New study sheds positive light on City of Bakersfield municipal workforce, and plaintiff's lawyer David Cohn weighs in on the power plant implosion

 * ... CITY PAYROLL: The city of Bakersfield under City Manager Alan Tandy is running much leaner than cities of comparable size. At least that's the conclusion of a new study by the Washington Examiner, which calculated the ratio of residents to city workers for U.S. cities with a population of at least 200,000. Here is one example: while one out of every 28 residents in San Francisco is on the city payroll, Bakersfield has the highest - 246 residents per employee. Said reader John Pryor: "We should be proud of our local leadership and management. Overstaffing translates to unfunded pension liability and ultimately to municipal bankruptcy."

 * ... COMMODITIES: The value of all Kern County agricultural commodities jumped 11 percent last year, elevating Kern as the second largest agriculture producing county in the nation. The top crops: grapes, almonds, milk, citrus, pistachios, cattle, carrots, hay and alfalfa, cotton and potatoes.

* ... POWER PLANT: Local plaintiff's lawyer David Cohn is questioning if whoever approved the PG and E plant explosion did its due diligence.  Talking on First Look with Scott Cox, Cohn wondered why the twin plant towers did not have protective screening (wraps or plywood) to prevent shrapnel from flying into the crowd of onlookers. He called the power plant a "honeycomb" of steel and valves and pipes that posed a clear safety risk to anyone in the area.

 * ... OVERHEARD: An absolutely ebullient woman, grinning ear to ear, runs up to a friend in a local Starbucks and says, "It just took me four minutes to get into town on the Westside Parkway! I love it!"

* ... WEST ROTARY: West Rotary helped some needy children this past weekend, allowing several dozen kids to particiape in the $100 Children's Shopping Spree at Kohl's. Said member Vija Turjanis: "Instead of 30 kids, the final count was 32, and when Rotarians realized that there were two additional children, they magically produced two more $100 gift cards. It was a fabulous event and wonderful to watch these children's faces beaming with joy when they come out of the store with their new clothes for school. Additionally, after the children completed their shopping, they were treated to a hot breakfast, and then they were also able to select a brand new backpack equipped with school supplies from a variety of colors."

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: And here is a special Bakersfieldism from longtime resident and Californian reader Robert Delgado, who just celebrated his 87th birthday. "I remember when I was about 5 years old, my dad took a wagon load of hay all the way down Wible Road (now Oak Street) to the stock yard, that was next to the train tracks for cattle loading. At that time there was no overpass and only a Man Signal on the track."

First Look with Scott Cox, a three-hour local news talk radio and live video production, kicks off on Monday, March 18, and Bryan Burrow takes over the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra

* ... SYMPHONY: Former banker Bryan Burrow has taken over control of the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra as president and chief executive officer. Burrow said he hopes to bring a strong business model to the 80-year-old organization, which suffers from an aging audience and limited visibility. The next performance is this Saturday when the symphony teams with the Masterworks Chorale, CSUB Singers and a children's chorus. Tickets are available and the Rabobank box office or on ticketmasters.com.

 * ... FIRST LOOK: A new, three-hour local news program will kick off Monday, March 18, on KERN 1180. It's a partnership between The Californian and American General Media, which owns KERN 1180, and it will feature news, weather, live entertainment and analysis. Called First Look with Scott Cox, the show will be simulcast on the radio while streamed live in high definition video on bakersfield.com. The show will run weekdays from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. in a new TV studio in The Californian newsroom. Stay tuned.

* ... REMODEL: Good news for folks who live in the downtown area. The Smart and Final grocery store on Golden State Freeway is about to undergo a major facelift and renovation. Employees there say work should start in a couple months to upgrade the store to resemble the more modern Smart and Final locations elsewhere in town.

 * ... YOGURT: Burrberry, the frozen yogurt shop that opened on 18th Street a year or so ago, has moved over a block in to the heart of the downtown arts district. It is now located in the former location of the Spotlight Cafe. Owner Pam Gallagher says they've expanded offerings to include freshly baked croissants, breakfast sandwiches and a full line of coffee and tea. Next week she plans on adding soups and sandwiches for the lunch crowd. "

 * ... TRASH: Is noting that one's "culture" may be responsible for littering a racist comment? That's what one reader, Fred Castillo, said in responding to an earlier post from a business executive. "I'm not even going to get into the underlying racial tones intimated in those comments. Call me crazy but it seems less a 'cultural' issue so much as a socio economic problem. I was at a local park preparing for my walk when a car in obvious need of exterior maintenance drove up. The 'kids' proceeded to eat their fast food and tossed everything out the car windows after they were done with no obvious shame. I came this close to yelling at them but had second thoughts as I was by myself and there was no telling what their reaction would have been. Let you 'local executive' know that I am Hispanic and the folks littering were Caucasian." For the record Fred, the executive who wrote that is also Hispanic and her reference to "culture" was not about race, but rather about how folks are reared and what cultural values are passed down in the family. Culture is not always ethnic centric.

 * ... NEAR MISS: Shame on the driver of an older green Honda or Saturn that blew through the stoplight at 18th and F streets Tuesday, almost broadsiding a car by inches and giving its driver (me) a near heart attack. Everyone seems to have a horror story about drivers who blindly run red lights across our town.

Local radio host Jaz McKay issue below the belt comments about former colleague Ralph Bailey, and the sad rise and fall of former NBA player Robert Swift

* ... THE BUZZ: The decision by local radio talk show host Ralph Bailey to leave KNZR for cross-town rival KERN 1180 triggered a harsh response from Bailey's former colleague, Jaz McKay. McKay posted a lengthy, vitriolic message attacking Bailey on his Facebook page after Bailey made his announcement. The message immediately made the rounds on social networking, being forwarded and reposted until it was apparently deleted. Among the below-the-belt comments were, "Farewell to the man with the biggest ego known in history... Farewell to the man who couldn't keep his story straight on his political beliefs... Farewell to the man who although as much as he tried could not get past the fact that he is black." Ouch. Bailey's new show will run on KERN 1180 weekdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. (stock photos of Jaz McKay and Ralph Bailey)

 * ... RUBIO: Another stunner last week was the sudden resignation of state Sen. Michael Rubio (D-Shafter) from the state Senate. Rubio took a job with Chevron Corp. to be its director of governmental affairs in Sacramento. That's a fancy title for lobbyist, and it doesn't hurt that Rubio was holding hearings on reforming the California Environmental Quality Act and is taking to Chevron a pocket full of contacts and inside knowledge. Rubio said he was leaving to spend more time with his wife, Dora, and his two daughters, the youngest of whom was born with Down syndrome. (family photo provided by Michael Rubio)

 * ... BAD FORM:  It's sad to watch the ongoing story of the rise and fall of Robert Swift, the onetime Garces High school basketball standout who went on to the Naitonal Basketball Association before injuries forced him out of the game. His $1 million home in Seattle is in foreclosure, and he is refusing to leave. According to a story on AOL: "The home's new owner has gone to court to have Swift removed from the property, and court records show that he is now past a grace period to leave. He has a final deadline to vacate the premises by the end of the month -- and after that, he could be forcibly removed, KOMO News reported. "He will have to respond to the sheriff, I'm sure," the new owner said. "This is a pretty sad case of an ex-NBA star who once held such promise but now has found himself in trouble."

* ... LIONS: Hats off to the Bakersfield Breakfast Lions Club and Tim Delcid who donated $12,700 to the local chapter of the Honor Flight, the group that takes aging veterans to Washington, D.C. to view the war memorials. Local organizer Lili Marsh said it costs $1,500 to send one veteran, so the Lions Club donation allows nine to go on the Spring flight. "The looks on the faces and the tears in the eyes of these humble vets, when they see that they have not been forgotten ... really brings home the significance of this of this simple gesture to the generation that saved the world! Breakfast Lions rock!"

 * ... RICHARDSON: Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson will be the keynote speaker during the annual Kern County Economic Summit, set for Wednesday, March 20, at the DoubleTree Hotel. The cost is $100 per ticket and you can register online at www.kedc.com or www.bakersfieldchamber.org.

 * ... RECIPE: Steve Agerton asked for help in tracking down a garlic butter recipe made by the owners of the old Joe's National Market on East 18th Street. "We used to get gallons of this garlic butter for the Oil Man's barbecues every year. It has since closed down and out of business. I know this might be a crazy request but we wanted to try anyway." Can anyone help Steve?

Conservative talk show host Ralph Bailey will join rival radio station KERN 1180

 Ralph Bailey, the conservative Bakersfield radio talk show host, is jumping to crosstown rival KERN 1180. Bailey left his longtime home of KNZR yesterday, and today it was revealed he had joined American General Media's KERN 1180.
 Bailey will be on the air in early March in his familiar 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. time slot. The show will retain the familiar "The Ralph Bailey Show" label.
 Bailey replaces KERN host Scott Cox, who is moving to the mornings in a joint venture with The Californian newsroom. That 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. show will be called First Look with Scott Cox.

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman cites Muslim hypocrisy in insulting other religions, and another successful young man returns to Bakersfield to live and work

 * ... FRIEDMAN: The ongoing protests and violence in the Middle East that led to the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya drew a strong response from New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman. Friedman is one of our nation's foremost Middle East experts and he spared no words in calling out Muslim protesters on their own hypocrisy when it comes to insulting other religions. "They might want to look at the chauvinistic bile that is pumped out by some of their own media — on satellite television stations and Web sites or sold in sidewalk bookstores outside of mosques — insulting Shiites, Jews, Christians, Sufis and anyone else who is not a Sunni, or fundamentalist, Muslim. There are people in their countries for whom hating 'the other' has become a source of identity and a collective excuse for failing to realize their own potential." More reasons why all of us should practice tolerance.

 * ... COMING HOME: Another successful youngster has returned to Bakersfield to work and live. Neil K. Gehlawat, a graduate of Stockdale High and later UC Berkeley, has joined the law firm of Chain, Cohn and Stiles as an associate attorney in its personal injury department. He graduated from Stockdale in 2005 and later earned a degree from Cal. He went on to attend The University of Texas School of Law, where he served as a Notes Editor for the Texas Law Review and was a regional champion in the National Appellate Advocacy Competition. He obtained his juris doctorate in
2012.

 * .... OVERHEARD: A young woman who just returned from Boston is overheard talking about coming home. "I am always amazing how friendly people are here," she said. "At the airport, at the car wash and even at Starbucks people are just so nice. Yesterday in the drive-through at Starbucks and woman two cars in front of me paid for the entire line. It's just great coming home."

 * ... SEXTING: If your teenager is using his or her cell phone for something other than emergencies - like sending suggestive flirty messages to others - chances are that she may be engaged in sex. That's the result of a survey as reported in The Los Angeles Times, which said teenagers who engage in "sexting" are seven times more like to be engaged in sex. (photo courtesy of The Los Angeles Times)

 * ... HISTORY: Several readers wrote with questions about the 1945 incident in which a B-25 Mitchell ran into the Empire State Building, killing 14 people including three crewmen. It happened on a Saturday morning when the B-25, headed from Boston to LaGuardia, was cleared to land in heavy fog and mistakenly veered right into the building. The plane hit the north side of the building between the 78th and 80th floor.

 * ... SNYDER: Congratulations to Toni Snyder who came home with a prestigious honor from the Radio Show convention in Dallas. Snyder was named "general manager of the year" in the 2012 National Association of Broadcasters and Radio Advertising Bureau competition. Snyder runs the seven American General Media radio stations in Bakersfield. Californian Radio, which runs weekdays from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., appears on KERN 1180, one of the AGM stations.

 * ... ASHBURN: Former state Sen. Roy Ashburn has picked up more endorsements in his bid to return to the Kern County Board of Supervisors in the First District. Among those endorsing Ashburn were Delano Mayor Grace Vallejo, Ridgecrest Mayor Ron Carter and McFarland Mayor Manuel Cantu Jr. Ashburn faces former China Lake Naval Weapons Station commander Mick Gleason in November.