Roy Ashburn readies for a run at county supervisor, but is Kern County ready for an openly gay elected official?

 * ... ASHBURN: Roy Ashburn, the longtime local political figure whose career seemed dead two years ago when he received a DUI and later revealed he was gay, is back in the limelight running for the First District supervisor's seat. Supporters, including local political consultant Stan Harper, point to Ashburn's long public service, local connections and commitment to our community as reasons why he should be elected. Is Kern County ready for an openly gay elected official? Can we put our prejudices aside and elect the person most capable of doing the best job?

* ... BAD FORM: Just when you think things are getting better comes a note like this from local financial planner Barry Rosenfeld. He was walking to his downtown office recently when "someone disposed of a dirty diaper right in front of the building. On Friday another individual dumped several small bags of trash as well as cigarette butts in front of our community mailbox. While my wife was waiting for me in the car on Saturday she witnessed a man dump trash on the grounds of the business I was in. When I went back to the car she ... told me what he had done. I walked back in the business and told him dumping trash was inappropriate behavior. So what happened next really amazed me; the manager of the business chastised me for causing tension and asked me to leave! I have a memo to those working for world peace: if we as a culture continue to condone irresponsible behavior you have little chance of achieving anything close to world peace!"

 * ... UNWED MOTHERS: Amazing to read in The New York Times this weekend that the number of children born out of wedlock is now the norm in our society. For the first time, The Times said children born to unmarried women "has crossed a threshold: more than half of the births to American women under 30 occur outside marriage." Once largely confined to the poor and minorities, the paper said the fastest growth over the past 20 years for having children out of wedlock has been among white women in their 20s. Overall, fully 73 percent of all black children are born out of wedlock. That compares with 53 percent of Hispanic women and 29 percent of whites.

 * ... CSUB: Kudos to three outstanding citizens who were named to the Cal State Bakersfield Alumni Hall of Fame. One is Nancy Chaffin, my colleague who serves as vice president of Human Resources and Operations here at The Californian. Joining her were retired county counsel Bernard C. Barmann Sr., and Jerry E. Scott. A dinner honoring the trio was held at The Petroleum Club, an event that attracted some 200 guests.

 * ... CARS: The annual vehicle reliability report from J.D. Powers is out and the good news is that cars are more reliable today than they have been for years. Heading the top of the list was Lexus, followed by Porsche, Cadillac, Toyota, Scion, Mercedez-Benz, Lincoln and Ford. At the bottom of the list were Jaguar, Ram, Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler, although the Chrysler products did do better than last year.

 * ... SPOTTED: District Attorney Lisa Green, a fitness buff, is spotted on a treadmill at a local club watching "Law and  Order" on one of the big screen TVs.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: From Ben Ansolabehere: "You may be a Bakersfield original if you remember Blanc’s Garage and mercantile across from the Pyrenees Café or City Mercantile on 19th street. What an adventure for a young boy coming off the ranch on Saturday afternoon. Anything from fence posts to pins and everything in between."

Short takes around town.: another restaurant to open downtown, Claire ties the knot and prayers for a local man at UCLA Medical Center

* ... DOWNTOWN REVIVAL: Saw on Facebook a posting by local artist Barbara Reid heralding the pending opening of a new sushi bar downtown on 19th Street , the same spot where Xander's and Benjamin's restaurants made a go of it. Barbara says the place is being opened by Yuri and Phil Chang, the folks who own Toro Sushi Bar and Grille over at the Marketplace. Toro is a class act and a second location downtown (apparently it will be called simply "O") would be a boost to the emerging downtown art and restaurant scene. Barbara, whose art graces the wall of Toro, said she was treated to some menu ideas for the new restaurant and had this to say:

 "They were all unique and yet displayed (with) what I have come to expect and appreciate as the artistry and flair of the sushi chefs at Toro. Beautiful presentation and wonderful mix of flavors. The offerings included sushi, tempura, stir-fry and salads. The opener was a serving bowl of skewered baby scallops, the tinest I have ever seen, in a spicy/sweet sauce with hints of citrus, tomato, cilantro. It was superb."

 * ... PRAYERS FOR A YOUNG MAN: Please keep Curtis Hartman in your thoughts and prayers. Curtis is the 35-year-old son of Linda Hartman, the executive director of the BARC (Bakersfield Association of Retarded Citizens) Foundation. Curtis just  underwent a double lung transplant at UCLA Medical Center and is recovering, but it will be long climb back. Curtis and Linda have a wide and supportive family. Linda's sister is Nancy Chaffin, Californian vice president of Human Resources and one of the founders of the local campaign to curb drunken driving that was recently recognized with a statewide award.

 * ... CLAIRE TIES THE KNOT: Congratulations to Claire Porter, the always gracious co-owner of Uricchio's Trattoria over off 17th Street, who got married a couple weeks ago to Mark Elieff, a physical therapist at San  Joaquin Hospital. Claire and Mark slipped off  quietly to wed in Las Vegas and then headed to New York for  their honeymoon, where they saw Bruce Springsteen at Giants Stadium. And speaking of Uricchio's, I was there the other night and had a chance to meet Mike Ariey, a local businessman who did a stint in the National Football League, playing for both the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants. He's also a graduate of Garces Memorial High School and San Diego State and represents the long line of local men and women who have represented Bakersfield in professional sports.

 * ... AMGEN TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT: It appears that the announcement of the host cities for the 2010 Amgen Tour of California will be made on Thursday, October 22. At least that's the word from Don Cohen, manager of the Bakersfield Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Amgen Tour is the biggest bicycle race in the country (read the previous post here) and would likely feature such heavy hitters as Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer, as well as a host of European cycling stars. Bakersfield has made a strong pitch to host one leg of the event, either the ending of a race day or the beginning of one. This would be a huge plus for our town, not only in terms of tourism and revenue but also in terms of putting Bakersfield on the map. Stay tuned.

The consequences of drunk driving: another "life interrupted" while a local program gets some much deserved recognition

  Received a lot of email and comments on the death of Kathy O'Daniel, the 54-year-old Bakersfield resident who was killed in an apparent drunk driving incident outside Santa Rosa. Kathy and her husband Chuck lived in Bakersfield for years, raising five kids and always remaining active in their church, and they left behind many friends. Kathy was invariably cheerful and a terrific, devoted mother, and folks were understandably stunned to hear of her death. (read the previous post here) Services have now been set for Saturday, Sept. 26, at 11 a.m. at Calvary Chapel Petaluma, located at 1995 McDowell Boulevard. Meanwhile, I hear that Kathy's 15-year-old daugher Kelcee, who was injured in the accident, is doing better but has a long recovery in front of her.

 Given the latest tragedy it was good to learn that the local effort to spread the word on the dangers of drinking and driving won some much deserved recognition. The program is called "A life Interrupted DUI Mobile Crash Exhibit" and is run by the Bakersfield Police Department and some concerned citizens, including local businesses like State Farm Insurance, Hall Ambulance, W.A. Thompson and families who have lost children in traffic crashes. The program was just named the California Crime Prevention Program of the Year, a well deserved honor for these folks who have worked so hard. One of those involved is Nancy Chaffin, the Californian's Human Resources vice president who lost her own son Jeff in a DUI incident eight years ago. In that incident (Jeff was not driving) Jeff was among four teenagers killed when Michael Hugh Curtis crashed on Seventh Standard Road. The program started in 2002 and involves taking the wreck of a car to local schools and showing kids what could happen. I've seen the presentation and it's a moving and (hopefully) effective program.  (that's a picture of the trailer below)

 Police chief Bill Rector  has thrown his full support behind the program as have companies like Three-Way Chevrolet, which donated a new Chevy truck, and State Farm which threw in $68,000 to build the trailer. Every death is tragic, and no one affiliated with the program is claiming this is a panacea, but it is encouraging that only one teen died locally in an alcohol related accident in 2007, compared to 12 in 2002. There was also an 18-month period between 2007 and 2008 when there wasn't a single teen killed.

 Pictured above are Nancy Chaffin, Police Chief Bill Rector and Sgt. Greg Terry. Photo courtesy of The Californian.

Yet another DUI crash claims another teen

Another promising young kid has been killed in a DUI collision. This time it was 18-year-old Noemi Perez of Arvin, who ran track Cal State Bakersfield. Is it me or does it seem Bakersfield has more than its share of these horrific DUI-caused deaths? And I often wonder: when these guys (and yes, they are normally men) are sentenced to jail, how many really serve time and for how long? Last week at my Rotary Club, the local chapter of "a life interrupted" presented its program that it takes to thousands of high school kids every year. Featuring Police Chief Bob Rector and Nancy Chaffin (Nancy is our VP/HR at The Californian and lost a son in a DUI several years ago)coordinate the program and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. By the way, Noemi is the third kid from the left in the photo.