-An early summer heat wave brought 455,000 visitors to Malibu beaches, launching the beginning of a season that generally brings 11 million visitors to Malibu. A bigger crowd was expected for July 4, with four fireworks barges spread out from La Costa Beach to Paradise Cove Beach.
-The predictions proved correct and 655,000 visitors hit the beaches over the Fourth of July weekend, producing more than their share of serious medical problems. In what looked to be a freak (but not totally unusual) accident, a young man in his 20s dove into the shallow ocean near the Malibu Pier and hit a sandbar. Over the weekend there were 15 major medical responses and 288 rescues, proving again that the ocean can be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.
-California State Parks officials who, along with the Army Corp of Engineers, want to remove the almost 100-year-old Rindge Dam, had a sampling of the kind of opposition they are going to face when they actually try to start the estimated $100-million-plus project. In a public workshop, charges flew back and forth, and “boondoggle” was one of those words spectators used often and with vehemence.