Opinion
“Timeless Claremont” is the title of the newly released Claremont Courier coffee table book. Culled from its extensive archives, the 170-page book chronicles the history of Claremont through the Courier’s award winning photojournalism over the past 50-plus years.
As we welcome winter’s solstice and the darkest days, new beginnings arrive in anticipation of the coming longer, brighter days.
Claremont is home to majestic trees, a testament to years of purposeful planning, planting, and dedicated tree stewardship.
Although smog has diminished, the inland valley does not always meet federal health limits. The Mira Loma station monitoring nitrogen oxides levels routinely records high concentrations of smog and lung-damaging soot due to fine-particulate pollution.
The United States is in the midst of a nursing shortage. Due to a number of factors, including an aging population and a retiring workforce, the need for nurses continues to rise. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently projected that more than 275,000 additional nurses will be needed by 2030. Thankfully, Citrus College is doing its part by offering high-quality, affordable nursing programs that produce nurses who care for our local communities, including Claremont.
“Many of us have heard it from well-meaning friends or loved ones: ‘Choose happiness.’ I’ve often bristled at this platitude. Why? Because some suffering is such that ‘choosing’ to be happy is not an option. Hearing someone blithely contend it’s a choice feels almost like an accusation, as if it’s a defect one is too lazy to address. But for me and I suspect many others, this isn’t always possible. And that’s okay, because it’s okay to be sad.”
No one wants to talk about cardiovascular disease around the holidays, but what better time to bring up the conversation than when you are with the people you love the most?
“I mentioned to a Dundalk native that I was falling hard for the country’s green rolling hills. He had a typically poetic Irish response, positing it was up to me to decide if the landscape was in fact ‘bleak or beautiful.’ I chose the latter.” Courier photo/Mick Rhodes
As my 60th birthday approached this week I was thinking about writing on how though I am now officially careening toward geezerdom, I still feel like a kid. But that would be a lie. I feel my age, and that’s okay.
“My union, the California Faculty Association, is preparing to go on strike. The CFA represents all 30,000 or so faculty (instructors of all ranks, counselors, librarians, and coaches) from across all 23 California State University campuses. Ninety-five percent of union members who voted on whether to authorize a strike or not said yes!”
On October 3, 1863, three months after more than 50,000 Americans died in the battle of Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln did a remarkable thing: he called upon the nation to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving.
“Isn’t Israel, in how it is conducting its campaign to destroy Hamas, combined with the steady stream of images of dead innocent Palestinian children flooding our social media feeds, very likely creating a far more dangerous enemy?”
“It has been challenging, sad, anger filled, fearful, and heartbreaking, all of those emotions, for the community. So many in our community have strong and deep connections to Israel, whether they lived there, are from there, or have family there, friends. All of the attention and thoughts are with the people of Israel.” Photo/courtesy of the Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys
“This last month has been traumatic for the Jewish community around the world. For many of us, the attacks on October 7th triggered painful memories of Jewish history — antisemitism, pogroms, and the Holocaust. Many of us know people (or know people who know people) who were killed or taken hostage. The Jewish people see themselves as part of an extended family, so it feels as if our family members were attacked and murdered.” Courier photo/Steven Felschundneff
The decline in local news coverage is particularly troubling. Local news plays a crucial role in informing communities about issues that directly impact their daily lives. Without access to local news, citizens may be unaware of important developments in their communities, leading to a lack of civic literacy and disengagement, and opening the door to political corruption. The Pew survey is quite sobering, especially concerning is these are not old figures, with major changes starting just seven years ago. In 2016, 51% of U.S. adults followed the news “all or most of the time.” That fell to 38% in 2022, Pew found.
The 12-word title of Mick Rhodes’ column [“Israel-Hamas war is a teaching moment, but what is the lesson?” October 13] tells you all you need to know about what’s next. This is absolutely a teaching moment. However, your difficulty in grasping the lesson results from you misunderstanding the actual teaching moment.