CVS pharmacies drops cigarettes, Covenant Coffee will open a branch at the Bakersfield Racket Club, and what would Wendy Wayne think of the move to name a freeway after her?

 * … CIGARETTES: Before we get too excited about the news that CVS pharmacies will stop selling cigarettes, how many of us remember that Target did so back in 1996? The CVS move likely has more to do with the company positioning itself as a partner and provider of health care than with saving lives. But I applaud it nonetheless. Meanwhile the number of Americans who smoke has declined from 42 percent in 1965 to just 19 percent in 2011.

* … COVENANT: It looks like Covenant Coffee, the popular coffee and sandwich shop up on North Chester, will be setting up shop at the Bakersfield Racket Club. The BRC board has approved the idea and now head Covenant cheerleader and manager Randy Martin is working out the details to take over the BRC coffee shop. This should be a real boost in the arm for both BRC and Covenant, which employs foster children to give them a leg up on the road to success.

 * … WENDY: I'm not sure what the late Wendy Wayne would think of the effort by CSUB President Horace Mitchell to rename the Westside Parkway after her (it is proposed as the 'CSU Bakersfield alumna Wendy Wayne Westside Parkway'), but I have a suspicion she might be embarrassed by the whole thing. The Wendy I knew was less impressed with naming rights and more focused on random acts of kindness and helping those who are not so blessed as the rest of us. She would likely say, 'That's quite an honor, but just go give someone a hug."

 * … APNEA: For all of you who suffer from sleep apnea, Al Bensusen over at Sandman Technologies has some good news for you. There is a new sleep apnea machine out that is literally so small it fits in a shirt pocket, and is just as powerful and reliable as the larger, older models. I credit Bensusen and his clinic for providing me with a good night's sleep, and he says this new smaller machine is bound to be a big hit among the sleep deprived. And he's the only outlet in Bakersfield to have it. The palm-sized device, made by Human Design Medical in Ventura, weighs just 10 ounces and is perfect for those who travel a lot.

 * … OVERHEARD: At a local Starbucks a young man tells his friend: "That girl in front of me just order 2,100 calories of caramel coffee and muffins. Wonder what she is having for lunch?"

* ... RED: Bakersfield Sound legend Red Simpson entertains the crowd at the Rasmussen Senior Center every Tuesday. His secret to a long and happy life: smile. His favorite local restaurant? Milt's Coffee Shop.

Bakersfield Sound legend Red Simpson and gun shop owner Gene Thome head to Tennessee for the Muddy Roots Festival, and are we becoming a nation of singles?

 * ... RED SIMPSON: Bakersfield Sound legend Red Simpson will be appearing at the Muddy Roots Music Festival outside of Nashville this weekend. And opening for him will be Gene Thome, the owner of Bear Mountain Sports who is quite the singer himself. The festival is set in Cookeville, Tennessee. Thome told me he will be sharing the stage with Shooter Jennings, son of the late Waylon Jennings.

 * ... FOOTBALL: We are headed into the first weekend of college football with all the collective hoopla and hysteria. Steve and Danielle Frolio reminded me that the Nebraska Cornhusker Group meets each game day at Goose Loonies Tavern and Grill to cheer on the red and white.  aid Danielle: "This is a local group that my husband and I started here in Bakersfield back in 2008 to bring more attention to college ball (and especially our favorite team - the Huskers) in which everyone is invited to come out and support college football, whoever your team may be. Our first game is this Saturday at 5 p.m. and we hope to have a terrific turnout. GO BIG RED!" Starting Sept. 7, Goose Loonies will open for breakfast at 9 a.m. on the weekends.

 * ... GOING SOLO: Did you know that more Americans are now living alone than ever before? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 27 percent of Americans are living alone, compared to just 17 percent in 1970. Why? Young people are waiting longer to marry and the number of married couples has been steadily dropping, from 71 percent in 1970 to 49 percent today. The Los Angeles Times quoted a researcher as saying "the rise of living alone is the greatest social change of the last 50 years."

 * ... ROTARY: More kudos to the Twilight Rotary Club which sent 140 kids back to Mount Vernon School with free backpacks and supplies. The club also raised some money for Rotary International's Polio Plus project.

 * ... MEMORIES: Jerry Beckwith remembers the old Stan's Drive-in on the northeast corner of 19th Street and Union Avenue. "It was part of the weekend cruise along with Mitchner's and Andre's. One of the really cool things, other than the best double burgers and onion rings ever, was the Request Phone Line that was mounted on an outside wall - a direct line to KAFY Radio. I guess you could call it our 1950s version of Social Media."

 * ... MORE MEMORIES: And finally this from Jimmie Hill of Oildale: "Just a little comment on Anthony Contreras and his memory of Baker and Bernard streets. The market on the northwest corner was the Stop and Shop Market owned by the Diffenbaughs. There was Herb and maybe a couple more brothers. Gene and Joe's was a sporting goods and bike shop next door. My dad was the meat cutter/butcher at the store for years and Gene and Joe's repaired my bike after it was stolen from in front of the old Granada Theatre on Monterey street. This was in the late 1940s to early 1950s."

RIP Trevor Jones and a reader notes some really bad form at the St. Francis confirmation evening

  * ... RIP TREVOR: Bakersfield police officer Trevor Jones was just 23 years old and a week shy of being married when he died of a heart attack. One of his classmates at Stockdale High School was Jolie Brouttier, who recalled Jones a "friend to everyone, always funny and positive, the best powder puff cheerleader, and one hell of a backflipper." On graduation night at Stockdale, Brouttier said Jones performed a "stand-jump backflip right before receiving his diploma." As she noted: "Remember to express to your friends on a daily basis just how much they mean to you, whether you are young or old." (photo courtesy of Jolie Brouttier)

* ... BAD FORM: Just when you think you have heard everything comes this example of really bad form, passed along to me by a close friend who requested to remain anonymous. The incident happened last Monday at the St. Francis Confirmation, held at Harvey Auditorium Monday.  "We had the misfortune of sitting in the upper balcony, second row, behind a family that didn't think it was the slightest bit inappropriate to change their baby's diaper, not once, but twice, between the 'Prayers of the Faithful' and the 'Preparation of the Gifts!' When the mass was over they started to walk out the row,  leaving the diapers under their chair. I politely asked if the diapers were theirs and reminded them that at that late hour, it wasn't likely a custodian would be coming in. The guy started yelling at me. I thought I was going to be stabbed at my daughter's own Confirmation." (file photo of diapers)

             
 * ... GENE: Gene Thome is the owner of Bear Moutain Sports gun and ammo shop and he can also happen to belt out a country song with the best of them. Which perhaps explains why he is among the special guests invited to Nashville to attend the opening of the Bakersfield Sound exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame. When I last heard from him, he was heading to lunch with the legendary Red Simpson and then on to Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, one of Nashville's iconic country bars behind the old Ryman Auditorium. (photos courtesy of Gene Thome)

 * ... PENNIES: Here's a feel-good story about young people reaching out to others. This one involves Caroline Edmonston, a junior at Garces Memorial High, and her sister Marisa, a seventh grader at St. Francis. They have started a "Pennies from Heaven" project to help those affected by the recent Midwest tornadoes. All money raised will be donated to St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Henryville, Indiana, one of the areas hardest hit. The girls are hoping to make a difference, one coin at a time.  Spare change can be dropped off at the St. Francis School office, 2516 Palm Street, or at father Craig Edmonston's law office, 2204 Truxtun Avenue.


* ... MEXICALI: Sibyl Azbill read my earlier piece on the downtown Mexicali Restaurant and believes the building housed a nightclub called "Good Friends Inn" during World War II. "I'm not sure but I believe the Good Friends Inn started on Edison Highway where it had an all black orchestra. My brother was quite a tumbler back then and had some issues there!"