One day when Ringo Starr is no longer with us, I’ll be able to say I saw him in Ontario once. I won’t be able to say it was very entertaining, but it was nice to be in the same room as him. Attendance was so light that not many will be able to say the same. My Wednesday column shares what it was like and offers some unsolicited advice.
Category Archives: Around Ontario
Column: Ontario makes its play for the RC Quakes
Ontario OKs a framework to start talks with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes about relocating. I attend a council meeting to try to understand what’s going on. (I may or may not have succeeded.) I write about it for my Friday column — my first from an Ontario council meeting in four years.
Column: With 30 ballparks in 30 days, couple hits for the cycle
An Ontario couple, Alan and Judi Wapner, spent May 2 to 31 visiting all 30 major league ballparks, seeing a game per day before traveling to the next city for the next game. Sounds exhausting, but also quite an experience. Their quest is the subject of my Friday column.
Column: Couple’s venture adds life to neglected corner
I visit Holt x Palm, a new home-goods store in Ontario that has sprouted in an unlikely place, a forgotten corner downtown south of Holt, and with a striking mural on the exterior. The couple behind it are heavily invested in making downtown a success. Also: the children’s room of the Ontario City Library is now named for writer Beverly Cleary, and a business sign in Ontario has been covered up in a curious way. Yes, Friday’s column is all-Ontario. See how you like it.
Column: After 70 years, a new home for American Legion
Ontario Post 112 had to give up its longtime home on Emporia Street because the city wanted to buy the property for affordable housing. But the city also provided a building at Mission and Vineyard and outfitted it for the post. A dedication is Saturday. I take a tour. Also! A 1904 building on Ontario’s Euclid Avenue gets a plaque. Both of these tales make up my Friday, all-Ontario column.
Column: Pioneering female cop Katie Roberts laid to rest
Katie Roberts was a law enforcement pioneer as Ontario’s first policewoman. Her original uniform: skirt, hat and pumps. But she persevered, rising through the ranks to retire as captain. She was laid to rest Tuesday. I pay tribute in my Sunday column.
Column: Exhibit highlights sea change for marine life artist
Painter Robert Lyn Nelson returns to his hometown of Ontario this weekend for events around his exhibit at the Chaffey Community Museum of Art. He’s a well-known commercial artist who lives in Maui but has never exhibited in Ontario until now. I interview him about growing up here, his creation of what became the Modern Marine Movement in art and why he decided to switch things up, all for my Sunday column.
Column: In bakery’s last days, gratitude is icing on the cake
I drop by Ontario Bakery again and find them hard at work fulfilling cake orders and drying customers’ tears before its final day Saturday. The owners are touched by how much everyone cares. Also, a church in Pomona is set to mark 135 years. Read about both in Friday’s column.
Column: A sweet ending for bakery as owners retire
Ontario Bakery has been in the same couple’s hands for 40 years. They’re retiring later this month and closing the shop. They’re the subject of my Sunday column.
Column: Over decades, hotel saw visit by Chaplin, police shooting
Ontario’s old Casa Blanca hotel was notable for at least two incidents, one great, one terrible. Charlie Chaplin visited, and nearly 40 years later, a reserve officer was shot to death on the veranda. I delve into the history in my Wednesday column.