=.  Malibu is going to have to continue to pay off tens of millions of dollars of bonds borrowed to build a new Santa Monica High School. 

=.  Topanga residents want a longer green light for them to exit onto PCH … blocking traffic in Malibu.

=.  Bad news for  Malibu drivers … the PCH lane closure near Sunset will be with us for months. 

=.  HRL labs wins a major space telescope contract … the work will be done here in Malibu.

=.  Third Space .. a place at cross creek for kids to play .. to learn … and to start a business to make money.

=.  Dick Van Dyke nominated for an Emmy … not bad at age 98.

=.  And Malibu High’s band cuts a track at a professional recording studio … roll over Chick Corea. 

Like In All Divorces, One Side On Losing Side Financially In Malibu-SM Split

What will happen to Malibu’s money … tens of millions of dollars … that went to construct SM High School????

Bond issues 20 years ago millions – by some estimates, 80 million – dollars out of Malibu tax accounts …. And into construction projects at Santa Monica High and John Adams Middle Schools.

Malibu parents were told ‘wait your turn, the need is greatest in Santa Monica first.’

Malibu waited  … and then the Santa Monica school board split the district into two taxing districts for future bond issues.

Well and good … but that left Malibu holding pay repayment promises for the school construction in Santa Monica.

Malibu officials were powerless to stop it. 

So … what happens to the bonded indebtedness that still remains???

Not good news. 

Malibu is on the hook to make payments on the Santa Monica mortgage over the next 15 or 20 years … whether Malibu splits off or not.

That was one of the questions that were answered Saturday … when city officials held an afternoon session to explain the financial deal that was apparently reached between Malibu and Santa Monica officials last week.

We say apparently … because one Santa Monica official is now saying no agreement has been reached … only a consensus.

It’s very complicated … but boiled down to bare bones … Santa Monica holds all the cards.

Malibu has to continue to send tax money … from our lucrative property tax rolls … to Santa Monica to win their support. 

Under the current model … Malibu would get to keep about 40 million dollars per year to run its district.

Santa Monica would get 16.4 million dollars from Malibu tax proceeds … about 38 percent of what is paid altogether into schools from Malibu.

Remember … that money is already going to Santa Monica … Santa Monica has been using Malibu as a tax colony for decades.

School district independence would ensure that Malibu schools would have a Malibu school board. 

One issue discussed was the tens of millions of dollars already sent from Malibu to Santa Monica .. in years past … to rebuild schools there at a time that Malibu High was in bad shape.

That money is gone … and Malibu will probably remain paying off those bonds … even after the district splits. 

Once again … the explanation .. Santa Monica holds all the cards … and Malibu needs an endorsement from Santa Monica to get state officials to okay the split.  

 

Topanga Ask For Malibu Traffic To Get Longer Red Light At New Signal In Malibu – No Progress At Porto Marina

Members of the Topanga Canyon community want to interrupt traffic on PCH for even longer intervals … at the temporary traffic light in the city of Malibu.

At a meeting last week … lots of complaints about the temporary signal at Tuna Canyon Road.

Caltrans officials said their engineers will evaluate making the light red for PCH and green for Tuna Canyon for longer periods. 

Parents unable to get their kids from Topanga to schools in the pacific Palisades are talking about dropping off their kids above the slide … having them walk past the rockfall … and then take a bus or e-bikes to get on to school.

Caltrans spokeswoman Laura Wonder told the Topangans … bad idea.

At last week’s meeting … one major complaint perhaps was the lack of information.

Len Lanzi … one Topanga resident: 

70249 SHOVELS LEN LANZI

“I think getting information and people keeping people informed are what’s going to be the best ways to keep the temperature down. 

“Otherwise, we still people out there with shovels.”

But the bad news … there road may be closed until fall.  

Lauren Wonder is spokesperson for Caltrans in Los Angeles. 

70247 PROACTIVE LAUREN WONDER

“We are working on this very proactively. We’re doing the best we can so that we can get this road open. 

“We know that this is very urgent for the community. We completely understand that. 

“So we are looking at fall. People are wanting a timeline, based on their app estimates, that is what we can target for now.”

Residents in Topanga Canyon said at the public meeting they are worried about events like Topanga Days .. on the Fourth of July … with the major access road closed.

70246 TOPANGA DAYS 

“I really want communities outside of Topanga to be able to come up here. But it’s looking more and more dire with fire danger. 

“I’m disappear to hear (county supervisor Lindsey) Horvath’s office say they are going to do a blast to get more people up here when, if there is fire danger, and if something happens up here to get people out, that just makes it worse.”

More bad news for Malibu residents…. Or anyone trying to drive out to Malibu from Santa Monica.

The landslide between Sunset Boulevard and porto marina is unresolved.

Lauren Wonder says Caltrans does not have a plan yet to clear the dirt from the right lane. 

70251 POTRERO MARINA 2

“Porto Marina has been around for a gazillion years, and it’s something that is on private property. And the state can’t go in and clear that. It has to be coordinated response with a private developer, with the city or county. 

“I want to say the city or county purchased that. 

“It’s always a coordinated response when we respond. 

“We are very aware of it and we are trying to take care of it as best we can.”

Even the state spokes woman is unclear on who owns the land that is sliding on the PCH… With the possibility open, now that the land is owned by the city of Los Angeles. A subdivision was built on the steep hillside 90 years ago… And soon there after houses begin sliding onto the state highway.

It’s possible some government agency purchased the lots above PCH.

But the Porto Marina landslide.. th epode blocking one lane of PCH near Sunset … has been creeping onto PCH for – literally – 30 years.

The landslide actually began in the 1930s. 

Caltrans has failed to address a permanent solution.

Now … the inevitable has happened … part of the road is closed.

And Caltrans has no plan … no estimate … as to when it will be repaired. 

And … the sense of urgency that accompanied a freeway overpass fire in Los Angeles … has not been exhibited on the highway to Malibu. 

 

Next Space Telescope Electronics To Be Built In Malibu 

HRL Labs has won a major compact for a space telescope technology that is aimed at giving us a look at the birth of stars.

The research lab … housed in a campus above Malibu Canyon … was awarded a 27 million dollar contract by the U S Air Force.

Work will be performed over five years in Malibu.

This contract was competitive … and HRL beat three other research teams.

It’s called the CASTLE program ..

In essence … HRL will engineer space cameras with an aperture of 4 meters.

That would be an aperture … a lens … that is 13 feet wide …

That’s 80 times wider than a good Nikon lens .

The lens will eventually be mounted on an orbiting platform and pointed at nearby star-forming regions in the Milky Way.

It should be able to look at material that surrounds forming stars … and their shock structures.

The data will allow production of precise color diagrams for millions of young stars.

It would allow astronomers for the first time to systematically map the detailed excitation structure of stellar winds, supernova remnants, supershells and superbubbles.

This survey will provide the basic data required to understand star formation.

And under the new contract won by HSL … that work will be done in Malibu.

HRL was founded as the Hughes Research Lab … some 60 years ago … but it was spun off into an independent research facility.

 

Boys & Girls Club Opens ‘Third Space’ At Cross Creek

They call it the Third Space … a space between school and home for kids to play … build .. maybe even start a business and make money. 

The Boys & Girls Club of Malibu has opened its latest project … Third Space … down at the Malibu Civic Center.

It’s a storefront … next to Wells Fargo Bank … a store, gallery, and youth innovation space in downtown Malibu where visitors can explore products from local, sustainable, and social entrepreneurs. 

Boys and Girls Club founder Kacie Earnest tells KBUU … Third Space caters to grades K-12. 

70248 3RD SPACE

“Third Space is a nonprofit start up, and it’s a project of the Boys and Girls Club of Malibu. Your home is your first place. Your second place is your work or your school.

“And your third place is a place where you feel the most comfortable, where you can connect with others.

“And here at our Third Place, we help people care, connect and create”

Imaginative and fun workshop opportunities will be offered for younger children to explore and play with products, such as Stapelstein — a system of products to bring movement, creativity, and connection to children, regardless of age, ability or gender. 

Tomorrow …. We’ll hear from some kids there. 

 

Dick Van Dyke Nominated For Daytime Emmy

Malibu acting legend Dick Van Dyke was nominated for a daytime Emmy last Friday.

At age 98 … that makes him the oldest daytime Emmy nominee in the history of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Van Dyke was nominated as guest performer in a daytime drama series for his part as amnesiac Timothy Robicheaux on the Peacock network’s “Days of Our Lives.”

Producer Norman Lear was 100 when he received his final Primetime Emmy nomination in 2022.

Van Dyke has won four Primetime Emmys, including three in the 1960s for his classic comedy series “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”

 

April Showers, May Grey and June Gloom Beset So Cal

A cool and cloudy weather pattern will remain for much of this week.

A strong onshore flow and a deeper marine layer will bring low clouds and fog to the coast and coastal valleys. 

High temperatures will cool significantly to below-normal for this time of year as a series of low pressure systems will move over the area this week. 

There will be a chance for drizzle or very light rain this week.