Teachers live in fear as the Dolores Huerta Foundation seeks to strip them of their ability to suspend students due to "willfull defiance," Sequoia Sandwich Co. is sold and Wood-Dale Market opens in Seven Oaks

Wednesday February 28, 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 ON DOLORES: Shame on Dolores Huerta and her foundation for pushing a bill (SB 607) that would virtually strip local high schools of their ability to suspend students. In the name of

"equality" and in a mad rush to reduce suspensions, Huerta argues more Latino students are being

suspended than whites, and therefore this amounts to discrimination. Say what? To follow that logic, teachers and administrators would have to be all racists, singling out Latino students for punishment, and that is patently absurd. SB 607, authored by Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, would delete a provision of the Education Code that allows a child in grades 4 to 12 to be suspended or expelled from school for  disrupting school activities or willfully defying teachers or other school personnel.
Meanwhile, talk to a teacher in one of our public high schools, and they will tell you moves like this scare them to death. Students routinely tell teachers to "fuck off" and teachers are physically attacked by students. One teacher told me he asked a student's name and was told, "I don't need to tell you, you fucking retard." If teachers cannot discipline students, chaos will rein supreme, and in some schools, it already does.

 * ... RIP BILL MURRAY: A good man and a longtime local businessman died unexpectedly recently. I learned of the death of Bill Murray on Facebook via a post from his son, Tyler. Murray was the longtime manager of local hotels, including the Doubletree, and recently moved to Washington state. A service will be held Friday in Des Moines, WA.

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: CSUB basketball Coach Rod Barnes knows the multiple roles he plays in the lives of his players: coach, surrogate father, mentor, counselor and consoler. Which is why I was touched with what he posted on Twitter Sunday after his team beat Seattle on "senior night. Said Barnes: "Every year senior night is tough for me. Grateful to be a part of these young men's journey. The best is yet to come. Go Runners!"

* ... WOOD-DALE: The owners of Wood-Dale meat market say they will open their second location in Seven Oaks later this week. Israel Vasquez, owner of the iconic butcher shop, said the second storefront at Grand Island Village will open Thursday, featuring an expanded meat market, fresh fish and hot meals to go. The original Wood-Dale, on Stine Road, will remain open. Under Israel and his son Chris, Wood-Dale has won a large and loyal following who appreciate the quality and customer service of a world class butcher shop.

 * ... SEQUOIA: Another popular Bakersfield restaurant, Sequoia Sandwich Company, has been sold. Long a favorite of the lunch crowd under owners Jeff Simpson and Gary Blackburn, Sequoia grew from its original 18th Street location to branches on Rosedale Highway and Ming Avenue. Originally bankers, Simpson and Blackburn opened Sequoia in 1999. The company was sold to the same people who purchased Sequoia's Clovis location a couple of years ago. I am told that longtime Sequoia manager Valerie Damron will become the new operational manager.

 * ... MEMORIES: Check out this notice for the opening of the old La Cresta airfield up where Greenlawn Cemetery now sits.

From fashion week to baby carrots to representing Bakersfield at the U.S. Naval Academy

 Putting the spotlight on people and things around our community...

* ... THE DISMAL STATE OF CALIFORNIA: Was interested - but not surprised - to read the results of a statewide poll showing Californians have lost faith in their state government. The survey was done by the Public Policy Institute and was carried by the Los Angeles Times and The Californian. It's good to know I'm not alone in having lost almost all confidence in the legislators in Sacramento to work together to turn things around. The poll found that 73 percent of those polled said state government was run for the benefit of the few and only 23 percent of Californians felt the state government would "do what is right." Is anyone surprised by this?

* ... TEN YEARS OF SANDWICHES: The Sept. 11 anniversary came and went as the nation remembered the 2001 terrorist attacks. But for Jeff Simpson 9-11 has a happier meaning. Jeff and partner Gary Blackburn own Sequoia Sandwich Co., the popular Bakersfield deli with three locations locally. (They opened a fourth in Clovis about a year ago) Jeff told me Sept. 11 marked their 10-year anniversary in business in Bakersfield. Jeff and  Gary were bankers before getting into the restaurant business and in the past decade have become firmly entrenched  in our community. Jeff also revealed his first date with wife Karen was on a Sept. 11, another reason why 9-11 has special meaning in his life.

 * ... FASHION WEEK AND THE GRIMM GIRLS: It's fashion week in New York and that likely means sisters Melissa and Catie Grimm are somewhere in the Big Apple taking in the new designs. The Grimms are scions of Grimmway Farms, the world's largest carrot producer and one of Bakersfield's most respected family owned business institutions. The sisters run Carrots, a high end clothing boutique in San Francisco's Jackson Square, located at 843 Montgomery Street. I visited Carrots' website recently and thought it was stunning. If you'd like to check it out, do so here.

 *  ... LOCAL KID SHINING AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY: It was nice to get an email the other day from Dave Ewert, who joined  with me in coaching a girl's National Junior Basketball (NJB) team a few years back. (We had a less than successful season but we had the best girls.) My daughter Hannah and his daughter Carolyn were teammates and went their separate ways: my daughter to Stockdale High and eventually the University of Michigan and his to Centennial High and eventually to the Naval Academy. Was pleased to hear that Carolyn is now in Annapolis playing volleyball and succeeding beyond all expectations. I picked this up from the Naval Academy website after a recent game:

  
"Individually for Navy, freshman Carolyn Ewert (Bakersfield, Calif.) is pacing the Navy offense with an average of 2.82 kills per set while also ranking second on the team with 1.55 digs per set. Joining Ewert with an average of multiple kills per set are Abbie Merkl (Sr., Upper Marlboro, Md.) and Meghan Carpenter (So., Frederick, Md.) with averages of 2.41 and 2.00 kills per set, respectively."

 Dave said he and his wife will be going back for a football game this fall and to visit Carolyn, another local product making the old hometown proud.