Former California House Speaker Willie Brown says Janet Napolitano is eyeing public office, Dr. Raj Patel is voted "Best Doctor" and what kind of bar gets rid of French Fries?

 * ... ACCOLADES: I was glad to see so many of my favorites were voted "Best Of" in the annual BakersfieldLife magazine readers poll (Sequoia Sandwich Co., Mexicali, Wool Grower's, Luigi's, The Padre Hotel, Motor City to name a few) but special kudos go to "Best Doctor" repeat winner Dr. Raj Patel, my own personal physician whose personal touch and attentive staff do not go unnoticed by the public.

* ... PADRE: And speaking of the Padre, there are few bigger fans of the old girl than me (I have spent so much money there they should rename the Oil Baron's Suite after me), but who told these guys to take French fries off the menu at the popular Brimstone bar and replace them with cucumber sized potato wedges?

 * ... HILLARY: Did you catch the obit in the newspaper last week for Patrick (Pat) Lee Jamieson. Even in death, as one reader said, he let his political feelings be known toward the end of the obit: "Mr. Jamieson requested that you NOT vote for Hillary Clinton."

 * ... GOV. NAPOLITANO: I was in San Francisco recently and heard former California House speaker Willie Brown speak. His prediction of who is positioning herself for a run for higher office in California, either governor or the Senate? Janet Napolitano, now head of the University of California system and former head of Homeland Security and former governor of Arizona.

 * ... BAD FORM: How is this for irony: on a bike ride Saturday I passed Mayor Harvey Hall and a group of volunteers sprucing up the bike path area near Manor Drive, and yet 10 minutes later near Ethel's Old Corral Cafe I spotted a half dozen soiled diapers on the side of the road. And so it goes.

 * ... ACHIEVER: You can't blame Joanne Shepard for a little bragging: "My granddaughter Katy Shepard Rios was honored by Bill Jager, principal of Columbia School, as teacher of the year. It was a tremendous honor for Katy to receive this award. In attendance was her dad, Steve Shepard, and brothers, her husband Brad Rios, who is employed as a firefighter with the county, and their children.

 * ... JARED GOFF: Rick Riley is the chief executive officer of Townsend Design and he had good reason to enjoy the large picture of Cal quarterback Jared Goff that ran in the paper after he was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams. Said Riley: "(It) shows this year's No. 1 pick wearing a Townsend Design knee brace, made here in Bakersfield. This is the second time in recent years a quarterback wearing a Townsend brace was drafted  No. 1. Andrew Luck (Stanford, 2012) also excelled during his senior season wearing a Townsend custom fabricated knee brace. Additionally, former NFL Super Bowl champion quarterback John Elway wore a Townsend knee brace throughout his professional career, and was featured in national ads endorsing our braces after his retirement. Three players in this year's Super Bowl were also wearing one of our braces. We've braced thousands of collegiate and professional athletes -- and hundreds of thousands of people throughout the USA and around the world have worn one of our orthopedic devices. I thought your readers would appreciate knowing there is a local company that is helping optimize the performance of elite athletes, and the quality of life for everyday consumers."

 * ... WRESTLING: The folks who support wrestling at CSUB are at it again, holding yet another fund raiser to keep the storied program alive. An Evening for CSUB Wrestling is set for this Thursday, May 5, at Stockade Country Club. Tickets are $75. For information call (661) 302-4455.

Is Hollywood getting ready to make a movie about Fernando Jara, the husband of Supervisor Leticia Perez who claims to have worked for the CIA in Yemen?

 * ... SPOTTED: Los Angeles actor Michael Pena, who had parts in the movies Tower Heist, End of Watch as well as the cable hit Eastbound and Down, was seen in the bar at The Padre Hotel talking to 5th District Supervisor Leticia Perez and her husband Fernando Jara. Apparently Pena is (file photo of Michael Pena)
interested in the life story of Jara, who recently revealed he worked for the CIA in Yemen after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

 * ... CHLOE: Sad to hear that Chloe, the adorable yellow labrador retriever who appeared with owner Tracy Walker-Kiser on the front of this month's BakersfieldLife magazine, has been diagnosed with lupus. Chloe can not only go outside with sunscreen but there is little doubt that Tracy and husband Brian Kiser will make her comfortable.

* ... MARKET: Remember the old ADS Market on Baker Street? John Pryor does, and says it was owned by the Sprayberry family. "ADS was the owner’s initials. His name? There must be a story here: Admiral Dewey Sprayberry. I grew up in that neighborhood and, as a kid, bought lots of candy there!  Dewey – as he was called – was a great guy from a kid’s perspective."

 * ... MEMORIES: Becky Arguedas took a trip down memory lane, remembering a Bakersfield when it was a small, more intimate place. "Every time my sister visits from Texas, we reminisce about how it used to be when we were growing up. We talk about Don Rodewald, George Day, Zippy, Meet Mitchell and Unlock-a-lock (remember that one?) and one other we can't remember the name.  Who was the woman that advertised the face cream and always ate a little bit to show it was pure and wouldn't harm you?"

 * ... GRAPEVINE: And Joe Fontaine remembers when you could gaze at the cars lights inching up the Grapevine. "If you are truly a Bakersfield old timer you will remember that on Friday evenings the lights on the Grapevine were the white of car headlights because the refugees from Los Angeles were fleeing north toward Bakersfield. They were red taillights on Sunday evenings because they were headed south back to the drudgery of southern California. Unfortunately we can't see either one today because of poor visibility due to air pollution."

 * ... DMV: Retired Superior Court Judge Jim Stuart gave a shoutout to the DMV office in Shafter. Said Stuart: "About to turn 71 next month, got a notice in the mail that in order to renew my driver's license I would have to pass a vision and a written test. Mind you, the one and only time I took the written test was in 1958 and the only test I have taken since then that really mattered was the Bar Exam, and that was back in 1968. The thought of being without a driver's license was scary, the thought of taking the test was equally scary.  I went to pick up the driver's handbook in Bakersfield and was amazed at how crowded it was. On the advice of a neighbor, I went to the Shafter office of the DMV. Crowded, but not too bad. No appointment, got a number, sat and waited... and watched. Contrary to the common perception many of us have of DMV employees, those at the Shafter office without exception were smiling, patient and just down-right gracious in the way they handled the many people who were in line ahead of me, and the lady who was assigned to me seemed to sense my anxiety, make a quick comment that put me at ease, smiled as she told me I had passed the test and wished me well."

With the Arts Council of Kern in turmoil, a new arts non-profit opens its doors, and what are the 22 secrets to a long and happy life?

 * ... ARTS:  With the future of the Arts Council of Kern in doubt, one of its former employees has moved on to create a new arts related non profit. Local artist Nicole Saint John has created the Kern Community Arts Partnerships (KERN CAP) to "raise the quality of life through arts and arts education in Kern County." Saint John is already working on several grants and is currently working on bringing renowned artist Wiktor Szostolo to Bakersfield to create a public art project. Saint John is one of seven employees that have either resigned or been fired by the Arts Council in the past year. Saint John's move comes at a time when the future of the Arts Council is struggling to remain viable and afloat. (file photo of Nicole Saint John)

* ... HAPPINESS: I read with interest a piece called "22 Things Happy People Do Differently" on a website called "Successify." Among those things to consider: don't hold grudges; accept what cannot be changed; speak well of others; take time to listen; never seek approval from others; live minimally; eat well; exercise; tell the truth and never make excuses. Sounds like a good place to start.

 * ... BURGERS: There are a lot of good hamburgers in town (Juicy Burger, In-N-Out, Tahoe Joe's, The Padre to name a few) but my top pick is the Hudson burger over at Muertos Kitchen and Lounge in the Wall Street Alley. If you haven't tried it, make sure you do so. And what is your favorite burger in town?

* ... YOUNG TURKS: BakersfieldLife, the premier glossy city magazine around town, is accepting nominations to recognize some of the up and coming young people in our community. This "20 under 40" competition will recognize folks who give back to our community while showing outstanding character. The nominations can be made at www.bakersfieldlife.com until April 12.

 * ... NO BUTTS: Hats off to the nearly 50 students from Freedom Middle School and Almondale Elementary (Rosedale Union School District) who participated in the No Butts Left Behind (NBLB) program, designed to raise community awareness about cigarette butts littering and its impact in the environment. This week they helped clean up Almondale Park in the northwest. Rosedale Union students have already cleaned up two other parks in the past several weeks. In an hour's time at each park, Polo Community Park yielded 1,796 butts and North Rosedale Park's total was 1,255.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You may be a Bakersfield old-timer if you "stopped in the evening on the way home from school for milk and bread at Niles Street Liquor and picked up .22 ammo at the same time."

Bako Bits: Get ready for the "Nut Festival" in June, voting is underway for the Best of Kern County and a new face at KBAK TV

 * ... TRASH: Betsy Gosling spotted something you don't see often in our community. "On Sunday morning on my way to church at about 8:30 a.m., a man is picking up trash along Gosford across the street from Sam's Club.  I really commend him for doing that. He's obviously doing that on his own and

wants the street to be clean.  I want my residential area and have begun pulling garage sale signs off poles and picking up papers myself.  It's our planet and we need to take care of it.  Most people don't think about that, unfortunately."

 * ... NUT FESTIVAL: Planning is well under way for the first Kern County "Nut Festival," a two-day celebration of the almonds, pistachios and other nuts that are so important to our local economy. Organizers are promising a"truly unique experience" that will put Bakersfield on the map, much as the garlic festival has done for Gilroy. It is planned for Friday and Saturday June 14-15.

 * ... BEST OF KERN: Remember to vote in the annual "Best of Kern" competition that highlights everything from the best romantic restaurant to the best personal trainer in town. The voting started this week and extends over a month. To vote, go to bestofkern.com and register your email. The results will be printed in the April 27 edition of BakersfieldLife magazine.

 * ... DIVAS: Speaking of BakersfieldLife magazine, a new group of "Dining Divas" will debut the February issue. The new group includes teacher Andrea Ames, Stephanie Pickering, Marlene Morales of Chain Cohn and Stiles, Denise Ornelas of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and pastry chef Mai Giffard.

* ... OVERHEARD: Best panhandling line of the week, so far: "Do you have any change I could use to get back to Shafter to get my debit card?"

* ... SPOTTED: Posted by a friend on Facebook: "While I was waiting for my takout pimento cheese sandwich, a woman walked in, placed an order and said to the cashier, apropos of nothing, 'I need some affirmation.' Without missing a beat, he replied, 'You are awesome. Nice to get what you ask for, isn't it?'"

 * ... DID YOU KNOW? Did you know that certain birds actually mourn the death of other birds? That's the conclusion of a study in the journal Animal Behaviour, which concluded that when a Western scrub jay dies,"other jays may hold a kind of funeral - screeching over the body for as long as half an hour."

* ... KBAK: More comings and goings in the local television market. Rob Finnerty is joining Lynda Halligan and Aaron Perlman on KBAK/KBFX Eyewitness News Mornings. Finnerty arrives from Boston where is was most recently a wealth management advisor at Merrill Lynch. Previously he was sports anchor for New England Cable News.

Occidental makes a big bet on Bakersfield and BakersfieldLife to spotlight our high achieving kids

* ... GOOD NEWS: If there  is a winner in this terrible oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, it may be Occidental Petroleum. At least that's the view of Bloomberg news service, which said Oxy is "leading a rush to find crude on land" as the disaster spurs tougher offshore drilling rules. Oxy recently doubled its estimate for a discovery near Bakersfield, to the equivalent of as much as $34 billion at current prices. Bloomberg said Oxy "bucked the oil industry migration to deep-sea drilling during the past decade and focused on onshore fields from California to Texas to Abu Dhabi." The story went on to say that Oxy is keeping the precise location of its Kern County discovery a secret to prevent competitors from trying to buy adjacent tracks of land.

 * ... COLLEGE BOUND: The city magazine BakersfieldLife comes out Saturday with its annual spotlight on some of our community's high achieving, college-bound kids. This is my favorite issue as it focuses on some of our local success stories, all of them inspirational. Among those being profiled are Joanne Bae, Liberty, headed to UC San Diego; Wesley Elrich, BHS, headed to UCLA; Kristyn Pendley, Ridgeview, headed to UC Davis; Tyler Davisson, West High, going to Cal Poly; Alexandra Tamplin, South High, bound for Stanford; Brandon West, Garces Memorial, Pepperdine; Katherine Scott, East High, headed for Smith College; Andrew Morales, Highland High, UC Irvine; Jake and Lauren Howry, Centential, going to University of Chicago and Washington and Lee, respectively; Melissa Hamilton, Stockdale, bound for Stanford; Michael Moore, Golden Valley, Morehouse College; Nathaly Navarrette, North High, UC Merced; Alex Kim, Stockdale, West Point; Jasmin Barrena, Foothill High, UC Berkeley, Brice Ezell, Bakersfield Christian, George Fox University; and Alexandria Trakimas, Frontier High, University of Pennsylvania.

* ... GARCES POOL: Nice to hear that Garces Memorial High School is getting ready to break ground on a new state-of-the-art competition swimming pool .  It will have 12 practice lanes and 10 competition lanes and a diving area with a depth of 14 feet. It will also have two one-meter diving boards and one three-meter board. It is supposed to be completed in December.


 * .,.. DRILLER NATION: Sue and Roger Allred wrote to tell me about their ninth child who will be graduating from Bakersfield High School on June 3. Their oldest graduated from BHS in 1993, the 100th graduating class of the school. "Our children have five bachelors degrees, one masters in education, one is a lawyer, one is going for a masters in physics, four are stay at home moms, and three are still working on degrees. We have had a wonderful time at BHS and thank those who have enriched our children's lives." And apparently all nine kids will be home for the graduation, coming from places like New York City, Brooklet, Ga., Salt Lake City, Ut., Tucson, Az., San Diego and of course Bakersfield.


 * ... AMGEN TOUR: A reader asked me to list the three committee chairmen who worked so hard to make last week's Amgen Tour of California a success, so here they are: Sam Ames of Action Sports was responsible for the VIP area, Janey Clary was in charge of the hundreds of volunteers and Doug Gosling, an attorney with Klein, DeNatale, was chairman of the festival committee, where all the food and vendors were set up. 


* ... EAST BAKERSFIELD: You know you're an East Bakersfield old timer if  "you remember what the original price of a hamburger at Ken-Ken's was. 10 cents."