Impossible To Confirm Report: Joe Biden Spending the 4th At Point Dume Club

More mysteries than answers today about the mysterious VIP at Point Dume.

Who is the VIP at Point Dume Club yesterday and today?

All signs point to former President Joseph P. Biden … possibly spending the holiday weekend at the mobile home park with million dollar views above Zuma Beach.

There is no official confirmation.  Only Internet chatter of unofficial Biden sightings.

A huge number of California Highway Patrol motorcycle cops … and a contingent of what appeared to be Secret Service agents … descended on the clubhouse at the Point Dume mobile home village yesterday.

Dozens of CHP motorcycles were parked by the pool.

Agents and CHP officers were friendly … but refused in a nice way to say who  they were guarding. 

Internet specualtion runs wild. 

But there are only a few people under Secret Service protection of the size that we saw yesterday and today.

There were pictures of Biden on a plane to San Diego yesterday .. to give a speech.

That was in the morning. 

Late in the day … a presidential sized motorcade was spotted heading up PCH thru central Malibu yesterday … towards Point Dume. 

Maybe an ex-presidntial sized motorcade.

It is possible that a foreign head of state or other official is in Malibu … unofficially … if so … we may never know. 

The sheriff’s department knows who it was and cannot say. 

The CHP is silent.

And the Secret Service is keeping it a state secret. 

A presidential secret … as it were. 

Woman Killed In Decker Canyon Road Plunge

A woman was killed on Decker Canyon Road yesterday when her Polaris side by side vehicle rear-ended a car … as they both descended the very steep downgrade.

A sheriff’s detective says that for some reason …. a Polaris vehicle being driven by the woman smacked into the rear of a sedan in front of her. 

The Polaris then plummeted 350 feet down a cliff … killing the driver.

The two people in the Mazda sedan were not hurt.

According to a CBS Los Angeles TV crew in a helicopter … the Polaris came to rest on top of another car .. rusted out … that had gone over the cliff years before.

In fact … there were several rusted out cars and pickup trucks at the bottom of that 350-foot cliff.

As of this morning … the coroner’s office had not notified all of the woman’s family. 

The sheriff’s office publicly identified her as a 29 year old woman. 

An LA TV station last night reported that the Polaris had been rear-ended by another vehicle.

But the official sheriff’s report does not include any mention of a third vehicle.

The Polaris is a type of vehicle … usually used off road … sometimes street legal.

It has only a few safety features … its open design exposes people to the elements. 

The section of Highway 23 was built in 1923 … 102 years ago … and that section is on the original alignment. 

Although its guardrails have been rebuilt in recent years … the road itself has never changed.

It’s extremely steep grade is far steeper than modern highway standards.

L A County built a bypass road … Encinal Canyon Road … around the steepest part of Highway 23. 

But the central and northern parts of old Decker Road .. twisting and steep … are unchanged in more than a century.

Point Dume Artist Apparently Tests Light Exhibition Off Coast Wednesday Night

Again … no confirmation … but it appears that Point Dume artist Yvette Mattern lit up the horizon off the coast of Malibu last night.

Numerous people were startled to see the horizon turn bright blue.

Mattern had planned to pull the stunt from the Malibu Pier. 

It appears the lights were coming from a boat offshore.

When KBUU Radio called her … she explained shows trying to bring a symbol of hope, resilience and unity to Malibu after the fire.

Mattern had applied for a temporary use permit to shine the lights from the City of Malibu … but it was not granted.

An appointed city arts commissioner … Pamela Conley Ulich … saidf last week that she was “praying it will be able to go forward and grateful for local artists who make Malibu and our world brighter. “

She also told KBUU that the art installation was … quote …coming from the Malibu Arts Commission.

It wasn’t.

According to Conley Ulich … this is a “Community Beacon of Light + Sound + Healing … a powerful symbol of hope, resilience, and unity.”

She said it “reflects the spirit of renewal collective strength and healing. “

Tell that to the wildlife.

The Internet is full of scientific studies of the effect of bright lights on sea birds and ocean-dwelling animals.

Birds usually navigate to the sea by following the glow of the moon … and they get confused by bright artificial lights at night. 

Ocean birds end up circling the light for long periods of time, becoming exhausted and falling to the ground.

Or into the ocean.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service says sea birds often exhaust themselves into death,

The California Coastal Commission does not allow bright lights to be shined into the ocean. 

But as near as we can tell … there is no state law against shining bright lights over the ocean. 

The coastal commission says “artificial light in marine and coastal areas can have a variety of negative impacts on habitats and species, including seabirds and migratory songbirds.

Birds can suffer from “light entrapment” and become unable to leave the illuminated area until they become exhausted. Many endangered birds feed at night over the open ocean. 

A spokesperson for the artist told KBUU last week that the artist had obtained permission from the FAA for the installation. 

As of late last week … the city was processing her request to shine the lights from the Malibu Pier. 

As of yesterday … no permit had been granted by the city to use any land point in Malibu for a light show.

California State Parks runs the pier … they said she had never permit. 

Biut it does not appear that the pier was used last night. 

Last night’s light show may have been a test for the three night Global; Rainbow that Mattern envisions for the ocean off Malibu for tonight . July 4th and July 5th.…

She told a local newspaper … the Malibu Times … that it is a poetic installation … not a a party.  

“The lasers do not move. They stay completely still. It’s like a meditation.”
Make sure the birds get that memo.

High Altitude Smoke From Big Central Coast Fire May Waft Over Malibu, NWS Says

The first big brushfire of the year along the coastal counties is burning 120 miles northwest of Malibu and it could send smoke above Malibu today. 

The Madre Fire exploded into a 35 thousand acre monster in the area along Highway 166 … east of Santa Maria and west of Bakersfield. 

That would be about 60 miles north of Santa Barbara. 

The fire grew to around 3,000 acres within the two hours, generating pyrocumulus clouds at points during the afternoon and evening. 

The fire has stretched well into the Carrizo Plain Ecological Reserve and the Carrizo Plain National Monument, where there is very little burn history in recent years. 

As of now … there is no containment on the fire.

It is possible that smoke from the fire could drift high above Malibu this afternoon.

The National Weather Service says smoke has already appeared above Santa Barbara County and western portions of Ventura County. 

Smokey skies may be visible from portions of LA County today, though it is likely to stay elevated well above the surface.

Fairly Quiet Fourth On Tap

Point Dume residents will be decorating their golf carts and parading on the 4th of July again tomorrow.

The 9am parade ends at Malibu Elementary School … with a community carnival.

The venerable Gladstone’s restaurant opens back up for partial business. 

The patio will be open starting at 10 on the 4th of July … tomorrow.

Gladstones has been closed since the January fire. 

The outside garbage bins and delivery dock burned in the January Fire … which took out 16 hundred homes … 

No fireworks permits have been issued for the nearshore waters … as far as the city knows. 

One Lane of PCH Will Be Closed Thursday

Once again, at least one lane of PCH will be closed today near Duke’s.  

The Army Corps of Engineers says westbound PCH – heading toward Malibu Pier … will be closed for the half mile of PCH approaching Las Flores Canyon Road.  

This is the same area they have been working for the past few days.

The Army is working on clearing debris at a private property on the inland side of the highway.  Dump trucks may be making U-turns, blocking both directions.  Watch for flaggers.

Construction today (Wednesday) closed one lane in either direction near McDonalds and the Malibu Pier.   There were lengthy delays..

Nordstrom’s Will Close This Summer, As SM Dinos May Be Heading to Extinction

Two more blows to the decaying Santa Monica downtown. 

The landmark dinosaurs on the Santa Monica Promenade … the main shopping street … are in such bad shape that they might get ripped out.

They were installed 35 years ago .. and once enthralled children and adults.

Now … a muddle of city bureaucracy has let the Dinos get unkempt … and the fountains next to them dry.

The city is unsure what to do … and they are broke.

Across the street … the last big department store in Santa Monica … Nordstroms … has announced it will close on August 26th.

The Seattle based department chain says it is concentrating on stores that can do well in the age of internet shopping. 

The Nordstorm’s stores at Century City Mall and at The Oaks in Thousand Oaks appear to be packed with customers.

The Santa Monica store … 122 thousand square feet on three floors … opened 15 years ago.

Its closure will mean another vacant gaping hole in what once was a first class … vibrant retail center by the beach.

The LA Times notes that safety has become an issue in downtown Santa Monica and the Third Street Promenade … once known as a signature destinations for shopping and dining.

Police shootouts outside … high profile robberies … and a botched police response to a peaceful demonstration resulted in a looting spree that left downtown Santa Monica in wreckage.

Macy’s pulled out early this year.

REI moved to marina Del Rey last winter. 

J C Penney … Sears … long gone. 

Downtown Santa Monica is in a retail death spiral.

Dick Van Dyke was complained that there was no place for him to buy underwear in Malibu anymore. 

Now … add Santa Monica to that list. 

Fallen West LA CHP Officer To Be Honored Today

A CHP officer who had been based in Culver City will be honored statewide today. 

Officer Miguel Cano suffered a medical emergency 2 days ago … as he steered his CHP cruiser around a corner just down the street from the West LA CHP office.

The CHP officer had just administered narcan … for a suspected drug overdose … to a drug smuggling suspect who was in the back seat of the car. 

There is no known link … however .. to the narcan or the suspect.

An autopsy is pending. 

Officer Miguel Cano is the 233rd CHP officer to die in the line of duty since 1929. 

Stephen Miller’s Legal Group Attempts Legal Revenge Against LA Dodgers

Last week … the LA Dodgers kicked out ICE agents from its parking lot.

This week … Stephen Miller kicked back.

A conservative legal group founded by former Santa Monica resident Stephen Miller field a federal civil rights complaint Monday. 

They accuse the Los Angeles Dodgers of “apparently engaging in unlawful discrimination under the guise of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion.’”

Miller’s front group … America First Legal … mentioned the parking lot situation between the Dodgers and federal immigration officials in its news release about the complaint.

The day after the Dodgers told the ICE agents to pound sand … the team committed $1 million toward assistance for families affected by the immigration raids in the city.

America First Legal’s complaint points to a page on the Dodgers website that says the team has a mission “to create a culture where diverse voices and experiences are valued.” 

The Dodgers website outlines team efforts to recruit women and people of color, partner with community groups to support racial and social justice and promote heritage events for staff and fans.

Whether the team has a First amendment right to support things like that is not addressed by the legal group.

No comment from the Dodgers. 

Heat Possible Next Week In Malibu 

Late summer weather patterns may develop next week,

The National Weather Service models are showing a 10 percent chance of very high temperatures by Wednesday.

But more likely for the beaches … thick marine layer clouds and fog are far more likely.

As we said … a huge brushfire is burning northeast of Solvang. 

Upper level smoke currently drifting far south from its origin over Santa Barbara County.  

Smokey skies may be visible from Malibu today, though it is likely to stay elevated well above the surface.