Miami, Los Angeles top the list of airports with the highest theft rates by TSA employees, and Rabobank drops its sponsorship of a major world cycling team, citing the culture of doping and cheating

 * ... THEFT: Have you ever had anything stolen from your suitcase while it was being inspected at the airport? While thievery involving airport security is not widespread, the Transportation Security Agency is finally coming clean with just how extensive it is. Said an ABC News report: "The TSA has fired nearly 400 employees for allegedly stealing from travelers, and for the first time, the agency is revealing the airports where those fired employees worked." The top five airports for TSA employee theft: Miami, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Dallas-Fort Worth.

 * ... RABOBANK: The Dutch banking giant Rabobank has pulled out of competitive bike racing, citing the culture of doping that led to Lance Armstrong being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. The company was spending some $20 million a year to sponsor one of the sport's best teams, which excelled on the European circuit. Locally, Rabobank was also a big sponsor and supporter of the Tour of California. If the Tour of California returns to Bakersfield, the loss of such a prominent sponsor will be hard to overcome.

 * ... WRESTLING: You have to hand it to the supporters of the CSUB wrestling program, which is being funded almost entirely by private donations. Supporters of the storied program will hold another fund raiser on Thursday, Nov. 1, featuring Olympic gold medalist Jake Varner, at the Petroleum Club. Also appearing will be Kern County's other two Olympians, track cyclist Jimmy Watkins and hurdler Sonali Merrill. The cost is $100 per person. Call (661) 302-4455 for tickets.

 * ... FREEDOM TRAIN: From my mailbag, this one from Bill Schaefer: "Reading your items about the Freedom Train immediately had me humming the (tour) tune when it was touring the nation in 1947.  A Google search gave me the chance to hear the song again. It was written by Irving Berlin and recorded by a group including Johnnie Mercer, Peggy Lee, Bennie Goodman, Margaret Whiting and the Pied Pipers all on one recording. All proceeds went to the National Heritage Foundation. I didn't get to see the train, but I sure remember the song. Thanks for bringing back good memories."

 * ... RODEWALD: Kim Escalera answered my recent "Puzzler" asking if anyone remembered the tune that accompanied Don Rodewald's radio and television show. "Hello, I believe the answer to the question regarding the opening song is for Don Rodewald's show may be 'Popcorn' by Hot Butter.  If not, I know that it was someone's theme song back in the day.  I am kind of hoping I'm incorrect because if I'm right, I will have to bear the stamp... OMG I'm old!."

 * ... DON RESPONDS: Sorry Kim, but I spoke with Don Rodewald this week he said he never had a theme song but used to open his Wasco radio show with a "rattlely battlely thing to get everyone's attention. There really wasn't a song." Once he moved to KERO TV, he signed off his program by saying "Until tomorrow at three, when it's just you and me." Don is now living at Glenwood Gardens living the life of a retiree.

Olympian Jimmy Watkins is treated to a homecoming bash at Action Sports and signs that the anemic housing market is starting to find some traction

* ... HOT MARKET: More stories from our local housing market. The number of homes on the market is near an all-time low, prices are inching up and properties at the lower end of the price range are attracting multiple offers. One friend has been shopping for a home for his son for several months. "One came on the market in the area we wanted, it needed a lot of work but it sold in one day," he told me. "A cash deal from an investor in Los Angeles." At the upper end, homes are taking longer to sell but at they are starting to move. A colleague sold her house in the $440,000 range in less than a week. So if you are thinking of listing your home, you may want to consider doing it sooner rather than later.

* ... OVERHEARD: A local business executive passed along this conversation that happened during a recent job interview. "Your application indicates that you haven’t worked in about two years. What is that all about?" The applicant responds: "Well, I was on unemployment all that time and making a lot, but now my unemployment is running out so I have to look for a job.”

 * ... OBSERVED: This observation comes from reader Walter E. Stewart: "I wonder how many people observe waitress and waiters wipe off the seat where you sit after using the same towel to wipe off the table where your food is served. The same contaminated towel is repeatedly used from seat to seat and table to table."

 * ... OLYMPIAN: Hats off to Kerry Ryan over at Action Sports for giving Olympian Jimmy Watkins a heck of a welcome home party. A big crowd of more than 150 people packed Action Sports Sunday afternoon to welcome Watkins home and celebrate his 30th birthday. Watkins was moved by the adulation but told me that London was his first and last Olympics. A Kern County fire fighter, Watkins finished sixth in the track cycling competition.

 * ... GOOD DEED: The newest Rotary Club in Bakersfield, Twilight Rotary, recently completed a successful project providing 126 backpacks and supplies to the entire third grade class at Mount Vernon Elementary School. The club is barely three years old and has stepped up in a big way since its inception in community service projects through the direction of immediate past president Gary Fachin and now under the leadership of Robin Paggi. Several Rotarians, including Breakfast Rotary past presidents Cecil Martin and Jim Bell as well as West Rotary past president Brad Henderson, helped charter the club three years ago.

 * ... DID YOU KNOW? Did you know that there are some 650,000 registered motorcycles on the road in California, and more than nine million nationally? High gas prices have led to a surge in motorcycle sales as more folks use the bikes for commuting. Not surprisingly, the highest death rate for motorcycle crashes involve so-called "supersport" bikes that accelerate rapidly and can reach speeds of 160 miles per hour.