The new Moderna vaccine is set for essential workers and those 65 and older, seasonal crime at Costco frustrates shoppers and make sure you catch the Christmas star Monday evening

Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ... MODERNA VACCINE: The Moderna vaccine should be arriving in Kern County sometime this week, giving fresh hope to a region that is being pummeled by new infections. The new vaccine is being

used to vaccinate police, firefighters, teachers and grocery workers first, and then people 75 and older and front-line essential workers. The next phase will include people 65 to 74 and people 16 to 64 who have high-risk medical conditions, along with other essential workers. 

 * ... PFISER VACCINE: Rep. Kevin McCarthy got the Pfiser vaccine last week and issued this on Twitter: "I got my first shot of the COVID vaccine on Friday, and I’m feeling good. Democrats and the media scoffed when  @realDonaldTrump said we’d have a safe and effective vaccine this year, but he kept his promise!"

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Sure, kids wore helmets in the ‘70s. They handed them out to us at the ER after you cracked your skull skateboarding into your neighbor’s Chrysler Imperial LeBaron."

 * ... CHRISTMAS STAR: Make sure you check out the Christmas star Monday evening, a rare convergence of Saturn and Jupiter that hasn't happened since 1226. And now, almost 800 years later,  the planets will once again appear in the heavens just one-tenth of a degree apart — about the thickness of a dime held at arm’s length, according to NASA. Said one website: "Astrophiles of all stripes are excited, to say the least. Astronomers and other sky watchers could witness a once-in-a-lifetime event. Astrologers are heralding it as a time of rebirth. (The conjunction falls on the winter solstice.) And holiday aficionados are calling this bright conjunction, happening so close to Christmas Day, the 'Christmas star'”

 * ... CRIME: A local resident was shopping at Costco on Rosedale Highway this week when he returned to his car and found this. Be safe out there and never leave anything visible on the seats.

 * ... MEMORIES: Check out this photo, compliments of the Kern County of Old Facebook page, of the 1948 class as Jefferson Elementary School.

 * ... MORE MEMORIES: And then there is this, a contrasting look down 19th Street thanks to our friends at the Kern County of Old Fans on Facebook.