=.  23 degrees at sunrise at King Gillette Ranch … the wind chill factor was 40 at Leo Carrillo beach

=.  The city says federal infrastructure bill money will pay to underground every mile of PCH power lines.

=.  City officials unveil a list of 20 major road projects that can be funded by existing tax revenue … bolstered by Biden’s infrastructure bill money.

=.  Rebuilding PCH in eastern Malibu is one priority … to narrow the lanes from freeway width.
=.  Westward Beach Road recommended for repaving and not much more … by a divided set of city commissions. 

=.  Ojai says it’s getting ripped off paying for the county sheriff …. Ojai is about as big as Malibu … what about us???

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

Biden’s Infrastructure Bill Will Pay For Underground Power Lines On PCH: City – 19 Other Major Road Projects Proposed Using Fed/State/County  Funds

Putting power lines underground on PCH .,.,. and a major reconfiguration of PCH lanes in eastern Malibu … can be funded by the Federal Infrastructure Act.

Right now.

City public works director Rob duBoux says there are specific funds in President Biden’s infrastructure bill for undergrounding power lines.

The feds call it call it community resiliency.

Rob du Box calls it a golden opportunity for Malibu to put all 22 miles of power lines underground … along PCH. 

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“The federal infrastructure bill has a resiliency portion of that built that goes directly towards undergrounding facilities and making communities more resilient. And so that was a huge kind of finding that I found that’s available through the funding. And so I’m really excited at the possibility of doing that.”

The ability to underground powerlines on Pacific Coast Highway with federal money … quite enticing. 

But one Public Works commissioner said that if the city is going to use taxpayer money to do that… The city should own those powerlines… Not Southern California Edison.

Wade Major.

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The Public Safety Director Rob DuBoux unveiled 5 priority projects … projects in Malibu that he thinks can be funded immediately. 

Number two on that list is rebuilding the Las Flores and Rambla Pacifico intersections with PCH .,.. the back to back signals and tight curve next to Duke’s restaurant.  That’s the crashiest location in Malibu. 

And that project has been on Caltrans construction lists for years … and some people last night questioned why the city should be paying for a state highway project,

PCH figures heavily in the city’s top five priority list.

DuBoux says number three on the list would be a total overhaul of PCH from the Civic Center all the way to Topanga Beach.

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“This is a project that’s reconfiguring the traffic lines and center median to reduce the traveling lanes width …v  and install new bike buffer areas… and include safety improvements along that corridor.”

PCH was widened to four lanes in the 1940s … and the lanes are 14 feet wide in some places.

That’s 3 feet wider than freeway lanes … Caltrans has new design standards aimed less at moving lots of cars fast … and aimed more at pedestrian  and bicyclist safety.

The city public works director says his list of 20 priority road projects can be adjusted.   And he says the first five might be funded and ready to build this year.

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“This priority list … there’s 20 projects. I am not going to get to 20 projects this year. Just not going to happen ,. But my goal is to get activate and get moving on the first five project on this list.”

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 .

Stripped-Down Westward Bch Rd Project Recommended By Pub Works Commission, Pub Safety Comm Rejects It

A four-hour-long meeting yesterday about Westward Beach Road ended with two city commissions basically throwing up their hands in a split decision … almost no decision.

After hours of chopping possibilities from the project … the Public Safety and Public Works commissions deadlocked.   The Public Works people decide on a recommendation … and the Public Safety people deadlocked.

The recommendation … for the city council … is to … basically … repave what is there now … repair the road shoulder that has been buried by sand …. add a few feet of width if possible but staying  8 feet back from the edge of the city right of way line in the sand … maybe speed humps … but nothing else concrete. 

No sidewalk … no beachfront walk … no bike lane.  And .. for now …. no wooden promenade either.

Building a street without provisions for bicycles and pedestrians would be a violation of terms in the city’s grant from Metro … so far … 150 thousand dollars has been spent for planning the multi-use beachfront road with sand wall and sidewalk … which has gone down in flames.

Malibu will likely have to pay that money back to Metro.

Many residents of Point Dume say the project should just be abandoned,.

Philippe Browning spokes at last night’s combined session of the city Public Works and Public Safety commissions: :

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“It seems to me that – until there was a study done that says this was the number of vehicular and other pedestrian incidents … Antil that is put forward and tilted to describe a true need for either parking or a pedestrian walkway … I think the projects basic premise is ill founded. I have lived in the area now for almost two  years right next to that zone.”

In a marathon four-hour meeting yesterday … the city Public Works and Public Safety commissions hashed over various plans for bikelanes … angle parking … walkways on the inland sid … a boardwalk on the sand … 

One by one … the commission rejected one thing after another.

One propsioal was for something called a roll up sidewalk … a wooden walkway that could be placed along the road …jn the sand … and rolled up for storms,.

One. Commissioner … Doug Stewart ….said he’s seen the roll up sidewalks used on Catalina island.

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“It’s a constant maintenance item to keep somebody sweeping the sand off the road because they sink into the sand the sand blows over them. And honestly if a storm is coming… Who is going to roll up a quarter mile… a half mile of roll-up beach walk?

The final recommendation to the city council was to simply resurface Westward Beach Road .,.. and widen it a little bit towards the ocean … where the sand has covered or eroded the original roadway pavement.

That really disappointed some of the commissioners …. who pointed out that Metro will not accept funding a project that does not include bicycle and pedestrian features.

Commissioners Brian Merrick and Chris Frost. 

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MERRICK: “There is no pedestrian there’s no bike there’s no nothing in this in the set up… So… I mean we’re not gonna see this again I think.”

FROST: “Frankly … I’m a public safety commissioner … and frankly we addressed very little about the Public Safety issue on this road. “

After stripping all of the bicycle and walkway items …. the commissions also adopted a statement to the city council.

They say the repaving option should be tested for eight months … and then the bike and pedestrian issue should be revisited.

But that  will probably mean that Metro will want its 150 thousand dollar planning grant back … and it probably also means the city will not get Metro construction money for the project. 

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

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State of California Follows Malibu’s Lead, Will Regulate Plastic Flowing Into Ocean

Microplastics … tiny particles of pertochemical-based junk.

An estimated 11 million metric tons of plastic pollution entering the oceans worldwide each year … most of it micorplastics.

The material is posing an increasing health risk to fish, marine mammals and potentially humans in the region.

California is set to become the first state, and maybe the first place in the world, to limit microplastics at sea.

A state advisory board yesterday adopted a plan to reduce the amount of micro plastics 

or addressing these pesky particles that flake off tires, clothing, plastic bags and countless other items before making their way to the water.

The state plan suggests,.,,, suggests but does not require ,,, reducing plastic manufacturing, controlling plastic waste and educating the public about problems associated with plastic.

Implementing those suggestions as rules would be up to state regulatory agencies

The heads of both the California Environmental Protection Agency and California Natural Resources Agency sit on the council that made the recommendations.

You might remember that Malibu was an early adopter of rules against things like plastic straws and balloons… even getting some ridicule for leading the way.

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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.

 

Vax Mask Regulations To Be Loosened In LA County Pronto

Fully vaccinated individuals will soon be able to shed their masks indoors at Los Angeles County establishments …if they can prove vaccinations. 

The revised rules — which take effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday — represent a significant relaxation of the county’s universal indoor mask mandate, which has been in place since July. And depending on how many businesses elect to take advantage, the impact could be both widespread and widely apparent, especially in places like offices, gyms, restaurants, bars and hair salons.

However, it also may be short-lived. County health officials have expressed optimism that the region is mere weeks away from clearing the threshold they’ve set to fully repeal the requirement that fully vaccinated individuals must still mask up in many indoor public places. Doing so would align the county’s rules with those that are in place across the vast majority of California.

But this week’s move nevertheless demonstrates how far the region has come since the heights of the Omicron surge.

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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.

Ojai Thinks Their County Sheriff Is Ripping Them Off – Lesson For Malibu?

Two nights ago … the city council in Ojai voted to reopen its contract with the Ventura County sheriff’s department. 

Why is this news in Malibu???
Like Ojai … Malibu hires the big county sheriff’s office to provide city police services,

The Ojai City Council believes that city is overpaying for police services.

Ojai spent 18 thousand dollars for a consulting company to look into the agreement with the county and how it could be improved. 

The consultant … the former Oxnard police chief … concludes that Ojai pays for a higher level of service than unincorporated Ojai Valley.

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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

Villanueva Blasts Back At Tax Firm That Claims Libel

EDITOR’S NOTE:  This story was cut for time on Thursday, and is now scheduled to be broadcast Friday.

LA sheriff Alex Villanueva is striking back against the company that is suing him for defamation,.

Fulgent testing claims gat the sheriff libeled them by linking the company to the government of China.

Fulgent is the company hired by the Los Angeles county board of supervisors to test county employees for coronavirus… a mandatory test by a company that Villanueva alleges shares its data with the Chinese government. 

The sheriff claims he and the counties top officials were told that by the FBI at a meeting last year.

Villanueva has been sued in his private capacity … and there LA Cotton y government is not going to pay for his legal defense.

At a news conference yesterday… Villanueva read from a letter to him from the county’s top lawyer … the county counsel. 

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“’The facts indicate you acted with actual malice, including your actions taken to undermine the counties vaccinations policy, which is contrary to public health policy and jeopardize the health and safety of the counties workforce.’

The sheriff is in a bitter political battle with there Board of Supervisors … and he is opposed to the mandatory  Covid vaccination rule that every other county department is following.

Villenueva is up for re-election next year and has taken a hard turn to the right … appealing to the anti-vax voter.

He serves as the police chief for the City of Malibu and more than 40 other small cities in L A County.

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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