Car plummets over Kanan Dume, two rescued
Two people were rescued Monday from a vehicle that tumbled over the side of Kanan Dume Road in the hills above Malibu.
Firefighters arrived at the 2400 block of Kanan Dume Road, about three miles north of Pacific Coast Highway, shortly before 12 p.m.
The pair were airlifted to a hospital for treatment of moderate injuries, Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Frederic Stowers said Monday in a report by the Los Angeles Daily News.
The circumstances of the accident were under investigation.The circumstances of the accident were under investigation.
Last chance to save Pepperdine swim and dive team
Pepperdine University?s women?s swimming and diving program, earmarked for elimination in the wake of school budget cuts earlier this year, could remain intact if a $1.6 million pledge drive is successfully obtained by Jan. 31.
The $1.6 million doesn?t have to be actual cash in hand, but a combination of cash and pledges totaling that much must be on the books by Jan. 31, and actual donor payments can be stretched out over four years and paid each January.
If the drive does not meet its goal, all monies and pledges must be returned, and the swimming and diving program will cease in March as scheduled.
The elimination of the swimming and diving team was announced early last year when the university declared a 10 percent across-the-board reduction of its operating expenses. The athletic department responded by also laying off nine employees and eliminating the men?s track team.
The pledge form can be obtained online by visiting www.pepperdinepledge.parvaresh.net/Pledge.pdf
L.A. Water Board to vote on discharge ban for La Paz project
In its 10-year effort to build a shopping center on a parcel at the intersection of Civic Center Way and Cross Creek Road, Malibu La Paz Ranch, LLC in August 2009 filed an appeal against the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board?s decision deeming that its project application was incomplete.
The regional board will hold a public hearing Feb. 4 in Los Angeles to discuss the appeal and also vote on an order that would forbid any wastewater discharge from the La Paz property.
?We need to prohibit the discharge, especially since the prohibition [of septic systems in the broader Civic Center area] has been adopted,? Dr. Rebecca Chou, the regional board?s unit chief, said in a phone interview in December. ?To us, their discharge would a new one, so we cannot issue a permit of new discharge.?
The matter will be reviewed at an undetermined date by the State Water Resources Control Board, which may dismiss the appeal or order the LARWQCB to reevaluate the application before taking further action.
The La Paz development includes an offer to donate 2.3 acres of the parcel and $500,000 to the City of Malibu for ?any municipal purpose,? including a wastewater treatment plant. The regional board banned the use of septic systems in the Civic Center area last year, based on its assessment that they are the leading cause of pollution at Surfrider Beach, Malibu Creek and lagoon.
In November 2008, Malibu City Council approved both an 112,000-square-foot and a 99,000-square-foot version of the La Paz project. Both plans include a collection of retail, restaurant and office buildings ranging in size from 6,000 square feet to 17,000 square feet. The larger option, which contains the offer to the city, requires a coastal development permit and is pending approval by the California Coastal Commission, but the smaller one does not.
In its appeal, La Paz claims its project application is complete by law under the Permit Streamlining Act, which requires that development project applications be reviewed and their completeness determined within 30 days of submission. The appellant states it submitted the application and all required documentation on Dec 2, 2008, but did not receive any response from the LARWQCB until after Jan. 2 of this year.
Contrarily, the regional water board has deemed La Paz?s application incomplete. Though the application includes a conceptual Title 22 engineering report, which details the capabilities of its proposed wastewater treatment system, a final engineering report approved by both the LARWQCB and the Department of Public Health must be obtained, the board states.
Malibu Canyon project to begin in February
The Malibu Canyon Road Improvements and Reconstruction Project, consisting of the application of an rubber-asphalt overlay, is scheduled to begin in early February, according to the City of Malibu?s Public Works Department. The project is expected to take approximately 60 calendar days for completion.
Lane closures can be expected in the construction area between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., but at least one lane will remain open at all times.
More information can be obtained by calling 310.456.2489 ext. 264.
Legacy Park construction 30 percent complete
Construction of Legacy Park is approximately 30 percent complete and is expected to be finished in fall of this year, according to the city?s most recent update of the project.
Work completed to date includes the majority of the rough grading work on the park site and installation of most of the offsite storm drain infrastructure work, such as piping, catch basins and manhole structures, a city press release states. Since recent rain events have hindered completion of the rough grading work, the focus has been set on the Civic Center Way street improvements, which include construction of curbs, gutters, driveway entrances and parking areas.
Upcoming work will focus on continued street improvements along Civic Center Way, including installation of decorative and porous pavers for the crosswalks, pathways, parking areas and street medians.
?Safe Drug Drop-Off Program? launches locally
The Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff?s Station recently announced the Sheriff?s Department?s ?Safe Drug Drop-Off Program,? which provides a drop-off site for the safe disposal of unused and outdated prescription medications and syringes. The Sheriff?s program started in October 2009 and is expanding throughout Los Angeles County Sheriff?s Stations.
Three secured receptacles, located near the front entrance to the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff?s Station (27050 Agoura Road, in Agoura), will serve as 24-hour drop-off containers for old prescription medications, syringes and miscellaneous pharmaceuticals. Drop-offs are anonymous.
Flushing medications into the water supply results in the contamination of water systems and threatens all of the ecosystems that rely on a clean water supply since wastewater treatment plants are not able to test or treat for pharmaceuticals, the Sheriff?s Department stated in a press release.
Public bird counting event to aid researchers
Bird watchers coast to coast are invited to take part in the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, from Feb. 12 through Feb. 15. Participants in the free event will join tens of thousands of volunteers counting birds in their own backyards, local parks or wildlife refuges.
Each checklist submitted by these ?citizen scientists? helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society, and Bird Studies Canada learn more about how the birds are doing?and how to protect them. Last year, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent?s largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded.
Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from novice bird watchers to experts. Participants count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org.
More information can be obtained online at www.birdcount.org.
By Olivia Damavandi