Kamchatka Tsunami Passes Malibu With Scant Effect, Beaches Were Closed

Malibu’s beaches were closed overnight… but the official tsunami warning was downgraded to a tsunami watch at 5:30 this morning.

But no tsunami waves or strange current flows were reported overnight.

Tsunami related surges in Malibu are still possible today … says the National Weather Service.

As tsunami advisory remain in effect for Malibu and all of the Los Angeles and Ventura County coastline this morning.

The magnitude 8.8 quake hit the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia … north of Japan. … at 4:20 yesterday LA Time.

At one in the morning … we watched sheriffs deputies sweep free Zuma Beach.

Just one couple was observed, scurrying back to their car with their blanket.

As of 6 a-m … there was confusion.   Official web pages said the beaches were still closed, but the Malibu Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station said they had not received notice of any such closures.

They suggested we contact the LA County Beaches And Harbors Department …  but they had all evacuated from Malibu.  Late last night … Beaches and Harbors moved some of their beach cleaning equipment and pickup trucks up to the parking lot at Malibu middle school.

700 miles north of Malibu … tsunami surges were measured this morning in Crescent City … where the shape and configuration of the coast line makes the Eureka area particularly susceptible to tsunamis.

The closest area of concern to the National Weather Service was 140 miles up the coast at Avila Beach and Port San Luis … near San Luis Obispo.

The tide gauge at Port San Luis went from its normal low tide .. to a high tide reading … in a matter of minutes … at 2:04 am.

And 140 miles southnof us  … at La Jolla … there was a half foot tidal surge at 1:45.

Some areas of the California coast sit along geographic features that could amplify distant shockwaves traveling across the ocean.

One particular hotspot is the far northern part of California… at Eureka, Arcata and Crescent city.

The national weather service says that confirmed heights in Crescent City were above 4 feet just after 4 o’clock this morning.

They said that the crescent city measurement is high enough to generate localized area of minor, minor, coastal flooding, and inundation.

Nothing like that happened today in Ventura… where the harbor area was hit by especially hard tsunami waves in 2022. 

The daily lunar tide cycle in Malibu is at low tide this morning… -2.6 feet.

The lunar tides will begin to crest and hit +5.6 feet at 2:14 PM today.

As the local tide cycles go… that’s not very high.

Surf today is expected to be pretty flat.

The threat is not great .. and getting smaller every hour.

Parks Commission Votes, With Sadness, To Close Temporary Skate Park 4 Months Before Replacement Is ready

Malibu’s skateboarders have a problem.

The city’s temporary wooden ramps at Bluffs Park are in the way of the construction crews … building the permanent skate park right nest to the temporary wooden ramps.

The city’s Parks Commission last night voted to recommend that the problem get solved by shutting down the temporary skateboard park … and removing it … starting on the day after Labor Day.

Doing that will enable the contractor to finish work on the permanent skateboard park … without further delays … and without ballooning the costs even further. 

One Malibu skateboarder said the five month skateboard park absence will be a slap to the community.

Jeremy Graves.

SKATE JEREMY GRAVES 70597

“They’re already two months behind schedule. “

“I don’t see this proposed closure being needed because they are going to be further behind schedule anyways.

“This is not going to hasten their workflow, they just want more space to make it easy.

“So I say you should respect the community and you should get the contractor to do his job … give you a logistics plan for what they are going to do here …  rather than just tell you ‘oh we’re going to need more space.’ ”

Two residents asked the Parks Commission to move the temporary ramps out of the way … to keep the skateboard park open until the new one is open.

That would cost 200 thousand dollars … and there is no place to set up the second temporary ramps.

City staff said keeping the temporary ramps in place would delay the construction team … which needs to dig trenches for water and sewer liens right under half od the temporary ramps. 

Using fences to keep people out the trenches … and allow access to the remaining ramps … is not practica … the city said. 

Park Commissioners members said they were torn.

Alicia Peak got emotional … with tears … at the thought they she would vote to close the skatepark for four months.

SKATEPARK ALICIA PEAK 71438

“Look.  This is a hard decision, right?

“None of us up here I think … are like …

“Like, this is hard for us.

“We fought to keep it open for the summer so these kids could have a skate park. 

“I think for me the hardest part … and I am sorry I am feeling feeling a little emotional right now. 

“It is that every time I drive by there is somebody in that skate park.”

One critical problem is parking.

The construction site is also in the way of parking for the parents of the little league and AYSO soccer kids in the winter.

City officials want the skateboard park finished to accommodate the skateboarders and the larger number of soccer and baseball players.

Some of the skateboarders are miffed about that.

One stomped out of the meeting last night. 

In the end … the parks commission voted to recommend to the city council that the skate park be closed from the Tuesday after labor Day … until most likely the end of the year.

The permanent skate park is already two months behind schedule …way over budget … because of design changes intended to make both skateboarders and the owners of an expensive subdivision next door happy.

Malibu Wants Your Comment Tonight On An Arts Center Concept That Has Not Yet Been Released

Malibu is holding a City Hall meeting tonight for the public to comment on the design for a proposed arts center.

The two buildings … straddling a small lot that is split in the middle by a rocky ridge … could be built by taxpayers behind the Cross Creek ranch shopping center.

What does it look like??

We can’t say. 

No one can tell you what the design is … you know … the arts center concept that they want you to comment on. 

The city is apparently holding it for a big reveal tonight at 6 at City Hall. 

But we can tell you that the chair of the Arts Commission subcommittee overseeing this hat is considering the proposal says the proposed concept is “impossible” and “dead.”

Several city council members said last week that the timing is terrible … as the January Fire that wiped out the eastern tenth of Malibu needs full attention.

Tge proposed site is tiny … two acres of land that has a rocky ridge … right down the middle of it.

And the pubic workshop is being held in the dead of summer … when much of the city is on vacation and out of town.

Backers of the concept are hard to find.

The owner of the shopping center is campaigning for it.

They gave the city the 2.2 acres and in exchange got to build the Cross Creek Ranch complex one third bigger … because of the donation.

They have invested in extending underground utitity lines and a landscaped parking lot up to the proposed site. 

They are even offering to allow arts enter patrons to use the underground parking garage that they have built. 

Some arts commissioners favor building an arts center on other land … possibly the Ioki Lot …  also known as the Chili Cookoff Lot.

But parks advocates are holding out for ball fields on the Loki lot … which os currently being used for parking by fire recovery construction teams.

A competing plan has emerged … to convert the city hall chambers on Stewart ranch Road to a combined movie theater and community performance center. 

A municipal arts gallery could be installed in the unused upper floors of the Lumberyard shopping center … which is owned by the city … and which is mostly vacant.

Obviously … there are major decisions about land use … city parks … arts center and other overall planning issues about Malibu’s civic center.

But for some reason … the agenda for the Arts Commission tonight is much more narrow. 

It is looking only at inviting the community to explore the concept of a new Performing Arts Center at Cross Creek Ranch.

And the public is being asked to provide feedback on a conceptual design that the city has not released in advance.

The public forum is at 6 tonight at Malibu City Hall. 

City Council In Session To Possibly Hire A City Manager.  Rinse.  Repeat.

The lack of a permanent city manager may best solved today.

Or maybe not. 

The city council will hold another special closed door session today at 10:30 in the morning.

The begining and the end of the meeting will be open to the public … and can be watched on Zoom.

In fact … try public may comment before the meeting goes into executive session at 10:30.

Hummer Smacks Concrete Wall On PCH

A Hummer smashed into a concrete barrier yesterday on PCH near Ramirez Canton. 

The single vehicle crash was reported between Geoffrey’s and Latigo Canyon Road … at about  midday.

The driver .. female … was airlifted with moderate injuries.

Malibu volunteer sheriff’s deputies posted picture of the wrecked car … its front end bonked.

Santa Monica Cracks Down On E-Bikes

Santa Monica police confiscated 12 E bikes last weekend… As the city is cracking down on electric bicycles that can behave very much like gas powered ones.

Although the bikes may look to be street legal… Santa Monica police say they are not permitted on sidewalks… Bike pass… Or even public roads.

Bicycles without pedals are not bicycles at all… they are classified as electric motorcycles under California law.

They can reach speed above 40 miles an hour quickly… And silently.

“If your vehicle doesn’t have pedals or fails to meet California’s eBay standards… It doesn’t belong on the road… Says the Santa Monica Police Department on social media.

Santa Monica police say they are cracking down in response to community complaints.

Calabasas High Accused Of Ignoring Reports of Sexual Harassment By Student 

Calabasas High School officials are accused of failing to respond adequately to repeated reports of harassment, bullying, and the illicit photographing and dissemination of nude images of a female student … by another student at Calabasas High School.

A lawyer in Glendale has called a news conference for today to announce a lawsuit he’s filing against the Las Virgenes Unified School District.

The attorney released the name of the victim … but KBUU does not air the names of sex assault victims. 

The lawyer … Samuel Dordulian … says the mother is incensed that the district allegedly silenced her daughter. 

In a prepared statement … the mother claims that … “for months, (her) daughter was silenced while the district turned a blind eye. 

“This lawsuit isn’t just about justice for (the girl)—it’s about protecting every student who’s ever been dismissed, ignored, or re-traumatized.”

‘Spectacular’ New Malibu High Building Opens To Public Today At 2

Malibu high school’s new building opens to the public this afternoon at two.

Prospective students and their families are invited to come look at the $175 million structure on top of the hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean and warning view Drive.

Wall of glass, two stories high… Attractive trees, and mature landscaping sit where the Juan Cabrillo Elementary School’s send significantly airline pilot loading dock and garbage dumpsters used to occupy real estate.

It’s been 20 years since parents first talked about building a new high school to replace the rapidly falling apart … and at the time contaminated middle school… dating from the 1960s.

The grand unveiling is today at 2 o’clock.