Nasty Speed Bumps Installed On PCH At Checkpoints

Sharp speed bumps were installed Saturday on Pacific Coast Highway at the two checkpoints …. eastbound in Malibu and westbound in Pacific Palisades.

These are sharp bumps … designed to deliver an enormous jolt to anyone going more than 10 miles an hour or so. 

The speed bumps are right at the stop signs. 

And up in the Santa Monica Mountains near Saddle Peak … a key road is being shut down weekdays from 9 to 5 for construction work.

LA County roads is closing Schueren Road daily … closed to all traffic … for replacement of a culvert.

This cuts off the link between Stunt Road on the north … and Camp 8 to the south.  

With the closure of upper Las Flores Canyon Road … this leaves only Piuma Road as access to the top of the Saddle Peak area. 

This roadwork is scheduled daytimes … 9 to 5 … this week only. 

Palisades Fire Victims Lose Son To Drunk Driver In Manhattan Beach

A family that lost its house in the Pacific Palisades Fire has lost their son to a drunk driver in Manhattan Beach,.

Braun Levi was killed at 12:45 Saturday morning as he and a friend walked near his temporary house … where he … his parents and his sister had relocated to after the fire. 

Jenna Belt … a 33 year old Los Angeles woman … was arrested for suspicion of drunk driving and homicide.

Levi was a student at Loyola High School in Los Angeles. 

Summer Wheaton Wants Damages From Widow Of Man She Apparently Killed

The social influencer charged with killing a man on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu is now blaming the victim for the crash.

Summer Wheaton has counter-sued the widow of Martin Okeke … the rideshare driver who was killed by her car as it crossed the center lane of PCH and slammed into his.

Wheaton is actually asking a judge to award her money … from the widow … for having had her husband in the way of her speeding car. 

Wheaton pleaded not guilty in March to a charges of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated  … and two other charges.

She is awaiting trial. 

Sheriff’s deputies have said that the Mercedes she was driving crossed the center left turn lane and smashed head on into Cadillac driven by ride-share driver Martin Okeke.

Okeke’s widow, Kelechi, and his daughter have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Wheaton.

Co defendants are the Nobu restaurant and Red, White & Bootsy … the organizer off the alcohol-soaked party on the Fourth of July … 

Bottles of liquor were passed out to the crowd.

The permit for the party had been cancelled by the city … and now Nobu has sued the city over that. 

Late last week … Summer Wheaton has filed a response at LA Superior Court, where she denied “each, every and all of the allegations” against her.

Wheaton insists that the dead man’s family has not “sustained any injury, damages or loss.’

She claims that Okeke acted “carelessly, recklessly and negligently” … apparently by getting in the way of her car on the wrong side of the road.

And the accused murderer is not only blaming the dead victim … she is blaming the dead victim’s wife. 

The Daily Mail obtained the court documents … filed by Summer Wheaton … last Friday.

Malibu Parking Agents Write 1,391 Tickets For No Front Plates In One Month

License plate violations now make up an enormous number of traffic tickets written in Malibu.

A private firm has been brought in to handle parking violations … but they are writing a huge number of license plate citations. 

Last month … 402 tickets for expired registration 

82 tickets for having there license plate in the wrong place … most often … in a window. 

61 tickets for no current tab or having a mutilated plate.

And a whopping 1391 tickets for no front license plates.

License plate issues make up 49 percent of the tickets written on parked cars by the Malibu crews.

Most iof these violations can be cured by fixing the problem … and then driving to the cop shop to show that they have been fixed. 

Social media is full of outrage.

Police state … unfair … waste of my time … front plates make my car ugly … are among the complaints. 

But others point out that the front plates are necessary for the city’s new license plate cameras … which are proven burglar fighters. 

Malibu Losing Capt. Jennifer Seetoo To Big Promotion

Captain Jennifer Seetoo has been promoted … and will be leaving Malibu.

Seetoo has been named commander of the sheriff’s North Patrol Region … where she will oversee five stations. 

A new captain will be brought in to the Malibu Lost Hills station. 

It’s hard to overstate the impact of Seetoo’s three years as the top law officer in Malibu and the Lost Hills station. 

It had been a revolving door of captains and policies during the previous years .,. under then-sheriff Alex Villanueva.

Seetoo has focussed on Malibu issues … and was a familiar face at local events. 

News of her promotion was reported by the Malibu Times.

Malibu Gets A New Temporary Deputy City Manager

Malibu has hired a a new temporary deputy city manager.

Richard Rojas has been brought in on a temporary contract to replace Alexis Brown … who resigned last month.

No public vote was taken.

No public announcement has been made. 

His name just appeared on city agenda items late last week. 

Just 13 months ago … Rojas was hired as assistant city manager in Rosemead … a small city east of Los Angeles. 

Before that … four years in Norwalk … and a series of jobs in Compton … Carson… San Luis Obispo and Henderson, NV.

The current acting city manager … continues to work on a temporary contract.

There had been reports last week that he had resigned … but apparently there are efforts by Malibu officials to keep him.

The new acting deputy city manager is scheduled to make his first public appearance in Malibu Thursday at 2.

That’s when the city council will convene a special meeting.

Originally … it was supposed to be a roundtable planning session … where the council could converse with the public on issues related to rebuilding after the fire, including issues related to water tanks and fire flow.

That will still be on the schedule … but the city council also has added a formal public hearing on a proposed house in the middle of the Malibu Park neighborhood.

The owners want to build a house and a separate ADU dwelling unit … on two sides of a long narrow lot.

The neighbors on each side want the structures on the middle of the lot.

It’s generated a huge controversy.

That hearing will be Thursday at 2.

Affected Small Businesses Can Now Apply For Direct City Cash Payments

Small businesses in Malibu that have been affected by the fires … and the PCH closure … can get direct city cash grsants. 

Two members o fate city council will review the plications and made by the city council in June. 

Applications will be accepted through the end of the month. Expenses like rent, payroll, inventory replacement, and utilities are elib=gible for city aid. 

To qualify, businesses must:

• Be located within Malibu City limits
• Demonstrate financial hardship linked to the disasters
• Provide a public benefit to the Malibu community
• Be in good standing with the City.

Applications online or at city hall. 

Insurance Industry Calls For Mandatory Fire-Proofing Of Older Homes In Fire Areas

A group funded by there American home insurance industry is calling on cities and L-A County to require that fireproofing for houses in high-risk fire zones.

Fire-resistant walls, roofs, windows and landscaping would be required … 

The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety has called on L.A. city and county leaders to “take mitigation actions to contribute to a more survivable and insurable future.”

The insurance-backed research group also called for incentives and financial assistance to cover homeowners’ retrofitting costs.

While new construction in fire zones must comply with California’s wildfire building code, existing homes do not hav veto follow this. Codes. 

The insurance industry report was prepared in conjunction with UCLA and USC.

LA Times Finds Arsenic And Lead In Many Scraped Lots

The federal government decided this year to save money and skip testing the soil in L.A.’s burn areas for hazardous substances. 

An investigation by the Los Angeles Times shows that the federal government cleanup may have missed significant amounts of  lead and other heavy metals.

About 100 houses were scientifically tested in the Altadena and Palisades fire areas.

Two of them that were tested in Malibu were both in the Bofg Rock … they both tested within safe levels. 

The newspaper found that one house in Palisades Highlands had 3.5 times the amount of arsenic … a poisonous element … than allowed by federal standards. 

Other houses exceeded the level of lead.

None of the houses that were tested by the LA Times were along the beach … in Malibu … where 330 oceanfront houses burned.

Plane Heading To Santa Monica Airport Bounces Onto Fairway At Nearby Golf Course

You may have seen the video … a small airplane landing on a golf course Friday on the 10th tee of the Riviera Country Club … in Pacific Palisades.

The plane came in … its engine not running … and bounced around a bit.

Flight aware shows that the flight had begun in Merced County and ended on the 10th tee of the golf course. 

He was apparently trying to land at Santa Monica Airport. 

That’s the latest forced landing to be reported connected to Santa Monica Airport.

The city is still planning to shut down the airport in 2028. 

Aviation advocates are still fighting that decision.

Malibu Resident Sets Concert Record

A Malibu resident now holds the record for the largest concert ever held by a women.

Lady Gaga drew an estimated crowd of 2.5 million people to her free concert in Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach Saturday.

The record was previously held by Madonna, who drew a crowd of 1.6 million fans to a free concert at Copacabana Beach in May 2024.

Lady Gaga’s record-breaking show was almost thwarted by a bomb attack planned by a group that had been spreading hate speech, according to police in Rio.

She lives near Zuma Beach.

KBUU Begins Test Transmissions Into Eastern Malibu

And finally this morning … KBUU has begun test transmissions from our new booster in eastern Malibu.

The new signal is not yet quite in sync with the existing signal from Paradise Cove … so we are adjusting things.

But the FM 99.1 broadcast now extends into the Civic Center area and as far east as Duke’s restaurant at Las Flores Canyon. 

It effectively doubles our transmission area. 

KBUU is conducting transmissions under a Program Test Authority construction permit issued by the FCC.

The 19-watt booster … on FM 99.1 … transmits from near Bluffs Park. 

Anyone with a comment on the new stations operations can contact the radio station via phone … 310 589-4875 … or via email.