Road closure update
There are several ongoing lane closures through Malibu. One southbound lane of Pacific Coast Highway between the Malibu Pier and Carbon Canyon Road is closed from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday through Friday and from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Sunday through Thursday for water main construction.
There will be sporadic daytime lane closures on Pacific Coast Highway between Kanan Dume Road and Paradise Cove Road for the next two months from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. due to the Zumirez Road realignment project. At least one lane in each direction will be open at all times. Pacific Coast Highway is down to one lane in each direction between Trancas Canyon and Lunita Road.
Repairs are continuing on Encinal Canyon Road, but one lane is open for through traffic at all times.
Malibu High School makes the grade
Malibu High School ranked 188th on the list of the nation’s top 1,000 public high schools released this week by Newsweek. The schools were rated on how many students took the AP and IB (international baccalaureate) tests as indicators if they are properly being prepared for college. Schools whose admission standards were academically competitive were disqualified from the list.
Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra to perform
The Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra will perform on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Wilshire Ebell in Los Angeles with Joana Carniero conducting her final YMF concert.
The free program includes the Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 and Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, performed by 17-year-old pianist Michele Lee. The YMF Youth Orchestra, composed of the youngest of the organization’s musicians, will perform the Overture to Orpheus in the Underworld by Prokofiev, augmented by members of the Debut Orchestra. Enrique Conde will perform a solo on the clarinet.
The Debut Orchestra is one of 14 YMF programs. For 50 years, YMF has been a source for pre-professional training to the area’s young musicians. Malibu resident Sheila Allen, a member of the foundation’s board, has been one of its strongest proponents.
Santa Monica Festival to thrill
The 14th annual Santa Monica Festival will take place on Saturday at Clover Park, located at 2600 Ocean Park Blvd. It will include international music, theater and dance, food, eclectic shopping, arts workshops and ecological activities.
The festival begins at 11 a.m. and continues until 7 p.m.
Friends and family to remember world famous math teacher
A memorial service will take place on Saturday for legendary calculus teacher Louis Leithold, a Malibu High School teacher whose career and then his death two weeks ago gained national news coverage.
Leithold taught at Pepperdine University for 13 years; and after retiring from there, he started teaching Advanced Placement Calculus at Malibu High School. His front-page obituary in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times was picked up by the Associated Press and run in newspapers around the world.
Leithold’s achievement of writing a calculus textbook that is used in numerous countries, and is by some accounts the best-selling textbook in publishing history, put the local school into the national media.
National Public Radio ran a four-minute segment about Leithold on its “All Things Considered” radio newsmagazine.
Interviewer Robert Siegel noted that Malibu High calculus students studying under Leithold scored a 4.6 out of a possible 5.0 on national collegiate tests, compared to the national average of 3.01.
The interview with Malibu High math teacher Amelia Zimmerman can be heard via the Internet at www.npr.org by searching for the word “Leithold.”
Last week’s Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board meeting observed a moment of silence in Leithold’s memory.
Saturday’s services will take place at 11:30 a.m. at the Church of the Recessional at Forest Lawn Cemetery, located on 1712 S. Glendale Ave. in Glendale.
A Louis Leithold Scholarship fund has been established in Leithold’s memory. Contributions may be sent to Sunny Halpern, 30215 Morning View Drive, Malibu CA 90265.