KBUU News Wed Feb 9 – Heat Watch, 90º, Santa Anas To 45 – Villanueva Loses Firing Authority Over AntiVax Employees – County Vax Figures Low – Modern Fire Radios Installed, But Years Too Late To Help In Woolsey
Written by 991KBU on February 9, 2022
75 degrees at sunrise … with 40 mph wind gusts.
61 mile per hour wind gust at Decker Canyon at sunrise.
43 miles at Paradise Cove … 42 miles per hour at Upper Las Flores.
All roads open.
No accidental power outages reported.
No intentional outages predicted.
No fire department dispatches on any wires down or power outages.
News headlines today:
=. LA County supervisors yesterday took away Alex Villanueva’s control over those sheriffs deputies who are floating mandatory vaccine rules.
=. How well are the masks working?? LA County gives us an update on why school kids are still wearing masks.
=. Many Malibu residents are still furious over seeing fire trucks parked during the Woolsey fire
=. The fire department is now install a new radios to prevent that.
=. More from the city on those CPA/SCE bills that have gone out of control.
=. And Steve Soboroff blasts “brats in a Tesla” … he wants his stolen blowup ram back.
This is Malibu’s Only Local Daily News … the Wednesday edition … I’m Hans Laetz reporting.
Villanueva Loses Firing Control To Board of Supes For Anti-Vax Employees
L A County’s supervisors yesterday took away sheriff Alex Villanueva’s control over sheriff’s deputies who are flouting mandatory vaccine rules.
This further escalates the political battle with Villanueva … who says he believes int he vaccines being safe and smart …. But who worries that wholesale firings of deputies will be a terrible impact on public safety.
Supervisor Janice Hahn says all county employees will be given dismissal notices … and the actual dismissal letters will shake some reality into those making political statements that ignore the responsibility of wearing a badge.
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“Once they get the letter…once they see it’s serious… Once they understand what the endgame is… They will take the opportunity to get vaccinated. Like supervisor Q said, we’re giving them five chances to get vaccinated they get the notice… Once they understand what the endgame is… They will take the opportunity to get vaccinated.
“Like Supervisor Kuehl said, we’re giving them five chances to get vaccinated. So I’m hopeful that will be the direction many of the very fine men and women who work in this department choose.”
Hahn and other supervisors said they should increase the number of new deputies being hired …. In case there is a personnel drain.
On his social media …Villanueva made dramatic claims framing yesterday’s vote as a motion to fire 18,000 county employees — including 4,000 from the Sheriff’s Department.
“This is nothing more than another politically motivated stunt by the Board, which has no bearing on public health, but will definitely harm public safety,” Mr. Villaneuva said, who called the vote a “suicide pact.”
LA County Just 73% Fully Boosted, And Masks Really Do Work, Ferrer Says
So just how is L A County doing in terms of vaccinations??? Not great. An update from Barbara Ferrer at L A County Public health.
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“Sixty-nine percent of LA county residents are fully vaccinated… 90% of adults 65% and older are fully vaccinated… and 73% of those five and older… are fully vaccinated. While there are almost 8,000,000 residents vaccinated… There are 1.7 million residents .. Currently eligible for vaccine that haven’t received their first dose. And 526,000 children under five that are not yet eligible.”
The winter omicron surge is beginning to decline… In fact it’s a steep decline. But the current infection level in Los Angeles County is still greater than it was at the height of the surge last winter.
That’s why LA County is not ready to join the rest of the state in the middle of February… In relaxing mask requirements.
Speaking before the board of supervisors yesterday… Farrer said wearing a cloth mask cuts chance of infection by 56%.
A surgical mask cuts chance of infection by 66 percent
And Ferrer says wearing a KN-95 respirator cuts the infection risk by 83 percent.
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“These findings showed consistently wearing a face mask or respirator in indoor public settings significantly reduce the risk of getting infected.
This is a particularly important layer of protection to use when there are large numbers of breakthrough cases as we have seen with Oma cry and during times of high transmission.”
Those studies findings are why LA County is still requiring masks to be worn in schools.
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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 .
Fire Trucks Finally Getting Modern Radios, After Woolsey Response Delayed By Old Units
Many Malibu residents were infuriated during the Woolsey Fire … when they saw fire crews parked and waiting for directions … as houses burned down right next to them.
Fire Department officials said one major problem was delays connecting the fire crews to the proper radio frequencies and computer maps.
Crews needed neighborhood specific radio channels assigned … so they could talk to the correct fire choppers and each other.
Installing new radios in fire trucks had been delayed over 5G wireless concerns.
Because installing the data links were several years late … radio frequencies had to be read out loud … and then manually punched into 2-way radios in trucks … as flames took out house after house.
Six years after the new radio ran into roadblocks … and three years after the fire … new wireless computers and radios are being installed now.
L A County supervisor Sheila Kuehl made that announcement yesterday… as she said the county has implemented 80 percent of the findings recommended by an after action study following the Woolsey Fire.
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“LA County Fire also acquired a new mobile command software that has been filled tested and will be deployed department why do use next fire season in addition to their new handheld and vehicle mounted mobile radios and computers being deployed for all operational use.”
A countywide review of lessons learned during Woolsey has been finished … and Kuehl says 80 percent of its recommendations have already been implemented.
One of those is tightening the rules for construction … making houses being rebuilt in the Santa Monica Mountains more resistant to fire.
And …
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“the sheriff’s emergency operations bureau has completely overhauled their incident management team process and conducted a number of training sessions on the updates.”
So although there’s still plenty of work to be done … you can see that improvements have been made both on the ground and systemwide.”
That will not likely satisfy Malibu critics … still burned by sheriff’s roadblocks after the fire.
Those policies are not changed.
And about the absence of active fire trucks in Malibu during Woolsey???
LA County Fire chief Darrell Osby says every single available fire truck in the county was sent to try to stop the Woolsey fire before it crossed the 101 freeway.
And once 70 mile an hour winds blew it over the freeway… there was no way to get the fire trucks through the mountains in Malibu in time to save us.
Implementing the after action plan will not change that.
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City Issues Official Confirmation On Power Bill Snafu, And Wins $65K CalFire Grant
Malibu press release:
Some Clean Power Alliance customers may notice two CPA generation charges on their January electricity bill rather than one. Due to a coordination issue between CPA’s billing manager Calpine and Southern California Edison (SCE) over the holidays, these customers’ bills in December included a SCE delivery charge but did not include a CPA generation charge.
The current January bill therefore includes both December and January CPA generation charges, as well as the January SCE delivery charge. These do not represent incorrect or duplicate charges.
CPA is committed to serving our communities, and we realize that an unexpected charge may be difficult for many customers, especially with so many families and businesses still impacted by the economic fallout of COVID-19. We will work with you to navigate your payment options.
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The City of Malibu has secured a $65,000 grant from Calfire… for the City’s Wildfire Prevention Education project.
The money will go to provide training for residents in hardening homes against embers by hosting three sessions of the National Fire Protection Association home wildfire hardening courses, expand the content of the City’s annual Wildfire and Disaster Preparedness Expo, and to provide focused wildfire preparedness handout materials.
Also…. purchase a fire extinguisher training system to teach residents how to put out small spot fires caused by weed whacking and other ignition sources.
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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 brewmalibu.com
Inflatable LA Ram Stolen By ‘Brats … in $100,000 Car,” Soboroff Fumes
An inflatableL-A Rams blowup statue was kidnapped from outside the Whole Foods Market … and developer Steve Soboroff wants it back.
The light-up Ram was taken from the shopping center around 2:45 a.m. Tuesday, according to Steve Soboroff, owner of the shopping center.
Silveroff says his security cameras caught four young people at 2:45 Tuesday morning arriving in a $100,000 Tesla to steal the blow up.
He told the Patch news site that he wished “… these little brats… (had) to do something better with their lives.”
Soboroff was also not very happy with their parents … for …”letting them take their $100,000 cars out on joy rides at 2 in the morning.
“Come on parents, enough!” he told Patch.
One of the kids is wearing an Off-White brand hoodie, which sells to the tune of over $600, according Patch.
Soboroff told he put up the blowup mascot top honor Rams owner and Malibu resident Stan Kroenke, who frequents Howdy’s.
Shopping center visitors fell in love with the blowup, constantly stopping to take pictures with the Ram and show some Los Angeles pride, he said.
“Hopefully, these kids will do something else with their time …,” Soboroff told Patch. “[There are a] lot of people that need help these days.”
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