Environmental groups attack hydraulic fracturing, but trying to prove a negative won't stand up in making public policy, and some bad form when two dogs are locked in a hot car

 * … FRACKING: I had to chuckle at the recent letter to the editor from an Oakland-based environmental group that insists on trying to link hydraulic fracturing to earthquakes. Never mind that

countless government studies have discounted this theory (as they used to say, 'never let the facts get in the way of a good story') the writer said earthquakes have occurred in areas where fracking is practiced. And? What he didn't say was that quakes have happened in areas free of fracking as well. That's called trying to prove a negative, and frankly the argument doesn't hold water. Hydraulic fracking needs legitimate oversight, not hysteria.

 * … SAFETY: The incident at the Wal-Mart on Gosford Road is a cautionary tale to everyone. Two young black men in a white van pulled up to a woman in front of the store and grabbed her purse while the van was moving, hurling the woman against the moving vehicle and throwing her to be ground. Bakersfield police said the woman was not seriously injured and she maintained hold on her purse. They are looking for suspects. Be safe out there.

 * … BAD FORM: Gordon Dowdy spotted this bit of bad form in front of the Panera Restaurant on Stockdale Highway: "At 12:30 p.m. today a car with all the windows rolled up and two poor little dogs locked inside. We consider this animal abuse."

* … GOOD DEED: Lupe Canon-Morales and her friend were taking their daily walk recently when her friend tripped and fell.  "As I was helping her up and retrieving her glasses, a young lady driving by (we walk in an industrial area) witnessed what had just happened. She made a U-turn, pulled alongside us and inquired if we needed help. She then drove us back home. We were so rattled we failed to get her name, we want to thank her for her thoughtfulness and taking the time to see us safely home.  God Bless her, we need more people like her in this world!"

 * … BAGEL SHOP:  A reader wrote that her husband was in Bagels and Blenderz recently and spotted a couple with their small gray chihuahua sitting on the table. "How unsanitary was that?" she asked. "You may think twice before you sit down to enjoy your next bagel and coffee at this location.  Let's hope they clean and disinfect their tables frequently!  Remember people, dogs are not human!"

 * … CEMETERY: My friend Ray Mish, owner of Mission Family Mortuary, dropped me a note about the old Chinese Cemetery between Terrace Way and Brundage Lane. After the cemetery was moved to clear way for a housing tract, Mish said a contractor putting in a swimming pool found the skeletons of two people. Mish was working for there now defunct Armstrong-Flickinger Mortuary and he asked the owner if he would donate baby caskets to bury those two in Union Cemetery, which had donated a plot of ground where the other Chinese had been buried. "I then contacted members of the Ming family, a prominent Chinese family. I was given permission to conduct these services with a minister and flowers and a large gather of people and it was a traditional Chinese funeral." Mish said he is now in his 75th year in the funeral business, starting when he was just 14 years old.

Two dogs are reunited with their family thanks to the kindness of strangers, and another view on those puppies dropped off in the cold at the SPCA

 * … LOST DOGS: If ever there was a reminder of how caring a community Bakersfield is about its pets, it is the odyssey the Edmonston family has been on when two of their beloved dogs went missing in northeast Bakersfield back in September. Since then the family posted signs, placed ads, visited all three shelters multiple times a week, and bombarded social media. Then last

month, a total stranger scrolling through Craigslist for their own lost pet,  spotted one of the dogs and reached out. One down and one to go. Again last weekend, another Craigslister who'd seen the Edmonston's many posts contacted them about a stray someone else was trying to adopt out. Christmas came early for them, who now remind everyone to microchip and collar the four-legged members of their family. Back home, I'd bet these dogs end up on the Edmonston family Christmas card. (family photo of one of the Edmonston dogs)

 … ANOTHER VIEW: This note came from a reader responding to the case involving newborn puppies being left in the cold at the SPCA. "It is wrong, in my opinion, to continue to bash the person who delivered these puppies to the doorstep of the SPCA. We lack facts in this case.  Is it possible the mother died and the person did not know what to do?  Is it possible the person who delivered these pups found them on the side of the road?  Is it possible the person did not have 30 dollars per puppy to pay the SPCA to relinquish these puppies? We should focus on the fact that 15 puppies were not simply thrown in the trash bin...So I say great job to the person who at least tried." (file photo is of other puppies)

* … PURSE SNATCHERS: There have been at least two instances of purse snatching at local Starbucks outlets. In both cases, a young man wandered into a Starbucks, snatched a purse from a customer and fled. This happened at the Starbucks at the Marketplace and the one in the Town and Country Shopping Center. In the Marketplace incident, the man actually hit a woman who resisted.

* … SPOTTED: On a friend's Facebook wall: "Unless you are five years old, there is no reason for you to be in your pajamas in public."

* … MEMORIES: Linda Meadows Polston, whose grandfather was head of all Kern County airports, provided some rich history of the neighborhood near the airport. Said Linda: "I was only months old when my young parents rented an apartment which my mom always called the old Army barracks.  We lived on Charlana Street right next to the little green store which was owned by Neva and 'Pappy' Sprayberry called Choice Food. We lived there until I was 3 , then moved to USC student housing to live with my dad who was attending law school at the time.  I remember a small living area with white railings on each door step.  I believe the Sprayberry store you mentioned this summer was owned by Mr. Sprayberry's brother.  We moved back when I was 6 to Arvin Street, just down McCray a few blocks from Neva's store and I spent my childhood walking up McCray to their store to buy my weekly supply of new comic books or down McCray to St. Mark's Methodist Church  to Sunday School and the children's choir where Neva was the leader, and was very involved in every aspect of the church.  I went all through school with her daughter, Judy.  I have great memories of that area.  My grandparents ( the Meadows) lived across from the old airport terminal as my granddad was the Superintendent of All Kern County Airports, and we spent a lot of time at the airport just watching the planes coming in and out.  They had a big old house on an acre of land where Airport Drive deadended on China Grade Loop. "