President Biden turns to Venezuelan oil while snubbing domestic producers, City Council Andrae Gonzales' latest idea to combat dumpster fires lands with an unpopular thud and good news for fliers to Dallas out of Meadows Field

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.

 * ... SMART ENERGY POLICY? If you live in the oil patch, as we do, then you have to be scratching your head over President Biden's energy policy. As the administration continues to wage its war on fossil fuels and U.S. energy companies, the administration is now cutting a deal with the tyrants who run

Venezuela to increase production in return for the U.S. loosening sanctions. Wouldn't it make more sense to use U.S. produced energy, made in the U.S.A. and produced by American citizens instead of doing business with avowed enemies of our country? This comes on top of Biden begging OPEC to increase production, which they rejected. Wouldn't it make more sense to lift the restrictions on domestic oil and gas consumption so the jobs (and energy) stay here? Go figure.

 * ... HOMELESS ISSUES: It must suck to be City Councilman Andrae Gonzales sometimes. You represent Ward 2, which encompasses the downtown area where drugs, crime, vagrancy and homelessness have been out of control for too many years now to count. Whatever he has tried - better coordination with local businesses, private security and million-dollar new homeless shelters - hasn't worked. And now Gonzales is pushing an ordinance forcing businesses to securely lock their dumpsters so the homeless will stop setting the fires that have become all too common. But Gonzales immediately ran into a wall of protests from the very people he serves, downtown business owners who see this as yet another Band-Aid approach to a serious issue. It must have stung when Cassie Bittle, whose family runs KC Steakhouse and a woman who has become the voice of a frustrated business class downtown, posted this on Facebook as a response to his idea: "We've tried the locks, gravity bars, and fancy lids. Only other option is a cage which takes up space and construction for a business that has functioned without issue for over 50 years at the same location," she said. "There was no issue with homeless taking the bottles and cans until the lawlessness started...  Fixing a symptom of the issue not the root cause. AND we'll have three dumpsters to secure here pretty soon to meet new state regulations...why not throw a city ordinance in the mix.  Hope this grant doesn't make a $5,000 private project turn into a $50,000 publicly funded dumpster disaster." The only thing that is clear is this: the city's inability to deal with a very real crisis - and if you doubt it's a crisis have a chat with Cassie Bittle - has been a dismal failure. Half hearted ideas like putting the burden on businesses to secure their dumpsters are too little, too late.

 * ... MORE HOMELESS TROUBLE: If you are a regular cyclist, or runner, you know the Coffee Road underpass of the Kern River bike path is often flooded and can be extremely dangerous. But why? The area is not near water and you certainly can't blame the rain. Well now it comes to pass that we know the answer: according to what one city maintenance worker told a fellow cyclist, a homeless woman has been breaking the sprinkler heads on the irrigation lines to bathe, allowing the water to run freely and flood the pedestrian and cycling path. How does that make you feel about your community?

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: There's some good news for those of us who fly out of Meadows Field. American Airlines has announced it is increasing its capacity between Bakersfield and Dallas by using an Air Bus 319 instead of the smaller CRJ 900. That means there will be a full first-class seating and other amenities like WiFi and better air conditioning. The new service starts this week.

* ... MEMORIES: Take a look at this old saloon, located in the space now occupied by Jerry's Pizza, that appeared on the Kern County of Old Facebook page.

The coming spectacular solar eclipse, discovering a killer superfood salad and celebrating the perfect down-home simplicity of the 24th Street Cafe

 * ... SOLAR ECLIPSE: Where will you be for the solar eclipse on Monday? This rare event will happen at 10:15 a.m. Pacific time and will end at 2:50 p.m. Easter time. We won't get a total blackout in this part of California, but it will be spectacular nonetheless. (If you want to get the full 100

percent blackout, fly to Salem, Oregon on the west coast or Charleston, S.C. on the east.) Folks are already stocking up on "eclipse glasses" or building their own pinhole projectors. Binoculars can be used but only if you have slide-on filters to protect your eyes.

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "Amazing things will happen today if you choose not to be a miserable cow."

* ... STEAK: The most popular local image on Facebook last week was a 33-ounce tomahawk ribeye steak being served at Luigi's Delicatessen. Enough to feed four or more people, the tomahawk is a stunning  culinary masterpiece that that costs the princely sum of $75. When Luigi's served it Friday, Facebook exploded with posts showing folks consuming this meat lover's special. KC Steakhouse also serves the tomahawk and given its popularity, expect to see it served elsewhere.

 * ... GOOD EATS: And speaking of our iconic local eateries, I dropped into the 24th Street Cafe on Saturday for a post exercise caloric experience. There are few more entertaining places in town to eat than at the cafe's friendly counter enjoying a deep menu and crisp service while watching the world go by.

 * ... MORE EATS: As long as I am talking about food, I would be remiss if I didn't mention  an impressive "superfood" salad available at BJ's Restaurant off Stockdale Highway in the Southwest. Perhaps one of the best and healthiest salads I have had in a long time, it features baby kale, Romaine lettuce, Peruvian quinoa, sliced apples, fresh blueberries, diced cucumbers and tomatoes, jicama, sweet corn and asparagus.

* ... GOOD FORM: Congratulations to Dr. Tom Gordon and Bakersfield West Rotary for sponsoring 30 needy children for a 'back to school' shopping spree. Vija Turjanis of Kern Behavioral Health and Recovery Services said Rotary West has been doing this since 2005. The kids were given $100 each to shop at Kohl's.

 * ... GRAPEVINE: John Kelley added this note to my recent piece about how the Grapevine was named:  "Richard to add to your blog on the community of Grapevine, as you printed Grapevine Canyon was named by Don Pedro Fages, ( La Canada de Las Uvas ) which translates to 'The Canyon of the Grapes.' The grapes are Cimarron Grapes, they grew so profusely the soldiers under Fages had to hack their way through them. Don Pedro Fages was chasing army deserters. Also Don Pedro named Buena Lake, and the area he viewed was a labyrinth of lakes and tulares. Many people believe that Father Francisco Garces was the first white man to enter the San Joaquin Valley; not so Don Pedro Fages was there four years ahead of Garces."

                         

Local attorney George Martin plans big music festival, KC Steakhouse to be featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and a Valentine love story

 * … MUSIC: Local attorney George Martin is at it again, this time bringing a huge music festival to Bakersfield on May 23. There is not doubt that Martin, brains behind the highly successful Bakersfield Business Conference, knows what he is doing but I have to wonder about the price to attend. The

cheapest tickets are going for $135 each and "preferred seats" are a whopping $425. That's $270 to $850 per couple just to walk in the door to hear bands like Steppenwolf, Chubby Checker, Asleep at the Wheel and LeAnn Rimes. (Food and drinks are extra) These long-in-the-tooth acts are well beyond their prime (Steppenwolf's first hit was 47 years ago), but if anyone can pull this off, it is George. Yikes.

* … SCAM: Those scam phone calls from the Internal Revenue Agency just won't stop. This from Arnold Johansen: "I came home yesterday to find the phone message light blinking. I hit the play button and heard the following; 'This is an official final notice from the IRS. We are filing a lawsuit unless you immediately call (206) 501-3133. Thank you.' I knew mnothing was pending and I called my CPA. She said it is a scam of course and that her aunt got taken in by the call. You might want to alert your readers."

 * … FOODIE BEST BET: The Padre Hotel bar boasts an excellent grilled cheese sandwich with an added savory twist: a fried egg.

 * … KC STEAKHOUSE: And speaking of food, it looks like Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives will feature our own KC Steakhouse on Friday, March 6. That's the word from the popular downtown restaurant.

 * … VALENTINE: Today's valentine comes courtesy of Beverly Hayden: "The old miniature golf course on Mount Vernon has a special place in my memories. One summer evening my sister Judy and a few classmates from Bakersfield High School had finished playing miniature golf there and were waiting for one of our parents to give us a ride home when a car pulled up full of cute guys from East Bakersfield High. They invited us to go hang out with them, we said no because we wouldn't have had our parents permission. We did exchange phone numbers and I am thankful that the guy I had my eyes on persisted. His name is Rod and that was 57 years ago and we have been married 55 years."

 * … ROBOTICS: Judy Henderson wrote to send kudos to the robotic teams of Centennial and Highland high schools. "The have competed and won their way to the state competition. The matches will be held at the Pasadena Convention Center this Saturday. Each year, an international committee decides what the challenges will be in the robotic  arena. Students throughout the world then build a robot that can meet the new challenges. These students are tomorrow’s engineers."

 * … MEMORIES: Some memories of old Bakersfield from reader Elinor Grant: "Does anyone else remember when car license plates changed color every other year? One year they would have a black background with orange letters. Then they would switch to an orange background with black letters. Black denoting oil and orange for the California poppies. And mail delibery was twide a day Monday through Saturday. Ours came at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. And during December that included Sunday. At three cents for a letter and a penny for a postcard."