“Look at Rosa Parks…I feel like I’m getting pushed to the back of the bus,” says anti-mask Temecula councilwoman Jessica Alexander, who on Tuesday ignored the tempest she set off AND was mocked on national TV by Stephen Colbert. For Friday’s column, I weigh in.
Monthly Archives: April 2021
Column: 2nd shot leads to mild symptoms, great relief
I got my second coronavirus vaccination Monday, excited to get it, but dreading the potential side effects. Well, they came, but they’re already fading. Have you had both shots yet? Any side effects you’d care to share? I write about the experience in Wednesday’s column — topped by a selfie.
Column: ‘Inlandia’ put IE in a new, literary light
Ever read, seen or heard of the 2006 literary anthology “Inlandia”? I put off reading it for nearly 15 years, until I was covering the whole enchilada of the Inland Empire. And it’s proved quite useful. I write about the book, how it came about and its continuing influence in Sunday’s column.
Column: Rooster figure offers something to crow about
After an item last month about a rooster figure atop an Upland grain elevator in the 1960s and ’70s, a few readers pointed out other examples of fiberglass poultry in the area. I round those up, so to speak, for Friday’s column, along with news of a penny found in a real chicken, a local woman on “Wheel of Fortune” and the haves and have nots of Chino Hills.
Column: Due to hostility, Riverside’s Chinatown kept moving
Returning as promised to the subject of Riverside’s Chinese pioneers, I explore the subject of the city’s original Chinatowns, going back to the 1870s, in Wednesday’s column. The first and second such neighborhoods were forced out by city fathers, but the third one lasted nearly a century. That site, now vacant, is eyed for a park one day.
Column: Shrinking church sells its property for housing
In Pomona, I visit Church of the Brethren, whose aging and shrinking congregation has sold its longtime home to a developer and plans to leave next month. Their history and fond farewell is my Sunday column.
Column: Song about wine has notes of Cucamonga
I use the excuse of the Filippi Winery news of last month to resurrect the story of the Grateful Dead song, “Pride of Cucamonga,” that takes its name from a Filippi product. It could’ve been a paragraph, but since it’s been, gulp, 16 years since I last wrote about this bit of immortality, might as well drag it into the sunlight again for a new generation. Also, more about the old days of wine-tasting in the Inland Valley, a centenarian in Fontana gets the COVID vaccine and a virtual talk will explore Pomona’s LGBTQ history. All of this is in Friday’s column. Now how much would you pay?
Column: Cemetery ceremony recalls Chinese pioneers
I attend a quiet ceremony in a Riverside cemetery to honor the Chinese immigrants from the late 19th and early 20th century who are buried there, a story told in Wednesday’s column.
Column: A Fiat must really be foreign in Joshua Tree
My latest column begins with an anecdote from my mini-vacation involving my car that I liked but that I’d cut from my first column for space reasons. Then we segue into reader comments on my columns about Joshua Tree, its national park and the bookstore in Twentynine Palms. It all ends with an item from Upland — that involves the desert. All that is in Sunday’s column.
Column: Good childhood, bad dog left marks on writer
Writer Keenan Norris, who grew up in Highland and now lives in Oakland, shows me around places in Highland and San Bernardino with special meaning for him in Friday’s column.