New dorms at CSUB push out the Relay for Life and mourning over the loss of a member of the Greatest Generation

 * ... RELAY FOR LIFE: It's too bad that Relay for Life has been forced to leave Cal State Bakersfield for a less desirable site in Southwest Bakersfield. This annual fund raiser to fight cancer is hugely successful, drawing thousands to the campus in a win-win for both the university and the fight for a cure. So what prompted the move? Rob Meszaros, director of public affairs over at CSUB, said the soccer fields used by Relay for Life have long been designated to house student residence halls. Until recently, he said it looked like the dorms would be open in the fall 2013 term but that has been pushed back a year. Either way, the school hopes to break ground about a year from now and open the new dormitories in the fall of 2014. When it does happen, the complex will consist of 500 beds in "semi suites" - two bedrooms connected to a bath. Each bedroom would have one, two or three students. Meanwhile, the Relay for Life event will be held April 30-May 1 at the Old River Sod facility at 11800 Old River Road.

 * ... RIP WALTER: We lost another member of the Greatest Generation the other day. Walter Truax passed away on February 2 at the age of 91. He served in the Army from 1941 to 1945 and spent most of his time in Germany, serving as a squad leader sergeant. He won both the Silver Star and Bronze Star. Two years ago, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) presented Truax nine medals he earned during the war that he never thought to collect. Truax was married to his wife for 52 years until her death a few years ago. After the war he opened his own business, Truax Optical, in Bakersfield and was a member of the Bakersfield Lion's Club for more than 40 years.A funeral service is set for 1 p.m. Friday at Hillcrest Memorial Chapel and graveside services will follow. (Californian photo by Casey Christie)

 * ... BUDGET CUTS: California's budget mess will mean sacrifices all around, but it was particularly distressing to read about the cuts facing our university and state college systems. University of California President Mark Yudof said the UC campuses are prepared to accept another 30,000 to 40,000 students but can't because of the lack of finances. All this is bad news for our state and particularly areas like Kern County that already suffers from one of the lowest educational rates in the state.

 * ... OVERHEARD: A local Realtor, thrilled with four, near full price offers on a downtown bungalow within days of it going on the market, expressing hope things may be finally turning around for our beleaguered housing market. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that buyers around the U.S. are "snapping up homes in all cash deals, betting that prices are at or near bottom and breathing life into some of the nation's most battered housing markets." Last year, 42 percent of all deals in Phoenix were all cash, and in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area, fully half of all sales were for cash.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: Reader Maxine Baker remembers when a drive-in diner called Bloomfields was located at the corner of Niles and Baker streets. "My mom was a car-hop there. It has been many things since but is now a parking lot for BCSD. This had to be in the late 1930s or early 1940s."

College decision time for high school seniors and the pain of Roy Ashburn

* ... TATUM'S COMEBACK: Behind every fund raiser and worthy cause there are a thousand inspiring stories. One of them belongs to Tatum Holland, a high achieving youngster who was diagnosed with cancer when she was just 15 years old. Today, six years cancer free, she is a lively, intelligent, healthy 22-year-old student at Sacramento State making her parents proud every day. Tatum, who graduated from Liberty High School, overcame a rare form of bone cancer that led to chemotherapy and surgery. She is one of the reasons that her father, Greg Holland, and his team over at Coldwell Banker are sponsoring the "Relay for Life Wine Tasting and Auction" fund raiser. It will be held this Saturday (March 13) from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Motor City Lexus on Gasoline Alley to benefit the American Cancer Society. There will be plenty of wine (featuring 25 Central Coast wineries) and food so pick up your tickets at any Coldwell Banker office or at Imbibe Wine and Spirits on Truxtun Avenue. Proud father Greg  told me: "We have seen first hand what this disease can do and we have also seen how God works in the lives of those people affected by this terrible disease. So thank you very much!" Tatum's mother, Janet Sanders, and step mom Stephanie Holland are both deeply involved in cancer fighting and fund raising efforts. (Tatum is shown in the picture below.)

 * ... ROY'S SAGA:  Nobody should take any joy in the drama surrounding state Sen. Roy Ashburn, the conservative Bakersfield legislator whose arrest on DUI charges in Sacramento (after leaving a gay night club) led to his "coming out" as a homosexual on the Inga Barks KERN Newstalk radio program. There's a deep sadness to all this, if for no other reason than one can only imagine Ashburn's pain in dealing with his sexual identity. Which is why I thought it was piling on when Pastor Chad Vegas told Barks that Ashburn's admission was a "perversion... a sin ... a corruption of Roy." I'd prefer to let Roy work this thing out himself without playing moral judge and jury. Pastor Vegas and others should remember what my late mama always told me: "Live and let live."

 * ... DECISION TIME: It's that time of year when high school seniors all over Bakersfield are getting their acceptance letters or emails from colleges around the country. Some of the most popular local choices - UCLA, UC Berkeley and USC - won't be heard from until early April. These are stressful but exciting times for both our kids and their parents. My advice: enjoy these special moments because you wake up, and your children are gone. Seems like just yesterday that my youngest was at Christa McAuliffe Elementary in Marsha Ketchell's class and today she's wrapping up her sophomore year at Michigan in Ann Arbor. If you'd like to share where your sons and daughters are going to college, shoot me an email and I will compile a list.

* ... GAUCHO COCKROACHES: Speaking of universities, one of my work colleagues is reporter Gretchen Wenner, who has some deep roots at UC Santa Barbara. Not only did she graduate there, but her father is a retired UCSB biology professor. One of her favorite memories was the live collection of giant African cockroaches her father kept at the portable biology trailer, housed in plastic garbage cans that he would put on counters so the janitors would not accidentally trash them. Her parents, by the way, met at the University of Michigan. "So there's Wolverine and Gaucho blood there," she said. That's some good heritage.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're from Bakersfield when "You know the ingredients in a George's Special and you have had a 'Black and White' for lunch."