Time to bust out those New Year's resolutions and Michael Rubio makes the right call

* ... NEW YEAR'S: It's time to consider those New Year's resolutions, but instead of the usual suspects (I will exercise more, eat healthier and write thank you notes ) how about if each of us adopted a charity and contributed a little something every month? Can you imagine the impact  if we all dug a little deeper and gave to the charity of our choice?

 * ... RUBIO: My heart goes out to state Sen. Michael Rubio, who dropped out of a race for Congress to put his family first. This came after his second daughter was born with Down syndrome. The local Democrat was an early favorite to win this race, and it's refreshing to see politicians look into their hearts and do the right thing.

 * ... DIAPERS: It has been a while since I mentioned the nasty habit of people casually discarding their diapers just about anywhere (including - yuck - a new shoe box at Target). But Scott A. McMillan, who owns several Sonic Drive Thru restaurants in the South Valley, reminded me the habit is alive and well. He discovered this Christmas Eve morning when he helped open his Sonic in Hanford. He cleaned the outside area and as he was  leaving - after only one customer had come through - he glanced back and found a used diaper sitting under the drive thru window. "My first thought was 'Are you kidding me?' We've only had one guest! But right then a picture of you from the Californian flashed into my head and I started laughing out loud. After a few minutes of hearty laughter I removed the unwanted item and went on my way."

* ... SMOKE POLICE: Molly Mac has only lived here a few years but opted to weigh in on our area's air pollution rules. Recently she found herself driving behind three school  buses. "Whew,  the exhaust fumes were overwhelming. I read that at least 60 percent pollution is due to vehicle emissions. It would seem to me that it would benefit the air if these vehicles were converted to natural gas as are the GET buses....and no I don't want to hear about the cost. Where are our vaunted representatives on this issue? Perhaps we could utilize the farm subsidies to syndicated farms and business (which are no more than corporate welfare).....and no, I don't own natural gas stock or know T. Boone Pickens."

 * ... SPOTTED: A woman driving on Ming Avenue in the afternoon rush hour trying to merge into the left lane with her right  blinker on while talking on her cell phone with her left hand and  smoking a cigarette with her right hand. As reader Marlene Morales said:  "This is an accident waiting to happen. And by the appearance of her vehicle, I'm sure she didn't have insurance."


 * ... CONVENANT: Vince Romero wrote to recommend buying coffee from Convenant Community Services, the local non-profit that does so much to help foster youth. "Our company uses Convenant coffee for all of our coffee and coffee accessories and condiments.  Spread the word about this great service." Covenant is located in an old bank building at 1700 North Chester Avenue.

Wendy Wayne returns home after undergoing chemotherapy and kudos to Judge David Lampe

 * ... JUDGE LAMPE: My mention of Superior Court Judge David Lampe drew this note from reader Brian K. Wohlgemuth. "A few years ago I was a jury member on a trial in his courtroom. About a week after the case was over, Judge Lampe recognized me in a local Starbucks. He approached me and called me by name. Once I figured out who he was (he wasn't wearing the black robe in Starbucks, so it took me a few seconds) he said he wanted to thank me for my service. The fact that Judge Lampe remembered my face, my name, and took the time to come and thank me really meant a lot to me. By the way, he handled the trial in a very professional, efficient manner. Kern County is fortunate to have Judge David Lampe."

 * ... WENDY: Welcome home to Wendy Wayne, the former First Five Commission chairperson who underwent another round of chemotherapy in Los Angeles for a recurring case of non Hodgkins lymphoma. I ran into Wendy over the weekend when she and political consultant husband Gene Tackett were visiting friends downtown. Wendy is one of our more remarkable neighbors who has done so much for our community. Welcome home, friend.

 * ... SMOKE POLICE: C.J. Mason is among the readers who took me to task for criticizing the ban on burning fireplaces. "As long as others continue to foul the air on no-burn days (when we have an inversion layer of brown gunk in the air), I vote for more 'smoke police.' And here’s a novel idea; people can continue to enjoy a warming fire by buying and using gas logs! I’m a native of Bakersfield and I’m dismayed that my town is ranked No. 1 as having the most polluted air in the nation. How poor does our air quality have to become before aggressive action is taken to try and improve it? My greatest is hope is that my grand kids will be able to move from this area (as soon as their parents can find jobs in this poor economy) before their lungs become permanently damaged from the bad air."

 * ... JAVA: I don't consider myself a coffee snob but the "Full City" blend of Mexican grown coffee I purchased recently from Covenant Community Services may be some of the best I've ever had. Plus, I have the satisfaction of knowing that my money went to support local foster kids. Covenant is a local non-profit devoted to helping foster youth, and its coffee roasting operation (located at 1700 North Chester) is one way it raises money. They are also seeking 1,000 donations of $83 to complete its renovation of an old bank building to house its offices. Stop by and try some java and support a good cause.

 * ... CAL BAPTIST: Kudos to Caleb Hill, who was home for the holidays after graduating with honors from California Baptist University in Riverside. He is the grandson of Richard and Beverly Laughman, a graduate of Bakersfield Christian High School and the son of Kurt and Joy Hill. He is also the grandson of Ada Mae Hill, a retired Bakersfield school teacher.

 * ... VOLUNTEER: And a final hats off to 13-year-old Katy Rodriguez, a seventh grader at Norris Middle School who is in her fourth year of sponsoring a gift drive for the Jamison Children's Center. Proud grand mother Pat Snelling told me that Katy passes out fliers in her neighborhood to collect gifts. Last year she delivered 175 gifts to the center and this year another 100.  Now that is impressive.

Former county Fire Chief Nick Dunn holds a retirement party at $55 a head and more blowback on the 'smoke police'

 * ... NICK DUNN: Kern County Fire Chief Nick Dunn, who abruptly resigned following a criminal investigation that turned up no wrongdoing, is having a retirement party at Seven Oaks Country Club. Nothing wrong with that, except it will cost you $55 a head to join in the celebration. And this from a retiree who could earn a public pension as much about $175,000 a year for the rest of his life. The invitation promises a lot of "eating, laughing, reminiscing and dancing" and no host cocktails. I wonder if also includes parking? By the way, if you can't make it, the invitation allows you the option to write a check to "contribute to the gift for Chief Dunn."

 * ... OVERHEARD: This comes from Chuck Wall, founder of the "random act of kindness" movement. "My wife was standing in line at the mailing center at the Country Club Liquor Store.  A lady came up behind her carrying a beautifully wrapped gift with a large red bow on top. My wife asked her how she was going to mail her beautiful gift without wrapping. She replied, I'm not mailing this package, I'm just carrying it with me because if I left it in my car it would be stolen!"

 * ... SMOKE POLICE: reader J.R. Lewis shared my dismay over the "smoke police," those employees of the Valley Air Pollution Control District who drive around neighborhoods trying to find those who dare have a fire on a no burn day. "I share your dismay over the smoke police, but also have to shake my head at the thought of individuals driving around handing tickets out the front while spewing exhaust out the back. Or did the state also pony the money for electric cars? Do they actually curb enough fireplace pollution to mitigate their own carbon footprint?"

 * ... RIP: Mary Anne M. Beesley wrote to note the passing of Jeri Schwocho, a perennial club champion at Stockdale Country Club. "She loved golf. She didn't care to what handicap you played, she just wanted a game. She will be missed by her many friends and by the golfing community. She leaves her husband Kenneth, her son Eric and her two daughters Lisa and Jill, as well as grandchildren Whitney, Maria and Jarrod and too many friends to count."

 * ... FAN CLUB: An anonymous reader wrote to criticize this column as "a waste of ink and newsprint. The tidbits regarding 'you know you're from Bakersfield' border on the ridiculous. An example is: you know you are from Bakersfield if you saw The Doors in 1968. Huh?" Note to anonymous: The Doors were a rock 'n roll band featuring the late Jim Morrison. You missed a good show.

 * ... MEMORY: Kathy Scott wanted to share some of the businesses that her husband’s grandfather, Ralph (Raphael) Parenti, owned after he moved her from Italy when he was just 13. "In the late teens or early 1920s he owned the Country Fair Market located on the corner of K and19th streets (where the old Sears and Roebuck’s was later on). Then in the early 1920s he owned the Parenti Atlantic Richfield gas station on Wible and Stockdale. In the 1930s he owned the Parenti Bar on Wible and Stockdale that later became Tommie and Joe’s when he sold it to them. From 1952 until 1962 he owned the property (a poultry shop) on Wible Road. In 1962 the new freeway (99) purchased the vast land that Ralph owned and along with the business on that property they got three homes on the Wible Road plus three other properties on Parenti Lane which now is an off  ramp!"

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A daughter of Bakersfield pens a valentine to our sometimes quirky hometown

* ... HOME SWEET HOME: A beautiful tribute to Bakersfield showed up on the online forum Zocalo Public Square, written by Bakersfield High graduate Paige Hill, who now lives and works in Washington, D.C. A graduate of the University of North Carolina and the daughter of Bart and Napier Hill, Paige penned a moving valentine to our sometimes quirky and always endearing community. In her words: "The fog is something I can try to describe in a series of corny colloquialisms, but I ultimately fail to capture it. Bakersfield is like that, too. It's a city where in the same breath its residents will knowingly laugh and admit it is no cultural rival of San Francisco - and then fiercely defend it for what it is. It is ours."

 * ... SMOKE POLICE: Call me cranky, but was anyone else appalled at the story in Sunday's Californian about people from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District driving around town looking for people using their fireplaces on no burn days? Say what? California is broke, the educational system is in crisis, Sacramento is a dysfunctional mess and yet somehow we can still afford to have people on the public payroll driving around town  looking for people enjoying a warming fire. Sheesh.


* ... CAL STATE: The California state university system just seems to suffer blow after the blow, the latest coming last week when Gov. Jerry Brown announced it would absorb another $100 million in cuts. And that's on top of the $650 million in cuts the system lost earlier. CSUB President Horace Mitchell will join me Monday at 9 a.m. on KERN 1180 to talk about the effect on our local campus, and what we can expect in the future.  Tune it to learn how all this mess will affect our Cal State Bakersfield.

  * ... PADRE: Robert Bunker has returned to Bakersfield to become one of the general managers of the Padre Hotel downtown. Bunker worked at Seven Oaks Country Club as assistant clubhouse manager, left a few years ago and was recruited to return to our community to help run the Padre. He joins Jon Stephens who is the hotel's general manager for food and beverage service.

 * ... HICKORY FARMS: Bev Hayden wrote that she also remembers the Hickory Farms Store in the Valley Plaza.  "In the 1970s my husband Rod and his friend and partner George Thornburgh were constructing pre-fab housing on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru. The native food wasn't exactly what they were used to so we would buy beef stick and crackers from Hickory Farms and ship it to them in cargo containers along with adult beverages. These packages were gratefully received."

 * ... FIELD OF DREAMS: Here's a fund raiser that is worthy of your attention: it's the League of Dreams gala that will raise money to to build playing fields for physically and emotionally challenged children. It's all part of physical therapist Tim Terrio's Field of Dreams project to give these youngsters the same opportunities as others. The event is set for Friday, January 20, at Monsignor Leddy Hall at Garces Memorial High School. Tickets are $125 per person or $200 a couple. Contact Nathan Gutierrez at (661) 377-1700.