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.

Memorial Hospital unveils its Pediatric Care Unit and Bakersfield prepares to host state cyclo cross championships

  * ... MEMORIAL: I was afforded a sneak peek of the new Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Memorial Hospital recently during a reception for donors. Hospital president Jon Van Boening deserves a lot of credit for having the vision of bringing a children's hospital to Bakersfield, and it's just short of amazing how much has been accomplished in such a short period of time. All this, no doubt, is due to the generosity of the people of our community. Among those I spotted at the reception were Dr. Javier and Laurie Bustamante,  Tracy Walker Kiser of H. Walker's Men's Clothiers, whose Rotary Club of Bakersfield donated $100,000 to the cause, Duane and Corey Keathley, Nancy Carr, Pat and Steve Loyd, Jill Thayer, Dr. Madhu Bhogal, Dr. Tommy Lee, Valley Republic Bank's Bruce Jay and many others.

* ... BIKE FRIENDLY: Get ready for a huge cyclo cross bicycle race out at Hart Park this weekend. It's the official Southern California versus Northern California cyclo cross championship which always draws a good crowd. Sam Ames, the manager over at Action Sports and himself and accomplished cyclist, is coordinating the race and will be my guest on Californian Radio KERN 1180 Monday morning at 9 a.m. Later in the hour I will be talking with representatives of Bike Bakersfield about efforts to create a cycling master plan for our community.

* ... OVERHEARD: A young woman remarking on the spectacular weather this past Friday: "I had business down on Union Avenue and it was so nice even the hookers were in their summer attire!"


* ... BLOWBACK: The Las Vegas sportswriter who penned a childish rant about Bakersfield has received some feedback from my readers. Said one: "The next time you come to Bakersfield (if you dare lower yourself to grace us with your presence), take some time out of your hectic schedule to actually investigate our city. We're obviously not going to be as flashy as Las Vegas (who is, by the way?) and our city has been built around the cornerstone of hard work, industriousness, and family. Our main contributions (agriculture and oil) to this world are things that are actually useful and tangible endeavors. Compare that to a city whose entire existence has relied on tourists dollars through the arguable seedy business of gambling. Now don’t get me wrong, I love going to Las Vegas and seeing the beautiful hotels and incredible shows. But there is no way in hell I would ever choose to live there."

 * ... GLUTEN-FREE: The latest issue of Fortune magazine notes that going gluten-free is the latest food industry craze. It's apparently so popular that Subway is testing a gluten-free sandwich roll and brownie and McDonald's offers a gluten-free bun in Spain, Sweden, Finland and Norway.

 * ... BEST OF KERN: Make sure you go to www.BestofKern.com to add your voice to the annual "Best of  Kern County" polling. This year is a tad different; each week for a month a new group of businesses will be nominated. The results will be published in the April 28 issue of BakersfieldLife magazine.


* ... WHO KNEW? Did you know that Highland High grad Cami Benjamin turned tennis pro by the age of 15 and competed against players like Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King and Steffi Graf? She’s also featured in the book “Blacks at the Net: Black Achievement in the History of Tennis.”