Five Guys cheeseburger is tasty but expensive, some history on the Big Indian in town, valley fever explodes after the wet winter and CSUB serves the first generation college student

 * ... FIVE GUYS: I stopped by the new Five Guys burger joint over on Calloway and Rosedale

Highway the other day. The verdict: a solid, good burger served by a friendly staff in a lively environment. The French fries were delicious, if a tad thick for my taste, and I enjoyed the free peanuts, a nice touch borrowed from the trend in the Deep South where free peanuts are a staple in many restaurants. The downside: my bacon cheeseburger, fries and a small drink cost $14 and change. That seems a tad pricey no matter how good the burger was. By my calculation, the best casual dining burger in town remains at In-N-Out while the Hudson burger at Muertos Kitchen  and Lounge eclipses the field as the best restaurant burger in Bakersfield.

 * ... BIG INDIAN: Marty Butt is the former superintendent of Standard School District (1990-1998) and she sheds this light on the "Big Indian" statue that now stands next to Ethel's Corral out off Alfred Harrell Highway. Said Butt: "The Indian mentioned by Ken Barnes spent some years as a mascot for the Standard Middle School before the school's mascot name was changed from Indians to Warriors. While I served the community, the Indian that is now at Ethel's was transferred to its current location. A plaque at the Indian's base mentions it's time in SSD."

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "It's a good thing our bodies age slowly. It's so much easier to be horrified just a little bit each day."

 * ... CSUB: Did you know that between 60 and 70 percent of the students enrolled at Cal State Bakersfield are the first in their families to attend college? In an area with an alarmingly low percentage of adults with undergraduate degrees, that is good news.

 * ... VALLEY FEVER: Another (perhaps) unexpected outcome of our wet winter: a spike in valley fever cases. That is the word from Dr. Raj Patel of Preferred Family Care who said 2017 is on the verge of becoming the worst case for valley fever cases since 1992.

 * ... KERN RIVER: Ed Cadena has this to say about the drownings in our local Kern River: "I was in Morro Bay Saturday for the Morro Rock to Cayucas Beach Run. Saw this sign by the Rock 'Death from drowning happens once in a life time.' "Post signs like this along the river."

  * ... TRIBUTE: Ronal Reynier dropped me a note so he could congratulate, and "embarrass" his grand daughter Kristen Reynier. She graduated this June from Cal-Poly San Louis Obispo in
biomedical engineering with a minor in mathematics magna cum laude. She will soon be leaving for the University of Virginia to start her six year scholarship in biomedical engineering advance studies. Her goal is to have physically handicapped children walk again. Said Reynier: "Everyday I thank God her and her two siblings, Michelle and Patrick get their intelligence from their parents, Kevin and Pamela Reynier and not their grandfather."

 * ... MEMORIES: A letter to the editor in Saturday's Californian triggered this response from retired police officer Joe Moesta. "Wearing your hat was part of the required uniform of the day (in the 1970s). It didn't make any difference if you were out of your vehicle on a call or inside your vehicle on routine patrol. You were required to wear your hat. It might be 3:30 in the morning and you were the only car on the street, but if Sgt. Benfield saw you bare headed, you could expect to hear on your police radio, 'Able 1-4, put your hat on!' Those were also the days when the only difference in the winter and summer uniform shirt was 'wearing a tie.' The winter uniform shirt was the long sleeve navy blue wool shirt with a tie, and the summer uniform shirt was the long sleeve navy blue shirt without a tie. The temperature of the day made no difference. And those were the 'good old days.'"

Round 2 of the summer heat is here, get ready for Grimmway's new colored carrots and Five Guys opens its new burger joint on Calloway Drive

* ... HEAT: Are you ready for round two of our summer heat? Well it's coming. In fact, forecasters

say we will be well above the 100 degree mark for the next two weeks, with the temperature expected to get as high as 108 before settling back down to around to a more reasonable low triple figures. We can expect to be in the 103 to 104 range as the normal for most of this month.

* ... COMMENTARY: Social commentator Chris Arnade, who quit his job on Wall Street to travel America to learn more about what divides us, had this to say about our world: "Opposition to Trump is like initial opposition to Hugo Chavez. So consumed with easy outrage it misses understanding why many voted for him."

* ... NEW NETWORK: If you haven't heard of One America News yet, chances are you will in the near future. OAN is a relatively new, but fast growing news network out of San Diego that is decidedly pro Trump and is finding a home on a growing number of cable providers. Said The Washington Post in a recent profile: "In a volatile TV news landscape where the longtime ratings leader, Fox News, is suffering through a period of internal turmoil, One America has tried to elbow itself into the big leagues, publicly wooing former Fox star Bill O’Reilly to join OAN. Although O’Reilly didn’t take the bait and the channel is available in only about 30 million homes, a far cry from Fox News’s 90 million, One America is growing — in viewer numbers, in influence in Republican circles, and as a potential alternative for conservatives and libertarians who believe Fox’s commitment to a right-wing perspective is weakening."

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Before you get married ask yourself: is this the person you want to watch stare at their phone the rest of your life?"

 * ... POLITICAL HUMOR: From Facebook: "Went to Hobby Lobby to get a picture frame and came home with a piece of the one true cross, a couple of Dead Sea Scrolls and the Holy Grail."

 * ... CARROTS: Are you ready for colored carrots? That's the word from Jeff Huckaby, president of Grimmway Farms who told me the world's largest carrot producer is getting ready to market a new line of organic carrots coming in a variety of colors. Much like how beets and potatoes are available in different colors and varieties, Huckaby said the carrots would have different nutritional benefits and will allow salads to contain a different visual pop. Expect to see these carrots marketed via Grimmway's Cal-Organic division.

 * ... FIVE GUYS: The new Five Guys burger restaurant has opened on Calloway Drive and like any new eatery in town, it is a mad dash to get served. Based in Virginia, burger purists claim Five Guys is the east coast's answer to our In-N-Out. My view: it's an outstanding burger but comes up short of dethroning In-N-Out for freshness.

Five Guys tops In-N-Out as the nation's most popular burger, the Bynum family breathes new life into an industrial area and Bill Thomas masters the art of a short speech

 * ... BLVD: You have to hand it to local developer Greg Bynum and his sons - Don and David - for spearheading the re-development of an area of town that could have fallen into disrepair. The area off

Buck Owens Boulevard was once home to Costco, Home Base and other big box retailers, but after being purchased by the elder Bynum it is now home to a bustling and growing entertainment complex. It now consists of Don Bynum's Temblor Brewing Co., Rush Sports (one of David's projects), Bakersfield Karting, the DMV court and soon BLVD, the new entertainment center (coordinated by David Bynum,) that will feature a restaurant, three bars, a bowling alley, laser tag, billiards and bocce ball, a ropes course and meeting center.

 * ... STERLING SILVER: The Bakersfield College Foundation held a dinner this week to celebrate the passage of Measure J, which will provide the college with some $500 million in capital improvements. The Sterling Silver dinner honored former House Ways and Means Committee chairman Bill Thomas, former Mayor Harvey Hall and others who worked to win passage of the measure, which won a remarkable 65 percent of the vote. My take away from the dinner: both Thomas and Hall are masters at giving short, concise and thoughtful remarks. Through the years, they have learned no one is disappointed in a short speech.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Nothing is better when 'the one that got away' becomes "whew so glad I dodged that bullet!'"

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "If I cancel Comcast, I’ll have enough money to retire in five months."

 * ... WALKING TOUR: If you are a history buff, you might want to join a walking tour of historic downtown Bakersfield this Saturday. The tour is free and will be led by Bakersfield High teacher Ken Hooper, starting at the Woolworth's building at 10 a.m. and ending around 12:30 p.m.

 * ... TRASH: I read in the Californian the story about the annual "Community Appearance Survey" in which Mayor Karen Goh, Cathy Butler and others drove around town and rated areas on the appearance of trash. On a scale of one to four, with one being "no litter" four being "extremely littered," they gave Bakersfield a rating of 1.6. Really? What kind of blinders were the mayor and Cathy Butler wearing that prevented them from seeing the litter the rest of us see?

 * ... CSUB: Congratulations to the nearly 2,000 undergraduates and 450 master's degree candidates who will be graduating from CSUB this year. This is the largest graduating class in the history of the local university.

 * ... BURGER WARS: Has our beloved In-N-Out burger lost its crown as the world's best hamburger? That is the word from a recent Harris Poll that found, for the first time ever, In-N-Out has been toppled in a poll of the country's best burger. The new winner? The signature burger from Five Guys, a Virginia based company that is making inroads in the West. Five Guys has outlets in Valencia and Visalia and is planning on opening its first Bakersfield location on Calloway Drive.

 * ... MEMORIES: According to the Kern County of Old Facebook page, the building housing downtown's Tiki-Ko cocktail bar was originally built to house the Windsor Hotel.

One woman's account of the meltdown at Meadows Field and a personal testimonial to Five Guys Burger and Fries

 * ... MEADOWS FIELD: One of the passengers who nearly missed her flight at Meadows Field when the TSA baggage screening machine broke wrote with her version of that nightmare. Judy Lopez said it happened last Tuesday, May 31, as she tried to board the 6:20 a.m. flight to Phoenix aboard US Airways. She had high praise for the airline, which delayed the flight to try to wait on as many passengers as possible, but not for the TSA or airport management. "I was approximately 25th in the security line" an hour before her flight was scheduled to leave," she said. "After a half hour, I was still about 20th in line because the TSA agents were bringing people from the back of the line to the front. This included all passengers with special needs and there was no effort whatsoever to have a dedicated line for them, nor was there a dedicated line for those who had checked passage." She later learned it was the second day the machine had been down, and she wondered why airport director Jack Gotcher was not informed about it, and didn't move quicker to resolve the problem. "His comment that 'this is a TSA issue' is rather hollow." Some 30 people were left stranded at the Bill Thomas Terminal when the flight took off without them. These included passengers who arrived more than an hour early but failed to make it through security.

 * ... FIVE GUYS: My recent post that Five Guys Burger and Fries may be coming to Bakersfield triggered some mail from some rabid fans. Said Charlie Powell: "Richard, my wife and I got back Sunday after a two week trip to Virginia. While in Williamsburg we went to a Five Guys Burger place, after seeing a story about them on TV. We were more than impressed. We've always been In-N-Out fans, but Five Guys wins, hands down. The burgers reminded us of the homemade, grilled burgers from our youth. And, the fries are totally unique. The employees were very gregarious, and challenged us to compare them to In-N-Out. Clearly, Five Guys has a great business model, including employee devotion and loyalty. Bring it on!"

 * ... BAKO SUMMER: It was Wednesday afternoon when I got the first taste that our long spring was about to end. I was downtown and could almost taste the heat as I inhaled, a sure signal that the breezy porch days of spring are giving way to a Bakersfield summer. Valley heat has its own unique taste and smell, so different than other areas I have lived, and aside from the punishment I'll suffer from the utility's SmartMeter, I enjoy the long days of summer. Bring it on.

* ... DID YOU KNOW? Did you know that in 1950 an architect named Wilson Call built the Oildale Post Office on a lot he had purchased from Justes Sheen for $3,500? Around the same time Call's uncle, Ralph Trout, sold his Twin Pepper's Beer Bar which was later demolished. Trout then purchased a lot across the street and Call designed and built the building that houses Trout's bar at Chester Avenue and Lincoln Avenue. At one time Trout owned the famous Black Board bar, the Highland Bar and Trout's. Thanks to retired architect Wilson Call, now 95, who submitted this bit of history.

  

 * ... MAYFAIR MARKET: Longtime contributor Don Kurtz responded to an earlier post about the old Mayfair Market in Oildale.  "My father, Frank Kurtz, was the manager for many years. I won't say it was the center of Oildale but close. Almost all of the employee's resided in Oildale. The ice cream parlor was owned by Jim Harris and his family. They produced just about everything you needed for a party from ice cream to punch.  I was 14 at the time and remember they had the cutest daughter!  In the Mayfair there was also a lunch counter were everyone hung around. I  remember the ranchers coming down from Woody and adjoining areas for their weekly load of groceries. Had my first real job setting up and selling Christmas tress in the parking lot. Was only 15 and it took me months to get the sap off of my hands!  At that time anything you needed could be purchased in Oildale."

 * ... HISTORY DAY: Fruitvale Junior High School has a long and distinguished tradition of achievement in the History Day competition, and they are at it once again.Writes Dan Jenson: "I thought you might be interested to learn that six students from Fruitvale won California State History Day championships and are leaving this weekend to participate in the National History Day contest at the University of Maryland. Our friends' son, Christopher Trickey, will be competing in the individual documentary category, while Julie Marie Castro, Morgan Kaess, MaKay Moss, Grace Yaesel Park and Brooke Richter will be competing in the group performance category. In addition, two other children from the district, Jessica Jensen, (my daughter) and Cassidy Porter, both from Endeavour Elementary School, won state championships but won't be competing as the elementary division is not eligible for nationals. The Fruitvale district has been extremely successful in this competition over the years, and it's no accident. With coaches like Mrs. Rowena Moore at Endeavour, the kids do things most of us could never even dream about. I mean, what do you say when President Carter's chief-of-staff calls your house and asks to speak to your ten-year-old daughter? It's absolutely amazing!" Hats off to these high achieving kids.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're from Bakersfield "if you ever snuck friends into the Crest Drive-in in the trunk of your car."

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