Bako Bits: car thefts in broad daylight, the explosion of panhandling and Covenant Coffee plans to open a kiosk in Bakersfield Memorial Hospital

 * … THEFT: Yet another theft and another sign of the times. Chris Lowe is a banker who works off California Avenue and recently he discovered that the the catalytic converter and the co2 sensors were stolen off his car  in broad daylight.  "I looked into why someone would steal this and there’s two

reasons:  they can resell them for a decent price and the catalytic converter contains platinum, which can be torn out and sold to a recycler. Also the time it takes to remove it is about two minutes. When I reported it to the police and my insurance they said it’s a common occurrence for the catalytic converter to be stolen from SUVs and Hondas. To protect it from being stolen again, I’ve ordered a device called a 'Cat Clamp' which goes over the catalytic converter and makes it harder to steal quickly.  Hope it works!"

 * … COVENANT: More good news for the folks over at Covenant Community Services, a non profit dedicated to helping foster youth get back on their feet. The organization is opening a Covenant Coffee kiosk at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday.  In addition, chief Covenant cheer leader Randy Martin tells me that Bakersfield North Rotary gave $5,000 for the Hope fund, which helps distribute books to students in Oildale elementary schools.

* … PANHANDLING: No matter how you feel about the homeless and panhandlers, it is clear this situation is way out of control. Consider this note from Mindy Wright, a church-going woman who helps numerous charities and who is on disability income. She was at the Starbucks on Mount Vernon when, while waiting in the drive-through lane, was approached by not one but two panhandlers. "The staff came out and chased him off. I gave my order and another young man came up to the driver window side of waiting cars knocking on windows. I just turned my head. When I finally got to the window as I was waiting I bowed my head and said a prayer for those men. The barista asked if I was all right and I said yes. It just upsets me when I can't even leave when being approached by these men... Then I go to Costco to pick up some pictures and an elderly man with a cane comes up and says he needed money to get to someplace and asked for money. I just kept walking! It is getting to the point that where a normal person likes me avoids places due to the possibility of being alone and being accosted!"

* … COUNTY ROADS: Carmen Needham Tyack wrote to give thanks to the foreman of the Pumpkin Center yard of the Kern County Roads Department for hearing out her concerns about a small quarter mile section of country road. "It gets chewed up by tractors and people in the community use it as a shortcut if its nice and smooth. He has always obliged until last week when he told me they had to do something. I forgot to tell him that I had survey marks in the road for when I paid to have it surveyed due to a property split. So I panicked a little bit when they were covered with blacktop of some sort.
Joe, the foreman came out with a metal detector and kindly marked and dug up my survey marks. I was so appreciative to what he was doing for me I went out to thank him and see if he had luck locating the nails. So for this I thank him… I want to also acknowledge the fact that county workers get paid by us, the tax ayer, and they should never forget that. We are all public servants if we are getting paid with taxpayer dollars. I recall in my younger days as a first grade teacher a principal me aware of that 'we are just a public servant.' That was about 30 years ago,everyone should be reminded."

 * … BAKERSFIELDISM: Paul Summers says you know you’re a Bakersfield old timer if you remember Don Hart talking about the “Fly Catching” (not baseball) contest in East Bakersfield .The one who caught the most flies was the winner and received a new bicycle donated by Roux and Kuentzel Sporting Goods.

One person finds a way to deal with our trash and litter problem, and the CSUB wrestling boosters plan another evening with Stephen Neal to save the storied program

 * ... TRASH: I was heartened to receive this note from reader Lynn Bailey, who submitted a shout-out to an unidentified neighbor who is single handedly trying to tackle our litter problem. Someone, she said, put a small trash can next to the community mail boxes, leaving it a handy receptacle to dispose of community trash. "Everyday when I walk down Jenkins with my dogs I collect trash and dash across the street to dump in the can," she said. "I also try and collect some on my return to dump again in the can. I wish I knew who put it out so I could thank them! I also wish we had a concrete pad to put another one on the opposite side of the street where the kids wait for the buses. There is a ton of wrappings, baggies, cans, cups etc. laying about. Maybe the city could start a program like adopt a street only this could be buy a can and individuals would adopt the 'can' to dump. Just some ideas and a big shout out to the creative person who put that trash can out on Jenkins!"

* ... TRANSITION: From Randy Martin, the Covenant Coffee director: "In the 1950s the Junior Baseball Association was located on west Columbus. The site was a collaboration between the county and city. Now, the Residences at West Columbus, an affordable housing project serving transition age youth and low income families occupies the site. Another partnership to bless the community."

*... WRESTLING: The CSUB wrestling program has been cut off by the university and only exists because of a group of committed boosters who raise $250,000 annually to keep the program alive. On Tuesday, May 7,  the boosters will host an "Evening with Stephen Neal" to raise money for the wrestling program. Tickets are going for $75 and sponsorship opportunities are available. Call (661) 302-4455 for more information. The dinner will be held at Stockdale Country Club. If you have ever dealt with a former wrestler, you know that these people never give up, and they approach every challenge with the same grit they did when their faces were flat on the mats. I'm not betting against them to keep this program alive.

* ... EAST ROTARY: Hats off to the folks over at the East Rotary Club, who put on upscale five-course dinner Saturday to raise money for three local charities. The event was held at Garces Memorial High School and featured a meal by T.L. Maxwell's, wine and a live and silent auction. Word is they raised some $50,000 for Valley Fever Americas, the local Ronald McDonald House and the East Rotary Foundation.

* ... MEMORIES: One final memory about the old Brundage Variety store, where the family of reader Debby Rodrigues shopped. "West on Brundage was Fiddler's Variety, which became Southwest Variety, where birthday presents were purchased for friend's birthday parties. Young's Market, El Tejon Pharmacy and the Belvedere as Brundage Lane met Stockdale Highway. Piggot's Bar stood where the Highway 99 now is. The highway was two lanes with dirt shoulders on either side.  No traffic to speak of. We could walk to Stockdale Liquors or the Oaken Bucket Liquor Store for candy or in the mid 1960s, Foster's Freeze to enjoy a 10 cent soft serve ice cream cone. Carefree days, except of course the Cold War bomb drills! We did think nothing of being out and about, taking our safety for granted. Lots of changes since then.  Kids on the street now! Oh my, what are their parents thinking!"

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You may be a Bakersfield old timer if you attended the Saturday morning movie matinees at the Granada Theater.

Crabfest rakes in $250,000 in one night to benefit the St. Francis Parish school, and more memories of Banducci's Corner out on Weedpatch Highway

 * ... CRABFEST: If you missed the Friday night Crabfest at the Kern County Fairgrounds, you missed one of the best fund raisers of the year. It's the annual event to raise money for the St. Francis Parish school and it's one of the best run and lively events of the year. Mountains of crab and pork ribs that rival the best I have ever eaten, and plenty of theatrics from Monsignor Craig Harrison and the St. Francis mothers and volunteers whipping up the crowd in the live auction. Word is they raised between $250,000 to $300,000 in one night. (Photo of Tracy Walker-Kiser and husband Brian at Crabfest)

* ... INAUGURAL: What can we expect from a second term for President Obama? This is inauguration week and we will examine Obama's first term and the expectations for his second on Californian Radio KERN 1180 at 9 a.m. Monday. Former Kern County Supervisor Gene Tackett will join me in a wide ranging discussion of what we can expect over the next four years.

* ... SOFTBALL: Here's a good cause worthy of our support. Michelle Bolt is a local North High School graduate who has gone on to become the women's softball coach at the College of the Sequoias. Like all community colleges, the COS athletic program has endured a series of budget cuts, so she is now involved in a major fund raising program to help the softball team. For $50 you can buy a ticket (only 2,000 will be sold) that will be entered to win a 2013 Camaro. Interested? Call her mother Fern Bolt at (661) 392-0212.

 * ... BANDUCCI'S: More memories of Banducci's Corner restaurant, including this one from local farmer Dick Porter. "I have many memories of Banducci's as the grape and potato packers from Edison called it. Banducci's was located adjacent to land my family owned and farmed at the time. The big grower-packer families of Edison had specific tables staked out and always sat at each specific table every day to eat lunch and mull over their challenges and victories of the day. Lord help you if you innocently sat at one of the 'reserved' tables - and most of the restaurant was 'reserved' for every weekday lunch. I have many stories of all the characters and goings on during lunches at Banducci's. I won't name names but some families were very jealous of their privacy and would request that some tables be positioned further away from them. This, of course, led to little border wars right inside the restaurant. I never witnessed any lunch time drinking, but there was a small  bar in the back of the restaurant that seemed to always be full. Lots of real characters and tough old time, and very successful, businessmen and farmers made Banducci's their clubhouse."

 * ... TRASH: Steve Towle lives in La Cresta and witnessed a young man parked in the neighborhood and tossing fast food wrappers out his car window. Towle used his high definition video camera to record the entire thing, including the license plane. "What really disturbed me about this matter is when I tried to report it to the police and was told both by the communications center and the front desk that they would not take the report. I told them I understood if they were too busy and they could do it later, but their response was that they were not going to take it at all at any time. As of this writing I am awaiting a return call from the watch commander's office for further discussion. It’s just not acceptable to me that we have laws on the books and good evidence is being provided and those personnel that the taxpayer are paying to enforce them just choose to ignore them. If the police are going to start being selective about enforcement I think that the public should know about it. "

 * ... DID YOU KNOW? Randy Martin, who runs Covenant Community Services up on North Chester Avenue, posed this question. "Does anyone remember when Sinaloa was located in the Woolgrower's building? According to Sonny from Mexicali the original Sinaloa was in the Basque district, which probably accounts for the Pyrenees bread and Basque salsa!"

Out of town speculators are returning to the Bakersfield housing market, driving up prices but crowding out many local buyers

* ... REAL ESTATE: There is some good news and some bad in the local housing market. According to Coldwell Banker's Adam Belter (son of longtime Realtor Gary Belter) there are fewer than 550 homes on the market, a near all time low. That drives the prices up, which is good news, but it also has attracted a new wave of out of town speculators who are crowding out local buyers, often paying above the asking price. "We are in danger of becoming a community with more rentals than owners," he told me.

* ... COMING HOME: I had the chance the other day to catch up with plaintiff's attorney Daniel Rodriguez, who told me his 24-year-old son Marcos just graduated from Loyola University Law School in Chicago after receiving his undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Arizona.  Marcos is coming hope to join his mother, Sylvia Lopez, to practice law. He is a 2005 graduate of Garces Memorial High School where he played basketball and football.  "I’m hoping to pry him away from time to time to help me in a trial or two," he told me.

  * ... BAD FORM: Steve Illingworth is the general manager of Urner's and a friend for almost 20 years. He's not prone to hype, which is why I am passing along this note about what appears to be some bad form on the part of a Kern High School District passenger van.  "I was driving west on White lane on Monday morning, Memorial Day, and was passed and cut off by a KHSD passenger van (no students on board). I observed the driver changing lanes multiple times to get by other drivers who were observing the 55 mph speed limit. The KHSD van was driving in excess of 65 most of the distance between Wible and Old River. She exceeded 70 mph at least once. After I gestured to her at a stop light to slow down, the light turned green and she honked at me and then tailgated me at a very close distance for quite some time. When I called the district on Tuesday morning to report the incident they were able to identify the driver but they could not answer why this employee was driving so recklessly or why she would be driving a KHSD van on a holiday."

 * ... RIP COOPER'S: Steve Montgomery joined the chorus of people lamenting the passing of Cooper's Nursery, which has served our community for so many years. "This past Saturday I picked up a tree for a friend of my wife's and while in the office handling paperwork I noted on the wall vintage signs from past businesses of the family. One sporting a three-digit phone number and a much newer one with a phone number starting with a two letter prefix. Remember those?"

* ... COVENANT: I stopped by the new offices of Covenant Community Services, the local organization that does so much good to help current and former foster children acquire the skills necessary to lead productive lives. The stunning new offices are located at 1700 North Chester in an old bank building that his been rebranded "Covenant Coffee: Hope Lives Here." It is now a full coffee house and sandwich bar, staffed by foster youth who have been trained by some of our community's most prominent restaurateurs and business people. Covenant's chief is Randy Martin, who told me a second location is being planned for Taft at the intersection of 4th and North streets. Drop by for a coffee sometime to help this worthy organization.

Bako Bits: rudeness is in the eye of the beholder and Randy Martin will appear on Californian Radio to discuss Convenant Community Services

 * ... BAD FORM: On Friday I passed along a reader's complaint about a middle aged woman who interrupted a speech at the opening of the Southwest Baseball season because her car was blocked. The woman in question came forward, asked for anonymity and submitted this retort: "I'm the woman who interrupted the speeches at the Southwest Little League opening ceremonies March 5 to ask that the person who had blocked me in kindly move his/her vehicle. I had already called the number listed on the back window of the Chevy Silverado, left messages and waited to no avail. I knew I'd have no hope of getting an announcement to the crowd once the ball games started. I apologized and asked the emcee for help. I did not interrupt multiple times. I thanked him, apologized again and left. The entire episode lasted less than one minute — tops.  My patience, or lack thereof, isn't the issue here. The true discourtesy and bad form was on the part of the many, many parents who chose to park blocking other cars without even leaving a note including their cell number. What if someone had had an emergency? And whatever happened to 'do unto others?' Rude!"

 * ... TREES: Had a chance to stop by the Friday night fund raiser for the Tree Foundation of Kern and it proved to be a huge success. Among those I spotted at the gala, held at The Metro Galleries, were supervisor candidate Harley Pinson and wife Cindy, artist Art Sherwyn and wife Cheryl, John and Ginger Moorhouse, Melissa Iger, Rick Peace and West Rotary president Ricki Foster, Ward 2 city council candidate Ron Fraze and wife Shelly, Clinica Sierra Vista CEO Steve Schilling, former Kern School superintendent Larry Reider and wife  Sandy, water district manager and former Tree Foundation president Harry Starkey and many others.

 * ... HELMETS: It was a wonderful weekend to get outside and the bike trails and parks were full of families and recreational cyclists. That said, I am always amazed by the number of families - and their children - who ride bikes without a helmet. As a paramedic once told me: "You know what we call people who ride without helmets? Organ donors."

* ... COVENANT: Randy Martin is the chief "inspiration officer" for Covenant Community Services, a local nonprofit that is devoted to helping former and current foster children transition to adulthood. The organization fills an important void in our community by counseling and providing training and jobs for these youth. Martin will be my guest Monday on Californian Radio KERN 1180 starting at 9 a.m. Tune in to hear about this important work.

* ... PETROLEUM WIVES: The Association of Petroleum Wives is an active group in our community, and each year they raise thousands of dollars for a local charity. This year, according to Kacie Hathaway, the group is raising money for the Brain Injury Association of America with its annual charity bunco night at Stockdale Country Club on March 22. Any woman whose husband works in the petroleum industry who wants to join should email the group's membership char, Deb Carrieri, at dcarrieri@att.net.

 * ... REBUTTAL: Frank Hamon wrote to respond to my earlier post about a woman at a Christian school being rude after a fifth grade girls basketball game. "My wife teaches at a Christian school and also happens to coach our daughters fifth grade basketball team.  I also have taught at this Christian school and want your readers to know that not all families that attend Christian schools are Christians themselves.  I know that we have a great basketball team and I hope that none of our parents would do such a thing.  This includes me."

 * ... SPOTTED: Two young men in an older model pickup truck, headed west on Stockdale Highway near Chipotle and Cafe Med,  sharing a bong at a traffic light.

* ... BAKERSFIELDISM: John Strand from Lake Isabella says you may be a Bakersfield old timer if you remember "the monkeys in the large cage at Canady's Nursery in Pumpkin Center. One monkey in particular, Bruce, had a powerful pitching arm." Unfortunately, sometimes he was pitching fecal matter at innocent bystanders.