Bakersfield cyclist Mike Aldridge recovering after losing a leg in a horrific accident, and Castle and Cooke president Bruce Freeman retires after 21 years on the job

 * … RECOVERING: Mike Aldridge, the Bakersfield pool contractor who was involved in a

horrific bicycle accident near Lake Tahoe, is apparently recovering but still faces multiple surgeries. Aldridge, 49, was hit by a semi-truck while cycling through the Cave Rock tunnel near Tahoe. Family friends say one leg has been amputated, but they say he is awake and eager to return home. On Thursday, a group of about 50 bicyclists gathered at dawn at Beach Park to take a picture to wish him well. Keep this man and his family in your thoughts.

* … FREEMAN: I had a chance the other day to catch up with Bruce Freeman, who is retiring as president of Castle and Cooke after 21 years on the job. When Freeman arrived in Bakersfield in 1993, Seven Oaks Country Club had just been built and the neighborhoods of Seven Oaks were sparsely populated. It is easy to underestimate the impact that Freeman and Castle and Cooke have had on Bakersfield. Its developments, both commercial and residential, turned out to be far superior to anything our community had seen before, and the loyalty of Seven Oaks residents to their neighborhoods is a testament to Freeman's work. The Marketplace was one of the company's first commercial ventures, but the company eventually built and marketed the long stretch of medical offices on Stockdale Highway and beyond to the Park at River Walk. Freeman was president, but he left his mark in the small details. He was the one who insisted on the grand, gated entrances with brick trim and lush landscaping that has become the company's brand in its residential developments, as well as the roses that have become part of the Castle and Cooke look. He will officially leave at the end of this month, but plans to remain in Bakersfield. Vice president Laura Whitaker is expected to replace Freeman.

 * … MIST: Randy Ariery tipped me that actress Kathleen Turner is staring on stage in London in a play called "Bakersfield Mist." Turner plays a down-on-your-luck, boozing Bakersfield woman who picks up a Jackson Pollock painting for $5 at a garage store. The play was writhen by Stephen Sachs and co-stars Ian McDiarmid .

* … BLOWBACK: Rod Forney took issue with a recent post in which a reader complained that a BPD officer should not have expressed pity on a couple who was moving to town. "Maybe you should get off of your high horse or at least out of your air conditioned office and realize that just maybe, the officer was trying to lighten up and not unnecessarily scare the family during a serious situation. Also, I'm sure the officer was in full uniform in this extremely hot weather, which is not easy to work in, even if in shorts and a T-shirt. I would also say I'm sorry, to someone moving into Bakersfield in this heat. Maybe you should be less critical of our police department, that is unless you are not proud of the people that are out insuring your safety everyday, no matter the weather or air quality." Note to Rod: that wasn't my high horse talking; I was passing along a reader's comments.

 * … BAKERSFIELDISM: Craig Holland says you might be a Bakersfield old timer if you remember who these people were, and what they had in common: Ed Fant, Gene Winer and Wally Tucker. (Answer: They were all car dealers who had their names attached to the dealership. Fant had Buick, Winer (a former mayor) had Cadillac and Tucker sold Datsuns.

Sarah Palin and Bakersfield a dream team and a business born in the recession booms

 * .. LIKE THROWING RAW MEAT TO WOLVES: You have to hand it to George Martin, the local attorney who is bringing back the once wildly popular Bakersfield Business Conference. Martin scored it big by landing former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to be a headliner at the event, which is now scheduled for next October 9. Say what you will about Palin, but she is a red hot commodity right now and bringing her to Bakersfield's conservative audience is like throwing raw meat to a pack of hungry wolves. Meanwhile, no word yet on where the one-day conference will be held, but I hear Martin's first choice is the amphitheater at the Park at River Walk over off Stockdale Highway. The old venue over at Cal State Bakersfield appears to be out, partly because of the construction of the new student recreation center and the new bike path that winds around it.

 * ... A BUSINESS BORN IN THE RECESSION: If you're looking for some good news in the depth of this recession, consider Imbibe Wine and Spirits Merchants over off Truxtun Extension and Empire Drive. The business, owned and run by David and Tami Dobbs, is beautifully done and features a full wine store as well as a tasting area where you can sample wines by the ounce. The couple bought the building in July 2008, gutted and renovated it and opened Imbibe in March in the absolute depths of the recession. How are they doing? Tami tells me they are well ahead of their revenue goals and could not be happier with their growing clientele. The couple (she graduated from Bakersfield High and David from North High) spent 20 years in the wine business in Glendale before moving back in 2006 to be closer to family. This is a true entrepreneurial couple who built a business through sheer sweat equity against all odds in a recession. More power and all success to them.

* ... OFF TO HAITI: I saw Evan Evans, a local Allstate insurance manager, at Starbucks on 24th Street Monday morning where he regularly meets for coffee with his old high school pal Harry Starkey, head of the Berrenda Mesa Water District. Evans told me he was off to Haiti with 20 other members of the Olive Knolls Church of the Nazarene to build and work in a clinic. Apparently this is a 10-day trip and another example how many folks in this community give back in untold number of ways.

 * ... BOBBY'S BRIGADE FUND RAISER: If you're  looking for a good cause to support, drop over to B Ryder's sports grill this Thursday for an event supporting Relay For Life. The event is named for the son of CeCe Cross who lost his battle with leukemia. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door and includes trip-tip dinner, salad, beans, bread and a drink. B Ryder's is located at 7401 White Lane. Call CeCe Cross for details at 661-703-2050, or Vanessa Cierley at 661-246-8886. The event starts at 6 p.m.

 * ... RIP KURT YAEGER: I heard the other day that Kurt Yaeger, a local attorney who left town in the year 2000, had passed away in Riverside. Kurt and his wife Andrea Yaeger lived in Haggin Oaks and were avid golfers at Seven Oaks Country Club, where they were charter members and Kurt was the first head of the Board of Governors. Kurt was diagnosed with cancer three years ago and died at Loma Linda University Medical Center on November 10. He was 53. Keep Kurt, Andrea and their daughters Jacqueline and Elizabeth in your thoughts.

Regulators pressured to go easier on local banks, deals at local country clubs and CSUB moves to Division I

 *.... SOFTER REGULATIONS FOR BANKS: It's too late for San Joaquin Bank, but there's finally a serious move in Congress to back off the pressure that has led to the closure of 115 community banks. One interesting aspect of this new softer attitude allows banks to keep loans on their books as performing even if the value of the affected properties have fallen below the loan amount. That's the word verbatim from The Wall Street Journal (read the entire story here), which says the new guidelines were released Friday, October 30, exactly two weeks after San Joaquin Bank was shut down. This is a stunning development because this was one of the primary issues that led to San Joaquin's downfall, and one has to wonder if the bank would have survived had these new rules been in place. All that is now water under the bridge, of course, but it has left San Joaquin directors and shareholders shaking their heads and wondering how different things might have been. And it comes at a time when folks like Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and others are waking up to the fact that so many local banks are going under while the "too big to fail" banks like Bank of America and Wells Fargo are thriving after receiving billions in tax dollars for doing exactly the same thing. A couple of important quotes from the Journal story:

 "The new guidelines are targeted primarily at the hundreds of billions of dollars worth of loans that are coming due that can't be refinanced largely because the value of the properties have fallen below the loan amount. In many of these situations, the properties are still generating enough income to pay debt service.
 "Banks have generally been keeping a lid on commercial real-estate losses by extending these mortgages upon maturity. However, that practice, billed by many industry observers as "extending and pretending," has come under criticism by some analysts and investors as it promises to put off the pains into the future. Now federal regulators are essentially sanctioning the practice as long as banks restructure loans prudently. The federal guidelines note that banks that conduct "prudent" loan workouts after looking at the borrower's financial condition "will not be subject to criticism (by regulators) for engaging in these efforts.

 Every day there is a new development in this story as politicians continue to put pressure on the regulators to go easier on local banks. Read the latest installment of this saga here.

* ... GOOD NEWS OR JUST A BLIP? All the news about the recession being technically over doesn't mean much if it is not accompanied by more folks finding meaningful work. Nationally the unemployment rate is nearing 10 percent, and in Kern County it is around 15 percent, though experts will tell you those figures greatly underestimate the number of people out of work. (Delano's unemployment rate is well north of 30 percent) So when I hear any good news on the job front, I take note. Riley Parker, a local private investigator, told me one early indicator of a recovery might come in pre-employment screenings, which his wife Jane handles under the company name Pre-Employment Profiles. (check their website here) Parker told me they are in the middle of the third straight week of 20 percent increases in the raw numbers of pre-employment screenings. Good news? Let's hope so.

 * ... BARGAINS AT THE CLUB: Another sign of the economic times are the deals that local country clubs are offering to lure new members. I've already reported that Seven Oaks Country Club is now selling full equity memberships for $10,000, down from the normal $30,000. Now Bakersfield Country Club is offering virtually "free" memberships to lure members from other clubs. The catch: you have to be a member of another club for the initiation fee to be waived, you have to be sponsored by a BCC club member and of course you have to agree to pick up the monthly dues and food minimums. That's the word from Sheryl Barbich, the longtime civic activist and strategic planner who serves as BCC's membership chair. Barbich also said there is also a $1,500 program for folks who aren't members of other clubs. She said these deals will last until a certain number of new members are signed.

 * ... CSUB BASKETBALL MOVES TO BIG TIME: I had the pleasure of hearing Cal State men's basketball coach Keith Brown at my downtown Rotary on Thursday. CSUB's move to Division One status means big time opponents and national TV exposure this year. Among the schools we'll play are Santa Clara, Boise State, University of Cincinnati, Utah State, Gonzaga and UCLA down at Pauley Pavilion.

Staring down the barrel at a double dip recession, Laura Wolfe out at CSUB and country clubs feeling the pain

Right when you think things are getting better - a slight uptick in housing sales, a successful "cash for clunkers" program - the talking heads and analysts start warning us of a "double dip recession." Don't mean to be alarmist but more than a few noteworthy economists think we are far from out of the woods, and are fearing the current good times on the stock market will soon give way to a darker new reality. Consider:

* ... LAURA WOLFE OUT IN CSUB SHAKEUP: Before we get to the economy was saddened to hear that Laura Wolfe, longtime vice president of development for the university, has lost her job, allegedly due to the budget crisis. At least that's what a memo from Beverly Byl, new vice president of university advancement, says. Other insiders speculate it's Byl's way of using the budget crisis to build her own team, and it's leaving many folks with a bad taste in their mouths. Laura is a longtime fixture in the community, well liked and well respected, and one who has worked hard on behalf of the university, even when so many campus academics felt that building community relations was beneath their pay grade. I spoke with Laura who said simply she was looking forward to spending more time with her family and preparing for her son's bar mitzvah. She said she "hopes to do well by doing good." Now that's a class act.



* ... IT'S UGLY OUT THERE: Okay, back to the economy and folks, it ain't pretty. The American Bankruptcy Institute reports consumer bankruptcies jumped 34.3 percent in July, compared to last year, as high debt and unemployment took their toll. Also:
SECTOR ANALYSIS: A new survey of real estate investors by PricewaterhouseCoopers projects that over the next 12 months, apartment values will fall 7 percent, regional malls will drop 8.5 percent, warehouses will drop 8.2 percent and office values will decline 11.4 percent. This is the long expected commercial real estate crunch and no doubt we don't be able to avoid it.
BANK FAILURES: While we have been averaging 5 to 7 bank closures per week the past few weeks, it is interesting to note that the high was set in 1989 when 60 banks were closed in one week.
HOUSING DECLINE: Home ownership in the US reached nearly 70 percent in 2004, but has since fallen to 67.4 percent as of the second quarter of 2009. Interestingly, about 57 percent of housing units that are added to the market become rentals these days.
HOUSING SUPPLY: A study by ZipRealty finds the supply of homes available for sale in major metropolitan areas fell 2.5 percent in July compared to June. Yet, as reported here earlier, fully one in 10 home mortgages in California is now in a state of default



* ... MEANWHILE, OUT AT THE COUNTRY CLUB: Also learned that privately owned Seven Oaks Country Club has been hit so hard by this recession that it is reducing its full equity initiation fee from $30,000 to $10,000. In a letter to members, general manager Don Ciota says the club has sold only four new full equity memberships this year. Good news for new members but what about the folks who paid full retail? Another sign of the times.

* ... INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE: Lastly, spotted this Facebook post from Realtor Mary Christenson and thought I would pass it along. It's a good one:
"You never know when one act, or one word of encouragement can change a life forever." ~ Zig Ziglar