Karma reigns when a farmer returns trash to the offender's house, weak internet signals plague thousands, Jeff Huckaby of Grimmway is the organic farmer of the year and a third In-N-Out is planned for Rosedale Highesy

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 person or organization.

 * ... TRASH KARMA: This might be the best story of the week. Or the month. Or maybe even the year. It started off by something all too familiar in Kern County: a farmer wakes up to find someone

has illegally dumped a mountain of trash on his property. This time, instead of just cleaning it up, the farmer culled through the trash and found an envelope with the offender's address in Delano. So the farmer loaded up with truck with the trash, drove to the home in Delano and unceremoniously dumped it on the lawn. Now that is what you call karma.

 * ... OUTAGE: Have you been having problems with your internet service provider? Many have throughout Kern County, whether your provider is Spectrum or DirecTV or Dish, and the problem seems to be growing worse while so many are at home during the pandemic. This week, there was a major outage on Monday, affecting millions of people in areas such as Miami, Brooklyn, Orlando and Atlanta.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I don't require much to be happy. Five meals a day. A triple espresso. Nine hours of sleep. A pair of yoga pants, complete solitude, and no obligations whatsoever."

 * ... GRIMMWAY FARMS: Congratulations to Jeff Huckaby, the chief executive officer of Grimmway Farms who has been named Organic Farmer of the Year by the Organic Trade Association. Thanks to Huckaby, Grimmway's Cal-Organic production has grown from a few hundred acres to more than 45,000 acres of vegetables in California, Florida, Georgia, Colorado and Washington. Cal-Organic now provides more than 65 different organic vegetables.

 * ... IN 'N OUT: Some news is simply bigger than the coronavirus, or even the protests and Black Lives Matter. And that, at least here in Bakersfield, is the opening of a third In 'N Out burger franchise on Rosedale Highway at Coffee Road. The third location has been approved by the city planning commission but no word yet on when it might open.

 * ... MEMORIES: Lovely picture of old Chester when the clock tower was still standing.

Santa Carota beef gets some love from Food and Wine magazine, the city takes heat for moving too slowly on our homeless and drug crisis, and who knew In-N-Out burger had treats for dogs?

Friday, September 13, 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 community such a special place. Send news items to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... DRUG CRISIS: It was an angry scene at City Hall this week when dozens of residents lined up during the public comment session to voice their concerns about our drug and homeless crisis. The

theme was clear: we need to understand that we have a drug addiction problem, not so much of a homeless problem. The city has been criticized for being too tentative, moving too slowly, sitting on their hands while this problem has grown out of control. The county, by contrast, has already approved plans for a low-barrier shelter while the city continues to "study" where their's might be located. If nothing else, the city got an earful from a public that is at its wit's end with crime, public intoxication, public urination and defecation and general craziness that rules our streets. Is anyone listening?

 * ... SANTA CAROTA BEEF: Do you hear that Food and Wine magazine threw some love to our local producers of the grass fed and carrot finished Santa Carota beef? That's right, this is the same beef raised by the Pettit family that has proved to be wildly popular in local restaurants. Fed on grass and finished off by tons of carrots, the process produces a beef that is both more tender and tastier, and healthier as well. Check out this excerpt from the story: "The Pettit family has been raising cattle in Edison (an unincorporated community just seven miles from Bakersfield) for 30 years, and much of that time they have been supplementing their grass-fed cattle with culled carrots from nearby producers like Bolthouse Farms and Grimmway Farms, which produce more than a million pounds of carrots each in a day—the most in the world. But until two years ago, Justin and Corinne Pettit and Justin’s father, Mike, were growing their cattle to 800 pounds on grass and carrots, then sending them to a feedlot to be bulked up and finished to nearly 1300 pounds on grain. They had never considered finishing a cow on carrots, until, Justin describes, they conducted a single experiment, which they planned to try for Justin’s birthday in April of 2017 (with a pizza order as a back-up plan). Just one bite of the steaks, and they put down their forks and looked at each other. “And we said, Oh, now we have to go to work.” And they literally bet the farm. “We sold all our equipment, put everything on our credit line … had packing boxes all over our conference tables. We have everything riding on it, but we believe in it.” Within 18 months, they’d developed their logo and began selling to some of the best restaurants in the West."

 * ... DOG TREATS: Did you know that In-N-Out burger has a few menu items for your dog? That's right, the popular chain actually has two offerings for your mutt: the first a plain, salt-free burger patty. Another off-menu item, which is also available for humans but was supposedly originally devised for dogs, is the Flying Dutchman, which is two beef patties and two slices of cheese.

* ... BRANDING: The city and county rolled out their new branding and message campaigns this week, ending a two year process meant to reposition our hometown in a more positive light. The city's version, branding as "The Sound of Something Better," features a green logo in the shape of a guitar pic emblazoned with a 'b" that looks like a musical note.

 * ... THEFT: We talk a lot about our "homeless" crisis but our real problem is a drug and crime crisis. As Sacramento has passed a series of decriminalizing laws to keep people our of prison, crime has risen dramatically. Consider this post I spotted on Facebook: "Two tall skinny black guys with baseball caps came running out of the garden dept at the Home Depot on Ming with 3 big boxes. Power tools of some sort. Hopped in this black car and hit a shopping cart that a guy was trying to block them with. Glad he wasn't hurt. Headed east on Ming. I hate thieves. So brazen. "

 * ... MEMORIES: And check this amazing photo out from the Kern County History Fans Facebook page. Just wow.

 * ... MORE MEMORIES: And how about the old Plunge on Union Avenue?

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.