MRCA to meet on local coastal program override proposal
The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, a sister government agency of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, is holding a board meeting this week on Wednesday to vote on how to proceed with the proposed Malibu parks enhancement plan.
Late last month, the SMMC board voted to start a process that involves sending the California Coastal Commission the conservancy’s plans for a variety of parks enhancements, including the creation of overnight camping sites. This document would rival the city’s proposal to ban overnight camping in Malibu, which is also being submitted to the Coastal Commission. The commission would be asked to vote on both documents.
The MRCA board will be voting on whether to support the SMMC’s plan at its meeting. The session is taking place at 2 p.m. at the Conejo Recreation and Park District, located at 403 West Hillcrest Drive in Thousand Oaks.
City ordered to pay for 300K groundwater study
What was supposed to be a formality to obtain a wastewater permit by city officials ended up being a costly affair.
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, concerned about groundwater impacts by Richard Weintraub’s future Lumber Yard mall, ordered the city to conduct a $300,000 study. But the board is allowing the lumber yard development to proceed as long as the city agreed to do the study.
The City Council will vote on allocating the money from the General Fund for the study at its meeting on Monday.
Car hits boulder
Traffic was slowed for sometime early Monday morning on Topanga Canyon Boulevard after a vehicle collided with a boulder at the 1800 block of the road’s southbound lane. The accident occurred at approximately 6:30 a.m. Nobody was injured.
Northbound and southbound traffic used the southbound lane alternately, while being directed by California Highway Patrol officers, as a crew worked to clear the debris on the southbound lane.
Justice Bill Clinton?
Pepperdine School of Law professor Doug Kmiec predicted in a recent Wall Street Journal column that a President Hillary Clinton would name her husband to the Supreme Court if there were a vacancy during her term. There is no law preventing a president from nominating a family member to the nation’s high court.
William Howard Taft, who served as U.S. president from 1909 to 1913, is the only former chief executive to also serve on the Supreme Court. He was appointed chief justice in 1921, and remained at the post until 1930.
Kmiec is a constitutional law professor at Pepperdine. He served as the head of the Office of the Legal Counsel for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
Contest offers chance to perform with Latin jazz star
The Ventura Music Festival is holding a contest to select one high school student to play on stage with Latin-Jazz legend Poncho Sanchez and his band on Feb. 16
“One talented student will have the opportunity to perform live on stage with Latin jazz master Poncho Sanchez on Feb. 16, 2008 by competing in the Ventura Music Festival Student Jazz Competition,” says Cheryl Heitmann, executive director of the Ventura Music Festival. “High school students in the counties of Ventura, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and the San Fernando Valley are encouraged to submit one song recorded on CD for review by an esteemed panel of judges, who will select a winner to play one number alongside the legendary master.”
All students proficient in instruments appropriate for a Latin jazz band are eligible (horn, percussion, wind). There is no cost to enter the contest.
Entries must be received no later than Jan. 15 and must include a label with the following information:
€ Name, age, address, telephone number and e-mail of student
€ School name and music teacher name and contact information
€ Name of song and composer as recorded by student
Mail CD entries to the Ventura Music Festival at 89 S. California Street, Suite D, Ventura, CA 93001.
All contestants will receive discount tickets to see the concert on Feb. 16. The winning student will receive complimentary tickets for each member of his or her school band.
For more information, call 805.648.3146.
-Jonathan Friedman