Blue whales spotted in Santa Monica Bay
A pod of rare blue whales has been spotted breaching in the Santa Monica Bay in the past week. The whales are about two to three miles off the coast near Redondo Beach. They have also reportedly come as close as a mile away from the mouth of King Harbor.
The mammals, known for their curiosity, have been swimming up to and brushing against boats in the bay.
Blue whales, the largest animals in the world, are currently endangered. On average, they live 80 to 90 years, grow to be 82 to 105 feet long and weigh up to 200 tons.
Malibu Music Festival kicks off Monday
The Malibu Music Festival begins Monday with performances by the Ben Babylon Band, Ileana Burdine and various other artists throughout Malibu. The festival is taking place Sept. 19 to 23 at restaurants and venues around town with the 2011 Malibu Music Awards concluding the festival Sept. 24.
The festival begins with a performance by Ileana Burdine at the Malibu Country Mart at 12 p.m.
The Ben Babylon Band with guest Chasen Hampton performs at Sunset Restaurant at 7 p.m. The band will take the stage again Tuesday at the Malibu Country Mart at 12 p.m. and Wednesday at the Malibu Inn at 8 p.m.
Babylon, 13, is the son of the late Guy Babylon, best known for performing as Elton John’s keyboardist and arranger for 21 years. The Ben Babylon Band consists of Babylon on keyboards and lead vocals, Alex Arnaout on bass and background vocals, and Jagger Krusen on drums.
“We’ll be playing songs from the new album at the festival, as well as some great cover tunes,” Babylon said. “I can’t wait to introduce my new band and hear what people think of the music.”
Other artists scheduled to perform during the festival include Jessica Mellott, The Flutterbies, Reggie Woods Jazz Trio, Hannah Mulholland & Carson Higgins, and pianist Benjamin Krasner, among others.
Reservations can be made at Sunset Restaurant for Monday night by calling 310.589.1007.
More information can be obtained about the Malibu Music Festival and Awards by visiting www.malibumusicawards.com.
Malibu Village has new coowner
The Malibu Village shopping center at Cross Creek Road and Pacific Coast Highway has a new majority partner. Matthew Khoury, of the investment firm KRE Capital of Beverly Hills, was bought in as a majority partner “sometime in the summer,” according to the mall’s minority partner Jay Luchs. It is believed that Khoury bought out Pouya Abdi, who purchased a majority share of the shopping center from developer Steve Soboroff in 2007.
Khoury was not immediately available for comment as of Tuesday afternoon.
Luchs, who handles leasing for the shopping center for CB Richard Ellis, said there were no plans to get rid of any tenants.
“There’s certainly a love for many of the locals [mom and pop stores]. Some of the locals do better than others,” Luchs said. “There’s also a need for some change and bigger names and someone that can bring some exciting things.
“The main goal is to make it more of a community feel. What that means is a mixture of locals and national name stores. It does not mean getting rid of locals, it just means more of a mixture.”
Luchs said European Shoe Repair was “close to officially signing a long lease at a very favorable deal. Ownership really likes [owner Levon Akopyan] a lot and the community likes him a lot, and I would like to think he feels the same thing about us.”
Luchs said the shopping center’s partners were looking to fill some of the remaining empty spaces with national retailers similar to Nike’s Salvation, as well as restaurants. Luchs said the restaurants would be affordable places with “everyday food where you can eat at a couple times a week.”
Jr. Philharmonic holds open auditions
Malibu resident and conductor Gary S. Greene invites musicians between ages 12 and 25 to audition for the Jr. Philharmonic Orchestra of California, until Oct. 15, according to a press release from the organization.
Interested musicians who play the violin, viola, string bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, alto sax, trumpet, French horn, trombone, tuba, tympani and percussion can call 310.275.7511 to schedule an audition. There are no audition or membership charges.
The Jr. Philharmonic’s 75th Diamond Jubilee season begins with an upcoming Concert Spectacular at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The orchestra performs in many other well-known venues, including the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Shrine Auditorium.
The Jr. Philharmonic was founded in 1937 by late conductor Dr. Ernst Katz to give young people an opportunity to showcase their musical talents. It now operates under his nephew, Malibu resident Greene.
More information can be obtained by visiting www.JrPhil.org.
Coastal Cleanup Day this Saturday
The California Coastal Commission and Heal the Bay host the 27th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day Saturday. Malibu locations include Leo Carrillo State Beach and Malibu Lagoon. Beach cleanups are taking place at more than 800 sites throughout the state including beaches, bays, rivers, creeks, parks, roadsides and highways.
The Coastal Commission is asking volunteers to bring their own buckets or reusable bags and gloves to avoid creating more trash as a part of its “BYO for CCD” initiative. “The Coastal Commission is hoping that the 27th Coastal Cleanup Day and BYO campaign will help educate our volunteers about how easy it is to make simple behavioral changes that can have year-round impact,” California Coastal Commission outreach manager Eben Schwartz said. “By ensuring that our inner waterways and coastlines remain free of trash and debris, we can all make an enormous impact on the health of our environment.”
During last year’s Coastal Cleanup Day, 82,504 volunteers collected more than 1.2 million pounds of trash and recyclables across 2,600 miles of coast and inland shoreline throughout California.
More information can be obtained by visiting www.healthebay.org.
Parks Service seizes 4,000 pot plants on NPS property
Authorities from the state and national parks raided a marijuana plantation on National Parks Service property Sept. 2, coming away with almost 4,000 marijuana plants. The site was located on NPS property east of Kanan-Dume Road and just south of Tunnel 1. “This is actually the second time that this site has been used for this purpose,” NPS official Lauren Newman said.
Newman said NPS monitors sites where marijuana has been discovered growing in the past, and the plants were discovered on a routine patrol of the site. The plants were confiscated over a period of three hours. A helicopter provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department helped haul bales of marijuana plants out of the remote area. The discovery of the plants is the second such incident recently. In July, park rangers confiscated 3,500 marijuana plants growing across a 9.6 acre area of parkland.
“Marijuana cultivation is a serious and rising problem in the Santa Monica Mountains and other park lands across the country,” park Superintendent Woody Smeck said in July. “The environmental damage caused by marijuana cultivation in otherwise pristine natural areas costs approximately $12,000 per acre to clean up.”
Parks officials said after the July raid the marijuana site topographically altered land and diverted water from a nearby stream, and harmful herbicides and pesticides were found.
Marijuana-growing season runs from April through November. Rangers are encouraging hikers and bikers in the parks to report suspicious activities. Those activities include drip irrigation lines running along streams, camping equipment, food supplies, propane tanks and seedling cartons in unusual locations.
SMMUSD seeks Malibu representation on committee
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is seeking Malibu representation on its Citizens’ Committee, according to a press release from the SMMUSD.
The committee is set up to study the feasibility of an emergency funding measure and a bond measure, and to study the viability of a progressive structure funding measure.
The committee is scheduled to meet regularly during the 2011-2012 school year. The application deadline is Sept. 30. Interested residents can obtain an application by visiting www.smmusd.org/fiscal/ParcelTaxCommittee.html. Completed applications can be e-mailed to swahrenbrock@smmusd.org, faxed to 310.581.1138 or dropped off at the SMMUSD district office, 1651 16th St. in Santa Monica.
National Park Service hosts photo contest
The National Park Service is hosting its 10th Annual Spirit of the Mountains photo contest, where amateur photographers can submit their pictures of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. NPS is accepting submissions until Sept. 30, with an awards ceremony taking place Oct. 15. The winning photographs will be featured in the NPS Visitor Center in Thousand Oaks and some will be published in the quarterly Outdoor Calendar that promotes park programs and events.
The contest’s categories include “Cell Phone Snapshots,” “Young Photographers” and “People in Parklands,” among others. “Many people don’t realize that they are within Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area when they’re taking pictures,” said park ranger Sheila Braden, who runs the photo contest. “From the Santa Monica Pier to Malibu Creek State Park to Paramount Ranch, all of these locations are eligible for submission to the photo contest.”
More information can be obtained online at www.nps.gov/samo/photocontest.htm.
Community meeting on Busch Drive encroachments
The city of Malibu’s Public Works Department will conduct a third community meeting to discuss the potential removal or relocation of various encroachments along Busch Drive to allow greater use for pedestrian and related purposes Sept. 20, according to a press release from the city.
“Over the years, encroachment into the public easement by property owners along Busch Drive with such items as landscaping, irrigation, and walls or fences installed between the existing paved roadway and property owner boundaries has caused increased concern for vehicular and pedestrian safety,” the release states.
The meeting had been previously scheduled for Sept. 14. The meeting will take place Sept. 20 in the Malibu High School library, 30215 Morning View Dr., at 7 p.m.