Anonymous letters threaten to burn down the homes of Trump supporters, local lobby the state to have water in the Kern River year round and some old pictures of Steve McQueen on a motorcycle in Lake Isabella

Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ... THREATENING LETTER: KGET reporter Bob Price is looking into a letter that has been showing up around town threatening Trump supporters with violence after the election.  "Your address has been

added into our database as a target for when we attack should Trump not concede the election," he said. "We recommend that you check your home insurance policy and make (sure) that it is current and that it has adequate coverage for fire damage."

 * ... NETFLIX: If you are like me, you have spent the pandemic running through the inventory at

Netflix, which has seen a surge in revenue and subscribers over the past eight months. Netflix added 2.2 million subscribers in the third quarter, just shy of its estimate of 2.5 million, and revenue jumped 23 percent to an incredible $6.4 billion. It has now leveled off, but count Netflix among those companies who have benefitted from the long lockdown.

 * ... DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME: Fall has finally come to the Central Valley as temperatures dip, leaves begin to change color and the end of Daylight Savings Times is near. The clocks will roll back one hour on Nov. 1, the day after Halloween, at 2 a.m. It’s also a good time to replace batteries in warning devices such as smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. If your device has sealed-in batteries, remove any debris and check to confirm they are functioning properly. Daylight saving time will return at 2 a.m. on March 14, 2021.

 * ... KERN RIVER: The push to get water flowing year-round in the Kern River made its way to the State Water Resources Control Board's monthly meeting. That's the word from Lois Henry and her website SJVWATER.ORG that said multiple speakers asked the board to make it a priority to allocate unappropriated water on the river to keep is flowing year round. One of the speakers from Bakersfield, writer Kelly Damian, said "the people here deserve to have their river back." Damian was among a group of speakers who were behind a change.org petition seeking water in the river full time. "If Mono Lake can be saved, the Owens can be restored and the San Joaquin can flow again, we will bring back the Kern," the petition said.  This is no quick fix, to be sure, but it's good to see some influential local people pressuring the state to do the right thing.

* ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) weighed in on the dispute over the decisions by Twitter and Facebook to start censoring certain conduct. Said McCarthy: "When Twitter selectively targets any user based on politics, they not only undercut their own Terms of Service, they undermine the principles of our First Amendment. Freedom of speech is an inherently American value. It must be protected."

 * ... KGET DEBATES: Hats off to the folks over at KGET for stepping up when others won't: KGET has devoted its time and airways to a series of debates, including one featuring Rep. Kevin McCarthy versus Kim Mangone, Rep. T.J. Cox against former congressman David Valadao and Assemblyman Vince Fong versus Democrat Julie Solis. As one viewer said on Twitter while watching the McCarthy debate: "Sorry Kim Mangone, not now. Not today." Even thought candidates like Mangone and Solis are clearly outmatched, the management at KGET and debate moderators Jim Scott and Eytan Wallace deserve our thanks for airing all of these debates.

* ... STEVE MCQUEEN: Check out these old photos of the late Hollywood actor Steve McQueen, a motorcycle enthusiast, gassing up in Lake Isabella. Thanks to former Californian photographer Felix Adamo for posting this and crediting the photo to John Dominis, who was on assignment for LIFE magazine.

 * ... MEMORIES: And check these pictures out, from the Kern County History Fans Facebook page. 

Get ready for the inevitable dustup over off road motorcyclists in the soon to be preserved 'grand park" out by the Kern River, and we lose another member of the Greatest Generation

 * … CANYONS: Some of the best news in years came recently with the decision by the Metropolitan Bakersfield Habitat Conservation Trust Group to acquire the "crown jewel"of our area, the nearly 850 acres of bluffs out near Hart Park and the Kern River. Ever since the scheme to develop the property went bust, the rolling hills have been used by joggers, hikers, bicyclists and off-road motorcyclists. It is a beautiful area and certainly worth the investment as a new "grand park" for Bakersfield. But once the land is turned over to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, there will no doubt be restrictions on the off-road motorcyclists who are destroying habitat and carving their own trails in the area. Stay tuned for the inevitable dust up.

 * … RIP: We lost another member of the Greatest Generation the other day with the passing of 90-year-old Ed Barnet. My friend Angelo Haddad told me that Ed, who lived in the Northeast near the old Green Frog Market, received a Purple Heart for his D-Day invasion wound, the Bronze Star, the European Theater Combat medal, the Presidential Unit Citation medal, and numerous campaign ribbons including the Battle of the Bulge during the winter of 1944 as a 19 year old from Memphis. May you rest in peace.

 * … OVERHEARD: A local businessman whose wife is Jewish is telling a friend at lunch: "When we moved here we were surprised at how many meetings start off thanking 'our savior Jesus Christ.' It doesn't bother me but that would never have happened back where we used to live."

 * … SPOTTED: On a friend's Facebook wall: "NBA commissioner rules that Donald Sterling cannot bring a white person -- namely, himself -- to any NBA games ."

 * … OLPH: Don't forget the annual Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish spring barbecue is this Thursday, May 1, at the Parish ground on Columbus. A $25 ticket gets you a delicious Harris Ranch steak or Teriyaki chicken grilled by Gary and Adam Icardo. The doors open at 5 p.m. with dinner service from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 pm.  Call Deborah Leary for tickets (661) 872-1543 or buy them at the door.

* … MEMORIES: Local architect Tom Jannino added to the discussion of the old downtown. In his words: "If memory serves me correctly, and it is getting a little foggier, Tiny's was originally on the  southeast corner of 18th and Chester, across 18th from the building in question. It later moved across 18th when it's former location was demolished for the construction of what was originally 'Bakersfield Savings and Loan', a structure presently housing 'Caesars' and several other tenants. As a child, I had many trips downtown with my mother, often stopping for lunch at Tiny's, the Tea room at Brock's, or the lunch counter at Newberry's or Woolworth's. A personal favorite was a small donut shop located on the east side of Chester Avenue just across the alley from the building that was originally the Californian Theater. Of course, all of this happened before the existence of Valley Plaza, when downtown Bakersfield was the center of shopping and banking."

 * … MORE MEMORIES: Jack Pasek reached out to remind me that a Sambo's restaurant once occupied the building on Ming Avenue that is now Bob's Big Boy. And Rollie Moore reminded be that the 'Salad Bowl' on Chester and 18th Street (Northeast corner) was his favorite eatery. "They had a 'Door open Toaster' sitting on every table along with a small cereal shaped box listing all the current songs. For a nickel you could select your favorite song and it would signal the big juke box in the corner to play your request as you visited and ate. The food was great!"

A valentine to the flowing Kern River and a well deserved honor for Disney's Richard Cook

 * ... THE RIVER: Funny how having water in our river changes our view of things. Jerry Kirkland composed this valentine to the great Kern River following a morning walk. "I walked to the center of the river bridge on Calloway and, gazing to the east, was awestruck by the beauty - the rare beauty - of the Kern River in its approach and then as it passed swiftly beneath me. To see it running from bank to bank, behaving just as nature intended, served to elevate my spirits. Had the sun been out, it surely would have found my heart. Odd, isn't it, that such experiences make it seem that, for the moment at least, all is right with the world - even the sign that warns, 'No diving from the bridge.'"

 * ... OLD BANK: Longtime local businessman John Brock Jr. wrote to clear up an earlier post about the Kern Valley Bank, which was destroyed in the great fire of 1889. Brock said the bank was organized in late 1873 and opened for business the next year. "Business was so good that they erected a single-story wood building at the southwest corner of Chester Avenue and 18th Street and moved into it in 1874. They remained in this building until deciding to erect a two-story brick building on the same corner in 1888.... they either opened just before or were scheduled to open in the new building when the fire of July 7, 1889, destroyed the building and most of the town."

 * ... HUMANITARIAN: Richard "Dick" Cook, the North High and USC graduate who went on to become chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, has been named 2011 Pioneer of the Year by the Will Rogers Motion Pictures Foundation. This is quite the honor, and he joins a distinguished group of past honorees that include the likes of Cecil B. DeMille, Jack Warner, Jack Valenti, Darryl F. Zanuck and Sumner Redstone. His sister, Joy Tolladay, told me her brother was being honored as a humanitarian, philanthropist and entertainment industry legend. Said Joy: "He is in pretty good company for a guy born and raised in Bakersfield that began his career as a ride operator at Disneyland."

 * ... DID YOU KNOW? Did you know that at the end of World War II, there were some 425,000 German and Italian prisoners of war at some 500 camps across the United States? Reader Fred McCaa wrote that he remembers hauling potatoes near Arvin and the field workers who loaded his truck were German war prisoners.

* ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're from Bakersfield if "you remember the old Buttonwillow train ride, circa 1958-59. It went from Bakersfield to Buttonwillow and I believe they even staged a fake train robbery." Thanks to reader Timothy J. Sill who contributed this. He wonders if anyone knows why the ride ended.

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