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MALIBU, October 5, 2006 - Just whose waste is fouling the most star-studded stretch of the Southern California coast? Los Angeles County officials intend to find out, and if the evidence leads back to the toilets of some of Hollywood's rich and famous, the sewage could really hit the fan. "This is going to get messy," predicts Mark Pestrella, the public works official assigned to the project. Environmentalists and health officials suspect Malibu homeowners' leaky septic tanks are allowing what gets flushed down the toilet to flow down the hills and into the Pacific Ocean. To identify the offenders, authorities...

MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — Pierce Brosnan and other celebrities on Friday protested plans to build a liquefied natural gas terminal off the coast of Southern California. The Cabrillo Port Liquefied Natural Gas facility is being proposed by Australian-based BHP Billiton, one of the world's largest energy companies. The $800 million terminal would be located 14 miles off the coast of Malibu. Opponents of the project said the terminal fails to meet federal clean air requirements, but BHP officials argued that it would provide a reliable source of low-polluting energy.

MALIBU, Calif. -- Authorities confirmed Tuesday morning that a body found in a wrecked car in the Malibu area was that of an aviation magazine editor last seen leaving a Calabasas restaurant on June 3rd. County firefighters discovered the car and the body of Michael Arthur Dornheim, 51, on Monday...

LOS ANGELES - A man under investigation in the crash of an exotic $1 million Ferrari in Malibu has been booked on suspicion of grand theft, officials said Sunday.

In the latest proposal to import liquefied natural gas to California, an Australian company has unveiled plans to place a terminal about 22 miles off the coast of Malibu. The plan announced Wednesday by Woodside Energy attempts to sidestep fears from environmentalists and some residents that importing natural gas is too dangerous because it is volatile and potentially explosive in its gaseous state. Woodside wants to ship supercooled LNG from Australian fields to the California coast in specially designed tankers. But unlike other proposed terminals off the West Coast, the plan doesn't require any large, permanent structures. Instead of feeding...

Malibu Mystery Races Away With Buzz Thursday March 02, 2006 It was a rare and exotic animal: a Ferrari Enzo, one of just 400 ever brought forth into this world. When you saw this thing coming, you didn't look away. If you wanted to own it, it cost you a cool $1 mil -- and it could earn you a whole lot of buzz. Last week, Swedish millionaire Stefan Ericksson slipped behind the wheel of his Enzo with, he says, a German named "Dietrich." They took the vehicle out on Malibu's Pacific Coast Highway. And they let that baby run....

It was a SigAlert made for Malibu. A red Ferrari Enzo — one of only 400 ever made and worth more than $1 million — broke apart Tuesday when it crested a hill on Pacific Coast Highway going 120 mph and slammed into a power pole. The driver jumped out of the wreckage and ran into the canyon above, evading a three-hour search by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department helicopter and a mountain search-and-rescue team. The crash did not result in serious injuries. But it sent shockwaves through both the tabloid and exotic car worlds as one group wondered...

Mel Gibson made so much money from “The Passion of the Christ” that he’s now putting it where his mouth is, so to speak. He’s continuing to build a religious compound in Malibu for Catholics who reject Vatican II, and is implicitly endorsing his controversial father’s beliefs by helping him launch a similar church in Pennsylvania. Last year, according to federal tax filings, Gibson parked $5 million of his "Passion" profits in his tax-free private foundation — the same vehicle he’s used to pour millions into a 17-acre religious compound he’s building in Agoura Hills, Calif., at a “secret” rural...

(CBS) LOS ANGELES A brush fire broke out around 3:40 a.m. on Wednesday along the Ronald Reagan Freeway, near the Ventura County line. As of 4:30a.m., the fire had consumed about one acre of vegetation without damaging any structures or causing any injuries.

Is the movie colony no longer movie-friendly? Filmmakers contend that movie production in Malibu could fade to black if strict new rules limiting movie-making go into effect in the 21-mile-long beach city. The regulations, which the Malibu City Council will consider for final action Monday, would ban late-night and early-morning film shoots, prohibit the use of helicopters and limit the amount of time production companies could use a particular site to 16 days. Industry officials contend that the rules are among the strictest they've seen and would prevent them from filming during the so-called "magic hour," a prized period at...

The turf battles over Malibu's oceanfront tend to be as predictable as the spring tides as property owners and beachgoers contest for control of the sand. This year, the tussle over what is public and what is private has taken a surprising turn with property owners bringing in heavy equipment to scoop up tons of public beach and pile it onto their property. The battlefront is again Broad Beach, where skip loaders have erected a massive ridge of sand between the ocean and the community of 108 beachfront homes that has been in settlement talks over public access issues with...

The cameras were rolling and one of Hollywood's biggest producers was watching. And on Thursday, an excited group was auditioning for what could be this summer's hottest feature: Malibu beach-going.Coastal-access advocates set foot on the sand at Tinseltown titan David Geffen's sprawling beachfront estate, some for the first time, celebrating the opening of a 9-foot-wide public pathway to the ocean. Creation of the walkway came after Geffen reluctantly made good on a 22-year-old legal promise to let the public onto part of Carbon Beach, a mile-long stretch of sand east of the Malibu Pier. The public will have access to...

At a time when our culture rewards abrasive, in-your-face celebrity, a man whose movie personas embody the quiet American hero and who lives his life with similar humility is reaching a milestone. Clint Eastwood turns 75 next Tuesday. Perhaps not since John Wayne have so many of the qualities that made this country great resided in a single star’s screen portrayals. From action hero roles including soldier, cowboy and police detective to more sensitive, vulnerable characters like a magazine photographer and grizzled boxing manager, Eastwood epitomizes individualism, courage, honor, integrity, patriotism and justice. And he occasionally throws in a few...

Out of Malibu, Calif., came one of the most influential literary works of modern times. And this spring,48 years after it was published, the whole town is reading it. I refer to the novella "Gidget," which Malibu recently picked for its "One City One Book" program. Laugh if you must, then ask yourself the following questions: Did "The Great Gatsby" change the world? How many people decided to move or quit their jobs after reading "Moby-Dick"? "Gidget," on the other hand, altered the course of American history, drawing legions to California beaches, spawning a lineage of movie and TV spinoffs...

Jack Wheeler and others have been writing recently that Hillary Clinton has a Vast Left Wing Conspiracy underway even now and her own left wing conspirators intend to take over the House and Senate on their way to the White House in 2008. Should that happen, the Constitution and Bill of Rights - as written - would be little but a paper prop that she and her co-conspirators will blast through like a paper pep rally banner when she and her team take the field for the Big Game. The current attacks on Tom DeLay are just one small, but...

Ending a long-running dispute over coastal access, music producer David Geffen gave up the key to locked wooden gates next to his Malibu home, allowing the public to enter an exclusive stretch of beach walled off by multimillion-dollar homes. The announcement brought public applause at a California Coastal Commission meeting Thursday as settlement talks continued over how much the billionaire principal of Dreamworks SKG may owe in attorneys fees and fines under the terms of the state's Coastal Act. Geffen's action makes good on a 22-year-old legal promise to open a public pathway across his property in exchange for permits...

MALIBU, Calif. - Just off the Pacific Coast Highway, where the Santa Monica Mountains tower over the ocean, some of Hollywood's biggest stars have settled into a slice of heaven. Steven Spielberg. Danny DeVito. Goldie Hawn. Over the years, they have joined the lucky few who call Broad Beach home. Their front yards open onto a mile-long, sandy stretch of California coastline. They spent millions to get here, and they'd like to be left alone. Alan Latteri didn't spend a dime, and nobody's heard of him. But he figures he has as much right to the sand, surf and...

Malibu residents lined up at the polls in record numbers Tuesday, casting their hopes for the future. As of 10:30 p.m., exit polls had incumbent President George W. Bush with 269 electoral votes, most likely winning another four years in the 2004 presidential election. In what has been a highly anticipated election, publicly, Malibu voices have been on the quiet side as to which way they were going to vote. Only one or two letters to the editor have been published voicing their views. Locals gathered at the temporary Malibu Republican Headquarters next to Spumonis restaurant Tuesday night were upbeat...

Brush Fire Threatens Malibu Homes * Strong Santa Ana Winds Fan 100-Acre Blaze Jan 6, 2003 2:01 pm US/Pacific (AP) (MALIBU) A 100-acre brush fire fanned by strong Santa Ana winds threatened 20 mansions on hillsides above the Pacific Ocean Monday. The blaze was believed to have been sparked by downed power lines, said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Ed Osorio.

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2002 11:30 a.m. EST Actor McNamara Sees Malibu Conspiracy Actor William McNamara, whose credits include leading roles in a score of feature films and TV series, is in a battle with Mailbu police authorities in a brouhaha that is getting national attention. Now the young actor has even posted a $5,000 reward on his Web site (williammcnamara.com) for anyone who can produce a copy of the complaint that led to his arrest in July 2001. He says that he is taking this unusual step to highlight the illegalities of his prosecution by the Malibu Municipal Court on...