New restaurants and sports stores headed to Bakersfield, a reader rants about our City Council and some good form about town

 * ... RETAIL GROWTH: I sat down with retail broker Duane Keathley of Cushman Wakefield for a roundup of local development. Among other tidbits: it looks like there will be a Texas Roadhouse Grill and a

Victors Cantinia Grill at Valley Plaza near the spot where the Sears auto center was demolished. In addition, both the Yard House restaurant and Dave and Busters are scouting for locations in Bakersfield, and the deal to land the Bass Pro Shops at the northeast corner of the Hoskings exit off Highway 99 is still on. Stay tuned.

* ... MAILBAG: Kym Vliem dropped this note to me regarding our City Council's decision not to enjoy additional tax revenue by regulating marijuana. "Thank you so much for stating the obvious in your column today.  Once again the city has cut off their nose to spite their face by not considering the bigger picture. It's not like the ban will keep pot from coming in to the city's boundaries. I really don't want to hear them whining anymore about needing money after turning down a potential for millions. I also couldn't believe they were kicking around the idea of a 5 percent property tax increase - my bill was over $300 more than last year and the city maintenance district fee went up 248 percent from the prior year. I used to work for the city years ago and have friends retired from there, but it's time for the city to realize it's not their residents' job to finance debt left by the follies of CALPERS who assumed they were always going to get 7-8 percent on their investments but for the city to make the hard financial decisions of making employees pay even more into their retirement funds and medical plans or cut future retirement payouts. I also don't vote for school bonds anymore after seeing an almost $700 assessment for the Rosedale Union School District, in addition to the plethora of other school bonds on my tax bill."

* ... GOOD FORM: Susan Padilla submitted this bit of good form that should brighten your day. Padilla had picked up her grandson at school and was going to treat him to yogurt at Tutti Frutti on Gosford when she realized she had left her wallet elsewhere. "The girl at register said she would hold the yogurts while I went home to get money. I informed her I lived in northeast  and that was impossible. Then an angel walks up and gives the girl his credit card. Thank God. My grandson had this sad face until he realized what was happening. He walked out so happy with his reward. Thanks to this gentleman. His teen son was with him and watched. Lesson learned. Go Bakersfield."

 * ... BAD FORM: What is it about those people who view the public roadways as their personal toilet? Well they are at it again, dumping their soiled mattresses, appliances and ugly couches and easy chairs near the corner of Fairfax and Alfred Harrell Highway. As soon as the city cleans it up, more appears.

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "Most people don't realize this, but you can eat gluten-free, non GMO, lactose tolerable foods without telling everyone."

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "The ages 18-22 are a confusing time. I got friends getting married, some in prison, and some still have to ask their parents to stay out past curfew."

 * ... HALLOWEEN: My prediction for the most popular costume for Halloween this year: men in bathrobes posing as Henry Weinstein. In bad taste for sure, but expect it

 * ... CRYSTAL PALACE: If you ever get a chance to catch Chris Hillman in concert, don't pass up the opportunity. Hillman played with The Byrds, the Desert Rose Band and Souther Hillman Furay and his talent was on display at The Crystal Palace last week when he played with John Jorgenson and Herb Pederson, accomplished musicians themselves. The Crystal Palace, meantime, remains the best venue in town for live music and a hot steak. Hillman's new album, Bidin' My Time, was produced by the late Tom Petty.

Bakersfield flirts with setting a new record for heat as we welcome the season of rolling blackouts, professional cyclist Tyler Williams returns to California for a break and some good form around town

 * ... HEAT WAVE: Welcome to the season of excessive heat, rolling blackouts, faulty air conditioning units and the general resignation that we are in for a long summer of temperatures well above 100 degrees. The folks who live in the Haggin Oaks area got their first nasty taste of summer Monday

when some 450 homes lost power, and other blackouts were reported in the Northwest as well. Will we break any records? The website ClimateSpy.com says the hottest day on record for this month was set June, 29, 1976, when the mercury hit 113.9 degrees, and the hottest month on record was July 1988 when we averaged 102.7 degrees. According to another weather website, Bakersfield averages 33 days a year with temperatures over 100 degrees. But hey, it's a dry heat, right?

* ... WELCOME HOME: Welcome home Tyler Williams, the Bakersfield lad and professional cyclist for the Israeli Cycling Academy team who just wrapped up a race in South Korea. Williams took to Instagram to say he is headed back to California after more than five months abroad (he is based in Spain) and is looking forward to being reunited with his wife, Brea Williams.

* ... RAAM: And speaking of cycling, good luck to a crew of local cyclists who are participating in the Race Across America, but this time riding fixed gear bikes. Among those racing are local fitness instructor Joe Peterson, Bill Elrich, Albert 'Vegas' Vasquez, Misha Tyler, Bo Bohannan, along with two riders from Los Angeles. The eight-man team is crossing the country headed to a finish line in Annapolis, Maryland.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Amazon is buying Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. That's about a  year's worth of groceries at that store."

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "It's so hot a Tennessee Williams play just broke out in my room."

 * ... GOOD FORM: Here's an example of some good form compliments of King Door sales consultant Michael Whitmore: "I just wanted to send you a note about the great folks at Stockdale tile. Remember the disabled vet that had his donation jar ripped off a week or two ago in front of Walmart? Well the owner and staff at Stockdale Tile presented a $1,000 check to that gentleman this week to replace the money that was taken. It’s great to know that there are still kind hearted people around."

 * ... BAD FORM: Here's a good reason to avoid California Avenue between H Street and Oak Street while it is being repaved. I was on H Street headed south at the bottled up California Avenue intersection when the driver of a silver pickup tried to cut in front of a woman driving a black SUV. A verbal argument broke out, complete with heads popping out the windows hurling insults, and it ended when the man driving the silver truck threw a soda can at the woman, bouncing off her window.

 * ... MEMORIES: Karene Williams wrote to say she enjoyed "your short piece about the old Sears store in downtown Bakersfield. My mother, Winifred Williams, was auditing supervisor at that location from 1955 until it moved into the new store at Valley Plaza. She continued as auditing supervisor at the new store until she accepted a position in the headquarters offices in Alhambra. After she retired from Sears many years later, she moved to Lake Isabella and worked at the catalogue store until Sears closed their catalogue businesses. Our family has fond memories of Sears and are sad to see it go downhill."