Experts say it is harder to contract the coronavirus outside, the Padre hotel restaurant and bar opens back up for to-go service and is it safe to allow churches to reopen?

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 person or organization.

 * ... CORONAVIRUS: It might come as no surprise, but it is worth noting that medical experts now concede it is much better for you - and harder to contract the coronavirus - being outside rather than inside. This news come as people have become weary and restless over local governments closing parks and

beaches, shutting down basketball and tennis courts and generally doing everything possible to keep people inside. “Parks, beaches — as long as they're not cheek to jowl, cycling, walking, this is good,” said Tom Frieden, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Enjoy nature. It’s good for us, and it has very low risk of spreading the virus.” And that, is good news.

 * ... CHURCH SERVICES: Meanwhile, we have all heard the arguments for reopening church services in this pandemic. But Glenn Bland, owner of Bland Heating and Solar, cautions it may not be the smartest idea. This is a tad long but worth a read: "Lately I’ve seen lots of noise about opening houses of worship and restaurants with social distancing measures in place. As an expert in HVAC technology, I’m saying it’s just not possible. Air conditioning systems recirculate the air within the building envelope at a rate of approximately 400 cubic feet per minute per 12,000 btus of capacity.
Typically there’s about 12,000 btus of unit capacity for every 200 square feet of commercial building.
Example: 2,000 square building/200 = (10) X 400cfm = 4,000cfm. So in a 2,000 square ft. building with 8 ft. ceilings, every four minutes would be a 100% complete circulation of all the air in the building. The formula is directly proportional so the rate of change stays the same regardless of building size. nAre you getting the picture? It wouldn’t matter if you’re 6 feet apart or six inches, everything contained in your bodily excretions in vapor form is shared with everyone in the building envelope every FOUR MINUTES. Worship via Zoom, order for take out or delivery, let your hair grow a little longer, cut your own toenails, shop on-line, etc. Having patience a little while longer may save your life or the life of someone you love."

* ... CAFE SMITTEN: I was thrilled when the owners of Cafe Smitten decided to reopen their restaurants for take-out service. That, and news that Uricchio's Trattoria would open for curbside service on May 19, sends a strong message that we may be slowly returning to normal. Mayor Karen Goh was also happy about Smitten, posting a series of pictures and this valentine on Facebook: "Thank you, Bakersfield, for continuing to support our SMALL BUSINESSES. Welcome back, Cafe Smitten, Shai and Stasie Bitton! Delicious quinoa bowl – perfect combination of warm red quinoa, egg, avocado, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and kale."

 * ... MORE EATS: Elsewhere, I hear the Brimstone bar at The Padre Hotel will reopen, possibly this week. Also returning for curbside service is Woolgrower's this week, and next Tuesday, May 19, Uricchio's Trattoria will be up and running with a limited pickup service.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Nobody looks back on their life and remembers the nights they had plenty of sleep."

 * ... FOX THEATER: You have to admire the creative thinking at The Fox Theater, which is raising money during this pandemic by renting out its signage for $200 a day.

 * ... MEMORIES: Take a trip down memory lane and check out these photos, separated only by the hands of time.

Supervisor Leticia Perez stiffs KGET and fails to show up for her own debate, Kern County voters to decide the fate of two marijuana initiatives and GM kills the Impala, but the sedan will live on in our car culture

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 person or organization.

 * ... SUPER TUESDAY: More than 60,000 Kern County voters have already casts their ballots in the Super Tuesday primary, when California joins 13 other states and the territory of Somoa in deciding both local and national elections. Locally, two marijuana initiatives are on the ballot,

Measure D and the competing Measure E, which was put forth by the Board of Supervisors. Supervisors David Couch and Leticia Perez are up for reelection, as is Mayor Karen Goh. For what it is worth, I am voting for Measure E and I am voting against Proposition 13, a huge school bond measure. I also recommend you vote to send Karen Goh back for a second term, allow David Couch to return to office and give Leticia Perez another term, despite some recent bad form on her part that I will discuss next.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Talented? You bet. I can lie in bed and fall asleep halfway through whatever show I’m watching. Every. Single. Time"

* ... LETICIA PEREZ: What was Supervisor Leticia Perez thinking? You are the incumbent, you are invited to a debate to face your challengers, you confirm, and then you stand them up. That's right, Perez was a 'no show' for the KGET televised debate and anchor Jim Scott did not appear pleased. I am told Perez was supposed to be there at 6:30 p.m. along with the other four candidates, they waited, and at 7 p.m. decided to go ahead without her. No phone call, no explanation, nothing. I contacted Perez and was told she was meeting with the Senate Pro Tem working on oil and gas leases, but Facebook told a different story: she was spotted at a birthday party for Democratic state Sen. Melissa Hurtado. Either Perez is supremely confident in her reelection, or she committed a brazen act of bad etiquette,  or both. It was bad form, supervisor, really bad form. For the record, the other candidates are realtor Ben Valdez, businessman Ronnie Cruz, entrepreneur David Abbasi and Greenfield Union School District Board member Dr. Ricardo Herrera.

 * ... TRASH: Lia Mendez is a runner and cyclist who knows how to set an example for the rest of us. Check out her post on Facebook: "A few months ago, I got into the habit of picking up litter while running the Kern River Parkway trails. It started as an impromptu cleanup effort, as I would inevitably encounter at least one discarded plastic bag on every run, and my rule became that if I found a bag, I wouldn't stop picking up trash until I'd filled it up. Because I would often find multiple plastic bags on the same run, I usually ended up removing a lot of litter from the trail. Pretty soon, my regular running route was starting to look a lot better. Often, other people enjoying the trails take notice of me picking up trash. They smile and offer me thanks, a fist bump, sometimes a high five.
"There's plenty for everyone!" I smile back at them, and hope that the next time they come across a piece of trash on the trail, they remember that crazy lady they saw running with a handful of garbage that one time, and decide to take action themselves. When I encounter trash in the environment, I don't see it as someone else's problem. I see it as an opportunity to lead by example and help make my community a better place." Thank you, Lia, for setting a good example for all of us.

* ... LAST IMPALA: General Motors has announced it is ending the production of the Chevrolet Impala, one of the most beloved classic American made sedans of all time. Sales of sedans have slumped and the Impala fell out of favor with car buyers. But one place it will always have a home is at the classic car shows in Bakersfield, where the Impala remains one of the all time favorites.

 * ... MEMORIES: And from the Kern County History Fans Facebook page, check out this old photo of Taft Union High School.

The first Sikh deputy in Texas is shot and killed, Bakersfield gets its own 'poop patrol' to help clean up the streets and the Milk Carton Kids come to the Crystal Palace this week

 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 reflect the views of any other individual, news organization or business. Send news items to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... RIP OFFICER: Do you remember when a group of local Kern County veterans and others drove to Texas with supplies in the wake of Hurricane Harvey? The group - among them were Chad

Garcia, Christopher Quiñones, Julio Torres, Kenny Sanders and Richard Joseph Forrester - were met in Rockport, Texas, by local Harris County deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal, a friendly Sikh deputy who helped coordinate the delivery. Garcia called him an "amazing man and a true humanitarian." It turns out deputy Dhaliwal was shot and killed on duty recently, yet another senseless killing that leaves us all speechless. Police said Dhaliwal was shot in the back during a routine traffic stop by a suspect identified as 47-year-old Robert Solis. Said Garcia: "Sad, sad news which also angers us that such a good man is taken from the nation and our world."

 * ... CLEANUP: I stand in awe of the dozens of people who volunteer their time every weekend to help clean up our streets of trash and other debris. It may be a losing effort in the end - after all who can keep up with the homeless and vagrants trashing our streets? - but it points to a level of civic pride that we should all admire. Here are some shots of the Saturday clean up, thanks to Mayor Karen Goh who is always at the forefront of these efforts.

 * ... POOP PATROL: Meanwhile, the city has contracted with a company to clean up feces in the central business district. City Councilman Andrae Gonzales said the poop patrol will start Monday, but he cautioned it will only pick up feces, nothing else. So if this city-paid workforce walks right past trash or vomit they just leave it? Seems like we could have done better with a more all inclusive trash patrol, but at least this is a start. Gonzales noted: "As the City of Bakersfield continues to work toward addressing homelessness concerns, the City has contracted with a private cleaning service to remove human excrement from areas of Downtown Bakersfield and Old Town Kern. Starting Monday, September 30, a service will be available in response to reports for cleanup between 6:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., Monday through Friday.The crews will ONLY clean up human feces (no other waste or trash) during those hours, and within the area ..."

 * ... CONCERT: If you are into live music, you might consider checking out the Grammy nominated Milk Carton kids who will appear at the Crystal Palace on Thursday evening. The show is being presented by Rick Kreiser's Guitar Masters and Passing Through Productions. The opening act is Madison Cunningham, an up and coming arts worth checking out. Go to the Crystal Palace website for tickets.

 * ... MEMORIES: Enjoy these random pictures of the old Hotel Lebec on the old Grapevine Road between Bakersfield and Los Angeles.

Radio producer J.R. Flores gives his take on Kern County's drug crisis, it goes viral and the public anger reaches a boiling point

 J.R. Flores, producer of both The Richard Beene Show and The Ralph Bailey Show on KERN NewsTalk 96.1 FM, had planned to give this three-minute speech before the Bakersfield City Council during the public comment session at this week's council meeting. But that never happened because Mayor Karen Goh limited all speakers to just two minutes instead of the allocated three minutes. Here is your chance to read the Flores' take in its entirety. 

"Good evening Madam Mayor, members of the council. My name is J.R. Flores, program director for Kern Radio and producer of The Richard Beene Show and The Ralph Bailey Show. I wanted to address you this evening regarding the epidemic happening in our city, and I do mean epidemic.
 "This isn’t a homeless issue, this isn’t a housing crisis. This is a drug epidemic, this is a mental

health crisis, and if we are not careful a public hazardous health warning.
"With the human waste that plagues our downtown business alley and doorways, to the drug paraphernalia left in the playgrounds where my kids used to play. I understand the laws that come out of Sacramento, AB109 and Props 47 and 57. But I refuse, my neighbors refuse, my community refuses, the citizens of this city refuse to continue to hear 'Our hands are tied.' OUR CITY IS UNDER SIEGE, IT IS NOT SAFE!
 "A BHS teacher told us that he no longer lets his daughter put gas downtown, a neighborhood he grew up in. Yesterday my fiancé was told by a vagrant/street criminal at our neighborhood gas station 'Hey baby why don’t you just take me home with you?' How long till one of them, if not already, start sexually assaulting woman?  Just this morning as she dropped off my son at William Penn

Elementary, as many other parents dropped off their kids or while they walked to school, a drug induced or mentally deranged man had defecated on himself, buttocks exposed wandering about just outside the gates.
 "Our kids can’t go to school without being exposed to this? They definitely can’t play in the parks, as they’ve been overrun by drug addicts and mentally unstable individuals. AND YES DRUG ADDICTS AND MENTALLY UNSTABLE, NOT HOMELESS PEOPLE. Do they happen to live on the streets? Yes they do. But these are not the families visiting Louis Gill at the homeless shelter, that guy at the gas station isn’t visiting Carlos at the Mission, the man this morning isn’t the guy visiting Kern Behavioral Health.
 "I applaud the effort of those individuals working those places, on the front lines of the real homeless crisis. This, what we are dealing with, is not a homeless crisis. You want to give them low barrier shelters. I applaud the county for their leadership and moving forward with their site, even if I don’t believe that will solve this problem.

 "Providing drug addicts a safe haven is only enabling the problem. That is no better than the mom that lets her son get high down the hall rather than on the streets. These people will continue to plague or neighborhoods and break in to our cars, our homes and our businesses, harassing the law abiding taxpaying citizens of the city. I hope, I pray that the people that do occupy those beds are going to get the true help they need. We talk about wrap around services and setting these people up with the help they need. But the services are already there and these people aren’t taking advantage of them now, what leads you to believe they will once given a place they don’t have to conform to enter.  "Our sheriff has 600 beds… How about beds in a intervention clinic or at a mental health place? So when given the option those beds or Lerdo they have to take responsibility for their place in life. I hear the cries for compassion, but allowing these people to do drugs and wander aimlessly un-medicated is not compassion.
 "Hiring 100 cops that cannot or will not enforce laws is not going to solve the problem. All of this going on while a priority tonight is spending $390,000 of measure N money on staging lights inside of Rabobank. While we worry about Soccer parks and softball fields. While adopting a new brand and slogan. “Bakersfield, The sound of something better.”  How about we actually make it better and not just sound better. Thank you!

Bakersfield makes a list of deadly cities for pedestrians, hats off to Mayor Karen Goh for preventing Corrections from dumping parolees in Bakersfield, and the city prepares to close off Truxtun Avenue

Monday, May 17, 2019

 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 such a special to live. Send your tips to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... FITTEST CITIES: So where do you think the fittest city is in the United States? Well according to USA Today it is Arlington, Va., right across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

Arlington ranked first in both personal health for its citizens as well as community and environmental factors. Following Arlington were Seattle, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Madison, Wis., and Washington, D.C. Now (and you know where this is going) where did Bakersfield rank? It ranked all right, but not on this list. Instead, Bakersfield  ranked 10th on a list of USA Today's most deadliest cities for pedestrians.

 * ... PRISONERS: We dodged a bullet the other day when the California Department of Corrections back pedaled and decided not to release 100 to 120  parolees into our community. And it looks like we can thank Mayor Karen Goh for this. Alarmed over the idea (and terrible optics) of between 100 and 120 parolees wandering the streets of Bakersfield, Goh worked with Corrections through Gov. Gavin Newsom's office to lodge her complaint. It worked, and Corrections said only a couple dozen of parolees could end up here. Goh credited others in devising a plan to protect our community, including District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer and police chief Lyle Martin.

 * ... PARKING: Hats off to whoever decided to convert G Street into a one-way street behind the downtown post office. Along with making it one-way, the city installed diagonal parking to increase the number of spaces near the downtown facility. It is a small change but an important one for those of us who frequent the downtown postal facility.

 * ... ROAD CLOSURE: Here's something you need to remember this weekend: Truxtun Avenue will be closed all weekend at the Westside Parkway. The road will be shut down from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday for the removal of falsework from the bridge crossing Truxtun. The closures will affect both directions of travel between the westbound Westside Parkway on-ramp and Commercial Way. The westbound ramp will remain open to traffic, but the eastbound off-ramp will be closed.

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: This post speaks for itself.

 * ... MEMORIES: Enjoy these old photos Luigi's and Lemucchi's Grocery, 725 19th Street, Bakersfield CA., back in the day.

 * ... MORE MEMORIES: And check out this photo from 1898 at the corner of Chester and 19th Street.

Will tackling the homeless issue become Karen Goh's signature issue? Garces recognizes four alumni and the new owner unveils plans to renovate and reopen TL Maxwell's restaurant under a new name

Friday, September 8, 2018

 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 such a special to live. Send your news tips to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... THE MAYOR'S MISSION: I ran into Mayor Karen Goh at the John Brock Awards dinner over at Seven Oaks Country Club this week and we had a long discussion about the homelessness issue.

Goh knows all to well the alarm and urgency that residents feel over the issue, and she acknowledged that "we need to show progress soon... we have to do something." Along with 10 other mayors from California's 11 largest cities, Goh met with Gov. Jerry Brown on the issue recently and she has also been studying how other cities are tackling the problem. I was struck by the mayor's energy and focus, and it occurred to me that this could be Karen Goh's opportunity to make this her signature success on the No. 1 issue on the public's mind. Stay tuned.

 * ... BROCK AWARD: And speaking of the John Brock award, congratulations to Rogers Brandon who was honored as the 30th recipient of the coveted award, which recognizes community service and benefits the CSUB School of Business. Brandon is president of American General Media and is the past head of the Rotary Club of Bakersfield, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Memorial Hospital Foundation and CSUB Foundation.

 * ... MAXWELL'S: TL Maxwell's, the restaurant once owned by former City Councilman Terry Maxwell, has been sold and will be reopening soon after getting a complete makeover. The new owner is Dr. Lee Marek, the podiatrist who recently sold The Mark, another downtown restaurant that he owned with several investors. Marek told me the restaurant would reopen in October as the "Horse in an Alley." The eatery, located on 17th Place in the alley behind Uricchio's, has received new seating and a fresh coat of paint but will retain its iconic bar.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Dogs are tough. I’ve been interrogating this one for hours and he still won’t tell me who is a good boy."

 * ... MORE TWITTER: "Quit sighing, people behind me in line. If the cashier had handed me the bills facing the same direction, we wouldn't be in this situation."

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: A neighbor posts a video of a deranged homeless man banging on his front door, screaming to the heavens and dumping trash on his front lawn. He calls Bakersfield police who deem it a non-emergency and fail to show up. What would you do?

 * ... GARCES MEMORIAL: Congratulations to the latest four entrants in the Garces Memorial High School hall of fame. They include Joe Munoz of Casa Munoz (in my book one of the best Mexican restaurants in town), former Garces principal John Fanucchi, John Roberts and Leroy Sacchini. They were inducted in a ceremony this week at Monsignor Leddy Hall.

 * ... MEMORIES: Check out this old ranch house in Delano back in the day.

Austin sets an example of how to keep its downtown clean, Carol Ferguson retires at KBAK TV, more retail closings and Stockdale Principal Ramon Hendrix gets a promotion

 * ... RETAIL: If you don't think this is a tough time for retailers as they try to compete with online

shopping, check out this list of companies and the number of stores they have been forced to close:
Sears and Kmart 150 stores; JC Penny 138 stores, Macy’s 68 stores Abercrombie and Fitch 60 stores, Guess 60 stores, Crocs 160 stores, American Apparel 110 stores, Payless 400 stores, RadioShack 552 stores, Staples 70 stores and CVS 70 stores.

* ... ADIOS: One of our most prominent and longest serving local TV reporters, Carol Ferguson, has retired from KBAK after a distinguished career. Ferguson spent 25 of her 37-year career with KBAK and served as a role model for dozens of young reporters who used Bakersfield as a stepping stone to move on to larger markets. Prior to working in local TV, she also worked as the news director at KERN-AM as well as news director and anchor at KKXX.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Which vitamins work best for fighting a cold or the urge to hit my ex boyfriend with my car?"

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "Surround yourself with tacos, not negativity."

 * ... TRASH: Mayor Karen Goh's recent litter survey that seemed to downplay our trash problem prompted a flurry of emails, virtually all of them reflecting comments like the one from this reader: "Thanks for keeping this trash issue alive... (Mayor Goh's) results were laughable. It brought to mind another survey a while back that failed miserably: homeless population. Their count determined the homeless numbers had dropped by 50 percent.  But buried in their information was the comment they’d reduced the census taking hours from a 24-hour day to only 12. Duh!"

* ... DOWNTOWN: And speaking of trash I spent a few days in Austin recently and had the opportunity to see how a progressive city takes on litter. Historic downtown Austin is beautiful, but like Bakersfield it has a serious homeless problem. So how does it handle trash? There is a group called the Downtown Austin Alliance (a more focused, ambitious and strategic version of our Downtown Business Association) in which dozens of red shirted workers with push carts loaded with cleaning liquids go block by block picking up trash. I witnessed workers picking up litter as small as cigarette butts and on the day after Memorial Day one worker was busy cleaning up sidewalk vomit and urine on the side of a high rise - seriously. The idea? Downtown is the Austin's welcome mat to the world and it deserves to look as clean as possible. Is there a cost to it? Certainly. But this is a city that takes its welcome mat seriously.

 * ... RAMON: Congratulations to longtime Stockdale High School principal Ramon Hendrix, who is moving on to become the superintendent of the Greenfield Union school district. Hendrix led Stockdale with a steady hand, and while my daughter was there I witnessed his deep commitment to the students and their parents. Stockdale's loss is Greenfield's gain.

 * ... GOOD FORM: Here's yet another example of how some local companies feel it is important to give back to our community. Some 150 Grimmway Farms employees are volunteering to help restore the Greenfield Baseball Park this weekend. They will be sanding and repainting backstops, bleachers and dugouts, restrooms and storage facilities They will be joined by 25 Greenfield Baseball Association volunteers. The local little league, adult intramural teams and others will benefit from a refurbished baseball field and facilities to enhance their recreation activities.

* ... CSUB WRESTLING: The CSUB wrestling program is a civic treasure, and its success well documented. But (like litter) it doesn't happen without public support. That's why I purchased a $100 ticket in hopes of winning an Infiniti QX30 to support the program, which lives year by year via the generosity of all of us. Only 1,000 tickets will be sold and the drawing will be held on June 29. Call (661) 654-2343 for more information, or mail a check paid to CSUB Wrestling to 9001 Stockdale Highway, 8 GYM, Bakersfield, 93311.