Readers’ comments: February 27, 2026

Kudos to council for sparing Claraboya pines
Dear editor:
Claremont reinforced its reputation as a City of Trees by making a well-informed decision to save Claraboya’s 207 pine trees from the chainsaw and chipper [“City Council puts off decision on Claraboya pines,” February 13]. Removing these trees would have come at a great expense to the city, resulting in less shade, higher energy costs, decreased property values, and the loss of food and nesting sites for our furred and feathered friends.
While this proposal consumed valuable staff time that could have been spent elsewhere, we are glad to move forward. It’s time now to refocus on Claremont’s Urban Forest Management Plan. By addressing the 60 priorities and actions identified in the plan, we can ensure Claremont remains the green, vibrant community we all value.
Read the Urban Forest Management Plan here: claremontca.gov/City-Services/Trees.
Drew Ready
Claremont

Outrage at CUSD student protesters is misdirected
Dear editor:
I would much rather have my child stand on the corner of Foothill and Indian Hill shouting “f**k ICE,” scaling traffic signals and being led by the superintendent than him/her/they stand at the U.S. Capitol shouting “hang Mike Pence,” scaling walls and being led by the president.
Eugene Hwang
Claremont

Life, dumb luck, etc.
Dear editor:
At no other time in history have so many humans of humble origin had the means and leisure to muse about the meaning of life. Just think what an awesome privilege it is to have been born into the best time there ever was, and likely ever will be, for human kind! Sure, had you been dropped into an earlier age you might have been Leonardo da Vinci or Ada Lovelace or Hypatia of Alexandria or Marcus Aurelius or some other figure who enjoyed comparable cultural privileges and contemplative opportunities; it’s possible, but is it probable? In what century would you have had a better chance of landing as softly as you did in the 20th?
Fundamental among the forces that have brought about this figurative moment in time is, of course, death. But for death, there would be no “survival of the fittest,” no evolution, and no sequence of random mutations whose fitness resulted in … us. Indeed, if it were not for life’s finiteness, what would be the point of musing about its meaning?
No, I am not trying to saddle you with some staggering responsibility. Of all the homo sapiens who have ever lived, say to child-bearing age, I estimate that somewhere between one-third and two-thirds are alive today. Your situation is hardly unique, your opportunity far from unprecedented. But, it is an opportunity albeit one that is not without some risk, for the meaning of life just may turn out to be whatever you choose to give it.
Russ Merris
Pomona

On God, religion, science, and certainty, etc.
Dear editor:
Regarding the origin of the universe, there is a common dilemma for religion and science: If the religious god created the universe, how did that god come to be? If the scientific big bang theory represents the origin of the universe, how did that exploding thing come to be?
We don’t know, do we?
Opanyi Nasiali 
Claremont