Neighbors square off against each other in the Bakersfield Country Club area over a proposal to gate off parts of the community, and David Gordon takes over the Arts Council

 * … GATES: There is a mini-storm brewing up in the Bakersfield County Club area where some residents are asking the county for permission to gate off parts of the neighborhood. The gates would be installed at Dalehurst Drive and Wingfoot, Wingfoot and Country Club and at Pinehurst and Country

Club, even though a number of homes in that area are already behind their own private gates  I am told a spike in home burglaries has led to this proposal, but opponents say it will only divide the neighborhood and funnel traffic down non-gated streets, not to mention close off streets to folks who like to take a morning walk. I have a feeling this topic will make the installation of cul-de-sacs in Westchester look like walk in the park.

 * … ARTS COUNCIL: I was happy to hear that David Gordon has been appointed director of the Arts Council of Kern. Gordon is an accomplished artist himself and a former employee of the Bakersfield Museum of Art. His experience will no doubt be an asset to the Arts Council, which has struggled in recent years to remain relevant.

 * … OLD SALT: My pal and Navy veteran Gene Bonas provided this shout out to all his fellow submariners: "Thought you'd like to know that on April 11, 1900, the Holland VI was acquired by the U.S. Navy. Although not actually commissioned as a warship until October 12, 1900, April 11th is celebrated as the birthday of the U.S. submarine fleet.  The U.S.S. Holland was considered to be the world's first truly successful submarine. In honor of our special day, this Friday all submariners are encouraged to wear their 'dolphins' to work or play.  Happy birthday, fellow bubbleheads!

* … SPOTTED: Talk about bad form. Cheryle DeMarco was at the Target store on Mall View Road a few months ago when she spotted this:  "I was getting in my car which was parked about three spaces down from the entrence. I looked at the car parked in front of me and a little girl (about 8 or 9) was unloading quite a bit of trash right onto the parking lot. Her mother stood at the opened car door on the other side looking all around the lot like pretending to not see what she probably told her daughter to do, throw all the trash from the car out. We were only about 40 feet from a trash can. I thought this is one reason we have a litter problem. Parents teach their kids this bad habit. I always made my kids throw their trash out, even in places like the movie theater. You clean up after yourself, simple as that!"

 * … MORE TRASH: Deanna Haulman extended props to the Just Johnson Park Work Center. "These young men and women are faithfully out at Hart Park Monday through Friday cleaning rest rooms and picking up trash that people are too lazy to do.  I think even if large trash bags were provided it still wouldn't help because these are the same people who can't walk 20 steps to a large trash can. There are those that leave their trash bags but do not realize or don't care that the park critters get into those bags at night."

 * … GRANT: Hats off to the Kern Economic Development Corp. and the East Bakersfield High Health Careers Academy for winning a $15,000 grant to prepare the local workforce to fill healthcare positions in Kern County. The grant will support the purchase of medical equipment for Academy students to practice treatment solutions as well as job shadowing at Kern Medical Center. The grant came from the Office of Statewide Planning and Development.

The owners of The Padre Hotel win a contract to renovate and restore Belmont Park in Mission Beach and there is turmoil in our local arts organizations

* ... PADRE: The owners of The Padre Hotel have been chosen to renovate one of San Diego's most historic areas, Belmont Park in Mission Beach. Brett Miller, CEO of Eat.Drink.Sleep, the company that brought The Padre back to life three years ago, said he looks forward to working with architects and engineers to return Belmont to a premier entertainment venue.The company also owns the Tower23 hotel and restaurant in Pacific Beach and the boutique hotel Heat in Lake Havasu.

 * ... LOST DOG: If you have a dog or cat, have you bothered to have them "chipped" so they can be returned if they get lost? Susan Ferguson wishes she had done so with her 15-year-old Bichon who escaped from her Westchester home recently. "Please urge your readers to get their animals chipped," "She had just been brushed and her collar was off.  Someone said they saw her near Jim Burke Ford but wasn't able to get her." As a side note, she posted a note on her lost dog on Craigslist, which is notorious for its scam artists. And now people are calling her from boiler rooms offering to find her dog for a hefty price.

 * ... LOCAL ARTS: There is a lot of turmoil in the local arts community with the top jobs of two important organizations- the Bakersfield Museum of Art and the Arts Council of Kern - in limbo. At the museum, a search committee is interviewing finalists for the director's job being vacated by retiring director Bernie Herman. Meanwhile the director of the Arts Council, Michael Millar, is on leave for an unspecified illness. Miller has been on the job since last summer but is largely unknown in the community (never helpful when trying to raise money), and during his absence the board has had to resort to layoffs because of dire financial conditions. Stay tuned. (file photo of Bernie Herman)

* ... SCHAEFER: Kim Schaefer, who worked for Congressman Jim Costa for more than two years, has joined the staff of incoming Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez. A native of Bar Harbor, Maine, Schaefer transferred to Stockdale High School in her junior year and later went on to study at both Bakersfield College and Cal State Bakersfield. She was a campaign coordinator for Costa and is now a communications director for Perez. She is 32.

 * ... SOUTHWEST BASEBALL: One of the better run, and more generous, organizations in town in the Southwest Baseball League. This weekend the leagaue will be hosting its Toys for Toys tournament with more than 60 teams involved. Each player will donate an unwrapped toy and the league will donate another couple thousand dollars to the Jamieson Center. In November, the league held a Turkey Trot Tournament that allowed it to donate 60 turkeys and $2,000 to local shelters. Now that's setting a good example for these kids.

 * ... RENEGADES: The victory by the Bakersfield College Renegades before 16,000 fans like week continues to resonate among fans. Said Ben Ansolabehere: "I think the best words I can use, as Jerry Collis used to say, is 'Good Old Kern County Pride.' Pride in the players, never quitting, determined to achieve their goals, and doing their jobs to the best of their abilities while knowing their teammates are doing the same... Finally to the people and fans of Kern County and BC in particular. They transported many of us old players and alumni of BC back, in my case 45 years, to the time when BC football was this very same experience every Saturday home game."