October 27, 2025
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Letters to the Editor:

Dear Editor, Sunday’s Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights (SMRR) convention was an interesting exercise in democracy. Candidates for local office seeking SMRR endorsement in the November election introduced themselves to the SMRR membership present at […]

Steve Stajich, Columnist

Profiles in Tolerance in Our Area:

One of the first columns I wrote for this newspaper dealt with an encounter I had at the Santa Monica Pier: I was at the Pier, enjoying a typical sunny beach day and the energy […]

Thomas B. Elias, Columnist

Partial Plastic Bag Ban A Constructive Idea:

Few bills before the state Legislature this summer will draw as firm opposition as one called AB 1998, a partial ban on single-use plastic bags in California which would also include a form of a […]

Santa Monica Police Officer Erika Aklufi

Hometown Hero: Erika Aklufi:

Erika Aklufi, Santa Monica police officer, attorney, and triathlete, represents the American immigrant family dream come true. Her paternal grandfather was a Sephardic Jew from Yemen who came to Brooklyn, N.Y. in the early part […]

Steve Stajich

Come On, I’ll Race You to the Next Race Issue:

No one ever presumed that both our history with race in America and any and all contemporary problems related to race would magically disappear following the election of our first African American President. But I […]

Letters to the Editor:

Dear Editor, I love Los Angeles, but not when I’m stuck in traffic. That’s why I was very happy when LA voters passed Measure R in 2008. And why I was made all the happier […]

Steve Stajich

We Are Users, Sir, Not “Consumers”!:

Let’s define our terms. If I walk into Costco and carry out a bubble pack with 40 double A batteries pasted to it, I think I’m a consumer. I’m consuming the batteries. Same with Band […]