Former Whitewater prosecutor Ken Starr to leave Pepperdine
After five years of serving as dean of Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, Kenneth W. Starr is leaving to serve as Baylor University’s 14th president, effective June 1, both universities announced Monday.
The controversial Starr, formerly the Whitewater independent counsel who received national attention during the Clinton impeachment process, came to Malibu in August of 2004.
Pepperdine University President Andrew Benton said Starr’s hiring five and a half years ago was one of the “most important academic appointments” in the history of the university, and that a national search for the dean’s replacement would begin soon.
For Starr, who was born in Vernon, Texas, becoming president of Baylor University, located in Waco, returns the former United States Solicitor General to his native state.
Starr was Solicitor General of the United States from 1989 to 1993. From 1983 to 1989, he was a United States Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was counselor to U.S. Attorney General William French Smith from 1981 to 1983. Early in his career, he clerked for Judge David W. Dyer on the U.S. Court of Appeals and for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren E. Burger. He has taught as an adjunct professor at New York University Law School, as a distinguished visiting professor at George Mason University Law School and he has lectured at Pepperdine University prior to his appoint in 2004.
Starr was offered a similar position to deanship at Pepperdine in 1997, when the Whitewater investigation was stalled. However, he opted to stay at his post in Washington. According to Salon.com, “After word leaked he planned to resign from the Whitewater probe effective August 1, 1997, to accept a position as dean of Pepperdine University’s law school, Starr reversed himself in the face of intense criticism. Even defenders questioned his judgment and he admitted his error.”
After Whitewater, Starr was involved with the Linda Tripp revelation of President Clinton’s adulterous relationship with 24-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky, which led to the impeachment trial.
Overnight camping plan up for discussion
The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy next week will conduct a public hearing in Malibu to discuss its plan to implement overnight camping sites at four Malibu parks, three of which are located in canyons.
The meeting will take place at Webster Elementary School on Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m.
The conservancy will accept comments from the public about the plan, called the Malibu Parks Public Access Enhancement Plan, and also discuss its draft environmental impact report.
The parks enhancement plan, long opposed by numerous Malibu residents who say it increases the risk of fires, will create a total of 29 overnight camping sites at Ramirez, Escondido and Corral canyon parks; allow 32 special events (parties of up to 200 people) per year at the conservancy’s Ramirez Canyon property; a 32-space parking lot at the top of Winding Way and improvements to local trails to create the Coastal Slope Trail that will connect the east and west ends of Malibu.
The plan also includes the implementation of overnight camping sites at Bluffs Park. The conservancy owns most of the 94-acre park. A 10-acre portion containing the ball field and Michael Landon Center is city property.
Though the proposed plan would prohibit campfires, residents doubt the extent to which that rule would be enforced.
The California Coastal Commission at a June 2009 hearing approved the conservancy’s parks enhancement plan and rejected the City of Malibu’s Local Coastal Program amendment to ban overnight camping.
The city a month later filed a lawsuit against the Coastal Commission, challenging its rejection. The suit claims the commission violated the California Coastal Act, an agreement between state and local government that outlines standards for development within the Coastal Zone, as well as the California Environmental Quality Act by usurping the city’s local land use authority.
Input sought on King Gillette Ranch center
The National Park Service is seeking public input on the environmental assessment for the proposed construction and operation of a visitor center at King Gillette Ranch.
The comment period ends March 15. The EA can be viewed online at parkplanning.nps.gov/nps; click on Visitor Center at King Gillette Ranch. A hard copy can be viewed at the Malibu Public Library.
The park service purchased King Gillette Ranch in 2005 as in a complex real estate deal that allowed the city of Malibu to purchase Bluffs Park.
The historic ranch is located next to the intersection of Malibu Canyon-Las Virgenes Road and Mulholland Highway. It is surrounded on three sides by Malibu Creek State Park and the Diamond X Ranch section of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
City employee’s preliminary setting still delayed
The Feb. 11 preliminary setting for a fatal accident allegedly involving a City of Malibu employee has been continued to March 11 at the Malibu Courthouse, Shiara Davila-Morales, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, said Tuesday.
City Records Clerk Robert Sanchez has been named as a suspect in the June 2009 bicycle accident that left one man dead and his son with several broken bones. At the March 11 preliminary setting, a preliminary hearing date will be scheduled, at which a judge will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to move forward with the case, Davila-Morales said.
A truck allegedly driven by Sanchez struck 45-year-old Rodrigo Armas and his 14-year-old son while they were cycling east along Pacific Coast Highway on June 28. Armas died at the scene of the accident, while his son suffered extensive leg injuries.
Sanchez reportedly left the scene of the accident, abandoned his vehicle and hid in nearby brush before Sheriff’s deputies arrested him two hours later. Sanchez faces possible charges of felony vehicular manslaughter, hit and run, and driving while under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.
The preliminary setting has been postponed at least four times since October 2009. Davila-Morales did not state the reason for the delays but said they are not uncommon.
Canyon car crash closes road
A big-rig and a sedan collided the night of Feb. 11 on Malibu Canyon Road near Pepperdine University, shutting down traffic in both directions, according to a dailybreeze.com report.
The crash was reported at 5:27 p.m. on Malibu Canyon Road, just north of Pepperdine University, Frederic Stowers of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in the report.
Preliminary reports indicated at least one person was trapped in the wreckage, but Stowers in the report said there were no extrication efforts under way as of 5:45 p.m. and no injuries were confirmed.
Missing hikers found in Malibu mountains
Rescue crews found a pair of missing hikers in the mountains above Malibu Tuesday morning, as well as four other people who apparently were not reported missing, according to a KTLA report.
California Lutheran University students Fredrik Hassel and Brooke Hall, both in their 20s, were reported missing around midnight after their roommates grew concerned when they didn’t return home.
The pair set out on Backbone Trail on Kanan Dume Road around 2 p.m. Monday with their dog and went into Zuma Canyon, the report states. They left their car in the parking lot but did not return after what was supposed to be a two-hour hike, authorities said in the report.
Hassel and Hall were spotted just after daybreak Tuesday.
Earlier, a sheriff’s helicopter crew had spotted what they believed was a campfire in Zuma Canyon. They focused the search in that area. A ground crew later found the couple, along with the four other hikers.
One of the four additional hikers was suffering from an injured ankle, the report states. All six hikers, along with two deputies, were safely airlifted out of the canyon.
Neither Hassel nor Hall was injured. Their dog was also rescued.
They said they did not have any food with them, and decided to spend the night after darkness fell while they were off-course, the report states.
By Olivia Damavandi