Short takes around town: new park, same old homeless; Beautiful Bakersfield goes boring

Coming off another wonderful weekend here in Bako, lots of things happening, hot but not (yet) unbearable. Let's get to it:

* ... NEW PARK, SAME HOMELESS: The newly renovated Central Park officially opened this weekend with high expectations. The city spent hundreds of thousands sprucing up this "needle park," long a magnet for the homeless, the drug addicted and generally the worst of our community. The Bakersfield Museum of Art is next door and has been awaiting the renovation with crossed fingers.... meaning: will the homeless and drug addicts simply return after all the ribbon cuttings are done? Even I wondered privately if this wouldn't turn out to be what an old boss once called a bad story pitched with a different angle: "You can give a bum a shave and a haircut," he said, "but he's still a bum." So I had to smile when I saw a Facebook posting by none other than John Harte, a former Californian photographer known for his strong opinions as well as his talented eye for a good photograph. He posted the following status message followed by the picture he took:

"Here you go. 24 hours post grand opening of the new "family oriented" Central Park and here's our first transient settling in. The public needs to trust their media for balanced coverage. Local media which glowingly promoted the park without balancing it with the long history of transients, alcohol and drug use and crime at the park has violated that trust." Touche, John!



* ... BEAUTIFUL BUT BORING: Turned on the television Saturday night to find the "Beautiful Bakersfield" awards banquet being shown live. The awards were started by the Chamber of Commerce some years ago to honor folks who make our community proud, but since then they've grown into an endless and seemingly pointless series of awards for some of the most obscure categories imaginable. With all respect to some very deserving nominees and winners, watching the KGET-TV production was painful beyond words. Even KGET's Jim Scott and Robin Mangarin, old pros who do this for a living, could not breathe life into this DOA format. As they say down South: "this dog don't hunt." I just hope KGET is getting some credit to comply with FCC regulations that require the station to televise local content. Folks at the Chamber would do well to revisit the entire thing and reduce the number of awards and stop pretending it's the Oscars.
* ... CINDY'S FAREWELL: Californian columnist Herb Benham devoted his Sunday column to a fitting farewell to Cindy Pollard, a longtime Bakersfield resident and USC grad who is moving to Sacramento to take a job with PG and E. Cindy was always deeply involved in the community and will be missed.

Weekend Bako Bits: A drowning at RiverWalk, DUI checkpoints and more on the monster Mendoza

In the middle of a long Memorial Day weekend and while it's hot, it's certainly bearable and there is much for which to be thankful. Plenty happening around town, so let's get to it:

* ... ANOTHER DROWNING: When it heats up, it's a given that the crowds will descend on the new RiverWalk park off Stockdale Highway and - you guessed it - completely disregard the no swimming signs posted around the lakes. So I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that we've had the first drowning of the year, a 16-year-old named Ricardo Lopez. He died today (Saturday) after being pulled from the water Friday. KGET reported the family waited 15 minutes before calling 911, but that won't stop our slip and fall lawyers from filing suit against the city. It's a terrible tragedy, but a little common sense could prevent these things.



* ... COPS OUT IN FORCE: When the cops tell you they're going to be out in full force on a holiday weekend, believe them. I ran into my first DUI checkpoint Friday afternoon (on Ming Avenue near The Marketplace) where KGET reports they nabbed four drunks. Then this morning, I saw a Highway Patrolman posted by the side of Granite Road headed to Woody clocking speeders. And I saw another Bakersfield police officer pull over a green SUV full of teenagers and ticketing them near Cal State Bakersfield. Be safe out there.
* ... MORE ON MENDOZA: If you haven't read today's report in The Californian about Angelo Mendoza, the 4-year-old who was left blind when his drug crazed father literally ate his eye, pick it up. (or go to bakersfield.com to check it out) Reporter Steve Swenson is all over this story and reports exclusively today that the cops were called to the suspect's home about an hour before the actual incident, left and then were called back. I am not implying that BPD did anything wrong, just another tragic chapter in this sad story.
* ... PEOPLE ON THE MOVE: Heard yesterday that Cindy Pollard, the longtime spokesman for PG&E, is moving to Sacramento for a higher job with the utility. Cindy is one of those community activists that made this a better place to live, and she will be missed. Meanwhile I had a nice chat with former CSUB development director Mike Chertok (he retired) who tells me he is now the volunteer development director for the Bakersfield Symphony.