Experts say the San Andraes fault is "locked and loaded" and ready to crack at any minute, The Californian appoints a new editor and hats off to Scarlett Sabin and the new Ronald McDonald House at Memorial Hospital

Friday, July 12, 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 community such a special place. Send news items to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... EARTHQUAKES: This is not what you want to hear after the Ridgecrest earthquake, but

seismologists say we are way overdue for an earthquake on the dangerous San Andreas fault, putting the Los Angeles basin at peril of an event that could take thousands of lives. A seismologist told an earthquake conference recently that the fault is "locked, loaded and ready to roll" and if it happens, 1,800 people could die with another 50,000 people injured. The last big earthquake on the San Andreas fault came in 1857, a 7.9 magnitude temblor, and it is way overdue for another slippage.

 * ... THE CALIFORNIAN: The new owners of The Bakersfield Californian have appointed a general manager and a new top editor. Cliff Chandler, previously head of the sales department, will serve as general manager and Christine Peterson, a longtime veteran of the news staff, will serve as executive editor. Peterson was hired from the Orange County Register more than 20 years ago and has served in various editing positions over the years.

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming in terror like the passengers in his car."

 * ... PETA VS. CALM: I think it's safe to say that the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) picked on the wrong organization when it demanded a criminal investigation into the California Living Museum (CALM) because a skunk and two fisher cats died there. CALM is regularly voted the best family entertainment in Bakersfield, it hosts thousands of young students every year, its Christmas light show is wildly popular and it does an excellent job locally promoting itself as a rehabilitation center for animals native to California. In its news release on the deaths of the animals, PETA could not resist the temptation to insult all of us, referring to CALM as a "roadside zoo," demeaning all of us in the process.

 * ... MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: Congratulations to Scarlett Sabin and all the folks who came together to build a new Ronald McDonald house for families of pediatric patients at Memorial Hospital. The ribbon cutting was held Thursday, a huge event attended by a couple hundred people, and the good news: the six bedroom house was paid for by the generosity of our community.

 * ... THE PLUNGE: You may be a Bakersfield old timer if you remember The Plunge on Union Avenue. Check out these keepsakes from the place.

 * ... MEMORIES: Check out the old Southern Hotel, built before the fires and earthquakes took down so many historic buildings in downtown Bakersfield.

Good intentions and asking people to "join the fight" against homelessness isn't enough. Frustrations grow over concerns about health and public safety issues.

Thursday, September 27, 2018

 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 news tips to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... HOMELESS: Homelessness in Kern County is growing steadily worse, and as the problem

spreads to neighborhoods that never previously had to deal with it, there is a growing frustration that we simply aren't doing enough.  Short of real solutions, we have the predictable, well meaning but empty platitudes from the Kern County Homeless Collaborative asking for us to "join in the battle" against homelessness without giving us a clue how to help. (Check out Jessica Janssen's recent opinion piece in The Californian).  While Ms. Janssen cautions it will take "time and conversations" to deal with the issue, a real health and human crisis is playing out before us and nobody seems to have a clue to where to start. If you want the average citizen to join the cause, tell us how we can help. And it better be more than just a call to "join the fight."

* ... SINK BATH: Consider this note from Michael Thibodeaux: "I had a homeless encounter this morning that I can't unsee. I ordered a coffee at the Starbucks across from the Outback. Went to use the bathroom, opened the door and there is a buck naked black man washing his privates at the sink!!! WTF? He kinda screamed, I may have also. I closed the door."

 * ... MEANWHILE AT BURGER KING: Responding to Thibodeaux on Facebook, Jason Absey chimed in with this: "I was in Lake Isabella Saturday. Before heading home we stopped at Burger King, I went to was my hands in the bathroom, and there was a homeless guy with his shirt off washing his armpits. WTF is wrong with people."

 * ... NEAR MISS: And finally, a friend of mine who delivers beer and other beverages for a local company told me this: "I was listening to you on the radio (KERN NewsTalk 96.1 FM) talking about the homeless in the streets when one walked right in front of my truck. I almost hit him."

* ... HOMELESS CENTER: The folks over at St. Vincent de Paul Homeless Center have been dealing with this issue for years, and once again they will hold their annual barbecue to help fund the effort. On  Thursday, Oct. 4 volunteers will fire up the grills for the traditional fall barbecue at St. Vincent de Paul Homeless Center at 316 Baker Street. This is one of the biggest and most successful events of the fall in town, and money raised goes to provide meals and services to 400 men, women and children who visit the center daily. The center receives no government funding and relies on this event. The doors open at 5 p.m. and they will start serving at 5:30 p.m. The menu features local businesses - your choice of a NY steak or Teriyaki chicken, Wool Growers salsa and salad, a Pyrenees french roll, Casa Munoz beans and Smith's Bakery cobbler. Drive-thru and take-out, along with complimentary valet parking are also available. You can purchase your $30 ticket at the door.

 * ... DOWNTOWN THEFT: Check out this post from Jerry's Pizza about a grill that was stolen. Seems like this truck should be easy to spot. "So two men in a red Chevy pick up decided to steal our grill this weekend Sunday September 23 at 7 AM. Please keep an eye out for this truck and our grill we were not the only one’s hit this weekend downtown. Will post a video later. There will be a reward for Information leading to our barbecue grill 661-633-1000 or Msg is here.

 * ... MEMORIES: Remember The Plunge on Union Avenue? Enjoy this old clipping from its grand opening, courtesy of the Kern County of Old Facebook page.

 

 

Bakersfield Observed takes a walk down memory lane, recalling Frager's and Fontana's Pie Shop and the Plunge on Union Avenue, among others

 * ... MEMORIES: My mailbox was full of readers reminiscing about Bakersfield when it was a smaller, quainter community. I wish I could use all of the responses but here is a sampling.

 * ... OLD BAKO: Marshall Helm is the owner of Greenlawn Mortuary and recalls the old days when East Bakersfield was the business heart of our community. "I had some happy thoughts today when I read about Sinaloa once being located where Wool Growers now stands. It was sort of 'our corner.' Ernie Hashim had his speed shop on the northeast corner of 19th and Baker streets.  Across the street on the northwest corner was Wally Tucker's car lot, which later became a paint store. I had a motorcycle shop (Digger's Motorcycle Center) which was two buildings down from the southwest corner on Baker Street. All of us from that little square would meet every day for lunch at Sinaloa. There are a ton of dragster and motorcycle stories that we will never be able to tell... but it sure was a fun time."

 * ... CHINESE KITCHEN: Reader Benny Fuentez has fond memories of a restaurant called the Chinese Kitchen, which he said operated in the 1950s on Baker Street in the building that now houses Arizona Cafe. Fuentez, who attended Lincoln Junior High at the time, was a paperboy for The Californian and remembers reporting to the establishment to get his daily allotment of papers.
"All of us paperboys would meet there and eat fried rice with gravy and crackers and wait. With Wool Growers, the Pyrenees and other places close by, everybody was drunk, so you could sell five or 10 papers at a time to one person. Especially if it was raining, they would feel sorry for us and ask us, 'How many papers you got?' We'd have 10, and the papers were 10 cents back then, so they'd give us a dollar and we'd go home. Those were the good old days."

 * ... POOL: Janeen Carter-Smith doesn't consider herself an old timer but she does fondly remember the Plunge and its famous neon sign on South Uniion Avenue. "I spent so very many summer afternoons there with a favorite of sun-melted Hersey bars over French fries; how could I have possibly forgotten?

 * ... FRAGER'S: It appears we finally solved the question of what was the name of an early Mexican restaurant located near the current Wool Grower's building. Jack Ortega also remembers it was being names Frager's Spanish Kitchen, and next door was Fontana's Pie Shop."I was raised in east Bakersfield from the late 1920s to some time in 1948 and a lot of the young guys hung out at Fontana's and knew of Frager's. A great place to eat Mexican food."

 * ... PEARL HARBOR: Ann Cierley remembers the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor when she was a 10-year-old who was spending the day watching other neighborhood kids at the Kern Theater on Chester Avenue. "The lights went out - the usher went up on the stage - and announced Pearl Harbor had been bombed! The kids were already booing the interruption so we all sat noisily until the screen came back with little or no understanding of anything. Several times more the show was interrupted to more catcalls and a very annoyed me told my quizzical sisters and the kids around us that it meant we were going to get bombed and shot and now I had a group of crying kiddies on my hands to calm down... The war wasn't that far removed from the West Coast. We had air-raid drills at school and even dog tags were made for us at Beardsley. I kept mine for many years. Bakersfield had black-outs (our new Weather Bird sign was darkened), we had air raid wardens, war bond drives, gas rationing and military bases appeared like Minter Field out near Shafter. We all bought war stamps every week at school. Our mothers kept ration books. We had rubber drives, coffee can drives (I never understood that one) and all were very patriotic. Two uncles flew many missions over Europe and the Pacific. Both survived I'm happy to say. Millie Munsey helped me put on a war bond rally at Emerson in 1944 and my early years at Bakersfield High were filled with memories of being held up at the train tracks and stations by the many, many troop trains coming and going."