Bakersfield Observed recognizes the new year with a look past at the hits and misses of 2013

 * … NEW YEAR: In honor of the new year, I will devote today's blog to some of the hits and misses of the past 12 months. Here's to a new year free of litter, discarded diapers, running red lights and other
examples of bad behavior.

 * … HIT: Has our community finally awakened to the trash and litter that make our streets looks like a Third World country? The city spent the year getting serious about responding to complaints about litter, and the Homeless Center is providing workers to clean many of the freeway on and off ramps. It's still a mess, but this is a good start.

 * … MISS: But clearly there are people who view our streets as their private trash receptacle. Do you remember the two women in the battered older green van downtown who casually tossed all of their fast food wrappers on L Street? When confronted by a concerned driver, one of the women threaded to punch her out.

 * … HIT: The Westside Parkway opened and was an instant hit, absorbing a lot of the traffic off Truxtun Extension and Rosedale Highway and providing a quick commute to folks who live out in Seven Oaks and other westside neighborhoods. When you see former Rep. Bill Thomas around town, you might want to thank him for helping secure the funding to make this happen.

 * … MISS: The attempted implosion of the old PGE power plant on Rosedale Highway was a catastrophic failure and left one man fighting to keep his legs. By the time the lawyers are done with this case, the utility will feel it in its checkbook. And meanwhile, when are they going to clean up the pile of twisted steel that remains out there?

 * … HIT: There were many acts of good deeds last year, but one of my favorites was the young businessman who bought the lunches for 18 Vietnam veterans at the Roadhouse Grill. Now that's a class act.

 * …MISS: Bakersfield College missed badly when it forced out Athletic Director Ryan Beckwith after the football team was sanctioned and had to forfeit a championship. And yet, all the misdeeds by the football team and its booster club had been going on for years before Ryan arrived at BC.

 * … HIT: I wouldn't recommend this at home, but you had to admire the guts of the downtown homeowner who chased a burglar off his properly in the wee hours of the morning, hopped in his truck and found the offender riding a bicycle with a box of stolen goods on his handlebars. The result: a citizen's arrest and a felon behind bars.

 * … MISS: And what was the middle aged woman on the electric power scooter thinking when she left a local grocery store with her very young daughter riding on the handlebars while the mother casually smoked a cigarette and crossed four lanes of traffic in the middle of the day?

 * …HIT: Downtown Bakersfield had another great year with new restaurants, businesses, downtown lofts and potted trees sprucing up the arts district. Get ready for another year of fun First Friday celebrations, new restaurants and a lively night life scene.

* … HIT AND MISS: And my favorite hit and miss of the year goes to the young couple who changed their infant's diaper on the Panorama Bluffs and indecorously left the dirty diaper next to the curb. Shame on them, but kudos to the runner who spotted this and then tossed the dirty diaper into the offender's car via an open sun roof. That's karma.

Bako Bits: Bicyclist is assaulted on the bike path near Chester Avenue and more stories on dirty diapers discarded in the most unlikely places

* … LONGEVITY: Some interesting tidbits from an essay in the Sunday New York Times on again: "Just 10 percent of the population - mainly the elderly - consumes about 80 percent of health care expenditures, primarily on expensive chronic illnesses and end-of-life costs. Historically, the longer lives that medical advances have given us have run exactly parallel to the increase in chronic illness and the explosion in costs. Can we possibly afford to live even long - much less radically longer?"

* … ASSAULT: For all of you who use bike path near Beach Park, always be aware of your surroundings and personal  safety. The bike path is typically safe, but I spotted this warning on a cycling email thread posted by a Bakersfield teacher. "On Tuesday, November 26 a friend of mine was riding at 4:30 in the afternoon under the Chester overpass. A black male approximately 6-foot, one-inch leapt from the rocks and knocked my friend from his bike. A lengthily tug-of-war ensued but the rider eventually scored a solid left to the temple of the would be thief which caused him to stagger off at a quick pace.  The cyclist got on his bike to chase and ran into a police officer who was making a double arrest only 600 feet away but somehow the assailant escaped.  Be careful and make sure to keep a proximity to others when possible."

* … DIAPERS: Mike Sullivan dropped me this note about his own brush with bad behavior. "I hope you wouldn't mind hearing another note with reference to the totally sick behavior inflicted upon society by mindless diaper changing antics. This past week I had the honor to escort my sister and niece into one of California's and our great nations treasures, Yosemite National Park. Upon going thru the tunnel they experienced the majestic site of the valley for their first time. After having a late lunch at the hotel we were getting into the truck, when lo an behold there lay a neatly rolled dirty diaper. This was within 50 to 60 feet from a trash can."

 * … ACHIEVER: More positive news on local Bakersfield products going out into the world and making a difference. Dick Taylor, director of the Kern County Veterans Service Department, shared this information his nephew, Matt Barnes. Barnes, now 41, is the men's soccer head coach at Lubbock Christian University. He was introduced recently as the Premier Development League soccer franchise's third coach in its six-year history. He graduated from Judson University and previously served on the staff of the CSUB men's soccer team. He also coached at the high school level at both Centennial and Stockdale high schools.

 * … SPOTTED: Gerry Huggins, a Bakersfield native and saxophonist who moved to a small community in Missouri, recently shared this on Facebook: "Almost all of the convenience stores here have drive ups. I have never seen or even heard of this in California! You can pump your gas first, then pay for it. I think they abolished this in California when I was a kid."

 * … BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're from Bakersfield if you remember the "house below the (Panorama) bluffs," an old water company house built to manage the weir.

Former House and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas to appear on First Look with Scott Cox on Monday at 9 a.m., and more dirty diapers left in the scorching sun

 * ... ENERGY: Did you know that more than 70 percent of the oil and gas produced in California comes from the fields of Kern County? Taken alone, Kern County produces 10 percent of all the oil and gas produced in the country. Yet, the state still imports half of its gas and oil annually, a fact that Rep. Kevin McCarthy is blaming on overbearing and restrictive regulations. McCarthy called this "unfathomable" particularly in view of the untapped reserves located in the Monterey Shale.

 * ... THOMAS: Make sure you tune into First Look with Scott Scott Monday at 9 a.m. when our guest will be Bill Thomas, former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Opinion page editor Bob Price will get his thoughts on a variety of issues, from national topics like immigration reform to local news like the stink in the southwest over a homeowner boarding up an entrance to his cul-de-sac. Tune in at 9 a.m. at KERN Newstalk 1180 or watch it live on bakersfield.com

 * ... GOOD DEED: Here's a nice note from Gail Romley over at Curves. It turns out that one of the members at Curves in Dawn Baumgarten, who owns Log Cabin Florist. She lost a valuable and sentimental ring at the club and was thrilled that it was turned in. "She was so thankful that it was turned in that she brought in 125 long stemmed roses for all the members to show her appreciation for getting it back. Some may remember that Log Cabin Florist has given out free roses for Good Neighbor Day in the past. You could go in, get a free dozen but you had to give them to others. What a neat way to put a smile on someone's face! I was the recipient of one of the roses in the past, and it was a member here at Curves."

 * ... BAD FORM: Shame on the mother who changed her baby's diaper in the back seat of her black GMC SUV and then casually left it in the parking lot of the Target on Rosedale Highway Saturday afternoon when the temperature hovered around 104.

 * ... MEMORIES: Local attorney William R. Go read an earlier blog post about the 1960s band Strawberry Alarm Clock playing at the Golden State Lanes and added this: "It was the summer of 1967 and I was in a band that played before they performed. If I recall we were paid $60 (the entire band) for our performance. Also performing around this time at the same venue was a group called 'Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band' whose hit was 'DIDDY WAH DIDDY.' The Golden State Lanes also had a restaurant called the 'Hoffbrau' which was briefly popular."

* ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You may be a Bakersfield old timer if you ever went out to Meadows Field and skated the landing strip with your roller skates until workers drove you off. After being chased off, Rocky Robins said his crew would run over to Stan's Drive-in on Union for a burger.

RIP Trevor Jones and a reader notes some really bad form at the St. Francis confirmation evening

  * ... RIP TREVOR: Bakersfield police officer Trevor Jones was just 23 years old and a week shy of being married when he died of a heart attack. One of his classmates at Stockdale High School was Jolie Brouttier, who recalled Jones a "friend to everyone, always funny and positive, the best powder puff cheerleader, and one hell of a backflipper." On graduation night at Stockdale, Brouttier said Jones performed a "stand-jump backflip right before receiving his diploma." As she noted: "Remember to express to your friends on a daily basis just how much they mean to you, whether you are young or old." (photo courtesy of Jolie Brouttier)

* ... BAD FORM: Just when you think you have heard everything comes this example of really bad form, passed along to me by a close friend who requested to remain anonymous. The incident happened last Monday at the St. Francis Confirmation, held at Harvey Auditorium Monday.  "We had the misfortune of sitting in the upper balcony, second row, behind a family that didn't think it was the slightest bit inappropriate to change their baby's diaper, not once, but twice, between the 'Prayers of the Faithful' and the 'Preparation of the Gifts!' When the mass was over they started to walk out the row,  leaving the diapers under their chair. I politely asked if the diapers were theirs and reminded them that at that late hour, it wasn't likely a custodian would be coming in. The guy started yelling at me. I thought I was going to be stabbed at my daughter's own Confirmation." (file photo of diapers)

             
 * ... GENE: Gene Thome is the owner of Bear Moutain Sports gun and ammo shop and he can also happen to belt out a country song with the best of them. Which perhaps explains why he is among the special guests invited to Nashville to attend the opening of the Bakersfield Sound exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame. When I last heard from him, he was heading to lunch with the legendary Red Simpson and then on to Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, one of Nashville's iconic country bars behind the old Ryman Auditorium. (photos courtesy of Gene Thome)

 * ... PENNIES: Here's a feel-good story about young people reaching out to others. This one involves Caroline Edmonston, a junior at Garces Memorial High, and her sister Marisa, a seventh grader at St. Francis. They have started a "Pennies from Heaven" project to help those affected by the recent Midwest tornadoes. All money raised will be donated to St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Henryville, Indiana, one of the areas hardest hit. The girls are hoping to make a difference, one coin at a time.  Spare change can be dropped off at the St. Francis School office, 2516 Palm Street, or at father Craig Edmonston's law office, 2204 Truxtun Avenue.


* ... MEXICALI: Sibyl Azbill read my earlier piece on the downtown Mexicali Restaurant and believes the building housed a nightclub called "Good Friends Inn" during World War II. "I'm not sure but I believe the Good Friends Inn started on Edison Highway where it had an all black orchestra. My brother was quite a tumbler back then and had some issues there!"