Appreciating locally owned businesses and getting ready for more parolees to walk the streets of Bakersfield

 * ... STINSON'S: Dropped by Stinson's Stationers this week and joined a couple hundred other people for a tri tip sandwich lunch. The occasion was a table top show featuring more than 30 vendors displaying the latest in office supplies. Ben Stinson III wielded a bullhorn and worked the Sonoma Street warehouse like a showman, giving away prizes and introducing folks as they walked in the door. Locally owned since 1947, Stinson's is one of those reminders why Bakersfield is such a special place to live. There is nothing like walking into a Stinson's showroom, or a locally owned restaurant like Uricchio's or Luigi's or Casa Munoz, and being greeted by name by the owner.

* ... INMATE RELEASE: It was disheartening, not to mention alarming, to read that the Supreme Court has ordered the California prison system to release 30,000 inmates because of crowding. Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood called it "shocking" and "dangerous" and noted state inmates are more of the hard core criminal types. "These are real prisoners, real felons," he warned, not just some pot smoking offender. It's  yet another consequence of this long recession that has left California broke and with a swollen prison population, many of whom will be dumped on the streets of Bakersfield. (Photo courtesy of the California Department of Corrections)

 * ... SPOTTED: Mick Fleetwood, founder and co-namesake of the legendary rock band Fleetwood Mac, was spotted at the downtown Padre Hotel this weekend.  The British-born Fleetwood was seen talking to friends and fans on the Prairie Fire lounge but it was not immediately known why he was in town.

 * ... GARCES CIRCLE: Nice to see the Garces Circle all spruced up and landscaped after the long Cal-Trans project to improve the overpass. If you haven't been down to the circle, it's worth a drive by. 


 * ... YOUNG DOC: Michele Newell wrote to sing the praises of her nephew, Jon Witcher, former valedictorian at Centennial High School. The son of Bob and Caryl Witcher, he will be graduating in June with a Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Science from UC Davis. He attended the University of Arizona where he received his bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering and  then transferred to UC Davis where he earned his master’s.  "Not only will he become Dr. Witcher in 2011, he will also gain a wife! In October, he will marry Jasmyn Pangilinan, a graduate of BHS and daughter to Florencio and Nenette. Florencio is a local physician here in Bakersfield. Our family could not be more proud!" she said.

 * ... UCLA BOUND: Another local high school senior, Daniel Kinder, is headed to UCLA to study neuroscience. What makes this particularly appealing is that Daniel, who attends Liberty High, will be able to part of research for a cancer that has struck his own father. "On May 18, 2010 my father was diagnosed with a brain tumor that was eventually deemed cancerous. My major will allow me to be part of the research for cancer at the UCLA Medical School campus." Congratulations, Daniel.

 * .. BAKERSFIELDISM: You know  you may be from "old Oildale" if you remember Art 'D Que's Drive-in on the corner of North Chester and Justine Street, where Winchell's now stands. Thanks to Clete Harper for this little nugget.

Should the presence of freshly paroled prisoners make us nervous? And is the NRA responsible for the Tucson shootings?

 * ... EX CONS: There are few bigger fans of columnist Valerie Schultz than me, but even friends can disagree. Valerie, who writes an often poignant, insightful lifestyle column for The Californian, took me to task last week for voicing the fears of many when busloads of freshly paroled ex-cons show up at the downtown bus station. She advised prayer and a little sensitivity and said even blog entries can "damage a person's fledgling hopes." First, I both work and live downtown, so I confess being a tad more sensitive than the average Joe when groups of parolees are dumped downtown and fade into the adjacent residential neighborhood. And yes, I'm all for prayer and this is a nation of second chances. But the hard truth is that California's recidivism rate is 70 percent - the highest in the nation - meaning that seven out of every 10 parolees who walk out of that bus station will end up back behind bars. Can you imagine the outcry if these guys were being released at The Marketplace? Or Seven Oaks? Or near Riverlakes? As a friend told me last Friday; "A friend of mine who works for Probations told me if the public knew the backgrounds of the people they are paroling because of overcrowding, there would be a revolution." It's time to relocate the bus station to a less intrusive area. (photo from movie 'Sin Nombre')

 * ... NRA HEAT: I also took some heat from reader Robin Walters, who was incredulous that I would publicize an upcoming fund raiser for the National  Rifle Association (NRA). "Are you serious?" Walters wrote. "Encourage a 'fun' dinner to support the ability of anyone to carry a 30-round clip for their Glock to public meetings and places where people congregate." I concede our nation is on edge after the Tucson shooting, but Walters is clearly off target (no pun intended) here. First, 30-round clips like the kind used in Tucson are illegal in California but more important, it's an insult and a cheap shot born of ignorance to compare people who enjoy the shooting sports to some wing nut who opened fire on a crowd of innocents. Robin:  I'd be happy to buy you a ticket to the NRA dinner, set for February 4, so you can meet some of our community's  most decent and honorable people.

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 * ... GOOD DEED: Health care professional Darlyn Baker wrote to talk about an unexpected good deed. In her words:  "After reading what you wrote about Mimi Audelo's Starbucks' experience in today's paper, I wanted to share with you an act of kindness bestowed upon me by a perfect stranger. Last week I was at the drive through Starbucks on Oswell.  It was taking a very long time for the car in front of me to leave.  I see the driver and the employee pleasantly chatting as if no one else was in line.  By now there were five cars behind me.  The driver soon leans out of her window and with a big smile hollers to me, 'I'm sorry.  It's not my fault.  I only bought two drinks but they made them wrong.'  Finally she leaves.  When I go to pay, the employee says, 'She paid for yours!'  I was truly humbled and my emotion changed from annoyance to gratitude.  How nice that was of her.  I will never forget her nice gesture.  She has inspired me to do the same."

 * ... DID YOU KNOW? Did you know that the first studio for KERO-TV 23 (then Channel 10) was the ballroom at the old Hotel El Tejon where the Bank of America tower is now located?

 * ... STONES: From local political consultant Gene Tackett: "Old timer? No way. But I did see the Rolling Stones play the Civic (auditorium) in August 1966. I got lots of satisfaction!"

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're from Bakersfield when you always thankful if there's water in your river.

Will Fessler be the new Athletic Director at CSUB? And noting the stream of paroled state prisoners walking our streets

* ... CAL STATE: There is a lot of speculation over who will replace the retiring Rudy Carvajal as athletic director at Cal State Bakersfield. This will be one of the bigger decisions made by President Horace Mitchell, who successfully pushed through the effort to bring CSUB sports up to the Division 1 level. Insiders tell me the only real inside candidate appears to be Roger Fessler, the former general manager of American General Media who joined CSUB as associate athletic director last year. Fessler's passion is college sports, and he has previous experience as athletic director at St. Francis University in Pennsylvania. But Mitchell could always choose to look outside the campus to bring in his own personal pick. A search committee has been formed, but anyone with any experience with university politics know this is the president's call at the end of the day. This is not an all inclusive list but among those on the search committee are assistant athletic director Gloria Friedman, Foundation athletic committee chair Greg Bynum, Roadrunner Club president Alan Wade, coaches Alan Collatz and Tim La Kose, associate vice president of enrollment Jackie Mimms, faculty athletic representative Jackie Kegley and John Holtzman, vice president of student affairs. (Rudy Carvajal with President Mitchell pictured below, followed by Roger Fessler)

 
 * ... HARVEY HONOR: Mayor Harvey Hall was honored with Cal State's John Brock award Thursday night at a dinner and reception at Seven Oaks Country Club. Organizers were thrilled the event sold out, particularly considering it was up against a number of other events: the opening of a new show at the Bakersfield Museum of Art, a private dinner and fundraiser for Meg Whitman at Barbara Grimm's estate, and the big NFL game between the New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings.

 * ... SPOTTED: A group of eight to 10 newly released state prisoners, all in matching white T-shirts, khaki slacks and black canvas prison slippers, walking west from the Greyhound Bus station into the heart of Westchester Wednesday morning. Ever get the feeling that these parolees are just being dumped into our community by the overburdened state prison system?

 * ... MAHAN OUT: Heard the bad news that Will Mahan, a Bakersfield High School and Bakersfield College alum, tore his ACL in practice and is out for the year at the University of Washington. Mahan is the starting punter on the Husky football team and will apparently take this year off and return next season.

* ... BAKERSFIELD INN: Reader Denise Irvin wrote to talk about her high school years when she would visit the old Bakersfield Inn and enjoy its pool. "There wasn't a swimming pool in every backyard then, but we 'younger ladies' soon discovered that we were welcome at the Bakersfield Inn for an impromptu swim party. We could order a lime Coke from the bar and spend the entire Saturday afternoon sunning and swimming at the Inn's pool, and if we got lucky there might even a bunch of cadets from Minter Field there to flirt with. Ah! Those were the days!"

 * ... LA CRESTA: Reader Gene Buchanan is another who recalls the old La Cresta Air Park off Panorama Drive. "It was my understanding that La Cresta was closed to private aircraft until Meadows was cleared by the Air Force. Until then we were flying off a dirt strip about 10 miles east between Breckenridge and Kern Canyon Road just east of Hillcrest Memorial park. It was August 1945 and I was a student pilot. When Meadows opened we moved there. Got word that La Cresta was going to have a small air show and Batman was going to jump from a plane. He went up in a J3 to about 6,000 feet and jumped. He had wings sewn to his sleeves and between his legs. You could hear the wings flapping, sounding like machine guns. He opened his parachute and his feet swung forward and then when they swung back he hit the ground. I was 16 at the time and was very impressed. And by the way, you know you're from Bakersfield if you remember the hamburgers served with a special sauce at Bloomfield's drive-in on Niles Street."

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM:  You know you're from Bakersfield "if you consider 10 percent seasonal unemployment the norm."

Local kid heads to Oregon to work for Republican congressional hopeful and a photography show worth seeing

 * ...MID-TERM ELECTIONS: Looks like Robby McCarthy, one of the young guns in the office of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (not related), is leaving to become the finance director for a Republican running for an important Oregon congressional district. Robby will be on temporary leave to work for Scott Bruun (check out his website here) who is running against one-term incumbent Kurt Schrader in Oregon's 5th Congressional District. This is a big race for the Republicans as they try to exploit the economic malaise and President Obama's weaknesses in the mid-term elections. Robby is the son of Judi McCarthy, head of the Kern Community Foundation, and Rob McCarthy, owner and founder of Lightspeed Systems. He graduated from Garces Memorial High School and then the University of Southern California in 2006. He will return to the Bakersfield Republican congressman's office after the November elections.

 * ... AIR PARK: How many of you knew there used to be a small air strip up on Panorama Drive? Old timers will remember the La Cresta Airpark located between what is now Greenlawn Mortuary and Cemetery and Bakersfield College. The runway was situated almost perpendicular to Panorama Drive, meaning small planes taking off or landing sometimes had to fly over the bluffs. Houses now sit on the old air park land.

 * ... AIR FORCE: Nice to hear that Foothill High graduate Edward Ramirez has graduated from the Air Force Academy and is headed to Arizona for flight school. He is the son of Ruben and Virginia Ramirez. If you remember, Ruben was the long time wrestling coach at Arvin High School who died in 2000 of complications of a 1982 car wreck.  

* ... ART SHOW: If you've got the mid-summer blues, stop by The Padre Hotel to catch a show of some outstanding photography in the hotel's Farmacy Cafe. It's the work of Fred Castillo, a Bakersfield native who left town but returned in 2004 to help care for his ailing father. There will be about 14 prints on display of various sizes, all of them capturing the special mood, flavor and taste of our community. There is a stunning sunset shot of Fox Theatre and some interesting landscapes. The show opens Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and is sponsored by Don Martin's Metro Galleries, which consistently sponsors some of the best art seen in our town for years. (not all of the shots shown below will be on display)

 * ... WHERE'S WESTCHESTER? My earlier post about a burglary on 20th Street in Westchester drew this response from Geraldine Sproul: "As I have stated before many times, Westchester is located north of 24th Street. This area was developed in the late 1940s after World War II. I was living here then and well remember it. I live in Westchester as I am north of 24th Street. I am sorry to say ... 20th Street is not in Westchester."

* ... UNION AVENUE: Reader Donna Garone Calanchini dropped a note to recall "attending children's birthday parties at the old Carnation Ice Cream plan on Union Avenue in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Other fascinations on Union Avenue in those days were, of course, the Bakersfield sign stretching across the highway and the roundness of the Saddle 'n Sirloin building."

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: From reader Esther Brandon: You know you're from Bakersfield when "a fellow customer at Blockbuster spits on the floor while browsing the slasher flics."