The culture wars target Chick-fil-A in Manhattan, more on that Fresno State professor who attacked Barbara Bush and a new coffee house opens downtown

Monday, April 23, 2018

Welcome to Bakersfield Observed, now online only. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this such a special place. We value your feedback. Email your news and notes to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... SHAME: Isn't it amazing how the words from one professor can stain an entire university? That's certainly the case with Fresno State, where alumni and staff are still reeling from the outrageous rant by English professor Randa Jarrar in which she called the late Barbara Bush a racist

and added she was glad she was dead. Now I know plenty of proud Fresno State alumni, and certainly the university will survive this, but the arrogance and utter meanness of Jarrar's tweet and anger toward the late First Lady stirred a hornet's nest. This tweet below labels Jarrar a "classless land cow," but that is an insult to all the bovines who share our planet.

 * ... CHICK-FIL-A: We talk a lot about the great divide in this country: the urban, hip culture of both coasts versus the great "fly over country" of middle America that elected Donald Trump. We live in a nation that talks past each other and more often defaults to insults and crassness (see the previous item on Randa Jarrar) at the expense of finding common ground. Which is why I found an essay in The New Yorker on the arrival of Chick-fil-A in Manhattan so interesting, and demoralizing. It is venomous in its attack on Christians, and though I am not particularly religious myself, I found it unsettling. Consider this passage from author Dan Piepenbring: "New York has taken to Chick-fil-A. One of the Manhattan locations estimates that it sells a sandwich every six seconds, and the company has announced plans to open as many as a dozen more storefronts in the city. And yet the brand’s arrival here feels like an infiltration, in no small part because of its pervasive Christian traditionalism. Its headquarters, in Atlanta, are adorned with Bible verses and a statue of Jesus washing a disciple’s feet. Its stores close on Sundays. Its C.E.O., Dan Cathy, has been accused of bigotry for using the company's charitable wing to fund anti-gay causes, including groups that oppose same-sex marriage. ... The company has since reaffirmed its intention to 'treat every person with honor, dignity and respect,' but it has quietly continued to donate to anti-L.G.B.T. groups. When the first stand-alone New York location opened, in 2015, a throng of protesters appeared. When a location opened in a Queens mall, in 2016, Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed a boycott. No such controversy greeted the opening of this newest outpost. Chick-fil-A’s success here is a marketing coup. Its expansion raises questions about what we expect from our fast food, and to what extent a corporation can join a community."

 * ... BAN THE BIBLE? And as long as we are talking religion, don't fall for the "fake news" story making the rounds that California is on the verge of banning the Bible. It's all hooey. It started when Assembly member Travis Allen, who is running for governor, suggested that Assembly Bill 2943 would effectively ban the Bible because it deals with "gay conversion therapy." In truth, AB 2943 does not mention the Bible, Christianity or religion at all, and simply enhances the state's already existing prohibition on "sexual orientation change efforts." Our state is guilty of a lot of nutty laws emanating from Sacramento but banning the Bible is not one of them.

* ... RIG CITY: I dropped by our town's latest hip coffee shop, Rig City Coffee Roasters right behind the downtown post office. It's cute, classy and the coffee was top shelf,  but parking is a problem and service was slow. Still, worth checking out.

Two Bakersfield quarterbacks square off in the USC-Fresno State game, the rash of horrific drunk driving accidents continue and the ride sharing service Uber comes to town

 * … ACCIDENT: The madness of reckless and drunken driving continues, with the latest incident claiming two lives on Rosedale Highway and Verdugo Lane. In that case, early Saturday morning, police with 29-year-old Dontrell Collins was speeding going west on Rosedale when he slammed into a compact white car, causing it to burst into flames. Two passengers were killed and a third was

hospitalized with burns. These kind of tragedies are all too common, and in fact some folks in the Southwest have taken to calling Ming Avenue "blood alley" because of the high number of accidents involving alcohol or simply reckless driving.

 * … HOMETOWN BOYS: How fun was it to watch the USC-Fresno State game this weekend featuring two outstanding quarterbacks from Bakersfield? Cody Kessler, the former Centennial High standout, led the Trojans to victory but former Driller Brian Burrell represented the Bulldogs well in the loss. Two more young men in a long line of great local athletes.

 * … ROLE MODEL: Hats off to Katie Arriaga, a young mother who spent last weekend picking up trash and litter in the Riverlakes area. Katie took along her three daughters - 10-year-old Briony and 7-year-old twins Brevony and Bregan - to give them a lesson in community service. Thanks to Katie's proud mother, Bobbie McWhorter, for passing this along.

* … BAD FORM: Steve McCalley spotted someone driving an ATT Prius the other day, going 35 mph while texting. "Clearly the massage hasn't been received by the cell phone providers," he said.

 * … UBER: Über, the San Francisco-based ride sharing service that compete directly with local taxi cabs, is now servicing the Bakersfield area. Uber is wildly popular among consumers because no cash is exchanged (the transaction is completed via a cell phone app) and Uber is much cheaper than conventional taxis. To use the service, download the Uber app and when ready for a car, simply use the app to have one pick you up wherever you are.

* … DMV: Ruth Fee wrote to share how government bureaucracy: "I was heartened by your experience with an 'appointment' with DMV and I hoped I would have the same quick result. I needed a California ID and not knowing about appointments, I first waited in line for two hours, presented my paperwork and was told I needed my marriage certificate. I had not been told that when I called the DMV initially. A little more savvy, I made an appointment via internet and arrived with the required certificate. I was told by the clerk that I needed a 'certificated' marriage document. I was more than a little miffed as that was not specified by the first clerk. I was then given a number to call in California to get the required form and told to make another appointment. I called that number and was told I needed to call a number in the county I had been married in. (  didn't see the point as my husband was deceased.)  Calling the San Francisco number, I was given yet another number to call.
Rather than doing something uncivil, I threw up my hands and decided to try another day. To be continued - or not."

 * … HISTORY: Navy veteran Gene M. Bonas asked me to remind everyone that Tuesday will mark the 69th anniversary of the Japanese surrender of World War II aboard the USS Missouri.

 * … NOTE: I received a beautifully written letter, in cursive, from a woman who wanted to be known only as "Grandma." She only wanted to thank several women who came to her aid when she took a tumble. In her words: "I found that day there are some good caring people in Bakersfield. That's one of the reasons my late husband and I moved here. I have never seen any other town where people come to your aid like in Bakersfield."

Has downtown Bakersfield reached a "tipping point?" And should we be happy to be named a "drunk city?"

  * ... A TIPPING POINT? It's easy to exaggerate these things, but I am sensing downtown Bakersfield has reached a "tipping point" in terms of its long renaissance. And I am saying this with full knowledge that our local economy remains in a deep funk, as evidenced by the latest "Crabtree report" that shows our local housing market stabilizing but flirting with a double dip recession. (more on that later) Still, if you were downtown this weekend, it was impossible to ignore the energy that the newly opened Padre Hotel brought to the local arts and restaurant scene. The Padre was packed all weekend, four deep at the long oak bar until the wee hours of the morning, but so were the other local businesses. Boosted by the monthly "First Friday" festivities, virtually every venue was full of revelers shoulder to shoulder: Metro Galleries, the Surface Gallery, Mama Roomba, Uricchio's Trattoria, even Cafe Med on Stockdale Highway. In addition, entertainer Martin Lawrence appeared at the Fox Theater and the Crystal Palace featured country crooner Clay Walker. Remember, this is downtown Bakersfield, once known more for a salty crowd and the occasional stabbing or bouncer-related incident that ended up in the police files. But something has changed, and it is clearly for the better.

 * ... OVER AT CASA MUNOZ: I stopped by Casa Munoz Mexican Restaurant located at Union Avenue and 18th Street on Saturday, not exactly downtown but a wonderful family eatery nonetheless. Julie Hernandez, the peppy and engaging daughter of owner Joe Munoz, says she too was jammed all weekend, particularly on Saturday when the restaurant was full of kids in their tuxedos and evening dresses headed to the winter formal at Garces Memorial High School. Both Julie and father Joe are Garces graduates and big-time supporters of the Catholic school located on the hill near Panorama Drive. Julie's youngest son Julian is a St. Francis School student and spends his weekends helping out at the restaurant, stopping by tables and charming the diners with his wit and charm..

* ... BULLDOG OR VOLUNTEER? I received a nice note from Dave Price, the retired director of the county Resource Management Agency who now lives in Kingsport, Tennessee. Dave was a first rate public servant with a keen wit and easy style, and one way he keeps up with Bakersfield is through this blog online (thanks Dave.) Although he's an alumnus of Fresno State University, he told me he had made a "successful transition" to becoming a rabid University of Tennessee fan, all part of living in the Volunteer state. He wrote: "All this comes at some personal cost, though, as oilman Les Clark gave me some Fresno State Bulldog gear when I left and told not me not to sell out to the Orange. He and I are both FSU alums and I was even student body vice president and president!" To prove his new loyalty to the Vols, he enclosed a picture of his family, all wearing Orange. Stay in touch, Dave.

 * ... NEW HEAD COP: I had a chance to meet with newly installed Bakersfield City Police Chief Greg Williamson the other day in his Truxtun Avenue conference room. There's no doubt he has taken over at a critical time for the department, which like all city departments is facing an uncertainty over its budget. Williamson did say that he is hiring 17 new police officers funded with stimulus money and that combating gangs remains a high priority. The gang issue is one that is not going away.

 * ... THE BUZZ: So now comes word that Bakersfield has been named one of the "drunkest" cities in America by Men's Health magazine. We have enough image problems already, and this comes on the heels of hearing that "The Biggest Loser" was in town last week rounding up our more obese local citizens to appear on the program. So now we're not only overweight, but drunks as well. At least we can take some comfort that Fresno was ranked the nation's drunkest city, and we were down at No. 10. (The top five were Fresno, Reno, Billings, MT., Riverside and Austin, TX.) The survey was based on DUI rates, alcohol related car accidents and other incidents. Click here to read the entire story.

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