found no evidence deputies used excessive force or damaged one of the juveniles’ cellphones.

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Malibu’s Rams May Build Practice Basilica In Woodland Hills

The Los Angeles Rams may be moving their practice facility closer to Malibu. 

Owner Stan Kroenke … a malibu resident … is looking at building a Rams practice facility to the site of a former mall … now being torn down on Topanga Canyon Boulevard a mile north of there 101 Freeway.

The L A Times reports that the Rams may build their team headquarters and practice facility at the site of the old Woodland Hills Promenade Mall… at the corner of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Victory Boulevard.

Kroenke is in negotiations to buy the site… According to the times.

His plan is to duplicate what he did in Inglewood… By the site… Build the facility… And then surrounded with office buildings and apartment complexes and businesses.

The billionaire developer has a house near Paradise Cove… And owns the colony shopping center in downtown Malibu.

The Rams have been doing their in-season training at Cal Lutheran University. … in Thousand Oaks. 

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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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Lifeguard Help Rescue Beached Dolphin At Pt Dume Rocks

Los Angeles County Fire lifeguards helped rescue an injured … beached dolphin from the rocks at  Point Dume Tuesday.

Lifeguards went ion the water to retrieve the animal from the rocks.

Marine Wildlife Rescue drove up rom San Pedro to take the dolphin for recovery.

When whales or dolphins strand themselves, the underlying cause is usually illness or injury, but can also result from navigation errors or extreme weather.

Sadly … most beached marine mammals end up dying, according to a rescue nonprofit.

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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