A new study finds 300,000 victims of priest sexual abuse in France while others who left the priesthood accused continue to work with children, authorities warn about fake Covid-19 vaccination cards for sale on the internet and services are set for Dr. Mark Root at St. Francis Church

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. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ... PRIEST SEXUAL ABUSE: The sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church is well known and there are few communities that have escaped being touched by the scandal. Locally, former priest Craig

Harrison faces allegations from multiple men that he used his power and influence to extract sexual favors and two lawsuits against Harrison are moving forward. (He has not been charged criminally because the statute of limitations has expired, but he is subject to civil action) Now comes word that in France alone, a study found an estimate 330,000 victims of child sex abuse within the church over the past 70 years. Those are truly astounding numbers, and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said that "in country after country, state after state, we learn of horrifying stories from survivors and of the devastating effect that abuse has had on victims." So what happens to priests who have been identified by the Catholic Church as being "credibly accused? Well, an Associated Press analysis found that nearly 1,700 priests and other clergy members that were credibly accused are "living under the radar with little to no oversight from religious authorities or law enforcement." And some of them, the AP said, are working as teachers, nurses, volunteers at non profits and other even foster and care for children. And yes, the AP said some had continued to abuse children even after leaving the church. Harrison's name appeared on the Diocese of Fresno's list of priests who have been "credibly accused" released earlier this year.

 * ... MARK ROOT SERVICES: Services for the late Dr. Mark Root, a popular obstetrician and gynecologist who died in a motorcycle accident last week, have been set for this Friday at St. Francis Church. The service is set for 1:30 p.m. with a lunch and reception afterward at Woolgrower's. Root, 65, died while on on a night motorcycle ride and was not found for several hours. No cause of the accident has been determined.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Wow so when Facebook and Instagram go down, everyone loses their mind, but I have been feeling down for the last ten years and nobody cares. Is it because I'm brown??"

 * ... PASSAGES: Lauren Skidmore takes over the Bakersfield Homeless Center and the Alliance Against Family Violence this week and she will be tested from the start. The stubborn pandemic lingers, the public's appetite and patience for the homeless have worn out their welcomes, and virtually everyone agrees the number of homeless on our streets is woefully undercounted. Meanwhile, over at CSUB men's basketball coach Rod Barnes is preparing for a new season that kicks off Dec. 2 against Santa Clara. Barnes will appear on my Bakersfield Observed podcast this week, and if you want to catch Skidmore's conversation with me, check it out on the podcast on Spotify or Kernradio.com.

 * ... BEWARE FAKE COVID CARDS: Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer is warning the public to stay away from fake COVID-19 vaccination cards for sale on the internet. Her advice is simple: don't buy them and don't print them out. “Our office is aware of counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination record cards advertised on social media websites, e-commerce platforms, and blogs, as a way for individuals to misrepresent themselves as vaccinated,”  Zimmer said in a news release. “These counterfeit records are illegal and undermine the health and safety of our community. Please do not purchase a fraudulent vaccination record card, do not make your own, and do not fill in blank vaccination record cards with false information.” People are also discouraged from posting a vaccine card on social media, where personal information can be stolen.

 * ... SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: The Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra will be celebrating its 90th concert season with a live performance this Friday at Mechanics Bank Arena. The concert will open its doors at 5 p.m. with an optional pre-concert lecture and the concert begins at 6 p.m. Guest violinist Simone Porter will be performing Bruch's Scottish Fantasy while Maestro Stilian Kirov turns his attention to Dvorak's Symphony No. 9.

 * ... MEMORIES: Some wonderful old shots of our community back in the day courtesy of the Kern County History Fans.

While the nation grows more secular, more Catholic priests are accused of sexual misdeeds, local boy Tyler Williams wins the yellow jersey in an Arkansas cycling race and it's time for a frank discussion of the homeless

 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. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ... SECULAR UNITED STATES: The national trend of the United States becoming a more secular nation continues without slowing down, with just 30 percent of Generation Z believing in the existence of a God. According to The Wall Street Journal, only 44 percent of millennials believe in God,

far down from the 70 percent of the Silent Generation and 63 percent of the Baby Boomers. "Today," an essay read, "scholars are finding that by almost any metric they use to measure religiosity, younger generations are much more secular than their parents or grandparents." It went on: "The decline has come about as a result of a combination of demographic changes: America has become more multiracial, and larger shares of Americans are jettisoning Christianity and either aligning with other religions or are leaving religion behind entirely and joining the ranks of the religion nones."

 * ... PREDATOR PRIESTS: Two more priests, this time from the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, have been accused of sexual abuse and had their priestly faculties removed "pending the outcome of a formal investigation." The allegations were leveled against father Daniel Madigan and father Maurice O'Brien, both retired but both of whom have been accused of improperly touching young men in a sexual manner. The sheer number of priests who have been accused of engaging in inappropriate sexual activity is astounding, including the one prominent Kern County case where former priest Craig Harrison is facing multiple lawsuits from men who say Harrison preyed upon them as young men.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I don't care who you voted for, show me your rescue pet."

 * ... HOMELESS: Is the homeless problem getting any better in Kern County, or is there simply a reservoir of pent up goodwill praying that it will get better? Ask anyone on the street and the answer is unanimous: there has been no discernible decrease in the homeless population over the past few years. They remain living in our parks, on our street corners, in the alleyways, on the streets and leaving a mess in their wake. Yet some of the people coordinating the anti-homeless effort say progress is being made. We will discuss the gap between perception and reality this week on the Bakersfield Observed podcast when Jim Wheeler of Flood Ministries and Carlos Baldovinos of the Mission of Kern County join me for a frank discussion of the work before us. The podcast will drop Thursday on Spotify, KERNRADIO.COM or wherever you get your podcasts.

 * ... TYLER WILLIAMS: Tyler Williams, a 26-year-old phenom pro cyclist from Bakersfield, took the yellow jersey and won the Joe Martin Stage Race over the weekend in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Williams, who raced in Europe a few years back, races for the LA-based L39ion racing team. Williams held the leader's yellow jersey until the penultimate stage when he lost it, only to regain it and win the race on the last stage.

 * ... MEMORIES: I thought you would all enjoy this old picture of downtown Carpenteria back in the day.

 * ... MORE MEMORIES: And finally this old shot of a Texaco station on the old grapevine road, circa 1940s, from the Kern County of Old Facebook page.