Move over Millenials, here comes Generation Z, and the eternal quest for the best burger in Bako continues with some solid entries

 * ... GENERATIONS: All you 20-something millennials need to take notice, because marketers and researchers are now looking to the next generation - dubbed Generation Z - as the "youth influencers  

of tomorrow." While millennials are now well into their 20s, Generation X are young teens who - researchers say - are "flush with billions in spending power (and) promise untold riches to marketers who can find the master key tho their psyche," said The New York Times. Those in Generation Z were born between 1995 and 2009.

* ... TRASH: As head of the city's Solid Waste Division, Sal Moretti has a front row seat on how hard it is to deal with our litter problem. But he also sees the effort so many people put into dealing with it, and I am happy to share some of his thoughts. "We have Mayor Hall who has always lead on this issue. We have homeless center crews, inmate crews, volunteer crews like Tom Burch and the Retiree’s Crew,  neighborhood crews like Dave Collins and the South Oswell Team – all cleaning up feverishly. We (the city’s Solid Waste Division) provide refuse trucks in support of neighborhood cleanup events weekly with Andrae Gonzales near Williams School, Karen Goh and Garden Pathways off 34th Street, Isaiah Crompton and Stop the Violence adjacent to Martin Luther King, among others. Volunteers, crews and our equipment are cleaning up everywhere in the city. We have very powerful education efforts aimed at our children in the schools through a KBB After School Program. We have law enforcement issuing citations. We are not Sheridan, Wyoming. We have highways coming through, communities who are struggling with more profound issues than litter, a larger homeless population that is guilty of rummaging through trash and leaving a mess, and other challenges, but we are proud of our effort at cleaning up Bakersfield and proud of how the community has responded to these challenges." Well said.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Politicians and diapers have one thing in common. They should both be changed regularly, and for the same reason."

 * ... FOODIE: I spent the weekend catching up on some of the best burgers in town. One day I was dining on the outstanding mushroom, bacon and cheese burger at Pyrenees Cafe and Saloon and the next the under appreciated Sonny burger at Mexicali downtown.

  * ... BROOKDALE: When did Glenwood Gardens become Brookdale Riverwalk? Whenever it happened, Brookdale is now part of a national network of independent and assisted living communities that stretch from Florida to California.

 * ... BAD FORM: Bryan Kelly spotted this example of bad form when a car pulled into the parking lot of Trader Joe's. "The nice lady opens door and tosses what appeared to be a fast food bag under her car, then takes the overly full ash tray and is about to dump it when ... I am not sure what happened but she dropped the tray on the ground and as she leaned out to pick it up, a nice cool breeze came along and dusted her hands, face and hair. She looked like the ghost of Marlboro past or a new project for Ray Mish. Too bad she could not have kept the look until October 31!"

Bako Bits: Bakersfield turns out for an annual clean up day, bad form at Starbucks and good form to honor city firemen

 * … CLEAN UP: Hats off to all the local people who scanned out around town Saturday for the Keep Bakersfield Beautiful and the Great American Cleanup. I spotted hundreds of folks about town

participating, and city crews were busy on the bike path between Beach Park and Manor Drive picking up discarded grocery carts and other trash.

 * … SPOTTED: At the Starbucks on Oswell a young mother is sitting in a brown leather chair cuddling with her young son. The problem: her shoes are off and her dirty feet are lounging on the surface of the round table where people place their food.

 * … GOOD FORM: A group of city firemen from the No. 15 station in Seven Oaks are at Jersey Mike's restaurant when they learned a patron has picked up their bill. "We were all surprised and so thankful," fireman Stephen Elrod told me. "All we know was that his name was Walk and we wanted to thank him."

 * … THE MARK: It looks like The Mark will be the latest restaurant it town to cash in on the popularity of outside dining. The eatery has leased a parking lot next to its building on 19th Street and is planning on outside dining with a bar, modeled after what Luigi's Delicatessan did a few years ago when it expanded its garden seating.

 * … TRASH: Karen DeWalt submitted this bit of good news: "I recently submitted an article about Caltrans cleaning up the corner of Golden State frontage road and F Street and trimming the Oleanders.  Last Wednesday the corner was getting cleaned up, not by Caltrans but someone who saw the article. Not only cleaned up the corner but the road as well. This group is called Retiree Pickup.  The corner is cleaned up and now waiting for Caltrans to pick up the weeds. Thank you so much for the Retirees Pickup Group which goes out every Wednesday where needed."

 * … FUND RAISER: There are still tickets left to this year's Vino Amore 2014, the fund raiser put on by Bakersfield East Rotary. It's on for Saturday, April 26, at Monsignor Leddy Hall at Garces Memorial High School. Chef Gino Valpredo and Luigi's will provide dinner paired with wines from Croad Vineyards. Tickets are $75 each and can be purchased by calling Scarlett Sabin at (661) 900-8995.

  * … MEMORIES: My recent blog post about the old Toohey's restaurant triggered this response from Virginia Ratzlaff Pool. "The article about Toohey's brought about memories of the first shopping center outside of downtown. Toohey's was only a small part of the village. I lived across the street from Reimer's Spic-N-Span Market and only half block from Toohey's. I ran around with the Toohey girls who lived on Jeffrey Street. The neighborhood was really nice back then. Mr. Toohey would let us girls come into the restaurant with our roller skates on during closed hours and skate around the counter.  It was quite something. Those were the good old days."

A veterinarian gives props to a local animal rescue group and remembering Tooey's Steak House in lower La Cresta in the Northeast

 * … PETS: The way some people treat their pets, like disposable diapers, is beyond disheartening, but every once in a while we hear something that gives us hope. Over at the City of Bakersfield Animal Care Center, veterinarian Robert Duquette sent me this note: "We are always appreciative of the many rescues that help us rehome our furry friends but The Kern Project recently adopted 37 animals in one day. These pets were then transferred to shelters in Marin County that have a shortage of adoptable shelter animals (obviously our long term goal!).  This was organized locally by Tammy Folino who works with Grace Stauffer from Novato. We are also very extremely grateful to Cori Mincher, Jeff Cross and Bill Murray from the Double Tree Hotel for making a substantial donation of towels and linens that can be used for bedding. Our shelter is always in need of any bedding donation and their single contribution almost doubled our stock!"

 * … DINING: Last week I mentioned some of the new restaurants that have sprung up downtown over the last few years. A reader chastised me for not mentioning The Mark, a stunning eatery on 19th Street. Said the writer: "They have a great atmosphere food and a full bar music on weekends. The food is fresh and great quality." I could not agree more.

 * … BURGER: And on the subject of food, I am shameless in my devotion to the Hudson burger at Muertos downtown (who doesn't like a fresh burger with egg and bacon on top?) A friend told me that Bill Lee's and Mexicali downtown also make a good burger. What is your favorite burger in town?

 * … HONOR FLIGHT: Hats off to KERN radio host Ralph Bailey, who raised more than $10,000 on his Monday show to help fund the Honor Flight program. Bailey accompanied some of the veterans back to Washington, D.C., and promptly returned the favor by asking his listeners to support the program. Among those who chipped in were Rep. Kevin McCarthy, state Sen. Jean Fuller and state Rep. Shannon Grove.

 * … TOOEY'S: Margaret Lemucchi solved the puzzle about a long-gone restaurant in La Cresta: "Tooey's steak house was the restaurant where the Tam O'Shanter restaurant sits now. It had a stainless steel half-circle counter where the broiler is now located plus several tables. Jack and Hazel Ewing operated a Scottish/golf-themed bar next door called The Shillelagh. The Ewings acquired Tooey's and then operated the bar and restaurant for many years as Ewing's Tam O'Shanter. Timothy and I bought the business from the Ewings in 1971, called it Lemucchi's Tam O'Shanter, then bought the building, and then expanded the bar to the south where the second bar, stage, and dance floor are now.  Manny Mendez became the proprietor in 1988 and calls the establishment Manny's Tam O'Shanter. "

 * … MEMORIES: Added reader Connie Allen Frasch: "You brought back memories for me. I  grew up in La Cresta just blocks from Tooey's steak house in the 1940s, a small cafe with a counter and stools. I always wanted to go there and have one of Mr. Tooey's famous hamburgers but my dad said it was too expensive!"