Local West Point graduate is gravely wounded in a suicide attack in Afghanistan and Bakersfield gets ready for the city's most celebrated cooking show, Savor Bakersfield

* ... VAN KOPP: My heart goes out to the family of Samuel Van Kopp, a standout graduate of Bakersfield High School who has been gravely wounded in Afghanistan. His father, local veterinarian Cliff Van Kopp, says his son was hit by shrapnel when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb. Friends say Samuel is the classic high achiever: No. 10 in his class where he excelled at debate and forensics, and on to West Point along with other bright men and women. His Facebook page is testimony to youth, hope, love, friendship and promise. Keep this family in your thoughts. (photos from Van Kopp's Facebook page)

 * ... COOKING SHOW: Our town's most celebrated cooking show - Savor Bakersfield - is coming up on Tuesday, November 13, at Rabobank Arena. This is always a hugely popular event that features boutique shopping, local food and an unforgettable cooking show featuring Dash magazine chef Jon Ashton. There will be food from more than 10 local restaurants including The Padre Hotel, Chef's Choice Noodle Bar,  Johnny Rockets, the Red Pepper, Prime Cut, the Garden Spot and others. Tickets are just $20 (there are discounts for early registration) and there will be raffle drawings throughout the show, including a grand prize of a Kenmore Elite refrigerator freezer. Tickets are available at Rabobank or by phone at (800) 745-3000 and at ticketmaster.com. Sponsors include Smart and Final and 3-Way Chevrolet.

* ... LARRY CARR: The annual Larry Carr Memorial golf tournament to benefit the Memorial Hospital Foundation is being held today (Friday), but there's more to the backstory on this long-held charity event. Before it was named for the late Memorial president Larry Carr, it was called the Buck Owens tournament to support the Buck Owens Foundation.  Said current Memorial CEO Jon Van Boening: "The two best stories of these tournaments were John Wayne getting drunk every tournament at the BCC bar and Johnny Bench claiming he contracted Valley Fever attending one of the tournaments. Both probably true but who knows? When the Buck Owens Foundation decided to stop doing the tournament I picked up the ball and along with John Brock Jr. and Doug Findley (who at that time was partners in Advanced Beverage), started Club Out Cancer to raise money for the American Cancer Society. The ACS tournament existed for 25 years and when that charity decided to get out of golf I took the core of that committee and started the Larry Carr Memorial for Bakersfield Memorial Hospital.  Proceeds from this year's tournament are allocated towards the capital campaign to build a new children’s emergency pavilion at the hospital. "

 * ... PARTY SCHOOLS: If you're a parent with a kid in college, you might be interested in Playboy's annual list of the top party schools. These lists are purely subjective, of course, but it's always interesting to see who makes the cut. The top party school? According to Playboy it's the University of Virginia, followed by the University of Southern California, Florida, Texas, Wisconsin, Georgia, Tulane, Texas Christian and Ohio State.

 * .... SPOTTED: This bit of bad form comes from reader Dee Rhodes. "I was driving south on Highway 99 just a little after lunch today, and took the Golden State Avenue off ramp to come back into town. I came up behind a slow moving Cal Trans utility truck and trailer. As I was about to go around them, the driver and passenger each threw out their lunch wrappers, bags and empty soda cups onto Golden State Avenue.  I thought I had pretty much seen it all ."

  * ... PTSD: Local Rotary Clubs are partnering with the National Alliance on Mental Illness to sponsor a special program on post traumatic stress disorder. The conference will be held next Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 8 pm. at the Good Samaritan Hospital on White Lane. It is open to the public and free. The program is specifically designed for veterans, first responders, their families and virtually anyone else. For more information or to make a reservation, contact Patrice Maniaci at namikernpatrice@gmail.com or (661) 333-5484.

District Attorney Lisa Green and Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood warn of a crime wave as thousands of felons are released on the streets

 * ... CRIME: If you think the state prison realignment that has dumped hundreds of parolees on our streets is not affecting crime, think again. I spoke recently with District Attorney Lisa Green and Sheriff Donny Youngblood (Green was my guest on Californian Radio KERN 1180 and the sheriff called in) and both agreed that property crime has spiked since Gov. Jerry Brown implemented his plan to relieve crowding by releasing thousands of felons. In fact, Green told me of a case where a suspect told his arresting deputy that "now is the time for crime" because he would likely serve only a fraction of any sentence he received. Green said the number of crimes reported in Bakersfield has jumped 38 percent in the last few months.

 * ... VALADAO: A big Republican crowd showed up for lunch at the Petroleum Club Tuesday to raise money for David Valadao in his bid for a congressional seat. On hand were House Majority Whip Rep. Kevin McCarthy and House Speaker John Boehner. Valadao, a Hanford farmer, currently serves in the state Assembly and is running for the newly created 21st Congressional District. (file photo of David Valadao)

 * ... CSUB: I had the chance the other day to meet David Melendez, the new vice president for university advancement over at Cal State Bakersfield. Melendez will be in charge of fund raising for the university, one of the most critical tasks in this period of budget cutting and economic uncertainty. He replaces Beverly Byl, who left CSUB a few months ago amid a rocky relationship with key alumni. Melendez is sharp and articulate and will work directly with CSUB President Horace Mitchell to enhance alumni relations, work on governmental relations and raise money. Melendez was most recently at Chapman University where he served as assistant vice president for advancement. His wife is a sculptor and will move to Bakersfield as soon as the couple finds a suitable home.

* ... OVERHEARD: A prominent local architect is telling a friend that his business has started to pick up dramatically. "I went for two years without work and now I have enough for the next two years," he said. "Something good is happening with this economy."

* ... SPOTTED: Clayton Koerner was taking a left on Mohawk from California Avenue when a young woman driving a new Ford Focus tossed a banana peel onto the street. "I thought this little girl has no class," he said. "Hopefully, either she or her family read this and realize people are watching and she needs to get respect for her community."

 * ... PARTY SCHOOLS: If you are sending a child off to college this year you might want to pay attention to the Princeton Review's annual list of the hardest partying schools in the country. The top ten: West Virginia University, the University of Iowa, Ohio University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Georgia, the University of Florida, UC Santa Barbara, Florida State, Miami University and Syracuse. The most sober school: Brigham Young University. The University of Colorado-Boulder was cited for its "Reefer madness" and Providence College for having "Lots of Hard Liquor."