Implementation of the Affordable Care Act is pushing many people unwilling into the exchanges and the Kern Citizens for Sustainable Government reveals highest paid county employees are KMC doctors

 * … OBAMACARE: The controversy over the implementation of the Affordable Care Act is revealing the dark underside of dealing with the insurance carriers. As my friend former Congressman Bill Thomas reminds me, no one wants to see how sausage is made but that is where the details are. Insurance companies are now hitting companies and individuals with hefty annual increases to comply with the ACA, or canceling their policies outright, forcing many people unwillingly into the exchanges. That is certainly not what the president once promised when he said "if you like the insurance plan you have now" you will be able to keep it. This story is just getting started and chances are we are all in for more surprises.

 * … WATCHDOG: And speaking of sausage making, the Kern Citizens for Sustainable Government was formed a bit over a year ago to keep tabs on local government. Jenifer Pitcher, the community liaison for the group, told me on First Look with Scott Cox that the focus remains on public pensions, effective education and efficient government. She also told me that when she pulled the top 30 highest paid county employees, 29 of them were doctors on contract with Kern Medical Center.

 * … SPOTTED: On a friend's Facebook page was this: "Overheard in the kitchen when teen daughter was asked if she saw something on Facebook: 'Oh, No, Facebook has been taken over by Moms!'"

* ... STREET SWEEPERS: Reader Jim VanderZwan submitted this lament about city street sweepers. "Recently our neighborhood streets were resealed and the city or whatever contractor completed the work did a great job. The streets were clean and a pristine black, that is, until the street sweepers came through.  Not only were tax payer dollars wasted 'cleaning' a just resurfaced neighborhood, but they left a large ugly brown streak where they 'cleaned' all throughout the neighborhood, leaving me and the neighbors just shaking our heads."

  * ... ACHIEVERS: I misspelled a name of a local achiever in an earlier blog, so I want to get it right today. Here is the full item: I got a call from proud grand mother Christine Nichols who updated me on her two grandsons. Josh Medrano, a 2006 Centennial High graduate, just graduated from the Navy's Nuclear Power Program in Goose Creek, S.C., while his brother, Frontier graduate Matthew Medrano, is studying agronomy at the University of Kentucky.

 * … EVENTS: Two events to keep on your calendar. This Saturday out at Minter Field in Shafter is the annual "fly in" featuring some really interesting aircraft. Gates open at 7 a.m. and it is all free. Then next Saturday, Nov. 9, make sure you remember the drive to collect blankets, pet treats, leashes and collars for stray, sick and abused dogs and cats. It's called Operation Blankets of Love and it will take place at Petco on Gosford Road from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Gov. Jerry Brown caves on meaningful pension reform, but will it hurt the chances of the tax-the-rich Proposition 30 in the November election?

* ... PENSIONS: Keep your eye on Proposition 30 now that Gov. Jerry Brown has failed on his promise of passing meaningful state pension reform this year. Prop 30 imposes a temporary sales and income tax hike to raise money for education, but it was put on the ballot with the implied promise from Brown that it would be accompanied by real pension reform. That didn't happen, thanks in no small part to the powerful state employee unions.  Instead, the "reform" package put forth fails to address escalating medical care costs (thousands of state workers have free medical care for life) and also fails to implement a more hybrid retirement plan including a reduced pension and a 401(k) type savings plan. So will voters approve additional taxes without meaningful pension reform and while the state barrels ahead with an unfunded high speed rail project? Assemblywoman Shannon Grove was among those who attacked the governor's plan, calling it a "watered down" version of his original, 12-point pension reform proposal. "The fact that it took two years for this meaningless ‘pension reform’ to be addressed gives further proof to my goal of changing this place to a part-time legislature, because absolutely nothing of real is accomplished by our current batch of ‘professional, full time’ politicians.  They will adjourn Friday night and go home for two months to campaign, telling the taxpayers to vote for their Prop 30 to raise taxes and give the Legislature even more money to spend!” (photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times)

 * ... MAYA: Meanwhile, I was at the Maya Cinemas the other day and noticed the Kern Citizens for Sustainable Government has extended its pension awareness campaign to the theater screen. The organization is sponsoring an effective ad that poses the question: is it right to cut the number of days our children are in school to pay for unsustainable teacher pensions?

 * ... COVENANT: An event to raise money for Covenant Community Services, the non profit that helps foster kids get on their feed, will be held at Imbibe Wine and Spirits on Thursday, October 18. I mistakenly reported it would be held at Covenant's North Chester office but instead will be held at Imbibe from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The cost is $25. Hats off to Imbibe owners David and Tami Dobbs who do so much for many needy organizations in town.

 * ... IRISH: The college football season kicks off this weekend and the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and their fans will be flying to Dublin, Ireland, to face Navy. And among the estimated 30,000 fans heading to Ireland are two local kids, both of them graduates of Garces Memorial High School. Brandon West is a junior at the university and Julia Berchtold is a senior. Brandon is a stunter on the Notre Dame cheer squad (he is one of the kids who hurls cheerleaders into the air) and Julia is with the band. I am always impressed with the number of local kids who head off to Notre Dame and yes, there is even a Bakersfield Notre Dame Club to cheer them on.

* ... BAD FORM: Over in Laurelglen, Lynne Budy has some advice for those who walk their dogs in the quiet neighborhood: please keep your dogs off the lawn.  "I have spotted and caught one of the dog walkers in my neighborhood allowing his two female standard boxers defecate  in my newly landscaped front yard. This has been going on since earlier this year.  As I ran out of the opened front door and down the front walk, the man looked up, grinned at me, and responded, 'You have nice new grass.'  I was so stunned, that I said nothing, but I did walk to the area next to the sidewalk to verify what I witnessed."

Former Bike Bakersfield employee is involved in a nasty crash in Portland, and a report cites Asian immigrants as a boon to the economy

 * ... SICK BAY: I was saddened to learn the other day that a young man who once called Bakersfield home was in a horrible bicycle accident in Portland, Oregon, Mat Barton, one of the founders of Bike Bakersfield, suffered multiple spinal injuries when he flipped over his handlebars during a short track race. Word out of Portland is that he may be paralyzed from the chest down. Mat moved to Portland to join an internet bicycle company. You can keep up with his recovery by going to the Bike Bakersfield website, bikebakersfield.org. Keep this young man in your thoughts. (photos courtesy of Bike Bakersfield)

 * ... ASIANS: This will come as no surprise but a new study shows that Asians are the fastest-growing, most educated and highest earning population in the country. That's all according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited a Pew Research Report depicting Asian immigrants as a boon to the economy. Asians now account for 6 percent of the population, with the bulk coming rom China, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam. Said the study: "As a group, Asians place more value than Americans overall on marriage, parenting, hard work and careers, according to the report. Irrespective of their country of origin, Asians overall believe that American parents are too soft on their children." (photo courtesy of The Wall Street Journal)

 * ... PENSION REFORM: Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton echoed my thoughts recently while questioning why the Democratic majority in the California Legislature is not moving more quickly on pension reform. Without it, Skelton said the twin tax hike initiatives on the November ballot will be all but doomed."Virtually no one in the Capitol believes that voters will approve a state tax increase unless the Legslature and governor have enacted pension reform," he noted. But taking on the powerful labor interests is not something Democrats are comfortable with, and so we wait. And wait.


* ... DIGNAN: Congrats to Brian Dignan, who has been named the new head men's basketball coach at Bakersfield Christian High School. Dignan previously worked as a coach for both Cal State Bakersfield and the Bakersfield Jam. In addition to his coaching duties, he will teach American History and U.S. Government. He is married to Melissa Dignan, the former weather forecaster at KERO TV and they are expecting their first child.

* ... SPOTTED: Middle aged, obese woman behind the wheel of an older maroon van, windows rolled up with temperatures well over 105, filling her van with cigarette smoke while two small children sit in the back.

 * ...  OVERHEARD: Two Southwest residents leave Eureka Burger after learning the wait was more than 45 minutes. "In three months you'll be able to shoot a cannon in here without hitting anyone. This town goes crazy over new restaurants." said one.

Tour of California hits Bakersfield for a Stage 5 time trial, and Gov. Brown gets some advice on our ballooning state debt

* .... TOUR: The Tour of California cycling race rolled through town Thursday, exposing our community to a worldwide audience in the millions. I received a message from a friend who was viewing the Tour in a sports bar in Washington, D.C., and got another call from a friend who was viewing it in Pittsburgh. This is the second time the Tour has come through Bakersfield, and it is much more than a bike race. It has evolved into a social event, much like George Martin's Bakersfield Business Conferences in years past. And hats off to Sam Ames, the manager at Action Sports, who put on a spectacular hospitality tent featuring food, wine, beer and of course water for a hot day. Sam personally thanked volunteers Jim Cretoll and Keith Barnden for their help.

 * ... PENSIONS: William J. Bennett, the former Education Secretary, has some advice for Gov. Jerry Brown on how to deal with the state's $16 billion deficit: watch how they did it in Wisconsin. "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker closed a large budget hole without raising taxes or cutting education but by going straight to one of the roots of the problem - public employee unions," Bennett wrote. "Until California addresses comprehensive pension reform, the state will continue to sink deeper into debt." Brown's answer? A ballot initiative to raise taxes while pension reform remains off the table.

 * ... OVERHEARD: A middled aged woman who lives near Panorama Drive talking to a friend: "I wish this (Tour of California) bike race came to town every year. The city always does such a nice job sprucing up the area!"


* ... WORLD VIEW: Here are some news items from across the world recently: an Iranian rapper fears for his life after two clerics issue a fatwah  justifying his murder; Lady Gaga may be forced to cancel a concert in Jakarta because of complaints from Islamic groups; and a former Colombian justice minister narrowly escapes death in a car bombing in Bogota. Makes one feel good about being an American, doesn't it?

* ... HIGH ACHIEVER: Hats off to David Partida, a graduate of Bakersfield Christian High School and then Notre Dame, who will receive his law degree from Columbia Law School this month. His father, Armando, works for American National Insurance Company here in Bakersfield.

 * ... PEPPERDINE BOUND: Another remarkable local student is Demitria Doubenmier, a Bakersfield High School graduate who has worked for Sequoia Sandwich Co. for the past three years. She graduated from Bakersfield College this spring with a 4.0 GPA and is headed to Pepperdine University on a full ride scholarship in the fall. Sequoia manager Valerie Damron told me she was raised by an amazing grandmother "and is such a testimony of hard work and resilience paying off. She has worked for me for three years and has never missed a day of work or been late once while taking a full load at Bakersfield College."