Column: Protest limit OK’d at 2 pm council meeting

The Fontana City Council has moved its meetings from 7 p.m. to 2 p.m., a highly unusual step, after recent meetings have become unruly with protests. On Tuesday, the first such meeting, the council banned protests in front of individual homes, a response to protests in front of the mayor’s house. I attend the meeting, which let out while the sun was still shining, and write about that for my Friday column.

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Column: Sammy Hagar club is making (construction) noise

The rebranded Center Stage Theater was originally announced to open for Memorial Day weekend. I’d forgotten that until a reader reminded me that — oops — it wasn’t even under renovation yet. Work is underway at last, though, with a new opening date of March 9, 2024. I write about that in my Wednesday column, along with an arts item from Chino Hills and the announcement that I’m on vacation, returning July 26. Yay!

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Column: Mike Davis was a proud son of Fontana

Writer Mike Davis, who died Tuesday, was known for his stinging social critiques, especially about Los Angeles in “City of Quartz” and elsewhere. He spent the first six of his life in Fontana and never forgot, in fact reveled in, his working-class, Inland Empire roots. I pen an appreciation, with a lot of details from a 1998 interview I did with him that’s otherwise been lost to time, in my Friday column.

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Column: Goodbye, ‘Dolly’: Dinner theater ends at Center Stage

First Candlelight Pavilion, now Center Stage Theater. Fontana City Hall is closing its city-owned theater for a renovation and a new focus on live music. That’s a positive, unless you’re a fan of dinner theater. The last show is Aug. 14. “All good things come to an end,” longtime operator says. I write about the impending change in my Friday column.

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Column: Former developer embraces role at City Hall

Phil Burum (and if that last name rings a bell, he’s Jeff’s brother) left housing development to work for Fontana City Hall as deputy city manager in charge of planning and building. That’s an unusual transition, from the private to the public sector. I sit down with him to hear about his background, why he made this leap and what’s envisioned for the city of 220,000. That’s the subject of my Wednesday column.

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