- = Banning rat poison … and a raise for the city manager.
- = Two controversial items go before the Malibu city council tonight.
- = A party planner is asking for a special fireworks show at Nobu … in February.
- = The M R C A wants to buy a big chunk of vacant land on Kanan-Dume Road.
- = An enormous cost overrun for the overpass on the dangerous road to Malibu.
- = L A County is now spending 200 million dollars a year on firefighter overtime.
- = And Elon Musk goes partying in his new Tesla pickup truck in Malibu. Only one small crash.
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Malibu’s Only Local Daily News … from Radio Malibu …. F-M 99 point 1 K B U U. Good morning … I’m Hans Laetz reporting.
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The M R C A plans to buy a big chunk of vacant land along Kanan Dume Road.
No specific plans have been announced … but it appears this land will be used for parking for the hike-in campsites down in Ramirez Canyon. Details: https://www.radiomalibu.net/mrca-plans-to-buy-kanan-road-land/
Banning the rat poison that kills mountain lions … and giving the city manager a raise.
Two major controversial items head to the Malibu City Council tonight.
Poison Free Malibu and others have been pushing for the rat poison ban for years.
The city attorney says it cannot be done legally … that there’s a state law the prohibits cities and counties from banning poisons.
Poison Free Malibu says L-A county got around that – but using the Coastal Commission’s authority to ban poisons along the coast.
The city attorney says she hates the poison too … but the state law is clear.
And she says that giving the Coastal Commission the authority to craft ordinances for the city might lead to the Coastal Commission requiring camping inside the city limits.
As for the city manager’s raise … the council has already apparently voted 3 to 2 in favor of it.
We say apparently … because the decision was made behind closed doors.
A city memo says the vote was Farrer … Mullen and Peak in favor … Pierson and Wagner opposed.
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Malibu has a ban on overhead fireworks … an ordinance enacted when animal lovers pointed out that dogs and other pets would panic and run away during aerial bombardments.
Firework shows are only allowed around the 4th of July … and at New Years.
Now … the city council is being asked to approve an exemption.
A man named Jim Lippman wants to shoot fireworks off of an offshore barge in conjunction with a private party to be held at Nobu on a Saturday night on February.
He’s asking the city council for special permission for the special show.
The city manager is recommending an approval of the special Nobu fireworks show.
What’s the occasion???
The party planners won’t say.
But it’s at Nobu … the restaurant that has been stiff-arming the city for years now … on the restaurant’s inability to live within the terms of its permit.
Will the city council approve the special fireworks show at Nobu???
A decision comes tonight.
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LA County firefighters continue to rack up overtime at astounding rates.
The county fire department has paid out roughly 200 million dollars on firefighter overtime last year.
That’s up from 140 million dollars in 2011 … according to the Los Angeles Times.
… The extra pay now accounts for a third of the payroll.
The Woolsey Fire …. and a 50 percent increase in medical assistance calls all across the county … are two big drivers for the overtime flood.
But fire chief Darryl Osby says the department’s chronic understaffing is the big problem.
The L A County Fire Department is funded primarily through a special property tax … and the county is asking voters to approve a small parcel tax increase.
How small??
It’s 6 cents per 100 square feet of development.
That would equal about 100 dollars a year for a 17-hundred square-foot house.
At the L.A. County Fire Department … dozens of firefighters are being paid more than 200 thousand dollars a year in overtime.
As the L A Times reported earlier this year … Malibu city councilman Rick Mullen is putting in about five 24-hour shifts per week at Station 72.
Mullen earned 260 thousand dollars in overtime … and a total of 404 thousand dollars in total pay last year.
Mullen told The Times he takes extra shifts voluntarily, in part to avoid being recalled to duty on days when the City Council meets.
Getting back to the overall county picture …
Voters in March will decide the future on that six cent parcel tax.
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You are listening to the latest news from Radio Malibu … F-M 99 point 1 K B U U.
Support for KBUU’s daily broadcasting … the signal on the air … comes from the Malibu Foundation …
The KBUU solar panels and battery were paid for by the Malibu Foundation.
This has kept us on the air through storms and blackouts … 24/7 .. on clean … renewable solar power.
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Ventura County still plans to build an overpass on the road connecting Pacific Coast Highway to the 1-0-1 Freeway.
But the cost has blown out.
Rice Avenue is the Highway 1 bypass around Oxnard … it’s the bumpy …pothole-ridden highway thru the strawberry fields.
People have been killed where Rice Avenue crosses the Metrlink train tracks.
Last Thursday … the California transportation Commission added 38 million dollars to the railroad overpass project …. which will now cost 120 million dollars.
That’s substantially more than the 69 million dollar estimate of just a few years ago.
Turns out the landowners at the proposed overpass and interchange site are asking a whole lot more money for their strawberry fields than Ventura County had originally budgeted.
Construction of the bridge is estimated to begin December 2022.
This story was reported in the Ventura County Star.
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Santa Monica is the worst city in Los Angeles County for crashes involving pedestrians … according to a new report by a personal injury law firm.
Santa Monica ranked third in both crashes and injuries — with 90 and 91 respectively last year.
That’s behind only Los Angeles and Long Beach … two cities with much larger populations.
Santa Monica has a very high per capita rate of pedestrian crashes than the two much larger cities.
The pedestrian crash rate for Santa Monica is one for every 1 thousand 16 residents.
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Actor Robert Walker Junior of Malibu has died.
Walker may be best remembered for playing a teenager with psychic powers in the first season of “Star Trek” in 1966.
Walker played Charlie Evans in the “Star Trek” episode “Charlie X.”
The episode is written by D.C. Fontana, who also died last week.
Walker Jr. also played in a handful of photos from the 60s, including “Ensign Pulver” with Burl Ives and Walter Matthau and “Young Billy Young”.
Actor Robert Walker Junior of Malibu was 79.
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If you thought you saw a ridiculous looking … boxy and way too big takeoff of a Stealth fighter driving on PCH Saturday night … you did.
Billionaire tech icon Elon Musk turned up on PCH in Malibu on Saturday night … driving when he showed up to a swanky restaurant in his new Tesla Cybertruck.
Musk and his truck were spotted at Nobu.
Later in the evening … we spotted it in the valet lane at a big party along P C H.
But Musk’s night on the town included at least one embarrassing hiccup.
The founder of Tesla and SpaceX drove over a traffic pylon … a pylon that was roughly the height of a small child.
Apparently it has one heck of a blind spot.
The massive vehicle does not have rear view mirrors … an apparent violation of state law.
But Elon Musk was at the wheel … so any traffic fees would be just a cost of doing business.
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Traffic … in 65 seconds … first …
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Weather for the Malibu ….
(((( )))) … highs (((( 64 )))) beaches … (((( 66 )))) mountains and canyons.
Downcoast winds … ((( gentle … less than 10 )))) miles per hour this afternoon.
Sunset tonight is at (((( 4:39 )))).
After that … ((( clear )))) tonight … low (((( 54 )))) beaches … (((( 44 )))) mountains and canyons.
Tomorrow should be (((( much the same )))).
Right now here at the KBUU studios in Trancas … it’s (((( )))) degrees.
Leo Carrillo beach … ((( ))).
Paradise Cove … ((( ))).
Big Rock … ((( ))).
In upper Malibu Canyon … ((( ))).
Calabasas … ((( ))).
And Civic Center L-A … ((( ))).
In the ocean … it’s (((( )))) degrees in the water at Zuma Beach.
Mo says the waves at Surfrider Beach today are (((( )))) feet high ….
Those are (((( fair )))) surfing conditions …. according to Mo.
((((( tide is at
ide is at .))))
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