Layoffs at The Bakersfield Californian as a sale looms, more details on the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and is the "homeless" crisis really all about drug addiction and mental illness?

Friday, June 21, 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 community such a special place. Send news items to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... HARD ROCK HOTEL AND CASINO: The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is coming to Kern

County, but we are all going to have to show some patience. Scott Nielson, manager for the project, appeared on The Richard Beene Show to talk about the scope of the project and when we can expect to see in completed. Nielson said clearing the environmental hurdles will take at least 18 month and construction another two years. Eventually, it will provide 2,000 jobs when the 400-room hotel is built, complemented by a dozen restaurants and bars and a concert venue. The Hard Rock empire is owned by the Seminole Indian tribe in Florida, and currently has worldwide revenues in the $4 billion range.

 * ... TBC SALE: Only the most ill informed thought the sale of the family owned Bakersfield Californian would turn out to be a good thing. And with each passing day, that truth is born out as we head to June 30, the day the sale will close. This week, the new owners met individually with staffers to tell them their fate. It was a scene not unlike the 1982 movie Sophie's Choice, where a young Meryl Streep wept as the Nazis forced her to choose which of her two children would live, or die. One who didn't make the cut was executive editor Jim Lawitz, a highly unpopular fellow who won't be missed. Thankfully, senior editor Bob Price and columnist Herb Benham did survive, as did graphics editor Glenn Hammett, one of the most valuable (and popular) members of the staff. Losing their jobs were copy editors Ron Stapp, Tim Heinrichs and Dennis Wynne, graphic designer Kent Kuehl and sales rep Lisa Lee. The entire pressroom and mailroom staff are also being laid off as the paper gets ready to move its printing operations to Palmdale.

 * ... SPOTTED DOWNTOWN: In full view of customers going to a leaving three of downtown's best restaurants - Uricchio's Trattoria, The 18Hundred and Mamma Mia - a vagrant is spotted with his pants down defecating on the street. Remember: we do not have a homeless crisis. We have a drug addiction and mental health crisis disguise as a homeless crisis.

 * ... ZARDES: How fun was it to watch Gyasi Zardes, a player for the U.S. national team, score a head goal in the game against Guyana in the 2019 Gold Cup soccer tournament. Zardes, with his signature blond mohawk, took a header and scored to help the Americans to a 3-0 win. Zardes was a standout with the CSUB soccer team. He graduated in 2012.

 * ... GRIMMWAY FARMS: Did you know that every carrot sold at Costco, anywhere in the world, is a Grimmway Farms carrot? That's right, the Bakersfield-based carrot company is the exclusive supplier of carrots to Costco's no matter where they are located. Under the leadership of CEO Jeff Huckaby, Grimmway just recently closed on the purchase of an organic food company in south Georgia, near Valdosta, which will allow the company to produce organic carrots and other vegetables to Publix and other Southern-based supermarkets.

 * ... MEMORIES: More pictures compliments of there Facebook pages devoted to Kern County's history.

From fashion week to baby carrots to representing Bakersfield at the U.S. Naval Academy

 Putting the spotlight on people and things around our community...

* ... THE DISMAL STATE OF CALIFORNIA: Was interested - but not surprised - to read the results of a statewide poll showing Californians have lost faith in their state government. The survey was done by the Public Policy Institute and was carried by the Los Angeles Times and The Californian. It's good to know I'm not alone in having lost almost all confidence in the legislators in Sacramento to work together to turn things around. The poll found that 73 percent of those polled said state government was run for the benefit of the few and only 23 percent of Californians felt the state government would "do what is right." Is anyone surprised by this?

* ... TEN YEARS OF SANDWICHES: The Sept. 11 anniversary came and went as the nation remembered the 2001 terrorist attacks. But for Jeff Simpson 9-11 has a happier meaning. Jeff and partner Gary Blackburn own Sequoia Sandwich Co., the popular Bakersfield deli with three locations locally. (They opened a fourth in Clovis about a year ago) Jeff told me Sept. 11 marked their 10-year anniversary in business in Bakersfield. Jeff and  Gary were bankers before getting into the restaurant business and in the past decade have become firmly entrenched  in our community. Jeff also revealed his first date with wife Karen was on a Sept. 11, another reason why 9-11 has special meaning in his life.

 * ... FASHION WEEK AND THE GRIMM GIRLS: It's fashion week in New York and that likely means sisters Melissa and Catie Grimm are somewhere in the Big Apple taking in the new designs. The Grimms are scions of Grimmway Farms, the world's largest carrot producer and one of Bakersfield's most respected family owned business institutions. The sisters run Carrots, a high end clothing boutique in San Francisco's Jackson Square, located at 843 Montgomery Street. I visited Carrots' website recently and thought it was stunning. If you'd like to check it out, do so here.

 *  ... LOCAL KID SHINING AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY: It was nice to get an email the other day from Dave Ewert, who joined  with me in coaching a girl's National Junior Basketball (NJB) team a few years back. (We had a less than successful season but we had the best girls.) My daughter Hannah and his daughter Carolyn were teammates and went their separate ways: my daughter to Stockdale High and eventually the University of Michigan and his to Centennial High and eventually to the Naval Academy. Was pleased to hear that Carolyn is now in Annapolis playing volleyball and succeeding beyond all expectations. I picked this up from the Naval Academy website after a recent game:

  
"Individually for Navy, freshman Carolyn Ewert (Bakersfield, Calif.) is pacing the Navy offense with an average of 2.82 kills per set while also ranking second on the team with 1.55 digs per set. Joining Ewert with an average of multiple kills per set are Abbie Merkl (Sr., Upper Marlboro, Md.) and Meghan Carpenter (So., Frederick, Md.) with averages of 2.41 and 2.00 kills per set, respectively."

 Dave said he and his wife will be going back for a football game this fall and to visit Carolyn, another local product making the old hometown proud.