Editor's note: We are out of town and prepared this morning's newscast Sunday, 
when the mountain lion attack had not yet occurred. As we announced o the news this
morning, today's newscast was prerecorded late Sunday night.

Mountain Lion Bites Child Near PCH/Encinal Canyon

Authorities shot and killed a mountain lion after an 11-year-old child was bitten outside a Malibu home Sunday night.

Officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Lost Hills Station said deputies responded to the 32500 block of Pacific Coast Highway shortly after 5:30 p.m. on reports of the incident.

Early reports suggest that the child may have been feeding chickens on the property when the attack occurred, with officials saying the 11-year-old suffered a bite on the arm. While the extent of the child’s injuries are unknown, the minor was rushed to the hospital and is expected to be okay.

A large presence of emergency crews responded to the scene, including officials with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who worked to track down the animal and, eventually, shoot and kill it. DNA samples were taken from the young victim that will be tested against the mountain lion to confirm that the big cat was involved in the attack.

Malibu City Council To Meet In Third Secret Meeting Re: Already-Hired City Manager

Does Malibu have a new city manager … or not???

That question may be answered by the city council today … when it meets for an extraordinary third closed-door session … beyond public review … to discuss the hiring of Ronda Perez.

Perez was named as the new Malibu city manager 10 days ago … but since then … for some unexplained reason … the council has gone back behind closed doors to huddle with its lawyers. 

Supposedly … all that was left was a ratification vote tonight.

Instead .. the city council goes into closed doors … again … today at 4.

$65 Million Worth Of Bu Beachfront Scooped Up By Foreign Investor

The National Association of Realtors has revealed that a foreign investment company has swooped into Malibu with a wheelbarrow of cash … buying oceanfront vacant lots for future speculation.

The association has a website … which Saturday reported that real estate agent Weston Littlefield and Alex Howe have cashed in on commissions … and helped their client purchase nine prime lots in Malibu.

Total purchase price … north of $65 million.

“I think it’s going to be a very desirable spot for a lot of wealthy people to try to buy a beach house,” Littlefield told the website Realtor.com.

Dozens of other oceanfront lots are still for sale after the fire … as longtime residents look at the price of rebuilding and decide to cash out. 

Littlefield says the lots will be resold by his client … he would not name who that is.

“They’re not a big developer—that’s not what these guys do….” He is quoted as sating.

“They actually have true intentions to really make Malibu great again. And they’re taking a very huge risk,”

The investor has decided to only buy lots that were 40 feet or more of beach frontage.

Littlefield says he tracked down the owners and approached them to see if they would consider selling.

Littlefield’s client purchased eight beachfront properties along La Costa Beach and one property on Carbon Beach, also known as “Billionaires Beach.”

He predicts that “once this stretch is rebuilt, it will be the only beach in one of the most famous places in the world with entirely brand-new beachfront homes” 

Says Littlefield. “That kind of rarity just doesn’t exist anywhere else in the United States.”

Council May Endorse Sewer Line For PCH Burn Area Tonight

Malibu may ask Los Angeles County for help … to build a sewer down Pacific Coast Highway for fire victims along the beach. 

City public safety director Rob Duboux tonight will give the city his rough sketch of how much it would cost to hook up waterfront houses … in the burn area … to the Hyperion sewage treatment plant … the giant City of Los Angeles facility next to LAX.

177 burned down houses on the Malibu seafront all face a similar dilemma … their raw sewage used to be treated by individual septic systems … often leaky … often stinky … often discharging raw sewage directly into the ocean.

The concept is to build a pipe from Billionaire’s beach east … five miles … to plug in to a City of Los Angeles sewer connection at Coastline Drive.

The cost would be borne by each land owner. 

But some lots are likely to sit vacant for years … and it is not clear how burned lot owners would be able to pay the massive costs for sewer district taxes when their houses are gone.

And … it appears that foreign investors are swooping in with boatloads of money to buy this land for future speculation. 

As city council member Bruce Silverstein has noted…. Many fire victims will not have enough money to build replacement homes … seawalls … coastal platforms … and also pay the significant sewer fee.

Says he: if we build it, for whom?

At tonight’s city council meeting … the city engineer will update the council on his very rough design for the Pacific Coast Highway Wastewater project.

The council will be asked to provide direction on committing to a Hyperion pipeline. 

And also … asked to approve asking Los Angeles County to support and coordinate the project.

Council May Approve Another $185k For School Separation

Also on the agenda for tonight…. Spending another 180 thousand dollars on consultants for the independent Malibu school district drive.

That is not for lawyers … that  is a separate cost.

This would be for Ryland School Business Consulting to continue to provide data and support services  for the city’s law firm negotiating with Santa Monica.

City staff proposes adding another $180,000 to the Ryland budget.

That brings in to more than three quarters of a million dollars.

Malibu and Santa Monica continue to negotiate on financial details for the deal … that the school board supposedly signed off on two years ago. 

The big issue is how to continue to divvy up lucrative property tax revenue from Malibu to subsidize Santa Monica schools … and still pay for a proposed Malibu independent school district …

The city council will also review public comments on the proposed automatic traffic speed enforcement cameras.

And it will once again look at proposals for either sirens or FM radio alarms to alert people who are indoors and unaware when fire or other disasters are headed our way.

LA County To Unveil $49m Project To Restore Sand at Zuma And Pt Dume Beaches

We told you last week about the “big reveal” scheduled for August 20th … That is when California State Parks will for the first time explain how sand will be moved from behind the old Rindge Dam in Malibu Canyon .. out to Surfrider Beach.

Now comes the next big issue: am proposed 49 million dollar sand replenishment project for Zuma and Point Dume beaches.

The amount of sand that has been washed away from Zuma and Westward beaches has been astounding. 

What has been even more astounding has been the lack of action by four governments …. federal and state … county and city … to do anything about it.

For more than 60 years … beaches in other parts of California have regularly been resupplied with sand … 

Most often … this is sand that gets pumped ashore from just off the surf line … of from nearby harbors.

San Diego … Oceanside …. Newport Beach …. Huntington Beach … Oxnard and Ventura.

They all get Army Corps of Engineers projects every few years to replenish their beaches. 

But never in Los Angeles County. 

Zuma Beach has lost more than 3 feet in height in recent years. 

And Zuma loses up to to 75 feet in typical winters … at Trancas Creek … more in El Niño years.

Point Dume Beach has at times completely washed away … endangering the access road and public buildings.  

Los Angeles County has quietly proposed a beach nourishment of 500,000 cubic yards at Zuma Beach. 

That’s the equivalent of 83 thousand big dumptrucks.

It’s about 2-1/2 times the size of the proposed Broad Beach sand project … shook that ever happen … a big if.

Some of there sand would be used to create sand dunes at the mouth of Trancas Creek and Zuma Creek.

The most likely sources will be harbor maintenance dredging at Marina del Rey … or maybe digging up from the seabed near LAX.

The sand would be pumped onto barges and pulled by tugboats to Zuma. 

Who would pay for it?

Not yet known … but with Zuma Beach being the largest public beach in L A County jurisdiction … and most beach use coming from people in the San Fernando Valley … county bond money would appear too be the likely source. 

L A County Department of Beaches and Harbors is in charge of this effort,

And they will describe their plans to the Malibu city council at tonight’s meeting.

Brushfire Turns Mega, Is Only 1/3 Contained on Federal Land

That huge brushfire burning 140 miles north of Malibu … that has fouled our air for a week … is now described as a mega fire. The Gifford Fire has burned 118 thousand acres along the highway east of Santa Maria … towards Bakersfield.

Containment is at 33%, according to a federal fire update.  The fire is nearly entire on federally-owned land.

Megafires used to be rare … but they have become more frequent across the western United States in recent decades … driven by climate change and increasingly severe weather patterns.

Three civilians and four firefighters have been injured.

The fire is burring along Highway 166 north of Solvang … and south of Parkdale. 

Closer to Malibu … the first fire of the year … near Magic Mountain … is in great shape. 

Containment went up from 47 percent to 78 percent in the 24 hours ending last night at midnight Sunday. 

All evacuation warnings in Los Angeles and Ventura counties were lifted as of 5:18 a.m. Sunday.

Malibu Area Winery Returns To Its Roots: Rosenthal Tasting Room Reopens On Kanan

Te Rosenthal Winery has reopened.

The sales venue on PCH at Topanga Beach may have burned down seven months ago … but limited tastings and sales have resumed at the vineyard.

It’s on Kanan Dume Road at tunnel one. 

The winery will only be open on weekends and will host two tasting sessions each day … in the afternoons and evenings.

Reservations are required.

Weather for the Malibu:

Inland heat will pull marine layer clouds inland … meaning the beaches may not see the sun until midday.

Highs near 79 beaches … 94 beaches.

Winds … downcoast … not too strong. 

Sunset at 7:46.

Mostly clear tonight …. Lows around 62 everywhere. 

Tomorrow …. Much the same … highs near 79 beaches … 93 in the hills. 

Gradual cooling trend … over the next 7 days.