If it's almost April, it must be time for another First Friday in downtown Bakersfield

 * ... FIRST FRIDAY: There's a spectacular art show opening this weekend to kick of the First Friday festivities downtown. Don Martin, known as "the mayor" of downtown because of his relentless push to improve the central business district, says the opening of "From the Desert to the Sea" may be one of his best productions yet. The show features a stunning collection of California landscape paintings featuring Los Angeles-based artist Mary-Austin Klein. In addition to Klein, artists from Santa Barbara to the high desert will be featured, giving the opening its title. The show is sponsored by the Kern Community Foundation and Memorial Hospital Foundation and part of the proceeds will go to the Children's Medical Center at Memorial. The weather should be warm so make sure the Metro Galleries on 19th Street is on your itinerary Friday. And of course, all the downtown eateries, bars, shops and art galleries will be buzzing with activity starting around 5 p.m.

* ... AL BALDOCK: Al Baldock, the legendary Taft College football coach and one of the most successful community college coaches ever, died two years ago but will never be forgotten. And now the Taft College Foundation has named its annual fund raising golf tournament in his honor. The Al Baldock Memorial Athletic Golf Classic will be held Friday, April 8, at the Buena Vista Golf Course. Baldock, a 1954 graduate of the University of Southern California, coached at numerous colleges before returning to Taft College in 1976 where he taught for 16 seasons. While Baldock was coaching at Alan Hancock Community College, he gave NFL great John Madden his first job coaching. Madden later wrote a sizable check to start the Al Baldock Memorial Scholarship Fund. (Baldock photo by John Harte)

 * ... CRIME TIP: Always find a secure place to hide your spare car keys, either in a safe or some place hard to find. Police say burglars often find your spare keys when they are in your home and then return within two or three days to take your car, a double insult to your privacy and security.

 * ... WINE TASTING: If you are looking for a way to sample some good wine, meet friends and support a great cause, consider this Saturday's 3rd Annual Wine Tasting and Auction to support the American Cancer Society. It will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Motor City Lexus in the auto mall on Gasoline Alley.  I have attended this event and it's well worth the price of entry ($40 in advance, $50 at the door). It features wine from 20 Central Coast wineries and food from some of our community's best restaurants. And you can do it while supporting the fight against cancer, a disease that has affected almost every family I know.

 * ... SPOTTED: Retired Sheriff Carl Sparks worked the room like a rock star politician at the recent Kern County Sheriff's Department Reserves Awards dinner. Known for his salty tongue and keen wit, the beloved former sheriff was telling folks about his new love for mountain biking. Also attending were judge Michael Lewis, Sheriff Donny Youngblood and retired Sheriff Mack Wimbish.

 * ... WARREN'S: Suzanne Bunker-Kishimoto wrote to correct an earlier reader about a drive-in on Chester Avenue. She said it was actually Warren's drive-in (Wayne's being the dairy). "My father, the late Bruce F. Bunker, had the first law offices nearby on Chester Avenue. It was always a big treat for us to have lunch with dad at Warren's because we got to eat their cheeseburgers in the parked car, this being at a time when people didn't dine in their vehicles very often."

 * ... WHO KNEW? The “Bakersfield Sound” is not just a nickname for country music, it’s actually a defined style, which is inspired by use of pedal steel guitar, the Fender Telecaster electric guitar and intense vocals.









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Two suspects arrested in shooting death on Cal State campus

 Bakersfield police have arrested two men in the tragic shooting death of 18-year-old Bianca Jackson on the campus of Cal State Bakersfield late Thursday night. Here's what is new: police believe this was a gang shooting involving teens who crashed a campus party. The victim was apparently leaving when she was hit with a random shot.
 The two suspects are Jonathan Darnel Bell, 18, and Christoper Lee Miller, 19, neither of them a student. Police are now looking for a dark gray Chevrolet Avalanche that fled the scene. It is speculated that Bell and Miller were shooting at occupants in the Avalanche.
 The shooting happened when the student party great to around 150 young bell, fights broke out, campus police intervened and the fight continued in a parking lot where the shooting broke out. Read The Californian for the latest developments.

Teen shot and killed at Cal State Bakersfield Halloween party

 An 18-year-old woman was shot and killed when a small party grew out of control on the campus of Cal State Bakersfield Thursday night. It's the first time anyone has been shot on the campus. Police said 30 to 40 people were invited to attend the Halloween party but more than 100 showed up. A fight broke out, shots rang out and Biana Jackson, a graduate of Ridgeview High School, was killed. She apparently was not a student at CSUB and neither were many of the party goers. Police are looking for several younger black men who were seen in a black Cadillac Escalade.

Is it 'beneath' children to pitch in and clean up some trash? A principal bows to a complaining parent

 * ... LITTER: A reader who asked to remain anonymous had this to say about the litter problem that plagues our community. "Perhaps one of the reasons we have so little regard for the litter problem would be explained by an incident shared with me by a local primary school teacher friend. The practice was that each of the classes took turns, in rotation, picking up loose trash before they returned to their classroom after recess. One of the mothers went to the principal to complain that it was 'beneath' her child to do that and so the principal canceled that responsibility teaching exercise for all the classes. Since when it is 'beneath' a child to clean up after themselves and to assist others as well?" Wouldn't you love to know the name of the elementary school involved here as well as the name of the complaining parent?

 * ... CRIME WATCH: I am always encouraged to hear about folks working together to keep our community clean and safe. At the end of the day, it is up to us to make it happen. David Collins, a sale representative for Commercial Trade, Inc., lives in the Northeast and addressed the issue by founding the South Oswell Neighborhood Watch. "Over the past year we have reported over 70 graffiti hits to the city, removed over 90 pieces of graffiti and picked up over 140 bags of trash." Well done, David.

 * ... VALLEY CLOUT: Nice to read in the Wall Street Journal how important the San Joaquin Valley is in the important Senate and Governor's races. Reporter Jim Carlton noted that Senate candidate Carly Fiorina  had made 22 trips to the Valley since announcing her candidacy. Locally, it seems hardly a week goes by that either Fiorina or Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman is not somewhere in Kern County. The Valley is seen has holding some of the crucial swing votes in a tight race for both offices.

 * ... HOLY BOWL: The annual Holy Bowl football game between Garces Memorial High and San Joaquin Memorial is this Saturday at Garces. As part of the game, Garces will honor the 25th anniversary of the 1985 undefeated Valley Championship football team at half time. Among those on the team were Gino Valpredo, co-owner of Luigi's Delicatessen; Mike Lewis, a Garces record holder for career yards passing; Kevin Bead, Garces record holder for interceptions in a game; Dr. Josh Tobias, grandson of Sam Tobias, whom the Garces football field is named; Kelly Bellue, who played rugby at UC Berkeley; and Bobby Bellue, another rugby player at Berkeley and now the UC Santa Cruz rugby coach. And by the way, the  annual Garces barbeque is coming up October 7. Get your tickets now.

 * ... WAYNE'S DAIRY: Reader Larry Woertz wrote to talk about Wayne's Dairy, "the No. 1 dairy in Bakersfield's home delivery days of long ago. "Having been a milk man back in the 1960s and 1970s I can say it was the best job I ever had. If you were going to have to work you might as well have fun and enjoy it. I also ended up marrying one of my customers and am still married to her." Woertz went on to say that Wayne's is having its 20th reunion at Hodel's on Saturday, Oct. 2, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with lunch served at 1 p.m.

 * ... SPOTTED: Middle-aged woman in late-model, metallic gray 3 Series BMW, aggressively weaving through traffic on Calloway Drive, blows through a red light at Brimhall and flips off a white Honda that dared honk its horn at her.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're a Bakersfield old-timer if "you saw Willie Mays play at Sam Lynn Park in a 'barnstormer' exhibition game and remember the name of the Bakersfield kid who stole the show. (Johnny Callison)"

A shootout at Jastro Park leaves one dead, and Hollywood's obsession with narcissism

  

* ... BAD BEHAVIOR: Nothing like a half dozen police cars screaming by your house and a helicopter hovering overhead with a floodlight to get your attention. This was downtown, early Saturday evening, and I followed the sirens to Jastro Park where paramedics were busy trying to save the life of a gunshot victim. Turns out a group of African-American families were winding up their picnic when a confrontation ensued with a group of Hispanic men on the other side of the park. "Everything was okay and then someone pulled a gun," one woman told me. "Must have been five or six shots. We had 50 babies here and we just got them out of the way." Police said the Hispanic man was shot twice and later died. Let's hope this isn't a prelude to a bloody Labor Day weekend. Meanwhile, reader Bonnie Farrer sent me a few pictures of Hart Park, totally trashed after weekend picnickers chose to ignore the trash bins and just leave their garbage on the ground. And so it goes.

  * ... LA CRESTA: More reader feedback on the old air field that was located between Bakersfield College and Greenlawn Mortuary and Cemetery in La Cresta. Brian Landis sent me a note saying he researched it at the Beale Library a few years back and recalled it was built during or just after World War I by the Army Signal Corps. "In the early bi-plane days planes had limited range so numerous strips were built up-and-down the west coast. Every single day in the 1920s the Air Corps would go on patrols along the coast. The La Cresta strip was used basically as a safe place to land when needed and to refuel. I do believe, if I remember correctly, even the legendary Hap Arnold flew from La Cresta. Why were bi-planes patrolling the coast daily, especially here in Kern County? The newly created Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve would be a valuable target to an enemy attack potentially crippling the Navy's ability to defend the coastline. If somehow an attack were mounted by a sea-borne dirigible or float plane they could intercept it further away from the enemy's objective. Japan was seen, even then, as a military threat and very imperialistic after recent and unprovoked wars with China in 1895 and Russia in 1904. The La Cresta strip was also the first home of the Bakersfield Smokers holding drag races until encroaching home development led them to an auxiliary strip near Maricopa, then finally to the Famoso strip in 1954."

 * ... OVERHEARD: A middle aged man remarking on the movie 'Eat Pray Love' starring Julia Roberts: "Fifteen million people are out of work and Hollywood produces a narcissistic, self-indulgent movie about a rich woman trying to find herself. They should have made this in 2004."

 * ... QUARRY: More feedback on the old quarry at the Kern River and the 24th Street Bridge. Jerry Sutliff, a member of West Rotary, noted that he too nearly drowned there in 1946 when he was just 10 years old. "My friend, Jimmy Gleason, and I had to extract ourselves while our adult 'supervisors' were sitting across the river drinking beer. Sometimes I get a chill when I cross the 24th Street bridge." Another reader, JOSCO Construction owner Larry Sughrue, said he plastered a lot of sand out of the quarry. "The holes were dredged by Hartman Concrete. That was around 1948-1950."

 * ... PETLAND: I never visited Thompson's Petland downtown but from the amount of feedback I have been getting, it must have been a popular place. Patti Bailey wrote that it was owned by a Mrs. Pierucci. "An interesting note is that her son, Greg Pierucci, owns Advanced Automotive, corner of 22nd Street and M Street downtown, He has been our mechanic for 18 years, long before he owned Advanced Auto, and he is the best. He is honest, generous and knows his business!"

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're a Bakersfield  old-timer if  "you were standing in Elm Grove at BHS when they announced that President Kennedy had been assassinated.

Dealing with a community that trashes its parks and resisting the rash of summer burglaries

 * ... OUR TRASH:  A lot of folks have contacted me to vent their frustration with the way our parks and green areas are trashed virtually every weekend. Bonnie Farrer was one of them.  "In Singapore if you are caught littering you are forced to clean the streets as punishment. I have driven through Hart Park and seen dirty diapers by the road. This is unacceptable, especially since there are litter bins all over the park. I also saw a woman throw a gum wrapper out her window as if it were the natural thing to do. Let's do something. Yes, we have a $1,000 fine for littering but I think it is unrealistic. Let's lower the fine and then enforce it."

 * ... CRIME WATCH: Had the chance to chat with Police Chief Greg Williamson the other day, and he told me that home and commercial burglaries are up 9 percent. Why? High unemployment, a dismal economy and the state prison system dumping literally hundreds of unsupervised parolees in Kern County. The chief's advice? Lock your doors, lower your window shades, leave the alarm on, don't leave valuables visible in your home or car and if you see something suspicious, report it immediately to the police.

 * ... MEMORIES: Speaking of old Bakersfield, reader Don Enebo recalls the old Tex's Barrel House that was located just off the Garces Circle. "In spite of its reputation, it was probably better than the Deja Vu which is in the same old neighborhood," he said.

 * ...  HEY BARACK: Heard from Philip Brandon, a recent Garces Memorial High graduate who is now living and working on Martha's Vineyard where President Obama is vacationing. Turns out that among Philip's odd jobs  is one working as a full service gas station attendant at the Airport Mobile station in Edgartown. And to keep his job while the president was vacationing Philip had to receive special clearance from the Secret Service. You just never know when a black Suburban might pull up and some familiar figure rolls down the window to bark a presidential order: 'Wipe the windows, check the oil and fill her up."

 * ... EAST BAKERSFIELD: And reader Don Kurtz wanted to wax poetic about old east Bakersfield, adding these thoughts: "How about Tiny's Diner downtown, or Clark's Broiler at Union and Monterey? Or the hamburger grill across from Jefferson Park on Beale Avenue? The Fosters Freeze at Niles and Union or Blue Jays Ice Cream Parlor on Bernard across from Longfellow School. This is just a start of really bringing back good memories of East Bakersfield and a little bit of downtown." Thanks for sharing, Don.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're a Bakersfield old timer if "you remember the name of the dairy at North Chester and the river and the full name of the person who owned it. (Wayne's Dairy, owned by Wayne Peacock)

Earning your money in a recession and more areas of town hit with rash of burglaries

 * ... REALTOR PRAISE: There are few harder jobs in this economy than being a Realtor. The real estate market is in a major funk, home prices have been sliding for three straight years, credit is tight, banks can be difficult to work with and the appraisal business is a mess. Many Realtors who were flying high several years ago have simply gotten out of the business, but the hardiest of the lot remain, and they can be invaluable. I sold a house recently and encountered the usual challenges of the 2010 Great Recession: an escrow that fell through, a low appraisal,  picky buyers, price concessions and seemingly endless open houses. It was an agonizing ordeal and would never have happened without the diligence that my Realtor - in this case Mary Christenson of Watson Realty - gave my case. How many times have you come home to find your Realtor on her hands and knees with a bottle of Pledge shining your wood floors? Our community is blessed with many good Realtors, and this year they are earning every penny of their commissions.

 * ... FARMER'S MARKET: Had the chance to check out the new farmer's market over at the newly renovated Mill Creek Park behind the Bakersfield Museum of Art. There were about a dozen vendors and the fruit and vegetables were splendid: fresh corn, tomatoes, various kinds of squash, scallions, melons, strawberries, blue berries, dried fruit and herbs. It runs every Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and is worth checking out. Another farmer's market is out at the corner of Brimhall Road and Calloway Drive on Saturday mornings.

* ... MAN OF GOD: Rev. Peter J. Pacini, Bakersfield High School class of 1985,  was in town recently on his way to a new assignment in South Bend, Indiana. That might prove touchy for Rev. Pacini, particularly since he graduated from USC - one of the University of Notre Dame's arch rivals - in electrical engineering. He will be installed as pastor of St. Adalbert and St. Casimir parishes in South Bend, home of the Fighting Irish. His parents are local residents Pete and Rosemary Pacini.

 * ... CRIME WATCH: Here are more neighborhoods that readers have told me that have been hit with burglaries over the last few months: Laurelglen, Silver Creek,  Oleander, Westchester and the Bakersfield Country Club area.


  * ... COACHLIGHT: Reader Barbara Fleming added her own memories of the old Coachlight Inn. "Every time you have written about the Coachlight Inn my heart has smiled. My husband Jim was district manager of the Social Security (office) when we met. The Coachlight Inn become our place that we loved to go for romantic dinners, a martini and great conversation. The place is still high in my memories."

* ... BAKERFIELDISMS: Two gems from reader Fred McCaa: You know you're  from Bakersfield when "you can get sun burn by moonlight, and if you fail to stop at the stop sign, just stop twice the next time."