Brian Worley is in Redlands this week, cleaning and repairing a Millard Sheets mural on a former Home Savings there. Worley was the subject of a recent column as he labored over a 41-foot Sheets mural that had been removed from a Santa Monica bank and was in pieces on the floor of a Claremont building. Here he was at a mural that is in place on the exterior of a building and is going to stay that way. That’s the subject of my Wednesday column.
Category Archives: Around Redlands
Column: Concert at Redlands Bowl is a summertime delight
For the Redlands Bowl’s 100th anniversary season, I took in my first concert there. Have you been? It’s a fantastic place, and it’s free. In my case, I went for a Beach Boys tribute concert and really enjoyed it. Read about it in my Wednesday column.
Column: Mural to stay as former bank becomes restaurant
In Redlands, a Millard Sheets mosaic with Redlands scenes will remain as a 1980 Home Savings branch becomes a Finney’s Crafthouse. Redlands’ downtown is getting major changes in the coming years, by the way. Also: I am mistaken for a server at a restaurant and an Ontario appliance store must move after 70 years. Read all about it in my Friday column.
Column: California had slaves too, historian says
I attended a talk in Redlands by historian Kevin Waite, author of “West of Slavery: The Southern Dream of a Transcontinental Empire,” who explained the little-known story of how slavery and the South had a hold on California in the pre-Civil War era. I write about that as well as about a pride flag debate and a misspelled highway sign in Friday’s all-Redlands column.
As a side note, for Friday’s column, to be written Thursday morning and early afternoon after taking Wednesday off, I was planning to rely on a partial draft of a column from a couple of weeks ago. But it was going to need a lot of work. Meanwhile, I had gone to the Redlands talk as much out of personal interest as professional and took only a few notes (and a couple of photos, just in case).
Sitting down at my computer Thursday morning, it struck me that it would be simpler to write a straightforward column from scratch out of these available materials than to rework this draft. Plus, how often do I write about Redlands, where we have a daily newspaper? So, I cranked out a column over the next four hours, and the partial draft is saved for another day.
Column: Redlands man reflects on working for Jimmy Carter
Journalist James Fallows was Carter’s head speechwriter from 1977-78. When the former president entered hospice care a month ago, I soon thought of the Redlands native, who’s had more extensive contact with Carter than anyone else from the Inland Empire. He spoke about his former boss on Thursday by phone from Washington, D.C., for my Sunday column.
Column: Asistencia gets assist from Redlands Conservancy
Are you aware of the Asistencia in Redlands? It was a distant outpost of Mission San Gabriel in the early 19th century but came and went in the wink of an eye. The site was rebuilt in 1937 and, after nearly a century in the county’s hands, was given to a nonprofit in 2018. I visit, learn the slightly comical history of the site and share the results in my Wednesday column.
Column: Arrow train start celebrated 3 days early in Redlands
Metrolink train service will be extended to Redlands starting Monday, the system’s first expansion since 2016. I attended Friday’s dedication ceremony with its hoopla, speeches and moments of humor. Find my report in Sunday’s column.
Column: Fast start for Slow Bloom Coffee
The staff from the now-defunct local favorite Augie’s Coffee, stung by their firing during the pandemic, formed a co-op to take their future into their own hands. Their worker-owned shop, Slow Bloom, is now open in Redlands. I visit to tell their story in my Friday column.
Column: Desert artist explores life of Black homesteaders
At the San Bernardino County Museum, artist Barbara Gothard of Palm Springs has produced an exhibit devoted to the Black homesteaders who settled in the Mojave Desert in the early 20th century. They had a hard life, as you’d expect. I talk to her about the show, which was inspired by a Joe Blackstock column, in my Sunday column.
Column: Honest, Redlands has an Abe Lincoln shrine for a reason
Why does Redlands have a Lincoln Shrine, the only such monument west of the Mississippi? I find out for my Friday column.