Opinion

Another developer pulls the plug Dear Editor: The previous edition of the COURIER was filled with land use articles that had my head shaking “no!” Our town seems to have become very good at razing land for a new development, only to have it go nowhere fast. All of the parcels noted are mostly for […]

The value of our schools Dear Editor: This is a response to Hayden Lening’s letter of Friday, September 16 opposing the $58 million bond issue for Claremont schools. Augustine wrote in the late 4th century CE if you want to understand the values of a society look at what it spends its money on. Contrast […]

by John Pixley   It used to last longer. She said it used to go on all month. Didn’t it? She said she doesn’t remember the last time she went. Has she taken her first child there? She wondered about taking her two toddler sons this year. She probably wouldn’t. She and her husband had […]

Yes pickleball Dear Editor: Reference is made to a letter to the editor published September 2 by Robert Smith. His letter is a clear statement of a request, convincing justification for such request, and a CLEAR outline of what the city of Claremont should do. My husband Elliott and I, residents of Claremont, urge the?COURIER?to […]

by Debbie Carini   When we moved into our lovely, old house (circa 1925), we were delighted to find ourselves surrounded by equally long-standing residences—a stately Monterey colonial just to the south, a Spanish-style bungalow across the street. And just to the north of our French revival-style cottage sat a Craftsman-style bungalow, although we almost […]

Time to pull the plug Dear Editor: In the course of the recently-completed “right to take” phase of the city of Claremont’s eminent domain lawsuit against Golden State Water, evidence was introduced which demonstrated that the city of La Verne’s water agency (the prospective operator of Claremont’s post-takeover municipal water agency) exceeded the 15 parts […]

by John Pixley The last movie my mom and I went to was Boogie Nights in 1997. And when it was over, she said, “Wow!” Yes, the movie was “pretty rough,” as she put it, set as it was in the San Fernando Valley pornography industry and featuring drug deals gone bad and abrupt killings. […]

by Mark von Wodtke, FASLA   Walking and biking offer tremendous freedom and fun, and help keep us fit. In an eco-village, young and old can go where they want without having to wait for a ride in a car. Motor vehicles contribute to air pollution in the South Coastal Air Basin as well as […]

by Mark von Wodtke Walking and biking offer tremendous freedom and fun, and help keep us fit. In an eco-village, young and old can go where they want without having to wait for a ride in a car. Motor vehicles contribute to air pollution in the South Coastal Air Basin as well as around the […]

Racism in America Dear Editor: I’m only now reading the August 12 COURIER about the furor over a black student wanting to live only with other students of color. She’s being racist? Come on, folks, you’re blaming the victim. It’s white people who are the offending racists. Don’t brush it off as though you can […]

by Jan Wheatcroft I love train travel. This year my friend Frances and I planned to visit Holland while I was staying in England. We could fly on one of the “cheaper” airlines which has a list of suitcase restrictions for carry-ons that I always fail. Then you’re sardined in a non-reclinable seat and the […]

by Mellissa Martinez   With the summer Olympics just behind us, our minds are still fresh with unforgettable moments of victory—finish-line dives, emotional collapses, celebratory dances and podium gaffes. No doubt overwhelmed, each victor responded differently when on the platform. A British bicyclist stuck out his tongue; a Chinese diver accepted a marriage proposal; Katie […]

The dividing (Gold) line Dear Editor: I have noticed that the complaints about putting the Gold Line through Claremont amount to the line using a bridge to cross Indian Hill. Oh me, oh my, that’ll cut off the poor folks down here in Baja Claremont. We already are cut off (Guys? Metrolink?) Having the Gold […]

by Jamie Lawlor Recently, a black student at the Claremont Colleges, Karé Ureña, and a roommate, received national news coverage for specifying “people of color only” in their ad for a roommate on the school’s Facebook page. I’ll start by saying I have no problem with putting a racial preference on a roommate ad. Gender […]

“Why don’t they fix this?” Good question, I thought. They fix everything else. Enough to spoil us rotten here. My friend and I were driving north on Cambridge Avenue crossing Bonita Avenue and there it was. That dip. That horrible, nasty dip. There, on the north side of the intersection, this extra-big gutter going across […]

Where there are plants, there is mulch. Leaves, flowers and stems die and fall off trees, shrubs and perennials, and whole dead bodies of annuals cover a lot of ground in natural areas.  This natural mulch decomposes, returning nutrients to the soil and also cools the soil and helps to slow down evaporation from the […]