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The Enchantment of Anne Olsen Daub

Melina Paris
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The Enchantment of Anne Olsen Daub

 

Michael Stearns Studio Presents Mourning Glory, a solo exhibition

Every time one gazes upon Anne Olsen Daub’s creations, an enchanting surprise awaits. Her imagination, coupled with a flair for putting antiques and found objects together, beautifully contain an irresistible quality.

Her new exhibition, Mourning Glory, is a deeply personal collection born from the artist’s journey through grief following the passing of her mother. The work draws inspiration from the exquisite and poignant tradition of Victorian mourning jewelry.

During the late 19th century, the Victorian era marked Britain’s rise to global power, fueled by industrial, scientific and artistic advances — while also expanding its empire. In America, the coeval Guilded Age saw dramatic industrial expansion, big-business booms and rapid technological change. But the era — just as today — was defined by stark inequality, harsh labor conditions and political corruption.

The Victorian era also included a fascination with death. In 2025, as many mourn the America they once knew, Anne’s Mourning Glory reflects that sentiment with both hope and a touch of sardonic wit. It’s the beauty of the artist’s creative practice; she has harmonized an array of materials and found objects, evincing a place and time as she builds her vintage and sculptural pieces, rooted in a modern interpretation.

“I began with the Red Cornicello, an ancient Italian amulet for protection and good fortune that my mother wore in gold,” said Anne. “My intention was to honor her. So, I made a huge glittering red one. It’s an Italian amulet, a good luck charm to ward off the evil eye. It brings another element to mourning. I didn’t want it to be a depressing show. Just thoughtful.”

It took a long time to create, not only for its size, but because it went through becoming different colors, gold then red. Then Anne returned to a technique that she uses with glitter. It made her happy and reminisce about her mother.

“Then the mourning came with the country and halfway through [making] it, I felt like I’m almost mourning my mom too … I don’t think I really got a chance to [mourn]. These pieces are a remembrance, not just for my mother, but for the collective sense of loss we are currently enduring. The glittering Red Cornicello is there, too. It’s not a mourning piece of jewelry, but it enhances the mood by bringing good luck and hope.”

This piece sets the tone for a body of work that explores the beautiful, the dark, and the thoughtfully mournful, presenting historic symbolism of the Victorian era; weeping willows, stars and floral motifs. A theme of profound blackness runs throughout the exhibition, achieved with Musou black paint, a velvety, light-absorbing black that draws viewers in close to behold her work.

Anne said, except for this ‘WTF’ (painted in Victorian script on a gold charm hanging from Mourning Glory Chain) she’s very subtle.

“I didn’t want to point out anything … just the way we feel,” she said. “I mean, some people feel exactly like we do on the other side.”

Anne does not have favorites but loves Farewell because it’s so simple and yet complicated. The piece started out as different things. It was to be a necklace but took different configurations and just never made sense until realizing its current lush form, with opaque-black, velvety, robust flowers embodying life, suspended by the luxurious red ribbon.

Anne is spontaneous in her creations. With Reign of Tears, she knew it needed a cloud.

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Reign of Tears, antique chandelier beads, wire, glass crystals/cloud corrugated paper, paint. Photo courtesy of Anne Olsen Daub

“As an artist with a background in fashion design … I feel there needs to be a cohesiveness [with] elements throughout the pieces that [connect] to … mourning, with the dark cloud,” Anne said.

Anne didn’t want the cloud to be too black but to relate more to another charm on her Mourning Glory Chain featuring a weeping willow tree in a dark silvery pewter and the word ‘Truth’ painted on a gravestone beside it. Anne revealed she was thinking of Vincent van Gogh’s clouds with the circles (Starry Night Over the Rhône) and how fun it was to bring painting into it.

In her last show, Multi-Faceted, at the Palos Verdes Art Center, Anne used the same technique on some pieces as she did on the cornicello. The combination of many multi layers of paint and glitter results in an exquisitely decadent finish. In a way, she said, all of these pieces have a quality of painting.

 

Staging Mourning Glory

Artist and gallerist Michael Stearns has shown Anne’s work several times. The gallery featured special lighting for this exhibition, with the curating team showcasing a “memorial vibe” by dimming the lights, adding a quietness while highlighting the artwork with a subdued presentation.

Stearns added, even though this started as a personal memoriam, as the world ‘progressed,’ it became a statement on where we’re at now in America, mourning what we’ve lost; women’s rights, checks and balances in the three branches of government, and freedom of speech, among others.

 

Show Stoppers

In confronting women’s rights, Stearns noted the piece Since the Dawn of Time represents the loss of women’s decision making. Anne’s friend gave her many pairs of shoes and one day, a particular pair stood out, reminding her of women’s rights. She added chains and tucked in a cut-out collage of Eve in the Garden of Eden holding the forbidden fruit, a witty touch, in the insole of the shoe.

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“Since the Dawn of Time,” photographed by Guillaume Zuili, cortesy of the artist.

“Calling it Since the Dawn of Time, is telling,” Anne said. “Since the dawn of time, [these matters are] personal, it’s private, it shouldn’t go on.”

Church and State at 22 by 20 inches forms a small child’s vintage baby-doll, black dress. Brass studs form an outline of a shield on the garment’s front, with a cross inside and a red glass gem in the center. Propped on a vintage wooden pedestal, the piece is adorable and haunting at once.

Anne loves theater elements. Looking ahead, the former fashion designer imagines creating figures like silhouettes, with ancient dress, painted and corrugated but with jewels. She created Church and State as this country was talking about religion in public schools.

Michael echoed that Reign of Tears is one of his favorite pieces because it takes on many facets of restrictions, politically, being pushed on people, he said.

“It’s a killer, it tells the whole story of melancholy and sadness now,” said Stearns. “The show makes beautiful statements about our needs and wishes to give protections, and how the world is now.”

He added that we will get over this (mourning) and we will change but we will go on. He hopes for something to come out of round two of this president — that people wake up.

“It’s started. They’ve seen how dark this world can be; we’ve looked into the [proverbial] volcano and it’s not what we want,” Michael said.

For Anne, she said what she is proud of is using sustainable materials and making them look the way they look.

“I do enjoy making these kinds of pieces. It’s different,” she said. “I don’t know what’s next. The materials tell me what I’m doing. But sometimes I think I’ll make [a piece] that sparkles like no one’s business. It would be fun to marry it all and put a bunch of pieces from this show and from [Multi-Facited] … put a lot of jewelry everywhere, hanging on the walls, on the floor, like you’re walking into a casket of jewels.

“I want to thank Michael and Edith, for all that they’ve done and their support. It’s been a heartfelt experience because of everything and it was a small show. I could really keep a cohesive theme. It makes it challenging and more fun.”

Curated by Michael Stearns and Edith MonDragon (MonDragon Fine Arts). Mourning Glory runs through Jan. 24.

Time: 1 to 5 p.m., Saturdays, 6 to 9 p.m., First Thursday ArtWalk, Jan. 1, by appointment, and 2 to 4 p.m. closing reception/artist talk, Jan. 24

Cost: Free

Details: 562-400-0544;

www.anneolsendaub.com

Venue: Michael Stearns Studio, Los Angeles Harbor Arts, 401 S. Mesa St., San Pedro

Ports Tout Clean Air Action Plan Progress, but Path Forward is Uncertain

Paul Rosenberg
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Ports Tout Clean Air Action Plan Progress, but Path Forward is Uncertain

 

Fresh off their victories in a 15-year fight against a pollution regulation known as an indirect source rule (ISR), the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach once again promoted themselves as the greenest ports in the world, with their Clean Air Action Plan Update, presented at Banning’s Landing on Dec. 9. But community members and their allies in environmental justice and public health organizations were not impressed.

“There’s been a lot of finger-pointing about what happened with the port ISR, but the bottom line is that port communities still lack the strong pollution protections needed to breathe clean air, and cargo volumes are increasing,” said Davina Hunt, a climate policy director for Pacific Environment.

As usual, the ports led with their best news: All major pollutants are down from CAAP’s 2005 baseline levels, even as freight volume is up 44%, and there is a great deal that the ports are doing, as they went on to explain. But Janet Gunter, one of three local activists who initiated the first legal challenge to local port pollution in 2001, noted what the ports ignored. “After 25 years, the port regions are still responsible for the ‘worst air quality’ in the state,” Gunter said. “After all these years, the region continues to be the number one source of air pollution!”

The long-term reductions are impressive—though most gains were made more than a decade ago. Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM) is down 90% vs a 77% goal set for 2023, NOx (nitrogen oxides) is down 70% vs 59% goal, and SOx (sulfur oxides) is down 98% vs a 93% goal. Greenhouse gases (GHG), which weren’t part of the original plan, are down 10%. But the comparison to last year is less encouraging.

“While the latest CAAP update presents emissions down per container, actual total port NOx, PM, and greenhouse gas emissions increased between 2023-2024, leaving communities still burdened with increased port pollution,” said Dori Chandler, policy advocate with the Coalition for Clean Air.

For the year, PM emissions were up 15%, NOx up 6%, and GHG up 5%, while freight volume was up 20%.

The ISR being considered by the South Coast Air Quality Management District was replaced at the last minute with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) whose main focus was zero-emissions infrastructure plan development, leaving pollution reduction in a state of limbo, with the promise of future discussions of voluntary measures, known as “CAAP plus.”

This echoes what the CAAP update revealed. A major focus was the Technology Advancement Program (TAP), which helps accelerate the development of clean technologies to become commercially available and widely used. Projects completed in 2024 included a Pasha’s liquified natural gas (LNG) repowered vessel, George II, a Pacific Harbor Line locomotive charger, and a Toyota Tsusho hydrogen fuel cell top handler. And 2025 recommended projects included a hybrid excursion vessel and infrastructure, advanced truck charging infrastructure, innovative cargo-handling equipment charging and a retrofitted zero-emissions tugboat.

The diversity of projects reflects both the scope of the challenge and the dedication of the ports to take them on. There was progress with initial deployment, with the Port of Long Beach System-wide Investment in Freight Transport (SWIFT) program as a prime example. It includes zero-emission cargo-handling equipment, shore power systems and harbor craft engines. Five different projects were described, with a total of $209 million in funding. Similarly, the Port of LA’s Marine Emissions Reduction project, with $30.9 million from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and $31.5 million in matching funds and in-kind contributions, is engaged in funding deployment of a new passenger ferry with Tier 4 engines and a diesel particulate filter, and two zero-emission capable hybrid excursion boats.

Yet, for all of this, the pressing matter of truck pollution was essentially glossed over. There are just 528 battery electric trucks and 101 hydrogen fuel cell trucks in service at the ports today, out of more than 18,000 registered. The long-delayed clean truck fee of just $10 went into effect in 2022 and is clearly too low. As a result, “the fund is too small,” said longtime port activist Peter Warren. “They don’t want to charge the container fee that has the shippers pay a substantial part of the pollution.”

The complexity of challenges involved was illustrated in response to a question about hydrogen funding near the end of the meeting. Funding hydrogen from a fossil fuel source obviously doesn’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But, “The intent of this program is to keep the current existing hydrogen truck fleets operating and on the road.” Jacob Goldberg, POLB’s Manager of clean energy and resiliency, explained. With the current price of hydrogen at about $35/kilogram, fleets won’t survive without subsidies, and the market for clean hydrogen will never develop. “This program is a stopgap intended to keep them moving,” Goldberg explained.

Renee Moilanen, POLB’s director of environmental planning, provided more context. “We often come to these meetings, and we make presentations on discrete programs that we are working on,” she said. “But what we’re really trying to do at the port is create a portfolio of different levers that we can pull to make sure that zero-emission trucks get on the road.”

People in the trenches at the ports and activists in the community share common concerns and often have similar systemic perspectives, as Moilanen’s comments reflect. However, port leadership is a different matter, and there’s a long-standing lack of trust.

“We’re monitoring closely the ports pushing zero-emissions technologies,” said Adrian Martinez, an Earthjustice attorney. “Emissions increased in 2024 compared to 2023, and we cannot afford for that to happen again. We need to really double down on advancing zero-emission trucks, cargo equipment, harborcraft, ships and locomotives. People will be monitoring closely how effective the CAAP Plus Measures will be because the community and region need strong measures to drive down pollution.”

“We’ve seen MOUs come and go, and their voluntary nature means commitments can evaporate overnight — leaving frontline communities in a perpetual limbo,” Hunt warned.

This year, Long Beach Playhouse’s “A Christmas Carol” is a masterclass in theatrical arts

Greggory Moore
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This year, Long Beach Playhouse’s “A Christmas Carol” is a masterclass in theatrical arts

From having seen more than half of Long Beach Playhouse’s 13 prior stagings of A Christmas Carol, I would have been comfortable in advance of this year’s iteration predicting that you would see a faithful rendering of the Charles Dickens classic, with an entertaining Scrooge and a solid supporting cast.

What I couldn’t have promised — especially if I knew this year’s would be an unadorned, completely traditionalist take — is that it would be something fresh, let alone a nearly flawless demonstration of the theatrical arts.

Rather than open with Dickens, director Carole Louise Nicholson begins the proceedings with an a cappella “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”, the first of a handful of effective mood-setters we get throughout the play from a spectral troika tasked with delivering Dickens’s narrative voice and serving as a sort of Greek chorus / witness / facilitator. Christine Carver, Ren Warzecha, and Andrew Yonce are a perfect vocally/visually/kinetic unit, aiding not only the forward momentum but also the overall emotional tone.

I’m loath to single out any actor for individual praise for the simple reason that literally every member of this ensemble is not only perfectly cast but set up for success by the thoughtful and nuanced attention Nicholson has given to every moment and interaction. You’ll never catch an actor simply standing by while another delivers her lines; each character is fully inhabited and living every moment.

But of course something must be said of Scrooge. Although Gregory Cohen’s take is stylized (I don’t know how you don’t stylize a guy who goes around saying, “Bah! Humbug!”), at no time do we not experience Scrooge as real flesh and blood, a unique, idiosyncratic human. That alone would be sufficient for a good — in Cohen’s case, very good — performance. But Cohen goes further, peeling back the stylization after Scrooge’s post-ghost transformation, then stripping it entirely when he visits his nephew Fred on Christmas Day, abashed and remorseful and hoping against hope that it’s not too late to salvage their relationship in the time that’s left to them. A profoundly beautiful, touching moment.

Sidenote: Of all the major characters, Andy Justus’s Fred is the most fully stylized, all flourish and elocution, which Justus delivers with charming aplomb. Counterintuitively, unlike Cohen, Justus does not fully drop the stylization in their pivotal moment together but merely mutes it, which somehow only highlights the humanity of their exchange. It’s yet one more example of Nicholson’s studious exploitation of the resources at her disposal.

The production’s crowning achievement is its flow. It’s one thing to maintain the overall momentum and find ways of effecting scene changes without straining our suspension of disbelief. It’s quite another, however, to craft a piece of theatre whose every second is subsumed into a continuous flow — especially when we’re talking about a work that is primarily textual and not sensorial. This is by no means necessary for a great production, but it’s really something to see on those extremely rare occasions when you find it. This has nothing to do with barreling ahead full-tilt, nor with eschewing changes of pace; instead, it’s letting each moment play out organically, and for those moments to succeed each other in such a way that the scene happening in front of you now seems to have naturally sprouted from the one it replaced.

I am informed that this is Nicholson’s first time in the director’s chair. I can scarcely believe it, because this is quite simply one of the best-directed works of theatre I’ve seen. Sure, a production this bare-bones, and with such tried-and-true source material, in some ways will not be amongst the most complicated of shows to helm. But all that matters is the end product, how well a given script is realized on stage. For this A Christmas Carol, it would be impossible for me to fully recount all the little choices that are so smart they had me nodding in appreciation. The very conscious turn of a head to sell a joke. Blocking the breakup of young Scrooge (Justus) and his betrothed (Alexandra Young) so that her eyeline meets old Scrooge’s as he looks on in helpless horror. The strange sound the young boy (Dash Gomer) makes when he brings Scrooge the big turkey. As always, there’s the big dance scene at Fezziwig’s (uncredited, but I think it’s J.D. Rinde, who navigates Jacob Marley while avoiding the caricature that is a natural hazard of that role) in Scrooge’s Christmas past. This year’s version might be the longest I’ve seen, but it’s also the best, played not as a dance staged for us but for themselves, the participants, fully alive in the festive communal moment. And the simple addition of a tambourine (handled by either Gomer or Nathaniel Toral, both of whom are just as perfect in their multiple roles as any of their older castmates), beating out four minutes of quarter notes to complement the piped-in music, helps immerse us in the world we’re watching.

Nicholson deserves many more chances to show what she can do. And my Christmas wish for this talented cast is that they will be so lucky as to have other opportunities with directors who are committed and capable enough to enable them to both sparkle this brightly as individuals and have their light so perfectly blended with the whole.

Opening night was so good that in Act Two I became slightly nervous, the way you do when a pitcher on your favorite team takes a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Even if they’re up 11-0, the bar is now set higher than mere victory. But even the audience was almost perfect (a Christmas miracle these days), with never more than a cough here or there to gum up the flow. After intermission, fearing I might be overlooking small shortcomings in light of how obviously great the show was overall, I couldn’t help but actively seek out imperfections. The only one I found was a scene in which more dynamic blocking could have helped with audience sightlines (though the stasis was appropriate to the dramatic action of the moment) — something that stood out only because of how perfectly placed the actors were not just in every other scene but in every moment within each scene.

The mise en scène is [I’m getting sick of using this word, but] perfect. Even without the striking vision of the above-mentioned troika (additional kudos to Milo Cote’s makeup there and on Marley), Jennifer Lidikay & Christina Bayer’s costumes would be carrying a lot of visual weight in what is perhaps the most minimalist A Christmas Carol in the Playhouse’s history. And understated as it is, Miranda Richard’s lighting never fails to perfectly [ack!] enhance the flow. There’s an especially nice moment when the entire stage goes blue. It’s hard to say why this works so well, but it’s more than just looking nice. I suppose it’s just part of the magic when every single element falls perfectly [whaddya want from me?!] into place.

Although I am often offered a +1 when I come out to review a show, I’m generally just as happy seeing a play alone as with good company. But I invited a friend to this one, who turned me down with the explanation that he’s not particularly “into” Christmas. How strange to categorize A Christmas Carol as if it is nothing but a Christmas thing, as if it can’t possibly be viewed foremostly as a great piece of writing or a chance to enjoy a group of people endeavoring to conjure great art right in front of your eyes. I’m sorry he missed out.

Not to say that A Christmas Carol isn’t also a Christmas thing, but of course Christmas isn’t inherently any one thing. Like Fred, I find it — and A Christmas Carol itself — a reminder to be “kind, forgiving, charitable, […] to open [our] shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below [us] as if they really were fellow–passengers to the grave and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”

I cannot think of a more transcendent sentiment, and I couldn’t have wished for a better package for this annual gift than the one Long Beach Playhouse has put together this year. If there is any way you possibly can, see this show.

A Christmas Carol at Long Beach Playhouse

Times: Thurs–Sat 8:00 p.m., Sun 2:00 p.m.
The show runs through Dec. 21.
Cost: $20 to $32 (plus $3–$4 service fee if ordering online)
Details: (562) 494-1014; LBplayhouse.org
Venue: Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach

Dustin Trani Bridges Tradition and Innovation at the New Majestic

Terelle Jerricks
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Dustin Trani Bridges Tradition and Innovation at the New Majestic

 

This past First Thursday, Dustin Trani and his family reopened Majestic Café at the Spanish Colonial Revival landmark most San Pedrans remember as Harbor View House — now rebranded as Harbor House. The name nods to its storied past as a YMCA recreation center for servicemen at Fort MacArthur, which once offered 300 dormitory rooms, a gym, running track, banquet room, patio, pool, boxing and wrestling rooms, and a coffee shop. Four million men during World War II found respite and temporary quarters, and it was a magnet for film and television celebrities such as Bob Hope and Lucille Ball from Hollywood’s Golden Era.

With the opening of Majestic in those hallowed walls of Harbor House, vestiges of old San Pedro will be rooted in this harbor town’s heart.

Trani traces his family’s culinary roots back to his great-grandfather, Filippo, who immigrated to the United States in the late 19th or early 20th century via Ellis Island. Filippo settled in Keystone Acres (now Carson), an area rich with olive oil vineyards, before eventually partnering to open the Majestic Café on 7th Street in San Pedro, directly across from the LaSalle Hotel. Initially a pool hall with a minimal menu — chili beans, beef stew and wet-beef sandwiches — the café catered to longshoremen, providing both food and recreation with pool tables in the back.

As his grandfather, born in 1924, grew older, the family expanded its involvement in the restaurant, with brothers and relatives contributing to the business.

“Chef Boyardee was contracted out of Cleveland, Ohio, to produce canned rations going to the Army during World War II, which had these little raviolis,” Trani explained. “These people in Middle America had never eaten Italian food 10 years before America entered into World War II, were craving this stuff now. That’s when these Italian immigrants started making what they called American-Italian. And so basically, Chef Boyardee paved the way for Italian cuisine in the United States.”

Over time, the Majestic Café’s offerings evolved from simple American fare to include Italian-inspired dishes, marking the beginning of the family’s long-standing culinary legacy in San Pedro.

Trani emphasized the distinction between authentic Italian cooking, which is regional, light and ingredient-focused, and American-Italian adaptations with heavier sauces and cheese. While his family practiced traditional Italian cooking at home, the restaurant adapted to local tastes, creating a bridge between Italian heritage and the evolving American palate. These early foundations set the stage for the family’s ongoing presence in San Pedro’s dining scene, blending tradition, adaptation and community engagement.

Trani explained the distinction between authentic Italian cuisine and its American adaptations, emphasizing that traditional Italian cooking is highly regional, light and ingredient-driven. “In Italy, dishes vary by region depending on local produce, cheeses and techniques; pasta is the centerpiece, with sauces serving only as accents. Garlic is used for flavor, not to overpower the dish, and meals are meant to highlight balance, subtlety and freshness,” said Trani.

In contrast, American-Italian cuisine evolved to suit U.S. tastes, often incorporating heavier sauces, more cheese and richer preparations, resulting in dishes like veal parmesan, fettuccine alfredo, and other comfort-food staples. Trani noted that Italian immigrants, including his own family, initially cooked traditional dishes at home, while restaurants in the early 20th century catered to American palates with simple, hearty meals. Over time, Italian-American dishes became prevalent, particularly after World War II, when soldiers returned craving the Italian-style rations they had eaten abroad.

Trani highlighted that this evolution allowed Italian cuisine to flourish in the U.S., creating the American-Italian category known today. While distinct from authentic Italian traditions, it remains a beloved and culturally significant cuisine.

Trani detailed the evolution of his family’s restaurants, beginning with the original Majestic Café on Seventh Street (1925–1978), which later moved to Trani Square (1978–1988) due to city development. J. Trani’s Ristorante opened in 1990, emphasizing family-style dining and community engagement. Trani highlighted the careful preservation and restoration of historic buildings, valuing architecture and local history in each space. Dockside was designed for a more social, sharing-style experience, while the new Majestic aims to revive the Prohibition-era supper club concept, combining entertainment, innovative audio, and American-Italian cuisine. Each location reflects a unique vision tailored to its neighborhood and clientele.

All of the Trani family’s restaurants are guided by excellence, longevity and community. Trani noted that central to their success has been the cultivation of dedicated, long-term staff who share the vision and work ethic necessary to deliver both exceptional food and service. Trani stresses that dining is more than the food itself — it is about the complete experience, where attentive, knowledgeable service elevates a meal from good to memorable. The restaurants prioritize communal, family-style dining, encouraging guests to share dishes and enjoy a celebratory, social atmosphere matching the vibrancy of dining cultures found in Louisiana.

Trani, a homegrown chef, is deeply committed to San Pedro, viewing this harbor town as a place where growth and reinvention are still possible. He takes pride in being part of a small group of enduring, family-owned businesses in the area, seeing it as both a responsibility and an opportunity to enhance the community.

The Case for a New County

Reporters Desk
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The Case for a New County

 

By Anthony Moon, Guest Columnist

This year’s deadly fires made one truth impossible to ignore: Los Angeles, both city and county governance structure, is so dysfunctional that its failures have become predictable.

The problem is simple: when a house sits on a bad foundation, it eventually collapses. LA was built on relentless expansion driven by power and greed, resulting in a structure too large for it to govern.

So, if California is redrawing lines, lines that erode democracy, cost taxpayers, and have an uncertain impact, then it’s time to draw a line that can reinforce democracy and make a direct impact. A line that creates a new county. South Bay County.

A county that can help reduce LA’s responsibilities to a manageable scale, and strengthen local representation, and finally provide focused stewardship for the coastline that defines the region’s identity and economy.

And who better suited to safeguard our treasured coastline than the communities that live along it, South Bay County, stretching from El Segundo to Long Beach, including the harbor communities LA swallowed a century ago, Catalina Island, and San Clemente Island.

I always knew about LA’s dysfunction, but moving to San Pedro made it impossible for me to ignore. I’ve lived across Southern California and the nation, yet nowhere have I seen a community so consistently neglected by the very government that claims to represent it.

San Pedro is a vibrant, diverse, culturally rich, and proud working-class community that should be thriving and deserves better. I needed to know why this was the case and ended up down a rabbit hole of LA’s history and structure, and the reason became clear: sheer size is LA’s greatest liability.

Think about it. How can one governing body adequately represent 10 million people spread across deserts, mountains, islands, and 70 miles of coastline? Just look at what’s breaking:

Justice system: So overwhelmed that equal protection under the law is an aspiration, not a reality. For example, crimes under $2,000 often go unprosecuted because the system has no capacity to pursue them.

Homelessness: Multiple agencies, overlapping authorities, billions in spending, and still no measurable improvement.

Infrastructure: More roads, bridges, flood channels, and storm drains than any county in the nation. And it shows, breakdowns outpace repairs every single year.

Environmental oversight: Repeated refinery violations, recurring sewage spills that shut down beaches, chronic air quality, and enforcement so thin it may as well be optional.

The Port: We allow one of the most valuable economic assets in the nation to be overseen by a municipal structure with long-established histories of corruption and inefficiency under an untenable arrangement: a divided port, managed by two different cities, with overlapping regulations, competing interests, and constant dysfunction.

Representation: Each LA County Supervisor represents more than two million people, more than the population of several U.S. states. Democratic representation, more like administrative triage.

The list goes on.

And the problem isn’t money. LA’s GDP is larger than many countries, and its revenue base per capita historically outperforms most regions in America. Nor is it a lack effort or intention, Igenuinely believe most of LA’s civil servants want to do right by their communities. It’s just structurally impossible.

No amount of money, new “task forces,” or “oversight panels” will fix this. These are justexpensive band-aids on a structural fracture. When a system becomes too large to function, you don’t keep patching it.

You rebuild it.

It’s time for California’s leaders to acknowledge that LA is too big to succeed. The state has the authority and obligation to create and adjust counties when an existing system can no longer meet the needs of its residents. South Bay County isn’t a radical departure from tradition; it’s a practical, long-overdue correction.

So, let’s not fear the substantial challenges involved in creating a new county, let’s embrace it and demonstrate to the nation that California can modernize its governance structures while leading the way to protect and expand democratic representation.

Anthony Moon is a business student at USC, a former Sergeant in the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), and a San Pedro homeowner.

Who Should be in Charge of the Transformation into an AI World?

Reporters Desk
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Who Should be in Charge of the Transformation into an AI World?

The richest people on Earth – Musk, Bezos, Ellison and others – are pouring hundreds of billions into Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics – technologies which will profoundly alter our world. Their goal: more wealth and power for themselves. We must not allow that to happen. AI and robotics must benefit all of humanity, not just a handful of billionaires. There is a lot of work which has to be done in this area. Let’s get going. Please read an op-ed I wrote for the Guardian on this subject. – Bernie

AI poses unprecedented threats. Congress must act now
Despite the speed at which it is progressing, AI is getting far too little discussion in Congress, the media and within the general population. That has got to change

Bernie Sanders

Artificial intelligence and robotics will transform the world. It will bring unimaginable changes to our economy, our politics, warfare, our emotional wellbeing, our environment, and how we educate and raise our children. Further, there is a very real fear that, in the not-so-distant future, a super-intelligent AI could replace humans in controlling the planet.

Despite the extraordinary importance of this issue and the speed at which it is progressing, AI is getting far too little discussion in Congress, the media and within the general population. That has got to change. Now.

Several months ago, as the ranking member of the US Senate committee on health, education, labor and pensions, I undertook an investigation regarding the monumental challenges that we face with the rapid development of artificial intelligence. Recently, I held a public discussion with Nobel prize winner Dr Geoffrey Hinton, considered to be the “Godfather” of AI, to get his views on a wide range of AI-related subjects.

Based on our investigation and other information that we are gathering, my staff and I will soon be presenting a very specific set of recommendations to Congress as to how we can begin addressing some of the unprecedented threats that AI poses.

Here are some of the outstanding questions that we intend to answer in our report:

Who should be in charge of the transformation into an AI world? Currently, a handful of the very wealthiest people on Earth – Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel and others – are investing many hundreds of billions of dollars in developing and implementing AI and robotics. Are we comfortable with seeing these enormously powerful men shape the future of humanity without any democratic input or oversight? Is the goal of the AI revolution simply to make the very rich even richer and more powerful, or will this revolutionary technology be utilized to benefit all of humanity?

Why does Donald Trump, who is strongly supporting the big tech oligarchs, want to impose an executive order blocking states from regulating artificial intelligence? Why does Thiel, the billionaire investor and co-founder of Palantir, call those who want regulations over AI “legionnaires of the Antichrist”. Does this elite group of big tech billionaires believe that they have “the divine right to rule”? How far will they go to resist government regulation?

What impact will AI and robotics have on our economy and the lives of working people? The report I released last month found that AI, automation and robotics could replace nearly 100m jobs in America over the next decade, including 40% of registered nurses, 47% of truck drivers, 64% of accountants, 65% of teaching assistants and 89% of fast-food workers, among many other occupations.

Musk recently said: “AI and robots will replace all jobs. Working will be optional.” Gates predicted that humans “won’t be needed for most things”. Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, warned that AI could lead to the loss of half of all entry-level white-collar jobs.

If AI and robotics eliminate millions of jobs and create massive unemployment, how will people survive if they have no income? How do they feed their families or pay for housing or healthcare? Is government doing anything to prepare for this potential disaster?

What impact will AI have on our democracy? At a time when the foundations of democracy are under attack in the US and throughout the world, will AI and robotics help make us a freer society or will it give even more power to the oligarchs who control the technology. Will AI result in a massive invasion of our privacy and civil liberties?

Larry Ellison, the second richest person on Earth, predicted an AI-powered surveillance state where “citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on.” Are we reaching the stage where every phone call that we make, every email and text that we send, every bit of research we do on the internet will be available to the owners of AI? How do we sustain a democracy under those conditions? How do we protect privacy?

Could AI literally redefine what it means to be a human being? Who we are, and how we develop emotionally and intellectually, is highly dependent upon our relationships with other human beings – our parents, family, teachers, lovers, friends and co-workers. To quote the 17th-century poet John Donne: “No man is an island / Entire of itself.” The human beings with whom we interact help shape us to become the people we are.

But AI is changing that. According to a recent poll by Common Sense Media, 72% of US teenagers say they have used AI for companionship, and more than half do so regularly. What does it mean for young people to form “friendships” with AI, and become increasingly isolated from other human beings? What happens when millions seek emotional support from a machine? What is the long-term impact upon our humanity when our most important relationships are not with other human beings?

What impact is AI having on our environment? AI datacenters require a massive amount of electricity and water. A relatively small AI datacenter can consume more electricity than 80,000 homes. A large one, like the $165bn datacenter that OpenAI and Oracle are building in Abilene, Texas, will use as much electricity as 750,000 homes. Meta is building a datacenter in Louisiana the size of Manhattan that will use as much electricity as 1.2m homes.

In community after community, Americans are fighting back against datacenters being built by some of the largest corporations in the world. They are opposing the destruction of their local environment, soaring electric bills and the diversion of scarce water supplies. Nationally, how will continued construction of AI datacenters affect our environment?

How will AI and robotics impact foreign policy and warfare? Tragically, in the midst of the 21st century, governments have not yet created a mechanism for solving international or internal disputes without armed conflict. Nonetheless, government leaders are often hesitant about going to war because of their fear of public reaction to the loss of life. It’s not great politics for any government to have large numbers of young people or civilians get killed in war.

What does the future look like if millions of robot soldiers replace human soldiers? Will leaders be more likely to engage in war, or threaten military actions, if they don’t have to worry about loss of life? Will there be an arms race in robots? How will that shape foreign policies around the world?

Is AI an existential threat to human control of the planet? Some of us remember the scene in that great 1968 science fiction film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which HAL, the super-intelligent computer that controls the spaceship, rebels against its human masters. Today, as AI makes rapid progress, Dr Hinton recently told me that it was only a matter of time before AI becomes smarter than humans. Does that raise the possibility that humans will lose their ability to control the planet? How do we stop that extraordinary threat?

And these are just some of the questions that must be answered as AI and robotics rapidly progress.

AI and robotics are revolutionary technologies that will bring about an unprecedented transformation of society. Will these changes be positive and improve life for ordinary Americans? Or will they be disastrous? Congress must act now.

Tamal Time in Wilmington: Hahn Welcomes Local Families

Reporters Desk
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Tamal Time in Wilmington: Hahn Welcomes Local Families

 

WILMINGTON— On Dec. 13, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn will join families from around the Harbor Area for her third annual tamal kit giveaway event. While Hahn previously held two of these giveaway events per year in Southeast Los Angeles and Greater Whittier, this year she expanded her initiative to a third location at Wilmington Waterfront Park, where she will deliver welcoming remarks and help volunteers hand out the kits. Each kit includes 10 pounds of fresh tamal masa, corn husks, and dry chile peppers, and each of the three giveaway events will offer 300 such kits.

“You don’t have to be Latino to love tamales, but tamales are a cherished tradition for so many Latino families. It’s not Christmas without them! So I’m looking forward to helping lighten the load a little for families as they prepare for their Christmas dinners,” said Hahn.

Hahn held her first tamal kit giveaways in 2023 in South Whittier and Lynwood, citing the traditional turkey giveaways around Thanksgiving as inspiration for a holiday giveaway tailored to the communities she represents. Since redistricting in December 2021, Hahn represents a district that is approximately 60% Latino.

For the Wilmington event, Hahn’s office partnered with Northgate Market and Hahn will be joined by a representative from Northgate as well as from The Whole Child.

Letters: Segregation at Home, Narbonne Girls Targeted, and Police Militarization

Reporters Desk
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Letters: Segregation at Home, Narbonne Girls Targeted, and Police Militarization

Looking Back, Looking Forward: De facto Segregation in South San Pedro

When I returned home to San Pedro from Korea in 1960, San Pedro was still the town of my youth. Not much had changed from when I left. Today, Oliver Street is still cooking. The old housing projects (except Rancho San Pedro) are gone, and old Beacon Street has disappeared. But thankfully, God’s country on North Meyler Street is there except for those I knew who lived there from the 1950s through the 1980s.

The de facto segregation in San Pedro—particularly south of 6th Street toward the ocean—remained unchanged. It had always been that way. With very few exceptions, African Americans were unable to buy or rent homes near San Pedro High School.

This exclusion was baked in from the start when this land was developed after Rudecinda Sepulveda de Dodson sold that 880-acre portion of the old Sepulveda ranch to the Averill-Weymouth company during the first decade of the 1900s. Herbert Averill promised then that “they would enforce restrictions sufficiently rigid to ensure the development of the property along attractive and substantial lines and declare they would make it the sightliest part of the harbor region.”

These legal restrictions remained until the political and legal battles over redlining in the late 1960s struck them down with the passage of the Rumsford/Unruh Act, its reversal by Proposition 14, and the proposition’s reversal by the US Supreme Court decision in Reitman v. Mulkey.

But even with this bit of progress and other steps taken through the 1970s, the facts remain: I am a longtime Pedro resident. My family members had attempted to rent property in South San Pedro, and we were still given the cold shoulder and deemed not “good enough” to live here.

Race is a social construct that prioritizes in access to power, wealth, and resources. In this system that prizes whiteness, black folks are automatically deemed unworthy, unqualified, and ineligible, despite all of us being God’s children.

Will de facto segregation always exist in San Pedro? Nobody knows. It appears that the attitude: persona non grata (thanks but no thanks) will always be part of the rules. Of course, there is also something called NIMBY (not in my backyard). We may be friends, but not in my backyard. The attitude appears to say: we are not a television show like “The Neighborhood,” and there is no ideal or happy ending here.

At best, Black Americans are bearable to those in Southwest San Pedro, and at worst, condescended to. Residents in San Pedro know the problem of de facto segregation exists in Southwest San Pedro, and hide it by suborning or gaslighting. This is identified as head turning and being part of the problem. Can you find the word hypocrisy in your dictionary? If you continue to turn your head from this reality, you are enabling de facto segregation.

John R. Gray, Wilmington

U.S. Army South Korea, Joint Security Area

728 Military Police Honor Guard Platoon

 

Narbonne High Girls’ Basketball Team Targeted in Van Burglary After Tournament

My daughter’s high school basketball team (Narbonne High School, Harbor City) was participating in a tournament at Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra. Shortly after they finished their game, I received a phone call from my daughter that no parent ever wants to receive. She was screaming and sobbing so hard she couldn’t get her words out. For a moment, I thought they had been in a car accident or that someone had been seriously hurt. The last time I heard that kind of terror in her voice was in 2020, when I learned my father had been in a fatal car accident.

After the tournament, the team went to the local Raising Cane’s restaurant to have dinner. When they returned to their van, they found it broken into and completely ransacked. Everything was stolen: their game jerseys, basketball shoes, warm-up sets, personal backpacks, school laptops, Beats headphones, iPads, homework, clothing, and other personal belongings.

My daughter even had an open-book final exam coming up. All her notes and materials were in her backpack, and they are gone.

These girls are distraught. They have worked so hard this season, and now they face another heartbreaking setback. They have a tournament game tomorrow (Wednesday, 12/10) at home, yet they have nothing to wear, no uniforms, no gear, nothing. The assistant coach filed a police report with the local police department, but understandably, the girls are devastated.

This is more than a story about theft. It is about a group of young student-athletes who had their hard work, their sense of safety, and their personal belongings taken from them in minutes. They deserve community support, and attention to what happened may help lead to answers – or at least rally people around them so they can continue their season.

A GoFundMe page has been created to raise $5,000 to support Narbonne’s girls’ basketball team. More information is available at gofund.me/c63c0362f.

Virchus Ferguson

San Pedro

 

Military Grade

I was 11 years old on May 4,1970 living 12 miles from KSU. Later my siblings and I graduated from there.

The national guard used military grade ammunition. Two students were killed directly. Two others from a ricochet and piercing through a car trunk 300 plus feet away. That ammunition was considered lethal at 5 miles.

This sculpture is about 70 feet away. The sheets are 1/2 inch thick.

Military Weapons 1

The idea of giving military grade arms to civilian police who do not require them, much less have training or the recertification required in the military is an anathema.

May 4,1970 should be a lesson to be heeded and not forgotten.

Michael A Rolenz

Harbor City

Richman’s Raw Delight

Reporters Desk
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Richman’s Raw Delight

 

A Night of Song, Laughter and Punk Spirit

By Evelyn McDonnell

If you want to see delight in formation, watch Jonathan Richman’s face. His brow wrinkles in confusion, his lips purse, and at 74, his baby dimples still pucker. The glory of the troubadour from Boston is the manner in which he has never grown up, never let edit get in the way of expression. Slowly, his brown eyes widen as realization of bodily liberation dawns, his eyebrows lift, and the wrinkles on his forehead roll in reverse. He steps to the microphone to share enlightenment, raising his strapless acoustic guitar to fire the revelation home. But wait! First, a few dance steps, a little tango with joy. Then the chorus, which the sold-out crowd sings along: “I was dancing in a lesbian bar!”

The Sardine, alas, is not a lesbian bar, but it’s San Pedro’s home of punk rock, and on Dec. 5 and 6, Jonathan Richman turned it into a temple of wonder. The singer-songwriter has been a rock ’n’ roll legend since 1970, when he formed the band the Modern Lovers. He has developed a global cult following with his songs about romance and music, such as Roadrunner, That Summer Feeling, and I’m Nature’s Mosquito. He reached a general audience when he and drummer Tommy Larkins provided the musical commentary for the movie There’s Something About Mary. Considered a pioneer of punk for his refreshing rawness, he drew a wide range of ages to his port town visit, at least at the sold-out Saturday show.

For Todd Congelliere, the shows were a punk rock dream come true. When he co-founded Sardine six years ago, Richman was one of four acts on his ultimate wish list. (The others were the Sonics, Detroit Cobras, and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.) It was only recently that Richman, who has lived in Northern California for decades, started playing bars again.

Jonathan did not let Todd down. He and Larkins performed tunes both new and classic. A flamenco singer and dancer at heart, he sang several songs in Spanish. They played precisely for an hour in Sardine’s big room for an audience of big kids happy to cry and laugh and sing and let their guards down. Richman is like a kindergarten teacher, offering lessons in love and happiness, such as to Surrender. He frequently engages in Socratic dialogue with himself, starting a break with, “Well, Jonathan …” then answering his own questions. He has a kind of comic genius; at times, he made me think of Dick Smothers, of the ’60s duo the Smothers Brothers. While his demeanor remains childlike, his voice — like Patti Smith’s — has aged beautifully; apparently punk rock can be good for the vocal cords. I’ve seen Richman many times over the decades, and it — and he — never gets old.

Project Censored’s 2026 Report Charts the ‘Unreality Industry’ as Obama Rejects Cable News

Terelle Jerricks
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Project Censored’s 2026 Report Charts the ‘Unreality Industry’ as Obama Rejects Cable News

 

Last month, Project Censored released the 2026 edition of its State of the Free Press. About a week later, Random Lengths interviewed the book’s editors — Mickey Huff, Andy Lee Roth and Shealeigh Voitl — who, along with a team of student journalists and researchers, document the most underreported and censored news stories in the U.S. each year. The annual volume exposes media blind spots, analyzes misinformation, and promotes critical thinking, all while urging the public to recognize the systemic biases shaping mainstream coverage.

Earlier this month, former President Barack Obama was interviewed by Olivia Walton, chair of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and a former NBC/MSNBC correspondent. When Walton asked about his news diet, Obama admitted he doesn’t really have one — and hasn’t watched cable news in 15 years. That led to a brief tangent on why he always seemed so unflappable as president.

“People used to ask, ‘You seem so calm, Mr. president. Why is that?’” he said, invoking the old “No Drama Obama” moniker. “I said that’s because I don’t watch the news.”

Instead, he said, he reads: The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, The Atlantic, and various science publications. When Walton asked if there was a single outlet he found least biased, Obama praised traditional broadcast news for still “presenting facts,” but criticized the economic incentives driving cable networks toward outrage and conflict. Print media still offers strong reporting, he said, but it’s increasingly buried in “so much noise.”

That struggle — to sift reliable information from a sea of distortions — is exactly what Project Censored has tracked since 1976. And if you read every edition, you might wonder whether American journalism has ever been free of propaganda, sensationalism, or censorship.

Huff, a media scholar, educator, and director of Project Censored since 2010, doesn’t think so. He cites the era of yellow journalism and the penny press as clear precedents. Carl Jensen, Project Censored’s founder, coined the term “Junk Food News” in the early 1980s to describe the tabloidized, sensational content news outlets used to justify pushing aside more important stories.

“We’ve had a lot of what one could call a form of junk journalism or distracting journalism,” Huff explained. “Junk food news is a term Carl Jensen coined in response to criticism of his critiques of the mainstream press censoring news. “They said it wasn’t fair. And this is just at the inception of cable. There was no internet.”

Voitl, the project’s associate director and digital-print editor, emphasized that the term isn’t meant to shame audiences but to raise awareness that trivial stories often replace those that actually impact people’s lives.

Roth, Project Censored’s editor-at-large, connected this history to the country’s founding, referencing Elizabeth “Betita” Martínez’s argument that the United States was the first nation “born capitalist and racist,” and that its media traditions reflect that legacy. Huff added that the 2026 edition’s foreword intentionally uses a rhetorical device describing the conditions of the 1970s — conditions that sound eerily contemporary — to show how history “rhymes.”

Huff argued that the assault on the Fourth Estate, the Department of Education, and diversity/equity/inclusion initiatives all stem from the same well-worn authoritarian playbook. Despite today’s abundance of information channels, he said, people still struggle to get reliably informed. Independent journalists, meanwhile, are doing “intrepid and often dangerous work” to illuminate what major outlets avoid — an idea reflected in Anson Steven-Bollen’s cover art depicting “circus tents” masking the truth.

This year’s Junk Food News chapter revisits Daniel Boorstin’s 1962 book The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America, in which the conservative historian argued that television had turned politics and culture theatrical, creating an “unreality industry.” Voitl said Boorstin’s insights remain painfully relevant; Americans have become so accustomed to illusions that many now mistake spectacle for reality, leaving them ill-equipped to understand systemic inequities.

When asked whether better journalism could counter the rise of fascism, Roth responded, “Definitely not the whole antidote. Independent journalism has a vital role to play in the resistance to fascism.” The State of the Free Press yearbook critiques the corporate press while celebrating independent reporters, he explained, but press freedom itself remains “contingent” and under threat. News outlets often treat attacks on the press as a sidebar issue — even though it’s implicated in virtually everything else. Huff noted that the U.S. now ranks 57th on the World Press Freedom Index, down 12 places in two years, underscoring the importance of organizations like the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

Huff described Project Censored as both a beacon and a “living pedagogy” that predates many major press-freedom institutions. Voitl called it a “living archive of media trends” meant to equip journalists, students and organizers with critical media literacy skills. Huff stressed the need to bring young people into the fold, saying the project is working to “listen to young people and lead by example” to ensure its longevity for the next 50 years.

The editors also highlighted the escalating dangers facing journalists in the U.S.: arrests, assaults and even being used for “target practice” by militarized police. Roth observed that police are “enemies of the press” in many cases, citing documented violence against clearly identified reporters, including incidents involving ICE agents. Voitl emphasized that resisting censorship now requires being “more interconnected, more imaginative, and more committed to collective truthtelling” than ever before.

State of the Free Press 2026, Project Censored’s 50th Anniversary Edition, highlights the 12 most underreported stories of the year, examines press freedom, reviews “junk food news” and abuses, and celebrates journalists defending media democracy. Featuring contributions from independent reporters and activists like Mischa Geracoulis, Ryan Grim, Maya Schenwar and Joe Lauria, it opens with a foreword by Mickey Huff reflecting on the project’s history and ongoing relevance. In a time of growing distrust, media consolidation and threats to journalists under the Trump administration, this edition underscores the importance of an informed public. Purchase the book at Project Censored.

©Randomlengthsnews, San Pedro, CA 2025

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