Local News Briefs

Daniel Archulata, Daily Press Editor, Dies Suddenly

Daniel Archuleta, the Santa Monica Daily Press Managing Editor, died yesterday morning at his home in El Sereno, according to his family.

The 38-year-old had been with the westside newspaper for seven years and was responsible for the publication’s high school sports coverage.

Prior to joining the Daily Press, Archuleta had worked at the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.He is survived by his wife Gayatri and two young daughters.

No cause of death was given.

A memorial fund has been set up to support the Archuleta family due to Daniel’s unexpected death. We at the Los Angeles Sports Journal respectfully ask our readers to donate to help Gayatri avoid a very difficult financial struggle in the coming months. No matter how small the donation, any amount will be appreciated.

Increase in Rent Control Fee Goes to SM Voters

Santa Monica residents will vote on a measure in November that would increase the registration fee landlords pay to cover the city’s rent control board administrative costs, from $174.96 to a maximum of $288 a year. The measure would also force landlords to cover up to half the fee, rather than pass it along to their tenants, as they were allowed to do until last year.

The board says without the increase it faces a $36,000 deficit next fiscal year, which would balloon to $150,000, then close to half a million dollars after that.

“The rent control law is not self-executing, and its administration is not free,” Santa Monica Rent Control Board’s General Counsel, Stephen Lewis, wrote in a memo to the city council recommending that they vote to put the measure on the ballot, which they did last week.