U2 guitarist won't get to build mansions on Malibu hillside

A plan by U2 guitarist The Edge to build a cluster of mansions on a ridgeline above Malibu appears to be dead after California's highest court declined to consider his last-ditch appeal.

The musician, whose real name is David Evans, staged a 14-year legal fight to build five large, eco-friendly homes dubbed Leaves in the Wind in an undeveloped section of the Santa Monica Mountains west of Los Angeles.

The state Supreme Court decided last week not to review a lower court ruling, which denied approval to build on the land after the Sierra Club sued to block construction.

File - In this April 8, 2009, file photo, is an ocean view seen from a hill area adjacent to the proposed Malibu development of U2 guitarist The Edge in Malibu, Calif. A plan by U2 guitarist The Edge to build a cluster of mansions on a ridgeline above Malibu appears dead, after California's highest court declined to consider his last-ditch appeal. The musician, whose real name is David Evans, staged a 14-year legal fight to build five eco-friendly homes dubbed Leaves in the Wind in an undeveloped section of the Santa Monica Mountains west of Los Angeles. The state Supreme Court decided last week not to review a lower court ruling that denied approval to build on the land after the Sierra Club sued to block construction. (AP PhotoDamian Dovarganes, File)

The lower court said the California Coastal Commission improperly granted Evans' 2015 permit.

The compound's green pitch didn't get very far with neighboring residents and environmental groups, which raised concerns about biological and visual effects in such sensitive habitat.

Sierra Club lawyer Dean Wallraff said Wednesday that the $100 million development would have been a "scar" on an untouched hillside.

FILE - In this April 8, 2009, file photo, is the site of a proposed development by U2 guitarist The Edge is seen in Malibu Calif. A plan by U2 guitarist The Edge to build a cluster of mansions on a ridgeline above Malibu appears dead, after California's highest court declined to consider his last-ditch appeal. The musician, whose real name is David Evans, staged a 14-year legal fight to build five eco-friendly homes dubbed Leaves in the Wind in an undeveloped section of the Santa Monica Mountains west of Los Angeles. The state Supreme Court decided last week not to review a lower court ruling that denied approval to build on the land after the Sierra Club sued to block construction. (AP PhotoDamian Dovarganes, File)

Evans' representatives didn't respond to requests for comment.

If Evans wants to pursue the building process again, he has to start at the beginning by reapplying to the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn’t order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February, according to an official familiar with the determination.

While U.S. officials believe Putin was ultimately responsible for the death of Navalny, who endured brutal conditions during his confinement, the intelligence community has found “no smoking gun” that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny's death — which came soon before the Russian president's reelection — or directly ordered it, according to the official.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

Soon after Navalny’s death, U.S. President Joe Biden said Putin was ultimately responsible but did not accuse the Russian president of directly ordering it.

At the time, Biden said the U.S. did not know exactly what had happened to Navalny but that “there is no doubt” that his death “was the consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did.”

Navalny, 47, Russia’s best-known opposition politician and Putin’s most persistent foe, died Feb. 16 in a remote penal colony above the Arctic Circle while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges that he rejected as politically motivated.

He had been behind bars since January 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he had been recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Russian officials have said only that Navalny died of natural causes and have vehemently denied involvement both in the poisoning and in his death.

In March, a month after Navalny’s death, Putin won a landslide reelection for a fifth term, an outcome that was never in doubt.

The Wall Street Journal first reported about the U.S. intelligence determination.

FILE - Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny gestures while speaking during his interview to the Associated Press in Moscow, Russia on Dec. 18, 2017. U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn't order the death of Navalny, the imprisoned opposition leader, in February of 2024. An official says the U.S. intelligence community has found "no smoking gun" that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny's death or directly ordered it. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)