Opinion
by Mellissa Martinez There was a period of time last year when my mother regularly texted me using all capital letters. Each time I checked my phone, I felt worried and a little angry to see messages like, “WHAT TIME DO YOU WANT ME TO GET FELIX?” or “WHERE ARE YOU?” My mind would […]
Saving the trees Dear Editor: The August 21 viewpoint by Mark von Wodtke, regarding the tree situation in Claremont was excellent. I am afraid the city has been remiss and very short-sighted in not watering the trees. This is “The City of Trees,” yet the city has not done anything to protect the trees […]
by Mark von Wodtke, FASLA Our community is a risk of losing a lot of trees. If Claremont loses 1,000 trees, which may be valued on average at more than $10,000 each (a large Elm at Memorial Park has been valued at about $80,000), we risk losing as much as $10 million in assets. These […]
Observer by John Pixley Who knew that a can of vegetarian chili, a can of white hominy and some shredded cheese could taste so good? It was something my mom would just whip up when I was young and something I would have when I had my first apartment in college. Actually, after years […]
CHS jazz band director Dear Editor: Back in June, the Claremont COURIER reported that Claremont High School Jazz Band director, Mr. Rick Melanson, was removed from his position pending a criminal court proceeding on child annoyance charges. I was therefore quite surprised when no follow-up article was printed to inform the community that on July […]
by John Pixley It turned out that Emma was taking us the long way. What should have been a 17-minute trip ended up taking 45 minutes. There were an awful lot of right and left turns, coming one right after the other, and we found ourselves driving on the same roads and the same […]
Holding on Dear Editor: It is very sad to drive around the city which I have lived for almost 40 years and look at the yards that I remember with lush grass turned into gravel pits with weeds—excuse me, gorgeous succulents. I am trying to hang on to my grass and don’t want to feel […]
Request for ‘no-knock’ Dear Editor: Telephone marketers constantly abuse with robo-calls, but Claremont helps with its “no-knock” provisions. One does not have marketers on the doorstep. This is a request that local businesses accept the provision. Last evening, Tarbell Realty had a person ringing our door bell at dinnertime. This is a plea that it […]
by Mellissa Martinez Desperate to escape the heat last week, I took my children to see The Minions. Anticipating a boring kid movie, I was happily surprised when the movie began. It wasn’t the animation, exciting story or plot line that perked me up. Rather, it was the new language. I asked my teenager what […]
Water rip-off Dear Editor: The city of Claremont has already spent $2.2 million on issues related to the acquisition of the water system and, last week, another $1 million was appropriated. Yet, we still don’t know: (1) whether the city will ever acquire the water system, (2) how much it will ultimately cost the city […]
by Jan Wheatcroft Yes, I’ve been away on a rather long holiday trip to Europe, mostly visiting dear friends but also exploring a few new places I have always wanted to see. This year, the new city was Prague and the new country was Portugal. But there were other great experiences as part of […]
by Lillian Liang You might have already heard of the Claremont Energy Challenge—it’s an initiative of the city of Claremont, CHERP, Sustainable Claremont and more than 40 community organizations to lead the nation in energy efficiency. The Claremont Energy Challenge, initiated by Sustainable Claremont and implemented by CHERP, is Claremont’s bid in the $5 million […]
by John Pixley “When you go out and see kids camping who’ve never camped before, it brings it all home to me.” Obviously, getting people outdoors, getting them to enjoy being in nature, is a passion for Sean Woods. Luckily, it’s his job. Mr. Woods is superintendent of the Los Angeles sector of the California […]
by Freeman Allen We hear about it all the time—if we continue to use fossil fuels as we are now, life on earth is going to change for the worse, and we don’t have much time to prevent it. What can you and I do? What can towns like Claremont do to fight these […]
Scripps president Dear Editor: As a longtime subscriber and supporter of the COURIER, and a Scripps alumna and staff member at the college for many years, I was somewhat disappointed to read last Friday’s article on the departure of Scripps president Lori Bettison-Varga for her new role as president of the Natural History Museum. The […]
Pomona College on plans for the new museum Dear Editor: Pomona College aspires to create a new, exceptional Museum of Art that engages both the Pomona College student population as well as the greater community in creativity and scholarship. Throughout the planning process, we have been meeting with groups of Claremont residents as well as […]