Former Racquet Club owner hospitalized after bike accident
Jerry Seymour, the former owner of the Malibu Racquet Club, was severely injured on Thursday when he was hit by a vehicle while riding his bicycle in Thousand Oaks. The 63-year-old Calabasas resident was sent via helicopter to UCLA Medical Center.
Racquet Club manager Erik Blackmore said on Tuesday that Seymour is at home in recovery with three fractured vertebrae and major contusions. He had no spinal cord damage, but will be in a back brace for four to six weeks.
“Now he’s just trying to manage the pain,” Blackmore said.
Seymour recently entered retirement after selling the Racquet Club to an anonymous buyer for an undisclosed sum last month.
Injured dolphin dies after rescue
Attempts to save an injured bottlenose dolphin found at Zuma Beach were unsuccessful, with the marine mammal dying during the 50-mile drive to the Marine Mammal Care Center at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro.
Los Angeles County Lifeguard Chuck Moore said the dolphin was discovered in ill-health on Saturday struggling near the shore with some injury marks made possibly by a boat propeller. The injuries were determined not to be new, Moore said. The dolphin was treated by the Los Angeles County Lifeguard’s Whale Rescue Team and officials from the California Wildlife Center in a nearby building.
The dolphin was then placed in a foam pad to mimic the buoyancy of water, and loaded onto a van that was escorted by the California Highway Patrol.
School Board to discuss Malibu High remodel
At its meeting this Thursday, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education will discuss priorities of the district’s Facilities Masters Plan for construction projects at Malibu High School. The projects are being funded through Measure BB, the facilities bond measure approved by voters last year.
The $27.5 million worth of enhancement projects include construction of a new library and administration offices, and reconstruction of the middle school wing into a new two-story classroom building to house three science labs. There is also a plan for a new parking area with emergency access to the track and field facility, a new drop-off and pick-up area, the construction of a new synthetic turf athletic field for soccer and football, the construction of two tennis courts, enhancement of the ampitheater, the installation of a new ventilation system in the gym locker rooms, the removal of three temporary classrooms and the construction of a new high school commons.
The agenda can be accessed at the district’s Web site at www.smmusd.org. The 5:30 p.m. meeting takes place at District Headquarters, located at 1651 16th Street in Santa Monica.
September city review possible for Conservancy parks plan
The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy plan to enhance its Malibu parkland with overnight camping facilities and other amenities could be ready to go before the Planning Commission next month. The Environmental Review Board reviewed the proposal last month. The board’s recommendations, which only focus on environmental issues, are being examined by the SMMC. City officials had said earlier the proposal could be ready for the Planning Commission this month, but the SMMC’s review had not been completed in time, a city official said last week. The plan likely will head to the commission either the first or third week of September.
The SMMC plan involves the enhancement of its parks at Ramirez, Escondido and Corral canyons. It also includes development at the city-owned Charmlee Wilderness Park, and the creation of a trail system that connects several national-, state- and Malibu-owned parks. The proposal comes in the form of a proposed amendment to the city’s Local Coastal Program. This means that following a Planning Commission recommendation, it will require approval by the City Council and the California Coastal Commission.
This is an updated version of a proposal from last year that would have skipped the entire city process and only require Coastal Commission review. The city filed a lawsuit over that proposal, with the SMMC threatening to sue the city in return. But prior to the parties going to the courtroom, staffs from both sides reached a resolution that made various adjustments to the plan.
Heal the Bay hosts summer-end activities
Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium will celebrate “The Last Waves of Summer” this weekend with various activities and speakers.
An arts and crafts station stocked with recycled materials, education presentations on wave dynamics, face painting and take-home wave models made from water bottles are just some of the highlights planned for the weekend. Visitors are invited to touch a sea star, receive a hug from a sea urchin, and feel the silky smooth skin of a sea cucumber in the touch-tank exhibits.
The Aquarium will also staff a station at the west end of the Santa Monica Pier, where the public is invited to drive a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, submerged in the 30-foot deep Santa Monica Bay. A camera from within the ROV provides streaming video projected on a screen set up above, giving visitors the opportunity to view the habitat under the pier without getting wet.
On Saturday at 2:30 p.m., Thomas White will discuss his new book, “In Defense of Dolphins: The New Moral Frontier,” which addresses the ethical issues related to human/dolphin interaction. White is the Conrad N. Hilton Chair in Business Ethics and the director of the Center for Ethics and Business at Loyola Marymount University. At 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Stirling Duguid, computer graphics supervisor for Sony Pictures Imageworks, will talk about how the animated waves were created for “Surf’s Up,” the latest feature-length animated film from Sony Pictures Animation. Duguid will explain the process, start-to-finish, and will discuss the advance wave research conducted at Cortez Bank.
The Aquarium is located at 1600 Ocean Front Walk in Santa Monica, just below the carousel on the Santa Monica Pier. It will be open this weekend from 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free for children 12 and under. There is a $5 suggested donation for all others, with a $2 minimum admission fee required. Admission for groups of 10 or more is $2 per person. More information about the aquarium is available at www.healthebay.org/smpa or by calling 310.393.6149.
-Jonathan Friedman