Kevin McCarthy squares off with Marissa Wood in a debate, Church Militant raps Brian Smith for being endorsed by the accused "homo predator" priest Craig Harrison and local business icon Dave Urner passes away

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 company or publication.

 * ... MCCARTHY DEBATE: Did you catch the televised debate between Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Democratic challenger Marissa Wood? It was a doozy with Wood laying into McCarthy for his embrace of Donald Trump and McCarthy deftly deflecting the criticism. The debate won't change the outcome of the

election - smart money is on KMAC  - but the point is it was held, both candidates showed up and viewers were entertained with a lively exchange of barbs. Say what you will about McCarthy but he did show up, took the insults and honored his commitment to the voters. And don't forget the folks at KGET and anchors Jim Scott and Alexan Balkian of Fresno who provided a public service by sponsoring the debate and asking the tough questions. 

 * ... CRAIG HARRISON: A national organization devoted to tracking and exposing priests accused of sexually molesting young men has criticized 3rd District supervisor candidate Brian Smith for his association with former monsignor Craig Harrison. In a video produced by the organization Church Militant, anchor Christine Niles leads the broadcast saying "a politician is happy to be endorsed by accused homo-predator priest" Craig Harrison. Smith, Niles said, had benefited from an event "hosted by notorious ex monsignor Craig Harrison" at Harrison's downtown Bakersfield home. Harrison left the church after it found he had been "credibly" accused by seven young male men. No charges have been filed  because the statute of limitations has expired, and Harrison has been busy trying to rebuild his life as a spiritual guide of sorts. The video from Church Militant, which Harrison unsuccessfully sued for defamation, is a reminder that this case is not over and Harrison's critics in the abuse community are not likely to be silenced. Harrison faces multiple civil lawsuits from alleged victims which are all headed to trial.

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 * ... THE EXPERIMENT IS OVER: Remember when the city installed new diagonal parking on 18th Street and added the confusing requirement that people back into the spaces because it was apparently safer? While the city thought it was a swell idea, nobody else did. So now the city has left the diagonal parking in place but removed the objectionable requirement that people back into the space. Chalk this one up as yet another nutty idea sponsored by people who would be better served figuring out how to crack down on crime and vagrants. 

 * ... ARVIN BULLYING: The family of a special needs boy who was bullied at Arvin High School, videotaped as a group of boys cut his hair, has hired one of Bakersfield's premier plaintiff's lawyers to take his case. Daniel Rodriguez of Rodriguez and Associates said he is planning a lawsuit to hold responsible those who failed to protect the boy. "The bullying happened right under the nose, right in front of the security guard," Rodriguez said.  "What excuse do they have?"

* ... RIP DAVE URNER: A man whose name is synonymous with Bakersfield business - Dave Urner - has passed away at the age of 92. It was Urner who helped position Urner's as the premier appliance store in town, a place where service came with a golden glove and the selection of washers, dryers, dish washers and refrigerators seemed endless. At one time, Urners held a chokehold on the local market and if you were in the market for an appliance, you inevitably ended up at Urner's. Urner was a 1948 graduate of Bakersfield High School and he worked for Urner’s for 70 years, serving as its president from 1980 to 2019.  Services are set for 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 12 at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery. 

 * ... MEMORIES: A couple of old pictures, compliments of the Kern County History Fans, that speak to our collective past.

Supervisor candidate Brian Smith proclaims himself a MAGA election denier, Valadao and Salas in one of the most expensive congressional races in the nation and waking up to find the homeless and their carts setting up in your neighborhood

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 company or publication.

 * ... ELECTION DENIER: Here's an intriguing question in the campaign between Jeff Flores and Brian Smith in the 3rd District Supervisor race: now that Smith has admitted to being an election denier, will it affect the race? Smith, a retired assistant commander with the CHP, said he believed the election was

stolen under questioning by KGET anchor Jim Scott during a televised debate last week. Asked if he had proof, Smith could not produce it (he mentioned something about "30,000 ballots in Torrance" but failed to explain its relevance) and clumsily talked his way through without answering the question. Asked the same question, Flores said he did not believe the election was stolen, saying he didn't believe in conspiracy theories and chose instead to talk about his commitment to family and community. Smith, who always planned to run for Sheriff until Donny Youngblood chose to run again, opted enter the 3rd District after Mike Maggard announced his retirement. Flore is Maggard's chief of staff, and he also has experience on the Kern High School District. So will having a conspiracy theorist in the race help or hurt Smith? Stay tuned.

 * ... SALAS VERSUS VALADAO: Rep. David Valadao is the lone Republican congressman left who voted to impeach President Trump; all the rest have either been defeated by pro Trump candidates in the primary or chosen not to run for reelection. This year, Democrats have targeted the seat and have put up Assemblyman Rudy Salas as their candidate. I ran into Salas at a fund raiser for Leticia Perez, who is running for 35th Assembly seat, and Salas said the 21st Congressional District race is now the second most expensive congressional race in the country. I bet it becomes the most expensive congressional race in America. 

* ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: Here is a random posting (I am omitting who posted it for privacy reasons) which has become all too familiar in our community. The resident wakes up and finds a homeless person with all his belongings in his neighborhood. Think for a second how this visual pollution of homelessness and the real threat of spiking crime and out of control vagrancy has had on our community. It has rendered us anxious, angry, uncertain and worried about the value of our property and belongings. That is the real toll of allowing the surge of drug addiction and homelessness to run rampant in our community while we sit idly and blame the state, doing virtually nothing to impede the homeless from using our public sidewalks as their personal toilet and sleeping area. The caption on this picture: "On my morning walk. Coming to your neighborhood soon . Reporting live from WEBFUKD."

* ... COSTCO HOT DOG:  Here's some good news for inflation weary consumers and it comes compliments of Costco. The company has told analysts that it has no plans to raise the price of its $1.50 hotdog combo special despite the squeeze on profits. Costco chief financial officer Richard Galanti was asked about both the hot dog combo meal and the $4.99 rotisserie chicken, and he assured analysts that at least at this time, the prices will not go up.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: A Maya Angelou quote worth sharing:

 

 * ... MEMORIES: Here are two nuggets from the Facebook page of the Kern County History Fans, always a joy to spend a morning with. Enjoy.

Restaurants open up for Memorial Day weekend, Supervisor Mike Maggard on fighting the coronavirus and City Councilman Willie Rivera decides enough is enough

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.

 * ... MEMORIAL DAY IN PICTURES: It was the perfect holiday weekend, mild temperatures that will give way to valley heat this week, but a memorable one nonetheless. My thanks to all the

photographers who shot these scenes of life in Kern County.

 * ... RIVERA IS OUT: Ward 1 City Councilman Willie Rivera, who was just 22 when he was elected, is stepping down as he accepts a new job with AERA Energy. You can bet that they are already lining up potential candidates to replace Rivera, whose term in office was not supposed to expire until 2022. Rivera issued this statement: “It is my hope that notifying you of my intentions now will allow the city to take action to schedule an election for my replacement to coincide with the city council elections already scheduled for November 3, 2020. Doing so would avoid any additional special election costs and allow the residents of Southeast Bakersfield to choose their next representative."

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Thanks to the magic of Twitter, you’re no longer restricted to fighting with family, friends and neighbors; you can now trade insults with total strangers. And you don’t even have to face them! Invigorating, isn’t it?":

 * ... BIKE SHOPS: The pandemic has led to a rush on bike shops, and local shops say they are selling everything they can get their hands on and are swamped with repairs. Over at Action Sports, which prides itself in customer service, owner Kerry Ryan noted there has been a crush of tuneups and repairs now that people are dusting off their bicycles and taking them out for family time during the lock down. If you need proof, hang around the bike path at the Park at RiverWalk to enjoy hundreds of families out on their bikes enjoying the mornings. Said Ryan: "We doubled our staff to meet the demand at the door," he said. "Our safety measures have pleased all but a few. The lockdown has made people appreciate getting out of the house and bicycles are the exciting way most people can do that.:

 * ... MOVING FORWARD: Supervisor Mike Maggard borrowed an analogy from his son when he talked about life during a pandemic. His son, active military, said during a firefight the only option was "to keep moving forward. Doing nothing is death." Maggard said the same was true during the pandemic where "standing still is not an option. We have to move forward." Maggard appeared with county CAO Ryan Alsop on KGET's Saturday afternoon show "Kern County In Depth" with host Jim Scott.


 * ... MEMORIES: Check out the old Vaughn Taxi from around 1910, thanks to our friends at the Kern County History Fans Facebook page.

 * ... MORE MEMORIES: This picture dates from 1903 at Daytona Beach, Florida. It's not local but it's a wonderful picture anyway.

Good news for car makers as sales rebound and thousands return to work; meanwhile the Escalade is the country's top stolen car

 * ... CAR SALES: There's good news for our nation's car makers who are experiencing a strong rebound after taxpayer bailouts and bankruptcies. According to The Los Angeles Times a "leaner, more aggressive auto industry is making a comback, hiring workers and ramping up manufacturing plans." The "big three" of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler alone have added 90,000 jobs since the lowest point two years ago. In fact, growth has been so strong that even in distressed Michigan, hiring has shaved the unemploymenet rate to 10.9 percent, lower than California's of 12 percent. Over at Jim Burke Ford, owner Dan Hay told me business had clearly picked up, thanks in large part to our region's healthy agriculture and energy industries. "We are fortunate to live in Bakersfield," he said. "Our customers seem to feel much more up beat than a few years ago." Ford, of course, never went through bankruptcy and never requested nor received a taxpayer bailout.

 * ... STOLEN CARS: And speaking of cars, it turns out the Cadillac Escalade is the most stolen vehicle in the country. The Insurance for Highway Safety said the luxury sport utility vehicle is more than six times as likely as the average vehicle to be stolen. Also making the "most stolen" list were the Ford F-250 crew 4WD, the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 crew, the Ford F-450 crew 4WD, the GMC Sierra 1500, the Chrysler 300 and the Ford F-350.

 * ... NEW ANCHOR: KGET has found a new anchor to replace Robin Scott Mangarin. Rachelle Murcia, traffic reporter for KOMO in Seattle, is joining the KGET team to anchor the nightly news broadcasts along with Jim Scott. She joined KOMO in 2005 and has spent the last six years handling traffic.

 * ... SCHOLARSHIP: Proud grand parents Chester and Helen Troudy passed along this good news regarding grand daughter Stephanie Anthony Santa, a 2004 graduate of North High School. Stephanie is one of five national recipients to receive a $5,000 scholarship to the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C. where she will complete her final semester of nurses training. She is a student at Marymount University in Alexandria , Va , and will graduate in May 2012 with a BS/RN degree. Her parents are Sue and Paul Anthony.

 * ... RADIO TIME: Tune in to Californian Radio on SmartTalk 1230 AM Friday when iIwill be chatting with Congressman Kevin McCarthy on the crisis in Libya and the debt showdown, and later in the hour with state Sen. Michael Rubio who may be making a congressional run himself. (file photos of McCarthy, Rubio)

* ... PARKINSON'S: Mary Meaders dropped me a note to spread the word about support group for folks with Parkinson's Disease. With more than 200 folks in our community suffering from Parkinson's, there is clearly a need for a group like this. The group meets the second Tuesday of every month at the First Presbyterian Church downtown, located at 1705 17th Street. Meetings start at 2 p.m.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You may be from Bakersfield if you "remember picking pumpkins out at Al Bussell's ranch."

Short takes around town: new park, same old homeless; Beautiful Bakersfield goes boring

Coming off another wonderful weekend here in Bako, lots of things happening, hot but not (yet) unbearable. Let's get to it:

* ... NEW PARK, SAME HOMELESS: The newly renovated Central Park officially opened this weekend with high expectations. The city spent hundreds of thousands sprucing up this "needle park," long a magnet for the homeless, the drug addicted and generally the worst of our community. The Bakersfield Museum of Art is next door and has been awaiting the renovation with crossed fingers.... meaning: will the homeless and drug addicts simply return after all the ribbon cuttings are done? Even I wondered privately if this wouldn't turn out to be what an old boss once called a bad story pitched with a different angle: "You can give a bum a shave and a haircut," he said, "but he's still a bum." So I had to smile when I saw a Facebook posting by none other than John Harte, a former Californian photographer known for his strong opinions as well as his talented eye for a good photograph. He posted the following status message followed by the picture he took:

"Here you go. 24 hours post grand opening of the new "family oriented" Central Park and here's our first transient settling in. The public needs to trust their media for balanced coverage. Local media which glowingly promoted the park without balancing it with the long history of transients, alcohol and drug use and crime at the park has violated that trust." Touche, John!



* ... BEAUTIFUL BUT BORING: Turned on the television Saturday night to find the "Beautiful Bakersfield" awards banquet being shown live. The awards were started by the Chamber of Commerce some years ago to honor folks who make our community proud, but since then they've grown into an endless and seemingly pointless series of awards for some of the most obscure categories imaginable. With all respect to some very deserving nominees and winners, watching the KGET-TV production was painful beyond words. Even KGET's Jim Scott and Robin Mangarin, old pros who do this for a living, could not breathe life into this DOA format. As they say down South: "this dog don't hunt." I just hope KGET is getting some credit to comply with FCC regulations that require the station to televise local content. Folks at the Chamber would do well to revisit the entire thing and reduce the number of awards and stop pretending it's the Oscars.
* ... CINDY'S FAREWELL: Californian columnist Herb Benham devoted his Sunday column to a fitting farewell to Cindy Pollard, a longtime Bakersfield resident and USC grad who is moving to Sacramento to take a job with PG and E. Cindy was always deeply involved in the community and will be missed.