Opinion
by Anwer Khan Every year at the beginning we reflect on our lives and make some pledges for ourselves to improve upon during the year. Losing weight, quitting smoking or drinking and so on are some of the common things we intend to carry out in the New Year. Adopting some positive traits […]
by John Pixley Did I have the right theater? That’s what I was thinking. It was like I had gone to see a movie and I had gone into the wrong theater at the multiplex. Except not only was I not at the multiplex; I wasn’t seeing a movie. I was watching a play. […]
No Nobel for Vera Dear Editor: I see in the news that physicist-astronomer Vera Rubin died on Christmas day. Her passing, without ever having received the Nobel Prize in physics, says less about her than it does about the irrelevance of the committees in Stockholm. Her work on straightforward measurements of galactic rotation opened up […]
Now you’re stealing Dear Editor: This is an open letter to the children who frequent Rosa Torrez Park after school. The screaming, fighting and dashing out in front of our cars, we tolerate. You are kids and need to blow off some steam after school, we get it. The littering, smoking, inappropriate sexual behavior and […]
by Mark von Wodtke, FASLA Claremont’s urban forest needs your help. Challenges from drought, insects and disease are decimating this common resource. We are losing beautiful trees, which are part of our cultural heritage, add value to our properties and provide many natural services that help sustain our community and improve our quality of […]
by Patrick Mobley It is estimated that American consumers, businesses and farms spend $218 billion a year growing, processing, transporting and disposing more than 50 million tons of food that is never eaten. While this figure includes an average present value of the trillions of gallons of water lost, it cannot account for the effect […]
by John Pixley Good for David Oxtoby. It is not unusual to see the Claremont Colleges and their students, staff and presidents mentioned in the Los Angeles Times. I all but expect to see Jack Pitney, a Claremont McKenna College political science professor and former Republican strategist, to be quoted when there are significant political […]
The price of justice Dear Editor: Hold on just one minute! Just because we have lost the opening round of a long legal process does not mean that you should pack it in and give up. Justice is not cheaply gained, nor is justice served if a judge happens to find that a privately-owned water […]
by Debbie Carini Visit any website where you can order holiday photo cards and you’ll find the most picture-perfect families awash in the glow of Christmas or Hanukkah or New Year’s or any number of end-of-year celebrations. They look happy, well-dressed, organized and, most importantly, unruffled by the sheer weight of activities, expectations and […]
Shoes to fill in Claremont Dear Editor: Growing up in Claremont, I have been called lots. When I was a young architect in Claremont, some of my proudest moments were when I was called “Frank” after my great-grandfather, Frank Wheeler. I was called this by Stan Larson, owner and editor of the Claremont COURIER. Frank […]
by John Pixley It was Pie Day. It was time to go home. My friend and I had spent the weekend at a camp outside of Julian, in the mountains north of San Diego, and it was Monday morning—time to leave. Another pre-Thanksgiving stay at the camp was over. But we weren’t just leaving, […]
Threats against our neighbors Dear Editor: We were stricken to learn of the vicious letter attacking congregants of our local mosque, but not surprised. Given the level of vitriol aimed at our Muslim brethren since the election of Donald Trump, this is the predictable outcome of a campaign that demonstrated unrelenting bigotry toward members […]
Museum approval process Dear Editor: In response to Denise Spooner’s letter to the editor (November 11), I want to address the two issues she raised about Pomona College’s plans for its new museum of art—the recusal of two members of the Architectural Commission and the change in the condition of approval regarding the structural inspection […]
by Jan Wheatcroft I’ve been putting on shows and fairs for many years. My friend Helen Feller and I began on Yale Avenue in front of local stores with kind owners. Then we moved to the front of my house and finally to the parking lot of the “old” Claremont Forum and Prison Library Project. […]
by John Pixley That was some election! In the days leading up to it, it felt like Y2K. I called it Y2K.2. Remember Y2K, when nobody knew for sure if all our computers and devices would switch over to the year 2000 or if they would revert to 1900 or even 1000? There were […]
By Peter Weinberger Not that I’m getting paranoid or anything, but it’s pretty clear we have a president-elect who seriously dislikes the news media. In fact, Donald Trump is making it his mission to take them down, although I’m not exactly sure what that all means. Access to this president could be so limited, […]