Opinion
“Another beloved local landmark is in danger of disappearing: the esteemed, pioneering craft brewery Last Name Brewing (formerly Dale Bros.) is up for sale. Last Name has been woven into the fabric of the community for a good long time now. Folks have had their first jobs, met their life partners, and played the first gigs there. The hope, said its amiable co-owner Andy Dale, is to hand off the business to someone who can continue that trajectory. ‘I would love to see it continue on, not necessarily as Last Name Brewing, but in kind of the same spirit of love for the craft beer industry and just being a nice place to visit,’ he said.”
One of the biggest myths about replacement windows is that they will save you money. Properly installed high quality replacement windows might save you about $100 a month on your heating and cooling bills. Let’s say you spend $16,000 to install new windows, and you heat and cool the home an average of nine months for a savings of about $900 a year. At this rate, it would take 18 years to recoup the amount spent on the new windows. Photo/courtesy of John Neiuber
“When I received the privilege of American citizenship — more than 30 years ago — the presiding judge at the naturalization ceremony told the new citizens they would enjoy all rights accorded to all citizens. He added, ‘Just because you were not born here must not make you feel like second class citizens.’ After the ceremony, I headed straight to the political party booths outside the LA Convention Center and registered to be a member of the Republican Party. I had lived in the U.S. long enough to understand the various political philosophies. The core Republican Party philosophy at the time was ‘limited government.’ That appealed to me. It was the main reason I registered to be a member of the party. I am sad today’s Trump Republican Party has abandoned that core principle.”
Are Teslas popular? Just drive around Claremont. Charging your car at home is another game-changer. With my short commute, which is 90% of my driving, I just plug my car in at night and it’s fully charged starting each day. During my one $95 service, my car is plugged into a device that reads the status of every function. Brakes have been known to last the life of the car because of regenerative braking slowing the car to a stop. All my personal settings (down to the steering) are set through an iPhone app also used as the key. The sound and connectivity are state-of-the art. This car does things others simply do not. Improvements in many aspects how the car works and drives are simply handled over the internet. If anyone comes within six feet of the car, multiple cameras start recording sending video to the app, making theft near impossible. I believe electric vehicles will replace gas. It’s just a matter of when, not if.
Who needs LA? I don’t. At least not anymore.
There was a time when I told myself the only reason I would stay in Claremont, where I grew up, was that it was relatively easy to get to Los Angeles. There was a time when I would drive to LA three or four times a month to see terrific and not so terrific plays in tiny theaters in Hollywood and wherever else, to see museum exhibitions, eat at favorite spots, or go to the beach and sit. But not anymore.
In November the Courier published “Local Jewish leaders speak out on war in Gaza,” featuring executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona ValleysJason Moss, and Rabbi Jonathan Kupetz, from Pomona’s Temple Beth Israel. Today’s story is expanded to include voices from Southern California’s Palestinian community, activist and organizer Mirvette Judeh, and Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, California, Hussam Ayloush.
by Peter Weinberger | pweinberger@claremont-courier.com The Los Angeles Times announced another round of newsroom cuts Tuesday that will clearly impact their coverage. The latest layoffs affect 115 people, about 20% of the Times’ staff. Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong said the cuts were necessary because the paper could no longer lose $30- to $40-million a […]
The morning of January 17 I was asleep in my Ventura apartment when the quake struck, knocking me out of bed. As I stood and looked out the window a daisy chain of exploding electrical transformers lit the night sky in brilliant shades of bright green. There were no cell phones, and landlines were down, so communication was nonexistent. I was on my own. Photo/courtesy of Steven Felsch
As someone who has publicly criticized wasteful spending in Claremont on numerous occasions, I welcome Courier Editor Mick Rhodes’ newfound respect for fiscal discipline — as related in his January 5 column, “Special election price tag confirms its idiocy,” which harshly criticized Claremont residents for insisting on a special election to fill a vacant school board seat. That is, of course, if Mr. Rhodes really means what he says.
The San Gabriel Mountains have barely had any winter weather in 2024, yet the lure of climbing local peaks in the Mt. Baldy area can still bring injury and even death on the trails. In most cases rapidly changing weather, coupled high winds and blowing snow make winter hiking risky, especially when someone is unprepared and inexperienced. And though officials warn hikers regularly, at this time every year the pattern inevitably repeats, often resulting in an injured hiker extracted via helicopter and flown to a hospital. Photo/courtesy of West Valley Search and Rescue Team
Nowadays, seasons surprise in SoCal. Appearing well into December, fire season often exceeds his welcome, not that he ever had one. Rainy season usually shortens her much-welcomed appearance by weeks, if not months; like a surly teenager, you never know for sure she is gone until she just stops showing up. The seasons, once blurred, are now unrecognizable.
Nostalgia has not been a topline pursuit of my so-called adulthood. Save the occasional high school reunion, I’ve generally shied away from looking backward. “Nostalgia is a killer” has been my credo for a good long time. On one hand, I get it: it didn’t hurt to get out of bed in 1981. I was constantly surrounded by oodles of friends. There were fun things to do every night of the week. I could stay up until 3 a.m. then pop right at 8 and go to work. I didn’t worry about my creaky body, or much of anything for that matter. But was it better? No. I’ll take today over yesterday.
“Word arrived over the holidays that the price tag for the special election foisted upon Claremont Unified School District last July by a small group of shortsighted residents — 102 to be exact — was actually much higher than the pre-election estimate of $273,000. The final tally? A whopping $490,387. Yes, you read that right: nearly half a million dollars poured down the drain. A half-million dollars buys a lot of iPads. That’s a few teachers’ yearly salaries, a load of textbooks, and plenty of student extracurriculars. What a waste.”
Lately I’ve endeavored to produce a gratitude. My hope is writing it all down will serve as a kind of psychic reset, that recalling my blessings will propel me into the new year with gratitude despite much suffering here and elsewhere. So, in the optimistic spirit of the holidays, here is this year’s (partial) list.
I’m profoundly grateful for my family, my children, my wife, my relations, and friends. I include friends because as I careen into my golden years, I’ve found they’ve become as important as those to which I’m bound by blood. I’m lucky to have the best person in the world as my wife (fight me!). Over the past 10-plus years she’s walked with me through trauma, loss, depression, and somehow stuck around and dealt with a less than ideal version of me while I navigated my way through the morass. Things are different now. They’re better. I’ve learned to live with uncertainty and accept that there are things I can and cannot control. Now it seems she has entered her own season of loss and uncertainty, and it’s time for me to walk with her. I’m thankful to have had the best teacher, and grateful for the opportunity to reciprocate.
The Courier has a lot to be thankful for and 2023 proved that time and again. It also gave us building blocks on which to reflect so that we continue to evolve and better serve our readers and donors in 2024. The Courier had a healthy increase in nonprofit revenue in 2023, primarily due to sales of our new coffee table book of photography, “Timeless Claremont.” Based on the feedback we received after delivering the first copies of “Timeless Claremont,” the Courier hit a home run. The enthusiasm and heartfelt comments have been phenomenal. The book will also be used to help market other Courier products in 2024. Stay tuned!
The new year is almost here. Soon you’ll be inundated with emails and advertisements urging you to move up in the world: pursue a bigger paycheck, elevate your health, manifest your dreams.