US Navy, US Marine Corps Say ‘Not Us’ So Far In Regards To Sunday’s Loud Noises

The US Navy in San Diego says it is not them … causing all the rumbling over the weekend.

People from Ventura to San Diego reported hearing offshore rumbling on Sunday.

It sounded like distant artillery shells. 

We can report definitively it did not come from the Point Mugu Naval Station. 

We were there on Sunday and did not hear it originate at that location.

KBUU News has contacted the marine base at Camp Pendleton … they say it was not them.

KBUU News has contacted the Navy’s public affairs offices from San Diego to the Pentagon … they are all asking down the line.

We do know that the US Navy frequently conducts live fire ordinance testing at a test range that starts about 30 miles southwest of Malibu and extends far out to sea.

So far … no answer.

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Life Support Pulled From Malibu Man, Hit By Car Carrier On PCH Oct 17

There is news of another fatality on Pacific Coast Highway.

This one was a Malibu man … who was hit by a car carrier on PCH two weeks ago.

This was on the highway down the hill from Heatherlciff … in front of Zuma Sushi.

There man was taken with severe injuries to UCLA Reagan hospital.

The Point Dume resident’s family has made the difficult decision … his life support machines have been removed … after being declared brain dead.

Neither the coroner and the sheriff have yet identified the man.

Sheriffs traffic investigators told KBUU news yesterday that the hospital had not yet notified them of the death…

Family members may not have all been notified.  

KBUU News policy is to never broadcast the name of a dead person until it is confirmed by authorities.

Even if it all over the Internet.

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Malibu Planning Commissioner Wants High School Hearing Delayed So He Can Handle Holiday Visitors, And Claims $1 Million Per Month Inflation Cost Is ‘Not True’

The City of Malibu may stop processing the Malibu High School construction project … while it waits to see if the Coastal Commission staff likes the master zoning plan for the campus.

This was not on the agenda last night … but the Planning Director recommended holding off on processing the CDP … the Coastal Development Permit … sought by the school district to construct the new building.

Planning Director Richard Mollica asked Planning Commissioners to email him their decision on when to hold the hearing …

The district says it is losing millions of Malibu taxpayer dollars while city hall decides what to do.

Mollica says it makes no sense to act on the CDP until the Coastal Commission staff comments on the overall master plan … a zoning change called the Specific Plan. 

NEWSCART A73745 SCHOOL MOLLICA 

“For what it’s worth, my recommendation is that until we get some sort of feedback from the Coastal Commission as to what changes they might have, or if they are just going to approve the specific plan as is, cuz some some of that may have a bearing on the coastal commission permit. 

“I do think we should at least just get some feedback first from the Coastal Commission and they have sent us a correction letter and we will be meeting with them in the next couple of weeks to go over that correction letter to better understand it.”

Mollica says he wants to hear if three planning commissioners want to expedite the high school CDP.

With the election happening today … that may or may not happen.

District officials have all but begged the city to process the CDP application as soon as possible.

Facilities Director Carey Upton told KBUU news this morning that inflation calls have dropped from 15% to eight or 9% per year.

But he blamed inefficiencies at the City Of Malibu planning department for a one year delay they have cost taxpayers $8 million in buying power… And counting… So far.

But John Mazza says the district’s claim is wrong. 

He says he’s not happy that the district wants a fast decision … and that the district hurrying the decision is the biggest reason he has voted against it.

NEWSCART A73742 SCHOOL MAZZA 

“The price of lumber has dropped 50% in the last five months. 

“This canard that we are losing millions every day because of higher construction costs is not true. 

“And as we enter the recession it will; be more and more so. 

“So we don’t need to listen people who make things up. We need to be scientific about this and figure out what’s proper and have items that are flushed out. 

“I obviously I objected some things on the school, mostly because they said ‘if you don’t do it this way they will never build the school’.”

Upton tell KBUU News this morning that Mazza does not know what he is talking about … lumber may have dropped … but steel and concrete have gone up.

Says Upton: “we are talking to construction professionals.  What expertise does a John Mazza have?  He cites lumber costs.  That’s one ingredient.”

But last night … Mazza pressed to delay.

And Mazza says the idea of scheduling a special Planning Commission meeting to consider the school project … will interfere with his holiday plans. 

NEWSCART A73741 SCHOOL MAZZA 2222 

“I think it’s important that at least in the holidays — we’ve had a lot of special meetings this year — at least in the holidays that we get a break. 

“Because I have — I assume we all have — relatives rolling into town.”.

Unless three planning commissioners say otherwise … the Malibu High school CDP will not be heard by the Planning Commission until next year.

Malibu school board member Craig Foster has said that he might recommend that the project simply be shelved …for the time being… if there’s not enough money to build the high school classroom structure.

That would the vacant lot sitting empty … and Malibu High school kids attending classes in portables … while the city … the district and the coastal commission debate over who should act first … and enjoy their holiday break.

City Says Caltrans Engineering Error May Be Bigger Than First Thought

Hints of the scope of the Caltrans bridge design fiasco at Trancas Creek are emerging. 

Last night …. a city employee revealed that Caltrans may have serious bridge engineering problems with its half-finished bridge construction at Trancas Creek.

Lauren Doyle … as assistant city planner … says Caltrans has told the city the state is now evaluating what to do.

As KBUU News first reported … the bridge reconstruction project has totally derailed … and Caltrans contractors have stopped work for the winter with the project less than half done.

Support piers for the northbound lanes have yet to be poured … and the deck is nowhere near installed.

All that was supposed to have been done by now.

Malibu assistant planner Lauren Doyle told the Planning Commission last night … Caltrans has told her the bridge supports cannot hold the designed weight … even with the pile sunk twice as deep as originally envisioned.

NEWSCART A73746 BRIDGE LAUREN DOYLE

“They haven’t reached the pile tip resistance that they expected, with their designed pile depths.

KBUU has reported that test drilling bores were not drilled in the middle of the creek … according to construction workers and eyewitness observations.

Those bore holes would have determined that the underground geology would not support the type of bridge being designed for the new bridge … which is replacing a crumbling structure finished in 1929.

The bridge piers were supposed to go down 68 feet … and when we spotted them being doubled in depth … down to 132 feet… we asked Caltrans for comment.

Now … the city is implying that Caltrans has told them that even the deeper pilings may not hold up the bridge and its traffic.

It also appears to us that the decision to stop construction before the new half of the bridge is finished may be endangering the old 1929 bridge abutment … which is currently carrying PCH traffic.

A section of bridge embankment washed away 23 years ago next to Trancas Market.  

The state came in and dumped huge boulders to reroute the creek back under the bridge.

Those rocks have been removed now … and if the creek meanders with heavy runoff … as it usually does … the embankment could wash away and take the pavement with it … cutting into PCH at Trancas Creek.

Planning commissioner Dennis Smith .. who runs a large construction contracting company … says it looks like trouble.

NEWSCART A73747 BRIDGE DENNIS SMITH 

“You dig holes where you’re going to work. They didn’t do that. 

“They dug some holes everywhere except where those piles were going to go. And now they’re going to be at the 136-foot depth mark, and that’s going to take awhile.”

KBUU has repeatedly asked Caltrans for comment on the looming construction . And got zero.

Bottom line … it looks like a major engineering mistake is going to cost millions. 

The highway is apparently at risk for a washout if Trancas Creek gets as much water as it did in 2018 … apparently … Caltrans will not talk about this.

And it means the detour and messy construction yard will be with us all winter … a major Caltrans mistake.