Nesting Birds Delayed Army Debris Removal At 80 Houses, But Some Residents Say ‘That’s OK’

Debris removal at 80 wrecked houses in Malibu and Pacific Palisades was delayed for several weeks this spring because birds had made nests in the wreckage.

Los Angeles  Times columnist Jim Rainey said the delay affected his house … in Carbon Canyon … one of the 720 houses destroyed in the January fire.

Birds built nests in the charred palm trees on the Rainey families’  lot … and crews stopped work until they raised their chicks and moved on.

Rainey said the delay was several weeks, and will not affect the timeline for rebuilding.

And he quoted other neighbors in Carbon Canyon … who said they understood and supported letting the birds raise their fledges…. Delaying the raising of their wreckage for a few weeks.

Malibu’s State Senator Kills SB 549, Which Would Have Created Overarching Rebuild Authority

Senate Bill 549 is dead … the controversial fire rebuilding authority bill … is on hold for this year.

The proposal would have created a countywide rebuilding authority … a plan for a centralized rebuilding authority from the January fires … in Altadena and Pacific Palisades.

And oh by the way … Malibu.

But those are three different areas … with three wildly different sets of needs.

Opponents said the bill would allow L.A. County to buy burned-out lots in Malibu to consolidate them for multifamily housing.

They said it would strip away local zoning decisions and push dense reconstruction.

The controversial measure’s sponsor … state Senator Ben Allen of Santa Monica … admits that th measure needed a lot of work.

ALLEN 549 ONE

“We have got to sort out a little of the confusion that’s out there.

“There were two very different aspects of the bill that were together in the bill … they actually didn’t really relate (to each other) but they got conflated and confused by people.

“As was as the timing of Governor Newsom’s announcement of the $100 million expenditure of money to help affordable housing around the state that wasn’t related with the bill, but got conflated with the bill.”

Many people in Malibu were strongly … vehemently opposed to the bill.  Its provisions for land banking … for centralized planning approval … were very much counter to the local control demands from Malibu.

Allen says the needs of Altadena and Pacific Palisades are very different from each other … not to mention different from Malibu.

Consolidating lots for multifamily housing may make sense in Altadena … but are politically unpopular in Pacific Palisades.

And a death wish in Malibu.

ALLEN 549 TWO

“It certainly seemed likely that we were going to create two different entities… One for the Palisades fire one for the Eaton fire.

“But then to get to your question. Would it make sense to create sepraret entities for the City of Los Angeles and maybe Malibu …

“Or maybe we just exempt Malibu altogether.

“These are all things that we should consider … we just needed more time. “

The state senator has not given up on there idea of a rebuilding authority … and will bring it back in a different form next year.

ALLEN 549 THREE

“Creating an authority along these lines created a lot of benefits … particularly on economies of scale.

“People would be able to buy material together and save money.”

But State Senator Ben Allen tells KBUU there has to be separate provisions for zoning control in Altadena … Pacific Palisades and Malibu … to reflect the wildly different type of government in charge of those three wildly different areas.

LA Judge Finalizes Ruling Against Adrian Fernandez, Dismisses Most Of His Lawsuit

A Los Angeles county judge has dismissed most of the lawsuit filed by former city assistant city planner Adrian Fernandez … following thru on her preliminary decision announced last week.

Judge Gail Killefer also said Fernandez’s original suit was defective … as was his first try to amend it.

She gave Fernandez’s lawyers unttil August 11 to file a third version of the claim … making a claim that he was discriminated against.

But Fernandez’s complaint that his privacy was violated when two city council  members discussed 

The judge ruled that Fernandez had no right to expect his personnel complaints against the city to remain confidential …. 

And that by sending it to the entire city council … Fernandez made it a public matter that is open for public discussion. 

Judge Kelliher will hold a hearing on third attempt at an acceptable lawsuit. 

That will be on August 15th.

House That Will Block PCH Ocean Views Near Malibu Seafood Goes Before Planning Commission Monday

For months … residents driving along Pacific Coast Highway may have noticed that a new house was being proposed for the hill between PCH and the ocean … on th hill between Puerco Canyon and Malibu Seafood.

The proposed house has story poles that show a significant blockage of the view of the ocean … from the highway.

The proposed house was found by the city to have been too high. … and has been revised downward.

And some city officials say they suspect that dirt has been dumped long PCH to create a berm … blocking ocean views. 

But the house is not overly tall … it apparently meets the city’s 18 foot height limit. 

But there is one problem.

The owner has put the proposed house right on top of a lot line … a property line between the two parcels that make up the site.

That requires city approval. 

It goes before the Planning Commission next Monday night.

Name Of Little Boy Killed In MRCA Tree Collapse Is Released: Lamar McGlothurn

The LA County coroner has released the name of the 8 year old boy who was killed by a falling tree limb at the MRCA park headquarters in Malibu Canyon last week.

Lamar McGlothurn was identified as an 8 year old resident of Los Angeles.

The sheriff’s office is conducted an investigation into what appears to eb a horrible accident. 

McGlothurn and a group of other children were waiting for their parents to pick them up from a day camp at the MRCA headquarters. … on King Gillette 

Some Pacific Palisades Drivers Are Moaning About Reduced Speeds, And Having To Stop At Blinking Red Lights

Some Pacific Palisades residents are compiling about the lower speed limits on PCH in the fire zone.

The speed limit is 25 despite the fact that there is very little construction going on in the highway anymore.

And demolition has been completed along nearly all of the pacific Palisades area. 

Some residents are complaining that increased law enforcement presence that was promised to deter looters has instead materialized as a crackdown on local drivers — many of them fire victims.

They tell a westside newspaper … the Westside Current … that instead of patrolling our neighborhoods to prevent looting— the police are victimizing already traumatized fire victims with their need to feed their ticket revenue coffers.

Residents described being cited for rolling stops at blinking red lights and for driving at what they said were reasonable speeds on PCH and Sunset Boulevard.

They say they are getting tickets in areas with no road work or signage indicating active hazards. 

The cost of the tickets has added insult to injury for many. 

One woman said her fine for failing to stop at a flashing red light on Sunset was $550 — and she would need to contest it in Pasadena court because the officer was based there.

U S Citizen, An Army Vet, Promises Court Action Against His Arrest In Oxnard-Area Field

The disabled US citizen who was swept up and arrested last week at the ICE action near Las Posas Road says he will sue the U S government.

George Retes says he was jailed for three days in downtown Los Angeles despite having made it clear to the arresting agents that he is a citizen of the United States. 

George Retes is a retired Army soldier … disabled.

He was arriving for work … when he encountered a military roadblock.

RETES CH5 71412 / 13

“I don’t know I can’t answer why they arrested me.

“That would be a question for them not me.

“No one should be put in this position, it doesn’t matter if you are in immigrant, it doesn’t matter the color of your skin.

“It doesn’t matter the color of your skin, it doesn’t matter if you votedleft, it doesn’t matter if you voted right.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re black, brown, yellow, green.

“No one deserves to be treated this way.

“It shouldn’t have happened and I hope this never happens to anyone ever again.

“I don’t know why I was arrested. I can’t give you an answer. That would be a question for them not me.”

Retes was interviewed there by KTLA and KABC. 

He says he was driving too work when federal agents suddenly appeared in the road … and ordered him to stop.

They broke his car’s window … shoved a gas container in it … and arrested him despite his complying with all orders. 

Newsom Says National Guard Troops Who Protected Malibu Are Now Chasing People On LA Streets, And Not Happy About It

Governor Gavin Newsom says the California National Guard troops that were seized by the federal government … and ordered to chase down suspected illegal immigrants … were stolen from the state of California. 

Newsom was in southeast LA County yesterday … visiting numerous mom and pop businesses that have seen their commerce drop 80 percent because fellow American citizens are afraid to step out on US streets. 

Newsom said the Pentagon has botched the National Guard call-up … and delayed releasing the citizen soldiers to go back to their lives as teachers … police officers … firefighters. 

And he said many of the California Army troops have gone from the guarding the streets off Malibu … directly to the task of guarding ICE agents. 

GOV WEAKNESS 71414 

“We still have thousands of National Guard … the 49th MPs.

“You know them well here in Southern California.

“Those are the 49th MPs who s spent 45 days up to 60 days doing recovery and protecting the people of Los Angeles. 

“They’re still waiting for the Pentagon to get their act together … to end this theater once and for all.

“This cruelty, it’s all about terrorizing communities … it’s about appearing tough.

“I’ve said and I will repeat it: weakness masquerading as strength, weakness, masquerading as strength.”

Meanwhile … those military police who once were getting praise and friendly waves at checkpoints in Malibu say the public has turned on them.

The New York Times interviewed California National Giard troops … who are increasingly saying … this is not what they signed up for.

The newspaper reports that the troops are weak for getting jeered at as they guard federal buildings. 

Drivers are flipping off the giant truck convoys clogging freeways. 

There have been acts of sabotage committed by the soldiers … and they are leaving the military in record numbers as their enlistment period ends. 

The Times reports several soldiers told them of a soldier who refused orders to raid farmworkers in Ventura County. 

That soldier was reassigned to administrative tasks. 

US Senator From California Is Target Of Trump Tax Evasion Attack

One of California’s two senators is being attacked by the White House over a supposed case of tax fraud.

Adam Schiff has been accused by the President of the United States of having falsified tax records on his mortgages for his family home near Washington … and his official residence in Washington. 

SCHIFF TAX 71419

“It’s on the one hand, very pathetic.

“On the other hand, this is now what he’s doing with lots of his opponents. 

“They are threatening me. They are threatening James Comey, they are threatening John Brennan. 

“They’re threatening really anyone who has the audacity to stand up to Donald Trump.”

The California junior Senator says Trump is is creating a diversion from the swirl of news about his 15-year friendship with convicted child rapist Jeffrey Epstein. 

SCHIFF TAX 71419/2

“He is just stewing over his base calling for the release of these Epstein Files. 

“So when that happens to Donald Trump … he lashes out at his enemies list, which I am on.

“He says ‘look at Adam Schiff, look at James Comey, look at Hillary Clinton … but whatever you do … don’t look at me … don’t look at the Epstein Files.’ “

For context … we note that a jury in Manhattan found former President Donald Trump’s company guilty of a long-running criminal tax fraud scheme that lasted into his presidency.