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Congratulations to Chris Toovey, one of 14 readers who correctly identified last week’s “Where am I?” as Pae White’s 2023 sculpture, “Qwalala,” on the campus of Claremont McKenna College at 400 E. Sixth St. Chris is now entered into the year-end drawing for a one-year subscription to everyone’s favorite award-winning local newspaper, the Claremont Courier. So, “Where am I” this week? Email your answer, full name, and city of residence — and suggestions for future mystery photos — to contest@claremont-courier.com for your chance to win. Courier photo/Tom Smith
Longtime Claremont resident and University of La Verne professor Richard Rose is about to take a big idea to South Africa’s 2024 Ubuntu Festival, a four-day global conference held in conjunction with South Africa’s Human Rights Day. Rose, 64, and his daughter Rochelle will show a video they made, “Building the beloved community,” at the festival on March 22. The video describes a curriculum he is building, “the beloved course.” Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo
The Claremont City Council approved a motion Tuesday to enter into a joint legal defense agreement with neighboring La Verne. The move allows the cities’ shared general liability insurance carrier to retain a law firm to represent them in the claims process and any potential lawsuits resulting from groundwater seepage in the Stone Canyon neighborhood in April 2023. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo
Though it didn’t end as he’d hoped, six-year Claremont City Council member Jed Leano is nonetheless grateful for the lessons learned and coalitions built during his yearlong campaign to represent District 41 in the California Assembly. “It was amazing,” Leano said about the campaign. “It was remarkably beautiful.” Leano finished fourth in last week’s Super Tuesday Democratic primary election, which was won by John Harabedian, who will face Republican Michelle Del Rosario Martinez in the November 5 general election. Courier photo/Peter Weingberger
The grandmother related how the granddaughter had attended very conservative schools, where she was told such “lifestyles” were sinful. As a gay man who came out in the 1990s when same-sex relationships were beginning to be accepted and same-sex marriage was about to be a hotly contested issue here in loosey-goosey California, I could relate. As a severely disabled person used to being stared at and sometimes made fun of, and who people constantly make the wrong assumptions about, I could relate. A bit. At least enough so that my eyes began to well up.
Ramadan is a special month for Muslims around the world in which prayer, fasting, and charitable giving are paramount. Each day of fasting begins with sunrise and concludes with sunset. It is a holy month and one in which some Muslims come together joyfully at sunset to break the fast (iftar) at the local mosque and to pray communally and recite/read the Qur’an. The Prophet Muhammad set a precedent when he nibbled on dates to break his daily fast, and Muslims everywhere follow that today. Photo/courtesy of CGU
Claremont Graduate University president Len Jessup announced this week that he will retire on or about June 30. In an email to the Claremont Graduate University community Jessup sung the praises of current and past students, faculty, staff, trustees, donors, and partners. Jessup took over as CGU’s 12th president in summer 2018. More info is at cgu.edu/news. The Courier will follow up on Jessup’s retirement, and CGU’s plans for his replacement, in a future edition. Courier photo/Steven Felschundneff
Bamboo Dart Press, a Claremont-based publishing collaboration between Pelekinesis and Shrimper Records, is being honored Sunday, March 17 at Mt. San Antonio Gardens, 900 Harrison Ave., Pomona. The event, in conjunction with the Gardens’ “For the Love of Books” program, is sold out. Authors Margot Hover, Brown Lethem, and Allen Callaci will be reading, and Bamboo Dart Press impresarios Dennis Callaci and Mark Givens will speak about local literature.
Tomato varieties such as better boy, early girl, green zebra, Cherokee purple, and many more will go on sale Saturday, March 16, at Cal Poly Pomona Farm Store, 4102 S. University Dr., as part of the school’s annual “tomatozania” sale.
St. Patrick’s Day isn’t celebrated for the same reasons it once was. Times change, and holidays take on different meanings.
Some 40 Claremont Colleges students, local residents, and religious leaders took part in a demonstration in support of a cease-fire in Gaza at Shelton Park on Sunday. The action, organized by Claremont Community for Palestine, included a vigil honoring the more than 30,000 Palestinians killed in the conflict, and U.S. Air Force service member Aaron Bushnell, who died February 25 after proclaiming he could “no longer be complicit in genocide” and setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo
With partly sunny skies and high temperatures in the 60s Sunday, Claremonters were not the only ones enjoying the day at Shelton Park. Squirrels roamed around the grass making their presence known, finding food to prepare for yet another rainy day. But rain is not in the forecast as temperatures will slowly warm up this […]
This was a time when the older, historic homes of the Village were not as desirable and much more affordable. Many had not been maintained and people had moved to newer neighborhoods for homes with more modern conveniences. This was prior to the historic preservation movement in Claremont and before the creation and placement of properties on the local historic register. Things have changed. The historic homes of Claremont are some of the most desirable in the city. Today, historic homes appreciate at higher rates than properties elsewhere. Photo/courtesy of John Neiuber
Before last week, the last time I covered a city council meeting was in 1993, when I was a young reporter in my first full-time job in journalism at the long gone North Lake Tahoe Bonanza, in Incline Village, Nevada.
At age 17, Constance Cassinelli came across letters dated as far back as 1899 addressed to her great-grandfather, Nicola Cassinelli, from his siblings. When she held them, she said it was as if the letter’s authors were giving her instructions: “Remember us. Remember us.” The Claremont resident describes her decades of discovery in her book, “Caro Nicola: Promise Kept.” Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo
We worked with women who had never attended school, including some who had not been allowed to leave their homes. They were unaware of their rights and lacked skills beyond household chores. Our goal was to educate them to the best of our ability. Many eventually joined schools and later, universities. But sadly, history repeated itself: on August 14, 2021 I was on my way to work when a man dressed in the garb of a Taliban member stood in front of me and shouted, “If you don’t want to die, go back home; a woman’s place is at home.” Photo/by Hamed Painda