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KBUU NEWS 7:15AM TUES JAN 25 / POSTED 11:15AM TUES JAN 25

=. High surf … 4-8 foot waves on west facing beaches.

=. Santa Ana winds return tonight … 40 mile per hour peak gusts predicted.

=. Omicron Covid deaths are hitting record levels in LA County.

=. An investigation into Bruce Silverstein alleging harassing Reva Feldman will be released by the city council.

=. Reconstruction of the Malibu County Inn at Zuma Beach is rejected by the city.

=. And once again … the city council is unable to hire a new city manager. 

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

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Covid Death Soar, As Omicron Mows Across LA County

Deaths from COVID-19 in Los Angeles County have soared over the last week.

And Los Angeles county health officials say most of the recent fatalities appear to be from the Omicron variant.

Yesterday… Health officials said 102 people were reported to have in one reporting day last week… Thursday.

90% of those people came down with COVID-19 after Christmas.

80% of those people came down with Covid 19 after New Year’s Day.

That indicates a high likelihood of that they were infected with the Omicron variant.

Omicron has moved with unprecedented speed since December.

Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said yesterday that people who get infected with Omicron generally get less severe symptoms than with the earlier Delta variant. 

But it also appears that people who are dying from the Omicron variant are deteriorating much more quickly than those infected by earlier variants.

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Council Votes 4-0-1 To Release Investigation of Feldman Harassment Charges Against Silverstein

A report into allegations .. that city councilman Bruce Silverstein harassed the city manager at the time … Reva Feldman… will be released. A unanimous Malibu city Council voted last night to unseal the personnel records…

This would be the private investigatory report compiled by a San Francisco lawyer in the Silverstein’s’s behavior towards the city manager after he was elected.

Silverstein’s recused himself from last nigh’ts decision.

Some public speakers spoke last night to criticize the city Council for having bought out Feldman’s contract … at a cost of $300,000.  Some of that was earned by her as her salary… some of it owed to her under her contract for her future earnings.

The acting city attorney last night warned strongly that releasing the HR investigation set a bad precedent… And would make city employers think twice about giving the city Council Frank advice. But Malibu residence like Suzanne Guldiman urged disclosure.

NEWSCART A73053  REPORT GULDIMAN

“Unfortunately conspiracy theories tend to grow unfortunately conspiracy theories tend to grow and thrive in darkness and silence. I think if we are ever going to move past this regrettable chapter in Malibu’s history we need to know what the findings are in that report. We need to put this behind us and get on with the business of gardening Malibu.”

Suzanne Guldimann.

Others blasted the council for having paid off Feldman.

At the meeting … a Feldman supporter … Karen Farrer … noted that it was a unanimous vote to buy Feldman out of her contract.

She asked acting city attorney John Cotti about that.

NEWSCART A73053  REPORT KFJC

FARRER: “Can you remind us what is that counsel unanimous?”

COTTI: “Yes the council considered this item at the closed session on April 27th. And at that time the City Council approved the settlement agreement … and I reported out that the commission unanimously approved it.

FARRER: “OK.”

COTTI: “Your vote was unanimous.”

FARRER: “OK … so all five council members approved it the separation agreement? I think that seems to be misunderstood by some members of the public who spoke to that tonight. All five council members agreed to the separation agreement and the terms.”

It being the Malibu city council … both sides needed to make their political points.

Steve Uhring says it’s important that Malibu voters here what is city attorney and other consultants were telling the city Council in closed-door session last April and March…. When they were considering what to do about the Feldman-Silverstein impasse.

The acting city attorney John Cotti said… there are no written reports from back then.

NEWSCART 73056 JC REPORT

“We will if the councils pleasure release that report. As to any notes that any councilman may have taken during the session. We don’t keep copies of those … we don’t keep minutes of closed sessions. We take notes and we report out what we have to report out. But those were my notes not public notes.”

Bottom line … the investigative attorney brought in to determine if Reva Feldman was harassed by Bruce Silverstein will have her report made public sometime soon. That’s pretty much unprecedented. The acting city attorney John Cotti needs to write a report about the advice that he gave the city Council last year… As well… And we release the two reports together. 

He says … ”very soon.”

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Third Try To Hire City Manager Ends In Third Failure

For the third time … the Malibu City Council went behind closed doors with a specific agenda item of hiring a permanent city manager. 

And for the third time last night… they emerged without having made a decision. Steve McClary… the acting city manager… has been praised publicly by members of city Council. But he has not been given the permanent job. 

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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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Malibu Withdraws Objections Against SM Plans For MHS

A last minute fight between the Santa Monica school district and city officials … over the proposed Malibu High School reconstruction project… has been smoothed over. You might recall last week we reported that the $160 million construction project on Morningview Drive ran into a major problem. City officials raised last minute objections… Lots of them… To the school districts design for the new high school. Voters have already approved spending the money… And the school district is on a tight deadline to go out for bids before construction costs make the project an affordable unaffordable. 

City of Malibu officials said the school district made numerous technical errors and failed to properly design the high school to comply with Malibu’s environmental laws… Planning laws… And Coastal plan.

Santa Monica Malibu facilities Director Carey Upton said the cities last minute objections might derail the entire project. 

That was last week …

Last night … acting city manager Steve McClary so there’s been a meeting of the mind between the school district and the city.

NEWSCART A73054 SCHOOLPLANS SM

“They have rescheduled the matter for considering the EIR for the high school to this Wednesday, January 26. The city will be submitting a letter noting that the school district has addressed the cities concerns, and we will have a city planning staff in attendance at that meeting.”

The school project will cause significant impacts to lighting and noise. 

School district officials say mitigation Measures would be implemented to lessen these impacts,.

But state reeks require schools to have a certain level of lighting.

And schools make noise.

City of Malibu will still have final review approval for the high school project. 

Tomorrow night school board will be asked to approve an environmental impact report that lays out the issues… On a tight timetable as the district tries to put the train back on the tracks for the $160 million project project.

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Malibu Country Inn At Zuma Beach Goes Down In Flames At Council

Plans to rebuild the Malibu country Inn … and bring it into conformance with city zoning rules …ran into a big problems at the city council last night. 

The request for nine variances or other special privileges was rejected by the city Council and a unanimous vote. 

The motel has been perched on the steep hillside next to PCH at broad Beach Road for 60 years… But it has numerous zoning and building code violations that have piled up over the years.

The owner … Lynn Heacox … 

NEWSCART A73051 HEACOX

“We’re in an area that is not visible we’re not impacting some trail that currently doesn’t exist.  We’re not proposing any grading.  The site has never had any instability.  We’d like to rebuild the restaurant.

“We’ve been working here for four years.  we’ve been paying bed taxes for a hotel that is practically going out of business.  We need the restaurant to make our business feasible.”

But opponents said too much has been shoehorned onto the steep hillside lot … right beneath multimillion dollar mobile homes in the Point Dume Club.

City planning commissioner John Mazza said the motel has added on illegal additions … and is unsafe from a fire safety standpoint.

NEWSCART A73050 MOTEL JM

“The fire department has to carry their hoses up at 2 1/2 to 1 slope on a stairway and turn on the water 50 feet below them. They can’t do it OK? If you’ve ever carried a hose and Mikey has he knows it. This property is substandard on geology… The hotel is directly next to a one to one slope. If the slope fails it falls right on the hotel.

No city council members spoke in favor of the concept. 

Steve Uhring said the proposed reconstruction of the motel at PCH at Westward beach Road is asking for way too much.

NEWSCART A73049 MOTEL SU UHRING

“Now I’ve been on the planning commission for four years prior to getting up here. And I don’t think I’ve seen a Projects with this many variances or discretionary request. I mean the only thing the staff is not giving this guy is a pony.

The proposed reconstruction of the Malibu Country Inn and restaurant went down on a 5-0 vote.” 

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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 .

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This correction.

Yesterday we reported that the santa monica airport has ended operations by private business jets. 

Most jets have been turned away from the airport … after the city council in sanity Monica voted to shorten the runway. 

Some jets are still able to land there. 

The Santa Monica city council plans to close the airport in a few years. 

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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

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