Local named school board vice president
Malibu resident Kathy Wisnicki was named Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District vice president at the Dec. 8 board meeting. Wisnicki was elected to the board in 2004. Also at that meeting, Julia Brownley was elected board president.
New area code for Malibu
A change in telephone area codes will take place after Jan. 1, which will affect the current 310 area code. People trying to order a new telephone line in the 310 area will receive a 424 area code instead.
City telecommunications specialist Jena Chanel said, “If you want a phone with a 310 area code, you had better order it before the end of the year.”
Last summer, the California Public Utilities Commission ordered that a new area code be overlaid in the 310 area to prevent a split, which would have resulted in tens of thousands of South Bay residents having a mandatory change in area codes.
The change will accompany a mandatory use of 11-digit dialing for all phone calls, local calls included. Starting next summer, all calls made to local phones will not go through unless preceded by “1-310”. The change will force many people to reprogram auto-dialers in their phones, burglar alarms and cellular units.
Plays to broadcast on L.A. radio
Malibu resident Annette Bening will star in a radio drama on 89.3 KPCC that will air on Saturday.
Los Angeles Theatre Works’ “The Play’s the Thing” will air Noel Coward’s “Fallen Angels.” Also staring in the play are Joe Mantegna and Judith Ivey.
“Fallen Angels” is about two happily married couples whose lives are changed when a handsome Frenchman comes to town. The broadcast will also include an interview with Mantegna.
Maximum law enforcement for holidays
The California Highway Patrol has set up a major strike force for the holiday season to crack down on drunk driving, speeding and people not wearing their seatbelts. According to the CHP, those are the three major contributors to death on the roadways. Operation STAR, which began on Dec. 16, will continue through midnight on Jan. 2.
Additional CHP officers will be on the road and Air Operations will be fully deployed throughout the state.
According to the CHP, last year during Operation STAR there was a 25.5 percent drop in deaths over the holiday season from 2003.
-Gracy Abbott,
Jonathan Friedman and
Hans Laetz