Water returns to the Kern River through town, a stabbing death downtown and a horrific crash in Delano leaves five people dead

Monday, February 18, 2019

 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this such a special to live. Send your tips to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... KERN RIVER: Did you notice the water in the Kern River this weekend? Apparently we can thank the West Kern Water District which was involved in a deal that sent water to a county water

agency, which released it into the river as part of a plan to use some otherwise dry canals. Enjoy it while we can folks because it never lasts long.

 * ... STABBING DEATH: There was a stabbing death downtown Saturday evening, the first such incident downtown in a long time. Details are sketchy but apparently there was a fight in the alley that spilled out onto Eye Street near Mama Roomb'a's restaurant and Guthrie's Alleycat. A witness said the victim was a young man and he died at the scene. (photo courtesy of The Californian)

 * ... DELANO CRASH: There was a horrible wreck in Delano Saturday that left five people dead, including two children. The Highway Patrol said an SUV hit a tree on Highway 99 just south of Highway 155. The names of the victims were not immediately released, but the SUV was registered in Delano, according to the CHP. The accident happened on the northbound side of the freeway at about 5:05 p.m. (photo courtesy of KGET)

 * ... MEASURE N TAX: Social media is good for a lot of things, but certainly not for a sober examination of politics. Rather, it's populated with wild rants, partial truths and outright lies. Take for example the reaction to City Manager Alan Tandy saying in The Californian that part of the $50 million raised from the Measure N tax would go to pay down the pension deficit, and by making one lump sum annual payment, the city will save millions in interest. Almost immediately, social media lit up with people claiming that Tandy lied to get the measure passed. But hold on. Tandy was crystal clear, on my radio show and others, that a portion of the Measure N money would be used for this exact purpose. So in fairness to our city manager, he was consistent in saying some of the money would be earmarked for pension obligations.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I talk dirtier in traffic than I do during sex."

 * ... MEMORIES: Check out this colorized version of an old post card from back in the day.

Drama at a dinner for Valley Fever Symposium speakers when Dr. Royce Johnson performs an emergency tracheotomy on former county supervisor Pauline Larwood after she chokes on food

 * ... PENSIONS: Keep your eye on the city of San Jose where a court battle is under way over reducing public pensions. The problem: San Jose now spends a fifth of its $1.1 billion general fund on pensions and retire health care. According to the New York Times, a plan drafted by the Democratic

mayor and approved by 70 percent of the voters would reduce benefits for new hires and make current retirees pay more for their health care. Not surprisingly the public employee unions have challenged this in court. Said the Times: "The outcome of the case is expected to have a major impact on municipal budgets around the state, and perhaps the country. If a state court rules later this year or early next year that the referendum allows San Jose to alter pension plans for existing workers, and it survives appeals, similar measures are expected to pop up elsewhere."

 * ... LARWOOD: There was a scary scene at a special dinner for community leaders and speakers at this week's Valley Fever Symposium. Among those attending the dinner at The Mark restaurant downtown Monday night were local civic leaders Tom and Pauline Larwood. Pauline, a former county supervisor who has been involved in the fight to find a cure for valley fever, apparently choked on a piece of meat and was struggling to breathe. Luckily, she was surrounded by some of the biggest names in medicine and Dr. Royce Johnson, an infectious disease specialist at Kern Medical Center and a UCLA professor, performed an emergency tracheotomy with a pocket knife and a pen. One witness told me Pauline regained consciousness by the time paramedics arrived and is expected to fully recover. "But there is no doubt that Royce Johnson saved her life," the witness told me. The dinner was sponsored by Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, and featured the directors of the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health. (file photo of Pauline Larwood)

* ... BAD FORM: It looks like the kiosks on the bike trail near Chester Avenue have been vandalized. Bob Moses wrote that the kiosks, part of the Uplands of the Kern project, had holes kicked into the floors and broke signs explaining the local wildlife. "Sad part for me is that I'm surprised they lasted this long," Moses said.

 * ... SPOTTED: Susan Hill spotted this on Monday: "I saw a woman holding hands with a small child, walking across Truxtun Avenue against the light. Both were wearing white 'Choose Life T-shirts. Teaching your child to cross a street in the cross walk with the walk sign glowing, might help promote the cause."

 * ... MARY: It was nice to hear that Mary Trichell, owner of W.A. Thompson, was honored by the Kern County Fair Board as "Woman of the Year."  Several hundred friends attended a dinner to congratulate and acknowledge her achievements and generosity.

 * ... MERLE: George Shire remembers when he was managing the Jack C. Arbuckle Co., located at 500 East 19th Street, back around 1960 when there was a place called Smoky's Tavern next door. George recalled that Merle Haggard was a regular in the place.

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: Linda Welch wrote to ask if anyone remembers the Highway 99 bill board that the city of Fresno installed. It said: "Help keep Fresno clean. Send your trash to Bakersfield." Ouch.

Richard Ryan dies at 85, Cambi Brown leaves KBAK to return to Sacramento and keeping an eye on the public pension time bomb

 * ... RIP: I was saddened to learn of the death of Richard Ryan, a longtime Bakersfield resident and patriarch of the extended Ryan clan. His family includes son Kerry Ryan, owner of Action Sports, and his brother Michael Ryan, a former Realtor who works for Team Beachbody fitness.  Like everyone in his family Richard Ryan was a fitness nut, and until recently I used to spot him pedaling his bike on his daily workout. He was a proud Marine, serving in both World War II and the Korean War, and was so committed to his personal fitness that he rode 120 miles a week on his bike until the cancer treatments because too debilitating. He is survived by his wife Rosemary and children Pat, Tim, Kerry, Mary, Jenny and Mike. Keep his family in your thoughts. He was 85.

 * ... ADIOS CAMBI: KBAK Eyewitness News morning reporter Cambi Brown is leaving the station at the end of the week. Brown is headed home to Sacramento to her dream job at KMAX-TV's Good Day Sacramento. Cambi is the third member of the morning team on Channel 29 to leave in the past two months. Former anchor John Dabkovich is now at FOX 5 in Las Vegas and anchor Leyla Santiago is now with WRAL-TV 5 in Raleigh, N.C.

* ... PENSIONS: The growing backlash over the cost of public pensions is rooted in the simple fact that they rarely exist in the private sector. According to a story in The Orange County Register, "Although public pension coverage has also declined, it has remained more than twice as prevalent as in the private workplace. Current coverage rates in California: 69.4 percent for local, 66.3 percent for state and 76.4 percent for federal government employees." All this is aggravated by the fact that many public pensions are woefully underfunded, meaning at some point they will have to bailed out by the taxpayer. Said Esmael Adibi, a Chapman University economics professor:  "This is where the disparity begins. Many defined benefit programs are under-funded, and governments are not taking appropriate action to solve the problem, and many believe ultimately taxpayers will end up paying for the unfunded liability in order for retirees to receive their guaranteed payment. But those covered under defined contribution programs in the private sectors don’t have the luxury of guaranteed retirement payments and feel that public sector should not benefit from the generosity of taxpayers.”

 * ... KINDNESS: A homeless man pushing a shopping cart is hailed by an elderly couple in front of a local Vons and given a small bag of food.

 * ... CLEANUP: Christopher Lowe works at Tri Counties Bank and he also serves as president of Oildale Foundation, which is organizing its quarterly clean up of North Chester Avenue on Saturday, Dec. 8. It all starts at 8:45 a.m. in the parking lot of Trout's. Bags, gloves and vests will be provided. If you want to join the effort or if you have questions, call Pat Frase at (661) 444-7100.

 * ... DID YOU KNOW? Did you know that the number of patients seen by Clinica Sierra Vista has growing from just 2,000 in 1971 to almost 145,000 last year?