Two years of narrowed lanes, construction trucks and 35 MPH speed limits on this section of PCH. KBUU Photo

Push has come to shove in the Malibu school district separation drive.

Southern California earthquake dangers are inching up and up.

626 traffic tickets in August in Malibu.

But in all that beach traffic … only 3 pedestrians and bikes hit.

This is Malibu’s only local daily news.

It’s the (((  Friday ))) news … from Radio Malibu  …. 97 point 5 K B U.

Good morning Winding Way West!

City Serves Divorce Papers With County

Push has come to shove in the Malibu school district separation drive.

After of years of trying to convince the Santa Monica school board members to endorse the Malibu separation drive … the City of Malibu now has filed what is in essence its divorce petition with L-A County.

At its August 28th meeting … the city council directed the papers be filed unilaterally by the city… as organizers had just about given up on getting the Santa Monica board members to go long.

On Wednesday … officials with the city and the citizens group asking for divorce … AMPS … met with county officials.

They discussed the procedures and timetable for what’s coming up.

The L-A County Board of Education has an appointed committee of school board members from across the county.

This appointed committee will collect information … and hold a pair of public hearings … in Santa Monica and Malibu.

Those will probably be in December or January … according to a source close to the talks.

This appointed subcommittee will make a recommendation to the elected county school board … which in turn will make a recommendation to the state Board of Education.

That is … unless a special legislative act is need to do create a new Malibu school district.

Is The Big One Coming?

The Los Angeles region’s “earthquake potential score,” has surpassed the risk we had … juts before the deadly Northridge Earthquake of 1994.

A University of California Davis professor has created what he calls an earthquake potential score.

It’s a method of using small earthquakes to mark the current progress between larger and more dangerous ones.

John Rundle is a professor of geology and physics at UC Davis.

He developed the idea in collaboration with researchers from UC Irvine and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The data says that … as judged by the number of small earthquakes within 62 miles of Los Angeles … we are in the same state of hazard as we were just prior to the big Northridge quake… Rundle said.

Three earthquakes with a magnitude larger than 6 have occurred in Los Angeles in the last century … with 23 to 38 years separating each.

The 6 point 7 Northridge quake struck 24 years ago.

It killed 57 …. did 50 billion dollars in damage … injured more than 8,000 people and disrupted life in Los Angeles and the surrounding counties for months.

The earthquake score is now higher than it was before Northridge …

But while it gives a sense of risk … it doesn’t attempt to predict when the next earthquake might hit ….or how damaging the quake could be.

One geologist calls this a snapshot … of where we are right now … but not a prediction of where we will be.

If the earthquake potential score is a thermometer, we’re getting “uncomfortably warm,” she says.

The is story is based on reporting by the San Jose Mercury newspaper.

August Crime And Crash Stats

Here in Malibu … the sheriff’s crime stats for August are out.

There were 17 injury crashes and 30 non-injury crashes on Malibu streets and PCH.

The number one cause for crashes: speed, followed by tailgating.

Deputies wrote 626 tickets for hazardous driving in August … 446 tickets for non-hazardous driving.

61 of those drivers were going more than 65 miles an hour.

1 was going faster than 100 miles per hour on P C H.

Two pedestrians were hit.

One bicyclist was in a crash.

35 MPH Signs Hit Home To Malibu Residents  

Reaction is coming in to the new 35 mile per hour zone going up on P C H … in the construction zone near Paradise Cove.

Caltrans plans to drop the speed limit from 50 to 35 where it will be narrowing lanes.

The state is spending 5 point 2 million dollars and will need two years to repair a failing landslide prevention wall … and shore up the highway.

Signs went up this week … the lanes will be shifted by next Wednesday.

On social media … some Malibu residents said the existing 55 or 50 mile per hour speed limit should be dropped …. particularly in congested areas.

Some say it should be 35 miles per hour through the entire city.

Others say that’s not realistic … it would just make everybody break the law.

At Escondido beach … P C H lanes are being shifted over into a narrow slot next to the hillside … to make way for the two year construction project that will start in earnest next week.

Advisory Panel Wants Sheriff’s Drones Grounded

The L-A county sheriff’s civilian oversight committee wants the sheriff’s drone grounded.

The small aerial T V camera is used very rarely …. only 5 times in the past months … looking for either gun-wielding suspects … or lost people.

The Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission voted 5 to 4 yesterday … to call on the department to permanently ground its drone.

The L A Times quotes a Loyola University law professor as saying … in her words … “the community has told us they’re already feeling over-policed and over-surveilled.”

Priscilla Ocen says the department’s search-and-rescue operation has done “an amazing job” for years, but can continue that work without the drone . according to the LA Times.

The recommendation is not binding on the department … which provides law enforcement services to the City of Malibu under contract.

——

You are listening to the latest news from Radio Malibu … 97.5 K B U.  ((( time  ))))

Wellness Center Party Tonight at 6 at Malibu High

There’s a formal ribbon cutting ceremony at the Boys And Girls Club of Malibu tonight.

This is for Malibu High School’s wellness center…. a three-room complex staffed with experts in issues facing young people.

The Wellness Center has graduate-level counselors to deal with social and emotional support issues.

Kids who need to talk to trained mental health professionals can drop in … and there’s a discrete door separate from the main Boys and Girls club entrance to remove any possible embarrassment.

Counselor Mayra Herrera tells KBUU News the wellness center is available for all sorts of teenager worries. [PAUSE PAUSE PAUSE]

CART 77301 WELLNESS :22

“We offer a lot of support. That’s basically what wellness means to us.

“You know, the school is great, they have great counselors, and they are able to offer academic counseling and support.

“But the school, you know, is just not equipped with the time, also, to provide the emotional support that a lot of the kids need.” [END QUOTE.]

The Malibu High wellness center is already open …

There’s a ribbon cutting party starting at 6 tonight. opens this week at the Boys And Girls

Food Trucks

Raffle Prizes

Kids’ Zone

Local Health & Wellness Booths

and more!

That’s tonight at 6 at the Boys and Girls Club … behind Malibu High.

Shark Squad to Saint Monica Tonight

From the K B U U community calendar ….

The Malibu High School boys football team travels to Santa Monica … here they will pay Saint Monica.

Miss Bix CD Party Tonight, Casa Escobar

And tonight at 8 at Casa Escobar … KBUU Blues and Stuff-master Leslie Bixler celebrates the release of her new C-D.

It’s the Miss Bix C-D release party.

That’s tonight at 8 at the Casa Escobar …. at the MalibuPier.

See you there.

Yom Kippur Starts Tonight

Yom Kippur starts at sundown tonight.

Respects to our neighbors celebrating this day of atonement.

And please watch for heavy traffic and parked cars on P C H at the synagogue on P C H … west of Pepperdine.

And the Chabad house near the pier.

Overnight Topanga Canyon Road Closures Set 

Don’t forget …. Topanga Canyon will be closed for overnight roadwork … Saturday and Sunday nights … starting at 9 and lasting until sunrise.

Traffic …

Weather for the Malibu ….

It will be ((((  Sunny, with a high near 80    )))) degrees today on the beach … ((((   88   )))) in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Warm winds will be coming at us over the mountains … around 10 mph … then switching around to downcoast winds with gusts up to 20 miles an hour this afternoon.

Sunset tonight is at   ((((    6:41   )))).

After that … expect it to be (((   partly cloudy  )))) tonight … a low of  ((((   62  )))) on the beach … down to  ((((  63  )))) in the mountains.

Tomorrow should be   ((((   cooler   )))).

Right now … at Trancas it’s ((((   59    )))) degrees.

In upper Malibu Canyon … ((((   80    )))) .

And at Civic Center Los Angeles … ((((    67  )))).

In the ocean … it’s ((((    65   )))) degrees in the water at Zuma Beach.

The lifeguards say the waves today are   ((((  1-2  )))) feet high ….

((((  Minimal NW swell mix. Favorable AM conditions with building westerly flow in PM.  ))))

Those are ((((  poor to fair )))) surfing conditions …. according to the lifeguards.

(((((  High tide was at 7:11 AM.

Low tide is at 11:59 AM.

And a 4-1/2 foot high tide will crest at 5:39 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.

——

Malibu’s Only Local Daily News – On the radio: FM 97.5 in most of Malibu – Streaming at www.radiomalibu.net anywhere else