Las Vegas writer lobs some criticism at Bakersfield and setting the record straight on The Doors

 * ... BOORISH RANT: A friend passed along a column by a sportswriter for the Las Vegas Review Journal following the recent CSUB-UNLV basketball game.  Written by Adam Hill and full of the typical boorish rants about our community, the piece was titled "Looking down our noses at Bakersfield" and is little more than a sophomoric litany of things the writer didn't like: the half-time show, the "four, old bald guys" who sang the national anthem and even a security guard "who paced back and forth" as if he were a member of the Queen's Guard outside Buckingham Palace. Plumbing issues at a local hotel were even cited as further evidence of the dismal state of our community. I always caution my friends about being too thin skinned about Bakersfield, which certainly has its issues, but when did Las Vegas become anyone's view of the promised land? Before Adam Hill trips on his own judgmental smugness, he might remember that zip codes are never guarantees of personal happiness.

 * ... SPOTTED: Middle aged woman running across a busy Truxtun extension at midday, holding a cigarette as she waits for a break in traffic to get from the lake to the other side of the road.

 * ... FOOD DRIVE: Hats off to all the county employees who participated in the annual food drive to help the Golden Empire Gleaners. Special kudos go to the District Attorney's Office which quadrupled its contribution, going from 407 pounds in 2010 to more than 1,600 pounds of food plus monetary commitments in December. Waste Management came in first and the office of the Auditor was second. DA Lisa Green said she could not have been prouder of her office.

 * ... THE DOORS: We've finally settled the dispute between two readers about when the rock band The Doors and lead singer Jim Morrison were in Bakersfield. Charlie Wilmot remembers August 21, 1970, and Mark Elieff recalls a date in June 1968. It turns out both of them were right; The Doors visited Bakersfield twice on the dates Wilmot and Elieff remember.

  * ... URNER'S: The folks over at Urner's are opening a new location, this one focusing on mattresses and a good night's sleep. It's called Urner's Z's Please Sleep Center and it is located in the shopping center at the corner of Brimhall and Calloway Road, the same place that houses Action Sports and Prime Cut. The ribbon cutting is this Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

 * ... WHO KNEW? Did you know that  last official old west gunfight occurred in 1903 near L and 21st streets? According to accounts, lawmen were searching for Jim McKinney who was hiding out in the Joss House. He rushed out of the doors, guns ablaze, and was fatally shot several times. Thanks to Patricia Marquez of the Kern Economic Development Corporation for this bit of history.