Marvin and Nadene Steinert are honored by the Kern Community Foundation with the Spirit of Philanthrophy award, and what is the etiquette about bringing pizza on a small airplane

 * ... LITTER: Carol Knapp is so fed up with litter that she tried to track down the person who dumped a pile of papers in the Big Lots parking lot. Among the trash was a student's paper from Longfellow School, so Carol tried - unsuccessfully - to contact Principal Mario Castro to reach the offending parent.  "I feel if parents are slobs then their children will be the same. Schools need to teach the children as early as the first grade that littering is wrong."

* ... STEINERTS: Hats off to the Kern Community Foundation which recently recognized Marvin and Nadene Steinert with the group's "Spirit of Philanthropy" Award. The Steinerts are among our community's most generous benefactors, and they recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. The event was held at the Bakersfield Museum of Art. (file photo of the Steinerts)

 * ... PADRE: One of the social events of the year was held last weekend at The Padre Hotel, where Imbide Wine and Spirits partnered with the Bakersfield North Rotary Foundation to raise money for charities. There were more than 20 winemakers present and I am told it was a "who's who" of Bakersfield who showed up to support the event. Hats off to Tami and David Dobbs over at Imbibe for helping make this event a success.

* ... ROAD TRIP: Notes from a road trip I took recently. The Phoenix to Bakersfield U.S. Airways flight is always a spectacle (you almost always run into someone you know), but these days it is full of oil field contractors headed to Kern County for work. As one Canadian contractor told me this week: "I feel like Bakersfield is my second home I am here so much."

 * ... PIZZA, REALLY? And speaking of airline travel, is it really necessary to bring an entire, freshly cooked pizza on the plane with you? What is the etiquette about sitting down in a cramped plane and gobbling down an entire pizza while the aroma fills the plane?

 * ... PRESS: Expect to see a major story on Bakersfield and our economy soon in the The Wall Street Journal. The paper is sending one of its veteran San Francisco-based reporters to Bakersfield to report on our oil boom and local economy.  Be looking for this piece in the weeks to come.

 * ... SERVICE: You can add the Kleenerz laundry to the list of local companies that go out of their way to provide terrific customer service. Hard to beat the smiles and efficiency at the company's Brundage Lane office.

 * ... TURKEYS: Hats off to the students and staff at Independence High School who are joining forces with Living Grace Church to provide turkeys and non-perishable food items for the needy this Saturday. Donations will be accepted from 10 a.m. to noon in the high school parking lot to benefit a local ministry, the Flood, and Independence families. Call (661) 428-7265 for details.

Bako Bits: foreclosures move to higher end homes and an update on community treasure Marv Steinert

 * ... MORE SCARY HOUSING NEWS: I'd love to share some good news on the housing front but the truth is our country and are community remain mired in a nasty mess that will likely linger on for a good time to come. More evidence of that came from the Wall Street Journal that reported that an increasing number of foreclosures are now coming in the high end market. Up to this point, the lion's share of foreclosures have been coming in the entry level market, where many folks got in way over their heads thanks to aggressive lending and "creative financing." Yet now we learn the high end accounted for 30 percent of the foreclosures in June, up from 16 percent when all this started three years ago. You can read the full Journal report here but this is disturbing data on any level. Some of these foreclosures involve so called "exotic mortgages" like interest only vehicles, which are virtually impossible to refinance once the property is less worth than the loan. Add to that folks losing their jobs at all levels, and we have a problem. From the Journal story:

 "The report shows that foreclosures, after declining earlier this year, began to accelerate in the late spring and that more expensive homes have more recently accounted for a growing share of all foreclosures. "The slope of that curve in recent months is much sharper than it was recently," said Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow. Rising foreclosures among more-expensive homes could create added pressure for a housing market that has shown signs of stabilizing in recent months as sales of lower-priced homes pick up."

 * ... UPDATE ON MARV:  Heard the other day that local businessman Marvin (Marv) Steinert continues to battle a condition that has left him virtually blind. A couple months ago Marv came down with something called "temporal arteritis," an inflammation or damage to the blood vessels that supply the head. It apparently has affected his eyesight to the point where he cannot see, but he is hanging tough, taking visitors and staying involved in the community. Marv is one of the most personally generous - and good spirited - businessmen in our community, and he has spread his largess to non-profits across town. Keep him in your thoughts.



 * ... LOCAL KID WINS AWARD: Kudos to Jadon Gauthier, a Bakersfield High School grad and Biola University student, for picking up another award for "Jitensha" (Bicycle), a short film shot on location in Tokyo. (read previous story here) Jadon is a junior down at Biola and the son of Jay Gauthier, a manager at Guardian Guaranty Corp. The film didn't win anything at the Venice Film Festival but did pick up a Crystal Heart Award from the Heartland Film Festival. Jadon says "it nominates us for an opportunity for a $10,000 Vision Award for short film!" He says the movie cast and crew (check out the website here) is waiting to find out if Jitensha will be selected for the prestigious Sundance film festival.

 * ... VIA ARTE A SUCCESS: Stopped by the Via Arte exhibit over at The Marketplace this weekend and was amazed at the crowd and pleasantly impressed with some of the terrific chalk art. This is one of the signature events for the Bakersfield Museum of Art and it wouldn't be a success without folks from the museum like executive director Bernie Herman, Emily Falke and David Gordon, who put in long hours to make this a success. (Photo courtesy of Barbara Reid)

Bako Bits: A kid goes east to school and thoughts for some local folks on the injured reserve list

Cleaning off my desk and checking on folks around town ...

* ... OFF TO FORDHAM: Is there anything better than seeing your children succeed? Duane and Corey Keathley have a lot to be thankful for now that youngest daughter Michele is off to school at Fordham University in the Bronx on a volleyball scholarship. Duane surprised Michele recently by flying to Buffalo, N.Y. to watch Fordham play Seton Hall, Boston College and the University of Buffalo. Michele made the starting rotation as a freshman and - get this - her roommate is Randi Ewing, daughter of former Georgetown and NBA great Patrick Ewing. Meanwhile, sister Kimberly Keathley is thriving as well, now a junior at Point Loma Nazarene down near San Diego. (Michele is on the left with Kim in picture below, courtesy of the Keathleys) Duane is a principal at CB Richard Ellis and is president of the downtown Rotary this year.





* ... ON THE INJURED LIST: Heard that old friend Leonard Bidart, one of the owners of Bidart Brothers Farms and a generous sponsor of local non-profits, took a nasty spill on his bicycle last weekend while coming down Lion's Trail near Caliente. Turns out Leonard broke his jaw in several places and underwent a long surgery at the UCLA Medical Center. He's apparently on the mend but it will be a long road back. Leonard is an avid cyclist and fitness nut and one of the all around good people of our community. Send some positive thoughts his way.

* ... ALSO RECOVERING: Also try to keep Marvin Steinert in your thoughts as well. Marv is one of our city's real treasures, personally generous, active in groups like the Stars Theater and downtown Rotary. Turns out Marv is suffering from a condition known as temporal arteritis, an inflammation or damage to blood vessels that supply the head area. Marv's eyesight has been temporarily adversely affected but he's under good care. (photo of Marv below)



* ... FALL FUND RAISING: If it's fall in Bakersfield you can bet you'll be attending a fund raiser sometime soon. And pity the school and non-profits who must be struggling in this horrible economy when so many folks can't be as generous as they would like. But here are a couple of good causes for you to consider: On Thursday, Oct. 1 Garces Memorial High School will hold its annual Fall BBQ. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the door. Doors open at 5 p.m. Then a week later on Thursday, Oct. 8, Cal State Bakersfield holds its 31st annual Fall BBQ for the athletics program. Tickets are $25 sold before the event and $30 at the door. To order tickets or help with a sponsorship, call 661-654-3473.