OPINIONOPINION Mountain View News Saturday, August 15, 2026 88 OPINIONOPINION Mountain View News Saturday, August 15, 2026 88 
MOUNTAIN 

VIEWS 

NEWS 

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR

Susan Henderson 

PASADENA CITY 
EDITOR 

Dean Lee 

SALES 

Patricia Colonello 
626-355-2737 
626-818-2698 

WEBMASTER 

John Aveny 

DISTRIBUTION 

Peter Lamendola 

CONTRIBUTORS 

Lori A. Harris 
Michele Kidd 
Stuart Tolchin 
Harvey HydeAudrey SwansonMeghan MalooleyMary Lou CaldwellKevin McGuire 
Chris Leclerc 
Dinah Chong WatkinsHoward HaysPaul CarpenterKim Clymer-KelleyChristopher NyergesPeter Dills 
Rich Johnson 
Lori Ann Harris 
Rev. James SnyderKatie HopkinsDeanne Davis 
Despina ArouzmanJeff Brown 
Marc Garlett 
Keely TotenDan Golden 
Rebecca WrightHail Hamilton 
Joan Schmidt 
LaQuetta Shamblee 

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A member of 
the 
California 
NewspaperPublishers 
Association 

Mountain Views News 

Mission Statement 

The traditions of 
community newspapers 
and the 
concerns of our readers 
are this newspaper’s 
top priorities. We 
support a prosperouscommunity of well-
informed citizens. We 


hold in high regard the 

valuesoftheexceptionalquality of life in our 
community, includingthe magnificence of 
our natural resources. 


Integrity will be our guide. 

STUART TOLCHIN PUT THE LIGHTS ON 
SO WHAT ARE WE DOING? 


I am 
attempting 
to create this 
article on 
Wednesday 
morning. 
Regularly on 
Wednesday’smy wife drives me over a mileor so to the Eaton Canyon GolfCourse where I meet a friend 
and play nine holes. After that he 
generally drives me home and 
comes into the house and has a 
little conversation with my wifeand I. This has been our regularWednesday for probably 6 
months during which time I havebeen prohibited from driving.
My friend coming into the house 
for conversation has been 
going on for months also largelybecause my hearing has gottenso bad that even with hearingaids I cannot hear well enough 
to maintain a conversation. 
Hearing and driving 
are not my only problems.
The reason I am not playinggolf this morning is that I had 
planned to sleep overnight in 
my son’s hospital room. He 
was changed to a different 
room yesterday because someprocedure is planned for todaywhich made a single room more 
appropriate. As I have reportedin previous articles over the pastthree weeks, he is now unable 
to eat or get out of bed or do 
much of anything. To put itmildly I have been increasinglynuts and have attempted toretain some semblance of sanityby continuing to create and 
submit these articles as I have 
been regularly doing since 2008.
After being transferred 
to a single room my son saidthat he felt kind of scared and 
wondered if I could perhaps staythe night with him. You will notice 
that I am avoiding describingmy son’s condition which results 
from diagnostic attempts called 
endoscopies which resulted in 
a debilitating condition called 
pancreatitis. I really don’t 
understand much of his medical 
condition but understand that 
today some procedure will be 
attempted that should allow 
my son to be able to get fooddown and gain strength and 
proceed to recovery. That is 
what we are all hoping for. 
I can’t sleep anywayand I had this idea that I could 
create an article longhand 

written in my son’s room which 
my wife could then type onthe computer and send to the 
paper. My son’s new room has 
an clear view of Mount Wilson,
and I imagined a beautifulsight of the sun rising in the earlymorning as I created my article 
as my son hopefully slept. Sure,
this all sounds crazy, but that 
was my idea. There were a few 
problems with that idea. First,
as my wife pointed out, I would 
probably fall asleep and snoreand bother my son and preventhim from sleeping. Next, she 
pointed out that his new room 
was far from the bathroom and 
I would probably get lost and 
barge into other rooms and 
cause all kinds of problems.

Next, my wife and I 
noticed as we walked throughthe halls, there was all sorts of 
screaming and disturbances 
emanating from other rooms 
and a night on the floor 
seemed like a pretty horrible 
idea. Finally, a real clincher 
was that I noticed that Mount 
Wilson was to the north and not 
to the East. In other words, for 
you directionally challengedreaders, this meant that there 
would be no view of any sunrisethrough my son’s window. So,
anyway, here I am Wednesdaymorning—no golf, but I have 
already put on my hearing aids,
glasses, dentures, sorted out mypills, fed the dog, and created 
this article. My wife and I areready to join my daughterat the hospital and be therewhen this next procedure is 
attempted. Yes, I am petrifiedbut I am inspired by my son’s 
courage and the medical staff.

This whole business has 
been an education for me. I 
imagined that when there 
were medical problems onesimply went to a hospital where 
you got fixed in the way an 
automobile gets fixed at a gasstation. I knew a little about 
death but that was somethingthat happened to my parentsand not to my son. Now I 
realize I am a fortunate old man 
who has lived a very privilegedand comfortable life and have 
not been very prepared for 
reality. Perhaps this article will 
provide some service and helpothers to be more prepared.

I hope I have not 
completely wasted your time. 
Now to face the rest of the day!! 

HOWARD Hays As I See It 


“I have the right 
to do anything I 
want to do. I’m 
the President of 
the United States 
of America.” – 
President Donald 
Trump 

Especially during this second term, the 
Trump administration has spent an 
extraordinary amount of time, energy 
and expense on litigation. Recent figures 
show 928 separate actions in the courts: 
60 having been ruled in favor of plaintiffs 
suing the administration, 45 rulings in the 
government’s favor, 47 otherwise resolved 

– leaving 776 still pending. That total 
number of court cases is half-again largerthan the number of days in office so far this 
term. 
Trump’s comment above was on deploying 
armed, federal forces in our communities. 
In his first term, there were those in 
his administration who’d remind of 
constitutional limits and legal restrictions 
on what he could do. But in this second 
term, he’s limited his circle to those whose 
primary allegiance is not to our laws and 
Constitution, but to Donald Trump. He 
rejects any notion of “checks and balances” 
between three “separate but equal” 
branches. Congressional Republicans 
understand that if they don’t accede, they’ll 
be targeted and replaced. 

Courts are expected to reflect judges’ 
appreciation and deference to whoever 
appointed them. When rulings come down 
otherwise, there’s a re-hearing elsewhere. 
With adverse Supreme Court decisions, 
there’s a tweaked re-filing. But in the 
past several days, there’ve been a slew of 
decisions rebuffing Trump’s insistence that, 
as president, he and his administration can 
simply “do anything I want to do.” 

Congress had appropriated funds for a 
non-profit to provide legal services to 
unaccompanied migrant children. The 
firm’s contract wasn’t renewed when they 

A new outfit took 

The non-profit went to court, where 

Education halted review of student 

The process resumed 
His team asked 

permanent tax breaks for the 
, they hesitated when it 
asking for more 

borrowers”. 

The Appeals Court for D.C. upheld an 
earlier decision from last December 
favoring the National Trust for Historical 
Preservation; ruling that with a $400 
million White House ballroom, it’s a 
decision for Congress – not the president. 
The earlier ruling stated, “The President 
of the United States is the steward of the 
White House . . . He is not, however, its 
owner!” Now, Trump’s taking it to the 
Supreme Court. 

In a lawsuit brought by Katie Phang,
Attorney General Todd Blanche was 
ordered to submit unredacted Epstein 
files – allowing the court to determine for 
itself whether names had been properly 
redacted. While Blanche claims it was 
to protect the identities of victims, the 
court found redactions apparently include 
Epstein pals whose lawyers insisted should 
be “treated as victims”, as well. The judge 
also asked for notes of FBI interviews with 
the woman accusing Trump of having 
abused her when she was thirteen. AG 
Blanche blew it off. Now, that judge has 
ordered Blanche to answer in person. 

A U.S. District Court blocked Trump’s 
attempt to have Postal Service appointees 
mess with mail-in ballots; “The executive 
branch has no authority to regulate 
elections.” As for tweaking unsuccessful 
filings when the Supreme Court doesn’t 
let Trump do what he wants to do, he’s 
going back to them again for another shot 
at tariffs, birthright citizenship and getting 
rid of Federal Reserve Board Governor 
Lisa Cook. 

Another one Trump just can’t let go of: In 
2022, he filed suit alleging that during the 
2016 campaign, Hillary Clinton conspired 
to “weave a false narrative”. The U.S. 
District Court tossed that suit, slapping on 
a $1 million penalty for arguments “indeed 
frivolous” and for Trump’s continuing“pattern of misusing the courts”. Last year, 
the Court of Appeals upheld that decision 
and the $1 million penalty. Now, it’s one 
more Trump is taking to the Supreme 
Court, expecting them to let him do what 
he wants to do. 

Maybe this has something to do with 
Clinton’s recent comment on Trump’s 
White House renovations; saying it 
reminded her of when, as Senator Clinton, 
she visited the palace of Saddam Hussein. 
Or maybe because of her noting that,
“you’ve got the president of the United 
States obsessing over a failed pool job.” 

We’re months into war with Iran, no 
offramp in sight. There’s an affordability 
crisis, nationwide job losses, a ballooning 
national debt and elections three months 
away. Our president, meanwhile, has to 
settle a beef with Hillary Clinton at the 
Supreme Court. But then, he has “the right 
to do anything I want to do.” 

Our Supreme Court, though, likely has 
matters of more immediate importance to 
deal with – like having to figure out what to 
do about a certain ballroom. 

RICH JOHNSON 


RICH JOHNSON HUMBLE RENAISSANCE MAN 

I suppose if I’m going to refer to myself as a “Renaissance Man” I 
better make my case. My brilliance does not precede me. (In fact 
I think I lost it. If you find it contact the paper). Renaissance is a 
French word which means “rebirth”. It started in Europe in the 
14th century and lasted through the 17th century. For those of us 

numerically challenged experts tell us it happened starting 1300AD to 1600 AD 
(no “4” or “7” in the actual dates…go figure!) 

Now get this… the Renaissance actually started in Italy. I guess the Italians 
decided to use a French word to describe what they were starting…just in case it 
didn’t take. Blame the French. That’s why Renaissance is a French word (of course) 
and it literally means “rebirth”. Famous for great art, science and learning. Back 
then “science” meant any organized field of knowledge or learning including 
theology as much as physical observation. 

There were many upsides to the Renaissance. One of the downsides was the 
focus started shifting from examining a personal God and how he created all of 
this magnificence to, wait a minute, how do we know there is a God? We can’t see 
him. And we can’t find him by doing hands on testing, math and simple physical 
sight. He must not exist. For the record, I believe God exists. Even though He is 
a little hard to see using only the five senses. 

Information available to the five senses doesn’t always give us the full or accurate 
spicture. Take Aristotle for example. Aristotle taught the Earth was stationary 
and the rest of the universe revolved around the Earth. Known as the geocentric 
model. When Aristotle was challenged by others who said the Earth is a moving 
object and not the center, he responded as they were standing there talking 
asking, “Are we moving right now?” Compelling argument. Everyone believed 
Aristotle and later Claudius Ptolemy right up until the 1600’s. 

Galileo probably got a telescope for Christmas in 1610. He took a long look 
through it and concluded it was us that were moving through space.
Well enough profound and deep scientific observation. I’m already lost. I think 
I will pass along some pieces of trivia that, if quoted, will show your friends how 
brilliant you really are: 

Ready? 

The hashtag symbol you see on a phone (#) is technically called an octothorpe.
The unicorn is actually the national animal of Scotland (No really. Methinks the 
Scottish think unicorns are real after spending a few hours in the local Scottish 
pub.) 

The letters in the candy M&M actually stand for Mars and Murrie. Mars of course 
was Forest “Mars” son of the Mars Company founder. And Bruce “Murrie” was 
the son of the Hershey’s Chocolate Company)
Facebook has a bigger population than China (1.4 billion) and India (1.3 billion) 
combined. Facebook has 2.89 billion users. 
You can hear a blue whale’s heartbeat from more than 2 miles away (The heart 
itself weighs about 400 pounds).
The lyrebird can mimic almost any sound it hears…including chainsaws.
How many grapes go into one bottle of wine? 700Fear of the number 13 is called “triskaidekaphobia”
A $1 dollar bill lasts about 6.6 years. P.S. There is about $1.79 trillion dollars of 

U.S. currency in circulation right now. (And $10 bucks in my wallet.
For you dieters: Chocolate is technically a fruit. Really! The cocoa powder that 
goes into dark chocolate candy comes from the “beans” or fruit of the cacao tree. 
No kidding.
And finally a group of bunnies is called a “fluffle”. 
All of my data was thoroughly researched. Not necessarily carefully and 
organized but hopefully entertaining. 

UNLOCK YOUR LIFE 

AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER? 
By Lori A. Harris 
I remember 

the first time 

my daughter 

asked for 

permission to 

go off with her 

friends after 

school, in a 

neighborhood 
that wasn't ours. 

She was in middle school. If she'd asked to 
go a few blocks from our own house, I would 
have said yes without a second thought. I 
know that neighborhood. I know the people 
on the porches and the ones who'd notice if 
something was wrong. I have a village there, 
and I trust my village. 

But this was somewhere unfamiliar. And once 
she left that campus, I couldn't picture where 
she'd be, who she'd be with, or who would 
be watching out for her if I wasn't. It wasn't 
that I didn't trust her. I didn't yet trust that 
neighborhood to hold her the way mine does. 

That gap between the two, between the place 
where we have a village and the place where 
we don't. There’s opportunity to be it, and to 
build it. 

"Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know,"
he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?" — 
Genesis 4:9 

Many of us who grew up with siblings or 
younger cousins have heard some version 
of that same instruction: look out for your 
brother. Look out for your sister. I'm leaving 
you in charge. 

Imagine responding to that the way Cain did. 
Imagine telling your parent, "How should I 
know? Am I his babysitter?" Most of us would 
have been too afraid to even think it, let alone 
say it. And yet, in community, we sometimes 
act as if we owe each other nothing. 

As we carry forward Dr. King's vision of the 
Beloved Community, we're reminded that 
looking out for one another isn't optional. 
That’s being the village. 

Caring for our neighbor is good for the 
community. It's also good for us. 

It's easy to slip into the posture of, “Is it my turn 
to watch him? Is that my job?” But the truth is, 
we are all each other's keepers. Holding onto 
that is part of what it means to hold onto our 
humanity, and to build safety into the places 
we live. 

As Gwendolyn Brooks wrote in her poem 
"Paul Robeson": 

We are each other's harvest: we are each other's 
business: we are each other's magnitude and 
bond. 

We are building the Beloved Community Dr. 
King preached about. And building it means 
closing the gap between who we are and who 
we want to be. 

The research backs this upSociologists have a name for this: collective 
efficacy, social cohesion among neighbors, 
paired with a willingness to intervene on 
each other's behalf. The National Institute 
of Justice, a division of the Department of 
Justice, has studied it directly: neighborhoods 
where people call for help on a neighbor's 
behalf, watch each other's children, and 
shovel an elderly neighbor's walk tend to 
have less violence and more stability than 
neighborhoods where people don't. 

Cain's question can be reframed as a 
measurable social-science question. And the 
answer researchers keep landing on is yes. 

What keeping looks likeHere's what it can look like in practice. 

On a narrow block in South Philadelphia, three 
neighbors, Frederick Stahl, Matt Barber, and 
Anthony Masucci, had a problem. Eighteen 
kids under 14 played on their street, and after 
trash day, broken glass and debris littered the 
pavement. A push broom wasn't cutting it. It 
kicked up dust and missed the small stuff. 

So Anthony went looking for a better tool and 
found a motorized German push-sweeper 
built for suburban driveways. He bought one 
and gave it to the block. Matt kept it on his 
patio. Now they run it up and down the street 
together, and the kids run out to help push it or 
bag up what it collects. 

Nobody assigned them that job. No one made 
them responsible for a street full of somebody 
else's children. They just decided that the 
ground their neighbors' kids played on was 
theirs to look after, and one small tool turned 
that decision into a habit. 

That's the whole practice. It doesn't require 
a title, a program, or a grant. It starts with 
looking at what's in front of you and asking 
what you can already fix. 

COVID briefly taught us how connected we 
already are. Since then, a lot of the culture 
around us has been pulling the other direction, 
toward suspicion, toward staying in your own 
lane, toward deciding other people's wellbeingisn't your business. But that block in Phillydidn't need a mandate to remember otherwise. 

You don't need one either. Somewhere near 
you, there's a version of that street. A neighbor 
who could use a check-in. A stranger who 
looks lost. A kid who needs an adult to notice. 
The tool you have might be smaller than a 
motorized push-sweeper. It only requires your 
attention. 

Where could you put your attention this week? 

Lori A. Harris is a lawyer, Integrative Change 
Coach, and Life Mastery Consultant. Lori 
explores the depths of transformation. Her 
weekly column, Unlock Your Life, is published 
in Mountain Views News. If these words have 
resonated with you, begin your own journey 
with Lori at loriaharris.com. 

No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com