Phil travels on the Expo Line to the exotic land of Downtown Los Angeles where he finds the annual celebration of Las Posadas on Olvera Street, and meets up with some Santa Monica friends.

Brock On Your Block: The Celebration Of Las Posadas
Column: Groundwater Law Has Not Stopped Subsidence
By Tom Elias Drive almost any road in the vast San Joaquin Valley and you’ll see irrigation pipes standing up...
SMa.r.t. Column: It’s Time to Look at the Facts of Santa Monica’s Housing History
The Narrative: Santa Monica’s decades-long housing construction “shortage” The Narrative endlessly repeats the refrain that for decades Santa Monica has...
SMa.r.t. Column: The Mansionization of Santa Monica
Editor’s note: This column originally appeared in print in 2016. In the 1980s, Santa Monica’s single family zoning code was...
OP-Ed Response to DTSM Board Chair Barry Snell and Plea to City Council Regarding Safety Ambassadors and Ambassador Program
I am responding to the OP-ED (dated June 7, 2022, Santa Monica Mirror) by City-appointed DTSM Board Member and now...
SMa.r.t. Column: Wheeling Electrically
A recent weekend visit to Dana Point, on the Orange County coastline, revealed a curious scene: dozens, if not hundreds...
“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”- An Exciting Hit at the Ruskin Group Theatre
Stanley Kramer’s 1967 iconic film, GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER, starring Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, and Sidney Poitier, received mixed...
Amateurish Production of “Man of God” on Stage at the Geffen Playhouse
Once in a while, you see a play that is so bad you ask yourself if you should even review...
Population Loss: New Era or Pandemic Glitch?
By Tom Elias, Columnist The numbers suggest a major change is underway in California. It would take a Nostradamus to...
SMa.r.t. Column: The Sound of Silence Is Big & Tall
All too often these days we find ourselves wondering how we could have been so correct about so many planning...
Film Review: Top Gun Maverick
FILM REVIEWTOP GUN: MAVERICKRated PG-13137 MinutesReleased May 27th I love films where the cast actually lives through the story in...
OP-Ed: DTSM Chair Barry Snell on Safety Ambassadors
By Barry Snell Chair, Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. Board of Directors The Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM) Board of Directors...
Affordable Spaces for Small Business
Los Angeles County recently proposed a program providing financial incentives for certain “Legacy” family businesses in their original historical location....
Doubt Removed: Oil Refiners Gouging Us
By Tom Elias, Columnist There was some room for doubt back in February, when gasoline prices rose precipitously: Until the...
Is the Big Housing Crunch Mostly Fiction?
By Tom Elias, Columnist In some parts of California, there is definitely a housing crunch: small supplies of homes for...
Is Gelson’s Our Future? Bigger Is Not Better & Not Necessary! – Part 2
The dream of our beachfront city is about to become a nightmare! Just imagine a tsunami of these projects washing...
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Landscaping 50 Percent Complete for George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon
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A traveling exhibit in partnership with Indianilla Cultural Center, Mexico City and Real de Catorce Cultural Center, Real de Catorce,...
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