Malibu High On Track For August Move-In, As Plans Are Underway For Middle School And Pool

The New Malibu High School bulldings might be opened at the start of next year’s school year in August.

That’s the news from Santa Monica Malibu school district officials … delivered to a community bond oversight committee last night.

District operations director Carey Upton said the new classroom building has its exterior walls and roof nearly finished … and the building is now rain proof.

Interior wall are largely framed … some interior walls are already being painted… and landscaping work is about to start. 

The original plan was to open the classroom structure at the winter break next year … at the latest.

But Upton says the contractor has swarms of workers on the project … trying to get it open for students this August. 

Meanwhile … architects and academic planners are deep into design work for the Phase 2, Phase 3 and Phase 4 replacement projects at the remaining parts of Malibu Middle School and Malibu High School.

What is taking shape is a new middle school building. … in about the same footprint as the old “Shark” building … to complete a middle school compound in a triangular shape. 

Plans are taking shape for a new middle school gym … to replace the 60 year old gym and dank locker rooms in the middle of the campus. 

A new swimming pool will be built east of the current poo..

Talks are continuing with the city fo Malibu on how big that new pool should be. 

A new Olympic sized … 50 meter pool … is being advocated by some community members.  

But a smaller …. 30 meter pool would be there same size as the existing pool … and would be more than a million dollars cheaper.

The bigger pool could be built with baffles that would allow simultaneous water polo games on one side … and swim clubs or open community swimming on the other side. 

The problem remains … however … that any such community pool might have to be  be off limits for the general public during school hours … for security reasons,

The new projects will be built with 395 million dollars in bond money …. Approved by Malibu voters with a 62% majority this month.

That’s less than the 70% approval rating for the bond issue a decade to go… But Upton said the Malibu community opted to go for a much bigger bond issue this time… 

And the 62% majority yes vote  for the very ambitious Malibu is identical to the approval vote for smaller per taxpayer bond issue in Santa Monica … this fall. 

Last night … an outside team of auditors told the community members that they have examined a representative 18 percent sample of the contracts being spent at the current construction project.

And they found that 100 percent of that money has been spent as directed by voters … on projects at Malibu’s four public schools. 

Councilman Named In Racist Discrimination Lawsuit Responds With Next Door Insults Against Reporter

A Malibu city councilman who is named named in a racial discrimination lawsuit … filed by an ex city employee … has responded with a string of insults towards the reporter who broke the story.

Bruce Silverstein … unable to address the lawsuit for legal reasons … instead attacked the reporter.

The City of Malibu issued a statement … it says it cannot comment on pending litigation.

That’s the official reaction to the lawsuit filed by a city planner … Adrian Fernandez … over his departure from city employment last summer.

A statement from the city says that … “at this time, the City has not been served with the suit. “

The city statement goes on … “while we cannot comment on personnel matters or pending litigation, the City remains committed to providing a respectful, safe, and inclusive workplace for our employees.

“Thank you for your understanding.”

City councilman Bruce Silverstein reacted to the lawsuit on Nextdoor … agreeing with someone who said “something smells” in this matter,

Silverstein then said the object that smells “is not, however, the lawsuit.”

Says he …. And we quote …. “I believe that the smell you detect is the stench coming from KBU, and is simply adding to the admixture of foul odors that routinely emanate from that source.”

Close quote.

Silverstein returned to post personal insults against reporter Hans Laetz every hour or so .. for several hours …  into the night.

Says he: “Please feel free to report that I have considered you a hack for as long as I have read your drivel.”

But he did not make any allegations of inaccuracy in the article about the lawsuit.

There are no errors in the story.

We stand by our report.

It is a straightforward account of a lawsuit filed against the City and its taxpayers …. and Silverstein personally.  It is a matter of utmost public interest, and reporting on legal actions filed in court are legally protected.

KBUU stands by its coverage as non-biased … and accurate … of an important  news development.   Silverstein says he will not comment on them now, but the city has been sued … and there is a possibility of a verdict that could cost the city taxpayers and their insurance company tens of millions of dollars.

Silverstein no doubt recognizes he cannot comment on pending litigation.  So … he instead attacks the messenger.

18 Farmworkers Up Coast Stricken With Bacterial Disease

An alarming medical situation is developing in the strawberry fields up the coast from Malibu.

They Ventura County Star reports a rare and potentially severe disease has been diagnosed in as many as 18 field workers. 

Leptospirosis, is caused by bacteria … it can be spread by urine from animals including rodents and livestock.

In severe cases, the condition can cause kidney damage, liver failure or meningitis. Leptospirosis can be fatal.

Farmworkers harvesting or handling berries grown under hoops may be at higher risk of infection .. according to doctors interviewed by the Ventura County Star.

As many as 18 cases have been detected. 

Some patients were diagnosed with severe symptoms like meningitis … an inflammation of the membrane around the brain and spinal cord.

Public health officials said other cases involved mild symptoms like headache and fever.

Leptospirosis cannot be transmitted from person to person. 

It is caused by exposure to the urine of infected animals either from direct contact or from contact with soil or water contaminated by the urine.

Ventura County Public Health warned area doctors.

They said rodents are the most common source of the disease.

But livestock, dogs and cats can also be infected. 

And they suggest people keep pets away from ponds, lakes and other natural bodies of water. … and prompt veterinary care for animals that become sick.

Ventura County’s blackberry and raspberry crops are grown under hoops and plastic tarps … that form hothouses and bird shields. 

This story is based on reporting by the Ventura County Star.

Homeless Man On Bike Killed On Lincoln At 10 Freeway, Santa Monica

A 41-year-old man rising a bicycle was hit by two cars and killed on Lincoln Boulevard just south of the 10 Freeway just after midnight last Saturday night.

Santa Monica police reported the fatality yesterday.

The victim was believed to be a homeless rperson. 

His name has not been released yet.

Police say he was riding south when he was hit by one vehicle and then struck by a second vehicle.

He was pronounced dead on the pavement.

Police say both vehicle drivers remained at the scene and are cooperating with the investigation. Neither showed signs of any impairment.

There have been about six similar fatal crashes … last at night .., on Pacific Coast Highway and other streets in Santa Monica and Malibu this year. 

Ventura Fire Was Fed By Grass In Previously-Burned Area

There is a scary lesson for Mailbu in that big fire that took out 243 houses in Camarillo two weeks ago.

That was just 25 miles northwest of Malibu.

The gigantic blaze …. called the Mountain Fire … burned through grass that was fed by two wet winters and then dried out by Malibu-type Santa Ana winds.

And about one third of the Moiutain Fire burn area had burned in the past few years … making the way for grass and weeds to cover the mountains and hills.

The area within the Mountain fire perimeter has seen eight significant wildfires in the last four decades … according to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times.

Repeat burns can create a feedback loop.

Large shrubs and trees get burned out … allowing flammable invasive grasses to take over. 

That phenomenon was particularly relevant in the Camarillo area, which saw two wet winters with extreme grass and weed growth.

The hot summer winds created a heavy carpet of flammable weed and grass.

One scientists told the LA Times that the local mountains are coming out of two years of 150 to 200% of normal percent precipitation … a lot of vegetation, brush, grasses, ends up being the base for fires to very efficiently spread.”

This month’s fire … the Mountain Fire …  is now classified as the third most destructive blaze in modern Southern California history … according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Woolsey Fire of six years ago was the biggest … with 16 hundred houses lost … one quarter of them in Malibu.

Family Drops Legal Claim Against SCE For Fire Losses

We told you yesterday about ht first lawsuit filed against the local power company for that massive fire in Ventura County two weeks ago.

The homeowners dropped their lawsuit against Southern Calufirnoa Edison yesterday … less than a week after they filed it. 

The couple filed suit against SCE just two days after the fire destroyed their home in the Camarillo hillsides.

SCE has said there is no evidence that its equipment was involved.

The lawsuit was dropped with a request that it could be refiled … should any evidence surface that it is warranted. 

Twin Storms Boring Down The Coast, Rain Due Sat and Then Sun Night

The atmospheric river that is hammering northern California is spinning into two separate storms.

And the weaker of the two will hit Malibu Saturday.

Exact rainfall totals… And the timing… are still somewhat of a question.

If you’ve ever seen a double Ferris wheel at an amusement park… That’s was happening over the Bay Area right now … with one of the wheels spinning off towards Canada … and the other flattening out into a routine winter storm… Aiming for Southern California. 

They call this te Fujiwhara Effect … accordign to the San Francisco Chronicle. 

Two strong low-pressure systems exist in close proximity to each other. 

The two storm systems rotate around an invisible point between them.

Their interplay alters the atmospheric jet stream flow … including the atmospheric river that is feeding into one of these two storms. 

The supercomputers at the National Weather Service are being given fits by all this. 

The latest consensus is that it will cloud up Friday … and rain about a half inch on Malibu Saturday … mostly in the afternoon. 

Sunday will be a mostly dry day.

But as second storm front may whip out of the spinning storm to the north of us … and come down the coast Monday.

This one has the computer models all over the place. 

The best guess is that we might see another round of rain Sunday night into Monday… about a half inch or less.