Agreement is reached in the Santa Monica – Malibu school divorce talks.
The city approves 100 thousand dollars in homelessness grants,.
And … the public hearing is tonight … on possibly removing Rindge Dam in Malibu Canyon
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This is Malibu’s only local daily news.
It’s the Wednesday edition … from Radio Malibu …. 97 point 5 K B U.
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Good morning Humaliwu!
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The committee of Malibu and Santa Monica residents that met 38 times to iron out a divorce decree for the school district … has completed their work.
And Malibu appears to have support from the Santa Monica negotiators for cleaving off and forming its own school district.
Malibu and Santa Monica schools are lumped together due to accidents of history and geography.
There’s a large chunk of L-A unified schools in between the two cities …. and a history of Malibu distrust of the 86 percent majority of voters in Santa Monica that control Malibu schools.
The proposed divorce agreement calls for Malibu taxpayers to promise to make up any loss in state funds … for Santa Monica kids … after the split.
The city council and school board members in Santa Monica have all endorsed a new Malibu district … under the condition that the divorce not mean less state aid on a per student basis in Santa Monica.
Malibu school leader Craig Foster says that can be done … because the two school districts will be eligible to receive more tax money back from Sacramento separately than combined …. under state financing formulas.
The committee met last night to put together a powerpoint presentation to show to the school board … when it meets next Tuesday to review the divorce agreement.
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School Board will hold that special meeting next Tuesday in the district office board room.
And Malibu committee member Laura Rosenthal … who has been negotiating through those 38 meetings … says there will be a town hall meeting in Malibu on March 27th to explain the plan and answer questions.
Once the plan is accepted by the school board … it will go to county and state education officials for review … and eventually to Malibu voters.
The electorate will have to vote on approving the new school district … and also vote to continue the existing parcel tax on properties.
That tax has exemptions for senior citizens … and backers stress the tax would not be increased … it would merely be transferred from the old district to the new one.
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The Malibu City Council approved using $100,000 in Community Development Block Grant Funds to support efforts by Los Angeles County to address homelessness.
The Council moved to split the $100,000 in funds evenly between Rapid Rehousing and Shelter Partnership … which both which offer social services and financial assistance to address homelessness in Los Angeles County.
Rapid Rehousing is a countywide program that helps homeless families, individuals and youths to be quickly re-housed and stabilized in permanent housing.
The Malibu money will be designated for Rapid Rehousing activities across the West Los Angeles Service Planning Area, which includes Malibu, Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Culver City and Santa Monica.
Shelter Partnership is an agency that provides goods to shelters throughout the County. Agencies that will benefit from their services include the People Concern, which is providing homeless outreach in Malibu.
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You are listening to the latest news from Radio Malibu … 97.5 K B U. ((( time ))))
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The official public hearing is tonight … on the 162 million dollar proposal from the U-S Army Corps of Engineers to remove the 90-year-old concrete dam from Malibu Canyon.
The Army was asked by Congress 14 years ago to come up with such a concept … but no funding has been allocated to do the work.
Removing the dam would not affect water storage or flood control capability … the former reservoir is full of sand and rocks.
The plan would see 50 years of accumulated sand trucked down to Malibu’s Surfrider Beach.
It would take 8 years for the sand and rocks to be trucked out – between 3,000 to 11,000 truckloads per year on Malibu Canyon Road.
That would open up another 4 miles of Malibu Creek for use by the endangered steelhead salmon.
Cold Creek in Monte Nido would also be reconnected as fish habitat to the ocean … but that would require replacement of several fish barriers like culverts.
Money for this has not been appropriated by Congress or the legislature.
Some Malibu residents oppose the dam removal on principle … they say it is a historical heritage site.
Other ridicule the 162 million price tag … and point out that only a dozen miles of Malibu and Cold creeks would be restored.
The Army says the economically important Santa Monica Bay beaches are eroding … and the use of Rindge Dam sand to nourish the shoreline creates a unique “win-win” ecological and economic nexus that may achieve multiple public benefits.
Cutting a hole in the dam and letting sand flow to the ocean would provide a silty channel … killing fish in the lagoon … and would cause flood control problems in the Malibu Civic Center and Serra Estates.
The hearing is tonight … but its purpose is only to let experts and to take testimony.
Written comments can also be made until the end of the month.
Whatever happens … it won’t happen for years.
The meeting is from 6 to 8 tonight in Calabasas … at the Las Virgenes water district offices …
up Malibu Canyon to the newly widened road … then it’s on the right.
We’ll have the address for the meeting ….and the web link to make comments … posted on the KBU Newswire and Facebook and twitter pages … this morning.
Meeting is at 4232 Las Virgenes Road,
Website is http://www.spl.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Projects-Studies/Malibu-Creek-Study/
Comments can go tvia email to Malibu.Creek@usace.army.mil
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Finally … it’s official ….
Malibu resident Lady Gaga will replace Beyonce at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
Beyonce announced she has to back out of headlining the 2017 festival because of her pregnancy.
Lady Gaga had planned a world tour around her new album “Joanne” to start later this year.
Tickets are sold out for the 2017 festival in April.
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In KBUU sports … the Malibu high boys baseball team lost a tight one yesterday …
Burroughs won by a score of 7-6.
The Malibu Sharks girls softball team lost Tuesday’s home non-conference game … against St. Genevieve.
Score there … 17 to 3.
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Traffic …
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Weather for the Malibu …. in 65 seconds.
It will be (((( sunny and windy …. high 68 )))) degrees today on the beach … (((( )))) inland.
Winds will be strong … over the mountains …. 30 mile per hour gusts.
Sunset tonight is at (((( 5:50 )))).
After that … expect it to be ((( mostly clear )))) tonight … a low of (((( 51 )))) on the beach … down to (((( )))) in the canyons.
Wind gusts tonight up to 40 miles an hour.
Tomorrow should be (((( sunny again … high 70. )))).
At 9 a-m … it’s (((( 57 )))) at Trancas.
(((( 64 )))) in upper Malibu Canyon.
And it’s (((( 57 ))) at Civic center Los Angeles.
In the ocean … it’s (((( 60 )))) degrees in the water at Zuma Beach.
The lifeguards say the waves today are (((( 2 to 3 )))) feet high ….
A small WNW swell lingers, while selective S swell shows. Favorable winds/conditions.
Those are (((( fair )))) surfing conditions …. according to the lifeguards.
((((( High tide is at 11 o’clock … 4 point 5 feet.
Low tide at 5:14.
Another high tide … this one 4-point-8 feet … at 11:35 tonight. ))))
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Our KBU Newswire is posted at midmorning at the Malibu Times dot com.
Remember… you can always get breaking news ….follow us on Twitter @975KBU.
We post breaking stories … on Facebook … search for Radio Malibu.
And we always cover breaking news … on the radio … at 97-5 FM in western Malibu.
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Navigate to k-b-u dot f-m. … press two buttons …. and we’re in your ear anywhere in the world.