CSUB's big gamble to attain Division 1 status and more feedback on trash in our parks

 * ... THE BIG GAMBLE: Hats off to Cal State Bakersfield for its successful drive to attain Division 1 status for its sports programs. A well connected  group of alumni and boosters were behind this, arguing D-1 status will add to the school's image and give the programs better leverage in recruiting top athletes. But not everyone supported the drive, saying the school instead should be putting more emphasis on its academic programs to lure a different kind of student to the university. In the best of worlds,  supporters hope CSUB will follow in the footsteps of schools like Gonzaga, the small Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, that has gained national stature via a highly successful Division 1 basketball program.


 * ... BILL KIZER: In a time when so few people value loyalty to their employers, it's nice to hear cases  like that of William "Bill" Kizer. He retired recently from Today Cleaners where he worked for 55 years. That's right, more than five decades at the same place of work. Three generations of family ownership worked with Bill, including Jeff Newman Sr. who credits him with teaching him the ropes of the family business. In addition to that, eight other members of Bill's family worked at Sparkle or Today cleaners. Current company president Jeff Newman Jr. joined in a party to celebrated Bill's retirement. How many folks retire at the age of 86 after 55 years at the same job?

* ... TRASH WOES: I clearly hit a nerve with a recent post about our parks being strewn with litter after a weekend. Reader Pat Napier wrote to note that while traveling in Mexico "you will notice that all the parks and beaches look just like the ones here in Bako after a weekend or holiday.... strewn with beer bottles, watermelon rinds, potato chip packages etc, waiting for the tide to come in and wash it all away. What a shame to trash a beautiful country just like what is being done to Kern County." My take: there's lot of bad behavior in our community and it usually has more to do with education and upbringing than nation of origin.

 * ... STINSON'S: Stinson's Stationers, one of our town's iconic family owned businesses, held a shoe drive last week and collected almost 500 pairs for the Bakersfield Homeless Shelter. Business development manager Heather Henderson told me company drivers picked up the shoes along their routes or customers dropped off the shoes at the various Stinson's locations. And they did it all in one week.

 * ... LOCAL BOY: Reader Joel Hoffman was watching a Detroit Tigers versus Texas Rangers game on Brighthouse Networks the other day when the announcer mentioned the Ranger's pitcher - Colby Lewis - was from Bakersfield. He's listed as a 31-year-old right handed starter who stands six foot four and weighs in at 230 pounds.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: From reader Anne Grogan: You know you're from Bakersfield when "you see people lining up to have their photos taken next to the Bob's Big Boy statue as if it were a national monument."

Stockdale Highway construction mess cleared up and Stinson's says thanks to its customers

 * ... THE MESS THAT IS STOCKDALE HIGHWAY: If you live in Bakersfield, I don't need  to tell you what a mess Stockdale Highway has become with the long overdue repaving and widening. The stretch from Highway 99 to California Avenue is a particular problem, and after getting caught in that mess several weeks ago, I have simply avoided it. And apparently so have a lot of other people. The businesses along that popular stretch of Stockdale Highway have felt the drop in business, which is the last thing they need in a recession. So it was nice to hear from Barry Goldner, a principal in the Klein DeNatale Goldner law firm, that the city relented and reopened most of the lanes at the appeal of local businesses. Said Goldner:

  "The problem was particularly acute at Stockdale Fashion Plaza. The irony is that the City was spending stimulus funds to improve the roads, and choking out (albeit inadvertently) the businesses that would ultimately benefit from the road improvements. At the urging of the businesses in Stockdale Fashion Plaza, the City opened up Stockdale Highway to six lanes. Now, traffic flow is restored. Stockdale Fashion Plaza is back and the roads are clear--six lanes of traffic."

  So if you're like me and have been avoiding that part of town, feel confident you can return to Cafe Med, Christine's, the Gourmet Shop, Houston Jewelers, the Outback Steakhouse and other businesses at the Stockdale Fashion Plaza without spending 30 minutes staring at your knuckles in traffic. Thanks to Barry Goldner for the tip.

 * STINSON'S THANKS ITS CUSTOMERS: I had the chance to stop by the annual customer appreciation lunch put on by Stinson Stationers at the company's 60,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility in East Bakersfield. Company president Ben Stinson does this every year, treating more than 600 customers to a barbeque lunch with dozens of free door prizes. The locally owned company, founded in 1947, has succeeded and held off the big box stores through a steady mantra of over the top customer service, Bakersfield style. Hats off to Ben and his crew at Stinson's.

  * ... UNIVERSITY OF PACIFIC SENDS TWO HOME: Local residents Tom and Sherry Sharp alerted me that their daughter Taryn, who graduated from Centennial High in 2000, is now back home working as a pharmacist at Sav-On Drug inside Albertson's on Coffee Road and Olive Drive. Taryn swam all four years at Cal State Bakersfield, graduated with honors and then went to the pharmacy program at the University of  Pacific in Stockton. She married Jeffrey Jolliff in 2004. He graduated from Garces Memorial and also from the pharmacy program at UOP in Stockton. He is now a pharmacist at Kern Medical Center. His parents are Terry and Eloise Jolliff of Joliff Enterprises, a long time custom home builder in Bakersfield. 

 * ... RIDGEVIEW KID RETURNS: Yet another proud mom, Victoria Martinez-Tate, tells me her daughter Alexis Olivas is back in town. Alexis graduated from Ridgeview High School, went to Bakersfield College for two years and then transferred to the University of California Santa Barbara where she earned a B.A. in history and a B.S. in biology. She worked both in northern and southern California and is now employed by Grimmway Farms as a qualify control laboratory manager.