The SCS isn't really a Santa Cruz "paper" any more. It's part of the conglomerate that also owns the Mercury, Oakland Trib, and Contra Costa News (and, I think based on layout and writing similarities, the LA Daily News) among others. The news staff (and production, for the few printed editions still distributed) was drastically cut and consolidated by the corporate overlord. So yes, I would expect there to be no effective moderation of letters - in fact, the juicier in terms of clickbait the better. Articles are largely written by contract operators overseas or bots scanning the web and social media, as with most "papers" these days other than the biggest, or by local stringers/freelance. Truth,research, and competent editing are not things to be expected from that type of news organization these days.