Our Times Are Over

By Teresa Rochester

The rumor had floated through the grapevine for several weeks, and on Wednesday it became truth: After two years "Our Times" will cease publication Thursday.

The Los Angeles Times announced Wednesday that it will shut down 14 "Our Times" neighborhood sections stretching from Mission Viejo to Montebello to Santa Monica this week.

John Puerner, publisher of the Los Angeles Times said in a statement that the decision to cease publication was both a journalistic and financial one.

"Our Times sections were a two-year effort in community news and that was unable to attract the readership and advertising necessary to make them financially successful," Puerner said.

"We will still cover the major local stories, but we'll leave the block-by-block coverage of neighborhoods to others," said John S. Carroll, editor of the Los Angeles Times.

The closures will result in the layoffs of 125 "Our Times" employees.

"We're mostly sad," said Santa Monica Our Times City Editor Richard Fausset, who started as a reporter for the Santa Monica and Crenshaw editions before taking the reins as editor.

"What makes me proudest in regards to the work is the daily commitment to the people who live in Santa Monica and Venice," Fausset said. "The reporters became intimately involved with the people they covered. They cared very deeply."

News of the Our Times folding moved quickly through the community Wednesday. Business leaders chatted about the closure informally at a Chamber of Commerce forum on the living wage and at other gatherings across the city.

Community leaders expressed dismay and sadness over the loss of another community paper.

"It's a loss for the community," said Mayor Ken Genser. "It's important for people in the community to have a basic understanding of what's going on in the city. To lose that is a very big loss for the city."

"It's a shame that the bottom line takes precedence over a commitment to serve the readers in a community," said Councilman Paul Rosenstein.

Armed with the Evening Outlook's circulation list, Our Times Santa Monica was launched one month after the demise of the city's 123-year-old daily.