Longtime Kern County Superior Court Judge Jerold Turner retires and remembering the old Beale Park grocery store

 * ... TURNER: Kern County Superior Court lost one of its most tenured judges this month with the retirement of Judge Jerold L. Turner. Turner is a true Bakersfield native, born at Mercy Hospital and attending school at Franklin Elementary and Foothill High before heading off to UCLA. He eventually

came back to Bakersfield and went to Bakersfield College and later earned a degree in history from UC San Diego. He started his career at Vizzard, Baker, Sullivan and McFarland and later worked at Young Woolridge. He became the court commissioner in 1990 and was elected a judge in 1992. He will now be "of counsel" with Thomas Anton and Associates.

* ... SPOTTED: A group of people are urging their friends on social media to boycott the downtown Maya Cinemas for allowing a group to set up a table in front protesting police brutality in the death of David Silva. Silva, if you remember, was the man who died in the custody of Kern Sheriff's deputies in front of Kern Medical Center. Emails are being distributed saying this is a slap in the face of Kern County law enforcement.

 * ... PARKWAY: Carl Nicita wrote to respond to another reader who warned others about speeding on the new Westside Parkway. Said Carl: "Just wanted to send a quick comment regarding a contention by a reader that BPD is trying to 'increase it's coffers with more revenue' from traffic tickets on the new Westside Parkway. I beg to differ. It's not about revenue. It's their duties as traffic officers to protect the public and enforce driving regulations. Unfortunately receiving a citation maybe the only way a driver will get the message to drive safely."

* ... BEALE PARK: Jerry Kirkland wrote that reader Mike Stewart "stirred the memory cells of many of us who spent our formative years hanging out at Beale Park during the 1940s and into the early 1950s. The little store that he refers to - I think it was called Beale Park Grocery - was owned by a funny old guy named Gus Ergo who lived directly across the street from his business, most often referred to as just Gus's. You could call in an order and it would be delivered by Gus himself in his black delivery van. My brother, Al, worked for Gus as the delivery boy for a short time but, although a gifted athlete, he was a terrible driver and probably got fired. During the war there were lots of shortages, one of them being Fleer's Bubble Gum - the penultimate chew. Gus seemed to come up with a case of Fleer's on a fairly regular basis and when that word got out, the race was on for those of us at Roosevelt School, knowing the supply would not last long.  I found myself in that neighborhood a few years back and wandered down E Street. The little store is long gone, of course, but I saw where it had been, the empty lot badly overgrown, the old foundation barely visible among the weeds. Different times."

 * ... MEMORIES: Lamar Kerley wrote to ask if anyone else remembers a business called Cactus by Mueller out on Rosedale Highway. "Even as an adolescent I loved plants and was quite taken by their succulents and cactuses. In the early 1970s before all of the bridges were built, going out there was quite a drive, a long trip my mother was not fond of doing."

More memories of the devastating 1952 Kern County earthquakes, and lamenting about those motorcycle lane splitters

* ... QUAKES: Christy McGuire was just an infant when the 1952 earthquake hit but she has a vivid memory of that day. She was living in Taft where her father, Tom Gross, was a young exploration geologist working for Standard Oil (now Chevron).  "I have a vivid memory of dad quickly coming into my room to take me out of my crib, calmly saying there was an earthquake, and carrying me into the living room to stand in a doorway with my mom. In looking back at the dates of the quakes, I was amazed to realize I was less than a year old, my birthday being in October 1951. Christy grew up with a love of geology, and remembers her father "dancing excitedly into the house, when we had later moved to Bakersfield, with Scientific American's iconic cover story on plate tectonics in his hands.  It was like he was carrying the Holy Grail, and it felt more momentous to me than experiencing the earthquakes themselves!"

* .... MORE EARTHQUAKE: Another memory of the 1952 earthquakes, this one from Harry Love. "I was an eight year old, living in Los Angeles (Westchester, by the airport). I remember waking up as my bed was hitting the wall. I thought my sister was shaking it to get her little brother upset (her usual ploy). I starting living in Bakersfield in 1967 and still remember the other ones that hit here. In 1970, my wife of one year and from Minnesota, experienced her first earthquake."

 * ... SPOTTED: A younger woman driving a black BMW is busy texting on her cell phone as she blows through a red light at Brimhall and Calloway, narrowly missing a white SUV that wisely slowed to allow her to pass.


* ... PR GROUP: Marlene Morales is head of communications for the law firm of Chain, Cohn, Stiles and dropped me a note to tell me about a group of local executives (most of them in public relations) that meet quarterly to discuss issues in our community. "Not only are they leaders in the community, they participate in many non-profit organizations to raise money for Kern County," she said. "Members of the PR group include: Susan Hersberger, Jarrod McNaughton, Amber Chiang, Marlene Morales, Rob Meszaros, Carla Musser, Darlene Mohlke, Steve Gabbitas, Michele Bresso, Barry Zoeller, Colleen Dillaway, Brent Rush, Beth Pandol, Cal Rossi, Rob Duchow, Selena Ingram, Gina Hayden, Jim Varley, Katie Harlan Allen, Leslie Golich, Rhonda Smiley and Susie Geiger. "

* ... LANE SPLITTERS:  How do you feel about motorcycle riders who ride between the car lanes, a maneuver that is perfectly legal (at least in California) if executed correctly? Reader Phyllis Smith was recently stopped at a double left turn with a motorcyclist rode up next to her. "He hit my side mirror forcing it backwards.  He pushed the mirror back into position and took off doing his left turn, again between the two car lanes. When I got home I checked the mirror and the paint was chipped off where he hit it. I have never understood why they have this privilege of driving between the lanes."

 * ... MEMORY: Reader Wyatt Ross is looking for a little help from old timers who remember an old house on Myrtle Street. "Around 1961, at about the age of 4, I would walk with my very young Aunt Molly and Uncle Todd from 308 Cypress to Beale Park for a day of swim and play. Walking on Palm, we could look north on Myrtle and see what I remember as a huge, weathered old mansion, sitting ominously on a raised lot, at least 15 feet higher than the surrounding grade. To me, it was the 'House on Haunted Hill' from the 1959 Vincent Price movie.  I clearly recall covering my eyes as we walked by it!  Ironically, 15 years later I would live across the street from the still-elevated vacant lot, which still had remnants of the red brick foundation.  It was soon thereafter excavated and subdivided with several new homes. Any old timers out there recall the history of that place?   Seems I've heard it may have housed nuns or orphans at times........or am I confusing it with Sinaloa?"