Is Bakersfield College Athletic Director Ryan Beckwith being set up to be fired? And will he go quietly in the night? Stay tuned.

 * ... BAKERSFIELD COLLEGE: The real story up at Bakersfield College is not that its appeal of the punishing football sanctions has been rejected, but rather the behind-the-scenes drama in finding someone to blame for the whole mess. Insiders tell me that President Sonya Christian is fingering Athletic Director Ryan Beckwith as the fall guy, even though he has been in town just two years and some of the practices that offended the Southern California Football Association have been ongoing for years, all under the watch of Chancellor Sandra Serrano, a former BC president herself. If all this was going on before Beckwith was hired, who is responsible for that? Although still relatively new, Beckwith has gained the respect and confidence of many of BC's most influential supporters, but it likely won't be enough to save his job. If this is our equivalent of The Red Wedding massacre episode in the HBO hit Game of Thrones, something tells me Beckwith will not go quietly. Stay tuned. (file photos of Beckwith, Christian)

* ... TOUGH KITTY: On a lighter note, don't you wish we had more people in our community like Ralph Robles? He's the man who rescued a scrawny stray kitten who survived a harrowing ride under the hood of his car. In case you missed it: Robles was cruising down Olive Drive recently when his car suddenly lost power and he was forced to pull to the side of the road. What started as an inconvenience on a scorchingly hot Bakersfield day turned into something that touched his heart. The source of the problem: a small black and white kitten who had crawled into the engine area and got its paw caught in a belt. Worried the cat was near death, Robles flagged down a friendly sheriff's deputy who helped him free the injured kitten. Animal control was then called but the officer told Robles that the kitten would likely be euthanized if taken to the county shelter. "I just could not allow a cat that survived a 20-mile ride in a hot house engine compartment and getting tangled with a moving engine belt be put down after such a heroic fight to live," he said. The kitten was taken to a local veterinarian who treated her broken leg with antibiotics and a splint. "We are calling it TK (for Tough Kitty) until we find its real forever family. It responds to any hand that touches it with love and drags itself to whoever offers a caress. Gentle and loving, it was tough enough to win a fight with a 4,000 pound car." Now that is a happy ending.

* ... OVERHEARD: A woman is overheard sharing the secrets of a long marriage with a friend. "My pool man has been married for over 40 years. When I asked him what the secret was, he told me, 'Once you give up hope, everything is okay.'" Yikes.

 * ... DIGNAN: Melissa Dignan, the popular former weather forecaster for KERO TV, has joined Watson Realty as a residential sales agent. Dignan worked for KERO TV for almost four years before her contract was not renewed. She is married to Brian Dignan, a coach for the Bakersfield Christian High School basketball team.

* ... BURGER JOINT: Riley Parker remembers the old hamburger drive-in that was located on Golden State just north of Farmer John's Pancake House. He said it was named Jumbo Burger and he was a regular then while serving as a Bakersfield police motorcycle officer. "I shared many cups of coffee there with ‘old-timers’ such as Alan Zachary, Dale Parnell, Jerry Vanderpool, Dave Schieber, Danny Shrider, and a host of other fine men in blue."


 * ... SECRET SAUCE: Back in the day one of the best hamburgers in town could be found at Billy Bob's Burgers. Cheryle DeMarco was a regular there and talked the owners into sharing their secret sauce before the place closed. "I would see them spray something out of big white spray bottle right before the burger's were done. They were so good. I use this sauce on almost any red meat I barbecue now. It is three quarters Worcestershire sauce and one quarter liquid smoke. Salt and pepper your meat, then spray this on when almost done. I also use it as a marinade."

Tree Foundation of Kern holds a fund raiser and remembering when Sam the Hippo graced old Bakersfield

 * ... TREES: One of the more lower profile but highly effective non profits in town is the Tree Foundation of Kern, which is devoted to bringing more shade to our community.  I have purchased trees through the Foundation to honor friends, watched them planted and then grow, and I will tell you this group does a lot of good for our community. This Friday, it's holding a fund raiser called "An Evening of Wine and Cheese" at The Metro Galleries on 19th Street. The cost is $50 per ticket or $85 for a couple, and it includes hors d'oeuvres and wine from Croad Vineyards. There will be a silent auction and artists showing "trees in art." Email Melissa Iger at tree info@urbanforest.org or call (661) 325-6650.

* .... SAM: Frank Echenique is in the livestock transportation business, and he clearly remembers when Sam the Hippo lived in town. "We transported Sam from the Old Kern County Fairgrounds on North Chester to Larsen's Dairy on Wible Road. Sam was in the horse stalls. It took us all day... Sam did not want to go into ther cattle trailers... it was a fireman squirting water around the stalls that got Sam to go into the trailer. The news media left the fair grounds and then they were tired of waiting at Larsen's Dairy so Sam didn't make the news that day.  Also we had another encounter with Sam. We were asked to hide Sam as part of a scavenger hunt put on by Teen Challenge. He was hidden in our trailer at a church on Ming Avenue by where the Golden Corral resturaunt is now. We do remember Sam the Hippo."

 * ... RILEY'S JOURNEY: Riley Parker is a private investigator and friend, and occasionally I spotlight him in this space because I admire what he has done to whip himself into shape. At one time he weighted 232 pounds and was told by his doctor he was headed for a life as a diabetic. He changed his lifestyle, bought a  bicycle and committed himself to healthy eating and exercise. Where is he today? "After spending two months hovering in the 205-207 range, I met with my doctor at Kaiser-Permanente.  While that was a significant change from my all-time high of 232; my doctor suggested that I do an even more aggressive change to my lifestyle. What that really meant was going virtually Vegan in my eating habits. We did so with the help of a book entitled 'Eat to Live.' It took one week from the onset of those changes to attain, and then pass, my goal weight of 200. This morning, for the first time in two decades, I saw a '1' as the first number on my digital scale. Today, I set a new goal weight of 190.  I can’t describe how much better I feel…how many things no longer hurt, and how much energy I have. You must convince people my age, those original baby-boomers, to get off their butts, get some serious exercise, and to eat like paupers. It is the only way to overcome the affects of what our over-indulgence and wealth has done to us. The alternative is a really crappy fourth quarter of life. I’m going out on Saturday for a celebratory 50 mile bike ride." Well done, Riley. (photo of Riley and Jane Parker)

 * ... GOOD SERVICE: Sometimes it's the little things that count. For William and Pamela Goldman, it's the friendly Walmart greeter that they have come to appreciate. "I don't have his name, sadly, but he does his job in a professional manner. My wife and I require mobil carts to do our shopping, and this gentleman always finds one for each of us. Good deeds should be recognized."

 * ... MORE SERVICE: And speaking of service, Jeff Pickering wrote to praise the folks over at Action Sports who provided gold star customer service after he purchased a bicycle. Pickering is CEO of the Kern Community Foundation and is now cycling to work several days a week.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: From Marlene Morales: "Geez, you know you’re from Bakersfield if you had your high school senior pictures or family photos  taken at Olin Mills back in the 1970s and 1980s."

Counties brace for an influx of parolees and ex convicts as a state-mandated plan to relieve crowding goes into effect

 * ... PAROLEES: The state mandated plan to release thousands of non violent offenders while transferring even more prisoners to local county jails has law enforcement officials across the state on edge. No one is exactly sure how many parolees and prisoners will end up in Kern County, but it will certainly put a huge new burden on local police and parole officers. In Los Angeles, police are warning that more than 150 officers will be removed from street duty to deal with the influx of prisoners. And they are bluntly predicting there could be 3,000 more serious crimes committed by ex convicts walking the streets. (photo by the San Francisco Sentinel)

 * ...  FRAUD: My primary ATM card was hit with fraudulent charges once again, the fourth time in three months that my credit and ATM cards had to be canceled and reissued. This time, charges popped up at two Walmarts in the Los Angeles area. Amazing to me how many people I meet who have had similar problems. How many of who have encountered something similar?

* ... SPOTTED: Occupants of a 2008 black BMW toss all their trash out the window before leaving the Taco Bell parking lot at Buena Vista Road across from Stockdale High School.

 * ... RILEY'S JOURNEY: Old friend Riley Parker checked in with me on his journey back to good health. He's been cycling since being told by his doctor that he had better get a grip on his health or wind up a diabetic. He recently posted a personal record with a 25-mile ride, but said he could not have done it without the help of Realtor John Garone, whom he met on the bike path. "He said hello and kind of cheered me on. When I got to the turn around at Enos Lane, John was there and we chatted for a few minutes. I am so happy that I made the decision to go this route rather than allow my health to completely crater." Well done, Riley. Keep us posted.

 * ... FUND RAISER: Phil Icardo shot me a note to let me know that 9th annual Elegant Evening of Wine benefiting the Joe Alexander Scholarship Foundation was another huge success. "The new venue, Mark and Sue Ashley's Westchester home, provided a truly elegant atmosphere," he said. "This year's event was the most highly attended in its history with the proceeds assisting the very needed educational and vocational scholarships." Well done.

 * ... MEA CULPA: I erred on Monday in implying (via poor verbage) that Mike Maggard was a Bakersfield City Councilman. He is of course on the Kern County Board of Supervisors serving the 3rd District. Also, the Fourth District supervisor candidate I mentioned is Michael Rouw. I could blame it on too much sun after a week on a Mexican beach but that would be bad form. Mea culpa.

 * ... HOME SWEET HOME: Speaking of my vacation, no matter how much fun you had it's always nice to come home. Some of my favorite things about returning to Bakersfield: enjoying the taste of fall in the air and seeing the elegant and stately old Guild House, checking in with my favorite baristas at the 24th Street Starbucks, taking a leisurely bike ride over Round Mountain, having a Sunday snack at The Padre Hotel and reuniting with my husky house companion, the gray tabby Latte.

Hispanic college enrollment spikes and Rubio gears up for a showdown with David Valadao

 * ... COLLEGE BOUND: Read the other day that the enrollment of young Hispanic students in college shot up 24 percent from 2009 to 2010. This is according to the Pew Hispanic Center, which noted that much of the growth among Hispanics attending school has been  in community colleges. Pew said 46 percent of all the Hispanics in school were in community colleges, compared to 73 percent of young white students in four-year colleges. Among Asians, 78 percent were in four year schools and 63 percent of young blacks were in four year institutions. Either way, it's all good news. Community colleges like Bakersfield College serve an important niche in our educational system, and it's good to see a surge in Hispanics taking advantage of the opportunities.

 * ... 21st CONGRESS: Had a chance the other day to catch up with state Sen. Michael Rubio, who is gearing up to run for the empty 21st Congressional District. Also expected to enter the race is state Assemblyman David Valadao, the former Fresno dairy farmer who has the blessings of Karl Rove and the Republican establishment. Democrats enjoy an 11 percent edge in registration in the district, and word is that this is one of the Republicans' top targets to wrest from the Democrats. Rubio is an astute politician, good at fund raising and willing to outhustle any opponent. A Rubio-Valadao match could only be derailed if former state Sen. Dean Florez enters the race, setting up a bruising Democratic clash between Florez and Rubio. Florez has yet to announce. (photos of Ruio with his family and Valadao on the campaign trail)

 * ... DESIGNER: An old pal in Texas alerted me to a story in the Austin American-Statesman about a former Bakersfield native who has made quite a name for herself in the world of fashion. The designer is Dawn Younger-Smith, who left Bakersfield in her 20s and has since moved to Austin where she markets under the name "the Boudoir Queen." Apparently selections from her work were used in the fall print and video campaign for accessories and handbag maker Nine West's Vintage America collection. Younger-Smith is also known for her 2009 lawsuit against rocker Courtney Love, who allegedly skipped out on paying for a $4,000 dress. (photo courtesy of The Austin American-Statesman)

* ... RILEY'S JOURNEY: Doctors will tell you it's never too late to start eating healthy and exercising, and no one knows this better than Riley Parker, a local private investigator who let his exercise routine slip in recent years. A routine physical found he had "blossomed" to 226 pounds and some of his key readings - cholesterold, triglycerides, blood pressure - were in the danger zone. "I had three choices," he told me. "Start taking a handful of medication every day, lose a boatload of weight or develop diabetes and have a crappy fourth quarter of life. I have opted for number two." Thanks to the folks over at Action Sports, Riley is now riding a new Specialized cross bike and is serious about shedding the pounds. He promised to keep me posted, and knowing Riley, I think this story will have a happy ending.

* ... GOOD SERVICE: I am always appreciative of good service when it comes my way, so here's my partial list of local retailers (excluding eateries) with the most helpful and friendly employees: Bed, Bath and Beyond, Hoggz Surf Shop, Wood-Dale Market, Trader Joe's, Action Sports, Williams-Sonoma, Stinson's, and Urner's, among others. What's on your list?

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're from Bakersfield is you remember "field parties," not "house parties."





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Kern County women in peril and the economy continues to struggle ...

* ... WOMEN IN PERIL: The two most depressing news stories in The Californian this week had to be the Northwest Promenade rape trail and the report that Kern County leads the state in teenage pregnancies and births. The first involved the guilty verdict in the trial of Anthony Ray Graham Jr., convicted of a bold and horrific abduction and rape of a woman in broad daylight outside the Babies 'R' Us store on Rosedale Highway, one of our community's most prominent shopping venues. The idea that predators like this roam the streets of our community is terrifying enough, but it is particularly chilling to those of us with daughters. (read Jason Kotowski's full report here) Kudos to prosecutor Lisa Green for bringing a measure of justice to the victim and her family. And then there was Steven Mayer's story on Kern County having the highest teen birth rate in California, even while the statewide rate has dropped. (read his story here) This is our collective shame and you can't help but worry about the state of our young women. This is yet another reason why the work of groups like the Women and Girl's Fund of the Kern Community Foundation is so important.

 * ... ECONOMIC INDICATOR: One place I look for indications of an economic recovery is in company hiring, which has been in a funk for the past couple years. Kern County's jobless rate is near 16 percent and the business people I know have hunkered down for a long, slow recovery. Riley Parker is one person who has a finger on the pulse of hiring, since his company (Parker and Associates) does background screening of potential new employees for companies. Parker told me that part of his business has been steady this year - not great - yet another indicator of general sluggishness. But another part of his business is "booming," he said. "We have had a real surge in real estate fraud cases ... A new twist is in the number of 'intellectual property' cases that are being referred... Some displaced workers are deciding to use the proprietary information gleaned from their former employers to become entrepreneurs."

 * ... GAUCHO WORLD: Retired Kern County School superintendent Larry Reider told me to add his longtime wife Sandy to the list of local folks who hail from UC Santa Barbara. Sandy spent 33 years teaching in Arvin and Fruitvale, and according to Larry was such a diligent student at UCSB that "she was upset she couldn't get to classes when they closed the campus after they burned the Bank of America building during the Isla Vista riots!" I'll take Larry at his word, but I also know that nearly every day is a "riot" of sorts on Isla Vista.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISMS: You know you're from Bakersfield when "Instead of people thinking you're rich for having leather seats, they think you're stupid." And you also know you're from Bakersfield when you have to "explain to someone what Beach Park is all about."

Bako Bits: Death by a thousand cuts in a terrible economy, and a tribute to the warriors from the 'Greatest Generation'

* ... GLASS HALF FULL: It takes the heart of an optimist to see blue sky in the midst of this recession, with its daily drumbeat of bad news across virtually all sectors of the economy. Continuing job losses, rising foreclosures and the specter of a double-dip recession are not exactly a recipe for optimism, even if the DOW did rally and settle above 10,000. But that's just me, which is why I admire those folks who always seems to see blue skies in the middle of a thunderstorm. One of those is Wayne Kress, principal at CB Richard Ellis here in Bakersfield, who has started a blog about industrial real estate that is worth a read. (check it out here) Wayne is a graduate of Cal Berkeley, married to longtime residential Realtor Leslie Walters, and one of the more knowledgeable folks when it comes to commercial real estate. Naturally optimistic, he thinks we're cycling out of this doomsday cycle and will emerge just fine. And speaking of optimism, I ran into Shai Gordon, formerly one of the owners of the popular bar and restaurant Cafe Med over off Stockdale Highway, who is also working in the commercial sector. Shai left Cafe Med about four years ago and now works for Western Realty Advisors. After catching up on things he advised me to "be more optimistic." I'll try. Promise.

 * ... LIVING WITH PAY CUTS: I was thinking about the budget difficulties over at Cal State Bakersfield while reading a story in the New York Times about how pay cuts have become so much a part of the economic landscape. The story (read the full report here) follows the emotional roller coaster of an ExpressJet pilot who took a 50 percent pay cut but is thankful to still have work. Many companies  locally, including The Californian, have instituted across-the-board pay cuts to deal with the lingering effects of the recession. And of course we have the county furloughs and other cutbacks that have simply become a way of life. These kinds of moves were unthinkable a few years ago, but then who expected to see an economy like we are dealing with today? An excerpt from The Times story:

 " In recent decades, layoffs were the standard procedure for shrinking labor costs. Reducing the wages of those who remained on the job was considered demoralizing and risky: the best workers would jump to another employer. But now pay cuts, sometimes the result of downgrades in rank or shortened workweeks, are occurring more frequently than at any time since the Great Depression."

 * ... FINDING WAYS TO SAVE: If there's a common theme these days, it's that we are all finding ways to cut back: canceling vacations, putting off major purchases and keeping our cars longer. Every penny counts, and I am amazed at how we are all dealing with it in different ways. I was saddened to hear that Riley Parker, a private investigator and owner of Parker and Associates, dropped his membership in the downtown  Rotary Club as one way to save a few bucks. Riley has taken on some significant investigative projects out of town, and continuing Rotary was simply not practical. In addition, his wife Jane fractured her elbow in a nasty fall and the recovery means Riley had to hire an employee to replace her-an unbudgeted expense that just made things worse. Keep Jane in your thoughts as she recovers from the spill.. On another topic Riley passed on this email that I wanted to share. It speaks for itself:

"Some time ago you folks ran a great little story on a retired Marine aviator named Don 'Slim' Harris. Slim is one of my neighbors and one of the most delightful gentlemen that I have ever known. I knew that his poker group of retired Marines, all having served from WWII through Vietnam, were coming today for a quick game. Most of them retired from the old Marine Air Station El Toro or Camp Pendleton and still live in Orange County. There were 10 of these old timers seated at the table ... their lowest rank at retirement was Lt. Colonel and a couple of them were as high as two-star general.... all part of that 'greatest generation' and I left with a sense that I had just been a part of something so special and honorable that it is difficult for the rest of us to understand."

. * ... BUSINESS EXPO 2009: Don't forget about the 19th annual Bakersfield Business Expo set for Tuesday, October 27, over at the Rabobank Convention Center. Admission is $5 and it runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. This is a Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce sponsored event and always a good place to network and find ways to grow your business. Need tickets? Call the Chamber at 661-327-4421.