Anti fossil fuel activists to descend on Bakersfield to "save" us from oil production, Conan O'Brien takes a swipe at Bako and celebrating bacon and popcorn pork

 * ... ENERGY: It was mildly amusing to read that busloads of anti-fossil fuel activists will be descending on Bakersfield soon in order to "save" us from oil production. And exactly who are these people who think we need to be "saved" anyway? And if they are using fossil fuels to get here via trains, planes and automobiles, what kind of mixed message does that send? As the Kern Citizens for Energy noted: "We strongly object to the organizations'

constant supposition that our strong community - including our Latino and other minority populations - is somehow a 'victim' of our century-old petroleum industry." And speaking of fossil fuels, I hope you didn't miss the special section in Sunday's Californian on the recent West Kern Petroleum Summit. The essay and speech by Alex Epstein in defense of fossil fuels is a must read for anyone who lives in the oil patch.

* ... BIKE PATH: John Strand of Lake Isabella wrote to comment on the idea of building a bike path up Round Mountain Road and naming it after the late ski shop owner Doug Bentz and Bakersfield College professor Norm Hoffman. "The bike path sparked my interest, not because I ride, but because Doug and I went through school together and were pretty good friends. I also knew his sister Mary Jo (now known as Marijo), his brother Tommy, and his parents Bill and Virginia. We all lived in Taft at the time. Here's my profound thought:  If this path comes to fruition, it will need a name, right? How about the" Bentz-Hoffman Parkway or the Bentz-Hoffman bike path? A fitting tribute to two stellar guys."

 * ... CONAN: Johnny Carson made a pretty good living making fun of Bakersfield, and now comes comedian Conan O'Brien following in his path. This weekend he tweeted this: "Massachusetts was named the most liberal state. Researchers almost picked California but they stopped for gas in Bakersfield."

 * ... PORK: Last week researchers told us that processed meats like bacon are bad for us. I chose to ignore that admonition and celebrated this weekend with an order of the tasty "popcorn pork" from Muertos downtown.

* ... BEST COLLEGE TOWN: No surprise here but San Luis Obispo made the Forbes list of the top ten college towns in America. The home of Cal Poly ranked seventh on the list. The top three: Chapel Hill (University of North Carolina), State College (Penn State) and Oxford (Miami University).

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I just don’t understand why Flo from Progressive needs to have an apron on to sell car insurance."

* ... FUND RAISER: Lynn Finch dropped me a note to remind us that the annual Light the Night Walk to benefit The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society will be held at Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday, Nov. 7 from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. This is a fun event that has been expanded to include a kid zone carnival area, information booths, refreshments, the walk with lighted lanterns, and a fireworks display following the walk. All proceeds go to help with research, patient services, help with medical co-pays and other expenses.

Former state Sen. Dean Florez takes on meaningful education reform as CEO of a foundation, and talk show host Conan O'Brien takes a potshot at Bakersfield's conservative mentality

* … DEAN: There is a heated debate going on regarding how California's public universities and community colleges can better prepare students by providing more creative, inexpensive and efficient degree offerings. And right in the middle of the debate former state Senator Dean Florez, who serves as president and CEO of the Michelson Twenty Million Minds Foundation, which is devoted to transforming education in a major way. I ran into Dean the other day at a lunch with Bakersfield College President Sonya Christian and he brought me up to date on what he is doing. Among other things, he has been appointed to a statewide committee that will be handing out $50 million in funding to programs that emphasize online learning and new ways to prepare students for the real world. "It's an opportunity for the systems to look outside their borders," he said. Florez raised some interesting points, including the fact that colleges need to do a better job at offering post secondary certificates (instead of traditional degrees) that better prepare students for the workforce. Some faculty and administrators at the more traditional brick and mortar campuses view this as a threat and are generally opposed to the idea. Stay tuned.

* … BREAK-INS: Now that the weather is cooling folks are opening their windows and enjoying the change of seasons. But with that comes opportunity for thieves. A house up by Bakersfield College was burglarized just the other day, so make sure all the windows and doors remain locked and turn on that alarm.

* … SCAM: Today's telephone scam alerts comes courtesy of reader Marilou Burlingame: "Good morning: Just received a call that went to my answering machine, since I didn’t recognize the number on the screen. Supposedly call was from the IRS, asking that we immediately call the number (415) 506-2394 to avoid further action from the IRS. Name left is Julie Smith. I Googled number, it is out of Novato, Ca., from a communications company. This number has called my home numerous times. What can I do, do I call the number and give them HADES?"

 * … SPOTTED: Late night talk show host Conan O'Brien posted this on his Twitter account: "Massachusetts was just named the most liberal state. Researchers almost picked California but then they stopped for gas in Bakersfield." Is this an insult or a compliment?

* … GOOD FORM: Here's a bit of good form you don't hear very often. From Lauren Dimberg: "Recently a man and a big black dog came to my front door. He said, 'my dog just pooped on your lawn' and asked for a plastic bag  I gladly gave him a bag and thanked him for being a responsible dog owner.  How often does this happen?

 * … PRESERVE: Linda Isle regularly rides her bike on the bike trail near Manor Drive where work has been ongoing to improve the Panorama Vista Preserve in the riverbed. Her thoughts: "As you know from riding on the bike path the park there now has met with mixed results. The homeless  folks have appropriated the drip system into their  personal water service and many of the plants and trees  are dead with no replacements. Who is to be  responsible for the upkeep of the vast irrigation system in the preserve  once in operation? It will be a big job just to keep the drip system  operating  efficiently.    The comment about the justification of the water use was that the  unused water will just percolate back into the water table.  With that attitude the we should not worry about watering our own landscape.  Why weren’t plants that needed  little or no water used?"