Bakersfield lags the state in well being and socio-economics and local oil producers slow down production and begin laying off workers to respond to a global oil glut

 * … RANKINGS: Bakersfield posted some low rankings in a new survey by the Social Science Research Council that measures well-being and access to socio-economic upward mobility based on race, ethnicity, gender and geographic location. Some key findings about Bakersfield: Our index score of 3.69 is 30 percent below the California average and the median

earnings range from $36,031 for whites to $18,865 for Latinos, a spread of over $17,000. And, almost half of all Latino adults in the Bakersfield metro area did not complete high school. "This is more than twice the rate for African Americans in the Bakersfield metro area, and the highest rate of any group in any of the ten biggest metro areas," according to the report.

* … OIL: With the benchmark price of Kern County crude oil now under $60 a barrel, more producers are laying off service workers until the price stabilizes. All this may be good for consumers as the price of gas drops, but lower oil prices will have a devastating impact on county tax revenue, 40 percent of which comes from the energy sector. The price of oil has plummeted more than 40 percent since July, one of the sharpest drops in memory.

* … SCAM: A local restaurant was the target of a familiar scam the other day. A "very professional" man called the manager posing as a collector for the utility PGE, demanding $900 on a cash card or the power would be cut off later that day. The manager "almost fell for it," the owner told me, but at the last minute called the utility and learned it was a hoax.

 * … RAIN: A huge storm is headed to the Bay Area, where meteorologists expect as much as 7.5 inches of rain. That's terrific news for the drought and northern California, and let's hope some of it trickles down to the Central Valley. One thing is for certain: we are a long way from recovering from the drought.

 * … SPOTTED: Posted on Facebook was this: "Fatherhood is accidentally turning your daughter's white blouse pink because you're being 'economical' with the wash, then washing it by itself with bleach to turn it back to white before anyone notices."

 * … BURGLARY: Another house - this one downtown near Jastro Park - was burglarized this week when someone kicked the door open in broad daylight. This is the time of year when these kinds of burglaries and break-ins spike, so watch out for your neighbors.

 * … GOOD FORM: I received a nice hand written note from a friend the other day, thanking me for something I considered almost inconsequential. It serves as a reminder of the power of a personal note, not in text or in email, but offered in a way that speaks to sincerity and thought.

 * … BAD FORM: Miriam Martin called to share a story of someone who broke into her car the other night. "They saw my straw bag and must have thought it was my purse," she said. "It contained my scriptures, my Bible and my hymnal. They weren't homeless because they left two blankets I had in the back seat!"

Bakersfield ranks high on a list of cities with high poverty rates, but good deeds abound

 * ... POVERTY: The U.S. Census says Bakersfield ranks No. 4 on the list of metropolitan areas with the highest rates of poverty in the country. Ranking first was the McAllen, Texas, area with 33.4 percent of residents living below the poverty line, followed by Fresno at 26.8 percent, El Paso at 24.3 percent and then Bakersfield at 21.2 percent.

 * ... FAMILY AFFAIR: You may have read about the exciting end to the Garces-Highland football game last Friday, where Highland’s last minute drive for the winning touchdown was halted by an intercepted pass by Garces to end the game. The back story is that Highland was led by their quarterback, Ryan O’Leary, who had a terrific game but threw the doomed interception to Garces’ Mark Stinson. As can only happen in small town America under Friday night lights, O’Leary’s dad is John O’Leary, owner of O’Leary’s Office Products. Young Stinson is the son of Ben Stinson, owner of Stinson’s Office Products. What are the odds? The younger lads are class acts, and their dads are friendly competitors.

* ... SALLY SHOPPER: My recent post on the old "Sally the Shopper" program at Brock's department store caught the attention of reader Warren Pechin. "My mother, Marguerite Pechin, was one of the two original Sally the Shoppers along with a woman named Rose Nathan. They worked for Marie Smith who started the program and went on to run the Golden Empire Gleaners." This was around 1967, he said, and his mother is still going strong at 92.

 * ... LENDING HAND: Linda Sheffield was in front of the Target store on Rosedale Highway when she witnessed a good deed that she wanted to share. "I saw an elderly, bent lady with a cane stopped by those pesky yellow, bumpy things recently installed in front of the entrance, not sure how to navigate them. She looked as if she would surely fall. I was thinking I would go park and come back to help her, when a young man emerged from the passenger side of a small black car in front of me and offer his arm in assistance. What a blessing it was to observe kindness in action! I checked to see who was driving the car as I went by and it was another young man - not someone's mother who told him to help. I wanted to share this because I was so blessed by it, but also to help counteract all of those tacky things (and I see plenty of those, too) that show up in your column. Thanks for the interesting tidbits that you share with us."

* ... MEMORY: Reader Nancy Schilly says you have been around Bakersfield for a while if you "remember Wayne's Dairy on North Chester Avenue. It was across the street from the original Kern County Fairgrounds. Wayne's had a very good restaurant in front of the dairy. Growing up we drove in from Shafter and ate there a lot. They made their own donuts and you could watch them being made. They made them all by hand. They made all their own ice cream too. We also ate at Tiny's restaurant on the corning of 18th and Chester. You could get a chubby steak dinner for $5. Those were the times."

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: Even young people have memories of "old" Bakersfield. From 23-year old Jolie Brouttier: You may be from Bakersfield if you "remember driving down Ming (Between Gosford and Old River) smelling only dust from the dirt field rather than Tahoe Joe's steak dinner."

New study reflects the depth of poverty in the San Joaquin Valley, and more tributes for Hans Einstein

  * ... VALLEY RATING: Had a nice chat the other day with Della Hodson, head of the local chapter of the United Way, about issues facing Bakersfield and the San Joaquin Valley. She directed me to a new report that established the American Human Development index, which measures communities using a broad number of factors including health, education, poverty, housing, salaries and other key factors. It turns out the San Joaquin Valley scored a low 3.8 on a scale of one to ten (ten being the best), a reflection of our lower demographics, high illiteracy rate and high number of first generation immigrants. If the Valley were a state, it would vie for last place on the index with West Virginia. Yet another reason why supporting the United Way and other local charities is so important.

 * ... HANS EINSTEIN: There's little doubt that Dr. Hans Einstein, one of the nation's leading experts on Valley Fever, has touched a lot of lives during his long and distinguished career in Kern County. After I posted a piece on Memorial Hospital naming its new front entrance pavilion after Einstein, I received a nice note from Pamela Mahan who recalled a moment 50 years ago when the doctor showed her son such kindness. "My son was in the hospital and his roommate's doctor was Dr. Einstein. Whenever he came to visit, he always made a little time to talk with my son. It was a lovely gesture. I met Dr. Einstein at a funeral a couple of years ago and told him how much his kindness meant to us. He replied that keeping in touch with people is what life is all about. He is an absolutely lovely man."

 * ... MORE HANS: I stopped by the ground breaking for the Einstein Pavilion over at Memorial Hospital and it was a nice tribute to this special man. Hospital President Jon Van Boening always puts on a good party (champagne, wine and shrimp were in abundance) and a host of local business people showed up to lend their support. Spotted in the crowd were attorneys Rob Noriega and Barry Goldner, Tracy Walker-Kiser, Brad Hannick, David and Catherine Gay, Greg Gallion, Harry Starkey, Mayor Harvey Hall, Supervisor Karen Goh, Dr. Tommy Lee, Dr. Madan Mukhopadhyay, Russell Judd, Gregg Gunner, Barry Zoeller and Don and Donna James.

 * ... GO IRISH: Heard that Nicole Madrilejo, a 2010 Garces Memorial High graduate who just finished her freshman year at the University of Notre Dame, has been selected as a cheerleader  when she returns for her sophomore year. She will help lead cheers for football and various other sports  for Notre Dame through next school year. Nicole is the daughter of Dr. Nelson & Mae Madrilejo of Bakersfield.

 * ... DISCOVERY SHOP: The Discovery Shop, a retail resale shop that supports the American Cancer Society, is looking for volunteers to help staff the store. Hal Wygant, a retried manager of a finance office, said the shop is staffed almost entirely by volunteers, mostly seniors, and many of whom are cancer survivors. "These gracious ladies are responsible for accepting donations, sorting the items, sometimes repairing and make the items presentable in the retail store." Even if you have only a few hours a week to volunteer, they could use your help. The store is located at 5420 California Avenue. Call (661) 324-1359 if you are interested.

 * ... WHO KNEW? Did you know that the Bakersfield area boasts three of the top ten highest oil producing areas in the nation?

Dennis Ralston checks in with Bakersfield and an alarming report on poverty in the bubble cities

 * ... RALSTON: I received a nice email from Dennis Ralston, one of the greatest American tennis players of all time who hails from Bakersfield. He recently had his left foot amputated but has been fitted with a prosthetic leg and is back at his game. "A friend forwarded your blog to me," he wrote. "We enjoyed it very much - a real trip down memory lane for us. Thanks for the mention. I am doing very well - have gotten back on the court to teach etc. Just wanted you to know we enjoyed it. We still count Bakersfield as our home - many years of wonderful memories there." Ralston graduated from Bakersfield High School and went on to play collegiate tennis at USC before joining the pro tour. He was  the No. 1 American player for three consecutive years in the 1960s and both played on and coached the U.S. Davis Cup team. He was once ranked No. 5 in the world.

 * ... SUNSHINE: Two straight days of sunshine and warming temperatures is almost enough to make one feel guilty given the snow and ice that is covering most of the country. Well, almost. These are the days that remind us why we all live here.

 * ... POVERTY: It's not surprising that there's been a spike in poverty after three bruising years of this recession. And it's also not surprising that the Central Valley shows up on most lists for suffering from some of the nation's worst economies. In a report in the January 29 edition of The Economist, the Sarasota, Florida, area saw a 4.5 percent jump in people living below the poverty line. Said the report: "All the other metropolitan areas that saw jumps of four points or more are also formerly fast growing southern and western states: Bakersfield, Boise, Greenville, S.C., Lakeland, Fla., Tucson, Az. Arizona now has the highest poverty rate in the nation, after Mississippi. The especially severe housing bust that ended the breakneck growth of these sunbelt cities has brought with it deprivation on a scale they have never previously encountered and are struggling to address."  (photo courtesy of The Economist)

 * ...  McGILL: The 1917-era McGill brownstone on 19th Street downtown has sparked a lot of interest. And now this from local art gallery owner Don Martin: "I was in Fishlips chatting with some friends about where I live and an older gentlemen sitting at the next table overheard the conversation. He asked if I lived at the McGill Building and what apartment number. He recalled babysitting in my exact apartment when he was in high school at BHS in the 1920s!"

 * ... FIRST FRIDAY: If you are heading downtown tonight for the First Friday festivities, remember that the Guild House is now open for First Friday as well. For just $5 you get a glass of wine and a variety of home-made hors d'oeuvres, and the proceeds go to a good cause: the Henrietta Weill Child Guidance center.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're an east Bakersfield old timer
if you remember driving over the Mount Vernon overpass and being able to see the Thriftmart 'Big T' signs at College Center and Hillcrest, both at the same time!" Thanks to Joe Stormont for that one.

 * ... OLD-TIMER: And speaking of memories, one of my regular correspondents, Gene Bonas, dropped me a note the other day. "I thoroughly enjoy your blog. However, I can relate to so many of your 'old timer' comments that I remember something my dad used to say: 'You know you're getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.' I'm not there yet but I may be getting close!"