KBUU NewsScript – Fri Dec 10 – 40 MPH Ocean Winds Will Bring Heavy Rain Next Week – Covid Uptick – City’s Atty Makes Mistake

=.  A 110 mile an hour jet stream is forecast to blow over Malibu Tuesday.

=.  Winds may whip off the ocean at 40 miles an hour during six hours of heavy rain.

=.  No forecasts for intentional power outages from SCE … yet,

=.  Another COVID surge??  The number of positive cases this week is up 33 percent.

=.  The city’s attorneys make a mistake … and incorrectly say a Malibu resident snubbed their investigation.

=.  Will the city council punt the Dark Skies ordinance down the road Monday night???

=.  There’s a hazmat and E-waste roundup this weekend at the Malibu Library.

You can hear the news live every morning until 9:30 on KBUU.

FM 99.1 in westerrn Malibu.

Also: streaming at www.radiomalibu.net

Between 9:30 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

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40 mile per hour winds off the ocean … and heavy rain.

The is going to be quite the storm on Tuesday.

Not so much the amount of rain that we are going to get … although that will be impressive.

It will be winds … coming from the south,

The jetstream over Southern California is one of the strongest seen in a number of years. 

The Tuesday storms may be the strongest storm of the season.

The core of the jetstream …  with 110 mph speeds …  is forecast to be over LA county Tuesday afternoon. 

At sea level. … that translates into winds coming in off the ocean above 40 miles per hour.

This will slam the clouds into coastal mountains here in Malibu.

That might even trigger thunderstorms … something to watch closely for sure says the National Weather Service.

Six hours of heavy rain … and 40 mile per hour ocean winds … with a current prediction subject to change of arriving mid morning to mid afternoon Tuesday.  

The only  good thing we can say about this wind and rain is that Southern California Edison has not issued any warnings of intentional power outages. 

Yet.

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Los Angeles County is possibly at the start of a winter COVID-19 surge.

The number of new coronavirus cases this week is up 33 percent over the previous two weeks.

Malibu’s overall case count has not yet  jumped … it is at 745 poiosirtive cases since the pandemic arrived more than a year ago, 

But L A County is now in the red tier on the U S givoernemnt map … the worst coronavirus transmission tier.

Hospitalizations take a few weeks to show up… the number of people hopsitlied for Covid 19 in L.A. County was very low  just before Thanksgiving.

But hospitalizations are up 21% since Nov. 22,.

Some of this may be people getting together or traveling over Thanksgiving.

Or it could be the start of a new surge … according to Doctor Barbara Ferrer.

“If, as we suspect, this increase in cases reflects transmission that took place during holiday gatherings, we should consider this an early warning about the upcoming December holiday,” Ferrer said. 

“That makes now a particularly critical time to vaccinate school-aged children.”

Another point of concern was a slight increase in coronavirus cases among schoolchildren. In the week after Thanksgiving, coronavirus cases among schoolchildren rose to their highest level since late September, Ferrer said.

Yesterday the federal government okayed the use of the Pfizer vaccine as a booster for teenagers age 16 to 17.

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Two lawyers hired by the Malibu City Council to investigate allegations of city corruption admit they made an error in their report .

The lawyers say their report “incorrectly states that J. Flo Katz did not respond to multiple requests for an interview. In fact, Ms. Katz did contact Mr. Newhouse by phone on July 28, 2021, on her own initiative.”

The city put out the correction this morning. 

Katz and other political supporters of Bruce Silverstein say on social media that such a mistake is evidence that casts into doubt the conclusions of the entire report.

They charge that such an error … now being corrected … is a glaring sign of a likely unprofessional product that we need to fully address. 

The report says that the charges raised by Bruce Silverstein and Jefferson Wagner were not credible … not true … and the facts were not correct. 

Silverstein is defending his accusations …. saying he is pleased to have caused can investigation that in the end gave the city a clean bill of health. 

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Here in Malibu … the City Council meeting is Monday night.

You can expect a lot of residents will want to phone in with a reaction to the Jefferson Wagner affidavit report.

That will be at the top of the agenda for the meeting… which starts at 6:30 PM Monday.

Also on the agenda … the hot potato issue of paving over some sand at Westward Beach to change the parking configuration and install a pedestrian walkway and sand wall.

That proposal has already gone through years of public hearings and was approved by the city Council to go out for bid.

But some residents on point Dume discovered the proposal when I went before the planning commission for final approval … and that’s when the sand hit the fan.

Some people oppose it because wave up rush and ocean level rise have not been studied there.

Members of the city’s public safety commission and public works commission however strongly support the project.

The city council will be asked which way to go Monday night.

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Also Monday night of the year what age group is outside cold today

The city’s Dark Skies Ordinance is in limbo … not being enforced. 

Even as little as 10 years ago … Malibu routinely had velvety black skies on clear nights. 

The Milky Way was easy to spot. 

Those nights have disappeared … as more and more people light up the outside night.

In a survey done by the Malibu Park Homeowners Association 20 years ago … people said having a dark sky at night was one off the hallmark aspects of the Malibu Way of Life.

72 percent of the residents in the Zuma Beach area said it was important.

After years of community pressure … the city council past a dark skies ordinance… But gave people a three-year grace period to comply.

It was supposed to be an outreach program to educate businesses and residents about the rules. 

That was a flop.

The city zoning enforcement team was preoccupied with Woolsey fire issues… And a flood of zoning complaints for Malibu residence on other issues.

Even though the rules are in effect now… They are not being enforced. 

On Monday night… The city Council discuss what to do with what once was touted as a model dark skies ordinance.

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A joint task force of sheriff’s deputes from Malibu Lost Hills … all the way to Laguna Beach … has arrested a man responsible for a series of commercial burglaries along the 101 Freeway. 

Apple computers and high end camera gear was the target of the suspect … 50 year old Roderick Davis … who lives in the eastern LA County city of Pomona. 

Police believe Davis may have committed dozens of burglaries in Ventura Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.

Between August and November, a string of burglaries hit cities along the 101 Freeway in the Conejo Valley … targeting photography equipment and Apple computers.

Ventura County Sheriff’s detectives arrested Davis in Pomona and Investigators say they found evidence linking him to the Thousand Oaks burglaries. 

Davis is now in custody at the Ventura County Jail.

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A young woman apparently stepped in front of a truck on PCH at Zuma Beach early today.

The victim is identified now as Nicole Valdes-Cortez, 27 of somewhere in Los Angeles.

She had been reported missing by worried friends or relatives to the LAPD.   

The truck has a dashboard camera that recorded her  apparently deliberately stepping in front of the truck.  “How she got onto the PCH in western Malibu may never be known” Lt. Jim Braden told KBUU News at midday.  

The sad act closed PCH in both directions from 7-9 am, delaying the start of classes at Malibu High and Malibu Middle schools by 2 hours.

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Four starving mountain lion kittens … their mother dead or run off .. were discovered at an office building over the hill last month.

Two of them died of exposure … the other two are being treated by veterinarians and are gaining weight.

An office worker noticed the kittens on Nov. 29 huddled together under a picnic table outside a Thousand Oaks office building.

Biologists at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife told him to leave them alone in the hope that the kittens would return to the surrounding open space and reunite with their mother.

Biologist Jeff Sikich told the Ventura County Star that at these kittens’ age … it would not be uncommon for mom to be away for two to three days hunting.

But the mountain lions condition worsened … National park Service biologists came in and checked their medical condition.

Not good.

The mother didn’t return that night … the mother was likely already dead or had abandoned the kittens, park officials said. 

And by the next day, they needed to go to a vet.

Tow died … the other two are recovering.

The pair likely will move temporarily to the Orange County Zoo until a more permanent home can be found, the agencies said.

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The Too Toxic To Trash roundup is Saturday at Malibu Library.

LA County Household Hazardous/E-waste Drive-Thru Collection on Saturday, December 11, 2021, 9AM-3PM behind Malibu Library.

This event is free and open to all County residents for household waste. Business waste will not be accepted. For more information about the Small Quantity Generator Program, please call the City of Los Angeles at (213) 485-2260 or 1-800-98-TOXIC (800-988-6942).

PLEASE NOTE:  The City’s collection event on December 18 will be cancelled.

COVID-19 SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

• We ask that all attendees wear a face covering and remain in their vehicles with windows closed.
• Staff will will remove items waste from your trunk/pick-up bed.
• Please stay home if you are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, have been asked to quarantine, or have recently traveled internationally.

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Community Night at the Malibu Tree Lot, Fri, Dec. 10, 6-9PM. 

Join the City of Malibu Community Services Dept for Community Night at the Malibu Tree Lot located at Civic Center Way just east of Webb Way. Stop by for a photo opportunity, games and a free gift. Friday, December 10, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM.

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The Malibu Arts Commission invites you to attend the Opening Reception of the art exhibition “Deliver Me,” featuring original works by Tom Fritz.  The event will be on Saturday, December 11, from 1:00 – 4:00 PM at the Malibu City Gallery (23825 Stuart Ranch Road). The in-person event will include an artist Q&A at 2:30 PM.  

If you cannot attend the event this weekend, please stop by the gallery Monday – Friday from 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM.=

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Weather for the Malibu… mostly sunny today and quite cool… highs is about 60° beaches mountains and canyons. 

Down coast winds will be blowing at about 20 miles an hour this afternoon.

Sunset is at about 435.

After that it will be quite cold … 49º Beaches 38º canyons 28º in the coldest protected areas.

Much the same Saturday and Sunday… But clouding up late Sunday afternoon.

A 60% chance of rain arrives Monday… 100% chance of rain Tuesday. 

And this rain could be quite heavy at times… With 40 mph winds possible.