More businesses move to Bakersfield's growing downtown arts district, and a new survey shows underage drinkers prefer beer, Budweiser to be specific

 * ... ARTS DISTRICT: The downtown arts district is in the midst of another growth surge. Among the businesses relocating downtown are the Ice House Framing and Gallery, which is moving over near The Metro Galleries on 19th Street, and Tasha's, a new clothing and gift boutique. Meanwhile,  Metro Galleries is adding another 1,100 square feet on the Eye Street side of the building. The folks at 1612 Eye Street (the old Hay Building) tell me they expect to sign another new tenant, a bakery, within the next few days. By the way, the first residents of 1612 City Lofts should be moving in within the next 30 days.

 * ... WEGIS: Local farmer Greg Wegis was quoted in a Los Angeles Times story about the lack of immigration reform, saying he is having trouble finding enough migrant workers to help harvest his crops of cherries, tomatoes, pistachios and almonds. Wegis, a fifth generation farmer, told the Times' George Skelton that he had to cancel a cherry pick last year because of a shortage of workers. "Migrant workers," he said, "are moving to other states that are friendlier and where there's less likelihood of getting harassed or deported."

 * ... YOUNG DRINKERS: A national survey by Boston University has found that beer, and specifically Budweiser, is the favorite alcoholic beverage of underage drinkers. Among its other findings: almost 70 percent of those surveyed had drunk either beer or hard liquor, and about 50 percent had consumed flavored drinks. "For flavored alcoholic beverages, the respondents preferred Smirnoff malt beverages (Smirnoff Ice, and others, in many flavors.... Smirnoff vodkas were the number one choice for hard liquor, followed by Jack Daniel's bourbons," according to a New York Times piece on the study. (Getty Images picture courtesy of The New York Times)

 * ... ROMANCE: My recent blog post on Bakersfield being deemed one of the nation's least romantic cities (based on the rentals of romantic movies) drew this smart rebuttal from local Realtor J.R. Lewis: "It seems to me that Redbox is drawing the wrong conclusion from its data. Using Redbox's logic the most athletic city would be the city where more people sat on their couch and watched sports on TV.
Real romance doesn't involve renting movies; real romance is about living, sharing, loving and caring. I'm lucky to be living out a grand romance with my wife, Kim, and we haven't rented a movie in years."

 * ... DREAM BUILDERS: There will be an interesting exhibit this Saturday at the downtown Kern Superintendent of Schools building on 17th Street. It's an art show showcasing and celebrating the artistic talents of children with learning and emotional disabilities, an exhibition being put on by eight high school students who comprise the Dream Builders, part of the Jim Burke Education Foundation and Ford Dimension. The show runs from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and is worth checking out.

 * ... MEMORIES: Charles Duran wrote to tell me that his aunt and uncle, Stella and Chon, owned a small restaurant just off the southwest corner of East 19th and Baker Street that was named La Estrellita. They and their two daughters made enough money off the restaurant to move back to El Paso, Texas, where they bought a cotton farm. Anyone remember La Estrellita?

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You would have to be a real Bakersfield old timer if you remember this high school cheer submitted by Sheryl Stuhr: "Ma He, Ma Ha, Ma Hoe, Rominickle, Dominickle, Nip Fat, Soap, Rag, Kern County Union High School, Rah! Rah! Rah! ... By the way the football team that year won the state championship!"

Bako Bits: speculating about the old Padre Hotel and $160,000 raised for the children's wing at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital

 * ... SMALL WORLD: Mary Vanfleet and her husband, owners of Purifying Systems, were on a 12-day trip to China recently when they were reminded just how small the world is. "While cruising down the Yangtze River on a ship that holds only 200 passengers, my husband Rodger and I ran into our old neighbors from Bakersfield, Ed and Chris Biebrich! They moved about 15 years ago and now live in North Carolina. We haven't seen each other since. Ed Biebrich was with American Bank and then with Citizen's Bank and is now retired. So after all these years,  there they were and there we were in a far away land. It was like running into an old friend at Cafe Med!"

* ... HAUNTED PADRE? Who would have guessed the the old Padre Hotel would turn up in a new cable television show featuring an alleged psychic from Long Island? Will Winn said it happened as he was watching a promotion for a new episode of "Long Island Medium." The episode features an email the psychic received from a lady who claimed to have been visited by a child who died in a hotel.  "The picture of the hotel is shown and it is the Padre!" Winn wrote. "Wonder which room she was in?" 

* ... MEMORIAL: Good news from the 10th Annual Larry Carr Memorial Golf Tournament last week: it raised more than $160,000 to go towards the construction of a children's pavilion for emergency care. The event was held at Bakersfield Country Club and was co-chaired by Steve Loyd and Jenny Waguespack. 

 * ... COLLEGE BOUND: Julie Gibson wrote to say that her son, Timothy, is now attending the University of California Irvine and while dropping him off at school, she learned he was in good company.  "Five of his classmates from Golden Valley High School who were also on the 'We the People Constitution' team are also entering freshmen at UCI. They include Arshdeep Gill, Rocio Martinez, Karen Cervantez, Juan Castaneda and Stephanie Padilla.  I attribute that to the influence of their coach, John Hansen." Mike Gibson, Timothy's father, was his son's football and baseball coach at Golden Valley.

* ... ACHIEVERS: The Jim Burke Education Foundation has released its new team of "Dream Builders," a group of high achieving local kids from our local high schools. Among them are Alexander Pearson, Highland; Renae Lewis, West; Connor Brady, Liberty; Emily Norris, BHS; Nolan Cooney, Stockdale; Xitlaly Estrada, Golden Valley; Sean Tieu, Independence; Heather Hansen, Centennial; Joshua Park, Centennial; Alice Verderber, BHS; Connor Fisher, Stockdale; Katie Cornford, Frontier; Joshua Gaddis, Independence; Abby Grisedale, North; Robert Keathley, Bakersfield Christian; Esperanza Gutierrez, South; Corbin Burnes, Centennial; Paige Basconcillo, Liberty; Charles Hale, East; Bailey Wanner, North; Caroline Kim, Frontier; and Hunter Villanueva, West.

 * ... BLESSING: One of my favorite events will be held this Friday at the St. Francis Parish School when it will hold its annual 'Blessing of the Animals.' It will start at 2:30 p.m. at the Palm Street school. The community is invited to bring pets for a blessing, in honor of the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, along with their spare change.  It is always a fun event, with critters large and small, manageable and hard-to-handle.  The school will also finish its annual  Coins for Canines drive to raise money for needy pets and will donate the money raised, in addition to blankets and pet food, to a local animal charity.