Thunderstorms and lightning … very very frightening.
A critical vote tonight on Bluffs park … the question … which way will Skylar go.
And the possible … Malibu Playhouse purchase remember that from last winter?? It’s still on the agenda.
This is Malibu’s only local daily news.
It’s the (((( Monday ))) edition … from Radio Malibu …. 97 point 5 K B U.
——
Good morning Cavalleri!
——
Well … that was an unusual night.
A strong of thunderstorms danced up the coastal waters … thunder and lightning all evening … most of it offshore.
Rain did fall … in western Malibu,
Rainfall totals were slight …. point oh eight inches at Point Mugu.
No fires were reported … no power outages.
——
To get down to the basic issue … the city will find out tonight which way Skylar is going to go.
Malibu Mayor Skylar Peak is the swing vote on a decision that goes before the city council tonight … should the city keep trying to build ballfields on vacant … mostly-flat land next to Bluffs park.
Peak was the third vote against plunging down that trail earlier this year … but made comments both in favor and against park expansion there.
Tonight … the city council is considering a 220 thousand dollar expenditure to prepare studies on what can be built at the 83 acre site.
Two city council members are firmly against Bluffs park expansion … Rick Mullen and Jefferson Wagner.
Mullen wants it kept natural … Wagner says the bluffs will crumble if anything is built atop them.
Two other city council members have been working for their entire 6 years each on expanding the fields for use by Malibu children and adults … Laura Rosenthal and Lou La Monte.
Peak ran as a member of a slate … opposed to development.
He is the swing vote … tonight … when the city examines spending 220 thousand dollars on geotechnical … land use … biological and other studies for the site.
We’ll have a full report tomorrow.
——
Remember last winter …. we were reporting that the Malibu city council was negotiating to possibly buy two pieces of property???
Those negotiations are still going on.
The city is negotiating the price and terms of payment for the Malibu Playhouse … a 99-seat theater that is the only real live theater venue on the Malibu coast.
Also …. the city is negotiating to buy six acres of flat land … next to Malibu City Hall at the Civic Center.
The negotiations are secret … as is the city’s long-range real estate acquisition plans … if it has any.
The city recently bought 35 acres of land at Trancas for 11 million dollars … partly to settle a long-running series of lawsuits.
It appeared that the city council then in power was interested in building a park there …. butr after hearing from numerous residents who live next to Trancas Fields … park construction was put in limbo.
——
The federal government is drawing new maps for ocean wave run-up in Malibu … and after a meeting last summer to explain them … coastal residents and real estate interests were left more confused than before the meeting.
Experts complained that the new federal maps … called FEMA maps … were confusing and inconsistent.
Some properties were assigned to high risk … apparently randomly … while properties right next door were apparently randomly assigned low risk.
Officials from the U-S Geological Survey are scheduled to appear before the Malibu City Council tonight to explain sea level rise … and the FEMA maps are -not- on the agenda.
But the FEMA maps are clearly the first wave of government action on ocean level rise here in Malibu … and tonight’s information will be viewed in that context.
The U-S_G-S presentation will be accompanied by one from the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project.
All this happens at 6-30 tonight …. and should be more informative than the usual council meeting.
You can watch the meeting and the sea level rise presentations tonight at 6:30 at the city web site.
——
Malibu’s city council will receive mandatory sexual harassment training today
A new state law requires any elected officials who receive pay …. have to go through sex harassment training.
Malibu’s city council will meet in a conference room to get their training this afternoon.
And yes .… it’s open to the public.…
——
You are listening to the latest news from Radio Malibu … 97.5 K B U. ((( time ))))
——
The Santa Monica Malibu School district has filed a report with the state of California … regarding the fight between Webster Elementary School kindergarten parents.
You may recall that the school was embroiled in rancor and dispute … when some parents anonymously created a web site that criticized a kindergarten child.
The special needs child was accused of disrupting the kindergarten class.
The state requires school districts to investigate and file a report on such cases.
That report has been filed … and the Santa Monica Lookout newspaper has obtained a copy of it.
At Webster Elementary … the district says … and we quote … a “group of anonymous parents started an inappropriate website regarding a student with disabilities.
“The site administrator as well as district administration held a meeting with the family and also a meeting with the Webster parents regarding the incident,” the report said.
“A plan is also in place to support the student and the family going forward.”
This conclusion was part of the agenda for the July 19 board meeting … while we were on hiatus.
——
In news from down the coast … Santa Monica is considering plans for the landmark Sears building … at the McClure Tunnel.
A spjn-off company from Sears took control of the streamline moderne building and parking lot last April.
This is right next to the freeway … promenade and light rail station …
It has plans to remodel the building … built in 1946 … and alter the exterior significantly.
New colors … windows … and a new exterior façades,.
Restaurants and retail on the ground floor and basement …. office use on upper floors.
In essence … Sears is moving to join the mall next door in a 1980s-style complex.
The problem is … the 1980s-style mall next door sits with empty stores … and even the nearby Third Street promenade has empty storefronts.
The nature of American retail is changing … the question one might fairly ask if the new Sears shopping center in downtown Santa Monica is too late.
Santa Monica has declared the building to be a historic site … and the city has already said it wants the building to be restored … to look like it did in 1946.
The plans go before Santa Monica’s Historic Preservation Review Committee tonight.
This story is based on reporting in the Santa Monica Daily Press.
——
The Malibu Community Pool will be closed for a high school regional swim tournament.
That’s this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Regular community swim hours will resume on Sunday.
——
Traffic …
——
Weather for the Malibu ….
Thunderstorms appear to have blown through.
It will be (((( Mostly sunny, with a high near 76 )))) degrees today on the beach … (((( 93 )))) in the mountains above Malibu.
Winds will be gentle.
Downcoast winds will be ((( 5 very light )))) miles per hour this afternoon.
Sunset tonight is at (((( 7:05 p.m. )))).
After that … expect coastal clouds and mountain fog late )))) tonight … a low of (((( 64 )))) on the beach … down to (((( 64 )))) in the canyons.
Tomorrow should be (((( much the same )))).
At 8:30 a-m … at Trancas it’s (((( 70 )))) degrees.
In upper Malibu Canyon … (((( 73 )))) .
And at Civic Center Los Angeles … (((( 71 )))).
In the ocean … it’s (((( 66 )))) degrees in the water at Zuma Beach.
The lifeguards say the waves today are (((( 1 to 2 )))) feet high ….
Those are (((( fair )))) surfing conditions …. according to the lifeguards.
((((( High tide is at 1:24 this afternoon … 5 and a third feet.
Low tide is at 8:35 tonight. ))))
——
The KBU Newswire is posted midmornings … at RadioMalibu.net and at the MalibuTimes.com .
Remember… breaking news goes first to the radio … at 97-5 FM in western Malibu….
We also post bulletins on Twitter @975KBU.
And on Facebook … search for Radio Malibu..
Our web player is simple …. you can hear Radio Malibu in your phone or stream it to your car.
Navigate to k-b-u dot f-m. … and we’re streaming in your ear anywhere in the world.