Bakersfield deals with a nagging jobless rate as another company, Lightspeed Systems, abandons California for Texas, and pickle ball comes to Bako

 * … JOBLESS: Kern County has dropped two spots and now ranks 55th out of 58 counties in the state with the highest unemployment. That's the word from local appraiser Gary Crabtree, who noted

that all six of the counties that comprise the Central Valley are ranked 50th or worse. Grabtree said our unemployment rate is now at 8.6 percent while California is sitting at 4.7 percent.

 * … LIGHTSPEED: Adding to those jobless woes will be the decision by Lightspeed Systems to abandon Bakersfield altogether for the more favorable climate of Austin, Texas. The local tech company, owned by Rob and Judi McCarthy, has provided jobs for hundreds of local people over the years, but high taxes and California regulations led to the decision to leave for Texas.

* … PICKLEBALL: Do you know what the fastest growing sport in America is? It is a tennis/ping pong hybrid called 'pickleball,' and it is gaining popularity in Bakersfield and across the west. In fact, retired arts teacher and longtime tennis pro Art Sherwyn put on his first pickle ball tournament at the Bakersfield Racquet Club this past weekend, running Thursday through Saturday with singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Pickleball uses a smaller, re-striped tennis court using smaller paddles and wiffle balls, creating a sport that is quick, intense and good for virtually any age. I participated in the tournament, if for no other reason than to give others a reason to feel good about their game.

 * … FROM COMEDIAN EDEN DRANGER: "I typed in 'frustrated and annoyed' and WebMD diagnosed me as 'married.'"

* … SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I burned my mouth on my pizza and I feel this is a strong metaphor showing me that the ones we love can hurt us the most.

 * … DAVID PRICE: Looks like my old friend David Price III is facing some more delicate surgery next month as he battles an ongoing medical issue. Price is the former director of the county Resource Management Agency who retired to Johnson City, Tenn., a few years ago. Known for his keen dry wit and easy going style, Price left countless friends in Bakersfield who keep in touch on social media. Keep Dave in your thoughts as he prepares for the July 8 date with the surgeon.

* … MEMORIES: Mary Clark remembers Scotty's Pie shop but notes a tad differently than her brother, Superior Court Judge Thomas Clark. "Occasionally, when Tom and my sister were in school, Mom would walk to Scotty’s, with my younger brother and me. She would order one piece of pie, and share with us. Don’t remember which pie it was. I do remember sitting at a window table, and looking outside, while we had a special treat!"

New report shows the San Joaquin Valley and Inland Empire lagging behind coastal counties in job grow and economic recovery, and did you hear about the mice drop in Guam?

 * … ECONOMY: There was little surprise in the latest UCLA report on the California economy, which showed an uneven recovery across the state. Coastal counties, from San Diego north, have shown strong gains in employment and housing, while here in the San Joaquin Valley we actually may have lost ground. Some areas of the coast boast jobless rates about half of what they are here and in the Inland Empire.

 * … COURTESY: Most of the random surveys you see online - covering everything from sex to intelligence to healthy communities - aren't worth their weight in salt, but that doesn't mean we don't read them. Which is why I am passing along this survey from the online news aggregator buzzfeed.com ranking the most and least courteous states. This information was gleaned from hundreds of telephone surveys, or so I am told. The most courteous states: South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, Louisiana and Georgia. The least: Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Indiana, Tennessee and Ohio.

 * … SNAKES: And speaking of odd stories, did you hear the one about the U.S. government dropping thousands of dead mice on a U.S. military base on the island of Guam? That's right. Apparently they did it to thin the population of the brown tree snake, an invasive species that has
"caused millions of dollars in wildlife and commercial losses since it arrived a few decades ago." The mice were pumped full of painkillers. As NBC reported: "The unlikely invasion was the fourth and biggest rodent air assault so far, part of an $8 million U.S. program approved in February to eradicate the snakes and save the exotic native birds that are their snack food."

 * … STEPANOVICH: Mike Stepanovich, executive director of the Bakersfield College Foundation, has announced he will be retiring next year. The gregarious Stepanovich, known for his knowledge and love of wine, has long been active in our community. Next year, Stepanovich will serve as president of Breakfast Rotary. Previously he worked at Cal State Bakersfield as well as The Californian.

* … FIRST FRIDAY: The Bakersfield Art Association's art center will be holding a Christmas open house party this Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. There will be a raffle for workshops and art supplies valued at $600. And make sure you stop by the art center, located an 1817 Eye Street, on First Friday to view the works of more than 40 local artists.

* … MEMORIES: Reader John D. Mixon wrote to say he remembers the old World War II military housing site near the airport.  "After I returned from the Korean War in the summer of 1951, I bought a house on Margo Lane from Ralph Smith. Brand new three bedroom, hardwood floors, for $7,600, with a GI loan of 4 percent... just south of the Wingland School which was built later, around 1955. (Reader) Russell (Rink) should remember the 'Little Green Store' which was just southeast of that complex, and the fact that you could see clear to the old airport terminal."

College grads facing a tough job market and why now might be the best time to get in the housing market

 * ... COLLEGE GRADS: With the national unemployment rate stalled north of 9 percent (and much higher locally) it's a bad time to be graduating from college and looking for work. But it appears some majors are doing better than others. According to Reuters, kids graduating with degrees in accounting, finance, economics, marketing, human resources or information technology have the best chances of finding work in a tough economy. The worst chances: students with degrees in the liberal arts (English, literature, communications etc). And for those who do find work, Reuters said the entry level salaries are now $10,000 less than they were just two years ago.

 * .. MORTGAGE RATES: Even though the prices of some homes may sink further over the next six months, there's a convincing argument to buy now. Why? Mortgage rates only have one way to go, and that is up. Mona Marimow, senior vice president for LendingTree, a loan comparison website, told USA Today that consumers "might look back on this period six months from now and regret it if they didn't take action." Nobody is more aware of this than local Realtors, who say these rock bottom mortgage rates along with slumping prices make it an ideal time to jump into the market.

* ... CREDIT CARD FRAUD: Seems I am not alone in having my credit cards hit with fraudulent charges. One reader, who asked to be identified by her first name Victoria, wrote to say she used her American Express card to pay for a recent cruise on Carnival Cruise Lines last year (she rarely uses the card) and then used her Visa to pay for charges on the ship. "About a week after I got back I started getting fraud charges on both cards out of Florida. I knew it had to have come from Carnival because no one else had both credit card numbers and no one (except Costco) should have my America Express Card number. I called Carnival right away to let them know someone in their company was stealing numbers as it could have only happened through them. I really don’t think they really cared, as they took my number and no one ever called back." Another friend, who works for a local water district, told me he just discovered $450 worth of fraudulent charges from Miami on one of his cards.

 * ... SHERYL CROW: In an earlier post on the Sheryl Crow concert last week I neglected to mention that the singer also singled out visiting "In Your Wildest Dreams," the costume and curiosity shop located across from the Padre Hotel. Reader Charlie Wilmot reminded me that the owner, Dixie Haley Brewer, is a North High graduate who regularly participates in charitable events. "I religiously read your Californian blog and especially enjoy your mention of local people and their  businesses," he said. "The Californian readers should also know that 'In Your Wildest Dreams' is much more than an antique store and they are daily donating to various local charities."

 * ... WHO KNEW?  Did you know that every Friday night during the summer, a free movie is shown in a city park? Sometimes, you can even float in the parks’ pools while enjoying the film.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're a Bakersfield old timer if you remember "drag racing on Buena Vista Road south of the railroad tracks toward Panama Lane."





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The recession drags on in the jobless numbers and the injured Padre Hotel manager begins to heal

  

* .. JOB LOSSES: This recession won't be over until unemployment eases, both locally and nationally. So it wasn't exactly easy reading when I saw a study saying Bakersfield had lost more than 5,000 private sector jobs from April 2009 to April of this year. That's a loss of about 3 percent of all jobs in the private sector, another indication that we are bumping along the bottom of this recession. Las Vegas suffered the sharpest year over year decline in percentage terms, losing 4.71 percent. Wichita, Kansas, was the next worst at 4.69 percent. Closer to home Fresno fared a tad better than us, losing 2.43 percent of his private sector workforce.

 * ... DAVIS NEWS: Heard from reader Adele Davis who said she too graduated from UC Santa Barbara in one of the first classes to attend the "new" campus in Goleta. She is the wife of Dr. Doug Davis, music professor at CSUB who is from Clinton, Tennessee. Add him to the list of local Tennessee transplants. He is takingn of leave of absence this year to work on some unfinished compositions and perhaps write some new material. She also told me that Matthias Kleinsasser, a merit scholar and graduate of Bakersfield High, just graduated from law school at the University of Texas at Austin. He was a viola player in high school who went to UC Irvine as a music major. His mother is Dr. Jeanne Harrie, chair of the history department at CSUB, and his father is Dr. Jerry Kleinsasser, a recently retired musicologist at CSUB.

 * ... HEALING: Good news from Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas where Padre Hotel general manager Drew Hall is on the mend after a horrific jet ski accident. The 31-year-old was gravely injured last Tuesday when he fell off his jet ski in Lake Havasu and was run over by another ski. He suffered multiple skull fractures and may lose sight in one eye, but friends and colleagues say he is making a miraculous recovery. He is now in a private room, eating, getting out of bed and joking with nurses and his doctors. No word yet what kind of rehabilitation is in store but his co-workers at The Padre are anxious to get him back.

 * ... THIS IS SUMMER? Hard to believe we're in mid June and we continue to have these unseasonably mild weekends. Could not have asked for nicer weather for the annual Wine Fest, which was a huge hit, and all the restaurants around town seemed busy. Mild weather, water in the river, blue skies, not the time to be anywhere else than here.

 * ... PERFECT GIFT: Is there any better birthday gift for an empty nester than calls from your children? Knowing they are well and happy and hearing that familiar lift in their voices is all one needs.

 * ... BAKERSFIEDISM: You know you are from Bakersfield if "you drag raced on Acacia Avenue behind the cemetery."