Cal State Bakersfield enrollment hits 8,400, United drops service to Houston and Father Bert Mello takes over as pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

 * ... CSUB: Some factoids from CSUB President Horace Mitchell's annual report on the state of

the university: Total enrollment stands at 8,371; females comprise 61 percent of the student body; 80 percent of the students are under the age of 25; 50 percent are Hispanic, 23 percent white, 7 percent African American and 7 percent Asian. The most popular major is business administration (14.5 percent) followed by psychology (8.7 percent), interdisciplinary studies (7 percent), criminal justice (7.5 percent), biology (6.3 percent) and pre-nursing (6.1 percent.)

 * ... UNITED: The decision by United Air Lines to discontinue service to Houston cuts off the preferred route to the Southeastern United States. It's yet another effect of the plunge in the price of oil, and no doubt there is more to come. Talk to anyone in the oil industry, and they will tell you they live in fear of the next layoffs.

 * ... BAD FORM: A woman is driving an older Honda on Columbus Street with what appears to be a grandson sitting on her lap hanging out the driver's side window while she casually smokes.

 * ... SUPER BOWL: Ruth Fee didn't care for Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning plugging Budweiser in his victory interview. Said Fee: "I hope MADD was paying attention... What a message to young people. Athletes used to be icons to whom young people were supposed to look up to. Not any more. The bottom line - shame on Budweiser! (Don't like beer but I love those high-stepping, gorgeous Clydesdales.)"

* ... PATIO DINING: In my recent post on patio dining, Kitty Jo Nelson reminded me that the Village Grill offers some of the best alfresco experiences in town. "Food is great and the staff is pleasant... and plenty of parking," she said.

* ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "One thing that I have never had in the glove box of my car, is a pair of gloves."

* ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "You trust me holding your child? Do you know how many iPhone screens I’ve cracked?"

 * ... PASTOR: Our Lady of Perpetual Help has a new pastor, and he has quite the life story to share. His name is Father Bert Mello, and in an interview with KGET TV, he concedes he has "lived a pretty decrepit life." Mello says he once smoked three packs a day, was a beer salesman and fell away from the church. "You know," he told the station, "sex, drugs and rock 'n roll was the reality of my lifestyle." Father Bert was ordained in 2001 at St. John's Cathedral in Fresno.

A daughter of Bakersfield pens a valentine to our sometimes quirky hometown

* ... HOME SWEET HOME: A beautiful tribute to Bakersfield showed up on the online forum Zocalo Public Square, written by Bakersfield High graduate Paige Hill, who now lives and works in Washington, D.C. A graduate of the University of North Carolina and the daughter of Bart and Napier Hill, Paige penned a moving valentine to our sometimes quirky and always endearing community. In her words: "The fog is something I can try to describe in a series of corny colloquialisms, but I ultimately fail to capture it. Bakersfield is like that, too. It's a city where in the same breath its residents will knowingly laugh and admit it is no cultural rival of San Francisco - and then fiercely defend it for what it is. It is ours."

 * ... SMOKE POLICE: Call me cranky, but was anyone else appalled at the story in Sunday's Californian about people from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District driving around town looking for people using their fireplaces on no burn days? Say what? California is broke, the educational system is in crisis, Sacramento is a dysfunctional mess and yet somehow we can still afford to have people on the public payroll driving around town  looking for people enjoying a warming fire. Sheesh.


* ... CAL STATE: The California state university system just seems to suffer blow after the blow, the latest coming last week when Gov. Jerry Brown announced it would absorb another $100 million in cuts. And that's on top of the $650 million in cuts the system lost earlier. CSUB President Horace Mitchell will join me Monday at 9 a.m. on KERN 1180 to talk about the effect on our local campus, and what we can expect in the future.  Tune it to learn how all this mess will affect our Cal State Bakersfield.

  * ... PADRE: Robert Bunker has returned to Bakersfield to become one of the general managers of the Padre Hotel downtown. Bunker worked at Seven Oaks Country Club as assistant clubhouse manager, left a few years ago and was recruited to return to our community to help run the Padre. He joins Jon Stephens who is the hotel's general manager for food and beverage service.

 * ... HICKORY FARMS: Bev Hayden wrote that she also remembers the Hickory Farms Store in the Valley Plaza.  "In the 1970s my husband Rod and his friend and partner George Thornburgh were constructing pre-fab housing on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru. The native food wasn't exactly what they were used to so we would buy beef stick and crackers from Hickory Farms and ship it to them in cargo containers along with adult beverages. These packages were gratefully received."

 * ... FIELD OF DREAMS: Here's a fund raiser that is worthy of your attention: it's the League of Dreams gala that will raise money to to build playing fields for physically and emotionally challenged children. It's all part of physical therapist Tim Terrio's Field of Dreams project to give these youngsters the same opportunities as others. The event is set for Friday, January 20, at Monsignor Leddy Hall at Garces Memorial High School. Tickets are $125 per person or $200 a couple. Contact Nathan Gutierrez at (661) 377-1700.

CSU Bakersfield announces campus reorganization, potential cuts to athletics

 Here are the highlights of CSUB President Horace Mitchell's press conference this morning regarding the current budget crisis:


 * The position of Senior Associate Athletics Director Gloria Friedman, who is retiring, will be changed from a management to a staff position at a lower salary.


 * Another management position in Athletics has been eliminated.

 * Fund raising in Athletics will now report to Athletics Director Jeff Konya. It had been under University Advancement VP Beverly Byl.


 * Byl lost her University Advancement job and is now in charge of governmental affairs. She had been a lightning rod for criticism from members of the Foundation. She also is no longer chair of the Foundation. Those jobs now go to Provost Soraya Coley.


 * The threatened women's golf and women's tennis teams did not achieve their fund raising goals and may be eliminated.

 * Public affairs and communications (Rob Meszaros) will now report directly to the president.

More turmoil at CSUB over VP Beverly Byl as the campus struggles with a very tough budget situation

 * ... CSUB TURMOIL: As if Cal State Bakersfield didn't have enough to worry about with a shrinking budget and layoffs, President Horace Mitchell is dealing with more complaints from alumni and supporters about Beverly Byl, the vice president for advancement. Byl joined the campus some three years ago to head the office in charge of fund raising and community development, but her dictatorial style has never set well with some of the more prominent members of the community or her staff. Last week, it all came to a head when the outgoing chair of the CSUB Foundation, Geoff King, called for Byl to be replaced. I am told that King, who is a partner in the accounting firm of Barbich, Hooper and King and himself a CSUB alum, spared no words in telling the Foundation board (President Mitchell and Byl were in attendance) that a change was "sorely needed" in University Advancement. King prefaced his remarks praising so many other positive things going on at the university, but he reflected a widespread view that Byl has squandered her time here failing to successfully build strong bridges with the community to raise money. This should come as no surprise to anyone close to the university, including Mitchell, who has heard all this before from a series of prominent Foundation members. And while Mitchell himself remains popular, many wonder why he has turned a deaf ear to these complaints and Byl's divisive attitude that has alienated her own co-workers and members of the community. Mitchell told me he respected King's opinion "but it's his opinion."

 * ... MORE CSUB: There's no doubt campuses like CSUB are in a squeeze, and President Mitchell is having to make some tough calls to balance the budget. Four ranking administrators were laid off this week, and other positions have gone unfilled. But what about the compensation of Mitchell, Byl and others at the top? In the private sector it's not unusual for presidents and ranking executives to take pay cuts themselves - full disclosure here: at The Californian all senior executives, including me, have taken multiple pay cuts and watched their bonuses be eliminated - so I posed that question to Mitchell. He said that's a decision that can only be made by the CSU system level, and CSUB spokesman Rob Meszaros noted that while no one has taken a pay cut at CSUB, there also haven't been raises since 2007. But with other folks losing their jobs, it seems to me like this might be something to consider.

 * ... OLD GLORY: Is your American flag starting to wear and tear? If so, you may want to drop by Goin Postal over off Brimhall Road where owners Joel and Gary Young are once again giving away new flags in exchange for your old flag. This generous offer will run through July 4th. The retail package shipping office recently presented 150 flags to blood donors at Houchin Blood Bank during its salute to the military. Goin Postal is located at 11000 Brimhall Road, Suite E.


  * ... SICK BAY: There was a nasty crash involving seven bicyclists Thursday morning on Granite Road when a pickup truck attempted to pass on a curve and brushed one of the riders when he faced an oncoming car. Greg Walker, a construction project manager, was taken to Kern Medical Center where he was treated for major road rash but no broken bones. There were about 15 cyclists in the group when the truck apparently brushed Walker, forcing him to fall and trigging the massive pileup on the road. Among the other riders who crashed were physical therapist David Rous, Stockdale Elementary principal M.T. Merickel, pharmaceutical reps Curt Pierce and Adam Hensley, State Farm employee Richard Picarelli and Bike Bakersfield's Zach Griffin. Please remember to share the road with cyclists.

* ...RETIREMENT:  Fortune magazine came out with its top four retirement communities. In the category of  "lifelong learner" the winner was Athens, Ga., home of the University of Georgia. Runner ups were San Luis Obispo and Madison, Wis., also college towns. For the "urbanite" who likes big cities, Seattle came out on top followed by Portland, Ore., and New York. For the nature lover, Fortune liked St. George, Utah, followed by Whitefish, Mont., and Maggie Valley, N.C.. For "the intrepid world traveler" the magazine liked San Rafael, Argentina, followed by Boquete, Panama, and Ambergris Caye, Belize. (photo of Athens courtesy of Athens Downtown Development Authority.)