Rains bring good news for the snowpack in the high Sierras, the hi-speed rail to nowhere will end in Bakersfield, and a happy ending for a stray dog

Friday, February 15, 2019

 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this such a special to live. Send your tips to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... SNOWPACK: Do you remember just a few years ago when we thought it would never rain in

Bakersfield again? We went three straight winters with hardly a trace of rain and then this year comes and - voila - we are deluged with rainfall. At this point, the high Sierras are at 123 percent of the normal snowpack, and more is coming. Enjoy these days because this stuff doesn't happen often.

* ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Someone just called me a pompous ass... I was so flummoxed, my monocle fell right into my shark fin soup."

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "You can a lot about a woman by her hands. For example, if they are around your throat she is probably upset."

 * ... HI-SPEED RAIL: After Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he was killing parts of the high-speed rail project, this is what it will look like at the end and billions of dollars.

 * ... GOOD FORM: Remember the black labrador mix who was abandoned near Lake Ming the other day? Well the dog has now been adopted by a couple who were looking to replace their own dog who recently died of cancer. Richard McDonald adopted the 2-year-old lab mix as a Valentine's Day gift for his wife Patty, who has been looking for a "special" dog to replace their own dog. They were told the dog's name was Anakin, but may in fact rename it. By whatever name this dog is going to have a good home. (photo courtesy of The Bakersfield Californian)

 * ... ANNE FRANK: If you are a history buff you are in for a treat next month when the step-sister of Anne Frank will appear at the Fox Theater for a special lecture. Eva Schloss, now 90, will discuss her relationship with the young Anne Frank before she was rounded up by the Nazis and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp where she died. This event is expected to sell out so you will want to buy your tickets soon. The talk will be particularly relevant given the anti-Semitic comments coming from freshmen in Congress and the ongoing attacks on the state of Israel.

 * ... RAISING CANE'S: We have a new fast food franchise in town, and this one comes with some serious positive reviews. Raising Cane's, which specializes in chicken strips, has opened on Coffee Road north of Rosedale Highway. In typical Bakersfield style, it is standing room only since it opened earlier this week.

 * ... MEMORIES: A full service gas station on the old Grapevine.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy rips California's high speed rail, "a project that takes time and money" away from drought relief

 House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy gives us his weekly view from Capitol Hill:

“They act like they have an unlimited purse.”

 "No, not the LA Dodgers. Instead, that’s a Southern California resident talking about Democrat leaders in Sacramento and Washington and their willfully blind support of the flawed California

High-Speed Rail project.
 "California is a land with abundant resources that has given opportunity and hope to so many who came west to establish a new and better way of life. But the status quo is not always sustainable.
 "Just because California is a land of plenty doesn’t mean we can waste our resources and taxpayer dollars. But that is exactly what is being done with California High-Speed Rail—a project that takes time and money away from what is truly needed, like drought relief.
 "Since being presented to the voters, California High-Speed Rail costs have exploded, ridership estimates have shrunk, and speed projections have been questioned when analyzed by engineering’s brightest minds.
 "At the same time, our state has endured the worst drought in a century that has been exacerbated by planning and judgment errors from government leaders. And years into the crisis, infrastructure and long-term solutions are nowhere to be seen.
 "The big problem in California is that time and money that should be spent responding to the drought has instead been wasted on a boondoggle that California residents don’t even want.
 "Residents up and down the high-speed rail route—from blue-collar suburbs to city centers—are coming out in protest to the project, which would negatively affect dozens of schools, churches, and parks along with tens of thousands of homes.
 "But the negative impacts stretch beyond areas near the tracks. Current estimates state that the high-speed rail project will cost over twice as much as the original plan voters approved in 2008. Private investment that was promised remains nonexistent and Republicans in Congress are committed to not putting another federal taxpayer dollar to this flawed project.
 "Just last week, the House of Representatives passed a transportation bill that blocks federal funding for the California High-Speed Rail project. Since taking the majority in the House, Republicans have been committed to ensure hardworking Americans’ tax dollars aren’t wasted on projects that don’t reflect today’s reality or tomorrow’s potential.
 "But just imagine what could be done if the energy used in pursuit of this fundamentally flawed project was instead used to help relieve the drought. Water storage projects that never got off the ground could have actually been built and more water could be flowing to people’s homes, farms, and neighborhoods.
 "Former Representative Tom Campbell has the right idea, and put it very simply in the OC Register: “California should take the money going to Gov. Jerry Brown’s train and use it to build more water storage.” If the governor did that, we could take advantage of the next rainstorms and the winter snow pack to make sure Californians get the water they need, not the train nobody wants.

House Majority Whip McCarthy: California's high speed rail project is a recipe for failure

 House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) provides us his weekly view from Capitol Hill. In his words:

 "It’s always hard running a small business and in today’s climate, it's even harder. I remember waking up early cutting up vegetables getting ready for the lunch time rush at Kevin O’s Deli and staying late to finish payroll and close up. As you drive across town from the Marketplace to Rosedale Highway to downtown Bakersfield, you find many of our hometown small businesses. These entrepreneurs and their employees are the powerhouse of job creation in our local economy. Unfortunately, they’ll now endure more state and federal taxes along with higher premiums and regulations. The resurgence of the American economy and California economy depends on revival of small business growth, something some in Washington and Sacramento are forgetting.

  "This week I met with a group of small business owners who shared their challenges if the President raises their taxes. These tax increases would hit almost one million small businesses, cost hundreds of thousands of jobs and, according to the President’s own budget, supply enough annual revenue to keep the federal government open for only five days. I hear from local small business owners trying to figure out how to survive in today’s economy as health care premiums continue to rise, and over fifty cents out of every dollar earned could go toward paying just state and federal taxes. We cannot tax, spend, and borrow our way to prosperity. It will make it harder for small businesses to grow and create needed jobs for American families. In fact, when economists combined state, federal and, where applicable, local income taxes, plus payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare, they found that the highest tax rate in California, which affects many small business owners, would hit 51.9%! This is not sustainable.

 "As we approach the fiscal cliff, Congress cannot ignore the spending side of the government ledger, and that’s why we must also carefully scrutinize all federal spending to reduce waste.  Few projects deserve more scrutiny than California’s high-speed rail project.  In my testimony this week at a congressional hearing about the viability of high-speed rail in California, I outlined our communities’ concerns with this project.  The ridership numbers don’t add up, private investment remains nonexistent, and meanwhile, the California High Speed Rail Authority continues to request more federal taxpayer dollars. This isn’t a recipe for success. The current high speed rail plan to be finished relies on another $38 billion from the federal government. As we work to reduce our debt, it is critical that we, as stewards of scarce taxpayer dollars, hold the California High Speed Rail Authority accountable for this billion-dollar project.

 "This week many recognized the birth of Winston Churchill and remembered what he said regarding taxes, “We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” Churchill was right over a century ago and he’s right today. We must reform the tax code, cut spending and grow our economy.