The final word on the old O'Hare house near Beale Park and readers rant about trash along the road, texting while driving and motorcycle lane splitters

 * ... TEXTING: David Moren dropped me a note to add his voice to the debate over folks texting while driving. "All day long you can see people driving in and out of the Superior Court parking lot at 1215 Truxtun... while talking and texting on their phones. I have often wondered why BPD does not station an officer in plain clothes there and start collecting revenue for our city. Make the fine $1,000 per infraction and the city will have a surplus of money in a week's time."

* ... TRASH: Patty Orsburn witnessed a good deed on Rosedale Highway recently that she wanted to pass along. There, on the east side of the highway near the old PGE facility, was a woman picking up trash. "I then realized the vast amounts of trash that were all mixed in with the weeds and realized what a daunting task she had taken on and on such a hot day! I wished there hadn't been so much traffic and that I didn't have so little time so as to be able to pull over and help her or at least bring her some water to show that I appreciated her effort to clean up Bakersfield."

* ... SMALL WORLD: Christine Nichols was on an Alaskan cruise in May when she ran across a tour guide who once called Bakersfield home. "We were on a bus tour of Mount McKinley when we learned our guide was from Bakersfield of all places," she told me. "She is a retired teacher named Karla Gallaghan and her maiden name was Karla Stormount. She was just a wonderful guide and says she has family here. What a small world!"

 * ... CAL RADIO: Join me on Californian Radio KERN 1180 Monday when I will be chatting with Bruce Jay, the president and CEO of Valley Republic Bank, which was recently cited as one of the safest banks in America. We'll also be talking with Jeff Konya, Athletics Director at CSUB, for an update on Cal State athletics.

* ... LANE SPLITTERS: A reader's complaint about motorcyclists splitting lanes (legal in California) this commentary from Stephen Montgomery. "If traffic is stalled at some long stoplight and there is room to avoid, among other things, whacking anyone's side mirror I'll slide through it. As far as those who resent bikers splitting lanes I pointed out that if done safely, it's legal. And, importantly, this practice doesn't cause the cage driver any delay. Furthermore every motorcycle on the road is one less car taking up space on an already overcrowded road. My message to those resenting the freedom gained by two wheels is you don't have a real complaint so get over it!"


 * ... O'HARE HOUSE: My thanks to reader Nancy Thomas, who provided me with the complete history of the old "House On the Hill" on Dracena Street near Beale Park. It turns out the house, which became a home for priests after the 1952 earthquake, was owned by the family of Nancy's best friend, Judy O'Hare Newman, granddaughter of James and Sara O'Hare. "Judy is currently residing in Morro Bay, with her husband Terry Newman (son of former Bakersfield College football coach, Ray Newman)," she said. The history of the house: "The house on O'Hare Hill was owned by James and Sara O'Hare. The O'Hares were  a pioneering farm family in Kern County, establishing the family farm in 1869. The original land grant was signed by President Grant.  Jim O'Hare's father, Peter O'Hare, was a member of the Kern County Board of Supervisors (Third District) at the time of President McKinley's death. The O'Hare family also owned the Jewel Dairy. They raised  seven children in that house: Mary Katherine (Franey), Pauline (Pascoe), Teresa (Lacques), James Michael (married Katherine lnez Rea), Josephine (Lugar), Colleen (Catzin) and Margaret Ann (Hislop). James Michael (Bud) was a member of the Future Farmers Association and sold pigs he raised to MGM.  They appeared in the original film 'Little Abner.' Sara O'Hare's sister was Mae Saunders, believed by the family to have been the first woman reporter for the Bakersfield Californian. Mary K. Shell was a cub reporter when Mae was a lead reporter. Jim and Sara were the grandparents of 48 grandchildren, many of whom still live in Kern County.  One of their great grandchildren, Bear Pascoe, is currently playing football with the New York Giants."

Bakersfield's Valley Republic Bank makes the list of the top "safe banks" in the country and readers recall the old "haunted house" that was used as a priest rectory after the 1952 earthquakes

 * ... SAFE BANKS: Hats off to the folks over at Valley Republic Bank, which has made a list of the 359 safest banks in America. This is all according to MSN.Com which used a financial analysis called The Texas Ratio to determine which banks are truly the safest. Said the story: "The Texas Ratio was developed by a financial wizard at RBC Capital Markets named Gerard Cassidy, who used it to correctly predict bank failures in Texas during the 1980s recession, and again in New England during the recession of the early 1990s." Valley Republic is the only locally based bank to make the list. Valley Republic was founded in 2008. Bruce Jay currently serves as its president and chief executive officer.

* ... SPOTTED: Craig Holland spotted this seasonal oddity at Brimhall and Jewetta roads: "A large red SUV with two snowboards, complete with boots, attached to the rack on the roof.  In July in Bakersfield?"

 * ... MESZAROS: Rob Meszaros, head of communications for Cal State Bakersfield, is leaving the campus to take a similar position with the Kern County Superintendent of Schools. His last day at CSUB will be Aug. 23 and he'll start his new position a few days later.

* ... HAUNTED HOUSE: My earlier post about an imposing old home near Beale Park brought a flood of responses from folks who remember it as a rectory for priests at St. Francis Church while a new church was being built. Steve Merlo grew up across the street from "the house on the hill" on Dracena Street. "When the new church was built and the priests moved out, the old three or four story house remained empty and became a fun house for most of the kids on our bloom.... The house's silhouette was so tall, gloomy and frightening to look at that on one ever ventured there after dark." (file photo of the original St. Francis Church)

 * ... HOUSE: Another reader, Sharon Henderson, grew up on Cypress Street and also remembers the "O'Hare house... As a child I dreamed of being able to live there. I loved that house and passed by it on my way to and from St. Francis school, Beale Park, my best friend's house, and finally, BHS.  After the 1952 earthquake destroyed the lovely St. Francis church downtown, the O'Hare family donated that house to the parish and it was used as the rectory for many years. (I attended St. Francis with Judy O'Hare, her younger sister, Inez, and brother, Mike.)  I have memories of walking to that house from school with my class each December, standing on the sidewalk in front, and singing Christmas carols to the priests."

* ... MORE HOUSE: Lynne Brooks Woodward recalls a slumber party in 1958 when she and her friends went to the house for a late night "exploring mission... I remember climbing inside a window and seeing an old grand piano at the foot of a stairway. The house was otherwise empty. We had heard it used to be a home for the nuns or priests from St. Francis. Anyway- we got spooked and ran back to our party site. What a fun memory to recall!"

  * ... JUDGE CLARK: Superior Court Judge Thomas S. Clark went to grade school at St. Francis and remembers that a classmate, Mike O'Hare, lived in the house with his mother and sister. "I don't remember the details as far as how long they lived there or what his mother's name was... might have been something other than O'Hare."

* ... QUAKE: One more memory of the horrible 1952 Bakersfield earthquake, this one from local Realtor and world champion skeet shooter Ken Barnes. "During the August quake my parents had friends from Oklahoma visiting and their son and I were both 13 years old at the time.  We were sitting in an aisle seat at the California theater between 18th and 19th streets that afternoon a little after 3 p.m. when the quake hit.  After going through the morning quake in July I knew exactly what was happening, and I yelled for him to run up the aisle and out into the middle of Chester Avenue. All around us was dust and debris from falling bricks and store frontages that had collapsed. Next door the roof of Lerner's dress shop caved in and killed a woman.  It was hours before we finally caught a bus back to Oildale and my very worried parents.  It was really, really scary."