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Sal Medina (pictured) has been reelected to Claremont City Council’s District 5 seat. Corey Calaycay looks to be assured reelection as well, with a 16 point lead over challenger Rachel Forester, while the race for CUSD Board of Education’s Trustee Area 5 remains too close to call. More election info in story. Photo/courtesy of City of Claremont

“It’d been several years since I’d seen Jen when I ran into her at a Jon Spencer Blues Explosion show at the El Rey Theatre in LA in March 1997. We spoke only briefly, but it was sure nice to see my old friend. Months later I got the shocking news that she had been diagnosed with brain cancer. She was 33. What followed that diagnosis dramatically reshaped the rest of her life. Though she’s never pursued legal action, a local surgeon botched her first brain surgery, removing some malignant mass but leaving behind more, which necessitated a second procedure at UCLA. The accompanying radiation treatments from both surgeries was severe and left her deeply fatigued. The combined trauma is with her to this day.”

Elisabeth Jones recently began her 22nd year in education as the new principal of Sumner Danbury Elementary School in charge of Sumner programs, succeeding former principal Rahkiah Brown. Though she enters the academic year in a new district and as a first-time principal, she is looking forward to the challenge. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Cal Poly Pomona recently launched its first university-brand ice cream, Cal Poly Pomona Farms Ice Cream, which is available at the farm store, 4102 S. University Dr., Pomona, and select on-campus dining locations. The move comes in partnership with the Don B. Huntley College of Agriculture, Cal Poly Pomona Enterprises, and San Dimas-based artisanal ice cream company Coney Island Creamery.

Camille Su-Lin Johnson is the new dean of Cal Poly Pomona’s College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences. Johnson joins CPP from San Jose State University where she had served as associate dean for research and faculty success since 2020. While at SJSU, Johnson also served as a professor of management, acting chair for the school of management, chief operations manager at the office of the provost, interim chair of the department of education leadership, and director of accreditation for the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business.

Claremont High School Football (0-3): Los Osos blew out Claremont, 40-6, on September 1, for the Pack’s third straight loss of the campaign. The team looks to end its unfortunate streak at 7 p.m. Friday at Henry J. Kaiser High School in Fontana. The Pack then welcomes Alta Loma Friday, at p.m. Friday, September 15.

A group was making its way through the crowd seated on the lawn in the darkening, warm summer evening. The guys had glow sticks around their necks, and the young woman had one crowning her head, like a string of daisies. Others walked past with hamburgers, ice cream and other treats from the concession stand as the band played into the night. 

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Robbie Fulks returns to the Folk Music Center in Claremont this Saturday, September 9 to promote his new record, “Bluegrass Vacation.” Tickets are $30 in advance at the store, or at the door. Last year’s show sold out, so early tickets are advised. More info is at folkmusiccenter.com/events or robbiefulks.com. Photo/by Scott Simontacchi, courtesy of Compass Records

The Claremont Chamber of Commerce will recognize Claremont Headstones Caskets Urns on the occasion of its 25th anniversary with a ribbon cutting at 5 p.m. Thursday, September 7 at 427 N. Yale Ave. The free and open to the public event will include wine and light appetizers. RSVP at business.claremontchamber.org/events.

Claremont Courier high school sports roundup: week of September 1, 2023

Though smog remains and LA still consistently tops the list for worst air quality in the nation, the region has seendramatic improvements since California began leading the way in the 1970s, to the point where being “smogged out” is a thing of the past in my old neighborhood. The pathway to cleaner air began when politicians of all stripes looked out their windows, saw the evidence, and followed the science. In 1970 this was just common sense. In 2023, not so much.

Savers rejoice! Short-term interest rates, such as those on U.S. Treasury bills, recently breached the 5% level after sitting near zero for nine of the past 14 years. Cash is no longer trash; “financial repression” — that is, central banks keeping rates at rock bottom to stimulate the economy — is taking a welcome breather.

Fifty-five-year-old Claremont resident Harold Sanin hopes to reinvigorate connections between the high school and the city at large in his new role as Claremont High School’s athletic director. “I’m here and I want to be able to make this place as good as possible,” said Sanin, who has lived in Claremont since 2001. “What can I do for the Little League? We used to have a Junior All-American [Football] program here, why isn’t it here anymore? My son played in that program.”

The light at the end of the Metro Gold Line tunnel may finally be reached if new state transportation funds are allocated to complete the rail system through to Claremont and Montclair. On Monday, Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority CEO Habib Balian expressed optimism that final leg of the project, now called the A Line, would at last get built thanks to a recent significant cash infusion. Courier photo/Steven Felschundneff

It’s going to be a year of firsts for Julie Pak. Chaparral Elementary School’s new principal has spent her entire career at Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, and this is her first year as a principal. “Claremont as a district, their core values of excellence, equity, innovation, and integrity just really spoke to me,” Pak said. “Making the leap to just even apply was easy because I felt like I could align myself to the vision and mission of this district.”

By Mark von Wodtke | Special to the Courier Tree legacy Homes, campuses, and Claremont’s public streets and parks should all have the benefit of heritage trees, which provide a living infrastructure for cleaner air and many other ecological amenities. Claremont has California Botanic Garden, the Claremont Wilderness Park, the Claremont Colleges campuses, the Village, […]

This month’s Claremont Art Walk runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, September 2.