Opinion
by Jan Wheatcroft I love train travel. This year my friend Frances and I planned to visit Holland while I was staying in England. We could fly on one of the “cheaper” airlines which has a list of suitcase restrictions for carry-ons that I always fail. Then you’re sardined in a non-reclinable seat and the […]
by Mellissa Martinez With the summer Olympics just behind us, our minds are still fresh with unforgettable moments of victory—finish-line dives, emotional collapses, celebratory dances and podium gaffes. No doubt overwhelmed, each victor responded differently when on the platform. A British bicyclist stuck out his tongue; a Chinese diver accepted a marriage proposal; Katie […]
The dividing (Gold) line Dear Editor: I have noticed that the complaints about putting the Gold Line through Claremont amount to the line using a bridge to cross Indian Hill. Oh me, oh my, that’ll cut off the poor folks down here in Baja Claremont. We already are cut off (Guys? Metrolink?) Having the Gold […]
by Jamie Lawlor Recently, a black student at the Claremont Colleges, Karé Ureña, and a roommate, received national news coverage for specifying “people of color only” in their ad for a roommate on the school’s Facebook page. I’ll start by saying I have no problem with putting a racial preference on a roommate ad. Gender […]
“Why don’t they fix this?” Good question, I thought. They fix everything else. Enough to spoil us rotten here. My friend and I were driving north on Cambridge Avenue crossing Bonita Avenue and there it was. That dip. That horrible, nasty dip. There, on the north side of the intersection, this extra-big gutter going across […]
Where there are plants, there is mulch. Leaves, flowers and stems die and fall off trees, shrubs and perennials, and whole dead bodies of annuals cover a lot of ground in natural areas. This natural mulch decomposes, returning nutrients to the soil and also cools the soil and helps to slow down evaporation from the […]
Depressing suggestion Dear Editor: There have been recent comments about depressing Indian Hill Boulevard under the tracks of the current Metrolink and the proposed Gold Line. For environmental, heritage and economic reasons it is ludicrous to depress Indian Hill to accommodate the motorists who choose to drive through the Village on their way to other […]
by William Lesher An interfaith colleague told me this story. A few weeks ago, a woman called the mosque on north Garey Avenue. She had heard that the mosque was hosting refugees from Syria and she wanted to make a donation. The mosque has hosted several refugee families from Syria and is expecting more […]
by Debbie Carini My husband and I met at Macy’s in Herald Square, right in the heart of Manhattan. We didn’t meet cute, like bumping into one another while comparing blenders. We actually worked at Macy’s, in advertising, writing copy that would entice people to buy blenders. I mention this because I often wonder […]
The Gold Line bridge Dear Editor: Four of five members of the Claremont City Council voted to scrap the idea of building a Gold Line bridge over Indian Hill Boulevard. Casting the dissenting vote, Joe Lyons expressed concern about the obvious resulting traffic problems at the crossing. But, perhaps, that’s the point, and a solution. […]
by John Neiuber On a recent Friday evening, after enjoying a movie with the grandchildren, we ensconced ourselves on the patio of a restaurant at the public plaza, enjoying cold beverages and the breeze that was taking the edge off a hot day. The musicians were setting up their equipment and the visitors were […]
by John Pixley It’s like getting the last of the ketchup out of the bottle or squeezing the last of the toothpaste from the tube. There’s always just a bit more. That’s what it’s like for the last hour or two heading south on Highway 395 to its end where it meets the 15 […]
Selective service Dear Editor: There’s a big chunk missing from both candidates and their parties. Both Hillary and Donald have raved about rebuilding our military, realizing the need to relieve and expand our military from the current exhausted and overly-utilized regular, guard and reserve, volunteer troops. Where is the affirmation that we must have a […]
by Mellissa Martinez My teenage son, Diego, is spending this month on a youth exchange program in Japan. Although it was my idea that he experience the world, I miss him tremendously and find myself clutching the phone (like a teenager myself), hoping he will call or text. On his first call, he reported […]
by John Pixley I’ve been thinking about Rimini and soup with small noodles. Rimini is a beach resort town on the eastern coast of Italy, about 200 miles south of Venice, on the Adriatic Sea. The kind with large hotels overlooking a mile or two of beaches and row after row of brightly- colored umbrellas […]
by Jan Wheatcroft I closed my front door on my way to walk to the bank down Yale Avenue at Harrison and, as I came to the corner near my house, I noticed movement in the ivy growing up around the sidewalk tree. Out popped a fuzzy head that jumped down into the street, followed […]