A chance encounter with Joan Rivers, the last minute heroics of USC's Andre Heidari and head over to The Padre Hotel for some remarkable flatbread

* … JOAN: I ran into John Pryor at the John Brock Awards dinner last week and he shared his own personal experience with the late comedian Joan Rivers. John and his wife Meg were in New

York City a few years ago when they stopped for lunch at a small, intimate restaurant. "We were a little early for lunch so we were the only customers until in came Joan Rivers with a lady friend -- and her dog. She came over to our table and asked if it was okay with us that she had her dog with her in the restaurant. We responded of course, and were amazed at her concern for the sensibilities of others.
Then another lady entered the restaurant, saw Joan Rivers, and went directly back to the kitchen -- out of our sight. A few minutes later, the lady left the restaurant without saying anything to anyone.
Then the chef emerged from the kitchen to give Rivers a handwritten note from the lady.  Rivers jumped up from her table and said she had to catch that lady who had written such a wonderful note to her.  She ran out of the restaurant and returned a few minutes later to say she caught up with the lady and had thanked her profusely. Does that sound like the Joan Rivers you see portrayed on TV?"

* … DROUGHT: Are we taking the drought seriously here? One reader, who asked that I not use her name, doesn't think so, at least compared to what she saw in Cambria recently. "All restrooms at the beaches and state parks we visited, including Hearst Castle, and the public restrooms in the east and west villages of Cambria had been closed and were replaced by port-a-potties and wash stations.  Many eating establishments had their restrooms open for use of the sinks only, you still had to go outside to use the port-a-potty. They also had signs posted around town reminding people of the drought. Now if we could just get people in this town to stop overwatering their yards. We walk in our neighborhood early mornings and the water wasted is incredible."

 * … HEIDARI: It's fun to watch the Bakersfield connections on the USC Trojans make such a positive difference. This weekend it was Andre Heidari, the Stockdale High graduate, who made a 53-year-old field goal to win the game against Stanford. Last year, Heidari kicked a 47-yarder to seal the game against Stanford. And of course, the Trojans are led by former Centennial standout Cody Kessler.

 * … FOODIE BEST BET: Most local restaurants offer some kind of flatbreads, but few do it as well as The Padre Hotel downtown. The flatbread offering changes daily, depending on the chef's choice, but make sure you try the vegetarian dish featuring eggplant.

                                                                             
 * … GOOD FORM: Mark Sheffield wrote to compliment the folks over at Hearing Aids Today for going above and beyond in customer service. Turns out his mother, who is 91 and in hospice care, had a hearing aid that was broken. "I decided to go by  Hearing Aids Today and talk to Rick Cheshire whom I have used for several years, not having much hope of saving it since there was a small piece missing. Rick looked at it and told me to come back in a few hours. When I returned it was working and looked like new. Here is the nice part, when I tried to pay him he refused the money and said he was only interested in helping keep her comfortable in the short time she had left. I told him we were all very thankful and he said tell the man upstairs."

 * … JAYWALKING: Jaywalking is problem across town - whether it's Ming Avenue or White Lane - but it is near out of control downtown. Gabrielle Lopez is a downtown business owner who has had enough. "Today when I was coming to the store, I was at the light at 19th and Chester heading east. I saw this guy in a white tank top heading north on the other side of the street. He answered his phone as my light turned green. He never stopped to glance at the fact that he could have been walking into a car, he never even paused…just kept on like it was the sidewalk. Honestly, what the heck is wrong with people? Try paying attention when you are walking on a STREET with CARS. You are the one who will get hurt in that accident. And it is YOUR fault for not paying attention."

Former state Senator Roy Ashburn leaves the Republican Party over differences on immigration and gay rights, talks candidly about his rise and fall in state politics

 * ... ASHBURN: I had a long talk with former state Senator Roy Ashburn this week and it is good to see him rebounding from his personal and political setbacks. In an hour-long, no holds barred interview on First Look with Scott Cox, Ashburn spoke candidly about his DUI arrest in Sacramento

and his decision a week later to come out as being gay. He also revealed that he is no longer registered as a Republican because of the party's stand on immigration and gay rights. Was he hypocritical while in office? "I lied and disappointed people," he told me. "I was not honest." The hardest decision after his DUI arrest: calling his mother and telling her he was gay. In another surprise Ashburn told me his younger brother died of AIDS 20 years ago, making the telephone call even harder. With the emotional weight of a secret life behind him, Ashburn is now refocused and happy. Are politics behind him? "I don't have a need to be in public office," he said. "But I wouldn't rule anything out."

 * ... SPOTTED: The rash of pedestrian deaths on our roadways is not surprising when you view something like this: An elderly Hispanic woman with five young children in tow, including one in a stroller, is seen jaywalking across a busy Ming Avenue near the Bank of America office at midday.

* ... ACHIEVER: Kudos to Dr. Lauren Rodriguez, a local girl who has started her medical career at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Lauren is a product of Bakersfield High School, Stanford University and the University of Michigan Medical School. She also has done research in Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico and Macedonia. She is the daughter  Richard Rodriguez, a music teacher at Curran Jr. High, and Cheryl, a math teacher at Warren Jr. High.

 * ... EAST HIGH: East Bakersfield High School is looking for former cheerleaders to help the school celebrate its 75th anniversary. Angie Wise says the reunion is set for October 12. If you cheered for the school, contact her at (661) 871-7221, extension 72265.

* ... MEMORIES: One last memory of Gus Ergo's Beale Park grocery store from Stan Scrivner, who grew up in a house next to the store. "Gus Ergo opened his store at 303 E Street in 1928... I remember the old gas pump out front with the glass top that we could watch the gas move around in. And there
was the canvas awning across the front of the store that Mr. Ergo would unroll every morning and roll back up every evening. Gus Ergo died December 16, 1967, and Sally, his wife, ran the store until
1974. She sold it to a couple who tried to make a go of it but, they couldn't so she took it back. Later she sold it to Joe and Josie Mendoza. They converted it into an apartment and it burned down. I loved living next door to Mr. Ergo's store, as well as across from the Ergo family, and I hated it when my dad called to say it had burned down. So many memories up in flames."