Part I: The Bill Nobody Voted For On February 11, 2026, a National Park Service official logged onto a virtual meeting to discuss something extraordinary: whether the federal government should extend its protective reach over […]
By CHARLES ANDREWS I HAVE TO LEAD WITH THIS: This past weekend, Gustavo Dudamel presented an extraordinary and courageous performance, transforming Beethoven’s formidable “Egmont” into a searing rebuke for the horrors being inflicted on Americans, […]
By John Cyrus Smith, SM.a.r.t Guest columnist Someone smarter than a parks commissioner like me once said that if you want something done, just throw down the challenge, and good things will happen. True or […]
By CHARLES ANDREWS THESE ARE… THE BEST OF TIMES? Another typo, he meant the beast of times. Or, uh oh, Charles is on drugs again. Hallucinogens, it would seem. How can I even have that […]
By Charles Andrews THE NEW RUSKIN GROUP THEATRE IS OPEN, AND IT’S GORGEOUS! I hope to see their opening production, “Honour,” very soon, and to give you the lowdown, but I can tell you, in […]
How Solo Living Is Shrinking the Functional City SMa.r.t.’s article last month referred to Santa Monica’s collapsed school enrollment of 8,900 students. The figure arrives despite the addition of thousands of new apartment units over […]
By CHARLES ANDREWS YOUR FRIENDLY WEEKLY REMINDER Four City Council members – DAN HALL, JESSE ZWICK, NATALYA ZERNITSKAYA, CAROLINE TOROSIS – Voted to throw away the best chance we had to not only save the […]
Santa Monica’s housing debate is no longer just about zoning, density, or state mandates. It has become a test of basic political ethics—and of whether residents can trust how major land-use decisions are being made […]
By CHARLES ANDREWS THESE ARE HISTORIC DAYS Our young children or grandchildren will be reading about this time, and the account they get in schoolbooks depends on how it plays out in the next few […]
By CHARLES ANDREWS “CULTURE” IS VERY SUBJECTIVE Woody Allen once complained in “Annie Hall” that the only culture in California was “being able to turn right on a red light.” Outdated completely, of course, if […]
The City Council unanimously launched a $3.5 million Restorative Justice Program — one of the largest locally funded efforts of...
Read moreBuyers can rebuild under Malibu’s Fast Track Rebuild Program, with potential for up to 3,433 square feet of livable space,...
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