Michael Turnipseed fights for the Valley in Sacramento while Fisher Communications faces hostile takeover

 * ... TURNIPSEED: Hats off to Michael Turnipseed, the head of KernTax who is leading the fight to bring more equitable utility rates to the San Joaquin Valley. Turnipseed was on SmartTalk1230 with Californian columnist Lois Henry Wednesday, explaining in the clearest terms how Valley residents are being hosed (my words, not his) through a Pacific Gas and Electric rate structure that penalizes ratepayers who live in harsher climates. This is fight worth following and we should all be thankful that a pitbull like Turnipseed is in Sacramento representing our interests.

 * ... KBAK: It looks like Fisher Communications, the parent company of KBAK-TV, is in a nasty fight to fend off a hostile takeover bid from a hedge fund company. Fisher owns some 20 stations in the West, including the Bakersfield franchise. Not sure what this might mean for KBAK if the hedge fund succeeds, but they are not known for progressive management.

 * ... NURSERY: Here's something I bet you didn't know: According to reader Rob Ferree, there is a popular plum tree in town named for Carl Krauter, who ran a local nursery in town for years. Ferree said he and his wife met Krauter in 1977 "and he proudly introduced us to a plum tree called the Krauter Vesuvius which is distinguished by a dark purple leaf and pink blossoms. Apparently Carl Krauter named the variety that can be seen all over town and is quite popular elsewhere as well."

 * ... MEMORIES: Al B. Gonzales was in the first class at Garces Memorial High School and wrote to remember when "East Bako was booming. The five and dimes by the Granada Theater were Ben Franklin and Cornet, J.C. Penney's, Snider's, McMahans, Kirby Shoes, Casa Moore, Saba's and don't forget Mother's Bakery. Our dad worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad and had credit at Saba's. I bought a red flowered silk shirt with a mandarin collar. It was the style in the 1950s."

 * ... TAR HEEL: Among our community's unsung exports are our outstanding students who set out across the country attending first rate universities. One of those students is Julianne Toler, who attended Norris School and graduated from Bakersfield Christian High School in 2003. She went on to graduate Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in athletic training from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. She then attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and in 2009 she received a masters in Exercise Science and Sports Medicine. She is still attending UNC in the doctorate program and should complete that in 2013 or 2014. Her father is Larry Toler, a retired battalion chief with the city fire department, and her mother Marilyn is a retired teacher with the Norris School. Proud father Larry told me Julianne will be getting married in July to Dave Schmidt, whom she met at Chapel Hill.

 * ... WILDCAT: Another youngster headed to the dorm life is Adam Karpe, who will be a freshman at the University of Arizona in the fall. Adam's older brother, Robert, will be a sophomore at the University of South Carolina. Both Karpe boys graduated from Garces Memorial High School. Adam's father is Ray Karpe, also a graduate of Garces who went on to earn a degree from CSUB. His mother, Lisa, went to Highland High School, Bakersfield College and Fresno City College.

 * ... WHO KNEW? The Rolling Stones, longtime country music fans, sang about Bakersfield in 1978 in their song “Far Away Eyes” on the album “Some Girls.”
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The outrage (or lack thereof) over 'Smartmeters' and a new book looks at the life of Cesar Chavez

* ... WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE? Is there a bigger mess than the new 'Smartmeters" and the arrogance Pacific Gas and Electric is showing in dealing with the public? It seems that each day brings a new story of someone's utility bill doubling or even tripling and all we hear from the utility's "customer engagement"  managers is the same old drivel: it's not our fault, it's the rates. It's like they are just tolerating us and waiting for everyone to simply fade away. Everyone has a story. We have friends in Westchester whose monthly bill just topped $1,000, a huge increase. There are people in 700 square foot apartments with bills of $500. (If you didn't read Lois Henry's take on this, check it out here.) Kudos to state Sen. Dean Florez for at least taking the lead in questioning this mess, but I am surprised by the lack of organized outrage. Here's my take: if this is really due to new rates, then roll them back or change the tier structure to stop this "legal rape" of the customer. It's outrageous that in this economy, when so many people are suffering, that the rate payer is expected to absorb these new costs. 

* ... CESAR CHAVEZ: THE REAL STORY?: A colleague from Los Angeles tipped me to a new book on Cesar Chavez and the now famous (or infamous) formation of the United Farm Workers (UFW) union. Titled "The Union of Their Dreams" and written by former LA Times editor Miriam Pawel, I'm told the book is both a sympathetic and scathing profile of the UFW and shines a new light on the internal power struggles that ultimately almost destroyed the movement. Apparently - according to my correspondent - some UFW supporters are so upset they plan to boycott Pawel's appearances to promote the book. Given Kern County's central role in the grape boycott and Chavez's life, Bakersfield is a natural book tour stop. Pawel is planning on at least one appearance here, at Russo's Books at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 24. Check out the book at its website here. One reviewer said the book "recounts for the first time how a cult of personality around Cesar Chavez (influenced by the practices of the sinister Synanon organization) ultimately betrayed the courage of the workers in the fields and the trust of a veteran organizing staff." The "Union of Their Dreams" is definitely on my reading list.

 * ... STEADY AS SHE GOES: I see from the latest "Crabtree Report" that the local housing market seems to have stabilized. The report says we've entered the off-peak "winter market" when prices typically decline by three to five percent. In September, local prices declined 2.3 percent which Gary Crabtree describes as "no great surprise." I suppose this is good new and it's certainly better than what we have seen in the past. Crabtree went on to say that the "supply versus demand continues to indicate stable market conditions with unsold inventory of two months."

* ... IRVINE LEADERSHIP AWARDS: Heard from Judi McCarthy, chair of the Kern Community Foundation, that she's encouraging folks to nominate some local deserving soul for the James Irvine Foundation’s Leadership Awards.  Nominations are due October 13, so the pressure is on, but each prize is $125,000:  $100,000 for that person’s organization and $25,000 for that awardee.  From Irvine’s website, the awards “support the work of individuals who are advancing innovative and effective solutions to significant state issues. We anticipate making four to six awards in 2010, the program’s fifth year. Nominees may be working in any field — such as education, health, housing, economic development or the environment — in the public, private or nonprofit sector.”  The link is http://www.irvine.org/leadership/leadership-awards

     Judi also says  the Women's and Girls' Fund of Kern County is accepting letters of inten to apply for grants in the area of "Physical, Sexual and Domestic Safety." Founders of the fund selected this focus based on research showing domestic violence as a key issue in Kern County. The letters of intent are due November 20. For more information about the process go to www.kernfoundation.org or you can call 661-325-5346.