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The Malibu Times The Malibu Times NEWS PA PER • MAGAZ I NE • O NL I NE
NEW S PAPER • MAGAZINE •ONLINE Malibu’s Award-Winning Community Paper Since 1946
VOL. LXXV • NO. XLVII
One dead, five injured in two-car crash on Malibu Canyon Road
THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2022
malibutimes.com • $.50 • WEEKLY
Beachgoers want for new Point Dume stairway
Malibu Film Society requests City Council find venue in city Public safety manager gives update on parking enforcement
Last Saturday night California Highway Patrol issued a Sigalert after reports of accident
By SAMANTHA BRAVO Of The Malibu Times
By JIMY TALLAL Special to The Malibu Times
Lanes on Malibu Canyon Road were closed in both directions last Saturday night for at least three hours after a two-car rollover crash that killed one person and seriously injured six others at 8:34 p.m. near the tunnel. Authorities described the incident as a major-injury crash. California Highway Patrol officials issued a Sigalert after reports that the two-car rollover collision was blocking both the north and southbound lanes of the roadway. According to LA County Fire Department officials on the scene, one person was pronounced dead upon arrival by first responders. Authorities later identified the woman as 18-year-old Skylar Scripter of Laguna Hills. Scripter was a passenger in a Hyundai Genesis with five others when they were struck head-on CONTINUED ON PAGE A8
Visitors to Point Dume traverse dangerous, eroding path — where ‘death stairs’ were removed — as they make their way to the beach. Photo by Julie Ellerton/TMT
Beachgoers still using dangerous path where ‘death stairs’ once stood By JIMY TALLAL Special to The Malibu Times
In February 2019, a tourist from Seattle wrote on the Trip Advisor website after visiting Point Dume Nature Preserve
and Beach: “Beautiful, but watch out for the ‘death stairs’: The stairs that lead down to the beach are dangerous and scary!! Many missing or loose planks, so be careful as you go down.” The 1970s-era stairway leading the way down the 100-foot tall cliffs was removed last year, but the replacement stairway has not yet been built. Visitors and residents continue to use the path where the old
stairway once stood to get to the beach, and it’s a very dangerous path with a steep descent on loose sand and gravel, studded with old metal poles, pieces of concrete, boards, and torn fencing. The path is dangerous to the point that some constituents are complaining to their elected officials about it. A couple of weeks ago, State Senator Henry Stern and Malibu City Coun-
cilmember Mikke Pierson personally went to look at it, guided by State Parks Supt. Jerry West. Both Pierson and council member Karen Farrer brought up the issue at the Feb. 14 City Council meeting. California State Parks, which has jurisdiction over the stairs, as well as the Nature Preserve at the top of the stairs and the beach at the bottom of the stairs, CONTINUED ON PAGE A8
Malibu resident develops new firefighting apparatus The non-commercial Hainy Hydrant boosts a home’s water source
CONTINUED ON PAGE A5
By JUDY ABEL Special to The Malibu Times
Many Malibuites may remember Matt Haines from his courageous defense of properties during the Corral Fire of 2007. The blaze destroyed 49 homes but Haines, neighbors, and the help of a personal fire engine saved untold structures in their hillside neighborhood. Haines became a Dolphin Award winner for his efforts then recruited 10 local men to become call firefighters for Los Angeles County. Since then, as an on-call firefighter with Engine 271 in Corral Canyon, the 62-year-old has put in countless hours of training and firefighting in Malibu; save for a nominal stipend, the hard work is voluntary. Haines is a home builder with numerous projects in the area. For the past decade, he’s been adding an enhancement to his homes in an effort to help battle brushfires. It’s a device he developed called the “Hainy Hydrant” — another benevolent act in helping his community since he does not profit from his invention. The Hainy Hydrant is equipment consisting of a riser, pipe, valve and hose that a plumber can install. It allows first responders easy access to a water source and hose that they
Prior to starting the meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Bruce Silverstein asked the council to have a moment of silence for the residents of Ukraine, Malibu residents with families and friends and the Russian troops fighting in the war. The first item on the agenda was a presentation by the Full Circle Compost Executive Director Cecilie Stuart for the community composting program in Topanga and the Santa Monica Mountains. Stewart provided information on climate regeneration, commercial bins, community composting sites, engagement events and the school system’s educational programs in sustainability. “Additionally I would say that Webster Elementary is really crying out for some support on recycling, they don’t really have a recycling program there,” Stuart said. “They could really use some additional support from the city and the City Council.” Stuart said because of COVID most of the school’s gardens in Malibu have been dilapidating, and hopes to get support for their garden programs. “It’s been a real setback for schools, so support for their garden programs and reviving their soil is absolutely key so they’re really excited about it,” Stuart said. “It’s been a little bit problematic to get the wheels turning again after COVID, but we’re just beginning to make that strive.”
INSIDE this week
The parking lot at the Malibu Country Mart packed with car enthusiasts for the weekly Sunday motor show. Photos by Samantha Bravo/TMT
Malibu seeks safer weekend motor show Firefighter and Malibu resident Matt Haines is shown with a Hainy Hydrant, which he invented to help with fire response. Photo by Dasha Iarikova
otherwise may not have, especially if garden hoses and public hydrants are not easily accessible. The device increases standard water pressure to as high as 125 psi. “Nothing changes on your house,” Haines said. “We’re just tapping into the higher pressure from your meter before it gets to the house.” It works like this: In an evacuation, a homeowner can pull out the equipment, including the hose, and then leave. When the fire CONTINUED ON PAGE A8
Car meet-ups primarily us Malibu Country Mart as gathering place By SAMANTHA BRAVO Of The Malibu Times
With summer around the corner, mornings in Malibu have begun seeing an increase in visitors on the weekends, especially on Sundays. The parking lot at The Malibu Country Mart has been the primary location for car meet-ups before retail stores open their doors and even after. During the City Council meeting on Monday, Feb. 14, planning commissioner
Kraig Hill said the parking lot car meets, street racing, and late-night car rallies have been increasing in Malibu. “We need better enforcement of existing speed limits and noise ordinance,” Hill said during the public comment. “Some things should be enforced by the sheriffs while others are more strictly in the jurisdiction of the CHP.” Just this year, Malibu has seen an increase in fatalities in areas such as Big Rock. Hill said speed has likely been a factor in many of those deaths, which are in the matters of the CHP, but said it has been ineffective to have the traffic enforcement loaded up to the sheriffs. Some residents have continued to stress CONTINUED ON PAGE A8
Rob LeMond receives Jake Kuredjian Citizenship Award. PAGE B1
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