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Column: That was fast: Fontana to search (again) for a city manager
I was there at the council meeting when the Fontana city manager was hired (February 2020) and returned Tuesday after it was announced that he’s resigning to take a new job. “I saw you come in,” I told...
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Column: Warehouse OK’d after speakers condemn, praise it
I attended a Fontana City Council meeting (ehh, I had a free evening) and found a nearly full house there to support or oppose a proposed warehouse. With 40 speakers, you know there were both passion...
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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...
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Column: Work hard, play hard was attitude at Kaiser Steel
An ex-Kaiser Steel worker recalls the great pay and the great dives around Fontana to spend it at. He offers a window into a vanished era in my Friday column, which also has a few items from around the...
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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...
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Column: Sammy Hagar to kick Fontana theater into overdrive
The rocker and native son will give a boost to city-owned Center Stage Theater by lending his name and reputation to the venue and agreeing to perform annually for five years, with proceeds to the...
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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...
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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...
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Column: After folding, polka hub will be demolished
For Friday’s column, I single out a routine Fontana City Council agenda item that might have passed unnoticed: a contract to demolish the former Slovene Hall. It was once a bustling place and its...
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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...
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