September 2008 Archives

Mike Farrell, best known as television personality Army Capt. B.J. Hunnicutt (I used to watch him all the time on "M*A*S*H" with my mom in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho), will speak about replacing the death penalty with permanent imprisonment on Oct. 8 at Pitzer College.

The event is free and takes place at 7:30 p.m. at the Avery Auditorium at Pitzer College at Ninth Street and Claremont Boulevard.

Before the death speech, audiences can listen to music from Jim Manley and the Pilgrim Pickers.

Per the news release, California would save more than $125 million a year by eliminating the death penalty and use the cash for improving public safety (investigations, services for crime victims, etc.)

The top three items at tonight's meeting are:

1.) The award of a $2 million dollar bid for Padua Avenue Park (with a soccer field, two acres of sage scrub plant habitat, etc.) and a separate construction bid of $1.4 million for seven acres including one regulation size lighted soccer field, extention of a walking trail and more.

2). The Police Commission's recommendation of the Corey Nursery site at 1650 N. Monte Vista Ave. 

3). Adopting design guidelines for commercial antenna and wireless communication facilities (like cell phone towers).

You can check out the entire agenda here:

http://www3.ci.claremont.ca.us/pub_weblink7/docview.aspx?id=220759

A closed session meeting will also be held at 5:15, which my colleague Will Bigham wrote about this issue here:

http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_10526598

 The regular meeting will be held at City Council Chambers, 225 Second Street, Claremont.

Get ready to listen. For a long time.

There is music at Casa de Salsa from 6 p.m. to 9:27 a.m., according to the Claremont Chamber of Commerce Web site.

Don't believe me? Go here: http://www.claremontchamber.org/event-info.154.0.html?&tx_calendar_pi1[f1]=237&cHash=fdc41e285d

The music is in the Old School House at Casa de Salsa, 415 W. Foothill Blvd.

Information: (909) 445-1200

For a shorter listening experience, in a different casa, check out the the live music and film screenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Hotel Casa 425.

Dave Chapman will play his acoustic guitar in, as the release says, "the atmospheric courtyard."  

Hotel Casa 425 is at 425 First Street.

Information: (909) 625-2272

There's a 10 percent discount on all the organics and fruit for all the health nuts out there.

The Ecoterra Natural Foods & Holistic Medicine Farmer's Market takes place from 3 to 7 p.m. and is at 1 N. Indian Hill Blvd. in Suite 102.

Ecoterra is described on its Web site as an "earth friendly, natural health market" with eco meaning living household in Greek and terra meaning earth in Latin.

On a side note, Ecoterra also sounds like the name of the next Al Gore environmental flick to me.

Anyway, here's the Web site: http://www.ecoterrahealthmarket.com/

Information: 909-624-8580 or 800-624-8580

will take place Friday and Saturday so you've been warned.

There will be eight extra officers on patrol looking for impaired drivers between 8 p.m. Friday and 2 a.m. Saturday.

A Driving Under the Influence checkpoint will take place at 6 p.m. Saturday until 2 a.m. Sunday.

Drivers will be stopped to make sure they are not under the influence of alcohol or drugs, have a seat belt on and have a valid drivers license.

No address is given for the checkpoint, so please don't e-mail me.  

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration funds the program through a California Office of Traffic Safety grant.  

Ed Avol, USC Professor of Preventive Medicine in the Environmental Division of the Keck School of Medicine, will discuss his research at the University Club of Claremont Sept. 23.

Avol will speak about his and his colleagues research on the impact of freeway pollution on children's health in a speech called "Motor Vehicles, Busy Roadways, & Human Health."

Over the last 15 years, thousands of California schoolchildren have participated in studies to understand the relationship between respiratory development and outdoor air pollution and the results will be part of the presentation, per a University Club of Claremont e-mail.

The speech starts at noon inside the Padua Room of the Hughes Center, 1700 Danbury Road.

A full buffet lunch starts at 11:45 a.m. and costs $12. Coffee and dessert only are $5.

No fee is charged for the program.

John York, former member of the Byrds, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday inside Rhino Records.

In a word, go.

York left the Byrds in the late 1960s and his own music is influenced by American folk with Native American and Japanese cultures.

Information: (909) 626-7774

I never got a chance to put the popular Wine Walk in the newspaper as a City News feature because the event sold out its tickets so quickly.

But those interested can watch the drinking and fund-raising fun from 5 to 9 p.m. today if interested in the Claremont Village.

Go here for the lowdown: http://www.thevillageclaremont.com/08wine.html

Also tonight is the Friday Nights live with 6 p.m. performances from Dave Percell at the Packing House, Protobot at City Hall and Calypso Pirates at the Village Plaza outside the Laemmle.

Go here for more information: http://www.myspace.com/claremontfridaynightslive

Laura Foley-Colvin, community information coordinator for Claremont, e-mailed some question and answer information about the Claremont Village Trolley.

City of Claremont

Trolley Questions

(Rev: 9/8/08)

What kind of fuel will it run on?

-Clean burning gasoline.

When will it be up and running?

-October 30^th from 11 am to 11pm. The inaugural ride ceremony will be at 10 am at the Depot on the 30^th.

Do you think the trolley will boost business in the Village? Why?-

-"Yes. By allowing visitors to Claremont to easily move from one side of the Village to the other in a quick convenient way, it enhances the shopping experience. The trolley will also allow people to leave their cars parked at the parking structure or in the Metrolink lot for a longer time and ride the trolley into the heart of the Village," said City Manager Jeff Parker.

Do you have to build any new signs or trolley stopping areas as well? At what cost?

-Yes, the City will be constructing stops and installing signage, at an approximate cost of $65,000.

Have you hired a driver(s)? What training do you need to be a trolley driver?

-Pomona Valley Transportation Authority (PVTA), who currently operates the City's Dial-A-Ride and Get About services, will be providing the drivers for the trolley. To drive a trolley like this requires the same types of certification as driving a para-transit vehicle, which is a Class B commercial drivers license with a "P" Passenger endorsement. This certification requires 24 hours of classroom training and an additional 44 hours of behind-the-wheel training.

Will the trolley be accessible to people in wheelchairs?

-Yes. There is a wheelchair lift in the back section of the trolley.