Opinion

Claremont needs housing Dear Editor: Though not surprised, I was disappointed to read the comments of those who call for a park at the old La Puerta site. At the same time, I was somewhat amused to read in one letter that “we need advocates and leadership in the community and in the city administration.” […]

Great job, Albee! Dear Editor: “We’re just so lucky.” (from the June 7 COURIER article by Mick Rhodes.) What mother of an 18-year-old with a C5 spinal-chord injury could even say that? A woman that is selfless! We have been lucky to be family friends with the Harrises since our sons played t-ball together at […]

by Susan Schenk   We’ve been hearing scientific assessments that there has been a massive loss of insects worldwide over the past few decades. My recent personal experience fits right in with this: when I was a child, driving a few miles in the desert or mountains resulted in a windshield covered in the splattered […]

This column is the seventh installment of the “Building Claremont” series that focuses on the architects and structures that have shaped the development and built environment of the city.  It is the fourth installment dealing with the architects that contributed to the modern movement. In An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles, author Robert Winter lists […]

Mayor on SB 50 Dear Editor: I want to thank State Senator Anthony Portantino for holding Senate Bill 50. We agree that there is a fundamental housing problem in California, but Senate Bill 50 lacks the flexibility needed to meet the state’s housing goals, while also acknowledging community input and engagement. SB 50 would have […]

I love old things. They have lived another life and it is there shining and glowing. It shows in worn spots in wood, stone or fabric—whether faded, rubbed, held or scratched—it is there…a mark of the past. Secrets and stories are part of the history never to be revealed but they are part of the […]

AbilityFirst needs your help Dear Editor: After three years of nearly nonstop advocacy efforts, the hopes of California’s developmentally disabled and their families now rests with the governor and key leaders of the legislature. I’m writing from AbilityFirst Center in Claremont, servicing children and adults with disabilities. Community advocates who have been fighting for an […]

by Freeman Allen I’ve been reading Bill McKibben’s latest book about climate disruption, Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? I knew rapidly increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a very serious problem, but it hadn’t occurred to me that mass extinctions in the past have been caused by […]

by Char Miller, Pomona College professor of environmental analysis When you think about potential new water sources for Southern California, the driest desert in North America isn’t likely to be the first place that springs to mind. But the controversial Cadiz water project has managed to keep that preposterous scenario afloat for decades. Cadiz’s unlikely […]

SB 50 and the invisible constituency Dear Editor: After listening to the arguments over SB 50 at the last city council meeting and hearing my neighbors’ concerns, I became persuaded that SB 50 as written wasn’t the best vehicle to address the housing shortage. However, a few days later, as I reflected further on the […]

by Karen Sapio, Pastor, Claremont Presbyterian Church   In 2018 Cigna, one of the country’s largest health insurance companies, conducted a study that revealed a growing epidemic threatening the health of the American people. This epidemic is related to high risk for heart disease, diabetes and obesity. It is correlated to increased rates of opioid […]

Front page news Dear Editor: It is very rare that I have an issue with anything I see or read in the COURIER, but today I must express my thoughts regarding the placement of a remarkable story in last week’s edition. Having been a subscriber for more than a decade, and one who enthusiastically reads […]

by Mellissa Martinez   When two languages share a word that is similar in sound and meaning, it’s likely that those languages are either related, or, at some point in history, they intermingled so that one language borrowed from the other. There is one word, however, shared by hundreds of unrelated languages that did not derive […]

Homeless services in Claremont Dear Editor: Thank you, Connor Gaskin, for writing last week to inquire about what Claremont is doing to combat and prevent homelessness. I am writing to tell you about several new developments in this field. Last year, Claremont applied for Measure H funding, in conjunction with Pomona and La Verne, and […]

by John Neiuber May is Preservation Month. The California Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) has invited all California communities and preservation enthusiasts to make the month of May an opportunity for discovering/re-discovering, honoring and sharing the unique heritage of the local region and city. Each year Claremont Heritage selects a theme that guides activities and […]

Disappointing development Dear Editor: Last week, I attended the architectural commission meeting in which our city was being asked to extend, for a fifth time, a plan approved 12 years ago to build an additional 96 high-density townhomes in the northwest parking areas at Foothill and Indian Hill. I was appalled to watch how our […]