Another truck in Stockdale Estates is found on blocks, its wheels and tires missing, and is it legal to rip up a city sidewalk and replace it with grass, forcing strollers into the streets?

 * … THEFT: Well it has happened again. Yet another homeowner has awakened to find his truck on blocks, the wheels and tires stolen during the night. This time it happened to Stockdale Estates resident Jason Cohen, but in this case there was a silver lining. Said Jason: "After filing a police report and calling my insurance company I texted Mike from Three-Way Chervolet. His words were, 'we will get you taken care of.' They came over, put tires on the car and took it to the shop as

well as dropped off a Tahoe for me to drive in the meantime. What could have been a horrible day turned into the Saturday it was supposed to be. I owe a huge thank you to Mike and all the guys at Three-Way. I honestly believe that was Bakersfield at its finest. This town always takes care of itself. Certainly noteworthy."

 * … BAD FORM: In a downtown historic district with wide leafy streets, a homeowner digs up the city sidewalk, plants sod and installs a row of hedges to keep people off her lawn, forcing strollers and walkers into the street. (Good luck if you are in a wheelchair) Someone missed the memo about the benefits of walkable communities and safety.

 * … ACHIEVER: Hats off to Chelsea Fraley, a 2010 graduate of Bakersfield High School, who graduated Magna Cum Laude from Gonzaga University with a double major in political science and criminal justice. She will be spending the summer as an intern at Klein, DeNatale, Goldner and in August will enter the Duke School of Law. Chelsea's proud parents are Sean Fraley, a battalion chief with the Kern County Fire Department and Christy Fraley, the head guidance counselor at Independance High School.

 * … FLAGS: There will be a spectacular display of flags at the Park at Riverwalk over Memorial Day weekend. Sponsored by Breakfast Rotary, the event will feature more than 1,000 flags in honor of the many people who have served, or continue to serve, our nation and community. The cost to sponsor a flag is $50 and can be ordered at www.thousandflags.org. The flags will be flying from 11:30 a.m. Saturday, May 24, through Monday.

 * … PANHANDLERS: Robert Yoo lived for a short time in the northern Kentucky town of Alexandria, just a short distance from Cincinnati which had a strict panhandling ordinance. "One day while walking along the Cincinnati waterfront, I saw a disheveled homeless person with a hand printed sign saying, 'homeless, need money,' begging for money from the tourists along the waterfront. About an hour later, I walked by the same spot and the man and his belongings were gone, however his sign was propped up against the wall where he had been previously sitting.  Neatly printed on the sign were the words, 'This site closed courtesy of the Cincinnati Police Department.' Stapled to the sign was an officer’s business card. Now that’s an anti-panhandling enforcement ordinance with some teeth in it!  I wished we had that here in Bakersfield!"

 * … MEMORIES: Another reader remembers Casper's Men's Store downtown. Listen to Brenda Bosley: "The two recent entries from Greg Cowan and Kelly Casper Donovan about Casper's Men's stores really caught my attention. I remember my mom taking me shopping with her to Casper's at a very young age and as I grew up Casper's was always THE men's store our family patronized. But, to show the strong thread that connects the people of Bakersfield, many years later both Greg and Kelly were a very near and dear part of my adult life…. my mom was Greg's great aunt and Kelly's grandmother, Mrs. Casper, often brought Kelly in shopping at our store, Lou Ella's Children's Shop on Baker Street. We were so lucky to know Mrs. Casper and Kelly for many years, and Greg was and still is a very special part of our family. It is so good to know that as Bakersfield continues to grow younger people still have fond memories of our town's past. Thanks Greg and Kelly for bringing back my fond memories of two special kids!"

Lenore Carter loses her fight with cancer, more local kids return home and CSUB women's tennis

  

* .. DEMOLITION OF OLD THREE-WAY CHEVY: One of the longtime institutions of Bakersfield, the old Three-Way Chevrolet dealership on California Avenue near Highway 99, has been torn down by the bulldozers. The dealership moved to the auto mall and the prime acreage - it's one of the busiest intersections in town - has been put on the market by Grubb and Ellis-ASU Associates. Tom Anchordoquy, a principal in the firm, told me the 12.4-acre site was purchased by local attorney and businessman Tim Lewy in July. He said 10 acres actually front California Avenue with another 2.4 acres on Easton Drive. He said Lewy was "in the preliminary discussion stage with several tenants, while he considers the overall master plan for the property."  In another time this prime piece of property would have been gobbled up and developed immediately, but thanks to scarce capital and a deepening recession it is being turned into another vacant lot in town-at least for the time being.

 * ... MORE KIDS WHO HAVE RETURNED: Thanks to all who are submitting names of youngsters who went away to college, got their degrees and chose to return to make Bakersfield home. The list keeps growing. A few more: Dr. Travis Thurman, a Highland High graduate, went off to Texas A and M, spent some time in Grenada and is now associated with San Joaquin Veterinary Hospital. Another Highland grad is Dr. Kurt Sturz, a pediatric dentist who went to Oregon and came back to establish his own practice. Finally, Rebecca Andrews graduated from Bakersfield High in the year 2000, went on to UC San Diego and earned her master's from Boston University. She's now working as a speech pathologist at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital. I will post yet more names of local kids who returned on Wednesday. Keep those names coming.

 * RIP LENORE CARTER: I was saddened to hear about the death of Lenore Carter, wife of Warren Carter and mother of Ken Carter, president of Watson-Touchstone Realty. Lenore died at home on Thanksgiving in the care of Hoffman Hospice after battling cancer. Warren and Lenore are longtime Bakersfield residents, well known because of their active roles in our community and their ownership of Watson Realty, now known as Watson-Touchstone Realty. The Carters have a home on the coast and were shuttling between here and there after turning over the company to son Ken. In April, Lenore was diagnosed with non-small cell adenocarcinoma in her left lung. Ken told me his mother's cancer was a type of lung cancer and "she never smoked a day in her life." He said the family had gathered together for the end after the long illness and "it was sweet in the end. We were all there." Lenore was just 73. Graveside services will be held Friday in Cayucos and a memorial will be held in Bakersfield on Saturday, December 12 at the Olive Drive Church. She fought a valiant fight. Prayers for the family.

 * ... CAL STATE WOMEN'S TENNIS: Got a nice email from Molly Busacca, one of the owners of Secure Systems, pitching the Cal State women's tennis team for some publicity. She was enthusiastic about coach Dan McCain who was not only a national high school and college champion but also played on the professional circuit. McCain graduated from the University of Michigan, where he played No. 1 on the Wolverines tennis team, and he received a post bachelor's degree from Illinois State, where he served as assistant coach of the women's team. While there, Illinois State won back to back Missouri Valley Conference titles. Check out the Roadrunners' website here for a schedule of the upcoming season. My younger daughter played all four years varsity tennis at Stockdale High School and one of her fellow Mustangs, Julie Hutton, is a scholarship player at CSUB. It's a team worth following.

 

The consequences of drunk driving: another "life interrupted" while a local program gets some much deserved recognition

  Received a lot of email and comments on the death of Kathy O'Daniel, the 54-year-old Bakersfield resident who was killed in an apparent drunk driving incident outside Santa Rosa. Kathy and her husband Chuck lived in Bakersfield for years, raising five kids and always remaining active in their church, and they left behind many friends. Kathy was invariably cheerful and a terrific, devoted mother, and folks were understandably stunned to hear of her death. (read the previous post here) Services have now been set for Saturday, Sept. 26, at 11 a.m. at Calvary Chapel Petaluma, located at 1995 McDowell Boulevard. Meanwhile, I hear that Kathy's 15-year-old daugher Kelcee, who was injured in the accident, is doing better but has a long recovery in front of her.

 Given the latest tragedy it was good to learn that the local effort to spread the word on the dangers of drinking and driving won some much deserved recognition. The program is called "A life Interrupted DUI Mobile Crash Exhibit" and is run by the Bakersfield Police Department and some concerned citizens, including local businesses like State Farm Insurance, Hall Ambulance, W.A. Thompson and families who have lost children in traffic crashes. The program was just named the California Crime Prevention Program of the Year, a well deserved honor for these folks who have worked so hard. One of those involved is Nancy Chaffin, the Californian's Human Resources vice president who lost her own son Jeff in a DUI incident eight years ago. In that incident (Jeff was not driving) Jeff was among four teenagers killed when Michael Hugh Curtis crashed on Seventh Standard Road. The program started in 2002 and involves taking the wreck of a car to local schools and showing kids what could happen. I've seen the presentation and it's a moving and (hopefully) effective program.  (that's a picture of the trailer below)

 Police chief Bill Rector  has thrown his full support behind the program as have companies like Three-Way Chevrolet, which donated a new Chevy truck, and State Farm which threw in $68,000 to build the trailer. Every death is tragic, and no one affiliated with the program is claiming this is a panacea, but it is encouraging that only one teen died locally in an alcohol related accident in 2007, compared to 12 in 2002. There was also an 18-month period between 2007 and 2008 when there wasn't a single teen killed.

 Pictured above are Nancy Chaffin, Police Chief Bill Rector and Sgt. Greg Terry. Photo courtesy of The Californian.