City announces July 4 fireworks location
The City of Malibu, as of Tuesday afternoon, announced a barge offshore of the Malibu Colony as the only permitted fireworks display within city limits. The fireworks are scheduled to begin at 9 p.m.
The city in a public notice this week stated that it does not sponsor any fireworks displays and that unpermitted fireworks are prohibited at all times.
Lawsuit filed against County and Sheriff’s deputies in Richardson disappearance
Civil rights attorney Leo Terrell filed a lawsuit against the County of Los Angeles and certain Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s station employees Monday in connection with the September 2009 disappearance of Mitrice Richardson. The suit is aimed at getting the station to release certain documents and videos related to the disappearance, said Wendy Weng, a law clerk in Terrell’s office.
Richardson, 24, a Cal State Fullerton graduate, vanished after being released from the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station after midnight on Sept. 17, 2009. She had no car, no purse and no cell phone. She had been arrested at Geoffrey’s Malibu for not paying a dinner bill and was reported by staff to have been acting strangely. Authorities, family and supporters have searched Malibu hills and canyons several times without finding her.
The suit charges the County of Los Angeles and individuals of the Malibu/Lost Hills station with nine complaints, encompassing violating Richardson’s constitutional rights, negligence, infliction of emotional distress, violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act and wrongful death.
Weng said the station employees didn’t treat Richardon, who the suit contends was exhibiting signs of mental disability, with the proper care.
Named in the lawsuit directly are Deputies Frank Bower, J. Mulay, A. Loureiro, Hill, McKay, Bomgardner; Sgts. Holland, Lasko, D. Alfred; Commander Tom Martin; the County of Los Angeles; and up to 20 other unknown station personnel who may have been working at the station at the time of her release but who the plaintiffs have not yet identified.
Weng said the purpose of the lawsuit was to obtain information that the sheriff’s station has withheld from the public “specifically, a two-hour video segment showing Mitrice acting strangely in a holding cell and then her release from the station, followed by an unidentified, uniformed individual who followed her out the door.” Weng said the video was shown to Richardson’s mother, Latice Sutton, but not released.
Steve Whitmore, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s department, said that to his knowledge the department had been forthcoming with all aspects of the investigation.
“Whenever a lawsuit is filed, the whole story is not being told, and we look forward to telling the whole story in the legal arena,” Whitmore said.
A dollar amount for damages requested was not cited in the lawsuit, but Weng said the amount would be ascertained during a trial.
Terrell, a high-profile civil rights attorney who hosts a radio talk show on 790 KABC-AM, has used his radio show to get the word out about Richardon’s disappearance, Weng said.
Weng also said the department has “stonewalled” Richardon’s family, and this lawsuit would allow them to subpoena department employees and records to get more information.
Public comment deadline for septic ban set
The State Water Resources Control Board recently announced that it will accept comment letters regarding the proposed ban on onsite wastewater disposal systems in the Malibu Civic Center area until July 12 at noon.
The announcement came in a Monday press release, which stated that the board will not accept additional written comments after this date unless the board determines otherwise.
The proposed amendment would prohibit all new wastewater discharges, and it would set a timetable for banning discharges from existing systems, With certain exceptions.
The board is accepting comments by e-mail at commentletters@waterboards.ca.gov, and more information can be obtained at the board’s Web site, www.swrcb.ca.gov.
Former SMMUSD head appointed to LAUSD’s No. 2 post
John Deasy, who served as superintendent for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District from 2001 to 2006, was appointed this month by the Los Angeles Unified School District’s school board to serve as that district’s deputy superintendent.
Deasy will begin his new job in August on an 11-month contract worth $275,000. Some observers say he is being groomed as a possible replacement for current Superintendent Ramon Cortines, whose contract expires in two years.
Since 2008, Deasy has worked for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as its deputy director of education. He began his job with the foundation after serving a little more than two years as the superintendent for the schools in Prince George’s County, Md. Although Deasy was credited for boosting student success in the poverty-stricken area, he left under controversial circumstances. Shortly before Deasy’s departure, the legitimacy of his Ph.D. from Louisville University was questioned when it was revealed he had received it after just one semester of work. District officials said at the time that this issue was not a factor in Deasy’s leaving.
Deasy has received national attention as an education reformer and for his support of charter schools. He is probably best remembered by Malibu residents as the mastermind of the SMMUSD’s gift policy, which requires 15 percent of all donations to the district (including specific schools) be distributed to schools throughout the SMMUSD on a weighted scale taking academic achievement and financial challenges of the student body into consideration.
Lemonade a sweet fundraising recipe
The children-initiated effort to save school district teachers through lemonade stands, coined “Project Lemon-Aid,” has raised more than $10,000 through at least three dozen lemonade stands over the past two weeks and is gaining momentum, the group announced at an event last week Friday.
The effort started with a few schoolchildren, conscious of the impending budget cuts brought on by the defeat of Measure A, setting up a lemonade stand to help save their teachers. The stand’s immediate success led parent Jenniffer Krieger to think the idea had potential.
“It’s been really fun to watch,” Krieger said in a telephone interview with The Malibu Times. She said the effort has gained community acceptance, and been included in baseball games, parades, festivals, barbecues, yoga classes and yard sales.
Krieger continued that the group’s Facebook page, titled “Project Lemon-Aid,” is constantly getting new wall posts announcing plans for new stands.
Stacey Abarbanel, who has been involved with media outreach for the project, said the project has two major impacts: “teaching children that when there’s a problem, everybody has a role to play, not just the adults” and the awareness it creates.
“We know that lemonade stands aren’t going to solve the problem, but it does raise awareness,” Abarbanel said.
Krieger said that a big step in the next phase of the project was getting the first corporate sponsor on board: Menchie’s Yogurt at Lincoln Blvd. and Montana Ave., which has agreed to donate 20 percent of its July proceeds to the effort.
Project Lemon-Aid will use funds to support the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation, an organization that is at the helm of a major fundraising campaign for the school district.
The foundation’s Web site, www.smef.org, says it needs about $1.9 million to restore elementary school teachers, about $2 million to restore secondary school teachers and counselors, and $700,000 to restore music teachers and librarians.
Dogs at risk during holiday weekend
Animal Control Services records a 30 percent increase in lost dogs during the days surrounding the Fourth of July, as well as an increase of chained dogs that strangle themselves, both direct results of fireworks and dogs’ reactions to them, according to a recent press release issued by local dog trainer Robert Cabral.
Cabral wrote that loud sounds trigger dogs to panic, and can cause them to run away. Other reactions include dangerous stress levels or out of control panting.
According to Cabral, it is essential for dog owners to prepare their pets for the upcoming holiday weekend in order to ensure maximum safety. Cabral’s tips include avoiding walks during firework celebrations, feeding dogs before fireworks begin, and preventing dogs from being left alone or interacting with unfamiliar animals or people during firework displays.
More information can be obtained by calling 310.308.5555.
Next court date set for Point Dume rape suspect
The man who allegedly attempted to rape a woman who was jogging at Point Dume Preserve State Park in March will appear at Van Nuys Superior Court Aug. 16 for a pretrial conference. The 35-year-old victim was jogging in Point Dume Preserve State Park on March 12. At the conclusion of her run she walked to the edge of a cliff and was then allegedly grabbed from behind by Christian Marcus Verdin, who, she told authorities, attempted to sexually assault her. The victim struggled and was able to break free; she jumped and slid approximately 150 feet down the cliff. A local resident who lives in the area said he talked to several witnesses who heard the woman’s cries and went to her aid.
The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment. She suffered abrasions and bruises, predominantly from the fall down the face of the cliff.
On March 30, Malibu/Lost Hills Station detectives received notification that the Los Angeles County Crime Lab had identified a suspect in the attack. DNA samples from the crime scene revealed a match to Verdin, who was on parole for a burglary committed in 2008. He was arrested April 2.
Verdin was charged April 6 at Van Nuys Superior Court with attempt to commit rape, robbery, grand theft auto and assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.
Court date set for homicide suspect
A suspect in the April 3 death of 13-year-old Malibu resident Emily Rose Shane will next appear at the Airport Branch Courthouse in Los Angeles July 22.
Sina Khankhanian, 26, of Winnetka, has plead not guilty in connection with Shane’s death. Judge Keith L. Schwartz ordered Khankhanian jailed on the $3 million bail recommended by the prosecution. The prosecution alleges he used a deadly weapon, an automobile, to commit the crime, according to a press release by the Los Angeles County District Attorney.
Detectives said Shane was walking home from a friend’s house along the 29000 block of Pacific Coast Highway near Heathercliff Road when Khankhanian, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer, hit her. Investigators believe Khankhanian may have intentionally crashed his car, but they do not believe he intended to hit her.
Single-use bag ban advances to senate appropriations committee
The Senate Environmental Quality Committee today approved Assembly Bill 1998 by Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, of Santa Monica, to ban single-use bags at check-out stands in grocery stores, drug stores, convenience stores and liquor stores.
AB 1998 would phase in a ban on single-use bags over a two-year period beginning in 2012, requiring stores to provide reusable bags. Shoppers who forget their bags would be able to purchase recycled paper bags of 40 percent post-consumer material for not less than a nickel at check-out stands.
Opposing the bill, the American Chemistry Council in Arlington, Va., supported plastic bag recycling programs instead of an outright ban, and argued that the proposed ban threatens the jobs of 500 employees in California and could put two Los Angeles area plastic bag manufacturers out of business.
By Stan Parker, Leslie Wade & Jonathan Friedman