Opinion
On Wednesday, February 21, at 8:20am, I was the victim of a distracted driver. My friend and I were on our way to Pasadena. She was driving, I was the passenger. It had rained the night before, and the roads were still slick. We were stopped at a red light meter on the on-ramp to the 210 freeway at Towne Avenue when we were struck from behind by a vehicle traveling at least forty miles per hour. Photo/courtesy of Zoe Brin
Editor’s note: Northwestern University continues to be a leader on tracking the state of local news in the United States. In 2023, they were able to report about more specific trends related to the impact of ‘ghost newspapers’ with no staff reporters. Sounds absurd but unfortunately, it does exist. The good news is that promising […]
On Thursday, 350 California publishers (including the Claremont Courier) reaffirmed their support of the California Journalism Protection Act after Google announced it would stop showing news to some California residents in its search results. This is an undemocratic and unprecedented attack on journalism.
“Getting away has become a necessary regular thing for my wife and I. In today’s parlance, it’s our ‘self-care.’ We both need the time to reset/reboot. I’ve been beat up and battered ‘round, as George Harrison wrote, and time far away from the battle is my prescription for remaining somewhat sane. It remains to be seen whether this 10-day regimen will have the same palate cleansing effect of last year’s near three week ‘green dream’ tour of Ireland. I’ll let you know.”
The days are getting longer. The elms on Indian Hill are beginning to leaf out along with the sycamores in Memorial Park. Spring has arrived and with it the metaphors that the season promulgates.
By the Rev. Thomas Johnson “What is the truth?” That question has echoed through the generations and continues today. Lies and manufactured propaganda can be so dangerous. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor and professor, encountered lies and propaganda as Hitler’s Nazi regime brainwashed the German people with a false narrative of nationalism and patriotism. […]
I just finished reading Sassenberger’s first book, a moving, clear-eyed, and rollicking memoir, “Toxic Shock Records, Assassin of Mediocrity: A Story of Love, Loss and Loud Music,” which was released last month by Fluke Publishing. It tracks both his monumental love affair with Towns, who died in 2019 of complications from series of strokes that began in 2011, and his heroic championing of what was once called “underground music.”
I think most of us fear being irrelevant. We spend our early years building a life, a career, a circle of people who care about us, a philosophy we hope to follow until our time is up. We want people to like us. Sure. We want our friends to respect us. And we don’t really think what we create will ever end.
By Peter Weinberger | pweinberger@claremont-courier.com It seems like it was long ago when Martin Weinberger was writing yet another Courier column on state or national politics, usually slamming the GOP for feeding the rich at the expense of the middle class and poor. There were dustups with the city that could get quite tense on […]
I really loved the first woman I ever met. I could just tell mom was good people from the outset. She raised me by herself, made untold sacrifices, most of which I’ll never know about, and taught me nearly all the stuff that’s good in me.
by Peter Weinberger | pweinberger@claremont-courier.com Last week I wrote a column about how recent changes on Independence Day festivities have impacted the quality of events and the participation of the public. This impacted the Freedom 5000 run, which was pushed to the week before the Fourth of July, a parade that started earlier, impacting attendance […]
by Steve Harrison The cacophony begins most nights after sunset, usually after the first big rain of winter. Our house looks out east over Chicken Creek, poetic in name but little more than a paved drainage ditch off Padua. The sound — loud, boisterous, rumbling — reverberates against the hills and bounces off fences back […]
I remember two time-worn but true sayings: “Timing is everything,” and “Strike while the iron is hot.” Of all the sustainability issues that we face locally, our urban forest has become the item of greatest recent attention and controversy. Please take this opportunity to exert your influence. The Claremont Community Services Department proposed sweeping tree removals by species, which violated city policies. It then deflected the attack on its violation by hiring a consultant to review the city’s tree policies and guidelines manual, but not the urban forest management plan. Courier photo/Peter Weinberger
“I’m slowing down. And not just with age: the lure of decelerating has won me over. I’m calling it “thoughtful living.” It’s a lifestyle, I’m realizing, with myriad benefits. And best of all, when used properly it reduces stress. The problem I’m having is remembering I am this new guy, this calm, chill dude. My job and DNA has predisposed me to be anxious at idle. And when things heat up in my brain, whoa! That anxiety can spike spectacularly, and good intentions can go up in flames.”
Independence Day in Claremont includes so many popular events. It’s the largest city celebration of the year, like the 2015 parade above. But over the past several years participation has dropped by an estimated 30-35%. Determining the reasons why and how this occurred is a point of growing debate between the city and Claremont residents. Courier photo/Peter Weinberger
On March 20, the Dodgers opened their 2024 campaign in Seoul, South Korea against the San Diego Padres. The game’s location is part of the effort by Major League Baseball to build international interest in the game. Fittingly, it will feature baseball’s top global star, Shohei Ohtani, in his Dodgers debut.