When will Kern County wake up to the dangers of the coronavirus? Plus the oil patch takes a big hit as it struggles to survive, and the small acts of kindness in our world

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: They are telling us that the coronavirus is this generation's Pearl Harbor. It will be terrifying. Thousands will die. And yet, so many in our community flaunt the social distancing guidelines, assuming they have done everything possible and they may be immune from
the virus. You see it at Riverwalk Park where families and friends gather for a day in the sun. You see it on the bike trail when groups of riders in tight formations pass in unison. You see it virtually

everywhere. Is there a point where the deaths and illnesses will spike to such a level that we will all just do the right thing? Or does the human condition defy logic? Kern County is now heading toward 300 infections. What is our number? Five hundred? A thousand? Two thousand? (Social media post of a bike ride this weekend. What is wrong with this picture?)

* ... IS THERE AN UPSIDE? If you look closely, you may find evidence of a silver lining in this lockdown. Friends check in on us out of the blue. A random text from a long lost family member brightens our day. Kindness from strangers. Small gestures that signal we are all in this together. This weekend, this chalk work titled "Be Safe" appeared on one of the shady streets of Oleander, a virtual work of art performed anonymous during the time of peril.

 * ... STARRY NIGHT: Okay, maybe it's not worthy of the great Van Gogh masterpiece "Starry Night" (image below) but have you noticed that the quarantine has cleared our air and skies? Across the world, as well as here in the southern San Joaquin Valley, the stars are visible at night, an unexpected treat and the result of fewer cars and trucks on the road. Tonight, check them out. You will not be disappointed.

 * ... SPOTTED ONLINE: "So now it's cool to walk into a bank with gloves and a mask, but when I did it, it was a felony."

 * ... OIL PATCH: Big trouble in the oil patch. First the price of oil sunk because of the feud between Russia and Saudi Arabia. And now the coronavirus sends oil stocks into the tank. Locally, California Resources Corp. (CRC) is flirting with bankruptcy as it struggles with massive debt associated with its spinoff from Occidental Petroleum a few years ago. AERA Energy also announced cutbacks, yet another shoe to drop in the collapse of the American economy that seemed so robust not that long ago.

 * ... MEMORIES: Check this out, social distancing back in the day, compliments of Art Moore and the Kern County History Fans Facebook page.

The head of Covenant Coffee, Randy Martin, lashes out at KGET TV for sloppy reporting, and Occidental Petroleum names a new president for its California subsidiary

 * … OXY: Occidential Petroleum has named a president for its new subsidiary, California Resources Corp. The company, which is moving its headquarters to Houston, named Todd A. Stevens

president and chief executive of CRC. Stevens, 47, is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and earned his masters from the University of Southern California. I am also told he is a Driller, having graduated from Bakersfield High School. He has worked for the company for 19 years.

 * … BAD FORM: Randy Martin is the director of Covenant Community Services, a non-profit dedicated to helping former foster kids get ahead in this world. He generally is an easy going type who has dedicated his life to helping folks with checkered pasts get back on their feet. But even affable people like Randy have their limits, and he reached it when KGET TV aired a "scalp hunting" story that Martin viewed as reckless and irresponsible. The story, aired this weekend, was an odd one because it began as a "feel good" piece when in fact it was a Trojan Horse to "reveal" that one of Covenant's employees, a chef at the Bakersfield Racquet Club diner (which Covenant operates) had a run-in with the law several years ago. Martin said he was aware of this when he hired the chef, and besides, "So what else is new? My life is devoted to dealing with people who have turned their lives around, as he has, and I am proud of him. It is a poor reflection on our community that irrelevant news decisions are made that can possibility affect the good accomplished by people with a past." Martin blamed the decision to air the program on Michael Trihey, KGET's news director, who told Martin it was "news." If KGET wants to find and "out" people who have stumbled in life, I suppose Covenant is a good place to start, but I'm not sure what purpose it serves.

 * … RUDE WELCOME: John Tarjan dropped me a note questioning the actions of a Bakersfield police officer when his daughter was stopped at a sobriety checkpoint. Said Tarjan:"After several months of weighing the pros and cons, my daughter and son-in-law decided to accept a transfer to Bakersfield. They arrived this weekend in the evening in a moving van and were stopped at a sobriety checkpoint. The BPD officer greeted them by asking if they were moving and if it was to or from Bakersfield. When they indicated they were moving here, the officer replied 'Oh, I'm sorry.' As someone who has grown to love his adopted hometown of 28 years, I was wondering if Chief Williamson might want to consider fostering a more positive culture among his officers and/or seek recruits who are happy to serve in this community."

 * … GOD WE TRUST: The annual In God We Trust rally will be held on Thursday, July 31, over at the Marriott Hotel. City councilwoman Jacquie Sullivan, one of the event's big supporters, says this is a event that "promotes patriotism and the role of god in our society, and that includes everyone" of any religious affiliation. The main speaker will be author and constitutional expert David Barton. Individual tickets are $58 (it is the 58th anniversary of the nation adopting In God We trust as the nation's motto) and $125 for a VIP pass. For tickets or more information call Tina Miller at (661) 325-7601.

 * … FIREWORKS: One more reader weighed in on fireworks. "I just wanted to add a little food for thought. Those people that are pushing the ban on fireworks in the city are forgetting one important fact; the people that follow the laws will abide by this, those who are setting off illegal fireworks, i.e. bottle rockets and sky rockets and the such, will continue to do so. It's obvious that they already have a disregard for our city and county laws. Why would they stop just because another law is added to the books? I'm all in favor of the larger public displays, but passing another law won't stop the law breakers."

Occidental makes a big bet on Bakersfield and BakersfieldLife to spotlight our high achieving kids

* ... GOOD NEWS: If there  is a winner in this terrible oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, it may be Occidental Petroleum. At least that's the view of Bloomberg news service, which said Oxy is "leading a rush to find crude on land" as the disaster spurs tougher offshore drilling rules. Oxy recently doubled its estimate for a discovery near Bakersfield, to the equivalent of as much as $34 billion at current prices. Bloomberg said Oxy "bucked the oil industry migration to deep-sea drilling during the past decade and focused on onshore fields from California to Texas to Abu Dhabi." The story went on to say that Oxy is keeping the precise location of its Kern County discovery a secret to prevent competitors from trying to buy adjacent tracks of land.

 * ... COLLEGE BOUND: The city magazine BakersfieldLife comes out Saturday with its annual spotlight on some of our community's high achieving, college-bound kids. This is my favorite issue as it focuses on some of our local success stories, all of them inspirational. Among those being profiled are Joanne Bae, Liberty, headed to UC San Diego; Wesley Elrich, BHS, headed to UCLA; Kristyn Pendley, Ridgeview, headed to UC Davis; Tyler Davisson, West High, going to Cal Poly; Alexandra Tamplin, South High, bound for Stanford; Brandon West, Garces Memorial, Pepperdine; Katherine Scott, East High, headed for Smith College; Andrew Morales, Highland High, UC Irvine; Jake and Lauren Howry, Centential, going to University of Chicago and Washington and Lee, respectively; Melissa Hamilton, Stockdale, bound for Stanford; Michael Moore, Golden Valley, Morehouse College; Nathaly Navarrette, North High, UC Merced; Alex Kim, Stockdale, West Point; Jasmin Barrena, Foothill High, UC Berkeley, Brice Ezell, Bakersfield Christian, George Fox University; and Alexandria Trakimas, Frontier High, University of Pennsylvania.

* ... GARCES POOL: Nice to hear that Garces Memorial High School is getting ready to break ground on a new state-of-the-art competition swimming pool .  It will have 12 practice lanes and 10 competition lanes and a diving area with a depth of 14 feet. It will also have two one-meter diving boards and one three-meter board. It is supposed to be completed in December.


 * .,.. DRILLER NATION: Sue and Roger Allred wrote to tell me about their ninth child who will be graduating from Bakersfield High School on June 3. Their oldest graduated from BHS in 1993, the 100th graduating class of the school. "Our children have five bachelors degrees, one masters in education, one is a lawyer, one is going for a masters in physics, four are stay at home moms, and three are still working on degrees. We have had a wonderful time at BHS and thank those who have enriched our children's lives." And apparently all nine kids will be home for the graduation, coming from places like New York City, Brooklet, Ga., Salt Lake City, Ut., Tucson, Az., San Diego and of course Bakersfield.


 * ... AMGEN TOUR: A reader asked me to list the three committee chairmen who worked so hard to make last week's Amgen Tour of California a success, so here they are: Sam Ames of Action Sports was responsible for the VIP area, Janey Clary was in charge of the hundreds of volunteers and Doug Gosling, an attorney with Klein, DeNatale, was chairman of the festival committee, where all the food and vendors were set up. 


* ... EAST BAKERSFIELD: You know you're an East Bakersfield old timer if  "you remember what the original price of a hamburger at Ken-Ken's was. 10 cents."

Oxy finds huge new oil reserves in Bakersfield and the story of an incredible bike journey

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 * ... OXY HITS IT BIG:  The latest issue of Forbes magazine says that Occidental Petroleum, which it calls the "untrendiest of the big oil companies," is proving that the days "easy oil" are not yet over. Forbes says Oxy's announcement of a big new oil reserve near Bakersfield last year is turning out to be "the biggest onshore oil discovery" in the country in the last three decades. It apparently may have as much as 1 billion barrels of oil, all relatively easy to extract. All this of course is good news for our local economy and the oil companies that provide so many jobs and capital for investment. Said Forbes: "That the gusher is situated in a hydrocarbon basin that has been picked over for 100 years validates Oxy President Steven Chazen and Chief Executive Ray R. Irani: the best place to find new oil is in old oilfields." (click here to read the full story)

* ...  BIKE TREK: Reader Kimberly Thompson shared an inspiring story about her son Jacob and two of his adventure-loving friends. Turns out that the threesome completed an epic 3 1/2 year bike ride that began in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and ended in Ushuaia, Argentina, in Tierra del Fuego. She said that's a distance of some 34,000 kilometers (roughly 20,400 miles) that took them through 14 countries, arriving last in Argentina on January 10. (check out his website here) Jacob graduated from Centennial High School in 2000 and UC Santa Cruz in 2005 with an MA in Education. He currently works as an independent studies teacher in Taft for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools as he "contemplates his next adventure." Check out their website at www.ridethespine.com for some videos of this truly epic adventure.

 * ... RABOBANK: Had a chance the other day to meet Anker Fanoe, the new regional president of Rabobank. Fanoe replaced Michael Olague, who ended up in a similar position with Bank of the Sierra. Fanoe's wife and children are in Sacramento trying to sell their house and he's anxious to get them to the south valley. His first impression of Bakersfield: the people could not be nicer or more welcoming. I met him at the Rabobank Arena during a reception for sponsors of the upcoming Tour of California, a pro cycling race that will end its Stage Five with a sprint up the Panorama bluffs near Bakersfield College on May 20. The Dutch-based bank has long sponsored a pro cycling team and is one of the supporters of the California tour. It will be a good show.

* ... COMING HOME: Always nice to hear when folks make it back to town after establishing themselves elsewhere, and the latest to return comes via Daniel Klingenberger of the employment law group of Dowling, Aaron and Keeler. He told me that Micah Nilsson and Cheryl (Smith) Nilsson recently returned after being gone well over a decade. Micah is working at the law firm while Cheryl is taking care of their three boys. This couple has quite a resume, having lived in Idaho, Chile, San Luis Obispo, Utah, Hawaii, San Diego, Davis and Monterey. They met at Chipman Junior High and both graduated from Highland High where Cheryl was senior class president and Micah served on the student government association board. After a circuitous path, Cheryl graduated from Cal Poly SLO and Micah from Brigham Young University-Hawaii. They are happy to be back home raising their family.

* ... ART DEALS: If you're an art lover and believe in supporting the local arts you will enjoy "Art A Go-Go" over at the Bakersfield Museum of Art this Saturday. Here's the deal: local collectors have been donating art to the museum, which it in turn will sell to support local programs. Museum marketing director Beth Pandol says there are some terrific pieces for sale, some at bargain prices. This is a free event at the museum, and hats off to chair Cynthia Icardo and her crew for pulling all this together. Said Beth Pandol: "We have an amazing amount of art that has been donated. It's been a big surprise to see how much has come in. There's something for every taste and style. Paintings, prints, posters and lots of just nice, empty frames.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: This one comes from longtime journalist and Californian colleague Evan Jones: You know you're from Bakersfield "if your funeral is followed by a car wash." Ouch!

Oxy moves 350 to new River Walk buildings

If you were wondering who was going to occupy that new domed building right behind the PF Chang's and BJ's Roadhouse grill on Stockdale Highway (shown here), think no longer. Turns out that Occidental Petroleum will use that building and three others in the vicinity to house 350 employees who now work at the Elk Hills facility out near Taft. The other buildings include those across Stockdale Highway and the old Castle & Cooke headquarters across Old River Road from the Elephant Bar Restaurant. Most of those employees are in the asset development group and I hear they couldn't be happier. The other building going up at River Walk is the new Target which generated some controversy when it was first announced.
This is no doubt good news not only for the aforementioned restaurants but also for the eateries at the nearby Marketplace and the Action Sports shopping center at Brimhall and Old River Road.. I am told the employees should start moving by the first of May.