The shame of the Great Recession: abandoned homes, lost dreams, vandalism

 Bakersfield photographer John Harte produced this video on the abandoned homes off Highway 178 and Morning Drive. Enjoy.


Nobody's Road - An Essay in Infrared from John Harte on Vimeo.

A picture tells a thousand words ....

 Longtime Bakersfield photographer John Harte shared with me this wonderful photo that both showcases his talent while telling the sad story of the collapse of California's real estate market. John said he has been dabbling in high dynamic range photography and captured this image of the once proud sign for the now defunct McAllister Ranch in Southwest Bakersfield.

Short takes around town: Another "First Friday" is upon us, another departure for CSUB fund raising, and a local kid makes us proud

Lots happening around our community so here are some short tidbits around town:

* ... ANOTHER OUT AT CSUB: There's been more turnover in the fund raising office over at Cal State Bakersfield. Sheri Horn Bunk is the latest to leave, opting instead to become Foundation Director over at Taft College. This follows the departure of longtime employee Laura Wolfe, who according to President Horace Mitchell was the victim of budget cuts. Still, the departures of Wolfe and now Bunk have many university supporters talking about new development head Beverly Byl and where she's taking the team.

* ... LATIN ART EXHIBIT: Make sure to redline this Friday on your calendar. After all, it is “first Friday” and downtown will be buzzing. The weather should be perfect (if a tad warm) and make sure to stop by Metro Galleries over on 19th Street to catch “Latination,” a juried show of art with an Hispanic theme. Some of this stuff is quite good and Don Martin, galleries owner, tells me there will be complimentary Mexican eats along with a no host margarita bar. The pictures below are by Patti Dolittle (red scarf) and Kim Jessup.





* ... BUSINESS INDUSTRY BREAKFAST: The 24th Annual Business and Industry Leaders Breakfast is set for Thursday, Sept. 17, over at the Petroleum Club. This is put on by the Golden Empire Gleaners and is always a good place to network with local business leaders. This year’s speaker: Sean McNally, vice president of corporate and government affairs for Grimmway Farms. Call 661-324-2767 for more information.

* ... JUST THINKING: Is there any weirder story than the arrest of Phillip Garrido in the abduction of Jaycee Lee Dugard? You have to wonder how this one case will affect California’s plan to partially relieve the budget mess by paroling thousands of prisoners early. And it has certainly raised questions about a system that paroles a man like Garrido, who served only 11 years in prison after a rape and kidnapping that landed him a 50-year sentence. Expect a huge outcry in the name of this poor girl who spent 18 years held against her will.

* ... LOCAL KID DOES GOOD: Always nice to recognize local kids doing well. The latest is Troy Harvey, a Bakersfield High and Bakersfield College grad and former Californian photography intern, who graduated Sunday from the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. Troy is now in the job market and is contemplating whether to remain in Southern California or to return to Bakersfield. Thanks to former Californian photographer John Harte for the tip on Troy and the picture below.

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.

The man behind the images you love

Sad to see that John Harte, a 20-plus year employee of The Californian, taking a buyout as the company struggles with the down economy. John has taken some of the iconic images of our community (check out his gallery here) including the one shown here of Garth Brooks on one knee proposing to Trisha Yearwood at the Crystal Palace. John will continue to freelance for the paper but has his own side business (his website is here). We'll miss his news photographs and his special eye.