Since we’re at the start of the school year, I thought it would be appropriate to focus on an organization with a history of helping students that continues to this day. The […]
Leon Owens Foundation Lends a Helping Hand to Students
Film Review: “Tesla” gets a Hit and a Miss
If you are expecting to see a movie about a car, do not rent “Tesla.” But if you are interested in finding out about the eccentric and lugubrious inventor, Nikola Tesla, who […]
Teacher Support during Online Instruction: A Conversation with Association President Angie Cencak
This spring when the COVID-19 virus hit, campuses shut down, education moved online, and schools across the country shifted into triage mode. Teachers scrambled to deliver instruction using unfamiliar platforms and many […]
Young Observers: Early September Edition
For high school freshmen in a new school, our first day of classes was quite unusual. Instead of frantically searching for the right classrooms, and possibly arriving late to our classes, we […]
The Downtown Report: Early September Edition
Hillcrest Park Duck Pond This $1.2 million project is set to be completed in September. Natural looking, rock-filled creek bed, drought-tolerant landscaping and irrigation, and some nice spots to stop and take […]
Film Review: “Driveways” Gets Two Hits
Pathos and humor walk a tightrope in this delicately-written, beautifully-acted, and sensitively-directed film. Both timeless and current in its themes, “Driveways” is a quiet film that lingers on scenes long enough for […]
Macadamia Nut Trees Have Roots in Strange Spiritualist Cult in Placentia
Did you know that Placentia is the place where the first Macadamia tetraphylla trees in California were planted? I didn’t know that until I discovered a file in my folder of suggestions […]
Local Non-Profit Is Making Horse Calls
The mission of local non-profit Tara’s Chance is to offer hope though horses for the special-needs community. During these uncertain times and until kids can safely get back in the saddle again, […]
Muck Hosts Drive-In Concert Series
The Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton is hosting a series of Drive-in Concerts to allow for socially-distanced fun. Tickets must be purchased online in advance; no tickets will be sold at the […]
Take a Virtual Tour of Brea Gallery’s “Made in California” Exhibit
Brea Gallery’s Annual Juried Exhibition “Made in California,” which showcases artwork from all over the state of California, highlighting artists in all stages of their careers, and features artwork from an extensive […]
Garden Tips: Elephant Food
One of my favorite things about gardening is trying new plants. Unfortunately, through the years a number of these new plants have not worked out. They turn out to require too much […]
Young Observers Page: August
School is just around the corner. The two-month summer break was gone in a snap and next week the new school year begins. Around this time, each year we would be dashing […]
‘Granny Flats’: One Solution to Fullerton’s Housing Shortage?
When Cliff Ashcroft’s parents set out to house his aging grandfather on their property 25 years ago, they had no idea the pushback they would get. “The whole neighborhood fought it,” Cliff […]
A Brief History of Housing Discrimination in Fullerton and North Orange County
Recently, I wrote a column about Doss v. Bernal (1943), an important historic housing discrimination case in Fullerton involving the Bernal family. Mexican American families like the Bernals weren’t the only ones […]
Friends of the Fullerton Museum Center Take Action
In the wake of the June 2 vote by the Fullerton City Council to suspend funding of the Fullerton Museum Center, a small group of residents started a grass roots movement to […]
The Kelly Thomas Files Part 1: Notices to the Officers Who Were Fired and Disciplined
In compliance with California Senate Bill 1421 requiring police departments to release documents related to deaths of citizens and other incidents, this May the city of Fullerton released over 3200 pages of […]
‘Spicy Green Book’ Highlights Black-Owned Restaurants
Inspired by the historic Green Book, a travel guidebook for African-American motorists during the Jim Crow era, Fullerton resident Danilo Batson created a website called Spicy Green Book, a nonprofit directory listing […]
Muck Artist-in-Residence Creates Community Poetry Project
The Muckenthaler Cultural Center’s 2020 Artist-in-Residence poet, Katharine Zaun, is inviting the public to discover the poetry around them this summer as part of a community Found Poetry Project. Submissions are open […]
The California Native American Genocide
“The land we occupy today is the very same ground on which these terrible crimes took place. We Californians are the beneficiaries of genocide. I suspect few Californians today contextualize their homes […]
Tune in to Fullerton’s Virtual Citizens Academy
For the past several weeks, the City of Fullerton has been hosting a weekly virtual “Citizens Academy” on its web site and Facebook page, to give residents a window into the City’s […]
It’s Time for a Civilian Police Oversight Commission
My first thought when I viewed the horrific George Floyd video was revulsion, followed by anger. At the same time, as a Fullerton resident, the video and reaction it created also includes […]
BLM Protests Lead to Virtual Town Halls with Police Chief
The Fullerton Police Department and members of the City Council are responding to calls for defunding and/or rethinking policing across the country with virtual town halls featuring members of the Council and […]
Why I Protested
The bright New Mexico sun illuminates a dusty dirt road that is as old and traditional as the Pueblo village that the road weaves and intersects through. Gusty winds from the southwest […]
Film Review: The King of Staten Island Gets a Hit and a Miss
Director Judd Apatow (“The Forty year old Virgin,” “Trainwreck”) has made his fame by directing some very amusing films and has helped launch the careers of several Hollywood actors, such as Steve […]
Wildflowers in a Pandemic
Over the years I have gotten seeds of California native wildflowers from native plant sales, mail order sources, and friends. Now tidy tips, arroyo lupine, desert bluebells, California poppies, wind poppies, Dudley’s […]
Day of Music Happening June 21 Virtually
Day of Music Fullerton is a music festival that anyone can musically participate in, and will still occur on June 21. In response to COVID-19 live performances will be broadcast virtually in […]
Recognizing the History Behind the Bernal House
I recently learned that, earlier this year, before the stay-at-home order, Fullerton City Councilmember Jesus Silva was thinking of giving historical recognition to the Bernal house. I wanted to find out more […]
An Open Letter from the Fullerton Museum Center Board of Trustees
As you may know, on June 2, 2020 the Fullerton city council voted 5-0 to keep the Fullerton Museum Center closed indefinitely and to reassign full-time staff to other positions. Previously, all […]
Community Poster Walls Urge Reflection and Change
In light of the horrific news of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota police, and countless other acts of police violence and brutality against black Americans, a group […]
The Downtown Report (Early June)
Big Changes Just a week and a half ago, when we first heard West Wilshire would be closed off to traffic and turned into a new space for restaurants and shops to […]
Plummer Clock Tower Lights Up for Graduates
While many schools are turning on stadium lights or putting up signs to honor their class of 2020 graduates, I realized that FUHS and I have the resources to do something special. […]
See Public Art During the Pandemic
Fullerton has had a long history of public artwork, from historic WPA (Works Progress Administration) pieces on view in the City’s downtown, to more modern forms of art by local and regional […]
Fullerton Will Celebrate Day of Music 2020 Virtually
“Play it Safe” for Small Businesses and Local Musicians to Come Together to Host At-Home Concert Experiences For 6 years, Day of Music Fullerton (DoMF) has offered music concerts across more than […]
The Coronavirus is Not the First Pandemic to Plague Our Planet
After reading a couple of recent articles in the Los Angeles Times and New York Times, I thought it was about time to turn to the past to see how a previous […]
The Downtown Report (Mid May edition)
Drive by Shooting With a camera, of course. Some of us are more cautious than others. This guy is staying on the cautious side, and with the unfortunate lack of shoppers and […]
