Opinion

by John Pixley   Deborah Bial asked those in the audience to think back to being nine years old. She remembers having braids. What, she wondered, do others remember about when they were nine? For most of those she was addressing, this meant thinking back about 10 years. For others in the audience two weeks […]

The war on trees Dear Editor: Claremont is called the City of Trees and PhDs. Despite that moniker, there seems to be a war on trees in and around Claremont. Clearly, removing diseased or damaged trees needs to be addressed, but this recent assault or war may have started with the tree removal request made […]

by Mellissa Martinez Each attempt to read Shel Silverstein’s classic The Giving Tree to our five-year-old, Felix, is met with the same response…“no, mom, it’s too sad. I don’t want to read it.” However, as I consider the narrative of the tall, healthy tree offering its fruit, leaves, branches and trunk for the happiness of […]

Claremont kid makes his mark Dear Editor: The Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen. Brave’s Princess Merida. Nintendo’s Princess Zelda. The Roman Goddess Diana. Girl Scouts can now gather at La Casita Program Center in the foothills of Claremont and assume the role of their favorite archer heroine, all while perfecting their bow and arrow skills and […]

by John Pixley   When is a train station not a train station? When it’s a museum—and not a train museum. I was thinking that this could be a kind of a joke, sort of like a knock-knock joke. Except then a friend came to spend a weekend recently. My friend got here on the […]

Thoughts on Pomona College Museum of Art before council vote Dear Editor: Building a new PCMA (Pomona College Museum of Art) behind the library is a wonderful idea and a good location.   When standing on the corner in front of our post office, I can look down Harvard Avenue and see where the Claremont Museum […]

by Debbie Carini   Do you remember those movies from your childhood, where there was always a spinster lady living in a decrepit, turreted house with dozens of cats roaming about? My house does not have a turret (though it has an extremely un-useful “Romeo and Juliet” porch that serves no purpose other than what […]

We can have it all Dear Editor: We support the development of a new Pomona College Museum of Art on the west side of College Avenue and we encourage the Claremont City Council to act decisively to end debate about this issue and vote in favor of the project. We believe it is well past […]

City services at the Depot Dear Editor: I appreciated and shared the concerns raised in the letter from Dennis Lloyd. I think it’s really sad that there are no restrooms in the Depot to be used by folks waiting for trains or just arriving in Claremont. I also think it’s really sad that there is […]

by John Pixley There is Central Park in New York City. Of course, there is Central Park. Everyone knows about Central Park. It’s probably the most famous park in America. We all know about this vast green space in the middle of a dense, sprawling metropolis. It was designed just to be that—a verdant escape—when […]

by Mellissa Martinez   An accent can reveal much about a person—it provides evidence of where we grew up, what social class we identify with and even where our parents come from. Some people are wary of the attached stigma or misperception of their accent and will attempt to change it to avoid being stereotyped. […]

Disaster at the Depot Dear Editor: It occurs to me that sometimes in an attempt to alter the Village so that it becomes more of a destination, the needs of the citizens are overlooked.  Yesterday I went to the Claremont Depot to renew my Senior TAP card, which allows me to use Foothill Transit and […]

by Ryan Zimmerman The real estate market has been on fire since completely bottoming out between 2011 and 2012. Investors started the trend by realizing that prices were low, and they pounced. Investors with deep pockets were grabbing up as much real estate as possible at a steep discount. At the time, cash was king, […]

by Jan Wheatcroft I just received a treasured birthday present from my younger son. He transferred all my old Greek cassette tapes that I could no longer play onto DVDs and sent them to me. I lived on the island of Samos in the ‘70s. This was the music I listened to in the tavernas […]

Metrolink noise abatement Dear Editor: The comments of Jan Raithel and Stuart Kerridge, published in the April 1 COURIER, highlighted a serious quality of life issue affecting many Claremont residents: warning horns from freight and passenger trains.  No less than 40 Metrolink trains pass through Claremont every weekday, with horns blaring at every crossing. As […]

Hidden costs Dear Editor: The expensive 12-page glossy-paper spring edition of the Claremont City Letter is, once again, hiding the true cost of the proposed new police station. It is not a $50 million public safety facility. By the time the parcel tax bond is paid off, as I recall, some $119 million will be […]