Opinion

TRAIL BLAZING Word on the street is that Tim Donnelly is considering a run for California Governor. Mr. Donnelly is a Republican member of the California State Assembly, representing the 33rd district. On January 4, 2011,  Mr. Donnelly was cited and released after carrying a loaded firearm while attempting to board a flight at Ontario […]

by Mellissa Martinez Have you ever said pardonne moi instead of ‘excuse me’ or an extravagant au revoir, bon voyage for ‘goodbye, have a great trip’? We English speakers love to fancy up our conversations with French. As it turns out, this is nothing new—people have been doing it for centuries.  Although a word may […]

How much will we pay? Dear Editor: In Golden State’s letter to customers dated April 16, they make the case that Claremont resident’s annual water bill will increase by 30  to 153 percent depending upon the value placed on the water company if Claremont is successful at acquiring it. I want to point out a […]

Growing pains Dear Editor: Is it just me or does anyone else find the April 12 article on Claremont’s open spaces—which might have been more appropriately titled “The end of Claremont’s open spaces”—disturbing? Why are “we” so excited that we are filling up most of the remaining open spaces in our city? Why is the […]

by John Pixley Too bad The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee isn’t still playing. I would say run, don’t walk, to this Claremont High School theater production. The musical, which played for 2 weekends last month, certainly should still be going on. When I saw it, I was simply astounded for the entire 2 […]

You may not think much of the public notices (we call them legals) in most community newspapers, but printing them, and printing of them correctly, is serious business. Public notices are also important revenue for newspapers publishing them. In some cases, eliminating public notice revenue from a small newspaper could put it out of business. […]

Local politics Dear Editor: Douglas Lyon (COURIER, April 5) is out to show that the Claremont City Council should not join the Mayors Against Illegal Guns organization because, as he represents it, the MAIG is an organization over-run with criminals. His sources (perhaps credible) show 18 of its member mayors have criminal records. But there […]

By Cruz Sembello Since 2006, the California Alliance to Protect Private Property Rights has been California’s leading private property rights organization. Last year, we learned about efforts in Claremont to promote an eminent domain takeover of Golden State Water Company’s local system.  We sent the city of Claremont a letter requesting that they provide information […]

by Ginger Elliot This is a selection from the book Murals of Claremont written by Professor Art Stevens of Scripps College. The book was published in 2002 by Claremont Heritage and is available for purchase at its office at 840 Indian Hill Blvd. —GE Most Claremonters have seen it hundreds, perhaps thousands, of times. Stopping […]

Hard line at park is unjustified Dear Editor: On March 28, I was finishing my walk on the Claremont Wilderness Park trail. I arrived to the entrance at 7 p.m. I, along with many others, was stopped and ticketed by a Claremont police officer for leaving the park after 6:30 p.m., the posted time for […]

by John Pixley In the Page 2 column in the Los Angeles Times 2 or 3 weeks ago, Gale Holland wrote about how absolutely insane the “No Parking” signs are in some parts of LA. She wrote about there being, in many cases, several signs on one pole with arrows pointing in different and sometimes […]

Shelve the candy hunt Dear Editor: As a citizen of Claremont, I am totally baffled that the city would allow a candy hunt. I have never heard of this politically correct phrase before with regard to spring and Easter—excuse the horrific word “Easter”—celebration. The city should not allow a bunch of kids to run around […]

by Mellissa Martinez There comes a time in every mother’s life when she makes that fatal error and belts out a tune in a car full of kids, just to have her teenager glance with a condescending and embarrassed stare: “…uh, mom…that’s not how it goes.” Yes, of course, we moms aren’t as dumb as […]

by Marilee Scaff Claremont residents recently received mailers charging a “water grab” as the city moves toward reacquiring its water system. In 1922, Claremont—with only 2500 residents—asked the little southern California Water Company over in San Dimas to take over operation of its water company, and they did—for free! We know who engaged in a […]

“I’ve been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years,” said Norman Ornstein, the nationally known congressional scholar and commentator on American politics before an attentive crowd at the Claremont United Church of Christ last Sunday evening, “and never have I seen them this dysfunctional.” Ornstein, a resident scholar with the conservative American […]

by Michael Heilpern Thank you for publishing a story about the city’s plan to remove the 50-foot-tall pine trees in The Club neighborhood, which appeared in the March 1 edition of the COURIER. Like Tonya Bennitt, quoted in the article, many of us who chose to live in The Club neighborhood were attracted by the […]