SO LONG, RAKU

Raku on Yale Avenue has closed. The space has been for lease for sometime, but the owners previously said they were looking for a new spot to lease in the Village. Raku, and its sister store Paper Star, have been located on Yale for 40 years, offering cards and unique gifts.

SO MANY QUESTIONS

It was noted by a reader that at last week’s Active Claremont/League of Women Voters candidates’ forum, Councilmember Opanyi Nasiali, the only sitting member of council to attend, submitted a question in the Q & A portion of the forum. One has to wonder.

PREMIUM?PRICE

Harold Turnbull, a Claremont resident and professor at Cal Poly Pomona, and his wife had a run-in with the Bank of America. The Turnbulls allege that they were forced for years to pay the bank for insurance on a dwelling that didn’t exist. Their home had burned down in the Padua Hills wildfire of 2003 and was never rebuilt.

After the fire, Bank of America, the mortgage holder, put what is called force-placed insurance on the Turnbull’s home. Problem was, there was no home. After repeatedly notifying the big bank of the situation, they were continuously ignored. Bank of America continued to aggressively overcharge the Turnbulls 1,111 percent (yes, that’s one thousand, one hundred, eleven percent) over-market for the unneeded coverage.

The good news is, the Turnbells hired the Claremont law firm of Shernoff, Bidart, Echeverria, Bentley and were successful in recovering all their premium payments.

THE CRASH OF 1936

Former Claremont resident Bud Weisbrod, now of Hawaii, recently shared a blast from the past.

Mr. Weisbrod, who was born in Pomona and grew up on 10th Street in Claremont, inquired about a plane crash that occurred near his home in 1936.

“I saw a biplane spin into a stone greenhouse on 12th Street, just west of College Avenue,” he wrote. “Both pilots survived. I watched the rescue crew remove them from the plane. I’ve been wondering about the details ever since.”

If anyone remembers, email sammy@claremont-courier.com.

STUCK IN THE ‘80s

The city of Claremont doled out nearly $1.7 million for its most recent warrant register, an expense report published by the city twice a month. Of that, $471,494.43 went to payroll and $134,034.15 for insurance premiums. Other high ticket items included $12,000 to American Express, $620,278.79 for street slurrying and $26,742 to Best, Best & Krieger, the city’s law firm.

An additional $49,078.85 was given to the Claremont Chamber of Commerce’s Business Improvement District, for its promotion of tourism in Claremont from October to December, 2012.

One expenditure of interest was $65.27 paid to USA Mobility Wireless. It seems the city may be in a bit of time warp. The payment was for pagers.

Until next time,

Sammy

sammy@claremont-courier.com