The Valadao-Cox race goes down to the wire, Father Craig Harrison wins a court case against an accuser and are you leaving Facebook for more conservative social media sites?

Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ... VALADAO-COX: Is history about to repeat itself in the race between Democrat Congressman T.J. Cox and Republican challenger David Valadao. Two years ago Valadao was the incumbent and on election night went to sleep thinking he had won. But after absentee and late reporting precinct ballots were counted, Cox

narrowly edged Valadao and won. As things stand now, Valadao leads Cox by 4,000 votes, yet once again Cox is slowly catching up thanks to late reporting precincts from Cox strongholds and mail-in ballots. There are some 34,000 votes yet to be counted in the four counties that comprise the 21st Congressional District, and 31,000 of them are in Kern County. And that is bad news for Valadao since the Kern ballots come from deeply Democratic pockets of Kern County. Hold tight because this will be another tight one.

 * ... FATHER CRAIG: A judge has ruled that Monsignor Craig Harrison can move forward with a defamation lawsuit against a former friend who said Harrison hit on him sexually and had a pattern of acting inappropriately with other young men. Judge Kennth G. Pritchard denied an anti-SLAPP motion filed by the attorney for Ryan Dixon, who at one time considered Harrison a close personal friend, mentor and spiritual guide. Dixon, who later studied to become a Benedictine monk, turned on Harrison after he claimed Harrison was guilty of "inappropriate touching, lies, manipulation and abuse of power." Perhaps equally damning, Dixon claims Harrison had a pattern of touching and being alone with children, subjecting them to grooming behavior including lavishing then with money and other gifts. Harrison has denied the allegations by Dixon, as he has the other now middle aged men who have accused Harrison of similar incidents of sexual touching and impropriety. Harrison was suspended by the Diocese of Fresno in April of 2019 after multiple allegations of abuse arouse involving Harrison over several decades at different parishes in the Central Valley. Since his suspension he has filed a lawsuit against the Diocese as well as against Dixon and other critics. Harrison can no long perform priestly duties for the church and has been waiting for the church to rule on his fate. The statute of limitations has expired on any possible criminal offenses but Harrison could face civil action by any of the men who have come forward to accuse him of sexual abuse. (file photo of Harrison and Dixon)

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "I’ve blocked several family members on social media this year. Now how can I block them for the holidays?" 

* ... FACEBOOK EXODUS: Are you part of the migration of conservative voters away from Facebook and Fox News? A large number of viewers, most of them Trump loyalists, are angry at Fox News for allegedly showing bias toward liberals and they are also fed up with Facebook and Twitter because of its censorship policies. Those leaving Facebook are opting for more conservative social media platform options like Parler, MeWe, Rumble or Newsmax.

 * ... MEMORIES: Thanks to the Kern County History Fans for sharing this great old picture from Delano, back in the day.

A retired judge warns that those random pictures you post on Facebook may come back to haunt you, and let's end this mess at Bakersfield College and reappoint Sonya Christian as president

 * ... FACEBOOK ETIQUETTE: Think twice before you use Facebook to post pictures of your new boyfriend or girlfriend or that wild night at the local bar when you let your guard down. According to retired Superior Court Judge Sharon Mettler, Facebook postings can and have been used in court to expose the weaknesses

and transgressions of the other party. Said Mettler: "I spent 5.5 years doing family law for the Kern Superior Court after unification. Yes, copies of Facebook pages do get admitted into court with proper authentication  yes, they do have probative value; and yes, they have impacted judicial decision making. (Mine anyway. People trying to portray themselves as sober with good judgment and the other parent as a drunken partier should not post pictures of themselves actively participating in drunken orgies."

* ... BAKERSFIELD COLLEGE: Add my voice to those who want to see a quick end to this mess up at Bakersfield College involving extending the contract of president Sonya Christian. It has gone on far too long, and the lingering uncertainty threatens to damage the reputation of a major local educational institution. Christian is popular, energetic and focused, and she presides over an institution that is the only school in the Kern Community College District (Cerro Cosa and Porterville colleges are the others) that is showing steady enrollment growth. BC serves more than 15,000 students, many of whom need remedial help to pass basic courses, a fact that is not lost on Christian. The college district board needs to extend her contract and move on before even more damage is done.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Do you guys ever just stare into the sunset and think: I locked the door, right?"

 * ... WEST: Congratulations to C.J. West, the 6-foot-3-inch junior at Garces Memorial High School, who has verbally committed to play women's basketball at the University of California, Berkeley. She will be able to officially sign her letter of intent on national signing day this fall.

* ... TRASH: Susan Reep is traveling in Wyoming, visiting her daughter, and sent me this note: "I'm in Wyoming for the month visiting my daughter,  and although Sheridan is much smaller than Bakersfield in population, it's also smaller in size. I've been walking all over town on the streets and in the parks and around the schools - and have literally seen no litter. None. I don't know what else to say. Why can't Bakersfield measure up? We have great people - but our highways into and out of town are ugly and our streets full of litter."

 * ... GOOD FORM: And this bit of good form comes compliments of reader Catherine Pitcher: "I am writing to you about our mailman who has a very caring heart. The other day, I walked down to the mailbox and the mailman was sitting in his delivery vehicle. He was looking very concerned as he was staring at a house across the street. He noticed the door was wide open.  He knew that was unusal. This house had been broken into not very long ago as well as other homes in the area. The mailman kept an eye out on the house while I went and got another neighbor to check out the house.  This mailman went far and beyond the call of duty. I appreciate our United States postal workers."

 * ... FOSTER: Longtime Bakersfield radiologist Dr. Donald M. Foster, who died in 2013, has left a lasting legacy at the University of Rochester, his alma mater. The university's website said Foster established two endowed funds in his name: the Donald M. Foster M.D. Distinguished Professorship in Biostatistics and the Donald M. Foster M.D. Professorship in Biomedical Genetics.

Remembering the late Wendy Wayne, child welfare advocate, and catching up with what is going on out at Cal State Bakersfield

 * … WENDY: The social networking site Facebook can be annoying and intrusive at times, but I was thankful when it "reminded" me that it was Wendy Wayne's birthday on Tuesday. She would have

been 66.  For those of you who weren't lucky enough to know Wendy, she was a local child welfare advocate who had a heart of gold and never met stranger. She died in June of 2012 after a long battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but the work she did here and elsewhere to help the needy and disenfranchised will live on forever. She was a UCLA graduate, a registered nurse and a Peace Corps volunteer. For Wendy, happiness came in helping others, in learning and accepting opposing points of view and in growing spiritually. Thank you, Facebook, for reminding me of this very special person. (photo of Wendy with husband Gene Tackett)

* … VOLLEYBALL: My bet is the new sand volleyball program out at Cal State Bakersfield is going to be a big success. This will be the second year of the sand game, which is played by some of the same Runner women who play on the hard court. Three sand courts have been built outside the student recreation center and the university is busy readying the area for spectators.

 * … BASEBALL: And speaking of CSUB, baseball season is just around the corner. Manager Bill Kernan is hoping this year's squad will win the Western Athletic Conference and end up in the NCAA baseball tournament. Strange that a spring sport is getting ready to kick off when we hardly had a winter.

 * … ART SHOW: Betty Leonor is one of our community's most gifted artists and her stunning oil paintings will be on display at The Metro Galleries on 19th Street starting this Friday. This will be Leonor's second show at Metro and it promises to be her best. Leonor, by coincidence, is married to Cal State baseball coach Bill Kernan. Her show is one of the main draws for the monthly First Friday celebration downtown.

 * … BAD FORM: Stephen Knapp writes that he lives a retirement home run by the Kern County  Housing Authority between Ming Avenue and Wilson Road on Real Road.  "There is a legal crosswalk in front for people to cross Real Road to go to K-Mart and other stores which a lot of use.  Most of the people who live here are disabled and use wheelchairs, walkers, canes etc. and move slowly. The speed limit is 40 miles per house and the crosswalk is clearly marked with lines and yellow warning signs, but few drivers even slow down.  I have sat trying to cross while 5 to 10 cars pass and don't stop.  I have even had cars pass in the other lane when I am trying to cross.  One time a lady in a large SUV honked at me and flashed a one finger salute as she sped by. I feel there should be signs warning people to slow down for seniors just like in school   zones.  I just hope it doesn't take one of us getting killed before someone addresses the problem.

 * … DROUGHT: Judy Henderson wrote to weigh in on California's long drought. She recently took a visitor from Arizona on a walk, and he noticed that  "water ran freely in the gutters of more than one street. Lawns were so saturated with water that soil washed onto sidewalks. One home had a sprinkler that watered the street only. A resident was washing down the sidewalks around his home.  Our visitor commented that it looked to him that Bakersfield had plenty of water to waste… How often should winter rye lawns be watered? Are some lawns still on the summer timer cycle?  Should winter lawns be watered for two minutes, twice a week?  Could we find the source of gutters that run with water twenty-four hours a day. We need to be pro-active to stop the waste.  People of Bakersfield can do better for our city and state."

Spending too much time on Facebook? You may be a narcissist at heart, "obsessed with self image and shallow friendships." Or so say some researchers

 * ... FACEBOOK: If you're spending too much time on Facebook - posting pictures of your latest love interest or announcing to the world what you did today - you likely have extreme narcissistic tendencies. That's according to the British newspaper The Guardian, which reported that researchers have established "a direct link between the number of friends you have on Facebook and the degree to which you are a 'socially disruptive' narcissist, confirming the conclusions of many social media skeptics." Surprising? Maybe not when you consider all the folks who post updates of their latest boyfriend or girlfriend, achievement or interest, but then that's the nature of the beast isn't it. But he Guardian added: "People who score highly on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory questionnaire had more friends on Facebook, tagged themselves more often and updated their newsfeeds more regularly. The research comes amid increasing evidence that young people are becoming increasingly narcissistic, and obsessed with self-image and shallow friendships."

* ... SPOTTED: Jim Hankins and his wife were stopped at a red light last weekend in the fast lane of northbound Stine Road at Wilson. "We could see a box like object in the middle of our lane on the other side of the intersection. I contemplated how I was going to maneuver around it. We then saw a well dressed older gentleman get out of his car in the southbound left turn lane. He pulled a box fan from the lane to the center divider, reentered his car and made his turn when the light turned green. My wife and I swelled with pride for our neighbors in Bakersfield. Kudos to that gentleman."

 * ... CLOSE CALL: Here's a story you really don't want to experience yourself. Duane Keathley, a partner at the local CB Richard Ellis commercial property group, was headed to Mammoth recently with his 17-year-old son Robert, a student at Bakersfield Christian High School. Thirty miles south of Bishop, at around 9:30 p.m., Keathley's new black Chevrolet Suburban slammed into a cow crossing Highway 395. "The airbags went off in an instant and it all happened in a flash," he told me. "Robert asked me if I was okay and instantly the OnStar system came on and asked if we were okay. The CHP was there in two minutes." The Suburban, the airbags, OnStar and the CHP all performed as expected and father and son continued, rented a car and enjoyed a fly fishing trip that held its own special memories.

  * ... BASQUE FOOD: Gary Corbell tipped me off to a story in the latest Smithsonian magazine titled The Basque Revolution. "The first two paragraphs spoke of Bakersfield, Merle Haggard, Buck Ownes, Dewars, Luigi's, Pyrenees, Benjis, Wool Growers and Noriega Hotel. Interesting reading to know that the Basque influence has helped put Bakersfield on the national stage. My only regret is that they did not mention the Chalet Basque especially when it was owned by J.B. and Maria. At that time, in my opinion, the Chalet was second to none in Basque cusine in Bakersfield." (photo of Noriega's courtesy of The New York Times)

 * ... POST OFFICE: How is your service at your local local Post Office? Carole Cohen wrote to defend local postal employees, whom she described as "kind, courteous, and extremely helpful.  I especially enjoy visiting the downtown post office. The lines are short, there is always plenty of help, and they have - on more than one occasion - gone way out of their way to find me an appropriate shipping box, pack my items for me, and look for the most expedient and inexpensive way to ship.  All this without knowing from day to day whether or not they will have a job!  Hats off to anyone who deals with the public on a daily basis and can maintain their sense of humor as well as provide good service."

Bako bits: From social networking as a marketing tool to rumblings at CSUB to upside down mortgages

Wrapping up the week and cleaning off my desk as we head into another weekend. School starts next week and fall is coming. Let's get to it:

* ... RUMBLINGS OVER AT CSUB: I seem to have hit a nerve with my mention that longtime Cal State community liaison Laura Wolfe had been ousted. (read previous post here) Got a couple calls from CSUB insiders who were lamenting the loss of Laura, who spent 14 years with the university building better relations between the school and the community. Laura worked for Mike Chertok, who retired and was replaced by Beverly Byl, brought in by President Horace Mitchell. Give Horace credit: he has single handedly raised the stature of the university in the community through sheer good will, focus and great personal charm. Which is why insiders are puzzled over the choice of Beverly, who one person described as one who moves through a room with sharp elbows. No doubt the dismissal of Laura Wolfe was a move that addressed two concerns: one budgetary and the other the desire to build your own team. President Mitchell called me and said there was no "personal agenda" in the firing of Wolfe but rather it was a consequence of the budget crisis. He noted, for example, that the state budget contribution to CSUB was less this year than it was five years ago when he came on board. Still, there's lots of chatter about Byl, including her desire to bring all the fund raising under one umbrella as opposed to athletics raising money for one thing and an academic endeavor for another. Folks are talking and the university really can't afford to squander the good will Horace has earned. No doubt there will be more on this later.



* ... MARKETING ON FACEBOOK? Read with interest a piece that said 63 percent of all companies planned to increase their spending on social media this year. That's not too surprising since a recent study by the Association of National Advertisers said 66 percent of marketers have now used social media in some form. The top platforms being utilized: Facebook (74 percent), YouTube (65 percent), Twitter (63 percent) and LinkedIn (60 percent). Locally, a good example would be Mary Christenson, the longtime high end Watson-Touchstone Realtor who has embraced Facebook and made it one of her marketing devices. If she lists a new home in Seven Oaks, she'll post a message on it. Trouble with appraisals? She's all over it. Mary is savvy enough to recognize there's a terrific audience and all it takes is her time. At The Californian, marketing director Rob Meszaros has used Facebook and Twitter extensively in marketing the new Monday-Friday tabloid that debuts next week.

* ... UPSIDE DOWN MORTGAGE? Amazed to read in The Californian yesterday that fully half of all mortgages in Bakersfield are now upside down. That means the homeowners basically owe more than the home is worth, thanks to months of falling housing prices. That can't bode well for future foreclosures. The depth of recession cannot be underestimated. Last week it was reported that one in every 10 mortgages in the entire state of California is in foreclosure.

* ... LATIN SHOW AT METRO GALLERIES: Don Martin over at the Metro Galleries downtown is busy preparing for Latination, a project sponsored by his gallery and MAS magazine. The deadline for entries for the show is next week, so drop them off between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday over at Metro, 1604 19th Street. Selected pieces in the juried exhibit will be displayed at the gallery during September. Contact Don with any questions at 634-9598.

Another life cut short by a drunk driver sparks a tribute that ignites cyberspace

How many more times are we going to read the same story: local kid with promising future dies when drunk driver smashes into her car. The latest local victim is Carey Curtis, a 26-year-old emergency room worker at Kern Medical Center. She had two children, lived in Shafter and was on her way home after a night shift when the accident happened. Beyond the tragedy of Carey's death is the curious and very modern way that death in mourned these days. I was on Twitter, following my pal radio host Rachel Legan over at KGFM 101.5, when Rachel sent out a note saying Carey's friends were posting farewell messages on Carey's MySpace page. (view it all here) View for yourself but the page is not unlike any young woman's personal profile, lots of personal stuff about friends and music and longings. The postings today after her death are simply heartbreaking. Wrote one friend:

"HEY GIRLIE... I LOVE YOU. Its CRAZY how short life is. I just talked to you friday night about how much our lives changed since we were younger, and just one short day later I find out that life has changed dramatically overnight. I was so proud of you for getting ready to go back to respiratory school. Do me a favor girl... keep in touch k... my mom's up there... she'll look out for you... I'm gonna miss you Carey...
PEANUT BUTTER FILLS THE CRACKS OF THE HEART!



This is stuff that will just about break your heart, particularly if you have children of your own. In the old days, there'd be a story in the paper, a mention on TV and radio, perhaps an impromptu roadside memorial. Now the expressions of pain and joy and loss are expressed in cyberspace: on Twitter and MySpace and Facebook and on and on.

* ... MEA CULPA: Speaking of the press, I owe KGET TV an apology for an earlier post in which I accused the TV station of failing to report on its own substantial revenue problems and forced two-week furloughs for its employees. John Pilios, longtime news director over there, called me on the carpet and insisted they ran a piece on it last Friday at 5 p.m. I sure didn't see it and he conceded they didn't run it at 5:30 p.m. or 6 p.m., and failed to post it on the KGET website. One thing about John Pilios: he's a man of his word and after he dressed me down, he made sure the story was posted on their website. But by any account, I got it wrong. Mea culpa.

Short takes around town: from a brazen home invasion to college decision week

The story of the day today has to be the brazen home invasion robbery in Stockdale Estates. We all know the dangers that come with a prolonged recession: joblessness, desperation and hopelessness. But some of the stuff happening now just seems out of bounds for our community, which has always prided itself on being a relatively safe place to live. The details are still sketchy, but what we do know is that two young men walked through an unlocked garage door Sunday, found the man of the house and stuck a 9mm pistol to his head. They then used extension cords to tie up both the husband and wife. This happened on Calle Torcido off Ming and Gosford in virtual broad daylight during dinnertime. Thankfully no one was hurt and police arrested two suspects - both from Los Angeles - and one had a loaded 9mm handgun. Is it any wonder that more than 4,000 folks in Kern County have legal concealed weapon permits? Or that gun stores report a huge spike in business. (see previous post here)

What's the lesson here? Keep your garage doors closed, your doors locked and your alarm on both day and night. And keep an eye out for your neighbors.
Other tidbits around town:
* Heard that David Perkins, the marketing manager over at Urner's Appliances, is on the mend after a scary two-week respiratory illness. Dave tells his friends on Facebook that "I'm back!" and is looking forward to seeing everyone. Good to hear he's on the mend.
* Amy Powell-Smith has taken a job over at the San Joaquin Memorial Hospital Foundation. Amy formerly worked at the Kern Community Foundation.
* This is decision week for kids to decide on what colleges they will attend. Lots of exciting news out there and I'll have an update on some of those decisions in the next week or so. Always good to hear when smart kids do so well.
* Lastly, college-age kids will start returning home in the next several weeks. It will be good to see so many of these kids after a year away from home. Expect to catch up with them at Luigi's, Woolgrowers and other favorite dining spots.

Lakeside School alumni circa 1976 reconnect

Yet more evidence of the mainstreaming of social networking sites like Facebook. I'm out in extreme west Kern County today, shooting competition skeet and eating barbeque, among people who would never be mistaken for being technologically savvy, when a colleague casually mentions she used Facebook to create a "group" devoted to alumni of Lakeside School over off Old River Road. The site has been up less than two months and dozens have joined, posting pictures and reconnecting. There's the swim team, the 4H Club, class outings etc. More evidence of the mainstreaming of social networking that never ceases to impress me. Check out the Lakeside group here.

You know you're from Bakersfield when ...

I ran across a group formed on Facebook dedicated to the quirkiness that is Bakersfield. Some of this stuff is hilarious and some of it is off color, but it's all in good fun. For the full list check it out here, but here are a few excerpts:


"A tribute to the quaint town of Bakersfield, California... loved by some and despised by most.

1) You will park a mile away from the entrance just to have your car parked under a tree.

2) You laugh when people complain about 95 degree weather.

3) When you go out of town and see a sign saying "Union Ave" you expect to see a hooker.

4) Rosedale is a world all its own.

5) You remember the TWO times in the last 25 years that it snowed in Bakersfield, and you remember everything you did that snow day.

6) Everyone always says they're going to leave, but you know that if you try, you get sucked right back in.

7) You know Trouts, and were not talking about the fish.

8) One of your friends owns a house on a spot where you had field parties in high school.

9) You know if you're not a Luigi's at exactly 10:30 Saturday morning you're not getting a steak sandwich.

10) You think a red light is just a suggestion.

11) You know a swamp cooler is not a happy hour drink.

12) You realize that Valley Fever isn't a disco dance.

13) You have to "explain" to someone about Beach Park.

14) Someone from out of town talks about how foggy it is and you tell them, "Just wait."

15) You no longer associate bridges or rivers with water.