More feedback on the power of union contributions and a survey shows some loss of confidence in marriage

* ... UNION POWER: More reader feedback on my musings about how Meg Whitman and the unions that fought her could have better spent their money by donating to charities. From Roger Jones: "Yes the unions did spend money to get Brown, Boxer elected and defeat Whitman and Fiorina. If you want to be able to limit the money unions spend then it should work both ways. Stop corporate contributions to elect those that benefit corporations. We do not cry and we do not give away anything. So at least before you and others make such uneducated comments please contact these unions as to how those contributions were made." Thanks for your comments, Rog, but I never suggested limiting union contributions. Rather, I simply wondered aloud how much good could have come if the unions and Whitman had steered some of those millions toward charitable causes.

 * ... GHOST STORY: Heard the other day about a short film that was filmed on location here in Bakersfield featuring a lot of local talent. It's called "Ghost" and it is portrayed as "a stunning portrait at the underground hardcore scene of Bakersfield." It was written and directed by Bakersfield native Caitlin Bond Murray, who attends the Art Institute of Los Angeles in Santa Monica. A graduate of Bakersfield High School, she is the daughter of local residents Patrick and Deanna Murray.  Some of the scenes were shot at Jerry's Pizza downtown.

 * ... DIVORCE: Did you see the story saying that four in 10 people now feel that the institution of marriage is becoming obsolete? Not sure what to make of it but the numbers speak for themselves: almost 30 percent of children under 18 now live with a parent or parents who are unwed or no longer married. I am personally astounded at the number of long-term marriages that are ending once couples become empty nesters, for a variety of reasons. I recall hearing one woman argue that every person should be married three times: once in our 20s and 30s, another time in our 40s and 50s and a third partner for the last final run to the end. Here's my take: Why not approach marriage like we do home mortgages? You could opt for a 15-year marriage, or 20 or 30 years if you're more confident. Then, if things are going swimmingly at the end of the term, you could always "refinance" and extend the marriage, but you are under no obligation to do so. And if the parents of your potential partner are a bit nutty, you might want to opt for the 5-year "variable term" marriage that will be reassessed just a few years down the road. 

 * ... LAURA WOLFE: Some good news for the local arts community. Laura Wolfe, who left Cal State Bakersfield as a fund raiser, is taking over the Arts Council of Kern as its executive director. Laura will become interim director in January for six months at which time the board will reassess the position. My bet is the board will hire her full time after that. Laura is deeply ingrained in this community and active on a number of boards. She replaces Jeanette Richardson.

  * ... PAPER BOYS: Dr. Wil Flickinger dropped me a note sharing his own memory of that terrible 1952 earthquake that caused so much destruction around town. In his words: "Other 'old timers' were at the Bakersfield Californian rolling papers for delivery while my brother and the paper boys had already taken to their street corners. When the brick Californian building that still stands as it was to this day, started to jump and shake, a bunch of the guys panicked and  ran for the open bay door. As they saw the curtain of brick dust pouring off the top of the building, they returned and joined me in ducking under the nearest stainless steel work bench they could find. As we had numerous smaller after shocks from the first big one in July, some of us kept our heads. As the magnitude of the 30-second quake subsided,  I was able to peer out through the big bay loading dock door as the quake settled, I saw the top of the Tegeler Hotel pour off like a waterfall into 19th street. What an indelible sight that was. That sight capped the second big quake and memories of the hundreds of aftershocks of 1952!

   " I and some of my friends then meandered out to observe the damage. As I quickened my step down to 19th street I moved toward  K Street and to the Kress building where my brother's corner was located. There was debris in the streets. I went by Lerner's Dress Shop on the south side of the street between Chester and K and noted it being completely collapsed where I believe there was the one other fatality of that quake. My brother and the Kress building were okay, and unbelievably my mother, who had been at work in our family business, Flickinger's Farm and Garden store (also  in a brick reinforced building ), at 18th and O streets was already there. I  was assured they were okay and then returned to work. The Californian building itself was undamaged except for the little library and private office brick building at the north side.  Since we had pretty well finished our route preparation, numb as the experience left me,  I think I remember we took to the road to deliver our 2,400 papers to South Bakersfield, and Greenfield south past Schweitzer's corner that day, or did we?

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're from Bakersfield if "you long for the minestrone soup at Woolgrower's once the weather turns colder."

Scrivner's stand on unions picks up some support while others ponder: Where in the world is Bob's Big Boy?

* ... UNION POWER: Zack Scrivner, the city councilman running for 2nd District County Supervisor, seems to have struck a nerve with voters by taking on the unions over soaring pension costs. Most folks in the private sector have taken pay cuts, been furloughed and witnessed their retirement funds ravaged while city, county and state worker unions continue to protest even the most modest of cutbacks. Some unions have responded with a sharp edged advertising campaign against Scrivner, but clearly many folks are warming to Scrivner's challenge to the unions to belly up and take their share of the cuts. One Tehachapi voter told me she was voting for Scrivner because "it's time government workers start to live like us in the private sector. If they don't like the cutbacks, they can always leave their jobs and join us in the private sector!"

 * ... JUST BRAGGING: Barbara Billington wrote in to do a little bragging on her granddaughter, 2004 North High graduate Alison Tolladay. She graduated from Fresno State in 2008 and just now earned her master's in public policy from Pepperdine University. She is currently working as an intern for the LA Lakers in their community relations department raising money for the Lakers Youth Foundation. Last year, Alison and some of her friends started a group called "Just Like You" that provides after-school programs to Los Angeles elementary schools. The programs focus on viewing the world in a different way and becoming global citizens. Billington said Alison "learned compassion and philanthropy from her membership with the Assistance League of Bakersfield's, Assisteen Auxiliary, which obviously has made an impact on her future goals. This is just another example of local girl makes good."

 * ... ROAD RAGE: More responses to my earlier post (read it here) on drivers who try to scare cyclists  off the road by coming close to hitting them. One reader, Marty Richardson, wrote that cyclists should stay off the roads to Woody simply because they are so dangerous. It brought this response from reader Jerry Sutliff: "Clearly Ms. Richardson doesn't get it. Bicyclists have the right of way when the cyclist and the driver are going in the same direction, at least here in California. It appears she wonders what you and your fellow cyclists are doing in her roadway. Good luck."


 * ... WHERE'S BOB?: So what happened to that Bob's Big Boy statue that was stolen at the new Ming Avenue franchise in town? County supervisor Mike Maggard, on vacation on the coast over Memorial Day, got a chuckle when he happened on a miniature Bob's Big Boy replica in a Cayucos antique store. "I wonder if any others have made similar 'Bob sightings' as they have contemplated the intriguing question, 'Where in the world is Bob?'"

* ... NEW NORMAL: Amazing how the split between Al and Tipper Gore has caught our interest. After 40 years, you'd think they were well past the time of calling it quits. But, as the Wall Street Journal reported, divorces of marriages in the 30 to 40-year range have become the "new normal." And divorce rates among those married between 1970 and 1974 have taken "the biggest generational jump" ever, according to the University of Michigan. The New York  Times, chiming in on the Gores, said the dissolution of long-term marriages was particular to the baby boom generation. "In a sense," the paper said, "getting divorced is the iconic baby boomer act."


 * ... OVERHEARD: A correctional officer giving advice to his mother: "If you want the best health care money can buy, commit a felony and go to prison."


 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're a Bakersfield old-timer if you remember where Bakersfield's first escalator was. (Fedway, 21st and Chester).