Housing prices still heading south and four from Bakersfield named All-American in skeet shooting

* .. HOUSING BLUES: The long feared "double dip" in housing prices is now taking hold in as many as one in five major housing markets. That's the word from Zillow, the national real estate sales and data provider. Our own market here in Bakersfield remains slow, and local Realtors tell me there isn't a lot of inventory on the market. We are still working through thousands of foreclosures, and there are more to come. Zillow identified the top five cities to find a "bargain" for a house because of depressed prices. They are Naples, Fla., Cape Cod, Mass., Charleston, S.C., Merced, CA. (one house that sold for $337,000 five years ago just sold for $80,000) and Chicago. (read the Zillow and ABC report here) Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal referred to the pending flood of new foreclosures as "shadow inventory" and said there were enough homes expected to hit the market to last about 10 months based on average sales rates. It said the worst hit areas are California (naturally), Arizona, Florida and Nevada.

 * ... TRAVELING HOPWOODS: Reader Dale Hopwood wrote to remind me that Bakersfield was known as "Quakersfield" after the 1952 earthquake that devastated our once historic downtown. But he really wanted to talk about his children, some of whom moved away but came back home to live and work. His son, Ken Hopwood, is a North High graduate who was living in the Southland but moved back to work as a software engineer for Prosoft. Ken 's wife, Becky Coats, is working with the reading class at Endeavour Elementary. Meanwhile daughter Dana Villicano is teaching science at Fruitvale Junior High and another son, George Hopwood, is working at UC Santa Barbara in the special projects office. Finally, the last of the traveling Hopwoods is his daughter Sara Holm, a geologist living in the mountains of northern New Mexico.

 * ... SKEET HONORS: Kudos to four Bakersfield skeet shooters who have been named to the 2010 All-American Teams by the National Skeet Shooting Association. This is really unusual to have so many from one club make the All-American squads, and it's a credit to the programs and facilities at the Kern County Gun Club located near the Lake Buena Vista Recreation Area. Ben Wagoner, the 45-year-old owner of Air Control Services heating and air conditioning, was named to the Rookie First Team while Brian Foley was named to both the Open Honorable Mention team and the Junior First Team. Foley graduated from Ridgeview High and is now a freshman at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. Also named All-Americans were sisters Emily and Rachel Shuford, a senior and sophomore at Bakersfield High respectively. Rachel made the Sub-Junior First Team and Emily the Junior Honorable Mention Team. 

 (Above picture left to right Emily Shuford, Brian Foley, Brooke Shuford and Rachel Shuford. Lower picture is Ben Wagoner with Brian Foley)


 * ... B-TOWN JUST FINE: Reader Dave Collins, who works at the local collection agency Commercial Trade, dropped me a nice personal note and ended it by saying "... by the way, I think 'Bako' is just fine along with B-town and Bake-in-the-field." Add him to the list who think 'Bako' is not an insult.


* ... BAKERSFIELDISMS: You know you are from Bakersfield when ...  "You know a swamp cooler is not a happy hour drink" and "You know Trouts and we're not talking about the fish."

The consequences of drunk driving: another "life interrupted" while a local program gets some much deserved recognition

  Received a lot of email and comments on the death of Kathy O'Daniel, the 54-year-old Bakersfield resident who was killed in an apparent drunk driving incident outside Santa Rosa. Kathy and her husband Chuck lived in Bakersfield for years, raising five kids and always remaining active in their church, and they left behind many friends. Kathy was invariably cheerful and a terrific, devoted mother, and folks were understandably stunned to hear of her death. (read the previous post here) Services have now been set for Saturday, Sept. 26, at 11 a.m. at Calvary Chapel Petaluma, located at 1995 McDowell Boulevard. Meanwhile, I hear that Kathy's 15-year-old daugher Kelcee, who was injured in the accident, is doing better but has a long recovery in front of her.

 Given the latest tragedy it was good to learn that the local effort to spread the word on the dangers of drinking and driving won some much deserved recognition. The program is called "A life Interrupted DUI Mobile Crash Exhibit" and is run by the Bakersfield Police Department and some concerned citizens, including local businesses like State Farm Insurance, Hall Ambulance, W.A. Thompson and families who have lost children in traffic crashes. The program was just named the California Crime Prevention Program of the Year, a well deserved honor for these folks who have worked so hard. One of those involved is Nancy Chaffin, the Californian's Human Resources vice president who lost her own son Jeff in a DUI incident eight years ago. In that incident (Jeff was not driving) Jeff was among four teenagers killed when Michael Hugh Curtis crashed on Seventh Standard Road. The program started in 2002 and involves taking the wreck of a car to local schools and showing kids what could happen. I've seen the presentation and it's a moving and (hopefully) effective program.  (that's a picture of the trailer below)

 Police chief Bill Rector  has thrown his full support behind the program as have companies like Three-Way Chevrolet, which donated a new Chevy truck, and State Farm which threw in $68,000 to build the trailer. Every death is tragic, and no one affiliated with the program is claiming this is a panacea, but it is encouraging that only one teen died locally in an alcohol related accident in 2007, compared to 12 in 2002. There was also an 18-month period between 2007 and 2008 when there wasn't a single teen killed.

 Pictured above are Nancy Chaffin, Police Chief Bill Rector and Sgt. Greg Terry. Photo courtesy of The Californian.

Kathy O'Daniel, former Bakersfield resident, killed in Santa Rosa crash

 Was saddened to hear that Kathy O'Daniel, a former Bakersfield resident now living in Rohnert Park, was killed yesterday (Sept. 14) in a car crash near Santa Rosa. Kathy was 54. Kathy and her husband Chuck and their five children, lived in Bakersfield for at least a decade before they left in 2002. Chuck worked at The Californian as advertising director and one of his daughters, Kacee, also sold advertising here. Before that he was manager of the old Harris Department store at East Hills Mall. Early reports said Kathy was driving on Llano Road with one of her other daughters (15-year-old Kelcee) when they were hit by a late model Jeep. Police believe the driver of the other car may have been drinking, but that has not been firmly established. Kelsey has been hospitalized in critical condition. (Read the initial report of the crash here) (Photo courtesy of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat)