State to buy Ahmanson Ranch
Ending a 17-year battle between developers who sought to build a new 8,000-resident city and concerned homeowners and environmentalists who rallied to preserve the open land, the state of California has agreed to buy the 2,800-acre Ahmanson Ranch that straddles the Los Angeles-Ventura County border. The tentative $150-million deal with landowner Washington Mutual, which will be finalized in early October, is a major success for environmentalists who aimed to protect the rolling hills filled with oaks, rare flowers, and endangered wildlife. Developers had hoped to build 3,050 homes, complete with a community golf course, on the expansive land. However, after celebrities such as Martin Sheen and Rob Reiner joined the environmental cause, the grass-roots effort gained increasing public attention and monetary assistance. Eventually, the state agreed to acquire and preserve Ahmanson Ranch using funds from Proposition 50, a bond measure approved by voters last year.
Martin Sheen to co-host Nick Steenolsen Foundation Beach BBQ Fundraiser
Actor Martin Sheen and Gary Smith will host the Third Annual Nick Steenolsen Foundation Beach BBQ Fundraiser on Oct. 4.
Nick Steenolsen was raised Malibu, attending grade and junior high with Sheen’s and Smith’s children. He suffered a spinal cord injury in January 2000 in a snowboarding accident, becoming paralyzed from the chest down. Because of the lack of funds for paralyzed individuals, the goal of this fundraiser is to assist Steenolsen with everyday challenges and to prevent him from having to reside in a nursing home. Longtime goals of the organization are to improve the quality of life for others with spinal cord injury through physical assistance, education, advocacy and service.
Steenolsen hopes to re-enter the workforce as a film editor, and is now studying Avid for this transition with the use of a reflective head mouse. The event begins at 3 p.m. at 30708 Pacific Coast Highway. Suggested donation is $25. Complimentary parking is offered at Zuma Beach. For further information, please call 310.458.9603
Gators ambush update
Last week, 1st Sgt. Brent Holman reported that seven soldiers in Malibu’s “adopted” A Company were ambushed while on duty in Iraq. PFC Derrick Duran, SPC Joshua Gearing and CPT Stephen Thomas were injured in the attack. In a second e-mail, Holman wrote that Thomas, who was the hardest hit, suffered multiple injuries including two broken legs, an artery tear in his wrist, a jaw fracture and an eye laceration. He was evacuated to Baghdad.
“Just got back from Baghdad two hours ago,” Holman wrote. “CPT Thomas was heavily sedated and incubated for his own comfort. He’ll live and should recover fairly well
in time.”
Opportunity for involvement in public education
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education is now accepting applications for fall appointments to district advisory committees. The application deadline is Oct 9. Parents and community members are invited to apply.
The purpose of committees is to advise the Board of Education regarding school district needs and issues in areas of childcare and development, community health and safety, fine arts, instructional technology, intercultural, special education, and sports and physical education. Appointments will be made at the Oct. 16th board meeting.
For further information or to pick
up an application form, please
contact any district school or the Superintendent’s Office, 310.450.8338, ext. 229 or 240.
H.O.M.E. Celebrity Golf Tournament at Malibu Country Club
The third annual H.O.M.E. (Home Ownership Made Easy) Celebrity Golf Tournament, hosted by actor Joe Mantegna, will take place Monday at the Malibu Country Club. Registration begins at 9 a.m., shotgun start at 11 a.m. Cocktails, dinner and live and silent auctions follow.
Proceeds will benefit H.O.M.E., a nonprofit housing corporation affiliated with the Westside Regional Center, dedicated to providing safe, affordable housing for persons with developmental disabilities. More than 2,000 persons with developmental disabilities throughout the 17 communities served by the Westside Regional Center live in substandard, unsafe areas, group homes and mental facilities, or with elderly parents.
Sports celebrities who indicated their participation include James Worthy, Ann Meyers Drysdale, Reggie Smith, Al Downing, Blue Moon Odom and Paul Sunderland. Show business personalities playing include Alan Thicke, Lee Meriwether, David Naughton and Tom Hallick.
The public is invited to join in the golf and/or attend the dinner and auction. The auction will include Lakers, Kings, Sparks and Dodgers tickets and autographed items, including a Shaquille O’Neal autographed basketball, a Kobe Bryant autographed jersey.
Entry fee is $250.00 per person and includes dinner. Dinner/auction only tickets are $40.00. For more information, call 310.258.4292.
Bulky Item Collection
There will be a Bulky Item Collection on Saturday of furniture, carpet, household appliances, mattresses and refrigerators.
Unacceptable items are televisions, computer monitors, e-waste and tires (these items will be accepted on Dec. 13 at the Hazardous Waste collection on Civic Center).
Bulky pickups are by appointment only and appointments must be made by noon on Friday. Call G.I. Rubbish at 310.457.1408 or Las Virgenes Disposal at 800.994.4285.
More news from the city
The City Council has announced that it will appoint a Blue Ribbon Committee to identify specific traffic safety issues that need to be addressed on Civic Center Way, between Webb Way and Malibu Canyon. If you are interested in serving on this committee, complete an application form online at www.ci.malibu.ca.us and submit it to the City Clerk’s office.
SMMUSD to receive arts education technical assistance
ARTS FOR ALL, Los Angeles County’s Regional Blueprint for Arts Education, calls for five of the 82 school districts in Los Angeles to adopt an arts education policy, plan and budget each year. Five districts, including Santa Monica-Malibu Unified, currently qualify for technical assistance, paid for by grants and endowments. These funds allow the California Alliance for Arts Education, a key partner in the blueprint, to hire a team of consultants brought in to support the work of the Districts Arts Team in assessing the status of arts education in the district and develop a budgeted strategic plan based on this data. Laurie Schell, executive director of the California Alliance for Arts Education, will spearhead the activity in the districts, beginning in early October.
Volunteers needed for new mentoring program
Saint Johns Youth Development Project, which serves approximately 150 youths age 11-18 at three Santa Monica schools, is seeking volunteers for a new mentoring program to help at-risk youth. Mentors must spend four hours a month and have phone contact with their student, attend monthly support and training sessions, be a good listener and at least 22 years old. For more information, call the Child and Family Development Center at Saint John’s Health Center at 310.829.8495.
Speaking out against Bush administration policies
Robert Scheer, noted syndicated columnist appearing Tuesdays in the L.A. Times, spoke before 75 members and friends of the Malibu Democratic Club on Sunday afternoon, with a speech on “Democracy In Peril.” Scheer criticized the Bush administration for its excessive and misdirected military buildup in dealing with terrorism, saying, “We don’t need more stealth bombers to destroy box cutters at Home Depot.”
He also stated that he believes the Recall Election is part of a plan to destroy the two-party system. He urged all in attendance to vote no on the recall and to vote for Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante as a backup.
Kelly Hayes-Raitt, Santa Monica peace activist and journalist, spoke of her July trip to Iraq, where she discovered that children, mothers and pregnant women suffered terribly and were most devastated by the war. The aftermath has been an environmental tragedy and health disaster with foul water and untreated sewage in the streets and rivers.
Bill to provide parents with information about their child’s daycare facility signed by Gov. Davis
Gov. Davis on Sept. 17 signed AB 1683, a bill authored by Assemblymember Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), that provides parents with direct and timely information about any violations of state standards or regulations at their children’s daycare facilities. The bill will go into effect on Jan. 1,2004.
AB 1683 will require the State Department of Social Services to post a notice at a childcare facility when the facility has been inspected and include whether the site visit resulted in citations to the facility. The bill will also require the licensed childcare facility that receives a citation that poses an immediate threat to the health, safety, and personal rights of children, to post a copy of the licensing report that describes the citation for 30 consecutive days. It would also impose an immediate civil penalty of $100 on a facility that does not comply with this requirement.
-Cortney Litwin