Local businessman finds his stolen bike on Craigslist and Bako police set up a sting to recover it; and readers provide some blowback to this blog

 * ... CRAIGSLIST: Hats off to the Bakersfield Police Department for helping arrange a sting operation to recover a stolen bicycle. The bike was stolen out of the garage of local business owner Mark Ramsey earlier this week, and sure enough, Mark later spotted it listed for sale on Craigslist, the free online classified website. He alerted the police and a sting was set up near the Canyon Hills Church. "Long story short, we drove up, the detectives hopped out of the car, introduced themselves and busted two guys, 19 and 16, for burglary and possession of stolen property. The minor was on probation already... Hats off to the BPD and the detectives who handled the whole thing... professionals the whole way through and on it in a flash. Nice to know we have some good quality people working at the BPD... considering the budget cuts, smaller workforce etc. they're still ready and willing to put it on the line to bring criminals to justice, uphold the law and do what they can to make our community a safer place."

 * ... FEEDBACK: A reader known simply as "Kash" is a regular contributor to this column who never minces words. Kash's latest missive concerns recent posts about people texting and driving and the three joggers who came upon two young people in the back of a pickup truck. "First, nobody can drive in this city, with or without a cellphone in hand. Quit writing about that boring crap whenever one of your stupid, loyal readers writes in. I'm surprised none of them caught me driving. You wouldn't know what to do with that story. Second, the people spotted having intercourse in their truck. Actually, that's quite adventurous and romantic. Here is this bright young man treating his girlfriend to a nice, private time, when all of the sudden three nosey runners drop in on them. If they were good human beings, they wouldn't have bothered with the truck. In this over populated world we can all still control our actions and let people have as much privacy as we can control. If they accidentally saw them getting it on, they should have looked away while apologizing profusely. Ever get intimate anywhere you're not really supposed to? It increases the fun. Try it sometime. If I was the one caught by runners I'd keep going at it while telling them off. I keep it classy.... Third, as your BFF I can tell you the truth. The truth is, you need to change your picture. It makes you look like an ass. You can do better." (Hang Glider Hill photo by Michael Renzi)

 * ... MEMORY: The pickup truck post also brought this response from Riley Parker. "I couldn’t help but laugh at the account of the lovers in the pickup bed. My family lived in a house on the adjacent oil lease from 1948-1962. There was no Paladino Drive, no Morning Drive and no State Route 178. Access was via a gravel road from Kern Canyon Road near the ‘Y’ where the Chevron is located today. On any given summer evening, and sometimes during the pre-dawn of morning, lovers would find their way to the top of that ridge and/or the top of what became known as ‘Hang Glider Hill.’ Seldom would they stay for more than an hour. Dad used it as a teaching moment, explaining that sometimes minor infractions, in this case trespassing, should be overlooked and the violators granted a bit of grace. In any case, there were spectacular views of cars traversing the grapevine, and of the moon rising over Breckenridge, with no housing developments or lighting to interfere. The only sounds emanated from the sheep being tended by Basque shepherds as they grazed the wheat stubble. Those are very pleasant memories."

 * ... SHADE: Norma Sacchini submitted this rant on the tendency in our community constantly trim shade trees. "I am driving down Old River Road and what are they doing while it is 109 degrees? Thinning all the beautiful shade trees. Why? These trees do not need to be trimmed... no wires anywhere on Old River Road...We need the shade and all the beauty we can get!"

* ... MOVIES: Marsha Kennedy added her thoughts about people who bring young children to R rated movies. "The 'entitled generation' feels they have the 'inalienable right' to do what pleases them, with no thought or concern towards anyone else. However, their parents enabled them by never telling them no and allowing them to do whatever they pleased and giving them everything they want. I'm a parent of four grown sons and am not without compassion - but there are times that parents need to either get a babysitter or do a family outing instead!"

 * ... SPOTTED: In a case of really bad form, a young man in his 20s in spotted urinating in the public parking garage on 18th and Eye streets during the lunch hour mid week as a woman in a Toyota SUV waits to drive him off.

A reader calls for pay cuts for top public administrators, and beware of a coming nightmare on the 405 in mid July

 * ... PUBLIC PAYROLL: My post last week about top administrators at Cal State Bakersfield dodging paycuts while others are being laid off triggered a note from a reader who asked to go unnamed. He argued that pay cuts should start at the top, not only at CSUB and Bakersfield College but also at all of the public school districts in Kern County. "Some of the fiscal mess we have locally comes from a hiring philosophy of 'we get the best people and we don't want to lose them attitude' of local school boards etc. People are losing their jobs. People in the private sector have taken big cuts. It's overdue for those who work on the public dime. Starting at the top." 

  * ... CRIME WATCH: A reader in the La Cresta area, who asked that her name be withheld, is warning about a possible scam by people impersonating Pacific Gas and Electric workers. She said a man wearing a reflective vest and a baseball cap knocked on her door and when she didn't answer stood outside and took a picture of her house. "He then proceeded to go up the block and around the corner without stopping at any other address," she said. "I got in my car and tried to find him and his truck but he was gone. After confirming with PGE that no workers were performing work in our area, I reported it to the sheriff." Her suggestion: never open the door unless you know who is there, always ask for identification and carry a cell phone so you can punch in 911 in an emergency. Or, carry your keys to trigger your panic button on your car.

 * ... DONATION: Do you ever get slightly annoyed when the supermarket clerk asks if you'd like to donate a dollar to a charity? If you have, you need to think twice. In May, the Children's Miracle Network produced record breaking results in raising money for the Children's Medical Center at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital. Donations at Rite Aid raised more than $18,000, another $40,000 came from Costco customers and a whopping $100,000 came from Walmart. Said Sue Benham, the hospital's chief development officer: "This is a tribute to the enthusiasm and dedication of the Walmart, Costco and Rite Aid employees and the generosity of local customers in Kern County."

 * ... 405 FREEWAY: Here's something you need to calendar: for 53 hours over July 16-17, the 405 freeway in Los Angeles will be closed, making the already nightmarish drive one for the record books. It turns out CalTrans is partially demolishing the Mulholland Drive Bridge as part of an overall highway upgrade. The northbound lanes will be closed all the way from the 10 to the 101 Freeway and the southbound lanes will be closed for four miles between the 101 Freeway and the Getty Center Drive exit. So getting to LAX Airport is going to be a major challenge. My advice is to avoid it completely. This seems like a grand marketing opportunity for Meadows Field to lure traffic here for a few days.

 * ... CRAIGSLIST: Is the end near for the popular online classified website Craigslist? It could be unless Craigslist gets control of the spammers, who now comprise 90 percent of the content on some Craigslist categories. All this according to the website TechDirt which notes the spammers are out maneuvering the  once popular website at almost every step of the way.

 * ... NRA SHOOT: The Friends of the National Rifle Association will be holding a sporting clays shoot and gun raffle this Saturday. This is a good way to support the shooting sports while checking out the Kern County Gun Club out by the Lake Buena Vista Recreation area. The cost is $100 a shooter in teams of five and lunch is included. Call Cyndi Benson at (661) 205-8569.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're from Bakersfield if you remember Freddie's Top of Hill bowling alley and restaurant at Mount Vernon and Highway 178.

Lookin' for love on Craigslist, and a good laugh in the morning with Rachel Legan on KGFM

I'm not much one for local radio (love local talk but I opt for satellite radio for music) and sometimes the local "jocks" can drive you insane with their occasional profane drivel. But the other day I came across a bit on the "Rachel and Dustin" morning show over at KGFM 101.5 that was simply - in a word - hilarious. Rachel is all around good egg Rachel Legan and Dustin is her brother, both local Bakersfield products who know our community intimately. What they do at 7:50 every Thursday morning is peruse Craigslist and find local people looking for love, desperate folks who are just certain they made a "connection" with that special someone in the tight T-shirt but failed to get her name. You can't make some of this stuff up, and while there is a certain sadness to some of these postings, Rachel and her brother manage to bring them alive. In Rachel's words:

"Every now and then over the past several years I would read one of the Bakersfield Craigslist Missed Connection posts on air... The second week we were on together I printed out several posts I thought were interesting and we just went with it. The phones went CRAZY.

"I'm not sure we could live with ourselves if the "hot piece of tail who was strollerin' around with the baby in the 'MY MOMS KNOCKERS ROCK' t-shirt at the mall yesterday" missed her connection with "the hawt (sic) guy who was driving past (sic) in a lifted Chevy S10 w/primer on the left side wearing a Daniel Boone hat and a bandage to cover up his new tat".
"Obviously these two need to be united at once! Who are we to stand in the way of two minute love? LOL."

Tune in for a good laugh. We all need a laugh these days.