Bakersfield is No. 1 in dirty air and Wendy Wayne faces a new setback in her fight with cancer

 * ... POLLUTION: Bakersfield ranked No. 1 on another list of dubious distinction, this time winning the title of the American city with the dirtiest air.  In fairness to us, the Forbes story noted that our air is actually cleaner than it has been in years, but we're still stuck with the title of the dirtiest city in the country. Following Bakersfield were Los Angeles, Visalia, Fresno, Pittsburgh, Modesto, Birmingham, Phoenix, San Diego and Sacramento.  Forbes had this to say about Bakersfield: "Hot, dusty, adjacent to California’s biggest oil fields, Bakersfield has 60 days a year of unhealthy air, 10 times a level considered acceptable. Its ozone levels are better than at any time in the past 15 years, but still unhealthy for 100 days out of the year."

 * ... SICK BAY: I was saddened to hear that Wendy Wayne has suffered a setback in her long battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Wendy underwent a stem cell transplant two years ago at City of Hope and had bounced back to her old self, but apparently the cancer has returned and she is back at City of Hope for another round of chemotherapy. Wendy is one of our community's most generous and giving citizens, a former member of the First Five Commission, an inductee into the CSUB Alumni Hall of Fame and a former Peace Corps volunteer. Keep this special woman and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

 * ... GREEN FROG: The closing of the Green Frog Market on Columbus prompted this memory from reader Mark Thompson. "I am reminded of the time in 2001 when the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) came to town to tape their weekly Smackdown television show. During the episode heated rivals Stone Cold Steve Austin and Booker T wound up at the Green Frog and promptly destroyed the store as well as each other. It was one of the funniest moments ever in wrestling" and you can see the clip on YouTube.

 * ... OVERHEARD: At the downtown Starbucks on 24th Street a woman tells her companion: "I just gave that parolee outside two bucks because he looks so scary I was afraid to say no!"

 * ... BOOK SIGNING: Make sure you head over to Russo's Books at the Marketplace Saturday where author Richard Mallard will be signing his new book "Convict Lake," the tragic story of the death of several teenagers and would-be rescuers in 1990. I've read this book and it is a real page turner, as well as shedding new light on the troubled billion-dollar industry dealing with troubled teens. Mallard will be at Russo's from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

 * ... LA CRESTA: Another memory of old La Cresta, this time from life-long Bakersfield resident Matt Koelzer. "Two of the best memories are Sullivan's Miniature Golf north of Green Frog and west of the old Shakey's Pizza building and Alta Vista Drugs between Tam O'Shanter Liquors and the old Spin 'N Span Market. My family always referred to the drug store as 'Bert and Orville's' for the couple that owned it. If we were well behaved at the doctor or while running errands with mom, we could go in and get a soda or float from the old fashioned fountain where they still mixed you a Coca-Cola by hand."
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More feedback on the Valley Air Pollution Control District and doing a good deed to others just to do it...

  

* ...PIE RUN: My recent rant against the Valley Air Pollution Control District for being heavy handed with the Thanksgiving Pie Run bonfire elicited a string of positive responses, with the exception of this one. "Sounds like the staff of the air district is just doing their job, in response to a report of illegal activity," said one reader who asked that I withhold her name. "It's the law that bonfires can't be held.... You owe them an apology. I for one enjoy clean air, and think fouling it with a bonfire is idiotic. Stop whining."

 * ... KARPE HONOR: Nice to hear that Lisa Karpe has been honored as the 2010 Volunteer of the Year for the Southern California chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. This is a big honor for such a large chapter that reaches from San Diego north to Fresno and east to Las Vegas. The award noted that she created a program called Caring Connection, which involves visiting MS patients in skilled nursing facilities. Her husband is Ray Karpe, chief operating officer of Terrio Therapy and Fitness, who also volunteers with the MS Society. Their eldest son, Robert, is a freshman at the University of South Carolina while brother Adam is a senior at Garces Memorial High School.

 * ... GOOD DEED: Here's something you don't expect every day: Destiny Jimenez, a Bakersfield College student, was at a Jack in the Box drive through near Oswell and Highway 58 recently when the cashier told her that her bill - $13 - was paid by the customer before her. Apparently it was "Pay if Forward Day" and folks were out there doing one good deed after another. "There's really nice people out there," Jimenez said. "I want to do it for someone so they can do it for someone else."

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: A good one from reader Jimmie D. Hill: You know you're a Bakersfield old timer if "you played at the miniature golf course that was a tad north of the little Green Frog Market at Bernard Street and Alta Vista Drive in the late 1940s and early 1950s."

Is the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control Board out of control? One businessman thinks it is ...

 * ... AIR BOARD: The backlash against the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District continues. If you recall, the air district came down hard on the annual Thanksgiving Day "Pie Run" because - brace yourself here - the runners had the audacity to have a small bonfire to warm themselves after the run. I am now beginning to hear from others, business people, who share similar stories. Gordon Cantrell, manager of Electrical Motor Works off 21st Street, wrote in with another story that smacks of heavy-handed APCD tactics. "We were recently fined (actually, it was just a request for funds) for 'violations' of our permits to operate. In the so-called violations, it indicated that we used spray cans to paint our motors. In our permits, it indicates that we may use non approved methods of painting only for touch up and repair items. This means small areas that need to be touched. This is exactly what we have done in the past. In the 'violation' there was no proof of any date, no color, no amount sprayed, nothing to indicate that anyone had seen anything at all, just a simple fact that we purchase spray paint was the only evidence submitted.... We are very careful to comply with the laws and rules set forth legally.... It's very difficult to fight the government, but when it comes to the government misusing its authority, I believe we should all stand up together and just say NO." Bonfires and spray cans. In this economy, and at a time when we should be helping small business, this is what the Air District does with its time?

 * ... BRAINPOWER: Bakersfield showed up on another listof dubious distinction the other day, and it's not the kind of publicity we need. According to the Huffington Post, Portfolio ranked 200 cities in terms of "brain power," calculated by earnings and educational achievement. And you guessed it, we made the list of the ten "least brainy" cities in America. Merced topped the list, followed  by McAllen, Tx., Brownsville, Tx., Visalia, Bakersfield, Yakima, Wash., Laredo, Tx., Hickory, N.C., Fort Smith, Ark., and Modesto. Not surprisingly the top five smartest cities in America were all college towns: Boulder, Ann Arbor, Washington, D.C., Durham, N.C. and Fort Collins, Co.

 *  CIOPPINO: It was good to hear from Barry Rosenfeld that the we have a date for the Bakersfield West Rotary's 18th annual Cioppino Feed: Saturday, March 26. I attend a lot of fund raisers in town and without a doubt this is my favorite. (The St. Frances Parish School's Crabfest is a close second) Cioppino feed combines an informal night of catching up with your friends while enjoying a hearty meal of clams and cioppino over at Garces High's Leddy Hall. If you haven't been, this is the time to start. Ticket prices will remain at $75 and West Rotary is looking for sponsorships and auction items. For more information call chairperson Angie Paquette at 661-617-3217.

 

* ... MEMORIES: Carl Bryan wrote to remember 1953, the year after the great earthquake. "We lived in a two-story house at 1724 Camino Primavera (near East High), and I turned eight that June (between my second and third grade years at Horace Mann School). Several times that spring and summer my father woke me up in the very early morning hours so that we could sit in what we called the sun room to wait for a big flash in the east. We now know these as the Operation Upshot-Knothole, U.S. Nuclear Tests at the Nevada Proving Ground, and they were apparently well publicized. The other event of that year that I remember very clearly was the first test pattern broadcast on KAFY-TV, which became KBAK-TV soon after. Our family had often visited Uncle Bill and Aunt Sally on Ray Street in Oildale to watch Los Angeles KTLA-TV (the Spade Cooley show, Roller Derby, and wrestling from the Olympic Auditorium) via a huge antenna on a very tall roof tower that blew over several times each year.  I seem to remember that the test pattern included a drawing of the Father Garces Statue."

 * ... INTERNMENT CAMP: Joyce M. Collins dropped me a nice note about a dark green produce stand that stood near the intersection of Golden State Highway and Union Avenue. "It suddenly became empty in 1943 when the couple that ran it were sent to a Japanese internment camp." Anyone recall their names?

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're a Bakersfield old-timer if you "recall the days of very small kitchen ovens when people used to have their turkeys roasted at bakeries like Cottage Bakery across from the old Williams School on Niles Street.

Bakersfield tops list of cities with the worst air and recalling Trice Harvey's "political whore" remark

 * ... OLE TRICE: Weighing on the weak public apology Jerry Brown offered Meg Whitman after comparing her to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels,  Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Morain recalled a 1994 incident involving our own Trice Harvey, a former Republican assemblyman from Bakersfield. Harvey had called Republican Paul Horcher a "political whore" for voting for Willie Brown as Speaker. Democrats demanded an apology and Harvey shot back: "I'm sorry he's a whore." You have to love ole Trice.

 * ... BAD AIR: A report by the American Lung Association has ranked Bakersfield as having the worst air to breathe in the nation. This hardly comes as any surprise given the San Joaquin Valley's reputation but it's never encouraging to see us so high on any such list of dubious distinction. Rounding out the top ten were Los Angeles, Fresno, Visalia-Porterville, Birmingham, Ala., Hanford, St. Louis, Mo., New York City, Pittsburgh and Sacramento. Said one report on the list: "Wondering what's in the air in Bakersfield? Unfortunately it's heavy smog and pollution that cloud the sunny city. Financially reliant on petroleum extraction and refinement, it's no surprise that this west coast town falls in the top three of ozone levels, long-term and short-term particle emissions and levels are rising each year. It looks like the residents of Bakersfield need to cook up ways to get clean"

 * ... BURGLARIES: The rash of burglaries across town has continued into the fall seemingly unabated. Readers have told me of break-ins in virtually every area of town, from the Bakersfield Country Club area to Laurelglen to Westchester. In the downtown area where I live, there have been three burglaries in the last two weeks, and all at homes with alarm systems. Police characterize these as classic "smash and grab" burglaries where the thieves are in and out in two or three minutes, taking flat screen TVs, jewelry, computers and whatever will fit into a pillowcase.

 * ... BURGERS: From reader Al Caetano, a proud Bakersfield native: "I look forward to reading your column. Today's mention of Jumbo Burgers brought back fond memories of cruising Stan's, Michener's and making a slight detour to Jumbo's for cheap burgers. I really loved the special sauce. Being from south of town, a special memory as a little boy was mom taking me to Canady's nursery on Taft Highway west of Pumpkin Center. Canady's had a monkey cage in front and I just loved watching the monkeys while mom shopped for plants. Not sure about the spelling. These visits would have taken place in the mid 1940s."

 * ... ENOUGH: Sunny Kapoor took me to task for my obsession with littering in our community. "Enough already about the dirty diapers! I, like most others, am absolutely disgusted in the manner in which some people choose to dispose of them, but the story about it being tossed out of an SUV to hit another SUV is make believe at best! Maybe we should allocate space to speak of other great happenings in our community, like the awesome Oildorado Days in Taft or the weekly soccer players at the Kern County Soccer Complex playing 'the beautiful game.''

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're from Bakersfield "if you think using your turn signals is an optional exercise."

We're No. 1! (In polluted air)

It's no secret that Bakersfield has some of the worst air in the nation and occasionally you'll find lists in the paper. But check out this list from the American Lung Assn. on the top 10 polluted cities. It's humbling (and scary) and it's appalling that so many of our local politicians ignore the consequences of such unhealthy air.

The 2008 Lists:

Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution:

1) Pittsburgh, Pa.
2) Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.
3) Fresno/Madera, Calif.
4) Bakersfield, Calif.
5) Birmingham, Ala.
6) Logan, Utah
7) Salt Lake City, Utah
8) Sacramento, Calif.
9) Detroit, Mich.
10) Baltimore, Md./Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia.

Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution:

1) Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.
2) Pittsburgh, Pa.
3) Bakersfield, Calif.
4) Birmingham, Ala.
5) Visalia/Porterville, Calif.
6) Atlanta, Ga.
7) Cincinnati, Ohio
8) Fresno/Madera, Calif.
9) Hanford/Corcoran, Calif.
10) Detroit, Mich.

Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Ozone:

1) Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.
2) Bakersfield, Calif.
3) Visalia/Porterville, Calif.
4) Houston, Texas
5) Fresno/Madera, Calif.
6) Sacramento, Calif.
7) Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
8) New York, N.Y./Newark, N.J.
9) Baltimore, Md./Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia
10) Baton Rouge, La.