A city council meeting in Chino proved newsy this week when a proposal for homes on former horse property drew the multitudes, most of them there to protest. I was there to observe, chronicle and crack wise. Friday’s column has the story.
Category Archives: Around Chino
Column: Complaints about flooded streets rain down on Chino
I attended Tuesday’s Chino council meeting and learned that more than three dozen residents had pelted City Hall with letters about impacts of the recent rains in south Chino, which is only partly developed. Officials urged patience, explaining that further development will provide money to improve streets and drainage. Also: a clutch of Culture Corner items and a Valley Vignette, all in Friday’s column.
Column: By George! New councilman sworn in in Chino
In Chino, where the newest council member was seated in 2001, there’s finally a new face. Gary George was picked from a field of 26 applicants. I write about that, and poke a little fun, in Friday’s column, as well as alerting you to a chance to see a silent-film classic Saturday in Pomona.
Column: Council vacancy inspires stampede of applicants
In Chino, where elections are routinely canceled because no one runs against the incumbents, 26 people applied to fill a City Council vacancy. Interviews took place this week. I sat in on the first batch and write about the scene in Friday’s column. Above, Tyler Ferrari addresses the council Tuesday.
Column: Leis, ‘CHiPs,’ plaques: a tale of two cities’ meetings
I went to Tuesday’s Chino City Council meeting, but then watched a DVD of that night’s Ontario City Council meeting. They both make up Sunday’s column with, as the headline suggests, some unusual elements.
Farewell, mayors
Goodbye events took place last Thursday for the mayors of Upland and Chino. The former, for Ray Musser, was at the Carnegie Building. Above, he gets a plaque and is applauded by council members, with his wife, Fern, to the right.
Dennis Yates’ more formal event was at Chino’s Planes of Fame Museum, a unique setting. For the speeches, Yates was sat in a rocking chair, not his usual position of authority, as speakers praised and mocked.
Column: He’s still a champion for Chino
He arrived in Chino in 1956 to buy the city’s weekly newspaper. Sixty years later, Al McCombs still owns the Champion and goes into the office daily. Of his newspaper, he says: “I think it makes a difference.” Wednesday’s column tells his story. Above, McCombs is seen in his office; below, he’s looking at  a 1949 photo of himself, among the memorabilia in the Champion’s conference room.
Arrow Creamery, Chino
Driving along Riverside Drive in Chino recently, I was struck by this abandoned building east of Euclid Avenue; on my return trip, I pulled over for a photo. The painted-on sign is perhaps at just that stage of decay — faded but mostly legible — to make the scene picturesque. Arrow Creamer, or Creamery, was the name of the business, and the motto reads “Quality Always.”
I’m not the only one to have found the scene memorable. A Google search turns up a similar photo by Gregory Dyer, for sale as an art print.
Column: For school board, even election forums are divisive
A candidate forum had a shortage of candidates Wednesday for the Chino Valley Unified School District board, with only three of seven showing up. Well, I showed up, and I write about it in Sunday’s column.
Column: Community garden springs up in Chino
Sunday’s column presents seven items from Chino, starting with the recent opening of a community garden and pocket park. After that comes five Culture Corner notes and a Valley Vignette.