=.  The water is 72 … the humidity is 75 … and the air is 82 at sunrise. 

=.  With winds shifting to the south as the tropical cyclone arrives … we could get an inch and a half of rain this weekend.

=.  Or not … we haven’t seen weather like this in decades.

=.  A triple threat tonight … a 7.6 foot high tide … 7 foot breakers … 25 mile an hour south winds.

=.  A student pilot and a flight instructor killed in a bad landing at Santa Monica Airport.

=.  The homeless count in Malibu is down by one third … as federal housing funds flooded the area.

=.  Expect a huge cluster of Harleys storing down PCH Sunday … the Ride To The Flags rumbles back to life.

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

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Hurricane Moisture Arrives Tonight, 1-1/2 Inch Rain Possible

Very High Tide, Big Waves, Strong Winds Tonight 

Hurricane Kay is moving faster than yesterday.

If Malibu gets heavy rain … that will fall overnight tonight. 

As much as 1-1/2 inch of rain is possible in Malibu … starting in a big way tonight.

This is a most unusual storm.

It seems now that the winds are coming out of the south as the clouds move up from the center of the storm… Now 350 miles south of Los Angeles.

That means we could get some pretty heavy orographic rain… The type that we get when clouds bang into the Santa Monica Mountains and start dropping copious amounts of rainfall.

If that happens… An inch and a half of rain will fall by Saturday night… with showers possible on Sunday as well.

A very high tide … from the moon … will hit peak tonight at 9:15.

That’s a 7.6 foot high tide.

And there will be 7 for breakers from the south on top of that… with a 15 to 25 mile per hour wind out of the south.

L A County is predicting that the Woolsey Fire burn area in Malibu will -not- see any destructive mudflows.

As for today … it’s not the heat … it’s the humidity.

Get ready to hear that a lot today … as excessive heat warnings or heat advisories remain across most of the area through this evening and maybe tomorrow.

70 percent chance of rain tonight… 100 percent chance tomorrow.

How much will fall locally … hard to predict.

The official forecasts call for a quarter to half inch of rain for the coast, a third to two-thirds of an inch for the valleys, and a half to one and one half inch for the mountains.

Heavy downpours are possible where the mountains push the clouds up.

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1 More Day: Excessive Heat Warnings May Yet Cripple Calif Power System

Much of California remains under excessive-heat warnings today.

Residents of the Golden State have again been asked to limit electricity usage amid an unusual September heat wave.

Yesterday … another flex alert was issued by the California Independent System Operator in an effort to avoid rolling blackouts.

And once again… California dodged a bullet… rotating blackouts were not ordered.

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 Malibu Brewing Company Tap Room is now open at Trancas Country Market and they look forward to welcoming you in for an elevated every day dining experience. 

A chef-prepared menu … with a wide selection of premium craft beer … on the patio or inside a comfortable table.

Now open … the Malibu Brewing Company tap room at Trancas Country Market.

And you can always find Malibu Brewing Company premium craft beer in select retailers, or order direct at brew malibu dot com 

Student Pilot And Instructor Killed In Santa Monica Airport Runway Crash

A small plane crashed on the runway at Santa Monica Airport yesterday afternoon.

Two people killed … a flight instructor and student.

The crash was at the runway’s eastern end … where the plane was attempting to land.

The Santa Monica Fire Department says the plane “had touched down and then made an abrupt upward maneuver before crashing.”

Paramedics pronounced both of the victims dead at the scene. 

Their names were not immediately released pending notification of relatives.

It was a single-engine, two-seat Piper Sport plane.

The National Transportation Safety Board has the crash was under investigation.

There have been several fatal crashes next to the small airport … which is the closest airport to Malibu. 

After years of noise complaints about increasing small jet operations … the Santa Monica City Council has voted to shorten the runway … the first step towards closing the airport in seven years.

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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.

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You are listening to the latest news from Radio Malibu … FM 99 point 1 … KBUU.

Homeless Population Officially Drops One Third In Malibu, As Federal Aid Pours In

The official L A County homeless census has been released.

And it appears that the number of people sleeping in public in Malibu has dropped by more than a third.
81 homeless persons is the official guesstimate for within the city of Malibu. 

That is down from the official count of 125 in the previous census … conducted before the pandemic and before extensive outreach efforts began.

The steady flow of COVID-19 relief dollars … used for temporary and permanent housing .… has apparently made a major impact … all across Southern California.

In Santa Monica … the official count of homeless persons was down from about 900 to about 800 … a drop off 11 percent over the year 2020.

The westside of Los Angeles had an enormous drop in the number of people without homes … a 23 percent drop in the homeless population.

The westside decrease is the biggest drop in the City of LA.

The 2021 count was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year’s count was in February … during the coldest weather of this year … and that may have led to an undercount. 

One expert says he is “seeing more families in cars and more people in RVs. It is very hard to find mobile people during a count.”

The outlook is not so good.

One person who works with the homeless in Los Angeles says she thinks we will see an increase in the number of people sleeping on the streets.

“We’ve housed more people than ever before but more people are becoming homeless every day.”

If the problem still looks bad driving around in Los Angeles…. keep in mind that L A has the highest percent of homeless people living in public of any major city.

An estimated 70 percent of the 69 thousand homeless persons in L A do not have shelter. 

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Support for KBUU Radio comes from saguaro technology.

Saguaro Technology of Malibu offers software development and other engineering services across the entire product life cycle… and across several industries including life sciences, automation, and robotics.

Saguaro Technology engineers work side-by-side with a client to extender engineering teams… To create and launch products faster… add more cost effectively.

Saguaro Technology can be reached at saguarotech.net

That is Saguaro spelled with a “G” … like the cactus.

Sheriff Says 5 Homeless Persons In Malibu Helped To Rooms Last Month, One Pregnant Woman Gets Ticket Home

In Malibu … the sheriff’s department continues to patrol canyons … beaches and bus benches.

Another 5 homeless person were put into better situations last month .. says Malibu sheriff’s liaison Lt Dustin Carr.

One particular trouble spot … the fireproof Tuna Canyon at the city’s east end … a special area of concern.

At least three large brushfires have spread from cooking fires at homeless camps up that rugged and steep canyon … 

At Wednesday’s Public Safety commission meeting … Lt Carr said Tuna canyon was just checked.

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“We had our liaison deputy … along with the HOST Team … go up Los Tuna Canyon in off-highway vehicles.

“There were no new encampments found up there.  

“There were a couple of encampments but they were the same people who were up there before.

“They continue to offer outreach for them … and hopefully placement.”

Carr said five people in Malibu last month were found better living arrangements … either in temporary housing or with family,.

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“One of the people experiencing homelessness was a female … she was pregnant.

“They were able to get in touch with her family who is in Colorado.

“They were also able to purchase her a ticket there … so she was able to find her family and reconnect.”

Again ,,, the recent official LA County homelessness census found 81 homeless people in Malibu… A decrease of about 1/3 from before the pandemic flooded local governments with federalhousing assistance money. 

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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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Caltrans Apparently Failed To Clear Thick Brush Next To Vulnerable Wooden Freeway Support

Caltrans officials are dealing with a multimillion dollar disaster on Interstate 5 …the freeway heading north out of L A to the Valley.

The brushfire last week … along the 5 freeway north of Castaic … burned right up to at least two big wooden walls… That were installed 50 years ago to hold up the freeway along a steep hillside.

Incredibly… Caltrans did not remove brush that could burn and damage the wooden retaining walls. 

Aerial pictures of the hillside show large weeds and even small trees growing right next to the wooden freeway supports. 

And live TV video during the fire show the brush fully aflame.

Two wooden walls … one 14 hundred feet long .. the other 400 feet long … were destroyed by the Route Fire of August 31st.

Caltrans says the retaining walls are totaled … the pavement road shoulder above has begun to separate from the concrete lanes … and two of the four lanes going up the hill north out of Castaic are unsafe. 

A Caltrans spokesman tells KBUU that they have a policy of clearing that roadside brush… And that the brush was cleared. 

That’s not what the aerial pictures and TV video clearly shows.

In fact … Caltrans has mailed out pictures taken after the fire show that clearly show burned brush … right up next to the burned wooden walls.

Caltrans is leaving two of the four lanes open … northbound … causing massive traffic jams.

It is closing the freeway at night to stay to pave a third uphill lane on the other side of the freeway.

Caltrans cannot say how many other wooden structures are similarly threatened by brishfires along the five freeway… where brush fires are frequent. 

Also frequently seen are car fires or 

Now … why is a little radio station in Malibu covering this event 40 miles away???

Caltrans has some wooden structures adjacent to Pacific Coast Highway, west of Malibu that are also next to areas that have burned.

Support for KBUU radio comes from Rancho Del Cielo.

For eight years now… Rancho Del Cielo has provided KBUU with his transmitter location.

Perched high above the Pacific Ocean and overlooking Paradise Cove… Rancho Del Cielo is a partner bringing public radio to the Malibu.

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Ride To The Flags Will Clog PCH, Bluffs Park Reserved for Beer Garden Sunday

A reminder … after a two year Covid hiatus … the Ride To The Flags will be back this Sunday.

This Sunday … hundreds of Harleys and other loud motorcycles will have an escort … and will be rumbling down PCH in a massive pack.

Expect traffic disruptions … and lots of loud motorocycles … on PCH through Western malibu at about 11:30 Sunday morning … weather permitting.

Then … a big party with music and beer at Malibu Bluffs park ,.. 

The city park is reserved for people who buy a ticket to get into the event.

Beer and wine will be sold in Bluffs park to the motorcycles … many of whom will presumably be driving home.

It is not clear how large this year’e event will be.

In past years … more than 15 hundred motorcycles formed a 15-miunte blockade on OPacufiuc Coast Highway as they form a motorcade from Ventura County down to Bluffs Park.

There’s a 40 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms right now. 

If there is lightning in the area … that presents a particular hazard at the hilltop park.

To sum up … This de facto road closure will take effect this Sunday morning starting at 11 o’clock.

Bluffs Park is reserved for the bikers exclusive use Sunday.

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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