January 12, 2026
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Thomas B. Elias, Columnist

New District Whining Is Sour Grapes:

There’s a two-word description for the loud whining that has followed release of nearly finalized new political district lines by the state’s rookie Redistricting Commission. Sour grapes. Some people and interests didn’t get what they […]

Paul Cummins

Leading Us Out of Our Morass:

More people are out of work in the United States than have ever been in most of our lifetimes. This is the real economic crisis. Yes, we should not be a debtor nation. Yes, some […]

Steve Stajich, Columnist

Waste Costs: Could We Create Less Garbage?:

I had just visited the Santa Monica Recycling Center, which lies between Michigan and Delaware near Cloverfield, when I read in last week’s edition of the Mirror of the impressive numbers related to our city’s […]

Thomas B. Elias, Columnist

Murky Future of Redevelopment Agencies:

It’s fair to say they did it to themselves. The future of California’s more than 400 municipal redevelopment agencies is completely unclear today, more than one month after Gov. Jerry Brown signed a budget-enabling bill […]

Steve Stajich, Columnist

The Cloud That Clears Things Up:

Here’s one way to get a conversation started at your next party: Ask everyone in the room to define the purpose or function of public art. Does public art add beauty? Must it commemorate? Should […]

Steve Stajich, Columnist

Late Breaking News…:

Last week I struggled to convert one type of music file (my original content, not someone else’s) into another type of music file on my new computer, which has some fantastic features that I may […]