The documentary Seattle is Dying is a stark warning for any number of American cities, including Bakersfield, city staff deals a blow to those proposed private dorms and hundreds fan out to clean up the town

Monday, April 8, 2019

 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 such a special to live. Send your tips to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... SEATTLE IS DYING: If you haven't seen the hour-long documentary "Seattle is Dying," you should make the time to do so. Produced by KOMO-TV in Seattle, the documentary takes a hard and

sober look at how homelessness, egged on by well intentioned laws that back fired, have left the city awash in urine, feces, street urchins, crime and drugs. And yes, it is happening here in Bakersfield, for many of the same reasons: state laws that emptied our jails and flooded the streets with criminals, rampant drug addiction and mental illness. Unfortunately, we can't buy our way out of it by writing checks for equally well intentioned but ineffective programs. Talk to your local city councilman and county supervisor and tell them we must find real answers before we become Seattle. Go to YouTube and search for "Seattle is Dying." It will be worth your time.

 * ... CSUB DORMS: The city planning division has put the proverbial fork in a developer's plans to build two five-story dormitories at the corner of Gosford and Stockdale Highway. In other words, I think we can consider this idea DOA (dead on arrival.) The staff indicated the idea was not "in harmony" with the surrounding area, a recommendation that is bound to please the residents of Stockdale Estates who have rallied to vehemently oppose the plan. While staff recommended against it, the ultimate decision will be up to the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) which could always vote to approve the plan, but I wouldn't bet on that. Stay tuned.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Stop trying to please everybody. You're no tequila."

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "All alcohol should be half price if you can provide proof that you are married with kids."

 * ... HOMELESS: Check out this picture and the caption written by a reporter at KGET TV. It says volumes about the problem we have in this town. The caption read: "Have you seen this man?
The owners of Blue Oak Coffee downtown say he came into their shop this morning—demanding money, touching himself, and threatening to rape them. The city believes it’s part of Bakersfield’s growing homeless problem."

 * ... RILEY PARKER: And speaking of the homeless, I received this note from retired private investigator (and ex Bakersfield police officer) Riley Parker, who left California fed up with high taxes and liberal state politics. Said Parker: "Our son and daughter-in-law fled Seattle’s Green Lake for a small village in Wales, and with broken hearts Jane and I fled CALI for a village of 3,000 on Colorado's western slope. Unfortunately, there is now a Democratic super majority in Denver and they are in lock step with Gavin Newsom. The good news... at 73 I am deep enough into life’s fourth quarter that that they can’t do us a lot of harm. Gas is still $2.49, we buy fresh organic foods at great prices from local growers, have our own garden, socialize with our migrant field workers, and take our kayak to the Colorado River and nearby mountain lakes on the Grand Mesa. And we enjoy CBD oil in our coffee at Pressed in Palisade. Heartbroken every time I return to Bako and see the trash alongside the broken concrete of Highway 58."

 * ... CLEANUP: Here is to all the hundreds of volunteers who participated in the Great American Cleanup on Saturday. Ward 2 City Councilman Andrae Gonzales spent his birthday picking up trash, and I saw Memorial Hospital CEO Ken Keller along with Dignity vice president Robin Mangarin-Scott leading a big group in the effort. Imagine how clean our city would be if we all participated.

 * ... MEMORIES: A Hell's Angels motorcycle rider in front of the Kern County Museum in the 1960s.

 * ... MORE MEMORIES: And lastly, who remember's Larsons dairy?

Jackson Browne, Chris Stapleton and Bill Walton roll through town and another Great American Cleanup success

 * ... GEESE: A friend shared an adorable picture of a family of geese (seven little ones and the parents) crossing a busy Mohawk Street while traffic came to a stop on a busy day to watch nature at work.

 * ... WEEKEND: You didn't have to go far this weekend to find an event to attend, be it Links for Life at Seven Oaks, Relay for Life at the fairgrounds, a dinner for Catholic Charities, Cal State
Bakersfield's community day or the Great American Cleanup that saw folks spread out across town sprucing up our community. The cleanup event grows every year and brings out the best in us. Add to that concerts by Chris Stapleton and Jackson Browne and the town was hopping.

 * ... BILL WALTON: I was among the 200 or so people who showed up to hear UCLA basketball legend Bill Walton speak on behalf of Bike Bakersfield. His theme of second chances, hope, persistence and gratitude was infectious, and it was good to see Ward 2 city council candidate Andre Gonzales in the audience to support bicycle commuting. The venue - the outdoor Gardens at Mill Creek with its finely trimmed lawn  - could not have shown off better.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Just got a Cheerio stuck between my toes walking through the kitchen. Clearly my dog isn’t doing his part of the chores around here."

 * ... SUMMER CALORIES: How many people who order those Caramel Frappuccinos from Starbucks realize they might be better off ordering a milkshake from McDonald's?

 * ... BAD FORM: What is it about men and the need for speed? On Friday I witnessed two young men in separate, lowered cars racing down Union Avenue (it didn't end well when one of the speeders plowed into an SUV that was leaving the Burger King parking lot; thank goodness no one was seriously injured) and on Saturday a middle aged man peeling out of a parking lot off Ming Avenue and almost hitting a oncoming car near Old River Road.

* ... GOOD FORM: Reba Mullen submitted this simple thank you directed at an unnamed Good Samaritan: "I would like to express my sincere thanks to the woman who found my keys at the Valley Plaza and returned them to Total Woman fitness gym where I am a member. Such kindness will never be forgotten. I hope I will be able to help someone,  as she helped me,in the future. May God bless her."

 * ... MEMORIES: Here's a good one from Ronal Renyier: "You might be a Bakersfield old timer if you remember 'Freddie's' at the Circle. You might have seen the actor Ward Bond when he was in town having his typical breakfast of four eggs, six bacon strips, four pieces of toast, two pancakes,
one dinner steak and a double order of hash-browns. Freddie did not know what to charge him the
first time and so charged him for three meals."

Ten days after the Great American Cleanup and the city has yet to remove the collected trash, and how about some water in the river for the Tour of California

 * ... TRASH: Ten days ago hundreds of local volunteers spread across our community picking up trash as part of the Great American Cleanup Day. That was terrific, yet more than a week later much of the trash remained, particularly along the Kern River bike path where the once neatly stacked piles of black trash bags were trashed themselves by the homeless, animals and inclement weather. It's a shame it took more than a week to finally pick up the trash bagged by legends of volunteers.

* ... KERN RIVER: If the city would like to make amends, perhaps it can arrange to have water in the river during the upcoming Tour of California bicycle race. At least that's the idea of Frances Rosales, one of the owners of Happy Jack's restaurant downtown. "Why can't we have water flowing down the river when the Amgen Tour of California bike race is in town? We have friends coming from Napa and it would be great to see us at our best," she said. The tour will be in Bakersfield on Thursday, May 17, for the individual time trial competition. Some 30,000 spectators are expected to watch the time trial on the Panorama bluffs near Bakersfield College.

* ... SHOE DRIVE: Rosco Rolnick is at it again, helping those in need with his 20th annual "Shoes for the Homeless" campaign benefiting the Bakersfield Homeless Center. Rosco is president of Guarantee Shoe Center on Chester Avenue and has long been a supporter of our community. The shoe drive will conclude on May 6. Donations can be dropped off at Guarantee Shoe Center, KGET TV, Second Smile Denture Car, the Downtown School and at Four Seasons activity center. Donors will receive $10 off their next purchase of regularly priced shoes of $60 or more at Guarantee Shoe Center.

 * ... BOMB SHELTERS: My earlier post on the bomb shelter in Rick Kreiser's yard in College Heights brought this note from reader Carl R. Moreland. "In 1966, when we bought our first home on 21st Street from the former Kern County Museum Director Richard Bailey, it included a bomb shelter. When visitors first came the house, we always took them went down into the submarine-like shelter. Our children Margalo and Krista and their friends used it as an underground playhouse."

 * ... BOMB BAR: And then there was this note sent to me from Richard Diffee: "One more thing about bomb shelters. Old timers may remember a bar on Union Avenue near 8th Street during the 1940s called the Bomb Shelter. Patrons went there to get bombed."

 * ... WEBSTER WEBFOOT: I wrote earlier about the old television show called Webster Webfoot and Jimmy Weldon. It brought this response from reader Gary Higgins: "Jimmy is alive and well and living in North Hollywood. I was an avid fan of Webster Webfoot when I lived in Fresno in the 1950s.

* .... WHO KNEW? From the Vision 2020 Image Committee comes this: "Did you know there is a band called Brokedown in Bakersfield that pays homage to the Bakersfield Sound, which it says is 'California country music made raw and rocking, spiked with twang and sweetened with heartfelt harmonies.'

April ushers in the charity fund raising season and Karen Goh will appear on Californian Radio to talk about her campaign for supervisor

* ... FUND RAISER: If it's April it means the charity fund raising season must be in full swing. I stopped by one of the fund raisers for the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Saturday evening, a French-themed roving party held at the homes of Ken and Teri Jones, Brent and Anna Dezember and Gary and Bettina Belter. These events are always spectacular and they raise a lot of money for good causes throughout our community. Among those I spotted at the CASA party were David and Catherine Gay, Gregg and Fran Gunner, Bob and Betty Stine, Jeanne and Michael Young, Pam Giumarra, Linda Sullenger, Colleen McGauley, Greg and Mary Bynum, Rick and Cindy Jones, Cindy and George Meek, Jim and Jeanne Filbrandt, Sue and Herb Benham, Jan and Joe Drew and Bill and Holly Lazzerini, among others.


* ... KUDOS: Hats off to the hundreds of people who fanned out across town on a chilly Saturday to participate in the Great American Cleanup Day. If you ever doubt the goodwill of our community, it will be dispelled when you see so many young people volunteering their time for a good cause.

* ... GOOD DEED: Lois Ernst wrote to share a random act of kindness. "My daughter and some friends were recently in the drive thru at our local Chick Fil A. They placed their order, which came to about $24, got up to the window to pay and were informed that the customer in line behind them had already paid for their order. They were amazed and delighted that a stranger would do that! Bakersfield is a nice play to live, contrary to all the 'bad lists' we seem to end up on." Amen to that Lois.

 * ... FIFTH DISTRICT: One of the more interesting local elections this year is in the Fifth District county supervisor race where appointed incumbent Karen Goh faces a stiff challenge from former public defender Leticia Perez. Join me at 9:30 a.m. Monday when Goh will be my guest on Californian Radio KERN 1180. I will also be talking about the controversy over Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen's dig at Ann Romney because she has never held a steady job. But isn't raising five boys a job enough? Haven't we moved pass this type of flagrant attacks on women who choose to stay at home and raise their children?

* ... SMALL THINGS: Isn't it amazing how small things move us and change our lives? Yet another reader, Susan Peninger, wrote to say she too has a special plant that was given to her by a special friend. In this case the friend is Cecil Hall, the mother of Mayor Harvey Hall. "She is my aunt, Cecil Hall, who gave me an Aloe Vera plant she had in her College Height’s yard a few years before she passed away.  I love that plant that still lives on my La Cresta patio, not far from whence it came. More than likely thought she had moved that plant with each move before its stint on Baylor when she passed it along to me.  I understand the attachment to readers’ Camellia and rose bushes; I treasure the Aloe Vera plant because it reminds me of my fun-loving, always entertaining, Aunt Cecil.  I know for certain, she and Uncle Pete would be over the moon proud of their son, the mayor."

 * ... ZIPPY: For you old timers who remember Zippy the clown on local TV, Chuck Walker (formerly of Bakersfield and now of Doha, Qatar) says Zippy "was a real dwarf that appeared on the George Day Show, one of the afternoon shows on one of the local TV stations in the 1960s. The Uncle Woody show was a decade later on channel 29 and featured Woody Bryant who owned the Toy Circus, and his sidekick Chester the clown. Chester was played by Steve Hanson, among others.  Chester and his sometime sidekick,  22nd, (named for 22nd  Chester,  the location of the huge toy store in the old Three-Way Chevrolet showroom) would appear at parties and BBQs.  22nd was played by local attorney Bruce Blythe."