Opinion

by Mellissa Martinez In a recent news story, Oprah Winfrey spoke of being slighted in Zurich as she shopped for a purse. According to the much-loved figure, a clerk refused to show her a bag on the grounds that it was too expensive. Not surprisingly, the clerk denies the accusation, saying that she simply described […]

by Mark von Wodtke, FASLA Prolonged heat waves and more intense rainstorms are likely consequences of climate change. Our children and grandchildren will find it strange that, faced with climate change, we not only continue using fossil fuels, but also spend billions on asphaltic pavements that need re-topping or slurry sealing every 7 years. Pavement […]

by John Pixley The vegan BBQ pulled chicken sandwich wasn’t cutting it. With a small pile of sad gray strings, topped with a dab of barbecue sauce, on a hamburger bun and served with a tomato slice and lettuce, it was small and dry—nothing like the killer, juicy vegan BBQ pulled pork sandwich at Doomie’s […]

Voting Rights Act of 1965 Dear Editor: After reading the commentary in the August 2, COURIER, “Congress must act quickly to restore the Voting Rights Act,” I felt compelled to respond.  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was unconstitutional from the beginning, and the Supreme Court recognized this in their writings. The Constitution guarantees voting […]

by Peter Weinberger It’s Almanac time again and the COURIER staff can now give a collective “Phew” after months of planning, researching, writing, shooting (in my case climbing), designing and all the production work that went into the 2013-14 edition. There’s another aspect that makes the publisher of this paper quite happy on a number […]

Bruce Plumb Dear Editor: The Claremont Unified School District family lost a valued member on July 23. Bruce Plumb served the community of Claremont and CUSD for the past 37 years.  Bruce represented his brothers and sisters at CUSD through his many hours of dedicated service with the California School Employees Association (CSEA).  Bruce served […]

by John Pixley Uh-oh. Here he comes! And right when I was really settling down into summer, when I was relaxing into the sprawl of the laziest, care-free days of July and early August. Right when I was getting ready to go on a nice vacation. It was the week after the Fourth of July, […]

by Jan Wheatcroft Many think that a “man’s” home is his castle, but I have just spent a week with a couple that strive to make their home a castle. Susanna and Christer live in a country house outside of the Swedish city of Uppsala, north of Stockholm.  At first they lived in a communal […]

by Mellissa Martinez Recent events have me pondering a very popular word—culture. If you turn on the news, open a paper or listen to the radio, you’re sure to get an earful about gun culture, youth culture, marriage culture, the culture of violence, cultural exchanges, cultural diversity, military culture, wars on culture or multiculturalism. I […]

All kinds of families Dear Editor: Douglas Lyon’s tirade against the Supreme Court’s decisions on marriage equality raised the specter of the “degradation” of “the well-being of our children,” so I thought it worthwhile to toss my hat in the ring. My wife and I have been madly in love for 20 years, co-parents for […]

An unexpected glitch may have set back the Fireworks Spectacular, but the delay was not enough to slow the momentum of Claremont’s 65th annual Fourth of July Celebration last week. The Ravelers kept the crowds dancing until the boom of the fireworks and explosion of color took over. Claremont residents are serious about celebrating the […]

Local control of water allows accountability Dear Editor: Regarding the editorial by Peter Weinberger, “Secret to reducing Claremont water bills: use less,” I believe a reply from a resident is necessary. This editorial mentions how facts and figures often become blurred when used to support opinions. Looking at the “big picture” of this issue, I […]

by Debbie Carini The thing about having a birth date that coincides with, or falls near a holiday is that the 2 are often combined into one celebration. My dad frequently experiences this phenomenon with a December 26 birthday, and he prefers to have his birthday gifts wrapped in anything but red or green paper. […]

by Opanyi Nasiali, Claremont mayor In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the US Supreme Court reversed a prior ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which had maintained “separate but equal” racial segregation laws. By this action, the court did not merely interpret the law; it correctly intervened to do what was not only legally […]

by John Neiuber What does Claremont have in common with San Francisco? Each had major adaptive reuse projects, respective to their size, long before warehouses were turned into lofts and breweries into artist studios, long before the transformation of abandoned downtowns, neighborhoods and industrial centers. San Francisco was home to the first major adaptive reuse […]

Unreported news Dear Editor: Reported “news” is usually about something that has occurred or is expected to occur. Things that don’t happen rarely get much attention. Consequently, we tend to remain uninformed about non-occurrences, even if they are important. A case in point is the unreported yet significant news that Claremont Unified School District has […]