Facebook is flooded with warnings the Lake Isabella dam is about to fail, triggering a huge flood, TigerFight Casino Night is a huge success and some really good form up on the Panorama Bluffs

 * ... ISABELLA DAM: Facebook is good for many things, but distributing unfounded and alarming "news" should not be one of them. One of the posts making the rounds these days concerns Lake

Isabella Dam, which is nearing its recommended capacity after a season of heavy rains. The post warns the dam could fail, and inundate downtown Bakersfield under a wall of 20 feet of water. Not so fast, say the experts, who told KGET the dam is far from capacity and well within its recommended limit. Regarding a Facebook post that says the dam will pose an "unacceptably high risk of failure as soon as next week," Kern River Watermaster Dana Munn told 17 News this is "altogether wrong," adding the only thing that could cause the dam to fail at this point would be a "super earthquake."

 * ... FATHER'S DAY: Americans will spend about $12.7 billion on Father's Day this Sunday, but that pales in comparison to the $21 billion we spend on Mother's Day. The average person spends about $115 on presents for dad, about $2 million more than last year, according to the National Retail Federation. The most popular presents for dad come in three categories: eating (grilling, food etc) drinking (whiskey, wine or beer) or casual wear (t-shirts, sports shirts etc).

* ... TIGERFIGHT: Hats off to Chris Wilson and the folks who organized the annual TigerFight Casino Night gala to help fight childhood leukemia. Now in its ninth year, TigerFight has grown into a huge, elaborate fund raiser that takes control of the second floor of the iconic Padre Hotel with food, beer, wine, dancing and silent auctions. Since its humble beginnings at Luigi's, the event now raises north of $60,000 for research and to aid families who have a son or daughter fighting leukemia.

* ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "So a baby crawls across the floor to its bottle and it's cute but when I do it I'm in need of an intervention?

* ... GOOD FORM: If you regularly walk the Panorama Bluffs, you know it is often littered and marked by graffiti. Which is why Jerry Evelyn, who just turned 97, is doing his part to clean up the place. His son dropped me this note last week: "My mother and father have been walking the Panorama Bluff park daily for more than 30 years. His 97th birthday is Saturday and he wants to  give back to the place and the people that have given them so much joy these 30 plus years. After applying to the Kern County Parks Department for approval he will restore a graffiti filled bench and will plant a tree in a weedy area."

* ... YOUNG ACHIEVER: Hats off to Andrew Tibbetts, a 2012 Frontier High School graduate, who was recently named to the Dean's List at Briar Cliff University, Sioux City, Iowa. Andrew also received an award for Outstanding and Scholarly Achievement by the Elementary Education Department and was named to the NAIA Academic All America baseball team. Andrew will be working as a camp counselor In Pittsfield, Massachusetts, this summer before returning to Briar Cliff to complete his student teaching.

 * ... MEMORIES: Someone posted a picture of a menu from the old Bakersfield Inn on Union Avenue from the summer of 1956. Among the entrees: Spring lamb for $1.50, Yankee pot roast for $1.65, filet of Alaskan halibut, $1.50, and the chef's special- barbecued prime beef ribs, $1.10

Will Fessler be the new Athletic Director at CSUB? And noting the stream of paroled state prisoners walking our streets

* ... CAL STATE: There is a lot of speculation over who will replace the retiring Rudy Carvajal as athletic director at Cal State Bakersfield. This will be one of the bigger decisions made by President Horace Mitchell, who successfully pushed through the effort to bring CSUB sports up to the Division 1 level. Insiders tell me the only real inside candidate appears to be Roger Fessler, the former general manager of American General Media who joined CSUB as associate athletic director last year. Fessler's passion is college sports, and he has previous experience as athletic director at St. Francis University in Pennsylvania. But Mitchell could always choose to look outside the campus to bring in his own personal pick. A search committee has been formed, but anyone with any experience with university politics know this is the president's call at the end of the day. This is not an all inclusive list but among those on the search committee are assistant athletic director Gloria Friedman, Foundation athletic committee chair Greg Bynum, Roadrunner Club president Alan Wade, coaches Alan Collatz and Tim La Kose, associate vice president of enrollment Jackie Mimms, faculty athletic representative Jackie Kegley and John Holtzman, vice president of student affairs. (Rudy Carvajal with President Mitchell pictured below, followed by Roger Fessler)

 
 * ... HARVEY HONOR: Mayor Harvey Hall was honored with Cal State's John Brock award Thursday night at a dinner and reception at Seven Oaks Country Club. Organizers were thrilled the event sold out, particularly considering it was up against a number of other events: the opening of a new show at the Bakersfield Museum of Art, a private dinner and fundraiser for Meg Whitman at Barbara Grimm's estate, and the big NFL game between the New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings.

 * ... SPOTTED: A group of eight to 10 newly released state prisoners, all in matching white T-shirts, khaki slacks and black canvas prison slippers, walking west from the Greyhound Bus station into the heart of Westchester Wednesday morning. Ever get the feeling that these parolees are just being dumped into our community by the overburdened state prison system?

 * ... MAHAN OUT: Heard the bad news that Will Mahan, a Bakersfield High School and Bakersfield College alum, tore his ACL in practice and is out for the year at the University of Washington. Mahan is the starting punter on the Husky football team and will apparently take this year off and return next season.

* ... BAKERSFIELD INN: Reader Denise Irvin wrote to talk about her high school years when she would visit the old Bakersfield Inn and enjoy its pool. "There wasn't a swimming pool in every backyard then, but we 'younger ladies' soon discovered that we were welcome at the Bakersfield Inn for an impromptu swim party. We could order a lime Coke from the bar and spend the entire Saturday afternoon sunning and swimming at the Inn's pool, and if we got lucky there might even a bunch of cadets from Minter Field there to flirt with. Ah! Those were the days!"

 * ... LA CRESTA: Reader Gene Buchanan is another who recalls the old La Cresta Air Park off Panorama Drive. "It was my understanding that La Cresta was closed to private aircraft until Meadows was cleared by the Air Force. Until then we were flying off a dirt strip about 10 miles east between Breckenridge and Kern Canyon Road just east of Hillcrest Memorial park. It was August 1945 and I was a student pilot. When Meadows opened we moved there. Got word that La Cresta was going to have a small air show and Batman was going to jump from a plane. He went up in a J3 to about 6,000 feet and jumped. He had wings sewn to his sleeves and between his legs. You could hear the wings flapping, sounding like machine guns. He opened his parachute and his feet swung forward and then when they swung back he hit the ground. I was 16 at the time and was very impressed. And by the way, you know you're from Bakersfield if you remember the hamburgers served with a special sauce at Bloomfield's drive-in on Niles Street."

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM:  You know you're from Bakersfield "if you consider 10 percent seasonal unemployment the norm."

Steak dinners for $1.50 at the Bakersfield Inn and the community says farewell to the late judge Joe Noriega

* ... LAW SCHOOL: It was nice to hear from Kerry McGill that his son, Phillip, has decided on attending law school at the University of San Diego. I met Kerry while appearing on the  "Moneywise Guys" radio show (KERN 1180 AM), where he is one of the hosts. Phillip graduated from Stockdale High School and then UC Irvine and ended up with a number of law school scholarship offers (including one from the University of Notre Dame) but decided the lure of staying in California was just too great. Hats off to this high achieving youngster.


 * ... NORIEGA FUNERAL: The community gave a proper send off Thursday to Joseph Noriega, the former judge who died of cancer last week at the age of 81. Monsignor Craig Harrison presided over the Catholic service at St. Francis Church, which drew a large crowd of community leaders. Among those attending were District Attorney candidate Lisa Green and husband Jeff, community activist Sheryl Barbich, Superior Court Judge Gary Freidman, defense attorney H.A. Sala, local businessman and attorney Tony Leggio, John Brock Jr., Watson Realty president Ken Carter, local attorney Steve Clifford, Bruce and Jane Haupt and businessman Ed Shuler and wife Colleen. Noriega served as a judge for five years but is also known for helping found one of our community's premier insurance defense firms, Clifford and Brown.

* ... BAKERSFIELD INN: A reader sent me a menu from the old Bakersfield Inn on Union Avenue, once one of our city's premier restaurants. There's no date on it but it apparently was printed during World War II because it includes a note about many employees being gone serving in the military. The hotel's signature New York sirloin steak went for $2, halibut was 85 cents, salads were around 80 cents and two pork chops (including potatoes and rolls) went for 80 cents. Breakfast? Poached eggs on toast cost 65 cents, bacon or cheese omelette was 50 cents and a cup of coffee was a dime.

 * ... CRIME WATCH: Heard from a Northwest resident fed up with petty crime in her area. "We get hit almost every night - Coffee, Olive, Hageman, Patton - they take everything that's not nailed or glued down in your car and they go through your car like they are on some kind of scavenger hunt ... chap stick, hair scrunchies, cheap sun glasses. Whether you locked your car or not, whether you locked your garage door or not, whether you locked your front or side door or not. Nothing like waking up to hear someone was in your home while you were sleeping. I think the security watch signs should say 'Welcome to our neighborhood. Take all you want. Let's not be strangers. Come back anytime ya hear!'"

 * ... MORE OLD TIMES: Dena (Chase) Duty, born and raised here, wrote to share some special memories of Bakersfield. "As a family we would go to Woody's Toy Circus on Ming Avenue and I remember picking out a set of clackers and my mother bought me my first 'grown up' pair of bell bottom pants from Newbury's when I was around 10 years old. I have lived in other states (Scottsdale, Az., Colorado Springs, Co.) and while I appreciate their beauty and uniqueness, I am so happy to be living back here in Bakersfield, my home. Your (column) ... puts a smile on my face. Thanks for letting me share and keep the 'Bakersfield Memory' chain going. Love it!" And thanks to you, Dena.

 * ... AIR PARK: Earlier this week I mentioned the fact that there was once a small air strip (called La Cresta Air Park) up on the Panorama Bluffs between Bakersfield College and Greenlawn Mortuary and Cemetery. One reader, Gary Denny, emailed to tell me he not only remembers the air park but also recalls that it would occasionally be used for drag races.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're a Bakersfield old timer if you "remember when Kern City was the newest part of town."