Ford makes a big gamble on an all electric version of its popular F-150 pickup truck, a billboard pops up criticizing Rep. Kevin McCarthy and remember the hold Hell's Angels movie filmed at Hart Park

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. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ... F-150: Head's up Kern County. This is known as truck country, but are Kern County pickup truck drivers ready to trade in their gas guzzling vehicles to go all electric? Ford Motor Co. thinks they are, and that's why Ford has placed a big bet on its all new F-150 electric vehicle that should hit the show rooms

next year. Ford thinks offering its best selling pickup in an electric version could spur the rush to all electric vehicles. The new F-150 Lightning will have a starting price tag at just under $40,000 before any tax credits are factored in. Ford is hoping to attract fleet buyers who prefer trucks that are cheaper to operate.

 * ... BILLBOARD: Did you see the new billboard criticizing Rep. Kevin McCarthy that popped up along California Avenue near Highway 99?

 * ... HOUSING PRICES SPIKE: The price of housing in California continues its meteoric rise with the median price now topping $800,000 - that's right, closing in on a cool million dollars -  putting a home out of reach for hundreds of thousands of people. According to a The California Association of Realtors, April home sales increased 65% from a year ago, with 458,170 believed to have changed hands. “California continues to experience one of the hottest housing markets as homes sell at the fastest pace ever, with the share of homes sold above asking price, the price per square foot and the sales-to-list price all at record highs,” said Dave Walsh, California Association of Realtors President Dave Walsh. A decade ago the media price was around $250,000 following the Great Recession.

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: I spotted this picture of a boat load of trash that was unceremoniously dumped on Edison Highway the other day. And so it goes.

 * ... FORMER PRIEST: A former priest who has been accused of preying on multiple young men while serving in California parishes lost a round in court when a Fresno County Superior Court Judge threw out his defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church. Craig Harrison, who left the priesthood earlier this year, had sued the Diocese of Fresno claiming that a church official, Teresa Dominguez, had defamed him in remarks to a radio station. The court disagreed and tossed the lawsuit. Attorneys for Harrison said they will appeal. Harrison has been accused of using his favor to curry favor with troubled young men and making sexual overtures to several of them over the years. The often lurid allegations have been at odds with Harrison's otherwise untarnished reputation in the community, leaving the community split between those who believe him and those who believe he was most certainly involved in some way.

 * ... HARRISON TODAY: Meanwhile, Harrison is living in Bakersfield and working to polish his reputation and start anew after leaving the church. He apparently is thinking of working as a life coach or personal counselor, and this week he appeared at Hodel's to address an standing room only crowd of adoring middle-aged women. Attending was state Sen. Shannon Grove, a Bakersfield Republican who has stood by Harrison's side despite the accusations. The event drew the attention of Christine Niles,  who works at ChurchMilitant.com, an organization that tracks accused pedophile priests and has been a thorn in Harrison's side since he was suspended by the Diocese of Fresno. (Harrison has been at odds with the organization and sued a member of the Roman Catholic Faithful for defamation) Niles noted Grove's presence at Hodel's and concluded this: "The cult of Msgr. Craig Harrison is live and well in Bakersfield. Nevermind the alleged victims and their suffering."

 * ... VACCINES: Centric Health, an integrated medical care company, administered more than 10,000 Covid-19 vaccines along with its sister organization, Bakersfield Heart Hospital. According to Centric president Dr. Brij Bhambi, the hospital also administered some 10,000 vaccines, bringing Centric's total contribution to more than 20,000 doses.

 * ... HELLS ANGELS ON WHEELS: The 1967 movie Hells Angels on Wheels was playing on local television the other day, an offbeat look at the motorcycle gang shot in and around Bakersfield. The movie was shot both in town and out near Hart Park, and it's a treat to pick out local landmarks during the film.

 * ... COUSIN HERB: Thanks to the Kern County History Fans website for this nugget: "1950's - KERO TV ... The Cousin Herb Show... Photo credit to Michael L Henson.

 * ... MEMORIES: From the Kern County of Old Facebook page comes this picture of four women on a crew for picking cotton in Buttonwillow.

Karma reigns when a farmer returns trash to the offender's house, weak internet signals plague thousands, Jeff Huckaby of Grimmway is the organic farmer of the year and a third In-N-Out is planned for Rosedale Highesy

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. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other person or organization.

 * ... TRASH KARMA: This might be the best story of the week. Or the month. Or maybe even the year. It started off by something all too familiar in Kern County: a farmer wakes up to find someone

has illegally dumped a mountain of trash on his property. This time, instead of just cleaning it up, the farmer culled through the trash and found an envelope with the offender's address in Delano. So the farmer loaded up with truck with the trash, drove to the home in Delano and unceremoniously dumped it on the lawn. Now that is what you call karma.

 * ... OUTAGE: Have you been having problems with your internet service provider? Many have throughout Kern County, whether your provider is Spectrum or DirecTV or Dish, and the problem seems to be growing worse while so many are at home during the pandemic. This week, there was a major outage on Monday, affecting millions of people in areas such as Miami, Brooklyn, Orlando and Atlanta.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I don't require much to be happy. Five meals a day. A triple espresso. Nine hours of sleep. A pair of yoga pants, complete solitude, and no obligations whatsoever."

 * ... GRIMMWAY FARMS: Congratulations to Jeff Huckaby, the chief executive officer of Grimmway Farms who has been named Organic Farmer of the Year by the Organic Trade Association. Thanks to Huckaby, Grimmway's Cal-Organic production has grown from a few hundred acres to more than 45,000 acres of vegetables in California, Florida, Georgia, Colorado and Washington. Cal-Organic now provides more than 65 different organic vegetables.

 * ... IN 'N OUT: Some news is simply bigger than the coronavirus, or even the protests and Black Lives Matter. And that, at least here in Bakersfield, is the opening of a third In 'N Out burger franchise on Rosedale Highway at Coffee Road. The third location has been approved by the city planning commission but no word yet on when it might open.

 * ... MEMORIES: Lovely picture of old Chester when the clock tower was still standing.

A frank discussion of race and white privilege is planned for The Richard Beene Show this week, The Cat People hold a fund raiser and what in hell are all those fireworks going off in all hours about town?

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. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other person or organization.

 * ... OUR NATION: Protests and riots are erupting across our county as people take to the streets to protest systemic racism not only in police departments, but in society in general. Are we in for a

summer of protests and violence? Will all of this ever end? We will devote two days this week on The Richard Beene Show (daily from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on KERN NewsTalk 96.1 FM/1180 AM) to the topics of racism, white privilege and historic grievances rooted in our shared history. On Monday Pastor Angelo Frazier of Riverlakes Community Church joins us at 2:30 p.m. and on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. Keith Wolaridge of the Panama Buena Vista School District and Michael Burroughs of CSUB's Kelley Institute of Ethics join the show.

 * ... THE CAT PEOPLE: Looking to help a good cause? The Cat People, one of our community's more active non profits engaged in reusing stray cats, is holding a fund raiser where a photo of your car will be mounted on a ceramic tile for $30.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "A 70-year-old man in Seattle survived the coronavirus, got applauded by staff when he left the hospital after 62 days -- and then got a $1.1 million, 181-page hospital bill."

* ... TRASH: We all know Kern County's reputation as a dumping ground, where some residents don't think twice about leaving a mattress, box spring and broken TVs next to the road. But few roads are more littered than Camino Grande Drive right off Fairfax and Alfred Harrell Highway, a stretch known to cyclists as the "old dump road" that leads to a cogeneration plant. Almost every day someone, too lazy to take a load to the Kern County Dump off Bena Road, unceremoniously leaves mountains of trash by the side of the road.

 * ... FIREWORKS: Are you one of the hundreds of residents who have heard fireworks going off during the past few weeks? People are speculating why: is it related to the Black Lives Matter protests? Early warning that July Fourth is coming? Just more random noise from the mischievous?

 * ... GRANITE STATION: My friend John Kelley posted these pictures, old and current, of Granite State just outside of Woody. Said Kelley: "Built it 1873 by John Elden, this stand of buildings served as store, restaurant, and lodging place on the stage route between Bakersfield and Glennville. In later years it became a stopping place for freighters and sheepmen who were on their trek to the Mojave Desert. Granite Station had one of the longest bars in California, the building it was in burned down several years past BIG loss."

 * ... MEMORIES: The old Highland Cafe back in 1920., thanks to Steven Humprhreys.

Thanks to the new sales tax the city of Bakersfield is flush with cash, Bob Price takes his brand to KGET, an explosion of homeless along the bike path and the pigs that live amongst us

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. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other person or organization.

 * ... FLUSH WITH CASH: So did you read the city is suddenly flush with cash? That's right, reporter Sam Morgan reported in The Californian that even the most optimistic predictions of how

much money the new sales tax would generate have been exceeded. "The good financial fortunes have left city officials with the unique problem of needing to find new projects to fund," Morgan wrote.

 * ... ROBERT PRICE: It has been two weeks since Bob Price left The Californian after 30 years and started a new gig at KGET. He hit the ground running so to speak, appearing on air almost immediately in a coat and tie no less (inside joke for those of us who worked with Bob) and by my estimation he has been a smash hit. Not because he was fluid and graceful and knowledgeable on the air (that will undoubtedly come later) but rather because he was himself. The genius in KGET hiring Bob was exactly that: they hired the iconic Bob Price, rarely cranky, occasionally disheveled, but always self deprecating, funny and lovable. All of that TV smoothness will have to come later, but for now KGET should pride itself in adding a valuable brand to its lineup of talent. Tune in and enjoy the show.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I sneezed in Costco today and it was the most attention I have gotten in the past year."

 * ... HOMELESS: Despite the best efforts of the city, which has now thrown a cool couple million dollars into trying to control the homeless explosion, the situation on the ground is out of control. All along the banks of the dry Kern River, from Beach Park out to Manor, I counted at least a dozen homeless encampments, some with multiple tents replete with campfires, vicious dogs and trash - piles of trash. Think back a few years ago when all the improvements were made along the river-shade areas, viewing stations, new paths and infrastructure. Today, the homeless own the entire riverbank, their dogs running loose and their trash extending for miles. And so it goes,

 * ... TRASH: Don't get me started on the people who treat our community like their own trash receptacle. Like whoever used Round Mountain Road to unceremoniously dump computers, computer screens, CPUs, printers and keyboards, strewn across the road.

 * ... CAMELLIA SHOW: The annual Camellia Show was held this weekend at the Bakersfield Racquet Club, drawing entries from across the state and dozens of entries locally. There are some 32,000 varieties of camellias, and here are a few of them.

 * ... GARDNER FIELD: Check out this Army training flight over Taft during War War II when Gardner Field (along with Minter Field) trained thousands of pilots for the war. Photo compliments of the Kern County of Old Facebook page.

 * ... MEMORIES: I spotted this old photo on the Kern County of Old Facebook page. Who remembers it?

CSUB professor warns the coronavirus could disrupt the hot economy, the homeless leave a mountain of trash at the Park at RiverWalk and lunch at Woolgrower's looks like a white pickup convention

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. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other person or organization.

 * ... CORONAVIRUS: How worried should all be about the coronavirus? According to Dr. Richard Gearhart, CSUB economic professor, plenty. Not only could the existence of the virus cause death in at risk people, but it could also upend the world economic order. The Dow has dropped 3,000 points

this week already, and Gearhart thinks another 1,000 point drop could be in the offering, an event that gut retirement and 401(k) accounts and possibly affect the reelection prospects for President Trump. And, Gearhart warns it could also disrupt the production of penicillin and antibiotics, which China leads the world in. Of the four major companies that produce the  active pharmaceutical ingredient for benzathine penicillin G, three are located in China. Most of the world's antibiotics are produced in China and India.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I just finished the laundry and all my socks had their partners. Is this what having your life together feels like?

 * ... HOMELESS TRASH: If you think the homeless prefer to hang about downtown, think again. These pictures are from the Park at Riverwalk, an absolutely disgrace. Here is what Peter Wolleson said when he posted these pictures on Facebook: "I witnessed this catastrophe firsthand. If you live in the southwest, and you think the homeless problem is mostly sidewalk-crappers in the downtown area, I’ve got news for you. This is the Park at Riverwalk. This is a few hundred feet from where your children play at the playground. And ultimately, this is your drinking water. This debris will be washed downstream and buried. These propane canisters will continue to rust until they burst, and the bottles of charcoal lighter fluid and buckets of human feces will gradually leach into our groundwater. The city needs to address this- IMMEDIATELY."

* ... GOOD FORM: Congrats to Bakersfield photographer JoJo Butingan, a master cameraman who had one of his pictures published in Westways magazine, the publication of the Automobile Club of Southern California. The stunning photo of the hills of Kern County appears in the March issue.

 * ... OUR TOWN: Tell me if these pictures, and the caption by my friend Jeff Flores, don't speak to our community. "No this is not a white truck convention or a Ford or Chevrolet dealership. It is just another fine day at Woolgrower's Restaurant where the food is good, people are friendly and the white truck memo circulates!" Amen to that.

 * ... MEMORIES:The evolution of Mercy Hospital downtown in old photos, compliments of the Kern County History Fans Facebook page. Amazing.

Assistant police chief arrested for spousal abuse, Luigi's is vandalized by the drug addicts on our streets, and community leaders meet to set out a new anti homeless strategy

Friday, September 6, 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.W

 * ... ASSISTANT CHIEF ARRESTED: Did you hear about the assistant police chief being arrested for alleged spousal abuse outside the VIP Lounge? He was arrested outside the bar around 12:40 a.m. after people reported a man was abusing a woman outside in a white SUV. KERN 23ABC has video footage and  I spotted this post from a woman on Facebook. "Last night I was with some friends

grabbing a drink at VIP Lounge where this man, Evan Demestihas, beat and attempted to sexually assault his wife in the parking lot outside. After she escaped, he stole her car and drove off. It took Bakersfield Police Department over 30 minutes to respond to our call, all for them to beat around the bush to ask anyone questions. I have never seen someone so scared, so hurt, so defeated. Now, I am not one to sit here and preach about how corrupt police systems are or how cops only protect themselves and not the people or whatever else is out there to slander any type of government. However, the way this situation was handled last night was nowhere near efficient enough. Not only was I scared for the woman who was traumatized, but I was also scared for myself and my friends with me that night. This is one of the faces of our Police Department right now ladies and gentleman. This is the person who is supposed to make us feel safe."

 * ... PUBLIC OUTCRY: Add Luigi's Delicatessan and Restaurant to the list of iconic Bakersfield businesses that have been victimized by our homeless and drug crisis. The alarm went off at 10:15 p.m. Tuesday after someone broke through the familiar red front door. Meanwhile, here is an example of the public frustration that I spotted on social media, remarking on a picture of a homeless person with a stolen blue trash can: "I don’t even make comments on all this any longer.. nothing is being done to remedy/fix this problem. Our 'laws' are laughed at, not enforced, and the joke seems to be on us... the taxpaying fools that continually ripped off by these offenders. The owner of that blue container, will have to PAY the city to get a new one delivered. Those shopping carts all over town...are stolen, another expense the Smart and Final has to eat. Ho hum....pigs on the street making messes."

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I was walking around my house this morning and I saw myself in a mirror. Now, although I know I’m not a young man, I decided then and there that I had to do something about what I saw. So I’ve had all the mirrors removed.

 * ... TRASH: Meanwhile the (quite literal) trashing of our city continues. The drug addicted homeless regularly upend our trash cans and bins, looking for something to eat or barter, and with a little wind this litter covers our streets. All this as police drive by with hardly a notice.

 * ... MEMORIES: Check out this pictures from the Kern County History Fans on Facebook.