=.  A car over the side of Kanan Dume this morning.  And the Valley is a traffic mess. 

=. For the first time … parvovirus detected among mountain lions in the local mountains.

=. The disease spreads through poop … and while it can be deadly for dogs … it does not affect humans.

=. Steve McCauley gets a great job review … but not the permanent job .. as city manager. 

=. State Parks quietly announces plans to harden the shore … at the Malibu Lagoon. 

=.  Alex Villanueva uses the New York subway attack … to attack Metro over subway safety in LA.

=  And the smoldering ruins of a four storer hotel complex up the coast will be rebuilt. 

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

405 Closed All Morning, Heavy Traffic On PCH

Avoid the Valley!   405 south is closed south of the 101.  Police shooting investigation.  And there is a coincidental major power outage in that area.

Between the two, one might expect major traffic on Topanga Cyn Blvd, Malibu Cyn Rd and PCH.  At 6:30am it’s not actually that awful.   Easter week / spring break traffic is light.

101 is awful, though.

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Support for KBUU radio comes from Rancho Del Cielo. Perch type of the Pacific Ocean and overlooking Paradise Cove… Rancho Del Cielo for eight years now has been a partner bringing public radio to the Malibu.

Parvo Detected In Dead Cougar Kittens, Also Rat Poison Form Mother’s Milk

For the first time … parvovirus has been detected in mountain lions that live in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Parvovirus is an intestinal disease … spread by animal poop or other vectors … that can kill a dog within 72 hours.

There is a human form of parvovirus … but it is different from the version that affects dogs and wild animals.

Parvovirus was detected in the bodies of two mountain lion kittens who died … part of a family of four mountain lion kittens found sickly and abandoned in Newbury Park last month.

The other two kittens were nursed back to health at a zoo in Orange County … the mother may have died or wandered off.

Biologists at the National Park Service say “this is the first time a mountain lion in the park’s 20-year study has been affected by parvo, and these two kittens are the youngest mountain lions in the study to have (rat poison) in their system.”

In 20 years of study … 31 mountain lions from the local areas have tested positive for exposure to anticoagulant rodenticides … and seven have died from poisoning.

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Malibu’s city council met for two hours yesterday to evaluate the work being done by Interim City Manager Steve McClary. 

And when they emerged from the closed door secret session … Interim City Attorney John Cotti said the council gave McClary a positive job review.

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“Council did convene this afternoon at 2:30 to conduct the interim city manager’s job evaluation.

“The council gave Mr. McClary positive job evaluation… some would say a very positive job evaluation… The counsel took no other action.”

 

So Steve McClary gets a glowing job review and a pat on the back … but not the permanent job.

And Malibu’s city council has now gone on one full year … without hiring a permanent chief executive.

The man making the announcement yesterday … John Cotti … is the city’s interim city attorney.

That key city job has also gone unfilled … no permanent city attorney appointed … for more than a year. 

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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.

Adamson House Will Get Protective, Living Retention Wall Next To Ever-Expanding Malibu Lagoon, KBUU Learns

California State Parks has quietly field plans to construct a hardened shoreline along Malibu Lagoon next to Surfrider beach.

KBUU News learned of the plans when an environmental notice was quietly filed in Sacramento this week.

The state says they will address erosion caused by a high tide event in April 2019… That washed away sand in front of the landmark Adamson house.

State says about 200 square feet washed away… although our observations would be it was a lot more than that.

The Adamson house lost its changing room… A beachfront structure that had been next to the lagoon for a century.

This is on the grounds of the beachfront mansion built by the Adamson family… The owners of Malibu… In the 1920s.

Some surfer activists have blamed California State Parks for negligence in allowing erosion to happen… And blamed the state parks agency for having deepened the Malibu Lagoon to allow it to happen.

Some surfers have pleaded with the city to do a hydrological study of the Malibu Lagoon and adjacent Surfrider Beach… Which has severely eroded in recent years.

In environmental documents filed in Sacramento last week… The state revealed that they plan to build what they call a living shoreline next to the Adamson house and lagoon. 

Large boulders… pine tree log creek diverters and cobble sized rocks will be used to lessen erosion.

All of this is on state property… And it does not appear that the City of Malibu has any jurisdiction on this.

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You are listening to the latest news from Radio Malibu… FM 99.1 KBUU.

Support for KBUU’s daily broadcast comes from the Mark And Grether real estate group. 

The Mark and Grether Group is a small tightly knit real estate team based in Malibu with full-time marketing and operations staff to deliver exceptional results and smooth real estate transactions. The Mark and Grether Group is a top producing team with 35 years experience…

And over $1 billion of real estate sold and leased from Malibu’s coastline to the canyons.

Villanueva Tells Metro: Nice Subway You Have Here – Shame If Someone Would Wreck It (Sort Of)

Sheriff Alex Villanueva used the day after a crazy man attacked people on a New York City subway train … to attack the LA transit agency.

Villanueva picked a fight yesterday with Metro … the regional transportation agency that runs the bus and train system in L A County.

Villanueva wants Metro to stop hiring two other police agencies to patrol chunks of the vast bus and rail network in LA.

The sheriff does not want to share the duties … and he does not want unarmed Metro employees on trains or buses either.

Vuillanueva called a news conference … apparently timed to take advantage of the New York incident… and he  issued an ultimatum to Metro.

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“We are gong to bid on the entire contract.  We are not going to bid on parts of it.  We are not going to bid on being overpaid security.”

Five years ago … before Villanueva was elected … Metro officials said they were getting ripped off by the LA County sheriff’s office …

The sheriff’s office had until then had the exclusive and lucrative contract to patrol MTA bus and rail lines.

Metro brought in the Los Angeles Police Department and Long Beach Police Department on a three-way contract.

But Villanueva says no more.

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“We are going it 30 million cheaper than the current three (agency) model … and that is not negotiable from our point.”

Yesterday … Villanueva threatened pull his deputies from patrolling Metro unless his office gets the exclusive contract to patrol the entire regional system.

The sheriff also demanded that his deputies — rather than Metro employees who are not law enforcement — be allowed to enforce Metro’s code of conduct for riders.

Metro has been using unarmed security ambassadors … rather than armed deputies … on trains and buses. 

Villanueva wants armed sheriff deputies to replace them

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“We can do a lot of good things – that’s going to save more lives – than having 300 deputies sitting on their hands in the subways.”

At a news conference yesterday ,,, Villanueva admitted that his challenge to Metro was timed off of the New York City subway shooting.

He also claimed crime was increasing on the Metro system.

But the LA Daily News reports that the crime numbers Villanueva shared during his own event Wednesday showed a slightly different story. 

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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.

Nightime Construction Work Next Week At Trancas Creek Bridge

Major construction starts next week at the Trancas Creek Bridge.

Overnight work is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday nights next week … 7 p-m to 6 a-m.

The city of Malibu has asked Caltrans to keep overnight work to a minimum.

Again … the overnight work is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday nights …. That would be Tuesday and Wednesday mornings … next week. 

Coming within the next two weeks is a set of concrete railing detours … that will significantly narrow the lanes. 

Bicycles will be banned on a quarter mile of PCH … between Guernsey Avenue and Trancas Canyon Road. 

Bicyclists will be ordered to get off their rides … cross the highway … and walk down a sidewalk.

Yeah right. 

Between fleets of bicyclists and heavy traffic in the 30 mile an hour speed zone … expect a long summer at Trancas. 

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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

Hotel At Las Posas Still Smoldering After 36 Hours, Owner Plans To Start Over

Firefighters were still on the scene last night … 24 hours after flames broke out and destroyed an enormous construction project next to the Las Posas Road interchange at the 101 Freeway.

Smoldering ruins of a four-story high set of hotels and a convention center were still in danger of reigniting.

Fire broke out just after 7 o’clock two nights ago… and flames could be seen for miles. The 101 freeway was closed for hours as cities from across Ventura County sent fire trucks to the conflagration.

The four story wooden structures were framed and ready for th eiinstallatiojn of interior fireproofin.

Said one firefighter to the Ventura County Star … ”There’s no sprinkler systems, there’s no drywall, there’s no stucco, there’s no insulation, there’s no fire-rated material that was in place yet.”

Basically … a four story high pallet fire. 

This is across the street from the Cracker Barrel restaurant at the Camarillo factory outlets.

The two hotels had been under construction for two years … and were scheduled to open this summer. 

A spokesman for the owner says he will scrape the wreckage … and start construction over again.

XE Variant Emerging Now On Covid War

Covid 19 has not gone away … in fact … it is mutating and may be getting more transmissible.

And we are not talking about that BA.2 subvariant.

BA.2 accounts for 86% of the Covid cases in the U.S. right now. 

In some cases now … BA.2 has merged with BA.1 and become a subvariant called XE. 

Right now … across the United States … there are 1,119 different variants of Covid 19 … 

And there are 19 of those variants detected in California.

Experts say any one of those new variants could be more transmissible than others.

Or they may may die out completely regionally and never spread.

Two subvariants making the rounds on the east Coast are an estimated 25% more transmissible than BA.2.

As the virus mutates…. It may become more transmissible. 

It could mutate into an organism that is not affected by vaccines.

Or more deadly.

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Support for KBUU radio… For eight years now… Has come from Rancho Del Cielo. Perched high above the Pacific Ocean and overlooking Paradise Cove… Rancho Del Cielo is a partner bringing public radio to the Malibu.

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