Opinion

by Debbie Carini I’m about to embark on a huge adventure; in fact, it’s a full-fledged, passport, visa, language-that’s-not- ABC-based adventure. And I am very excited. I like to travel. Having grown up with a dad whose “Sunday drives” often involved entering another country (he really thought nothing of motoring from our small town just […]

by John Pixley “There’s no need to leave Claremont. Why would you want to?” I found myself thinking later that Saturday evening last month of what Randy Lopez said. I had just told my friend that, more and more these days I am happy to be able to go home to Claremont. We were in […]

Choosing historic paint colors for your house by John Neiuber, president of Claremont Heritage   Exterior paint colors are like public art and, like public art, choose the “wrong” color and your choice will create controversy in your neighborhood, if not the entire community! Just try painting your arts and crafts bungalow a bright avocado […]

A Sustainability Resource Center for the community by Alexis Reyes and Freeman Allen     On March 11, Sustainable Claremont celebrated the opening of its new Resource Center.  Why should that interest you? Want to re-landscape your yard but don’t know which plants to pick? Want to retrofit your home but don’t know where to […]

From Julius Dear Editor: Some people attempt to relate to my son who lives with severe physical disabilities. I can’t be angry by their efforts to associate my son’s condition with something familiar to them, even though their understanding may not even be in our ballpark. Associating his asthma with their own or his special […]

Is organic pesticide-free? Dear Editor: Nancy Minitie’s excellent article about possible pesticide exposure on organic produce is an eye-opener. As consumers, we rely on the conventional meaning of words that describe food. We also like to believe that the purpose of government agencies is to protect the consumer, when actually those agencies have to balance […]

by Jan Wheatcroft I don’t use a credit card a lot. I find it inhibits my ability to save money, making it so easy to buy things I might not really need. It makes spending so easy so I try to restrict myself and use cash or checks or debit my account. I have had […]

by Mellissa Martinez Last year, I came across an archived article from a 1994 New Yorker that relied exclusively on the misuse of language to express humor. In “How I Met My Wife,” Jack Winter cleverly drops the negating suffixes from common words to create playful affirmatives. He begins, “I saw her standing alone in […]

Beware! Dear Editor: Beware, the big bad Republicans are at their war of inciting vocabulary. First it was that “arrogant” black man in the White House. Then a few weeks ago it was that “arrogant” junior senator from Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren and her plea for prosecution of the too big to fail banks. Now it […]

by Corey Calaycay, mayor, city of Claremont Four months ago, Claremont voters approved Measure W to finance the acquisition of the Claremont water system by 71 percent. In the time since the revenue bond measure passed, the city has been moving forward on the acquisition of the water system. On November  25, 2014 the city […]

by John Pixley I haven’t thought of Frank in many years. Decades really. I don’t know what he’s doing now. He could be teaching sociology at a college or history at a high school. He could be an administrator at a nonprofit. Or he could be working at a market or store or doing janitorial […]

by Mark Wiley As Easter quickly approaches, I find myself thinking about Easter eggs. I confess the symbolism of Easter eggs had never worked well for me. It is confusing. The Easter Bunny delivering eggs seems odd. After all, bunnies do not lay eggs. Why is the bunny delivering something that comes from chickens? Did […]

Net neutrality protects everyone Dear Editor: Hayden Lening (COURIER, March 6) complains about the recent FCC regulation that supports “net neutrality.” In fact, he completely misunderstands what the issue is.  Mr. Lening claims that the regulation is depriving us of some liberty we previously enjoyed. In fact, the regulation is designed to maintain the status […]

by Debbie Carini In the movie A Christmas Story, there’s a wonderful scene where the family goes to a Chinese restaurant for Christmas dinner because their feast has been ruined by a neighbor’s pack of marauding dogs. At the Chop Suey Palace, they experience Chinese “turkey,” a dish widely-known in the United States as Peking […]

Shenandoah tree historyDear Editor:Last week, a letter from Dennis Vlasich to Claremont City Manager Tony Ramos was printed in your paper. His basic objection was that the city was planning to plant a Chitalpa (Chinese Flame Tree) on the property located at the corner of Shenandoah Drive and Gettysburg Circle. I tend to agree that […]

by John Pixley Okay, I get it now. I now get it why there are all those retired people with New York and Boston accents living in Florida.  And the story about people on the east coast getting up late after New Year’s Eve and turning on the television to watch the fantastically bright and […]