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“I’ve always been a puzzle geek and kept this idea in my head. I started creating puzzles and texting them to my nephews about 15 years ago. Then in 2020 when Covid hit, my wife and I started a nightly thing with our friends, six couples. They would all be by their phones at 8 p.m. sharp, at which time would post the puzzles to our group text and they would race to answer it first.” Photo/courtesy of Gerald Gornik
Our Lady of the Assumption Church’s annual Fiesta returns Friday, October 6 through Sunday, October 8 at 435 N. Berkeley Ave., Claremont. Admission is free during carnival hours, October 6 […]
One day as we were sitting in the dirt eating our bagged lunches (like animals, I thought, even then) the old man who ran the show began one of his regular informal employment reviews. This had become a thing over the past few weeks, him scowling at me and muttering about how I wasn’t cut out for hard work, didn’t dig my ditches to his specifications, or fast enough, etc. He wasn’t wrong. I was a skinny kid with a questionable work ethic, and truth be told, had no interest in a life of blocks, bricks, and ditches. This time though, his critique included an extra dose of nasty old man, concluding with, and I quote: “I guess it’s because you didn’t grow up with a dad around.” Though I instantly despised the guy for being so cruel, he did have one thing right: dad wasn’t around. But mom sure was.
Courier advertising director Mary Rose liked to joke with clients who declined to take an ad by responding with a time-honored quip: “You’re fired,” she would say to break the ice. Many times she would win that person over and they would end up buying an ad after all. That amiable persuasiveness was but one of her many strengths as the key ad revenue generator for the Courier. Well, the time has come for the Courier to say goodbye to Mary, who will be retiring at the end of the month, capping a 25-year career at the paper. Courier photo/Steven Felschundneff
The Courier is thrilled to announce the hiring of veteran ad professional Anna Hoy as its advertising director following Mary Rose’s retirement. Hoy, who started Monday, said she looks forward to bringing enthusiasm and creativity to her new job. “I like to put systems together and find solutions to help small businesses,” Hoy said. “So my goal and objective is to benefit the paper, but also to benefit the small businesses we support in the community. I have the experience and the knowledge in the advertising field, and I think outside the box, and I am able to use those skills to maximize the return on investment for our customers.” Courier photo/Steven Felschundneff
Whether you call it following her heart or in her mother’s footsteps, Claremont Helen Renwick Library’s new community library manager Katherine Loeser seems to be doing both. Loeser’s mother Janice grew up in East Africa in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Books were seen as luxuries for the citizens of Mombasa, Kenya, and her mother often stayed at the local library until the next shipment of literature arrived. “When she got to be here in California [in 1961], she definitely made use of every library that was at her disposal,” Loeser said. “I actually grew up in and around libraries.” Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo
“These stories really haven’t been recognized in a comprehensive exhibition before,” Liu said. “There has been prior academic scholarship by people like Matt Garcia … but there really hasn’t been any kind of widespread recognition of this history which I think needs to be addressed,” adding there are many residents and college students today who are unaware of the abundant history under their feet.
Styles Music will mark its 45th anniversary with a free and open to the public 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. celebration Saturday, September 30 at the store, 777 E. Foothill Blvd., Pomona. The event will include refreshments and live music from John Paul Leon, Mathew Maldanado and friends, Joel Soto and Battdrill, Leonice and Annand, and Vince Brocato. Founded in 1978 by the late Lou Styles, Styles Music is now run by his sons Lou Jr. and Gregg.
Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center physician Lori Vanyo, who is also the medical director of the Robert and Beverly Lewis Family Cancer Care Center, has been named one of the top 10 cancer care liaisons nationwide, receiving the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer Outstanding Performance Award which recognizes liaison physicians’ work to improve the quality of care for cancer patients in their local communities. Photo/courtesy of PVHMC
Night owls of all ages are invited to explore California Botanic Garden’s nocturnal worlds during “Things That Go Bump in the Night,” from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, October 6, and Saturday, October 7, at 1500 N. College Ave., Claremont. Flashlights are encouraged. The event returns following a four-year hiatus and features interactive activities and shows throughout the garden, arts and crafts opportunities, guided tours, food trucks and information booths run by Pomona Valley Audubon Society, Wild Wings of California, Guardians of the Wolves, California Bat Working Group’s SoCal region, Without a Box, and scientists from Harvey Mudd College and University of California, Riverside entomology departments.
Claremont police responded at 7:18 p.m. Saturday to the rear patio of a vacant storefront at 221 Yale Ave. regarding an unconscious man. The person who called police said a man at the location appeared to be in full cardiac arrest and had possibly overdosed. Arriving officers began life saving measures and administered three doses of the opioid overdose revival drug Narcan. In spite of their efforts, 34-year-old Jose Juan Hernandez remained unresponsive with no pulse. A short time later the Los Angeles County Fire Department arrived and continued life saving measures for 20 minutes, after which Hernandez was pronounced dead at 7:47. Hernandez was unhoused but has family in Claremont, according to police. Courier file photo
Local, free, and famous, that’s James Turrell’s “Dividing the Light,” one of over 80 “skyspaces” worldwide that demand the participant-observer look overhead to a naked, unadorned sky and allow their eyes to be tricked by light changing on the surrounding structure.
A former El Roble Intermediate School student is suing Claremont Unified School District claiming that school officials failed to protect him from repeated bullying and physical attacks from fellow students. The lawsuit was filed September 11 on behalf of the 13-year-old by his mother, alleging assault and battery, dangerous condition of public property, negligent supervision and negligent hiring, training, and retention. The plaintiff seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
Claremont police responded at 7:18 p.m. Saturday to the rear patio of a vacant storefront at 221 Yale Ave. regarding an unconscious man. The person who called police said a man at the location appeared to be in full cardiac arrest and had possibly overdosed. Arriving officers began life saving measures and administered three doses of the opioid overdose revival drug Narcan. In spite of their efforts the 34-year-old man remained unresponsive with no pulse. A short time later the Los Angeles County Fire Department arrived and continued life saving measures for 20 minutes, after which time the man was pronounced dead.
If there’s one thing the late artist Samella Lewis would have told curator Kirk Delman ahead of last month’s public opening of “Gettin’ It Done,” he said it would have been “It should be bigger. It should be more artists. There are so many artists, they should all be in here. You could have double hung” more art, said Delman, the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery registrar and collections manager. “I think she would have enjoyed it. She was very appreciative of any effort, and she would have told you so.” A free and public reception for “Gettin’ It Done” is set for 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, September 16 at Scripps College’s Williamson Gallery, 251 E. 11th St., Claremont. The exhibit is up through October 15.
Owner/visionary Erica Dubreuil opened Crème Bakery on September 19, 2018, intent on complementing Claremont’s already lively coffee and pastry scene, with Some Crust the next block over, Last Drop Café across the street, and two chain coffee spots also steps away. I was skeptical, wondering how another Village bakery was going to fare. But then I made my first trip to Crème and wondered no longer. I was immediately hooked on Dubreuil’s fantastic baguette sandwiches, particularly the Saucisson Sec, a deceptively simple little bomb of happiness with its dry Italian salami, fontina cheese, Dijon mustard, and cornichons. Oh. My. God. Later I got my hands on the pastries. Game over. I was and remain a devotee.
Congresswoman Judy Chu of California’s 28th Congressional District, which includes Claremont, made an hourlong appearance Monday at Scripps College’s Balch Auditorium to speak about the current political landscape surrounding reproductive healthcare and justice.