Malibu Surfside News - News Alert

Final EIR for Malibu High BB Construction Is Now Available

2012-01-25T16:24:00.001-08:00

• Action Is Expected at School Board’s Feb. 2 Meeting at Malibu City Hall

The final environmental impact report for Measure BB-funded construction on the Malibu High School campus, released this week, indicates that the project will have a “significant and unavoidable impact” on dark skies, and that the light pollution generated by the development project will create permanent light pollution that will potentially change the “character” of the neighborhood.

“Night lighting associated with the 150-space parking lot that would be operational until 10 p.m. on school nights with some exceptions, would result in a significant and unavoidable impact due to the night lighting’s contribution to sky glow, discussed in detail under DEIR Impact 4.1-3. As disclosed on DEIR page 4.1-82, “... Between the hours of dusk and 10 p.m. on evenings when school is in session, the proposed outdoor lighting’s contribution to sky glow would further reduce the contrast of stars and other celestial objects against the dark sky background, which are considered natural scenic resources,” the EIR states.

“To reduce the Proposed Project’s impact, [the project will] direct light downward onto school property and to maintain the dark conditions of the surrounding area during the late hours of the night have been identified,” the report notes, adding that “implementation of these mitigation measures would not reduce this impact to a less than significant level. Therefore, in consideration of the existing night lighting conditions in the surrounding area, the DEIR has made the appropriate significant and unavoidable impact finding.”

In addition to the parking lot and a new access road, other elements of the project include a reconfigured pick-up and drop-off area; a new library; a new two-story middle school building; two new tennis courts; synthetic turf for the athletic field; and improved wastewater systems.

SMMUSD’s Board of Education will consider certifying the Final EIR and adopting findings, a statement of overriding considerations, and a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program at the SMMUSD Board meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2, at Malibu City Hall.

The Final EIR is available online at www.malibucity.org or www.smmusd.org

City Sponsors Three Recycling Events on Saturday

2012-01-18T16:23:00.001-08:00

The City of Malibu will host a trio of recycling opportunities for Malibu residents on Saturday, Jan. 21, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Organizers hope the roundup will encourage locals to start off the new year with more storage space by recycling responsibly.

“Waste to Waves” will take place in conjunction with the city’s monthly electronics recycling event, adding packing foam to the list of recyclables. “Packing foam called Expanded PolyStyrene, commonly referred to as “EPS” or the trademark “Styrofoam,” will be collected and recycled into new, eco-friendly surfboard blanks,” according to the city.

“Recycled EPS surfboard blanks have the same performance and durability of a surfboard blank made from virgin petrochemical foam, while reducing the carbon footprint by up to 50 percent.

“Only white #6 type of EPS used to package fragile goods, such as electronics, televisions and furniture, will be collected. Packing peanuts and foam food containers will not be accepted.”

The city in 2005 adopted a ban on food packaging that contains EPS. The ordinance applies to all restaurants and retail food vendors within city limits, as well as events held on city property.

At Saturday’s event, Malibu residents also will have the opportunity to drop off e-waste, including outmoded and defunct computers and peripheral devices, cell phones, game stations, MP3 players, printers, small household appliances, batteries and compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Used motor oil and household latex paint will be collected as regularly scheduled.

For more information, check: www.malibucity.org

CCC Malibu Field Trip

2012-01-11T16:24:00.001-08:00

MPAs Are Officially Implemented

2012-01-04T16:05:00.000-08:00

• Celebration for Underwater Parks Planned for Jan. 21

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

On Jan. 1, the California Department of Fish and Game officially implemented California's newest network of Marine Protected Areas, including a State Marine Reserve and State Marine Conservation Area off Point Dume in Malibu. The new Southern California underwater parks are part of a statewide system of MPAs that were created through the Marine Life Protection Act.

Marine conservation organization Heal the Bay is incorporating the implementation into its fourth annual Underwater Parks Day, “celebrating the implementation of marine protected areas (known as MPAs) in Southern California.”

Malibuites and beachgoers are invited to join Heal the Bay volunteers at a beach cleanup at Westward Beach at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 21, followed by a guided nature walk in Point Dume State Marine Reserve at 1 p.m.

Other activities will include an education booth. Free maps of the new MPAs and free canvas tote bags will be distributed. Same-day free admission to Heal the Bay's Santa Monica Pier Aquarium is also being offered.

“Just as parks on land are established to preserve and protect wildlife, MPAs will help protect underwater marine resources like fish and kelp forests for future generations to enjoy,” a Heal the Bay press release states. “Plans set forth by the Marine Life Protection Act of 1999 called for a network of MPAs along the California coast. These new Southern California MPAs help complete the network as they join other MPAs in Central and Northern California.”

In Malibu, the Point Dume State Marine Reserve incorporates an area of reefs and kelp forest popular with kayak fishers and the diving community. The area, and a marine canyon located directly off the Point Dume Headlands, are described as “rare and vitally important habitat” that was one of the MLPA Science Advisory Team’s top preservation priorities.

MLPA proponents counter that the marine protected areas going into effect were designed with the input of the local fishing community, conservationists and other stakeholders.

According to the DFG, the Point Dume State Marine Reserve, which extends from the west end of Paradise Cove to the outflow of Zuma Creek, is bounded by the mean high tide line and the three nautical mile offshore boundary. Take of all living resources is prohibited in the Point Dume SMR.

The State Marine Conservation Area extends from Zuma Creek to El Matador State Beach, “from the mean high tide line to the three nautical mile offshore boundary. Take of all living marine resources is prohibited except: The recreational take of pelagic finfish, including Pacific bonito, and white sea bass by spearfishing is allowed, and the commercial take of coastal pelagic species by round haul net and swordfish by harpoon is allowed.

The DFG has repeatedly stated that non-extractive activities, including swimming, surfing, kayaking and diving, will not be impacted by the new restrictions.

More information on the MPAs and the MLPA is available at www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa

Information on Heal the Bay, including the organization's MPA Watch volunteer stewardship program and the celebration on Jan. 21, is available at www.healthebay.org

Happy New Year

2011-12-28T15:44:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

2011-12-21T17:25:00.001-08:00

City of Malibu

2011-12-14T18:23:00.001-08:00

Area Animal Shelters Need Holiday Help from Malibu

2011-12-07T16:15:00.001-08:00

The animals at the Agoura Hills and Ventura County animal shelters could use a helping hand this holiday season.

Donations of funds in any amount to enable the shelters to purchase what is needed most are guaranteed to start a chorus of ho-ho-hos resonating throughout the animals’ quarters.

Both shelters also would welcome the donation of Kuranda dog beds—safe comfortable platforms that provide a raised sleeping area so animals housed in shelters don’t have to sleep on cold concrete. Gift donations can be made in the name of a loved one. A gift card will be sent to the person with information on the shelter bed program: http://Kuranda.com/donate.

Both shelters are delighted to receive a wide range of material contributions, including tarps, towels, full-sized blankets, baby blankets, canned and dry pet food, healthy pet treats and biscuits, and dog-and-cat-safe play and exercise toys.

Store gift cards that can be used for pet supplies are always appreciated, and even basic household items like printer paper, dish soap, work gloves, brushes and sponges make a difference.

The Ventura Shelter rabbits, who have reportedly been “very good all year,” have written to Santa asking for exercise pens, dog crates, litter boxes, 32-oz water bottles, plastic Slinky toys, baby keys and rattles, untreated grass mats and baskets, Whiffle balls, heavy food crocks, white vinegar, spray bottles, gift cards from pet stores and cash donations, payable to ARVA, ATTN: Rabbits. “What we want most for Christmas is a loving forever home,” the rabbits wrote. “If we can’t have that, can we please have these things to make our time at the shelter more comfortable?”

The same sentiments are echoed by the dogs, cats, guinea pigs, roosters, iguanas and horses at both shelters, in addition to their overriding hope that Malibuites will put them on their holiday wish lists and give them a forever home.

Questions can be directed to the volunteer coordinator at Ventura County Animal Shelter at volunteer@ventura.org or the Agoura Animal Shelter at 818-991-0071.

Red Flag Alert Goes into Effect for Malibu

2011-11-30T16:35:00.000-08:00

By Anne Soble

All Malibuites are urged to go into wildfire preparation mode and exercise vigilance during what is expected to be two or more days of intense wind activity and high brushfire susceptibility.

The National Weather Service has issued red flag and strong wind warnings for Malibu and the Santa Monica Mountains that are forecast to go into effect late Wednesday evening, continue through Friday afternoon, and possibly have an intermittent influence during the weekend.

The NWS forecast indicates that wind speeds could exceed 40 mph and gusts might reach 70 or more mph in the greater Malibu area. When coupled with the anticipated low humidity, the winds not only pose a major wildfire threat, but also could result in downed trees and power lines and other damage.

Malibuites are urged to windproof their residences and grounds, secure anything that might become airborne, stay vigilant for signs of fire or suspicious fire-related activity, and exercise extreme caution when driving on wind impacted roadways.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T15:25:00.001-08:00

School Board Meeting on Funding to Implement Foundation Policy

2011-11-16T16:08:00.000-08:00

An important meeting of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education will take place Thursday, Nov. 17, in the district administrative offices at 1651 16th Street in Santa Monica. The board is expected to call the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. in the board conference room, at which time it will move to closed session, the public meeting will reconvene at 6 p.m.

Consideration of Amount of Appeal Fees to Be Addressed

2011-11-09T15:42:00.001-08:00

• Appellants Say Cost Limits Public Role

In a somewhat unusual move, Malibu city officials are sending out notices to activists, homeowner groups, other interested individuals and the local media about the Malibu City Council’s hearing Nov. 14 on appeal fees.

The handout suggests that correspondence can still be taken on the council agenda item.

Also, planners are asking if the public wants to make a power point presentation to contact them for use of the equipment.

Activists and others have complained the municipal fees for appealing a planning commission decision to the city council are too expensive and out of line when compared to other cities.

Others point out that when the matter deals with a coastal permit issue, quite often, the city council is bypassed on appealing the issue, which is taken to the California Coastal Commission because the state agency does not charge for appeals.

Last year in October, the council directed the staff to review the appeal fee and its effects on the local appeal process, “specifically whether the current appeal fee discourages appellants to file appeals to the city and in turn encourages appellants to file appeals directly to the California Coastal Commission.”

The planning staff is recommending changing the appeal fee from the current 25 percent of the original entitlement fees, “minimum $1000, whichever is greater,” to a flat fee of $500.

However, planners are offering several options for the council to choose from including adopting a flat fee of $1000 “to ensure hard costs are recovered,” to a flat administrative fee for low-to-no-cost recovery of $385 which staff are recommending should be subject to the consumer price index, if it is adopted.

Other options offered are: the council could consider adopting a two-tier appeal fee—for example $1000 for coastal permits and $500 for non-coastal permits.

A staff report prepared by senior administrative analyst Patricia Salazar points out that historically, the planning development application appeal fee has been set at levels that achieve only modest cost recovery in an effort to encourage public participation in the planning process and to keep a level playing field between applicants and appellants.

“Since 2002, the city council has modified the appeal fee multiple times in an attempt to recover costs related to the processing of appeals,” wrote Salazar. “The appeal fee has changed from a per-finding appeal fee, to a set appeal fee, to the current appeal fee, which is a percentage of the original application fee (25% of the original planning entitlement fees; minimum $1000, whichever is greater).”

Malibuites Urged to Stay on Wildfire Alert

2011-11-02T15:30:00.001-07:00

BY ANNE SOBLE

Local fire department personnel have been kept busy changing the Smokey Bear wildfire condition signs at a dizzying pace last week as conditions changed from low to moderate to high, and back to low and moderate, depending on whether the marine layer or the offshore winds were dominating Malibu weather.

As the Malibu Surfside News went to press, the Los Angeles County Fire Department has received notification from the National Weather Service that predicts weather conditions that called for a “red flag warning.”

Strong northeast winds and very low humidities are expected for the mountains, passes, and canyons of Los Angeles County from Tuesday through Wednesday. This weather, combined with extremely dry brush, creates high fire danger in the Malibu area.

Thursday may continue on red flag alert or begin a transition that by Friday includes the possibility of light precipitation. The need to frequently update the Smokey Bear signs are to be expected when there is a La Niña influence on Southern California weather.

When a red flag alert is called, local residents are reminded to take basic precautions including:

• Report any sign of smoke immediately by dialing 911. If dialing 911 from a cellular phone, be prepared to provide the location.

• Use caution when operating spark- or flame-producing machinery in grass or brush areas. This causes more fires than arson.

• Malibuites are urged to have a wildfire action plan in place, including pre-planning and possible evacuation procedures, a way for family members to coordinate if they are scattered, special plans for disabled individuals, and equipment to safeguard or transport pets and livestock.

• Everyone should remain vigilant and report suspicious persons or vehicles to law enforcement.

Man’s Body Discovered near Rindge Dam

2011-10-26T16:52:00.000-07:00

A dead body was discovered in Malibu Canyon near Rindge Dam when the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department responded early Tuesday evening to a call about a missing person, according to authorities.

The LASD incident report indicated that after the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station received the missing person call, its search-and-rescue operations were activated.

A sheriff’s department helicopter was not available at the time and a county fire department chopper was called in to assist, according to Lost Hills watch commander Lt. Robert Wiard.

A fire department paramedic was hoisted down when the body of the missing adult male was located, but the individual was declared dead at the scene, according to Wiard.

Another person was observed on a nearby ledge. He was rescued and determined to be unharmed.

Due to the late hour and difficult terrain, rescue operations were suspended before the unit could retrieve the dead body. Operations were to resume at daylight, according to Wiard.

On Wednesday, the deceased was identified by authorities as Joshua Feinberg. Further details are pending notification of next of kin. The death is being investigated as a possible suicide.

The other man has not been identified but he is reported to have been responding to an alert to a possible suicide attempt by Feinberg.

Heal the Bay Biologists Ponder Cause of Surfrider Urchin Die-Off

2011-10-19T16:33:00.001-07:00

• ‘First Flush’ from Season’s First Major Rain Event and Lagoon Breach Are Suspected but Unproven

BY KAYLA BROWN

Rotting marine organisms tainted the air at Malibu’s Surfrider Beach, as thousands of dead sea urchins washed up to decay along the shore this past week.

“I had to tread carefully across the beach to avoid stepping on the prickly decaying urchins,” says Heal the Bay representative and Malibu resident Sarah Sikich. “I went back down to the beach this week to take some photos of the shocking mass mortality.”

Malibu experienced a similar die-off last fall after someone “artificially and illegally breached the lagoon in advance of projected good surf,” Sikich said.

However, the cause of the latest die-off has not yet been positively identified.

The Malibu Lagoon usually forms a closed system during the summer months, with a permeable dam of sand closing the outflow of Malibu Creek off from the ocean.

Breaching occurs naturally after the first heavy rain in the autumn, but the process has reportedly sometimes hastened by surfers hoping to improve the shape of Surfrider waves by creating a channel at the western end of the lagoon, or even by beachgoers digging channels in the sand for fun.

Artificially breaching the lagoon is illegal, and can result in heavy fines if the breacher is apprehended.

Sikich points to the recent breach of “Third Point toward the end of last week,” as well as “our first storm of the year…[and] late season south swell” as related to the die-off.

The first storm of the year is often noted as the “first flush” because of its innate power to push “all of the pollution that has accumulated in the watershed into open waters.” Sikich noted, “The urban slobber poured across the nearby reef, coinciding with the large-scale invertebrate die-off.”

This deadly combination may have created a disarray of decomposing sea life. Dead lobster, sea hare, and seabirds accompany the rotting urchins coiled in seaweed.

Heal the Bay says it will continue to search for the underlying cause to this “mass mortality.”

Reward Offered for Info Leading to Who Killed Cougar

2011-10-12T17:47:00.000-07:00

BY ANNE SOBLE

A $5000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the poacher or poachers who killed a mountain lion in the Santa Monica Mountains last month.

The California Department of Fish and Game’s CAL-TIP hotline is providing $2500, and the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust are jointly matching that amount.

The mountain lion, aka cougar or puma, was discovered on Sept. 11 after DFG and the National Park Service received a call about the remains of a carcass in the westernmost Santa Monicas in Ventura County.

Concerns about the seven-year-old male cougar’s fate had already been raised when the NPS tracking collar that was used to follow the animal’s movements for almost two years stopped transmitting signals.

The big cat known as P-15 (P is for the species Puma concolor) regularly traversed Malibu as it explored the full extent of the Santa Monica range.

DFG game wardens opened an official investigation after it was determined that P-15 did not die of natural causes and had been severely mutilated, most likely for bragging rights by whoever killed it.

Mountain lions are designated as a “specially protected mammal” in California, and it is illegal to hunt or trap them. An unauthorized killing is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $10,000.

DFG and the National Park Service ask that anyone with information regarding the case call the DFG Cal-Tip hotline at 1-888-334-2258.

Malibu Soaked by Unusually Early Rainstorm

2011-10-05T15:55:00.001-07:00

Rain began throughout much of Malibu just before 5 a.m. on Wednesday.

In some areas, heavy rain continued unabated for eight hours and resumed intermittently.

The classic “winter” storm was a unusual phenomenon for so early in autumn and is being touted as a record-making incident.

Whether the rain will have a measurable effect on what has traditionally been Malibu’s most serious wildfire season will depend on future weather conditions.

The community’s unusual spring, summer, and now autumn weather patterns are being attributed by many meteorologists to a La Niña influence.

Malibu High Assignment to Write Pro-Lighting Letters to CCC Raises Political Campaigning and Free Speech Concerns

2011-09-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

The Malibu High School field lighting proposal, which is scheduled to be heard by the California Coastal Commission on Oct. 5., continues to generate controversy.

Several Malibu High School parents are raising concerns about a campus letter writing campaign, after their children received homework assignments that appeared to require students to write a letter in support of the MHS athletic field lighting proposal even if they oppose the project.

A freshman seminar homework assignment obtained by the Malibu Surfside News states:

“We believe there is strong support for limited use of field lighting in our community. One only needed to have attended a past game to understand what a positive and unifying experience night games have been. Now is the time to make sure your words are read and your voices are heard.”

The assignment seems to imply that even those opposed to the plan must write in support of it:

“Please write a letter to the CCC to ensure your support, even if you are against the lights, is recorded.” [sic]

The assignment is described as “mandatory.”

An email received by The News states that several classes received similar assignments. Parents say they are concerned that their children are being used “as tools” in what one parent describes as “a highly controversial and divisive propaganda campaign.”

Questions asked by concerned parents include: “Does the district have a policy on classroom political pressure?” “Is this a First Amendment issue? And, “”Will these mandatory homework assignments be submitted to the CCC along with the ‘voluntary’ letters?”

Those who spoke to The News asked that their names be withheld. “You have no idea how contentious this issue is,” one family told The News.

“Thanks for letting me know. I have referred this to the Superintendent,” SMMUSD Board of Education president Jose Escarece told The News, in response to an inquiry.

“The assignment was to write a business letter,” MHS Principal Mark Kelly clarified. “It asks the students to follow a specific format. It does not direct students to take a specific position in favor of lights. The students are given the option to write in favor or against the lighting proposal. The teacher saw the lighting issue as one directly relevant to students and thus appropriate for students to learn how their voice can be heard. Learning how to write a business letter is one of our learning goals. The fact that this issue is relevant to students only enhances motivation. It is reasonable that our students, who are affected by decisions regarding lights, be afforded the opportunity to lend their voice to the discussion. I do think it is appropriate that students be informed as to how they may be heard.”

Requests for letters have been circulating on campus and on the MHS discussion list for several weeks. One letter request states: “MHS encourages students, parents and other interested parties to write letters to the CCC regarding the proposed amendments. We encourage the Malibu High community to share its feelings regarding the lights proposal including sharing items discussed at the City Council hearings. These items included how important the lights are to the school and community, reasons for lights, why lights are important for events such as homecoming, access to the field for all sports at night, how use of the lights in the past did or not did not impact the environment (dark skies, birds, wildlife), and how lights impact students' schedules in the way of early outs for sports. It is important for students, parents and other interested parties to get involved by either attending the CCC meeting on October 5, 2011 or by writing a letter. The CCC wants to hear from you now.”

The request states that letters can be mailed, faxed or dropped off at the MHS main office by Oct. 1.

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

This is a copy of a mandatory letter-writing assignment:
Click Here for a pdf version.

CCC to Hear Malibu High Lighting Plan on Oct. 5

2011-09-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

The California Coastal Commission staff report for the City of Malibu’s Local Coastal Program Amendment to permit field lighting at Malibu High School is now available. The matter is on the agenda for the Wednesday, Oct. 5, CCC meeting in Huntington Beach,

Staff has recommended that the lighting proposal, which has resulted in a sharp division of opinion within the community, includes modifications to address concerns about the project’s environmental impact.

California Coastal Commission staff is recommending the commission deny the City of Malibu’s Local Coastal Program Amendment to permit athletic field lighting at Malibu High School and approve a modified amendment that requires an extensive ornithological survey and monitoring program if the lights are used during fall or spring bird migration periods, and a prohibition on the light use more then three times a week, or on consecutive nights, and during certain periods of bird activity.

During Pacific Standard Time (defined as of 2011 to be the first Sunday in November to the second Sunday in March), the lights may be illuminated no later than 7:30 p.m., according to the staff report.

From each September 1 through May 31 period, inclusive, the lights may only be illuminated after 7:30 p.m. up to 18 times, and then (a) only until 10:30 p.m., (b) never on consecutive nights, and (c) on no more than two nights in any given calendar week. The lights may not be illuminated at any time between June 1 and August 31, inclusive, of any year.

The report is available online at http://www.coastal.ca.gov/mtgcurr.html

City Council to Look at Possible Recommendations on LASD Detainee Release Policies

2011-09-21T16:01:00.001-07:00

The Malibu City Council will have the opportunity Monday night to follow the lead of its Public Safety Commission and explore whether to recommend to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that it consider making some changes in its policies and protocol related to the release of arrestees.
The issue of releasing individuals, who either have been booked and are not detained, and those who have spent time in custody, without adequate consideration for their ability to care for themselves once they leave a sheriff’s station has developed a vocal constituency.
The critics of the status quo says it is in conflict with law enforcement agencies’ commitment to “protect and serve,” may put vulnerable individuals in harm’s way, and ultimately may cost taxpayers large sums of money to defend litigation that might lead to even larger settlements or jury awards.
If these individuals do not have someone to contact, or are unable to reach assistance, they may have to walk alone for miles or accept rides from strangers, or they might even disappear and be found dead.
The PSC recommendation is that persons not be released between sunset and sunrise unless there is confirmed transportation. They can now be released at any hour of the night. The panel also proposes that individuals not be separated from the personal belongings they need for their well-being and safety—a wallet, money or credit cards, a cell phone, and, in cold weather, an outer garment. This is now subject to an arresting officer’s discretion, but the PSC recommends that it be made mandatory.
The City of Malibu is being urged by critics of the current LASD policies to take the initiative in this discussion, which is now occurring in a number of communities throughout the state.

Mitrice, Inc

2011-09-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

LHSS Celebrates 20 Years

2011-09-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

On Saturday, Sept. 17 the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station is inviting the public to an open house to celebrate the station’s 20th anniversary.

The open house is scheduled from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the station, 27050 Agoura Road.

Subject to availability, the event will feature “displays and demonstrations from numerous sheriff’s department resources, including: LASD helicopter and patrol car (young, and not so young, participants will have an opportunity to sit in the driver’s seat), Sheriff’s Arson/Explosives Unit, Special Weapons Team, Canine Unit, Mounted Posse, Lost Hills Reserve Mountain Rescue Team, STAR Unit, STTOP Deputy, Crashed Car Trailer and an interactive “Bike Safety City” activity for young cyclists.

The Team Sheriff Racing drag race car and driver Deputy Bill Chaffin are also scheduled to appear, as are representatives from the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The event will feature live music performed by The Platinum Groove and Car Show.

Parking available at commercial buildings across the street. Participants with disability access concerns should contact Deputy Shawn Brownell, 818-878-5506 for special needs arrangements.

MLPA Implimentation Faces Delay

2011-08-31T16:06:00.001-07:00

• Lawsuit Filed by Fishing Interests Moves Forward

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Southern California’s 36 new Marine Protected Areas, which include a State Marine Reserve and State Marine Conservation Area off of Point Dume will not go into effect on Oct. 1 as initially proposed. The California Department of Fish and Game Commission will discuss alternative effective dates for implementation of the MPAs at its Sept. 15 meeting in Redding. The October date was proposed at the commission's June meeting.

The announcement was made after the Office of Administrative Law informed the commission that “they are unable to approve the Marine Life Protection Act south coast MPAs regulatory package in time to make it effective Oct. 1,” a press release states.

According to the announcement, “It is a complicated package and OAL informed the commission that it has additional questions and requests for more information that will require a re-notice.”

Complicating the issue are a number of lawsuits filed by fishing interests.

“There are more than one lawsuit being filed but the one [that]

seems to be the foremost and will be heard before Oct 1,” Longtime Malibu resident and fishing advocate Shari Latta told the Malibu Surfside News.

That lawsuit was filed by members of the Partnership for Sustainable Oceans, a coalition of fishing groups, including recreational anglers, sportfishing organizations, boaters and companies that manufacture fishing equipment.

United Anglers of Southern California, one of the organizations participating in the lawsuit, released a statement following the DFG announcement stating that the delay “means that anglers will now have more time on the water.”

On Dec. 15, 2010 the DFG commission adopted regulations to create the new network of 36 MPAs in the South Coast Study Region, which extends from Point Conception to the Mexican border. There are currently 13 MPAs and two areas of “special closures,” in the region. When the new MPAs are implemented there will be a total of 49 MPAs, which represent 354 square miles, or approximately 15 percent, of Southern California's coastal waters, according to the DFG.

In Malibu, an area stretching from the western end of the Paradise Cove parking lot to the outflow of Zuma Creek will receive the highest level of protection as a State Marine Reserve under the plan.

The proposed SMR includes a submarine canyon off of Dume Cove described repeatedly by the Science Advisory Team as a rare and vitally important habitat that urgently needs the highest level of protection.

The SMR also covers a substantial portion of the hotly contested reefs east of Point Dume, including Big Kelp Reef, a favorite fishing area for kayak anglers and the spearfishing community.

The SMR will be a no-take zone that prohibits all types of fishing. However, fishing boats, including kayaks, would be permitted to transit a SMR with catch on board. Non-extractive activities, including surfing and swimming, will not be impacted.

The State Marine Conservation Area will extend west from Zuma Creek to El Matador State Beach. The SMCA would permit limited fishing activities, including recreational spearfishing for Pelagic finfish, Pacific bonito and white seabass, and commercial take of market squid, coastal pelagic finfish and swordfish.

Malipalooza Salutes Indy

2011-08-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

Malipalooza! 2011 annual summer festival will take place on Saturday, August 27, 2011, from 4 - 10 p.m. at Malibu Bluffs Park. The event is free and open to the public.

“Festival highlights include stage performances, a variety of gourmet food trucks, children’s activities, reptile touch tank, and booths for non-profit organizations and businesses,” a press release states.

The event will conclude with a special film screening of “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, as part of the City’s CineMalibu outdoor summer movie series. The movie will begin at dusk.

The film that introduced the world to former Malibu resident Harrison Ford’s archeologist-turned-action hero is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Film viewers are encouraged to bring warm clothing, and are reminded that the film contains scary and graphic imagery that may not be suitable for young children.

Organizations interested in having a booth at the event should call 310-456-2489, ext. 350.

Malibu Country Mart Joins the Electric Revolution

2011-08-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

The Malibu Country Mart invites the local community to a ribbon-cutting ceremony to unveil the shopping center's new electric vehicle charging station, on Saturday, Aug. 20, from 2–4:30 p.m.

The ceremony, which will take place at 2 p.m. at the new station, next to the Ralph Lauren store, will be followed at 2:30 p.m. by a reception with live music and food from John’s Garden and Howdy’s, in the courtyard in front of Howdy’s.

“Come learn about the new wave of electric cars, and be sure to check out the outdoor showroom featuring a Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, CODA, and Tesla,” the event planners said.

“One of our principal goals is to improve the environmental quality of our community.

“The new electric vehicle charging station is just one piece of our Green Initiative Program, which also incorporates plant-based biodegradable cleaners, a comprehensive composting and recycling program, and a biofuels program to convert restaurant grease into biodiesel. We strive to create a clean and safe place for future generations to shop, play, and dine.”

Ribbon-cutting speakers include: Ed Begley, Jr., actor and eco-advocate; Paul Scott, co-founder of Plug In America and Nissan LEAF specialist; Rod Bergen, president of Solar West International; Michael Koss, general partner of the Malibu Country Mart; and Paul Glenney, director of EV Solutions Aerovironment.

Malibu Country Mart Goes Electric (Cars)

2011-08-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

The Malibu Country Mart invites the community to a ribbon-cutting ceremony to unveil the shopping center's new electric vehicle charging station, on Saturday, Aug. 20, from 2-4:30 p.m.

“Come learn about the new wave of electric cars, and be sure to check out the outdoor showroom featuring a Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, CODA, and Tesla,” the press release states.

“One of our principal goals is to improve the environmental quality of our community.

Ribbon-cutting speakers include: Ed Begley, Jr., actor and eco-advocate; Paul Scott, Co-Founder of Plug In America and Nissan LEAF Specialist; Rod Bergen, President of Solar West International; Michael Koss, General Partner of the Malibu Country Mart; and Paul Glenney, Director of EV Solutions Aerovironment.

City Zoning Code Meetings

2011-08-03T15:50:00.001-07:00

The City of Malibu plans to update and streamline the municipal zoning code and seeks input from community stakeholders on the strengths and weaknesses of the current code and suggestions for possible changes.

Lisa Wise Consulting has been hired to conduct what the city calls “group stakeholder interviews” throughout the day on Tuesday, Aug. 9, in the Zuma Room at City Hall.

The Zoning Ordinance Revisions and Code Enforcement Subcommittee, or ZORACES, will conduct a general public meeting from 9 to 10 a.m.

At 10 a.m., permit expediters, planners, attorneys, and project managers will address what their interests seek. An RSVP is required.

At 11 a.m., architects, developers, and tradespeople will hold court. An RSVP is required.

After a two-hour break until 2 p.m., the business community, including the Chamber of Commerce, will then provide its input. An RSVP is required.

At 3 p.m., residents, community groups, property owners and tenants will be interviewed.

Afterward at 4 p.m., what is described by the city as a “free for all” is open to everyone. No RSVP is required.

If They Build it, They Will Come

2011-08-01T18:34:00.001-07:00

• Check Out the Latest on Cross Creek Road

BY BILL KOENEKER

What have Malibuites been asking for the most during the last two years?

The wait is over.

Malibu now has a new hardware, lumber and masonry store that opened this week at its Cross Creek location.

Called Malibu Hardware and Masonry Supply, the store is the accomplishment of longtime Malibuite Dave Anawalt, well known for the family-run business of Anawalt Lumber in Los Angeles.

“This is our fourth location,” said Anawalt, who has tried more than once to bring a hardware store to Malibu.

Anawalt, who took over the old Malibu Masonry location at 3730 Cross Creek Road, emphasized he wanted to open a full service hardware store just like his other Anawalt locations.

“It has the best items of all of our departments,” added Anawalt, who pointed to the surfboard collection that hangs from the rafters of the building.

The fourth-generation hardware store owner, whose family moved to Point Dume in the 1950s, said there is 3500 square feet of indoor floor space. “We are [also] taking over the masonry yard,” he said.

Anawalt emphasized that the city has been supportive of his efforts. He ticked off a list of names of people who helped out, such as Planning Director Joyce Parker-Bozylinski and Building Official Craig George.

All hardware store departments are represented from paints, indoor and outdoor plants, tools, lighting, garden supplies, plumbing, automotive, tools and anything else one would expect when going to an Anawalt Hardware store.

There is even a screwdriver with Dick Van Dyke’s name on it. Anawalt said he wanted to extend a personal invitation to the entertainer, who has written several times to the Malibu Surfside News lamenting that there was no longer a hardware store in Malibu and he could no longer find a place to buy a screwdriver, to come by and take a look.

The storeowner showed off the outdoor area where there will be cement, sand and gravel.

“We have some lumber currently. We have lots of redwood,” he said.

Pointing to a protected area with an overhang, he said, “We will have kiln-dried lumber by the end of the week,” he added. “We are starting out as a garden center with lumber and masonry.”

Back areas contained dry wall. There was molding, pipe and flashing.

Anawalt explained he had been trying to get a lumber store located in Malibu ever since the Malibu Lumberyard—the real thing—closed several years ago.

When asked about the family business, Anawalt said his great-grandfather moved from the Midwest to Montrose, California in 1921. “He was into building materials from his days in the Midwest,” he said. “Grandfather went to work for him when he got sick.”

The grandfather moved to Pico and Sepulveda in West Los Angeles, a bean field at the time, and the location of the current West Los Angeles store. Anawalt said he owns stores in West Hollywood and also in Hollywood. There are also two other Anawalt stores but cousins or distant relatives own them.

Anawalt talked about how his father was a surfer and bought property on Point Dume overlooking his favorite break. “That is where I live,” he said, noting he too has done his share of surfing, hence the surfboard collection at the store.

Anawalt explained to make things more “local,” many of the surfboards have some connection to Malibu. “Remember Natural Progression? That was Terry Lucoff’s place. There is one of his boards here that he shaped,” Anawalt said. He mentioned that almost all of his dad’s boards have the letter “A” written on them.

The current Anawalt residence has been featured in many architectural books on beachfront living. The home is surrounded by an exotic collection of palms, which is a hobby of Anawalt’s. “They call me the palm nut,” he added, saying there is a tropical palm that generates red-leaved fronds that he hopes to sell in the store.”

The store is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is open on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The store is closed on Sunday. The telephone number is 310-456-2772. The website is www.anawalt.com

OFFER—Hardware storeowner Dave Anawalt stands next to General Manager Hector Ramirez holding a set of screwdrivers “come on in Dick [Van Dyke] I have a screwdriver for you,” Anawalt said.

Malibu Art Festival

2011-07-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday, JUly 23, Will Be a Busy Day in Malibu

2011-07-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

Our Lady of Malibu School, 3625 Winter Canyon Road, will hold its annual fundraising summer yard sale through July 31, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The sale will feature many of the late Monsignor John Sheridan’s books and personal possessions, as well as a wide array of new and gently used treasures from all over Malibu, including clothing, home decor, antiques, books, appliances, clothes, jewelry, furniture and much more. MasterCard and Visa accepted.
For additional information, check out www.olmalibu.org/d2/m/yardsale.html or 310-456-3060.

The Malibu Boardriders Club will present the 20th annual Call to the Wall surf competition, all day long at Surfrider Beach. This year’s theme is a tribute to Malibu’s indigenous population, the Chumash, who named the beach Humaliwo, where the surf sounds Proceeds from the event support Camp Ronald McDonald. Activities at the competition will include events for children from the camp and their families.
For more information, see malibuboardriders.com

Building Plans DEIR for Malibu Middle and High School Available

2011-07-13T16:48:00.001-07:00

• Officials Plan Presentation on July 28 in Library

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District issued a public notice this week that it is releasing the Draft Environmental Impact Report on its planned improvements at the middle and high school Malibu campus.

Plans call for approximately 76,694 square feet of new construction, some of it includes replacement of structures since 15,041 square feet of old buildings are earmarked for demolition, while other buildings will be upgraded or renovated, according to a school district notice.

Building plans include one new two-story building for classrooms, library and administrative office uses, reconfigured outdoor space, a rooftop garden and the renovation of what is known as Building E.

New staff and student parking would become available with the completion of a proposed but controversial 150-space parking lot located adjacent to the existing school’s athletic field.

School district documents indicate the proposal also calls for increasing the separation of the middle school from the high school by devoting Building E solely to the high school, while middle school classrooms would be provided in the new replacement classroom/library/administration building with the rooftop garden.

The existing library and administration buildings would be demolished, according to the school district.

A new student drop-off and pick-up lane would be created along Morning View Drive in front of the replacement building to try to address safety concerns.

The environmental documents indicate the proposal would result “in significant and unavoidable adverse impacts related to increased sky-glow and construction air quality.”

School officials are scheduled to conduct a community presentation on the plans and the DEIR on Thursday, July 28, 6 p.m., at the Malibu Middle and High School Library.

Hard copies of the DEIR can be found at school district offices, Malibu City Hall, Malibu Middle School and High School Library, Malibu Public Library and at the SMMUSD website at www.smmusd.com

Regional Water Quality Control Board Is Poised to Approve Malibu Septic Ban MOU

2011-07-06T16:32:00.001-07:00

• Septic Upgrades Mandatory If Voters Veto Assessments

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board is scheduled to consider a resolution to authorize its executive officer to sign a memorandum of understanding between the City of Malibu and the Regional Board, and the State Water Resources Control Board regarding implementation of a Civic Center septic ban at its meeting on July 14 at 9 a.m. in the city council chambers in Simi Valley.

Malibu City Council members authorized its city manager to sign the MOU that was crafted by City Manager Jim Thorsen and the RWQCB’s executive officer Sam Unger.

The purpose of the MOU, according to the RWQCB, is to coordinate the implementation of a wastewater treatment plan for the Malibu Civic Center area.

The Regional Board approved a septic ban for the Civic Center in 2009. The state Board adopted that same resolution in 2010.

The measure prohibits all new onsite wastewater discharge systems in the Civic Center area and prohibits discharge from existing OWSDs based on a phased schedule to cease discharges.

The prohibition, according to the RWQCB, does not prevent repairs, maintenance and upgrades to existing systems, provided they do not expand the capacity of the systems or increase flows of wastewater.

Malibu city officials initially objected to the adoption of the ban and expressed its intent to file a lawsuit challenging the septic ban.

In 2010, the city and the water boards entered into a tolling agreement by which they agreed to extend the time within which the city must bring an action against the water boards challenging their actions to approve the septic ban or what it calls the “Basin Plan Amendment.”

The purpose of the tolling agreement was to afford both parties an opportunity to reach agreement on a phased implementation, boundaries and other matters related to the septic ban.

The result of those discussions is the MOU to memorialize the agreement between the city and the water boards “that employs both a plan and schedule to construct one or more centralized wastewater treatment facilities in the Civic Center area.”

A summary was provided by the Regional Board that notes the city agrees to construct one or more facilities, according to a specified schedule that contains specific milestones to assure completion of phase one by November 2015 and phase two by November 2019.

The city and the water boards agree that certain properties in the area designated as phase three may not be connected to a facility based on monitoring data to be collected by the city under the oversight of the Regional Board.

“If it is determined that the phase three properties must be connected to a facility, they must be connected by November 2025,” the RWQCB resolution states.

If an assessment district is not approved by dischargers, the Los Angeles water board may enforce all state policies, plans, or regulations to gain compliance, including the requirement to upgrade each OWDS to advance treatment or other appropriate means by Nov 2019. “Advanced treatment for OWDS is defined as disinfection treatment to a level that meets applicable water quality standards for fecal indicator bacteria and or denitrification not to exceed a total nitrogen concentration of 10 milligrams per liter (mg/l) for those properties impacting an impaired water body with a nutrient total maximum daily loads or TMDL.”

All property owners that are required to upgrade their system will need to obtain City of Malibu building permits and obtain an operating permit, in accordance with city ordinances.

The city’s operating permit program requires that advanced residential OWDS must be inspected every three years by a certified OWDS inspector.

The Los Angeles water board will also require effluent monitoring for these systems that shall be submitted and reviewed by the Los Angeles water board on a quarterly basis for total suspended solids, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and fecal indicator bacteria as appropriate.

Point Goes Red, White and Blue for an Old-Fashioned Fourth

2011-06-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

■ Four Private Beach Fireworks Displays Have Received Permits from Fire Department

Malibu residents are invited to Point Dume for some old-fashioned communityfun at the 12th annual Point Dume Fourth of July Parade, from 10-11 a.m.

Parade participants will be lining up at 9:30 a.m. at the corner of Birdview Avenue and Bluewater Road. Past participants have included vintage cars and motorcycles;

bicycle brigades, Radio-Flyers filled with everything from chickens to children; horses, ponies,goats, dogs and parrots, and the ubiquitous Point Dume golf

carts, decorated with patriotic enthusiasm.

Spectators are encouraged to park away from the parade route,which runs from Birdview Avenue at Bluewater Road to Fernhill Drive, ending at Point Dume Marine

Science Elementary school,where music, food and a ceremony are planned, and join area residents in walking to the festivities. Malibuites interested in volunteering

to assist with any aspect of the parade effort can contact the

field event coordinator at 818-731-8707; the food, ribbons and float organizer at 310-924-9806 or the event’s music coordinator at 310-883-8246.

Those eagerly anticipating fireworks displays, or those dreading that fireworks-induced panic which might be experienced by their animals, are alerted that four

fire department permits have been issued for offshore private pyrotechnic shows in the Malibu area so far.

Barges will be anchored off La Costa, Carbon, and Escondido beaches, and at the Malibu Colony. All four private fireworks displays are scheduled to begin at 9 p.m.

Those planning to park on Pacific Coast Highway to watch the fireworks will face competition for parking spaces.

On addition, statistics routinely indicate that more domestic animals go missing on July 4 than any other date. If they run onto roadways, they are in danger of being hit by moving vehicles. Malibuites are encouraged to secure their pets in a well-lit

indoor room, close all windows and doors and turn on a radio, TV or fan to distract pets from the noise. All pets should have collars and tags, or some form of identification. Horses, goats and other large animals should be securely stabled.

Animal agencies recommend that stables and enclosures be checked for objects, like loose wires, or sharp posts, that could cause injury if an animal becomes frightened.

Animal owners who know that their pet becomes stressed or panicked during fireworks displays may want to talk to their vet before July 4 about whether a mild sedative would help. Natural, non-prescription calming aids are also sold in animal supplies

stores.

The City of Malibu website has up-to-date information about permits for offshore private firework display permits: www.malibucity.org/

All other fireworks, including the so-called “safe and sane variety,”are illegal to possess or use in Malibu.

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Meeting Looks at Ways City Can Promote Local Small Businesses

2011-06-22T16:03:00.001-07:00

The next Zoning Ordinance Review and Code Enforcement Subcommittee meeting to deal with “growing and sustaining local businesses” is set for Tuesday, June 28, at 9 a.m. at City Hall.

The council subcommittee, comprised of Mayor John Sibert, Councilmember Jefferson Wagner and Planning Commission Chair Jeff Jennings, held is first town-hall meeting on the topic several weeks ago. It was attended by over 100 people.

A local petition drive initiated at change.org on the Internet urges that residents take action to “preserve the local businesses of the coastal city,” which are described as the “community soul of Malibu.”

Citing the city’s General Plan and mission statement as their directives, petition supporters say Malibu is at pivotal crossroads for its commercial future.

Water Quality Symposium Has Technological Theme

2011-06-15T17:18:00.000-07:00

• Concludes with ‘Legacy’ Tour

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

The City of Malibu is sponsoring Malibu’s 2011 Water Quality Symposium, entitled 21st Century Science and Technology, on Thursday, June 30, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at City Hall, 23825 Stuart Ranch Road.

“Presentation topics will include several water quality source identification studies, the economics of sea level rise, a visual tour of Malibu Marine Resources and more,” a press release states. “Some of California’s most respected water quality experts and scientists are scheduled to make the presentations.”

Highlights are anticipated to include a presentation by US Geological Survey biologist John Izbicki on the Malibu Civic Center Bacteria Source Identification Study, and a talk by Heal the Bay President Mark Gold, who will discuss the “State of the Malibu Creek Watershed: Summary of a Decade of Monitoring.”

Immediately following the event, attendees will be invited to tour Legacy Park, “the centerpiece” of the city's $50 million Civic Center-area water quality project.

The symposium is open to the public. The cost to attend the symposium is $25 per person, which includes lunch. Space is limited, early registration is encouraged. RSVP to Rebecca Nelson in the Environmental Programs Office at rnelson@malibucity.org, enter “Symposium” in the subject line). Payment to the City of Malibu must be received by June 23, after which seats will be made available to those on the waiting list.

Firefighter Drive Gives Muscular Dystrophy the Boot

2011-06-08T18:51:00.001-07:00

Malibu drivers need to be on the lookout for firefighters. On June 9, 10, and 11, Los Angeles County firefighters will hold their annual Fill the Boot fundraising campaign which benefits the Muscular Dystrophy Association, an organization committed to finding a cure for muscular dystrophy, and other related diseases, a press release states.

County firefighters will be stationed at various intersections throughout the County of Los Angeles during this three day campaign to collect funds to benefit various MDA programs including summer camps, support groups, and scientific research.

This is the eighth Annual Fill the Boot campaign that Los Angeles County Firefighters will be participating in.

In 2009, LACFD firefighters were able to raise over $332,000 to aid the MDA in their efforts to find a cure and they are hoping to surpass that this year. Firefighters across the United States participate in Fill the Boot programs and are helping to raise funds for the MDA, “one boot at a time.” Last year, California firefighters raised over $1.75 million with Fill the Boot programs, the press release states.

“Citizens across the county are encouraged to come out and help firefighters fill their boots in order to give those affected by Muscular Dystrophy and other related diseases the proper medical treatment they deserve.”

In Malibu, the fundraising drive—or drive-by—can be hazardous, as firefighters occasionally have to dodge fast-moving vehicles and distracted drivers while collecting donations at the intersection of PCH and Webb Way.

Malibu drivers are reminded to watch for the fundraisers and to drive safely.

“The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) made a commitment to the MDA in 1954,” the press release states.

“IAFF is the MDA’s single largest sponsor and with that the IAFF has helped to raise over $450 million to benefit this organization. The success of the Fill the Boot campaign has led to major medical breakthroughs that will continue to aid the MDA in finding a cure for those who are combating Muscular Dystrophy and other related diseases. MDA receives support from the IAFF and non-Union fire departments nationwide.

“Fill the Boot funds support MDA’s services locally and nationally. MDA is a voluntary health agency working to defeat 43 neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services, and far-reaching professional and public health education.”

MDA maintains about 230 clinics nationwide. According to the press release, the association’s programs are almost entirely funded by individual private contributors. More information about MDA services and research can be found at www.mda.org.

Town Hall Meeting Looks at How to Support Small Local Businesses

2011-06-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

Municipal officials invite the public to attend this week’s town hall meeting to “discuss ways we can grow and sustain local community-serving business in Malibu.”

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 2, at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers at the new City Hall. A sizable turnout is anticipated.

Residents are encouraged to come to the town hall meeting with suggestions for incentives that might be employed to bolster the small business community.

According to the latest figures, there are currently 386 storefronts and 35 chains in Malibu.

Town Hall to Focus on Ways to Bolster Small Local Businesses

2011-05-25T17:04:00.000-07:00

• Retail Formula Ordinance Among Options to Be Explored

BY BILL KOENEKER

Malibu Chamber of Commerce board members and others met last week in preparation for the city’s town hall meeting next week on small businesses in the coastal city.

Municipal officials are inviting all of the public to attend the upcoming town hall meeting to “discuss ways we can grow and sustain local community-serving business in Malibu.” The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 2, at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers at the new City Hall.

At a Malibu City Council meeting this week, Mayor John Sibert said he expected to have a “good and lively meeting,” and he urged everyone to come and “talk about policy incentives.”

That was the developing theme of the chamber’s dress rehearsal last Thursday morning, although most of the concern expressed was centered on one prospect that has garnered the most attention and opposition from the chamber—a retail formula ban.

Shopping center owner Michael Koss gave some background about retail formula ordinances in the United States, noting that about half the laws enacted are on the West Coast and the other half are in Florida.

His conclusion was that most of the ordinances “are trying to change the community not preserve it.”

Permit expediter and engineer Norm Haynie said he believed if the community does not want something, it tends to vote with its wallet.

“Malibu is eclectic. It doesn’t have a character. The commercial community is eclectic. You can’t provide a product just to tourists. It does not work that way. Residents vote with their pocket book,” he said.

Haynie added he always hears some Malibuites hold up Carmel as an example of what Malibu should become. “Carmel has 200 bed and breakfasts. That is exactly what Malibu does not want,” he added

Land use consultant Don Schmitz, who heads up the chambers governmental affairs committee, said there are unintended consequences.

“Businesses tend to ebb and flow. About 50 percent of them will fail. We can try to blunt that, but we are talking about effects. Certain businesses have business plans that work. Some businesses succeed because of pricing,” he said.

Koss noted that many of the businesses in his shopping center at the Malibu Country Mart are owned by locals. “That is not by accident,” he said.

Carla McCloskey, who has spearheaded the Save Trancas Canyon Nursery movement, said her interest has expanded because she and others want to help all of the small businesses in Malibu.

Pointing to what she perceived as a problem, she talked about how Point Pizza, which also does a sandwich business, is now positioned next to Subway. “It is dying because of Subway,” she said.

Chamber head Rebekah Evans said by way of comparison some chains act differently because of location. “John Varvatos doesn’t do what they do in New York,” she said.

McCloskey responded, “Not everybody is enlightened like Michael Koss.”

Haynie said he knew the details about the financials of the Trancas nursery and started to offer a detailed account about the leasing and rental information.

“That is not true,” shot back McCloskey, as Haynie was speaking, whereupon several members said it was time to get back to the matter at hand.

Attendees were told that almost everybody is opposed to retail formula and almost everybody also wants to support local businesses.

In Malibu, there are currently said to be 386 storefronts and only 35 chains, according to chamber members.

City Planner Joe Smith, who was assigned the retail formula agenda item, started with a brief history of how the proposed retail formula ordinance has wended its way through the approval process only to be turned back by subcommittees and city councils.

Smith talked about the retail formula ban as a planner.

“What is the definition? There are several. What is it? How is it defined? What about local chains such as Howdy’s and Marmalade?,” he said.

Another question was about exclusions. “Everybody is focused on the ‘bad guys’ McDonalds, but what about Starbucks?”

Smith said the issues had ping-ponged back and forth between the council’s subcommittee and the council.

At that point, there were other questions the chamber wanted answered, according to Smith. “That is when the chamber stepped in,” he said.

There were other questions. “Does the retail formula ban preserve local business? There are design issues. Should it go to a design review board? Who approves the look?” he noted.

Smith said city officials are encouraging folks come to the town hall meeting with suggestions for incentives that might be employed to bolster the small business community.

Koss said he appreciated the “use of a carrot rather than a stick. Let’s not lift some [businesses] up by pulling others down.”

Koss said he really did agree about locals making the choices. “Malibu people really do decide,” he said.

He cited as an example a store that he brought in from New York. “It was not successful. We have free enterprise,” he said.

Lagoon Project Critics Prep for Court Date

2011-05-18T16:14:00.001-07:00

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Opponents of the State Parks Malibu Lagoon Restoration and Enhancement Plan,, which is scheduled to begin draining, dredging and reconstructing the western portion of the Malibu Lagoon on June 1, will have their day in court in San Francisco on May 20 in an attempt to prevent the project from breaking ground.

The preliminary injunction hearing was originally set for May 9, but was delayed to allow transfer to Judge Ernest H. Goldsmith, who reportedly has more experience and a more comprehensive knowledge of California Environmental Quality Act issues.

Project opponents Marcia Hanscom, whose Wetlands Defense Fund and CLEAN, and Steve Hoye, whose public access advocacy organization Access for All, filed the request, are requesting the injunction to halt constructing until the lawsuit they have filed against the project is heard in the fall. The California Coastal Commission, which granted the permit for this project, issued a notice to this city this week of an amendment to the permit.

In the interim, an amendment to the California Coastal Commission approval for the project has been approved by CCC executive director to “Remove the existing, approximately 800-ft. long chain link fence along the southern property boundary; revise project plans to delete approximately 800-ft. long perimeter wall/barrier along the southern property boundary and construct a new approximately 800-foot long, three-foot-wide, dirt/gravel—surface maintenance corridor along the southern boundary for the purpose of maintenance and security patrols.”

The new path “will be located in an area where development(including a perimeter wall, berm, and grading) has been previously approved and, thus, no additional removal of any native vegetation will occur as a result of the proposed changes.

Although the change may leave some Malibu Colony residents with a “maintenance corridor” in place of a backyard fence, the amendment is considered “immaterial,” according to the document, and the permit will be “modified accordingly” if no written objections are received within ten working days of May 9 notice.

More information on the amendment is available by calling the coastal agency at 805-585-1800.

City to Complete Move to New Malibu Digs This Weekend

2011-05-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

• Ocean Views and Spaciousness Await

It will soon be moving day at Malibu City Hall, according to municipal officials who announced last week that the move into the new city hall will take place over the weekend of May 12-15.

The former city hall will shut down at noon on Thursday, May 12, and will remain closed through May 13, after which its fate is still to be determined.

The city's telephone system will be down Thursday afternoon, May 12, through Friday, May 13, as communication equipment is moved and reinstalled.

City hall will reopen for business on Monday, May 16, in the new offices at 23825 Stuart Ranch Road.

Effective May 16, city hall business hours will be: Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

City Hall will be closed on Monday, May 30 for Memorial Day.

Input Requested for MPA Monitoring Plan

2011-05-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

• Implementation Is Still Anticipated for ‘Middle of 2011’

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

The first draft of the South Coast Region's Marine Protected Area Monitoring Plan has been released, and public input is being solicited.

The Marine Life Protection Act Implementation Plan involves the creation of 36 new MPAs from Point Conception to the Mexican Border, including a Point Dume MPA, which will limit or prohibit fishing activities from the western end of Paradise Cove to El Matador State Beach.

The new MPAs are anticipated to officially go into effect later this year.

The 279-page monitoring plan was developed by the MPA Monitoring Enterprise, launched in 2007 as a program of the California Ocean Science Trust to development and implement what is described on the enterprise's website as “impartial, scientifically rigorous and cost-effective marine protected area monitoring.”

It’s not a light read, despite a number of colorful charts and graphs presumably designed to make the data more accessible. The “primary intended audiences” for the document are the Department of Fish and Game and the Fish and Game Commission, MPA stakeholders, existing and potential partners in conducting MPA monitoring, and existing and potential funders of MPA monitoring,” but the public is also encouraged to participate

The draft “is not a monitoring work plan or a monitoring implementation plan,” the document states. “Rather, it presents a framework and approach to monitoring that includes guidance for setting monitoring priorities, including prioritizing the elements of monitoring to be implemented, selecting the scale at which prioritized elements will be implemented and designing the sampling or monitoring data collection plan appropriately.

The monitoring plan is described as a “living document,” that will be managed adaptively, evaluated, refined and updated.”

Under the MLPA, regional MPA networks must meet six goals, which include “ecological and socioeconomic goals.”

The document states that “the broad scope of the MLPA goals leads to an ecosystem-based focus to MPA monitoring, which allows assessment of effectiveness of the MPAs in protecting populations, species, habitats, and ecosystems and explicitly includes humans.”

The draft includes management plans for ecosystems and also focuses on consumptive and non-consumptive uses.

“In the South Coast region, large numbers of residents and visitors enjoy shore-based and/or on-water non-consumptive recreational activities, including beach going, diving, kayaking, and wildlife viewing,” the document states.

“An explicit goal of the adopted MPA network is to increase recreational, study and educational opportunities in ways consistent with protection of biodiversity.

“Illegal non-consumptive activities can also be a challenge, particularly for coastal MPAs featuring accessible populations of charismatic wildlife,” the plan states.

“MPA monitoring must be designed to facilitate detection of the effects of such activities, and be informed by available information on non-compliance with MPA regulations.

“Integrated analysis will be required to examine the effects of multiple system drivers and influences in order to reveal MPA-related changes in patterns of non-consumptive uses.”

Two sample-monitoring programs are presented in the draft, “to reflect two hypothetical regional MPA monitoring budget scenarios, of $1 million and $2 million annually.”

The draft details a spending plan for each scenario over the course of four years of data collection, leading to “analysis and reporting in the fifth year, in order to inform the five-year reviews recommended by the MLPA Master Plan.”

According to the draft, “the cost estimates for individual components of monitoring assume leveraging of funds comparable to MPA monitoring programs conducted to date, such as in the Channel Islands, the North Central and Central Coast regions.

“Additionally, Department of Fish and Game core costs, such as for staff, are not included. Nonetheless, the spending plans include the majority of anticipated new costs of MPA monitoring in the South Coast region, tailored to take best advantage of the two hypothetical budget scenarios.”

The MPA Monitoring Enterprise is also leading the implementation of the South Coast MPA Baseline Program.

The California Ocean Protection Council has authorized $4 million to help support the baseline program, which will be the first step in implementing MPA monitoring, according to the report.

The full text of the monitoring plan and forms to submit comments are available online at http://monitoringenterprise.org

Bicycling Event Planned in May

2011-04-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

The Malibu Public Safety Commission will hold a special meeting on cycling safety and “sharing the road” at Malibu City Hall, from 9 -11 a.m. on May 7, which local residents, representatives from area cycling clubs and all other interested parties are invited to attend.

The emphasis will be on public education on traffic laws, as they apply to cyclists, motorists and pedestrians, especially on Pacific Coast Highway and local canyon roads.

More information is available on the City of Malibu website at www.malibucity.org

City of Malibu to Host Easter Event

2011-04-20T16:22:00.000-07:00

The City of Malibu will host its annual “Easter Hoppening” at Malibu Bluffs Park, 24250 PCH, starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 23.

There will be a traditional egg hunt for children ages 1-10, an animal education area, face painting, food, crafts, cartoon demonstrations and more, including an egg hunt for adults.

For more information, call 310-317-1364, or visit: www.ci.malibu.ca.us on the Web.

RATTLESNAKE AVOIDANCE

2011-04-13T15:50:00.000-07:00

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

The Mountains Restoration Trust is hosting a Rattlesnake Avoidance Training Clinic For Dogs with dog trainer Tracy Jenson-Presson. The training, which involves live snakes, “is conducted in a safe, humane, controlled environment ensuring the safety of your dog, as well as the safety of the rattlesnakes,” a press release states. “The training process is repeated several times to ensure that the dog understands the sight, smell and sound of a rattlesnake. We have found the best way to teach a dog to avoid rattlesnakes is to use live rattlesnake specimens that have been neutralized. The snakes are placed out in a field setting and the dogs are fitted with an electronic training collar, the dog is led through the field and allowed to encounter the rattlesnakes at which point the dog is stimulated using the electronic collar, The process is repeated several times to ensure that the dog understands the sight, sound and smell of a rattlesnake (rattlesnakes have a distinctive odor that a dog can discern from other snakes).” Training sessions are offered on April 17 at Headwaters Corner, Masson House, 23075 Mulholland Highway, Calabasas, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. And on May 14 and 15 and June 11 and 12 at Tapia Park, 884 North Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost is $70 per dog. Reservations are required. More information is available at www.mountainstrust.org

VIPER VIGILANCE—Malibu’s rattlesnake population is waking up from hibernation. Human—and canine—residents should use caution in snake habitat, and avoid stepping or reaching into deep grass, brush or rock piles. Photo/NPS

Malibu’s Canyons Yield Clues to Mysteries

2011-04-06T16:16:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles County Office of Coroner has released the name of an apparent vehicle crash victim whose remains were recently discovered in Encinal Canyon.

Alan Michael Bosetti, 48, of Thousand Oaks, was reported missing five months ago. The victim’s remains were located inside his pickup truck on March 24 approximately 400 feet below Encinal Canyon Road in a densely vegetated ravine. The coroner’s representative told the Malibu Surfside News that Bosetti appeared to have lost control of the truck and plunged over the embankment.

In a second incident, skeletal human remains were recovered on April 5 in a ravine below Decker Canyon. The unidentified victim, described only as male, was reportedly discovered “near” the wreckage of a white pickup truck, also in a heavily vegetated area. A coroner’s representative said the remains appeared to have been in the location “for some time.” The incident remains under investigation.

Longtime residents say that the bottom of Decker Canyon, hundreds of feet below the road, is a graveyard of smashed and abandoned vehicles. Whether there are human remains associated with vehicles is usually learned only when they are discovered by adventurous hikers.

The body of Philip Taylor Kramer, bassist for the rock band Iron Butterfly who disappeared in 1995, was discovered in the wreckage of a minivan at the bottom of the ravine in 1999 by car enthusiasts reportedly looking for old vehicles to photograph. The body was recovered, but that vehicle, and dozens of others, remain in the ravine.

—Suzanne Guldimann

GRIM FIND—Rescue vehicles bring up human remains found next to a pickup truck in a Decker Canyon ravine. MSN/Chip Mandeville

Let Love Bloom

2011-03-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

Malibu’s Incorporation Anniversary Festivities Take Place in Legacy Park

2011-03-23T15:49:00.000-07:00

• Hopes Are High that Week of Rain Won’t Dampen Event

BY BILL KOENEKER

They can’t call it “Independence Day,” but it was 20 years ago when Malibu established its independence from Los Angeles County and became a city.

Malibu city officials issued another press release last week firming up their plans for the 20 anniversary celebration.

To mark the historic event, a committee of local volunteers has been planning the community celebration that will take place on Sunday, March 27, starting at noon.

That is one day before the actual anniversary date of incorporation.

Former City Councilmember Sharon Barovsky, who is on the committee, said they had secured several sponsorships.

She said the celebration is taking place without the use of city funding. “With those sponsorships we will be eating more than popcorn,” quipped Barovsky.

Former Councilmember Joan House and Public Safety Commissioner Carol Randall are co-chairing the citizen’s group, which announced some of the events and activities that will be part of the celebration.

The day will center around an old-fashioned community “Picnic in the Park,” and will feature food and refreshments donated by local restaurants and citizens. Anyone interested in bringing a dish can volunteer to do so, or folks can pack their own picnic lunch and enjoy the activities.

Children will be entertained by face painting, magicians, jugglers and storytellers will be on hand for kids of all ages.

Music to suit everyone will feature local professional musicians performing from noon onward. There is also supposed to be a surprise guest.

There will be stuff to buy, of course, with T-shirts, sweatshirts and coffee mugs commemorating the occasion for sale to help underwrite the cost of the event.

Barovsky said her daughter designed the shirts and mugs. For free, of course,” she added.

The City of Malibu established its independence when it incorporated on March 28, 1991. A second celebration will be held on March 28, the actual date of incorporation at the new city hall when the city council meets.

A bevy of ceremonial presentations are planned. After the pledge of allegiance and approval of the agenda, there will be a musical interlude. That will be followed by a Chumash blessing.

The next order of business will be a recognition of former city council members, followed by a recognition of city commissioners and volunteers.

The agenda notice indicates the next scheduled item is a recognition of the municipal staff.

Conclusion of the ceremonial presentations will be turned over to other agencies and dignitaries honoring the city for its 20 years in existence.

There are two housekeeping items scheduled for the council, including approval of payroll checks and warrants or payments to consultants, vendors, suppliers and other expenditures.

The council will resume its regular schedule of business on Monday, April 11, followed by another regular meeting on Monday, April 25, and a quarterly meeting on Wednesday, April 27.

Japanese Tsunamis

2011-03-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

State Lagoon Project Opponents Keep Up Efforts to Raise Funds for a Court Fight

2011-03-09T15:41:00.001-08:00

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Opponents of the State Parks’ plan to drain, dredge and re-contour the western portion of the Malibu Lagoon have announced a second “Save the Malibu Lagoon” event.

Last month, the opponents’ first public gathering reportedly attracted more than 300 protesters of the project.

State agency officials have largely stayed out of the fray, letting the case for the restoration project be defended by a handful of citizens while the Save Malibu Lagoon organizers say that the groundswell of grassroots opposition continues to grow.

Opponents of the plan, spearheaded by the Wetlands Defense Fund and Access for All, have filed a lawsuit to stop the project, which is currently scheduled to break ground in June.

Agency proponents, who have successfully obtained all of the required permits for the project, say it is estimated to cost $7 million, and will correct design flaws in the 1983 lagoon restoration that have led to areas with low levels of dissolved oxygen that can cause organism die-off.

Opponents of the plan say that the project will destroy rather than preserve the wetland’s wildlife, permanently impacting many species, and that it has the potential to negatively impact the world-famous surf break.

Access advocates criticize the planned removal of the current beach access, which crosses the lagoon in a direct line to the beach, using a series of wooden bridges, while businesses in the Civic Center area and some city council members have begun to express concern that the massive earthmoving operation will impact traffic and tourism during the peak summer season.

“Malibu Lagoon is thriving with life and the only way it will remain that way is by stopping the bulldozers this June,” an announcement for the event states.

The rally-fundraiser will be held on Friday, March 18, at 7:30 p.m. at Duke’s Malibu Restaurant, 21150 PCH. The evening will feature a complimentary taco bar and a silent auction. The Chris Stills Band will perform.

The organizers are requesting a $20 donation. More information is available at www.savemalibulagoon.com. The complete text of the state’s Malibu Lagoon Restoration Project is available online at www.parks.ca.gov

Controversial Consultant Hired Despite Objections

2011-03-02T16:26:00.000-08:00

• Council Moves on Housing Element

BY BILL KOENEKER

West Malibu activists came out in force at this week’s Malibu City Council meeting when they learned that an agenda item about hiring a consulting firm to prepare an Environmental Impact Report for the city’s housing element update could possibly earmark Trancas field for zoning that would include affordable housing.

Some critics also challenged the selection of an environmental consultant who had performed the work at Trancas Canyon Park.

Activist Patt Healy said the objection about affordable housing was the possible densities allowed by state law citing 20 units per acre.

“Seven hundred units could go on those parcels,” she said.

Healy said there would be the potential for a 1000 units on Trancas field. “Look at guesthouses and apartments,” she added. “Don’t do the EIR consultant tonight.”

City Attorney Christi Hogin interrupted to say, “No way we would ever create the potential for 700 to 1000 units. We need to look at everything. The environmental information will let us know what is not feasible.”

Hogin warned that housing department officials from Sacramento could come down and drive around seeing all of the vacant land and quiz city officials about why there was no affordable housing.

Activist Lynn Norton reminded the council how Rincon was used as the EIR consultant for Trancas Park. She talked about how they goofed on an Environmentally Sennsitive Habitat Area designation and the grading on the ridgeline that cost the city money and created such controversy in Malibu West.

Steve Rucker, who said he was representing the Malibu West Homeowners Association, said the intention was to allow the three parcels that make up Trancas Field to remain the most rural parcels.

He said they should be removed from any consideration and that the council should postpone the EIR consultant contract.

Jo Ruggles, a former planning commissioner, said she was very angry about what was happening. “This is a red herring. We have never had a certified housing element. Why is this being done in a vacuum?” she asked. “Nothing is supposed to be subject to upzoning. There should be no change in zoning. We already have an EIR. It could be updated. The city has never completed its open space plan. Guess what? Trancas field is in that plan.”

Malibu Township Council spokesperson Lucille Keller complained there was no proper notification. She asked if the city has checked the allocation for affordable housing assigned to it. “We request you delay the contract and hold a couple of hearings for the residents to address this,” she said.

Planning Manager Joyce Parker said Rincon was chosen because they made the lowest bid. She said there would be eight meetings, four public hearings, a scoping session and said the map would be on the city’s website.

“We are legally obligated to address this issue,” said Councilmember Lou La Monte.

“We could have done a better job of noticing. I see this is a way to discuss this.”

Councilmember Laura Rosenthal said the way she looked at it was to start on the EIR. “We need the info to get the public input,” she said.

Mayor John Sibert said he did not want any decisions made by judges in black robes.

In addition to the Trancas parcel proposal, there are three parcels on PCH and four under consideration in the Civic Center area, clustered around city hall, including the so-called “Wave” property and the Allied Nursery.

The preparation and completion of the EIR will cost the city $153,432. Funding for this agreement is included in the adopted budget for fiscal year 2010-11, according to the staff report.

Charter Proponents to Hold Off on Appeal

2011-02-23T18:18:00.000-08:00

By Suzanne Guldimann

The lead petitioners for the Point Dume Elementary School charter conversion proposal have announced that they will wait to file an appeal with the state.

The charter petition has been denied by the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District and the Los Angeles County Board of Education. The petitioners have 180 days from the date of the LACOE denial to appeal the decision before the state board of education.

Ali Thonson and Robyn Ross, in an open letter to the Point Dume community, thanked the charter plans supporters and explained the decision not to press forward with an appeal at the state level.

“We are grateful to work with so many people who generously give their time, energy, support and money all for the dream of creating better educational opportunities for children,” wrote Thonson and Ross. “While the charter process has often been grueling and felt unfair, the truth is that the school will be open next year, and that is a victory.

“At this point, if the state were to approve us, the earliest that could happen would be May, and more likely July,” Thonson and Ross said. “It would be very difficult for teachers and staff to be up and running in September with such short lead time. “Additionally, as we've gotten later and later in the process, our fifth grade families have needed to make their plans for middle school. We are disappointed that we weren’t able to offer the sixth grade option for interested families next year, as, once again, it appears a large portion of our graduating class will be leaving the district for private schools.”

The lead petitioners pledged to stay connected and monitor developments at the district and state level. The SMMUSD will have a new superintendent in July. The state board of education has seven new members appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

“We feel it's important to see what [the state board] is going to do in the coming months regarding charter schools before we decide to move forward or not,” the letter states. “Before any decision to move forward is made, we would meet with teachers and parents to ensure we are moving forward together.”

The tone of the letter is positive. However, the mood among many in the Point Dume community appears to be less accepting, with some parents expressing anger at the district for what is viewed as a deliberately obstructionist attitude towards the charter petition.

Woman Walking on PCH Wards Off Rape Attempt

2011-02-16T17:46:00.000-08:00

A female Malibu resident, 24, is recovering from injuries at an area hospital after an unknown male suspect assaulted her while she walked alone on Pacific Coast Highway near Cavalleri and Kanan Dume roads Tuesday night at about 9:15 p.m., according to Lt. Rich Erickson at the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station.
Deputies are searching for a male suspect described as a medium-complexioned, 30-35 years of age, 5’5”–5’6” in height, black hair, and wearing a light blue windbreaker and dark pants.
Erickson stated, “The suspect appeared from the bushes along the roadside, grabbed the victim from behind and pulled her off the roadway and down an embankment and into the brush, where he attempted to rape her. The victim was able to free herself from the suspect’s grasp and fled from the location back to her residence.”
The woman reportedly had walked to the market to buy a bottle of water and was returning home when she was assaulted.
Anyone with information related to the incident is requested to contact Detective Tom Lewis at LHSS, 818-878-1808 x5538.

LACOE Board Denies Point Dume Charter Petition

2011-02-09T16:02:00.001-08:00

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

The Los Angeles County Board of Education voted unanimously to reject the Point Dume Elementary School charter conversion petition on Tuesday.

“Not one of them was willing to engage in dialogue,” charter petitioner Ali Thonson told the Malibu Surfside News after the meeting.“Not one of them asked a single question.”

“Our attorneys have never seen any like it before. It’s unprecedented,” Thonson said.

LACOE staff recommend a no vote, despite the finding that the petition met 13 of the 16 state-mandated requirements.

The petitioners still have the option of presenting the petition to the state board of education on appeal.

Thonson said the decision has to be made by the teachers and parents together. “We know we have something of value and valuable,” she said.

STRONG WINDS BATTER MALIBU—CAUSE POWER OUTAGES

2011-02-02T17:03:00.000-08:00

Strong and potentially damaging winds affected the Malibu area most of Wednesday.

The National Weather Service says the winds are caused by strong high pressure building into the Great Basin.

Wind gusts across the western Malibu coast and canyons were clocked at 50 to 60 mph with occasional gusts of 10 to 20 mph more.

Forecasters say such strong winds could topple trees, fences and small structures, as well as have the impact on power lines and service that has already been experienced.

Vehicles on Pacific Coast Highway in exposed wind-prone areas were exhibiting the effects of the wind on vehicle control, and a number of cyclists had to walk their bicycles through these areas.

Caution for drivers of high-profile vehicles is always the watchword during high winds.

20th Anniversary ‘Party’ Beginning to Take Shape

2011-01-26T15:29:00.001-08:00

• Family Picnic at Legacy Park on Tap

Organizers of the City of Malibu’s 20th birthday celebration are finalizing plans and letting the community know what they have in store come March 27 and 28.

Former Councilmember and current Planning Commissioner Joan House and co-chair of the committee planning the bash, talked to the Malibu Surfside News about how the two-day event is shaping up.

“It is going to be at Legacy Park. We want it to be like a family picnic,” said House, who indicated there are plans for music, food, balloon animals and face painting.

House added that members of the city’s youth commission will be involved in giving informative tours of Legacy Park, explaining how it works and what is on the site.

A parade is also planned from the Civic Center park up to the new city hall.

“They can snoop around the new building and see what all is there,” added the event co-chair..

House said one of the ideas that is coming to fruition are banners celebrating the city’s anniversary that have the names imprinted upon them of sponsors, homeowners groups and others. They will line Pacific Coast Highway and be given back to the sponsors after the event.

“We would like to have about 40. We have already sold 20,” she said.

Then on Monday night, March 28, the actual “birthdate” of the incorporation of the municipality, there will be more celebrating at the city council meeting. House said all of the city council members of the past will be invited and other dignitaries, as well.

“We want everybody to show up. This has been a collaboration of many people past and present,” she added.

House pointed out that the vision of the founders of the city has been followed.

“There still is no commercial [construction]. We have been good stewards of the environment, though some say too much and others say not enough. We have kept the objectives. It has truly been a collaboration,” she concluded.

The city council on Wednesday night after the Malibu Surfside News went to press was expected to set up an agency fund so the city can accept donations for its 20th anniversary celebration.

City Council Seeks Master Plan for Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu

2011-01-19T15:36:00.001-08:00

• Funding Is in Question Due to State Budget Crisis

BY BILL KOENEKER

Public Works Director Robert Brager at the Malibu City Council meeting last week called on the municipality and other agencies to undertake a master plan for safety improvements along Pacific Coast Highway that “will enable the city to strategically proceed with a comprehensive approach that will effectively promote safety along PCH.”

Brager, who is also the city engineer, wrote in a report that further planning analysis is needed to closely examine the entire 27 miles of the coast highway within city limits to create a comprehensive master plan to “systematically improve the safety along PCH for vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic.”

The public works director said the plan must address pervasive issues such as traffic speed, highway geometrics, traffic flows, visibility, signalization, traffic calming, ADA issues, bicycle and pedestrian safety.

He insisted the formulation of a master plan “will be far more cost effective in the long run than the continued implementation of independent projects and will undoubtedly have a greater safety benefit to the community.”

However, that approach was challenged by Malibu Park activist Hans Laetz, who said there were so many tasks the city could undertake immediately to improve safety on PCH and such a major study would take years if not longer before anything could be done.

Councilmember Laura Rosenthal said moving forward with an overall safety plan and having a plan does not mean that changes cannot be made.

Brager went on to state that all impacted agencies will help provide input in the design as well as various public stakeholders. The total available funding is currently $1 million, but a maximum of $300,000 can be awarded to an individual city. Brager said a master plan would cost about $1 million.

The message was contained in an agenda item that was brought before the city council last week.

The promise of funding was also blunted by the fact that last year there was no money awarded because of shortfalls and the same might be true for this year as well.

Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich brought up the uncertainty about such funding, which was confirmed by City Manager Jim Thorsen.

The staff was nevertheless directed by the council to look at regional transportation and safety related grant opportunities.

“Try to get whatever we can,” urged Councilmember Lou LaMonte.

The rest of the council agreed and directed the staff to apply for the funding.

The public works director indicated there are three grant opportunities for the city to submit potential applications for federal and state funding at this time.

Of the three programs identified for MTA money, Brager, cited three projects including installation of a system of walkways that will interconnect the Civic Center area, Pepperdine University, Bluffs Park, the Colony Plaza area, Cross Creek and Legacy Park. The objective would be to promote walking as a viable form of utilitarian travel while at the same time increasing pedestrian safety and provide a pedestrian pathway that will interconnect educational, sport and business interests. The estimated cost is $1.5 million.

Another project involves median enhancements for PCH from Webb Way to Corral Canyon Road.

Brager insisted PCH median improvements can function as more than beautification projects and can also offer traffic calming effects.

However, critics of the plan say safety improvements should take priority over beautification.

Another tentative project is to improve the existing truck escape route along Kanan Dume Road. The estimated cost is $1 million.

The second grant opportunity is with Caltrans as part of its transportation planning grants program for fiscal year 2011-12 and consists of the master safety plan for PCH previously outlined by Brager.

The public works director indicated the staff already submitted an application that was due on Dec. 9 2010 for the funding for a master plan of safety improvements along PCH.

Documentary Film ‘Race to Nowhere’ to Screen at MHS

2011-01-12T16:00:00.001-08:00

• Showing Is Free to the Community

“Race to Nowhere,” a documentary film featuring stories from young people across the country that, according to a press release, are “pushed to the brink, striving to achieve in school and across all areas of their lives,” will screen at Malibu High School on Jan. 20.

According to the press release, the film will air nationwide throughout the month to “raise awareness, create dialogue and empower individuals to take the lead in creating a vision for change around the issues shaping our children’s lives and education.”

The screening is free to the public and will conclude with a panel discussion.

For more information and to reserve tickets online, visit www.racetonowhere. com

Point Dume Assailant Sentenced to 24 Years

2011-01-06T17:04:00.000-08:00

Christian Marcus Verdin, a 31-year-old San Bernardino man, accused of attacking a 45-year-old female jogger March 12, 2010, at the Point Dume Headlands, was sentenced on Thursday, Jan. 5, to 24 years in state prison, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.

Verdin pleaded no contest to one felony count of assault with intent to commit rape and one count of second-degree robbery. He also admitted a prior strike and a weapon allegation as part of a negotiated plea, according to Deputy District Attorney Pamela Revel.

Verdin was sentenced by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Michael Kellogg, who dismissed two additional counts, assault with a deadly weapon and grant theft auto, according to the DA’s office.

Verdin attempted to assault the Malibu resident while she was running at Point Dume State Park. He allegedly was carrying a weapon when he approached her. During the struggle, the woman managed to break free, falling 150 feet off a cliff to the beach below.

Verdin then drove away in the woman’s 2004 Toyota Land Cruiser. He was arrested in April 2010, when detectives from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department determined that a DNA match identified him as the alleged assailant.

Western PCH Is Still Closed

2011-01-05T17:20:00.001-08:00

BY ANNE SOBLE

The almost 10-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway near the Ventura County line that has been closed off and on since Dec.18 remains shut down while engineers assess its safety.

Rockslides and three feet of mud on parts of the road had closed PCH from Yerba Buena Road to Las Posas Road, which serves as Malibu’s coastal route to points north, or northwest.

State Department of Transportation, aka Caltrans, agency and special contract crews have been cleaning up debris and removing loose boulders that were destined for the highway. Some of the boulders sent hurtling to the PCH were a half-ton to close to two tons in weight.

After being open most of Tuesday, Dec. 28, Caltrans engineers determined that a projected strong mid-week storm and another storm expected to follow might be too much for the saturated hillsides to handle.

Although the rain last week proved to be less than anticipated, Caltrans is hedging its bets and expected to keep the road closed all of this week.

There is cautious optimism that the road may be reopened on Friday, but motorists are urged to check with Caltrans or the California Highway Patrol before planning on using the route.

Happy New Year

2010-12-29T16:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays

2010-12-22T17:14:00.000-08:00

Sailboat Washes Ashore Near Big Dume

2010-12-15T17:57:00.000-08:00

At about 6:30 a.m., on Wednesday, Dec. 15, a distress call came from the skipper, and the only person on board, of an approximately 30-foot sailboat being washed ashore just south of Big Dume in the Point Dume area of Malibu.

Five lifeguard units were called to the scene, including two rescue crafts and a Coast Guard helicopter. Baywatch Del Rey arrived at the scene first and tried to pull the boat back to sea using heavy lines, but upon closer examination of the craft as it listed on the shore, a cracked hull was discovered.

The vessel will remain ashore where it landed until the owner can pay for the dismantling or extraction, of the vessel.

Photo by George E. Hauptman

Pacific Coast Highway Maintenance Work This Week

2010-12-13T16:57:00.000-08:00

The California Department of Transportation will close one northbound

lane of Pacific Coast Highway from Winding Way to Ramirez Mesa Drive

daily beginning Monday, Dec. 13 through Friday, Dec. 17, from 7 a.m. until

2 p.m. to realign lanes and install k-rail. Lane closures are subject to change.

This work is part of a project to repair damaged drainage pipes and prevent

slope erosion. As part of this project, three to five oak trees may require

pruning or removal. Any trees deemed necessary for removal will be

replaced with native oak trees.

The $220,000 project is expected to complete by Spring 2011.

Caltrans reminds motorists to "Slow For The Cone Zone."

Malibu’s ‘Sea Serpent’ Saga

2010-12-08T16:01:00.000-08:00

BY ANNE SOBLE

When a local resident started out on a walk on the beach at the Malibu Colony, he didn’t know he would come face to face with one of the prominent elements of folklore and mythology.

He spotted a 12-foot-long silverish fish with a bright red mane and a deeper red dorsal fin in the water a few dozen feet from the shore.

Imagine that same creature measuring its potential adult size of 30 to 50 feet in length, and one quickly realizes that the event has the makings of a sea serpent saga. Nearly every culture has tales of gigantic water-dwelling creatures that are usually believed to be dangerous.

This fish, identified as an adolescent oarfish, ultimately washed ashore dead. Its unusualness and exotic beauty prompted a mini media storm.

Oarfish are thought to be the longest bony fish in the ocean. Little is known about them, but they are typically said to be found 700 to 3000 feet beneath the surface in tropical and temperate waters, where they subsist largely on a diet of small squid and krill.

Might the current squid run have enticed the young oarfish to stray from its usual habitat? How long oarfish live, whether the species travels in schools, or is belligerent by nature, are also unknown.

On Tuesday, the oarfish went to the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum, where it may help to shed more light on this fascinating denizen of the deep.

Oarfish Photos by Darrell Rae

Malibu Park Resident Seeks Witnesses to ‘Hit-and-Run’

2010-12-01T16:03:00.000-08:00

• Woman Says She and Child Were Imperiled by Reckless Driver

A resident on Morning View Drive has issued a public plea for information that might lead to the apprehension of the young male driver that she says “almost killed” her and her three-old-son on Friday, Nov. 26, and fled the scene.

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “I am very worried that this young man not only almost killed [me] and my 3-year-old son, [he is] a danger to other road users and pedestrians.”

The Malibu Park resident added, “I fear it is only a matter of time before [he kills himself], or someone else, by [his] dangerous and reckless behavior. I believe it is our duty to try and stop him.”

The woman indicates that she has filed a crime report, but due to the holiday backlog at the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, the report had not been written up by the time the Malibu Surfside News went to press on Tuesday night.

According to her description of the incident, “On the day after Thanksgiving, Friday, Nov. 26, at approximately 4:45 p.m., a car driven by a young male was involved in a hit-and-run incident on Morning View Drive near Malibu High School. The vehicle was traveling well in excess of the speed limit, was being driven erratically and on the wrong side of the street.”

The resident continued, “While driving in the northwest direction, the driver lost what little control of the vehicle he had. He mounted the [curb] on both sides of the street, swerved and caused significant property damage by crashing into the front yard of a private residence, narrowly missing a mother and her young child.”

According to the resident, the driver fled the scene in the vehicle, and Lost Hills is investigating the incident as a hit-and-run.

She stated that “a witness to the incident reports that the driver was a young male and the vehicle was a late-model black Infiniti sedan. The vehicle sustained significant damage to the driver-side door and the front right panel.”

In addition, it was reported “the driver-side wing mirror was knocked off and the driver’s window sustained damage.”

The resident asks if anyone is “aware of a young male who was injured in an ‘accident’ on Friday afternoon? They may have sustained glass injuries, bruising or whiplash-type injuries.” Also, has anyone “seen a black sedan that sustained collision damage on Friday afternoon?” Did anyone “lend a car to someone who returned it damaged?” Does anyone “know anyone who recently got a new black car, but stopped driving it last Friday?”

Persons with relevant information are asked to contact the Lost Hills Station at 310-456-6652.

Happy Thanksgiving from All of Us at the Malibu Surfside News

2010-11-24T16:00:00.000-08:00

United We Stand

2010-11-10T17:09:00.000-08:00

Voters Split the Difference on Status Quo in School Board Race

2010-11-03T15:57:00.001-07:00

• Elect Two Incumbents and Two Challengers by Convincing Margins •

By Suzanne Guldimann

Voters reelected two of the three incumbents running for Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District Board of Education and voted in two challengers.

Santa Monica education activist Laurie Lieberman received the most votes—14,258.

Incumbent Oscar de la Torre with 12,634 followed her. De la Torre will be serving his fourth four-year term on the board.

Current board president Ralph Mechur, who was appointed in 2007 and elected to finish out the remaining two years of the term in an uncontested race in 2008, received 11,430 votes.

Challenger Nimish Patel, a district parent who currently serves on the SMMUSD Financial Oversight Committee, unseated incumbent Barry Snell for the fourth seat with a solid margin. Patel received 10,298 votes, Snell finished with 9169.

Pat Cady, a retired district teacher and the only Malibu resident on the slate, received a close 9133 votes.

Santa Monica High School alumnus Chris Bley, who teaches in a neighboring community, received 8591 votes.

Media producer Jake Wachtel, a district parent and the last of the eight to announce his candidacy in the race, received 4790 votes.

71,365 voters are registered in the district—12,151 of those in the Malibu area.

Santa Monica residents also voted to pass Measure Y, and its corollary, Measure YY, which proponents say could provide as much as $6 million for district schools, including SMMUSD campuses in Malibu.

Measure Y is a .5 percent sales tax increase in the City of Santa Monica that could potentially generate $12 million dollars for the city coffers.

Measure YY is a “nonbinding proposition” that recommends that half the money generated by Measure Y go to the school district.

When YY was first proposed, SMMUSD officials were reportedly under the impression that any education funding generated by Y would go exclusively to the school district. However, officials at Santa Monica College have now also expressed an interest in sharing any education-earmarked Y funds.

Y received 15,622 yea votes, with 10,045 opposed. YY earned 17,126 yes votes, with 8196 opposed to the proposition. Malibu residents, whose schools could benefit from the tax increase, were not eligible to vote on the measure, and only those who regularly shop in Santa Monica will be contributing to the tax fund or impacted by it at the cash register.

Halloween Comes to Malibu

2010-10-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

Ghostly specters like this winged emissary are materializing all over Malibu just in time for Halloween this Sunday.

Drivers on Pacific Coast Highway and other local roads are reminded to watch out for young trick-or-treaters, who may not always have flashlights or reflective costumes to make them more visible.

This is especially the case around Point Dume and Malibu West, which is famous for its invitation-only Halloween festivities.

Residents concerned about older trick-or-treaters, whose tricks in the past have included mailbox bashing, egging, shaving creaming, and TP-ing, might consider illuminating their property and parking their cars safely off the street if possible.

The Malibu Surfside News wishes everyone a safe and splendiferous Halloween..

Unusual October Weather Contributed to Major Power Outages

2010-10-20T16:12:00.001-07:00

Power was restored just after 1 p.m. on Tuesday in incorporated and unincorporated Malibu, as well as surrounding communities, following an outage that affected over 80,000 homes, according to Southern California Edison spokesperson Marvin Jackson.

Jackson said word had spread that the outage was due to one or more lightning strikes, but there was no official corroboration of that as of late Tuesday afternoon. He said the system failure was being attributed to “weather conditions” in general.

The lights went out just after 11 a.m. Apart from a flickering attempt at restoration of power 15 minutes into the outage, residences, businesses and Malibu City Hall remained in a pre-electric limbo until sections of the community regained power on a piecemeal basis.

Customers calling the SCE emergency telephone line at 800-684-8123 were greeted with a recorded message that upset some of them as much or more than the outage.

The recording made no reference to the widespread blackout, but indicates that intermittent shutdowns of service would be occurring due to regular maintenance, which raises the issue of why there wasn’t advance notice of this work, including the times when those shutdowns might take place.

MHS to Celebrate 2010 Homecoming

2010-10-13T16:23:00.001-07:00

Malibu High School’s 2010 Homecoming event is set for Friday, Oct. 15, at the MHS football stadium, 30215 Morning View Drive.

The festivities will begin at 12:30 p.m. with a tailgate party and BBQ.

The afternoon will also feature a parade and the crowning of the 2010 homecoming king and queen .

The community is invited to come out and cheer for the Malibu High School Sharks football team. Game time is 3:30 p.m.

More information is available at www.malibuhigh.org

Car Loses Control and Shears Fire Hydrant Causing Three-Story Geyser

2010-10-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, at 12:45 p.m., a single female driver was involved in an accident on southbound Pacific Coast Highway between Nicholas and Leo Carrillo state beaches. The matter is still under investigation according to California Highway Patrol Officer Leland Tang, but the driver apparently lost control of the vehicle as it veered across the right shoulder and hit a fire hydrant with enough force to break it off and send it onto the roadway. A resulting geyser approximately eight-yards-wide by three-stories-tall completely drenched the accident scene and sent water rushing down the highway. CHP, fire and sheriff department personnel and equipment had arrived at the scene quickly and were able to remove the driver from the vehicle, which had landed on its side, and then stop the water by closing the underground valve adjacent to the severed hydrant. The driver of the car was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital for treatment of her injuries.

MSN Photo/George Hauptman

Monsignor Sheridan Remembered for His Faith and Empathy

2010-09-29T16:42:00.000-07:00

• Hundreds Attend Funeral Mass for Revered Pillar of the OLM Community

RESPECTED—Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony was the celebrant for the liturgy at the memorial. The service took place in a tent to accommodate everyone.

IN MANUS TUAS, DOMINE, COMMENDO SPIRITUM MEUM—”Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.” Cardinal Roger Mahony and his recently appointed successor-to-be Archbishop Jose Gomez (above) took part in the mass of burial for Monsignor John Sheridan. Hundreds of people—members of the clergy, parishioners, family, friends and neighbors —came to pay their final respects to the pastor emeritus of Our Lady of Malibu on Friday. Sheridan was described as “a brilliant theological scholar and a fair, humble and deeply devoted servant of God.”

REMEMBERED—OLM Pastor Bill Kerze celebrated the monsignor’s life. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Monsignor John Sheridan Scholarship Fund were requested.

HONORED—The OLM choir sang at the Mass of Christian Burial, as well as at the Vigil Mass the previous evening. The vigil offered the parish an opportunity to gather quietly as a community and pay their respects. Father Bill Kerze and Malibu residents Leo Lagasse and Martin Sheen joined Reilly in the eulogy at both services. MSN Photos/Frank Lamonea

LOVED—Judge Bridget Reilly, the monsignor’s oldest niece from Ireland, expressed the family’s love for Sheridan during the eulogy. She also offered a reminder of his lighter side. Asked once what his last words would be, he reportedly replied: “Thanks for coming.”
MSN Photos/Frank Lamonea

Community Mourns Beloved Local Clergyman

2010-09-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

• Funeral Mass for OLM Pastor Emeritus Monsignor John Sheridan Set for Friday

BY ANNE SOBLE

Reverend Monsignor John Virgilius Sheridan

The Malibu Catholic community and all those whose lives were touched by the late Our Lady of Malibu Pastor Emeritus Monsignor John Virgilious Sheridan are preparing to bid him farewell at a funeral mass on Friday, Sept. 24, at 11 a.m.

Sheridan, 94, died peacefully on Friday, Sept. 17, at 4:30 a.m. at the UCLA Medical Center, from complications from injuries sustained in an auto accident on Aug. 25. He was in the hospital, much of the time in an induced coma, after suffering major trauma in the collision that claimed the life of his longtime friend and assistant, Sister Mary Campbell, 74.

Campbell died instantly in the solo vehicle accident on Mulholland Highway, east of Stokes Canyon, when the 2009 Hyundai Accent, a subcompact vehicle being driven by Ambassador to Malta and Pepperdine constitutional law expert Doug Kmiec, crashed.

Campbell was in the back seat and Sheridan sat in the front passenger seat when, according to the California Highway Patrol preliminary report, the vehicle drifted off the road onto the shoulder and went into a drainage ditch where it overturned.

Kmiec, 58, who often transported his two close friends to events, suffered moderate injuries and has been released from the hospital.

The three were returning from an event at Louisville High School for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the local Sisters of St. Louis, Campbell’s order. This is a route Kmiec drove regularly when his daughters attended the school.

CHP Officer Leland Tang said the formal investigation of the accident has not been completed. He indicated that, “as always the case when a traffic collision involves a fatality,” the agency is preparing a final report for the District Attorney’s Office to review. Tang indicated that the Hyundai has already been inspected and was determined to have “no mechanical issues.”

In an email announcement on the day Sheridan died, Los Angeles Archdiocese Cardinal Roger Mahony wrote, “Ever since his serious automobile accident, his injuries and his age of 94 years have been huge challenges for his recovery. But his long and grace-filled journey on this earth has come to its conclusion, and he now enjoys the fullness of God’s life as he believed and preached over these many decades.”

Sheridan, who was born in County Longford, Ireland, will be interred at Holy Cross Cemetery on Sept. 25. Relatives from Ireland, Canada and the East Coast are expected to come to California for the mass and interment.

Sheridan, who was OLM’s pastor from 1965-1991, came to California in the early 1940s to complete his theological studies at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo. He was ordained in 1943.

As an associate pastor, Sheridan worked to develop inner city projects for at-risk youth. He later directed the Catholic Information Center in Los Angeles, regularly wrote articles for magazines and newspapers, including a weekly column for the Catholic newspaper The Tidings. He also hosted a radio program and authored 14 books, including a meditation on the Psalms and reflections on life in Malibu. His writings reflected compassion, intelligence and a lively sense of humor.

Sheridan was never afraid to tackle controversy or open a dialogue and was drawn to ecumenical work, meeting with representatives from other faiths to develop multi-faith programs in Malibu and elsewhere.

Sheridan described his time at OLM as “a wonderful journey.” He often expressed his joy at being a priest and serving the church he deeply loved.

The monsignor retired in 1991, but continued to be active in the Malibu parish and community as pastor emeritus for the past 19 years.

“We have lost a grand priest and a true patriarch of our Catholic community,” Cardinal Mahony said in his email.

Friday’s services are going to be held in a tented area on the OLM grounds to accommodate the large crowd that will attend.

Among the large number of clergy expected is Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio, who will succeed Cardinal Mahony at the helm of the nation’s largest Roman Catholic diocese.

Monsignor John Sheridan Dies Friday Morning

2010-09-17T11:06:00.000-07:00

Monsignor John Sheridan, 94, died peacefully on Friday, Sept. 17, at 4:30 a.m. at the UCLA Medical Center, of heart failure.

The Our Lady of Malibu pastor emeritus had been in the hospital, much of the time in an induced coma, after having suffered major injuries in an automobile accident on Aug. 25, which had claimed the life of his assistant, Sister Mary Campbell.

Peggy Thomas at the OLM parish confirmed that a prayer service is scheduled for Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Malibu Church. The funeral will take place on Friday, Sept. 24, at 11 a.m. Sheridan, who was born in County Longford Ireland, will be interred in California.

Sheridan, who served as OLM’s pastor from 1965-1991, came to California in the early 1940s to complete his theological studies at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo. He was ordained in 1943.

As an associate pastor, Sheridan worked to develop inner city projects for at risk youth. He later directed the Catholic Information Center in downtown Los Angeles, regularly wrote articles for magazines, newspapers, including a weekly Q. and A. column for the Catholic newspaper The Tidings. He also hosted a radio program and authored 14 books, including a meditation on the Psalms and reflections on life in Malibu. His writings reflect his compassion, intelligence and lively sense of humor.

Sheridan was never afraid to face controversy or open a dialogue and was drawn to ecumenical work, meeting with representatives from other faiths. Sheridan described his time at OLM as a wonderful journey. He often expressed his joy at being a priest and serving the church.

The monsignor retired in 1991, but continued to be active in the Malibu parish and community as pastor emeritus for the past 19 years.

Additional Triathlon Day Creates Unexpected Impact

2010-09-15T15:30:00.001-07:00

• Residents Complain of Being ‘Trapped’

BY BILL KOENEKER

It was the first year that the Nautica triathlon, the celebrity-filled yearly event at Zuma, was given an extra day by the Malibu City Council.

The extra day on Saturday turned into a disaster for some west Malibu residents and a terrible inconvenience for others, so much so, that the council members heard about it through a number of complaints and now want to reconsider the extra day.

One of the event’s most outspoken supporters, Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich, who has participated in the event for years, voiced concerns that the purported benefits did not outweigh the impacts.

“It was a disaster,” said Conley Ulich. “There were problems with kids going to soccer. We need to look at the costs and benefits and have the city council look at the issue. We need to look back if Saturday makes sense for the city. I got a lot of complaints,” she said.

Councilmember Lou LaMonte echoed that. “I did too,” he said.

Some residents complained they were not allowed out of or back into their neighborhood in Malibu Park. That sheriff's deputies, posted at Busch Drive, Guernsey Avenue, and Morning View Drive blocked vehicles from entering the neighborhood.

Last year, a previous city council, which included Conley Ulich, was persuaded by event organizers to add another day to the event.

Municipal officials were told an extra day would allow more locals to participate, since more slots would open up for local competitors and the benefit event would help raise more money for the community.

Final numbers had not yet been released when the Malibu Surfside News went to press, but initial estimates indicated that event organizers were anticipating more than 4000 participants in the event, which attracts athletes from all over the Los Angeles area.

Council members this week agreed to put the matter on the agenda for the first meeting in October.

Smokey Bear Knows

2010-09-08T15:26:00.001-07:00

As Malibuites drive Pacific Coast Highway—paying attention to the rules of the road and being aware of alternate modes of transportation—they should take note of the current wildfire status that is posted on the Smokey Bear signs outside local fire stations.

Even when there is major cloud cover, the wildfire danger can be moderate. A sudden increase in temperature, a drop in humidity and the arrival of Santa Ana winds can quickly take moderate wildfire danger up to the next level.

Wildfire preparedness should be a key Malibu mantra from now until the start of the rainy season.

OLM Community Keeps Watch after Last Week’s Tragic Accident

2010-09-01T15:20:00.000-07:00

• Memorial Mass Said for Sister Mary Campbell; Monsignor Remains in Induced Coma

BY ANNE SOBLE

According to preliminary California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department information, at about 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 25, Ambassador to Malta Douglas Kmiec, Our Lady of Malibu Pastor Emeritus Monsignor John Sheridan, and Sister Mary Campbell, who taught generations of OLM students, were involved in a solo vehicle accident on Mulholland Highway, east of Stokes Canyon.

Sr. Mary Campbell, 74, a Sister of St. Louis, a former principal and teacher at OLM Catholic School, and, in recent years, the assistant to Monsignor Sheridan, was killed in the accident. Authorities said she was declared dead at the scene.

Sheridan, who is 94, and Kmiec, who is 58, both were suffering from what were first described as serious injuries. They were airlifted to the UCLA Medical Center’s Trauma Center.

Kmiec was at the wheel of the 2009 Hyundai Accent, a subcompact vehicle, when it reportedly drifted off the road onto the shoulder and went into a drainage ditch. Campbell was in the back seat of the car, and Sheridan sat in the front passenger seat.

The Malibu Surfside News is verifying reports that Kmiec and Sheridan were wearing seat belts, but Sister Mary Campbell was not.

The CHP states that the accident is still under investigation.

Sheridan underwent surgery last week and reportedly remains in serious condition. The first formal statement issued to the OLM community stated that doctors “have stopped most of the internal bleeding; they are treating several broken ribs; and they are watching him carefully for signs of infection and/or pneumonia.”

The latest word this week was that his condition is now being described as stable. Sheridan reportedly remains “in an induced coma and on a ventilator.” He is not able to receive visitors. Contact is said to be limited to close relatives and Father Bill Kerze, the current pastor of OLM.

Updates are regularly circulated among parish members who have established an accident information network. They indicate that Sheridan still has bleeding issues, but there is a decided note of optimism to the updates.

Kmiec is expected to be released from the hospital shortly. He is expected to make a full recovery from his injuries, which have been downgraded to moderate.

Both Sheridan and Campbell were born in Ireland. The monsignor is from Corrickmaquirk, County Longford. Campbell hailed from Kiltimagh, County Mayo, which is where she will be buried alongside other members of her family.

Both of the two are from large families in which their relatives serve the Catholic Church in various capacities. Campbell had just returned from visiting her family in Ireland.

Campbell had been a member of the order of the Sisters of St. Louis for 52 years. She, Sheridan and Kmiec were returning from an event at Louisville High School for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Woodland Hills Motherhouse.

There had been a mass at 10 a.m., followed by a special luncheon celebrating the Feast of St. Louis, the patron of the order. Louis was the 13th century French King Louis IX, but the order, founded in post-revolutionary France, is mostly Irish—the original eight nuns of SSL came to this country from Ireland in 1949—and retains an Irish brogue.

Sheridan came to OLM 45 years ago. He has been a radio commentator, authored 14 books, written numerous pamphlets and articles, and continues to minister to parishioners.

Kmiec, who was appointed to the Malta post by the Obama Administration, was sworn in September 2009, and took leave from his position as a constitutional law professor at Pepperdine University. He is a former dean of Catholic University in Washington D.C.

After last week’s accident, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony, issued a statement asking everyone “to please keep all three of these wonderful and devoted disciples of Jesus Christ very much in [their] prayers.”

The Sisters of St. Louis and Campbell’s family planned her services. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Sisters of St. Louis Retirement Fund. Louisville High School can be contacted for information about the fund.

Members of the OLM parish gathered at the church throughout the days after the crash, where longtime parishioner and school supporter Cynthia Bollinger said love and prayers for the three resounded throughout the buildings and the grounds.

Longtime parish member and Catholic activist Carolyn Wallace, as well as others, keep those in the OLM family and beyond apprised of the latest developments.

OLM scheduled a blood drive on Tuesday in Sheridan’s name to replace the units required by the monsignor during his surgeries and post-operative period.

A Memorial Mass for Sister Mary Campbell took place on Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of Malibu Catholic Church.

Well-wishers came from every segment of the Malibu community. Expressions of concern crossed all religious and ethnic lines.

ACCIDENT VICTIM—Sister Mary Campbell of Our Lady of Malibu died at the crash site. She will be buried in her native Ireland following local services.

AFFINITY—Malibu resident and Ambassador to Malta Douglas Kmiec (left) and Our Lady of Malibu Pastor Emeritus Monsignor John Sheridan are longtime friends. Kmiec was driving Sheridan and Sister Mary Campbell back to OLM after an event at Louisville High School when a serious accident occurred.

Malibu Reels as Word of Accident Involving Members of OLM Family Filters Out

2010-08-26T15:46:00.000-07:00

•Longtime Teacher at OLM Is Killed•

By Anne Soble

According to preliminary Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol reports, at about 1:40 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 25, Ambassador to Malta Douglas Kmiec, Our Lady of Malibu Pastor Emeritus Msgr. John Sheridan, and Sister Mary Campbell, who taught generations of OLM students, were involved in a solo vehicle accident at Mulholland Highway and Malibu Canyon Road.

Sr. Mary Campbell, a Sister of St. Louis and longtime assistant to Msgr. Sheridan, was killed in the accident. Authorities said she was declared dead at the scene.

Sheridan, who is 94, and Kmiec, were both suffering from what were described as serious injuries. They were taken to the UCLA Medical Center Trauma Center.

Members of the OLM parish gathered throughout the afternoon and evening at the church where longtime parishioner and school supporter Cynthia Bollinger said love and prayers for the three resounded.

Authorities say the accident remains under investigation and may have involved dashboard control adjustment, according to Tracy De Mello, the Malibu liaison at Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station. among those monitoring the situation Monday night.

Sheridan underwent surgery last night and reportedly remains in critical condition. OLM issued a statement that doctors “have stopped most of the internal bleeding; they are treating several broken ribs; and they are watching him carefully for signs of infection and/or pneumonia.”

Kmiec, who was appointed to the Malta post by the Obama Administration and was on leave from his position as a constitutional law professor at Pepperdine University, was driving the car when the accident occurred. He underwent surgery last night and is reported to be improving.

Cardinal Roger Mahony visited the hospital Wednesday night and issued a statement asking everyone in Malibu and elsewhere to “please keep all three of these wonderful and devoted disciples of Jesus Christ very much in your prayers.”

Sr. Mary Campbell’s order, the Sisters of St. Louis, and her family will determine services. She had just returned from visiting her mother in Ireland. OLM will post the details as soon as they are made public.

OLM also announced that it is planning to schedule a blood drive in Sheridan’s name.

SMMC Board Approves Modified DEIR

2010-08-25T16:18:00.001-07:00

• Camping Reduced and Propane Use Cut from Modified Plan

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

It was standing room only when the board of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority met to vote on the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Malibu Parks Malibu Parks Public Access Enhancement Plan—Public Works Plan Draft Environmental Impact Report Modified Redesign Alternative on Monday night at Temescal Park in Pacific Palisades.

A large contingent of Malibu residents—some complaining bitterly that the meeting was in Pacific Palisades, not Malibu—attended the meeting, but the tone was generally calmer than at earlier meetings.

For many, recent changes, including a reduction in campsites and other development and a new prohibition on propane use, appeared to have allayed at least some fears.

However, opposition to a variety of plan aspects remained strong, especially among among residents of Ramirez Canyon and Malibu Road.

Paul Edelman, MRCA Chief of Natural Resources and Planning, began the meeting with a presentation on the Modified Redesign Alternative, stating that the redesign addresses many of the concerns expressed during the project’s development. “No more propane or lanterns,” Edelman said. “Every alternative strictly forbids any kind of campfire.”

Edelman explained that while the original Proposed Plan included campsites at five parks: Corral Canyon Park, Conservancy Malibu Bluffs Property, Ramirez Canyon Park, Latigo Trailhead, and Escondido Canyon Park, the MRA concentrates “the bulk of the proposed campsites” into one PCH-adjacent cluster at Corral Canyon Park and in two clusters on the Conservancy’s Malibu Bluffs property.

The MRA retained the potential for two Americans with Disabilities Act accessible campsites at Ramirez Canyon Park, but eliminated all camping at the Latigo property, and Escondido Canyon Park.

According to the MRA’s DEIR, the plan now includes 54 campsites, compared to the 71 in the Proposed Plan. However, the MRA includes a higher percentage of large sized campsites to equalize the number of campers that could be accommodated between the two versions of the plan.

The remaining camping sites at Corral Canyon are close to PCH. In the modified plan, an upper camping area is now reserved for day use only.

At Bluffs Park, the main campground would now be located to the west end of the property. A central camping and access from Malibu road have been eliminated.

Edelman stated that, in addition to the 54 campsites, the MRA includes 71 new parking spaces, 12 day-use areas and 17.5 miles of new trail.

“Most ESHA impact is from trail construction,” Edelman said, adding that the maximum number of trees that could be removed is 13, with one or two the preferred number. “There are no unmitigatable impacts,” Edelman said. [The MRA] is environmentally superior.”

Not everyone agreed. Many Ramirez Canyon residents expressed concern over a component of the plan that calls for widening the narrow canyon to 20 feet, 25 feet at fire hydrants.

Steve Amerikaner, the attorney representing the Ramirez Canyon Preservation Fund stated that the plan would create “two slashes in Ramirez Canyon 60-65 feet wide,” with “no shade, no specimen trees. It will fundamentally change the character of the canyon. We do not object to camping for the disabled. We do not object to trails, we object to the road,” he said.

“How in good conscience can you deliberately ruin a neighborhood?” asked Joyce Ball, a 45 year resident of the canyon. “We're never been able to get a bridle trail, we've tried for 40 years. We would like that but we don’t want to see caravans of trucks driving through.”

“We’re like you,” RCPF member Rick Mullen said. “We own property. You do too. We would hope a neighbor like the conservancy would be an ally. Ironically, we find ourselves opposing [you] because of excess development.”

Many of the Ramirez speakers stated that they would prefer that the conservancy pursue an easement into its canyon property from Kanan by a road called Via Accero, limiting its canyon road use for emergencies.

After public comment, SMMC executive director Joe Edmiston described the road widening plan as “grossly exaggerated,” and explained that the project was included in the plan at the request of the fire department, to ensure that the road would be accessible during an emergency.

The actual language in the MRA states: “In response to receipt of the LACFD comment letter, MRCA communicated with LACFD by email, phone, and in person to better understand the fire department's comments and to ensure that, as necessary, that the MRA adhere to LACFD’s recommendations. The Proposed Plan and the Redesign Alternative included the widening of the existing access road and removal of encroachments in the road easements, as necessary, to provide 20-foot clearance for emergency ingress/egress in the canyon along Delaplane Road and Ramirez Canyon Road. In addition, the MRA provides for additional widening to a total road width of approximately 26 feet, for a length of approximately 50 feet adjacent to all existing fire hydrant locations. This additional widening would occur in order to maintain adequate room for operations during an emergency incident along Ramirez Canyon Road and/or Delaplane Road, if required by the responsible fire agency.”

Representatives of the Malibu Road Association were also unappeased by MRA modifications, cautioning that the Bluffs area is “geologically unstable and fire prone.”

“It's not NIMByism,” Malibu Road Association attorney Greg Aftergood said. “We are strong advocates of public space. If you drive alone Malibu Road, two things apparent: undulating road and water mains above ground. We submit that less could be more. More undisturbed areas, more oversight. [Eliminating campsites] eliminates inherent risk of having waterline and electrical all over,” he said.

Other Malibu Road residents criticized plans for a two stall restroom, located on the road near the public beach access, potential view impacts, and loss of what was described as grasslands deemed “ESHA-worthy.”

The City of Malibu, represented by associate planner Joseph Smith, requested more time to review the DEIR documents. “The city hopes you will not take action tonight, that you will take time to reviewed the documents.”

Upper Winding Way and and Murphy Way Homeowners Association representative attorney Stanley Lamport was there to thank the conservancy for listening to the HOA's concerns and modifying the plan in that area. “The association supports the modified alternative,” he stated.

Retired firefighter and Santa Monica Mountains open space advocate Don Wallis applauded the MRA. “This is the best and most thorough fire plan ever devised. I rise in support of modified plan. Adopt it soon and get us on trails,” he said.

After public comment and a break for dinner, the board voted to approve the Modified Re-design Alternative with just one no vote—cast by City of Malibu representative Mayor Jefferson Wagner—and one abstention.

The entire DEIR document is available online at smmc.ca.gov

Mitrice Richardson Family Expresses Outrage over OIR ‘Whitewash’

2010-08-18T16:50:00.000-07:00

BY ANNE SOBLE

Critics of the Office of Independent Review, which is supposed to act as a watchdog over the operations of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, say the panel is muzzled by the very agency it is supposed to monitor.

The sheriff’s department issued copies of the 57-page OIR report last Thursday, the same day as the LASD press conference to announce that human remains found in the Malibu area mountains were those of Mitrice Richardson, the 24-year-old Los Angeles woman arrested on two field-citable charges, who disappeared after being released from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station just after midnight last Sept. 17.

The confidential report, which exonerates the LASD of any wrongdoing in the Richardson case, is addressed to the county Board of Supervisors and dated July 9. No reason is given for the delay in its release, which followed repeated demands for a copy by the Malibu Surfside News.

A possible reason for the delay might have been the LASD’s elation at the prospect that Richardson had allegedly just been spotted in Las Vegas a few weeks earlier by an acquaintance from her teens. Her biological father, Michael Richardson, had reported a similar sighting in January.

If the woman—from whom there has been no contact since she disappeared and who had not accessed a bank account with several thousand dollars—was alive, the report clearing the agency would have confirmed that its actions were all proper and by the book.

With the announcement the Cal State Fullerton honors graduate was dead, release of the report on the day of Sheriff Lee Baca’s press conference might have been an effort to blunt criticism that her death was attributable to the LASD, or cloud perception of LASD negligence, as her parents allege in separate lawsuits against the department and Los Angeles County.

Richardson’s mother, Latice Sutton, never accepted the validity of the Las Vegas sightings. In addition, The News reported that the man who thought he saw the 24-year-old in the Hotel Rio casino had second thoughts about it being a case of mistaken identity and shared them with his father.

Sutton repeatedly voiced concern that the LASD did not move quickly enough when her daughter first was reported missing, and that the focus of search efforts should have been where she was last seen in Monte Nido. A number of residents of that community have provided input and possible leads to the family that they say Lost Hills deputies did not adequately follow up.

These include that when Richardson’s footprints ended on Cold Canyon Road—some of these prints indicated that at times she was running—and her scent could not be picked up by tracker dogs—not far from the Monte Nido residence where she is believed to have been sighted several hours earlier, this information was downplayed.

The OIR report indicates that deputies were at the scene within 20 minutes of a telephone call reporting a woman on foot matching Richardson’s description, but this is being questioned by family members, as are assertions that deputies began to check out the Monte Nido area immediately.

Family members say the first comprehensive search of that area was not until two days later, on Sept. 19, and it apparently did not include the former marijuana farm in Dark Canyon where Richardson’s remains were found. It’s not clear how thoroughly homes on Cold Canyon were searched, or their residents questioned. The same applies to the homes overlooking Dark Canyon.

The OIR report focuses less on possible shortcomings of Lost Hills personnel than it does the backdrop of some of the most comprehensive and expensive missing person searches in county history. There is an underlying tone that the extent and cost of the searches mitigates prior issues related to booking and release.

The report occasionally engages in circular reasoning, such as “[Since] Richardson had no safe transportation away from the restaurant, the deputies’ decision to take her into custody and transport her to the station was reasonable and prudent.” It then states she had no transportation because “the deputies decision to impound her car was also reasonable.”

The report indicates three deputies were dispatched to Geoffrey’s, which some view as a sizable contingent for nonpayment of a restaurant bill of $89, but only one arresting officer’s name is unredacted on the arrest report, and two names mentioned in the report.

OIR reiterates that the hour of Richardson’s release—just after midnight with no transportation, cell phone, purse or jacket on a cold night—“was within department policy.” OIR regards the jailer’s offer that the woman could remain in a locked cell—all inhabited cells must be locked, according to department policy—until daylight or the arrival of transportation, as an indication the station exceeded its obligations.

Sutton contends that she repeatedly encountered indifference or apathy, as well as received misinformation, from Lost Hills deputies during three phone calls to check on her daughter. OIR acknowledges that deputies had “limited information” but does not appear to think deputies should have tried to obtain more information while the mother was on the line.

OIR states, “Each time Ms. Sutton spoke with someone from the station, it was a different department member who was uninformed about the circumstances of Ms. Richardson’s arrest or release from custody.”

In a station as small as Lost Hills, with as few arrests as are the norm, OIR accepted that deputies at the front desk wouldn’t know what was going on elsewhere in the station.

The second deputy assured Sutton she would be called before her daughter was released. There is no indication that this information was relayed to the jailer, and the mother never received a call.

Sutton said her third call—after Richardson had been released—was also marked by deputy disconnect from the rest of station. This deputy assured Sutton that “nothing dire” would happen to her daughter and suggested she might have caught a bus, even though there is no overnight bus service in the area, which deputies on assignment there might be expected to know.

Regarding the lack of exterior video footage showing Richardson actually left Lost Hills; the report acknowledges that video surveillance equipment at Lost Hills is “antiquated.”

In addition, calls made on the booking telephone line are not recorded, so there is no way of knowing whether calls Richardson tried to place to her great-grandmother, Mildred Harris, went through. Harris has indicated she never received a call from Lost Hills. Also, a previously denied video of Richardson in the booking cage is perceived by her mother as showing frustration with getting the phone to work or complete a call.

On this videotape, Richardson’s behavior is described as “normal” in the OIR report, but family members who have seen the footage say she looks anxious, clutches at the wire mesh, rocks back and forth, pulls at her hair, and curls up into a fetal position.

Requests by the family for a copy of the tape, as well as requests by the Malibu Surfside News to review it, have been denied.

The OIR report reinforces and may be the basis for Sheriff Baca’s attempt to shift the onus for Richardson’s fate to Geoffrey’s restaurant for initiating her arrest and to her mother for not heading to Lost Hills as soon as she was contacted.

In what may be the cruelest of ironies, the OIR stance appears to be that no parent should ever assume that a family member is safe in the custody of sheriff’s deputies, and they should pick them up immediately, or accept the consequences.

Sutton has said she will forever regret that she had confidence in law enforcement to, in the words of the LASD motto, “protect and serve.” She told one of the deputies that she was not worried about her daughter while she was in custody, and didn’t think “release in the morning” might mean minutes after midnight.

The report takes pains to debunk concerns expressed by family members who saw the videotape—the existence of which was first denied—that when Richardson is leaving the station, a deputy is seen exiting a nearby door. OIR notes this officer “later” transported a DUI suspect to a hospital for a blood alcohol test and returned them, then, within an hour, he and his partner conducted a traffic stop near the intersection of Calabasas Road and Mulholland.

On the explosive issue of whether station personnel abducted Richardson after her release, OIR states there “is no evidence” of that, and cites the 6:30 a.m. sighting at 507 Cold Canyon Road and a sighting on Malibu Canyon Road at 7:30 a.m. as proof that “Richardson made it through the night.”

A third sighting, also believed to be Richardson, has her on foot on Piuma Road, headed away from Malibu Canyon Road, at about 1:30 p.m. She was going in the direction of Dark Canyon where her remains were ultimately found.

Despite the blanket absolution of the LASD in the Richardson case, OIR does make some recommendations directed specifically at Lost Hills Station.

Among them are that all calls made by arrestees from jail should be made on a recorded line; if an arrestee has a cell phone, it should be maintained with the arrestee’s possessions and returned at the time of release; and that all telephone calls regarding release should be directed to the station jailer.

OIR further recommends that if release is to take place between sunset and sunrise, an arrestee should be allowed “to remain in jail voluntarily”—locked in a cell—until daylight, or transportation has arrived.

OIR further recommends that sheriff stations should be equipped with video surveillance equipment outside the station to record activities on station property and, if possible, extend surveillance to adjacent areas.

FEEDBACK

Ronda Hampton, a clinical psychologist who often speaks for Richardson’s mother and other members of her support team, emailed criticism of the OIR report to Benjamin Jones, the panel’s deputy chief attorney, a signatory and principal author of the report.

Hampton said the family was denied a copy of the report that was available to the press, and, “From what I hear, your report is full of lies and inconsistencies. I plan on reading the report line for line and pointing out every lie, and I will expose you for what you are—a liar and a sheriff sympathizer.”

She said, “I saw how familiar you were with the deputies on the day of the drone search, and your explanation of why you were there was insulting to me. I may not be a lawyer, but I am not an idiot, and the relationship that you displayed that day was telling.”

Hampton wrote Jones, “You should be ashamed of yourself for playing semantic games in your report. The next person who needs to be reviewed is you. I do not know how you sleep at night.”

Jones did not respond to an MSN request for comment on Hampton’s statements.

Congressmember Maxine Waters, who spearheaded an attempt to bring the Federal Bureau of Investigation in on the case, but the FBI said its hands were tied because the sheriff’s department would not request its aid, has not commented yet on the OIR report.

Waters issued a statement on the finding of Richardson’s remains last week: “While this grim discovery concludes one chapter, lingering questions remain regarding the manner in which Mitrice was released from the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, and the quality of the investigation that took place following her disappearance.”

The representative added, “Notwithstanding today’s announcement, the family will not have absolute closure until they know all the facts concerning Mitrice’s detention and release. I remain committed to ensuring that the local authorities followed proper procedures, and that no federal statutes were violated during the course of this tragic case.”

This week, Hampton disclosed receipt of an unsubstantiated communication from someone who wrote:

“It’s sad the way police treat women today. I too was recently arrested for driving on a suspended license, I was released at 4 a.m., Century Detention Center in Lynwood, and I live in Lancaster one hour and a half away. When they impounded my car, my purse was left inside because they wouldn’t let me take it. I had no cash, ATM, ID or anything. I asked to use their phone, and they said no. I was so scared, I had to walk two miles down the road alone on the streets of Los. Angeles projects. I begged for money for a train ticket until an older woman let me use her phone. I called my father, and he came and got me. I wish Mitrice was as lucky. May she rest in peace.”

Mitrice Richardson Press Conference Provides More Questions than Answers

2010-08-13T23:38:00.000-07:00

TENSE MOMENTS—Sheriff Lee Baca became visibly irritated by media efforts to obtain more information about the skeletal find that was announced to be the remains of Mitrice Richardson on Thursday. County Coroner spokesperson Ed Winter also sidestepped many of the media questions, stating that “the investigation is still in progress.” MSN/Charles Croft

• Sheriff Tries to Shift Onus to Restaurant and LASD Citizen’s Arrest Policies •

BY ANNE SOBLE

At a press conference Thursday at Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department headquarters downtown, Sheriff Lee Baca announced what had been conjectured since Monday that skeletal remains found in dense chaparral in the Malibu area mountains are those of Mitrice Richardson, the Cal State Fullerton honors graduate who had been missing since Sept. 17, 2009.

The final determination by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office that it was the 24-year-old Los Angeles woman was the result of daylong analysis by a pathologist, forensic anthropologist and an odontologist who used dental records and x-rays provided by Richardson’s mother, Latice Sutton, for identification.

Baca, flanked by a phalanx of nearly every LASD officer who works on the Richardson case, used the word “chagrin” to describe the reaction of the LASD and others to the findings, yet any sense of humiliation or failure connoted in the word was not evident as the county’s top lawman testily affirmed that his people had done everything properly and professionally.

At the press conference, the ongoing confusion about the location of the skeletal find and its distance from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station from which Richardson was released at 12:30 a.m. the day she disappeared, as well as from the Monte Nido residence where she is thought to have been seen at 6:30 a.m. the same day, was still being resolved.

Richardson’s remains were found about six or so miles from Lost Hills and about two or so miles from the rural location where she apparently stopped to rest on a back porch.

Although the find, according to spokespersons in the County Coroner’s Office, includes 90 or more percent of the skeleton when assembled, Baca said, “I don’t believe the remains are capable of telling us a story [that] would enable the determination of homicide.” The sheriff said he has asked the coroner’s office “to work to see if foul play” was involved.

Baca, at times visibly agitated by media questioning, staunchly defended his officers, but the LASD chief acknowledged that “[acting] properly doesn’t mean that we didn’t do something, or [that] we could have done something more.”

Appearing to shift some of the responsibility for what occurred to the staff of Geoffrey’s restaurant, which had called the Lost Hills Station directly when Richardson told them she could not pay her $89 dinner tab, Baca described “the irate owner or manager of the restaurant” telling us to come and pick her up.

A 57-page draft report of Office of Independent Review, supposed to serve as the watchdog panel for the LASD, essentially concludes that the LASD acted with due diligence. It too states that “the manager demanded” that Richardson be arrested.

Baca indicated that LASD policies on responses to “defrauding an innkeeper” charges would be reviewed. He said, “Because a restaurant owner…decides to make a citizen’s arrest, the deputies’ options are to field cite or take the individual to jail.” He added, “The question is [whether] defrauding an innkeeper of $89 is enough of a crime to take someone to jail?”

Baca said, “That is the issue, and I think that should be looked upon.”

To the question of when Richardson died, the sheriff answered, “It was within the sequence of her release.” A series of searches, including the single biggest field search in county history, combed nearby areas, and may have even come within less than a mile of the grisly find by state park rangers checking a remote former marijuana grove.

The chaparral in this area is so dense that the remains had to be helicoptered out. When asked if Richards could have walked the several miles from Dark Canyon and Piuma Road to the isolated site, Baca said, “I don’t know if she could walk that far.”

Richardson, an urbanite with no backcountry experience, was clad only in a T-shirt and jeans. Members of her family do not think she could have traversed the difficult terrain unless assisted or coerced by one or more individuals.

When LACCO spokesperson Ed Winter was asked about Richardson’s clothing, he said it “was around the scene,” and added he would “not say more at this time.” He indicated that the garments are still being analyzed.

Subsequent inquiry to the coroner’s office by the Malibu Surfside News was responded to with comments that the clothing believed to be hers was “scattered around” and was described to be in “fair” condition for items that may have been outside in the elements for almost 11 months.

There was no information about whether this might shed light on whether Richardson’s body was clothed when she died. If animal predators encountered clothed human remains, it is likely they would have shredded the garments. Pursuing this hypothetical issue might warrant further assessment of a possibility of human predation and foul play.

The discovery of a culvert covered with obscene hand-painted murals of African-American women with hairdos similar to that of Richardson compounds the family’s concerns about foul play. That mural, since painted over, was located a few miles to the northeast of the find site, and Latice Sutton believes the mural is related to what happened to her daughter.

RESTAURANT RESPONSE

Following the press conference, the owner of Geoffrey’s restaurant told The News that he has put in a call to Sheriff Baca, but has not heard back. Jeff Peterson said the sheriff’s comments, ostensibly shifting blame on the restaurant’s staff, exacerbated his already “devastated state after learning an hour earlier that the remains were Richardson’s.”

Jeff Peterson said his staff wanted to help the woman. The OIR draft report acknowledged that the staffers were going to chip in to cover her bill, but decided that they feared for her safety if she got back on the road in her condition in a car with dangling electrical wires under the dash and a large quantity of packaged alcohol in the trunk from a family event several weeks prior that had never been unpacked.

He said the three deputies who responded to the call were repeatedly told, “Something is wrong,” and “She needs help.” Peterson voiced concern that sheriff put emphasis on the restaurant’s citizen’s arrest and not on deputies’ assessment of the situation.

He said he couldn’t understand how Geoffrey’s employees saw one Mitrice Richardson and LASD personnel saw another.

The OIR report indicates that Richardson said she was meeting someone at the restaurant, someone named “Hannah [who is] tatted up,” or heavily tattooed, who apparently never showed up, which might explain why her dinner receipt is marked for a party of two.

Despite stressing the woman’s lucidity and self-awareness, the OIR report notes statements that Richardson would enter a trancelike state watching the lights in restaurant and became fixated on the moving numbers on the cash register screen, yet this did not raise a red flag.

According to the report, Richardson told staffers she was watching television in the break room at her office when “[she] stated [she] received a message from God and had to leave work.” She ostensibly then headed to Malibu.

When she was asked who to call for assistance with the bill, she is quoted as having said, “I do not have any parents. The only family I have is my great-grandmother.’

Peterson talked to members of the woman’s family circle on Thursday—one of whom said they could see that he “was in pain.” He told them, “We thought we were protecting her and others, if she was kept from driving on Pacific Coast Highway.”

He said the deputies who led her away in handcuffs did not have to do what they did. “What they did should not be represented as our actions. If we could see this was someone in distress, why couldn't they?"

FEEDBACK

Noted Los Angeles African-American author and commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson described the LASD on Friday as having “vehemently denied any responsibility for Richardson’s disappearance. It exonerated itself in a lengthy report, which insisted it followed proper rules and procedures.”

He calls the report a “Pontius Pilate hand wash” and asks “if Richardson's family and friends hadn’t turned her case into a cause célèbre in the media... [would] she have been less than a mere footnote in the news?”

If members of the mainstream media’s questions could set off Sheriff Baca, the black blogosphere will undoubtedly produce even more of a reaction, if LASD officials are even aware of the complex network of African-American communications outlets that provide news and opinion to a community that largely views the mainstream media with indifference, if not contempt.

There are blogs with photos of Baca with the word “guilty” written across them. The sheriff is called a liar, and a murderer—and worse.

A petition drive is under way to demand that Baca and all LASD personnel who had contact with Richardson take independently administered lie detector tests in public.

There is an outpouring of outrage that a young woman who stood for the aspirations that most African-Americas families have for their own children—a college degree, a teaching credential, preparation for a doctoral program, the beauty pageants and even the club entertainment, is gone.

This drumbeat is expected to become ever louder in the weeks ahead.

Mitrice Richardson Update: Forensic Anthropologist to ID Remains Found in Canyon This Week

2010-08-11T16:30:00.000-07:00

• Mother of Missing Woman Speaks Out against How Information Is Given to Families
ANGUISH—Latice Sutton, the mother of Mitrice Richardson, speaks to members of the media gathered outside the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office Tuesday night, as word is awaited on the identity of skeletal remains that were discovered in the Malibu Canyon area near where her daughter may have last been seen. MSN/Charles Croft

BY ANNE SOBLE

The Los Angeles County Coroners’ Office told the Malibu Surfside News on Tuesday that there would be no official identification of skeletal remains found Monday in a remote area off Piuma Road until late Wednesday, or possibly Thursday morning, after the newspaper went to press.
From the first word of the grisly find, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department tried to downplay the possibility that the remains might be those of Mitrice Richardson, who disappeared last Sept. 17, after being released from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station at 12:30 a.m., without her cell phone, money, means of transportation, or asthma medication.
LASD media spokesperson Steve Whitmore confirmed that state park rangers discovered a human skull and some bones during a routine reconnaissance of former marijuana plantations in the area, but he used terms like “doubtful” and “very unlikely” when asked if the remains might be the Los Angeles woman missing for 11 months.
These statements were being made even as the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office reported that it was still studying the remains and would not comment.
The LASD also disseminated information on Monday that the location of the find was 20 or more miles from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, but the actual distance is closer to five to six miles.
More importantly, the entrance to the trail leading to the remote chaparral is two miles or so—less than a 10-minute drive—from the Monte Nido residence where Richardson may have been spotted resting on a back porch after dawn on the day she went missing.
This sighting appeared not to have been followed up on for several hours. When tracker dogs followed Richardson’s scent, it disappeared a short distance away from the residence, which might have meant she entered a vehicle.
The Coroner’s Office indicated that its consulting forensic anthropologist, Elizabeth Miller of Cal State LA, who has served the agency in that capacity since 1998, would make the official determination.
Dr. Miller told The News that she will “be in [Wednesday] to examine the remains” that observers have indicated may have been at the find site for a lengthy period of time.
A spokesperson for the coroner said the staff has Richardson’s dental records. If needed, they also have a sample of DNA from her mother Latice Sutton. Richardson’s biological father has steadfastly refused to provide a DNA sample, even though that is standard operating procedure in the case of missing offspring.
Sutton is sharply critical of the way relatives have been treated since the skeletal find. She said she has been repeatedly stonewalled by law enforcement personnel in her efforts to obtain information.
At a press conference in front of the Coroner’s Office downtown Tuesday night, she asked why the families of missing loved ones are not given information before it is given to the media, which is often first to inform them of details.
Sutton has been leading field searches and coordinating information campaigns since her daughter disappeared after being arrested Sept. 16 at Geoffrey’s restaurant for allegedly not paying a dinner tab. Patrons at the restaurant said she was behaving strangely, speaking gibberish and telling them she was from Mars.
Subsequent analysis of diaries found inside the jumble in her car appears to indicate that the 4.0 GPA honors college graduate and beauty pageant contestant may have been living in the vehicle for days, had not been sleeping for long stretches, and was possibly experiencing the onset of a bipolar episode.
Her mother has maintained from the start that more than enough witnesses provided testimony to warrant Richardson having been put on an involuntary medical hold by the LASD, and that her release into the remote area of the Lost Hills Station in her condition was negligence.
Sutton has asserted that tapes of telephone conversations between her and LHSS deputies reflect what can be perceived as indifference and unawareness of what was going on at the station, as well as misrepresentation. She has repeatedly raised the issue of possible LASD personnel involvement in her daughter’s disappearance.
ANOTHER FAMILY
Pam Perryman of Agoura Hills also was at the recovery site and subsequent press conference at Lost Hills on Monday, inquiring if the remains might be those of her husband, Timothy, who went missing six years ago while on a hike in the area.
Perryman kept asking the LASD and Coroner’s spokespersons if the skull has gold teeth, which would have indicated whether or not it is that of the missing man, but they not would comment, which some at the meeting perceived as callous because it was easily answerable.
“Why couldn’t they tell her that? If there were no gold teeth, they could answer that and spare this woman additional time of distress. Law enforcement doesn’t seem to care about the anguish people are put through by not being given all the information that is available,” said Ronda Hampton, Richardson’s college mentor and a member of the family support team.
Hampton told The News, “We have experienced this from the day Mitrice went missing. This is typical of the difficulty we have had in contacting, let alone getting information, from law enforcement.”
When it was learned that an anonymous informant might have leaked new information to a media organization, Hampton said it is “inexcusable that the family has to hear things like this from the press without having been contacted by authorities first.”
The LASD has maintained from the start that Richardson’s release from Lost Hills was by the book and followed all standard protocol. Spokespersons have asserted that Richardson was lucid and showed no signs of impairment that would have been grounds for having her 5150’d for medical evaluation.
LAS VEGAS
Two weeks ago, the LASD and the Los Angeles Police Department announced that they have spent about six weeks checking out what they called a “credible” alleged sighting of Richardson in Las Vegas.
A major press conference was called to publicize the sighting, which raised hopes that the missing woman might be alive, and, not incidentally, might help to absolve the LASD of the criticisms that have prompted the parents to file separate lawsuits against the LASD and Los Angeles County.
Richardson’s mother has expressed doubts about the credibility of the Las Vegas sighting from the beginning. She said she refuses to believe that her daughter would have severed all ties with her mother, her sister and her maternal great-grandmother with whom she resided.
Sutton voiced concern that the Las Vegas media blitz was “a diversionary tactic” to redirect attention and efforts away from where Mitrice Richardson was last known to have been seen”—a short distance from the area where the remains were found.

Two Separate Rewards in Mitrice Richardson Case Have Different Terms

2010-08-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

BY ANNE SOBLE

With the announcement of what is described as a credible but still unverified sighting of Mitrice Richardson came a flurry of media coverage exceeding all of the attention received by the case so far.
With this attention came misstatements that were reported by many in the mainstream media and then picked up by multiple news outlets and blogs, a number of whom further compounded the mistakes.
Major among these is that there is a $25,000 reward for information leading to the missing woman’s whereabouts. This was misstated by law enforcement officials at the Las Vegas press conference who put the single amount on a flyer and then repeated it during the actual briefing.
In reality, there are two separate rewards with different requirements.
One is a $10,000 reward offered by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. It states that the board “has established a reward in the amount of $10,000 in exchange for information leading to the whereabouts of Mitrice Richardson, who disappeared after being released from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Substation in Calabasas, on Sept. 17, 2009 [and] for successful resolution of any criminal prosecution of person or persons who were involved in her disappearance.”
The second reward is in the amount of $15,000 from the City of Malibu. This reward is more narrowly defined. It is “for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the disappearance of Mitrice Richardson.”
As previously reported in The News, the City of Malibu has not allocated funds for the reward from the current municipal budget, as is required from year to year.
But Malibu City Manager Jim Thorsen told the newspaper, “The council has already committed to the reward and the city will stand behind it.”
Thorsen added, “Our only issue is a bookkeeping one, as the funds were not carried over into this fiscal year. I am fully confident the council would approve the re-appropriation of reward funds for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the disappearance of Ms. Richardson at such time it is necessary. Therefore, I have not planned to go to council and have the funds placed into the budget, unless it is deemed necessary.”
The city manager reiterated that “the reward is for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in the disappearance. It is not a reward for finding her.”

Search for Mitrice Richardson Now Focuses on Las Vegas Area

2010-07-28T00:40:00.000-07:00

NEWS UPDATE

During a press conference at the Metro Command Center of the Las Vegas Police Department at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Captain Kevin McClure of the Los Angeles Police Department Homicide Division, reiterated information reported in the Malibu Surfside News earlier this week about what is being called an "unconfirmed" sighting of Mitrice Richardson in Las Vegas that triggered a monthlong search for the missing woman.

The investigation following the first major break in the eleven-month case led to extensive legwork and interviews of several hundred people in the Las Vegas area, as many as 70 of whom reportedly think they may have seen the woman who disappeared last Sept. 17, following an incident in the Malibu area that led to her being booked at the Lost Hills Sheriff's Station.

Captain Dave Smith of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Homicide Division acknowledged that the investigation is "like looking for a needle in a haystack [and] that's why we need more eyes from the public" to assist with the ongoing search. Anyone with information is asked to call the Las Vegas CrimeStoppers line: 702-385-5555 or any of the law enforcement agencies directly.

Richardson was addressed directly and asked to "please" make contact with her family or any of the law enforcement agencies so that her well-being can be assured.

Chief William McSweeney, who oversees LASD Detective Divisions, including Homicide, said that more than 70 people believing they have seen her "based on a photograph and some passage of time" could not be taken lightly.

McSweeney added, "[Having] exhausted leads, [LASD] decided it was time to ask for the public's assistance." The tenor of the press conference was that officials think they "are on the right track."

—Anne Soble

• Sighting by 'Credible' Witness Prompts Major Deployment of Law Enforcement Resources •

BY ANNE SOBLE

As the saga of the honors college graduate and beauty pageant competitor who disappeared after being released from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station starts its eleventh month, a new and dramatic turn of events has sent family members of Mitrice Richardson and others monitoring the mysterious case reeling.

Law enforcement officials have not gone public with all of the details yet, but family members have told the Malibu Surfside News that a multi-agency investigation—including the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles City Police Department and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department—with over a dozen detectives and related forensic personnel has been under way in Las Vegas for almost a month, following a June sighting of Richardson that is said to be the first important break in the case.

Lt. Michael Rosson, the LASD’s lead homicide detective on the case told The News Tuesday that it is too soon to definitively say the woman sighted in Las Vegas is Richardson “but the investigation leads us to believe that it could be and we are going to deploy resources to prove or disprove it.”

A call for assistance from the public to help locate Richardson is expected to be issued in Las Vegas on Thursday that will address the alleged sighting and the major investigation that already includes interviews of several hundred people in that city, including individuals in security and other fields that might have had contact with the woman believed to be Richardson.

A public plea will made to Richardson, asking that she contact local authorities to inform them that she is well and acting under her own volition. The plea will affirm that she is not in any legal trouble and will not be subject to detainment.

This is the second reported sighting of Richardson in Las Vegas. Her father, Michael Richardson, reported a sighting of her there in January, but there wasn’t as much detail to follow up as with the recent event.

The woman’s family and the media were requested not to make the probe details public before now, in order to allow an unimpeded investigation and prevent any action that might prompt the person they seek to flee the area.

Richardson, who is 25, African-American and a slightly built five-foot, five-inches, was released just after midnight on Sept. 17, 2009, after being booked at Lost Hills following a citizen arrest in Malibu by Geoffrey’s restaurant personnel for alleged inability to pay an $89 dinner tab, although she had credit cards and several thousand dollars in a bank account.

This might have been evident from the contents of a purse that was left in her locked car, which the restaurant had towed from its small parking lot to a local impound yard.

Apart from a possible sighting in a Monte Nido backyard just after dawn that same morning, some distance from the station, to which she might have been driven, the 25-year-old woman has neither been seen, nor contacted her family, nor accessed her bank funds or used credit cards.

The June sighting was learned about first by family members of the missing woman who immediately shared the details with the LASD and the LAPD, the law enforcement agencies cooperating on the search effort under the latter’s lead.

Richardson’s aunt, Lauren Sutton, told The News she received a call from the father of the man—then a teenager—who had taken Richardson to her tenth-grade winter formal. He has not seen Richardson since she was 15, according to her family, but Greg Amerson is reportedly adamant that he saw the missing woman in Las Vegas in June.

Amerson reportedly told family members that he was in the lounge of the Rio Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, an older resort on Flamingo Road, a short distance from the Las Vegas Strip.

Although there appear to be time variations in versions of the story that have been told, Amerson said he was in the lounge of the Brazilian-themed casino, when he noticed a woman sitting at the bar and talking to people. The woman was wearing a white dress and heels. Sutton was told that he thought the woman might have been soliciting.

Sutton said that Amerson told his father that he walked over to her and reportedly said, “Hello, Mitrice.” He said the woman looked surprised, and then hurriedly left the location without saying anything.

Amerson did not notify the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department or anyone else that evening because he didn’t know that Richardson was still technically missing. He told his family about the incident several days later, and it was another few days before the father called Sutton.

So much time had already elapsed since the alleged sighting that the film in the casino’s security cameras had been erased—this is done every six days—and possible corroboration of whether the woman was Richardson was no longer available.

The aunt immediately got hold of Richardson’s mother, Latice Sutton, who contacted Lt. Rosson, Sutton’s main contact at the LASD in recent weeks. He jump-started the dispatch of personnel to Las Vegas that at one time comprised 10–12 detectives following up on the lead, including Rosson.

The specifics of the announcement expected later this week are being kept under wraps. As of Tuesday afternoon, Richardson’s mother was awaiting more information about the public statement slated to be issued in Las Vegas. The details of the announcement were expected to be finalized on Wednesday.

When there was the report of a Las Vegas sighting by the father in January, it was indicated that Richardson knows people in Las Vegas. In addition, she had visited there in August, a month before the Geoffrey’s incident, but her mother adamantly says, “In my gut, I do not believe Mitrice is in Las Vegas.”

Sutton said she told that to Lt. Rosson, and he asked her why she doesn’t want to believe her daughter is there. She said she told him that she cannot believe that her daughter could have spent over ten months without contacting members of her family, especially her maternal great-grandmother with whom she resided, unless she was ill or under some form of duress.

PRELUDE

Several days before last September’s Malibu incident, Richardson had been sending family and friends puzzling text messages that rambled on about nature and the universe, and on Sept. 16, she told them to watch the TV news.

No one appears to know why Richardson was in Malibu on Sept.16, went to Geoffrey’s, where staff said she was behaving bizarrely, speaking gibberish and acting as if she was substance impaired. No one has explained why, if she was acting strangely in the restaurant parking lot, she was able to go inside the restaurant and order dinner at a table with diners she didn’t know.

Medical experts reviewing documents and diary entries found in her car have since indicated that she may have been experiencing the onset of a bipolar episode and the law enforcement agencies have labeled her a “critically” missing person because of possible mental illness. But law enforcement representatives say that, until there is an official medical examination, this is not a confirmed diagnosis.

Latice Sutton has high praise for the manpower and expense involved in the Las Vegas investigation of her daughter’s possible sighting. She said everyone appreciates the effort that has been expended. She expressed the hope that it will continue for future leads if the woman turns out not to be Richardson.

Among other leads that have recently attracted the family’s attention is a report from a man who noticed a woman fitting Richardson’s description, in the Los Angeles area. The woman reportedly was talking loudly to herself, repeating comments such as “see how pretty she is,” and “isn’t she beautiful,” as she walked along the street.

DUAL LITIGATION

Both of Richardson’s parents have now filed separate lawsuits against Los Angeles County, the sheriff’s department, and a number of named and unnamed LASD personnel.

The two lawsuits seek unspecified monetary damages, and charge the LASD with negligence in the release of someone who they contend should have been 5150’d—detained for observation under medical supervision.

Attorneys for both parties indicate litigation is perceived as necessary to gain access to official documents and LASD personnel testimony. The LASD has steadfastly maintained that it adhered to all established protocol in handling Richardson’s release and declines further statements until the matter reaches the courtroom, if that indeed is going to be the case.

Richardson’s parents, who never married, dissolved their relationship when their daughter was young and, according to court records, engaged in paternity, child support and custody disputes.

BACKSTORY

In Mitrice Richardson’s March 28, 2009, participant application for “America’s Next Top Model” program, the beauty pageant competitor and self-described go-go dancer in a gay nightclub was asked to describe her relationship with her parents.

Of her mother, she said. “I love, love, love my mother. I appreciate her so much…she did an amazing job raising me…and I want to make her proud. Telling my mother I am lesbian was the hardest thing I had to do and, although she doesn’t agree with my lifestyle, she still loves me and doesn’t treat me any differently.”

Of her father, Michael Richardson, she said, “I’m used to him not being around,” but she added, “It’s amazing how much genes play [a part] in a person’s personality, because I have never lived with him, but we are the exact same.”

To the question “who is your hero?” she responded, “My mother is my hero because she pops out of the bushes like a superhero when I need her most.”

The mother and father have conducted separate and sometimes mutually critical media campaigns to keep their daughter’s name in the public spotlight.

Recent separate interviews with the parents find them expressing increasingly acrimonious statements about each other, with the father publicly stating that he is the closest of kin to his daughter despite not having raised her.

Some of the law enforcement personnel on the case who can be contacted by the public include: Detectives Chuck Knolls or Steven Eguchi with LAPD at 213-486-6900; and Detectives Dan McElderry or Ken Perry with LASD at 323-890-5500.

TENTH GRADE--Mitrice Richardson's mother, Latice Sutton, shared a photograph of her daughter, then 15, and Greg Amerson that was taken at the high school winter formal they attended ten years ago.

Location Change for South Coast MPAs Scoping Meeting

2010-07-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

There is a venue change for the MLPA South Coast Draft Environmental Impact Report Scoping Meeting on Friday, July 23. The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at: the Hyatt Regency Long Beach, 200 South Pine Avenue, in Long Beach.
At this meeting, interested members of the public are invited to provide input on the scope of the analysis to be conducted and included in the Draft Environmental Impact Report.
For more information about the meeting and other ways the public can submit comments through Aug. 3, 2010, on the scope of the Draft Environmental Impact Report, one can read the July 6, 2010, DFG News Release at www.dfg.ca.gov/news/news10/2010070601-Environmental-Quality-MPA.html.

The 39th Annual Malibu Chamber of Commerce Summer Art Festival Has ‘Secrets’

2010-07-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

The Malibu Chamber of Commerce will present its 39th annual Malibu Arts Festival on July 24 and 25, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., outside the Malibu Civic Center, 23555 Civic Center Way.
The theme of this year’s arts festival is “Malibu Secrets.” In keeping with the motif, the arts on display will include the work of numerous local artists, in addition to the creations of artists and craftspeople from around the county.
This event will feature 200 artists, 100 exhibitors, a children’s poster competition and village, and a food court that will offer tastes from “around the world.” For those who prefer traditional festival offerings, hot dogs, hamburgers, milkshakes, funnel cakes, kettle corn and shaved ice will also be available.
Arts on display are anticipated to include include paintings in all media, sculpture, ceramics, art tile, glass, jewelry and photography.
Festivalgoers can visit with the artists, browse the vendors’ booths, or relax in the food court, wine garden, or coffee garden, and enjoy live music provided by local musicians.
Early birds are invited to participate in the Malibu Optimist Club’s annual pancake breakfast, from 8-11 a.m. both days.

WHITE SHARK ALERT CALLS FOR VIGILANCE

2010-07-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

•‘Harmless’ Juveniles Are Always in Local Waters But An Occasional Teenager Might Cause Problems

The National Park Service has issued a warning that great white sharks have been observed around Santa Barbara Island attacking California sea lions. The park service stresses that there have been no shark attacks on humans. However, three attacks on California sea lions by great white sharks have been observed recently, including one at the Santa Barbara Island Landing Cove and two offshore Cat Canyon on the southeast side of the island.
Santa Barbara beachgoers and visitors to the Channel Islands have been warned to use caution in the water. Malibuites—especially kayakers, surfers, divers and paddleboarders—are also advised to stay alert when entering deep water, especially off Point Dume, where smaller-sized shark activity is frequently observed.
Juvenile white sharks, which eat fish and do not pose a serious risk to humans, are frequently found in the waters off Malibu. Experts say “teenage” white sharks—big enough to experiment with larger prey and too inexperienced to distinguish between humans and marine mammals—cab be a greater risk to humans, and are usually responsible for the partially eaten sea lion carcasses that indicate great white activity. Mature female whites, which prefer deep, cold water for feeding on pinnipeds, reportedly enter shallow areas of Southern California during the summer season to birth their young.

FIREWORKS SAFETY REMINDER:

2010-06-30T17:09:00.000-07:00

As of Tuesday, June 29, the fire department has issued one ocean barge fireworks permit, for 9 p.m. off of the Malibu Colony. Information about general locations and times for additional, permitted professional pyrotechnic displays will be listed on the City of Malibu’s website: www.ci.malibu.ca.us.
The City of Malibu reminds residents that it does not sponsor any fireworks displays, and that possession of fireworks, even the so-called “safe and sane” variety, are illegal in the city. All fireworks are also illegal in unincorporated Malibu.
According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, fireworks cause an estimated 7000 preventable injuries every year. Fireworks, legal or illegal, can also cause serious problems for pets and livestock. Every year, the Agoura Animal Shelter copes with “4th of July dogs” who have run away due to the noise. Fireworks-related rescues have included a variety of animals ranging from horses to cats. The Humane Society of the United States recommends keeping dogs and small animals indoors, in a sheltered, quiet area. Some animals can become destructive when frightened, so items that could be hazardous if knocked over or chewed should be removed.
A radio or a TV can be left on at normal volume to help provide “white noise” to help keep animals calm. The HSUS recommends that the owners of animals known to be extremely sensitive to noise consider other options to help them get through the holiday, such as organic and herbal calming products available in most pet stores.
All pets should have identification tags. Large animals, including horses, goats, burros and llamas, can also be impacted by fireworks, as can smaller livestock, including poultry and birds. All animals should be secured. Drivers should use caution on the night of the Fourth and watch for animals. Wild animals also can be panicked by fireworks, and the risk of traffic mishaps may increase.

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY
The Malibu Surfside News

Hands Across The Sands

2010-06-24T18:00:00.000-07:00

Two Plead No Contest in Corral Fire Case

2010-06-02T17:47:00.000-07:00

by Anne Soble

Two men, first expected to plead guilty, instead pleaded no contest Wednesday to recklessly causing the 2007 Corral Fire that destroyed 53 homes, damaged 23 others, injured six firefighters and charred over 5,000 acres.

A no contest, or nolo contendere, pleading is one in which a defendant in a criminal prosecution accepts conviction as though a guilty plea has been entered but is not admitting guilt.

Brian Alan Anderson, 24, and William Thomas Coppock, 26, entered their pleas before Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Susan Speer who ordered that they surrender June 9 to undergo a 90-day evaluation by the state Department of Corrections.

Anderson and Coppock pleaded no contest to one count each of recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury and recklessly causing a fire to an inhabited structure. As described by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, “They pled open to the court, meaning it was not part of a negotiated settlement with the D.A.’s office.”

The pair were among two groups of people who went to the so-called rave cave at the top of Corral Canyon on Nov. 24, 2007, to party. The first group built a fire in the cave and then left after a second group, including Anderson and Coppock, showed up, according to the prosecution.

The fire was allowed to grow out of control in the dry hillside location that was posted as a high wildfire risk area. Powerful Santa Ana winds swiftly carried the ensuing flames and embers down the canyon. None of the defendants notified authorities of the fire, investigators said.

Judge Speer indicated that if the two men receive favorable reports following the 90-day review period, they could be ordered to serve one year in county jail, complete community service and be placed on five years probation. Unfavorable reports could mean terms of up to four years in state prison.

Anderson and Coppock are scheduled to return to court Sept. 9 for sentencing.

A restitution hearing is expected to take place later in the year.

Measure A Falls Short of Necessary Votes

2010-05-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

Measure A, a $198 parcel tax to fund the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, was narrowly defeated at the polls according to updated numbers for the special mail-in election that closed this Tuesday.

The semi-final official election results on Friday afternoon with 100 percent of precincts reporting indicate a yes vote of 13,671, or 64.25 percent, and a no vote of 7607, or 35.75 percent.

Under California law, funding measures requires a two-thirds approval, a so-called supermajority, to pass. Total registration for the SMMUSD voting precincts (Santa Monica, City of Malibu and Unincorporated Malibu) is 70,180.

—Anne Soble

City Council May Be Poised to Take First Step to Try to Bring CHP Back to Malibu

2010-05-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

• Contacting State Officials Is on Agenda of May 24 Meeting

BY ANNE SOBLE

The Malibu City Council is expected to begin the process of exploring the feasibility of working with the California Highway Patrol to resume traffic law enforcement on Pacific Coast Highway and other state roads.
Newly-elected Councilmember Lou La Monte, whose campaign platform called for the CHP’s return, has asked city staff to prepare an agenda item for the May 24 council meeting asking “the council [to] direct staff to begin the process of bringing the CHP back.”
Since Malibu incorporated 19 years ago, the city has contracted with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for both traffic and criminal law enforcement.
Recent PCH fatalities and concerns about handling of road closures and signal malfunctions have generated local criticism of LASD on traffic-related issues.
La Monte told the Malibu Surfside News, “The CHP agenda item will be the first step in bringing the Highway Patrol back to Malibu to provide additional traffic enforcement on PCH, one of the most dangerous highways in the state.”