Bernie Herman to retire as executive director of the Bakersfield Museum of Art, planning on retirement and move to Southern California

 Bernie Herman has announced he is stepping down as executive director of The Bakersfield Museum of Art after eight years at the helm of the city's most prominent arts organization.
 Herman told members of the museum's Board of Trustees that he was planning on retiring and moving to Southern California to be closer to his daughters. He plans to leave the organization early next year and work with the Board on a transition.
 Herman has been a fixture in Bakersfield civic and non-profit organizations for 27 years, and once served as head of Mercy Hospital. He replaced Charles Meyers as head of the museum eight years ago.
 No word yet on who might succeed him at the museum. Among his most memorable accomplishments were dealing with a crushing debt that was later paid off and greatly expanding the museum education programsl.

Bako Bits: speculating about the old Padre Hotel and $160,000 raised for the children's wing at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital

 * ... SMALL WORLD: Mary Vanfleet and her husband, owners of Purifying Systems, were on a 12-day trip to China recently when they were reminded just how small the world is. "While cruising down the Yangtze River on a ship that holds only 200 passengers, my husband Rodger and I ran into our old neighbors from Bakersfield, Ed and Chris Biebrich! They moved about 15 years ago and now live in North Carolina. We haven't seen each other since. Ed Biebrich was with American Bank and then with Citizen's Bank and is now retired. So after all these years,  there they were and there we were in a far away land. It was like running into an old friend at Cafe Med!"

* ... HAUNTED PADRE? Who would have guessed the the old Padre Hotel would turn up in a new cable television show featuring an alleged psychic from Long Island? Will Winn said it happened as he was watching a promotion for a new episode of "Long Island Medium." The episode features an email the psychic received from a lady who claimed to have been visited by a child who died in a hotel.  "The picture of the hotel is shown and it is the Padre!" Winn wrote. "Wonder which room she was in?" 

* ... MEMORIAL: Good news from the 10th Annual Larry Carr Memorial Golf Tournament last week: it raised more than $160,000 to go towards the construction of a children's pavilion for emergency care. The event was held at Bakersfield Country Club and was co-chaired by Steve Loyd and Jenny Waguespack. 

 * ... COLLEGE BOUND: Julie Gibson wrote to say that her son, Timothy, is now attending the University of California Irvine and while dropping him off at school, she learned he was in good company.  "Five of his classmates from Golden Valley High School who were also on the 'We the People Constitution' team are also entering freshmen at UCI. They include Arshdeep Gill, Rocio Martinez, Karen Cervantez, Juan Castaneda and Stephanie Padilla.  I attribute that to the influence of their coach, John Hansen." Mike Gibson, Timothy's father, was his son's football and baseball coach at Golden Valley.

* ... ACHIEVERS: The Jim Burke Education Foundation has released its new team of "Dream Builders," a group of high achieving local kids from our local high schools. Among them are Alexander Pearson, Highland; Renae Lewis, West; Connor Brady, Liberty; Emily Norris, BHS; Nolan Cooney, Stockdale; Xitlaly Estrada, Golden Valley; Sean Tieu, Independence; Heather Hansen, Centennial; Joshua Park, Centennial; Alice Verderber, BHS; Connor Fisher, Stockdale; Katie Cornford, Frontier; Joshua Gaddis, Independence; Abby Grisedale, North; Robert Keathley, Bakersfield Christian; Esperanza Gutierrez, South; Corbin Burnes, Centennial; Paige Basconcillo, Liberty; Charles Hale, East; Bailey Wanner, North; Caroline Kim, Frontier; and Hunter Villanueva, West.

 * ... BLESSING: One of my favorite events will be held this Friday at the St. Francis Parish School when it will hold its annual 'Blessing of the Animals.' It will start at 2:30 p.m. at the Palm Street school. The community is invited to bring pets for a blessing, in honor of the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, along with their spare change.  It is always a fun event, with critters large and small, manageable and hard-to-handle.  The school will also finish its annual  Coins for Canines drive to raise money for needy pets and will donate the money raised, in addition to blankets and pet food, to a local animal charity.

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.

A dispute between two nonprofits supporting wounded veterans reveals a nasty split and celebrating the annual rite of taking those freshmen to college

 * ... VETERAN SPAT: If you missed Steve Mayer's story in The Californian about the spat between two nonprofits that support wounded veterans, it is worth giving it a read. The story provides a rare insight into the workings of nonprofits, in this case revealing a nasty dispute between Jeremy Staat (he has a nonprofit that bears his name) and the Wounded Heroes Fund, which kicked him off its board. Kern County is well known for its generosity and support of veterans, but with that comes a responsibility by groups like the Jeremy Staat Foundation and the Wounded Heroes Fund to be transparent about where the money goes. No one is alleging any impropriety here, but the public dispute does put the spotlight on where the money goes. One interesting note: Staat and fellow veteran Wesley Leon-Barrientos raised some $140,000 on their bicycle ride across the country, and spent virtually all of it on the ride. And the Wounded Heroes Fund is sitting on some $300,000 in donations that have yet to be spend. Keep an eye on this story.

* ... B-25 CRASH: I learned of yet another local connection to the 1945 crash of a B-25 Mitchell into the Empire State Building, this one compliments of Connie Adams. "My father, Louis Triand, was an aerial photographer for the Army Air Corps (that later became the Air Force).  He was across the street at the time and dashed out of the building when he heard the crash. The impact shook the ground like an earthquake. He had a camera with him and proceeded to take as many pictures of the crash as he could.  One engine dropped down through the building, crashing through a wall to the outside and continuing on down, plummeting through a sculptor's roof. Another engine and the landing gear fell through an elevator shaft into a sub-basement. My dad did not take the photo that later became famous but has other similar ones of the crash. The Army Air Corps had the rights to the photos that he took but he was able to keep several for himself. For several days afterward, he was flown over the site by the Air Corps to take pictures of the crash site. The pilot was on a course for Newark airport, not La Guardia."

 * ... COLLEGE: The annual rite of taking college-bound freshmen to dorms across the country has begun, and that means there are lot of parents showing up to work red eyed after emotional drives back home. It's a stressful time for both parent and child, and it forms memories that last a lifetime. My advice for all you parents? Somehow your kids will make it through and you indeed will hear from them: when they run out of money.

 * .... ACHIEVERS: It was nice to see the Jim Burke Education Foundation shed some light on some of our outstanding high school seniors. This year's Ford Dimension kids are Ryan Holmes, Stockdale; Brock Burger, Garces; Ashly Mohankumar, Highland; Abigail Mejia, Independence; Brianna Wright, Highland; Anne Shambaugh, Garces; Connor Kingsbury, Bakersfield Christian; Derek Frost, Liberty; Theimus Roberson, Ridgeview; and Erica McCall, Ridgeview.

 * ... SCHOOLS: If you think you need a lot of money to make a big impact for our needy schools, think again. The Bakersfield Californian Foundation has joined forces with a group called DonorsChoose.org to help teachers in this time of fiscal stress. It works like this: Teachers work through the DonorsChoose website to post what they need, and average folks like you and me can choose what classroom to help. And, the Californian Foundation is helping by offering matching funds for the projects that fit its criteria of early childhood literacy. If you go to DonorsChoose.org you can search by state, city, county and individual school. It's a fulfilling way to help teachers and our kids and make an impact

Local engineer, cycling enthusiast and City Council candidate Bob Smith will appear on Monday's Californian Radio; meanwhile another Bob Smith heads to the Seven Oaks Homeowner's Association board

* ... CITY COUNCIL: Bob Smith is a local civil engineer and land planning expert who is running to succeed David Couch on the City Council, and Monday he will be my guest on Californian Radio KERN 1180 beginning at 9 a.m. Smith is clear front runner in the race for the Ward 4 seat, now that attorney Harley Pinson has dropped out. The only other name on the ballot is Daniel Mbagwu, who has not campaigned visibly. City council candidate Bob Smith is also the founder of Bike Bakersfield, a group that encourages cycling friendly initiatives. He has been endorsed by Couch and should easily win election. But he should not be confused with another avid cyclist named Bob Smith, who is a retired endodontist, a USC alum and now a new member of the Seven Oaks homeowner's association board. (Council candidate Bob Smith shown below)

 * ... TROJANS: And speaking of the University of Southern California, I took in the game at the Coliseum Saturday and watched the Trojans easily dispatch the Cal Bears. And proving you can't go anywhere without running into someone from Bakersfield, I stumbled into Joan and Bernie Herman and Carol and Mike Stepanovich at the game. Bernie runs the Bakersfield Museum of Art, Joan is a school administrator, Stepanovich works at Bakersfield College and Carol is a retired teacher. 

* ... B-25 CRASH: Local Realtor Dick Taylor shared with me his own personal take on the 1945 crash of a B-25 Mitchell into the Empire State Building. Turns out his mother, Suzy Taylor, worked on the 32nd floor of the New York landmark but was off the Saturday of the crash. "In a notable coincidence, her future husband, my late dad Harris Taylor, was a B-25 pilot who was shot down a year earlier near Tarawa while on his 17th combat mission.  He survived and married my mom in
1953."

* ... COLLEGE: The Princeton Review has come out with its list of the "least studious" universities, and most of them are in the deep South. Coming in at No. 1 was the University of Alabama followed by the University of North Dakota, West Virginia University, City University of New York- Baruch College, the University of Mississippi, the University of Maryland – College Park, Florida State University, the University of Iowa, James Madison University and University of Alabama – Birmingham.


* ... OKTOBERFEST: Reader David Collins submitted a shout out to one of his favorite local eateries. "Since it is currently Oktoberfest, my family and I went to Bit of Germany, a local culinary treasure.  Owner Frannie and her daughter, Denise, cooked and served a terrific dinner with Germany potatoes, melt-in-you-mouth trout and hot apple strudel.  If you haven't been to Bit of Germany in a while, now is the perfect time to take a quick spin to 'Bavaria.'

 * ... BIKE PATH: Hard to beat the cooler mornings we've been having and Sunday our local bike path was crowded with walkers, runners and cyclists. The bike path now extends from as far west as Enos Lane all the way out to Hart Park and beyond, and literally of hundreds of folks enjoy it as a way to exercise and enjoy the local scenery. It's one part of our community that we can boast about.

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman cites Muslim hypocrisy in insulting other religions, and another successful young man returns to Bakersfield to live and work

 * ... FRIEDMAN: The ongoing protests and violence in the Middle East that led to the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya drew a strong response from New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman. Friedman is one of our nation's foremost Middle East experts and he spared no words in calling out Muslim protesters on their own hypocrisy when it comes to insulting other religions. "They might want to look at the chauvinistic bile that is pumped out by some of their own media — on satellite television stations and Web sites or sold in sidewalk bookstores outside of mosques — insulting Shiites, Jews, Christians, Sufis and anyone else who is not a Sunni, or fundamentalist, Muslim. There are people in their countries for whom hating 'the other' has become a source of identity and a collective excuse for failing to realize their own potential." More reasons why all of us should practice tolerance.

 * ... COMING HOME: Another successful youngster has returned to Bakersfield to work and live. Neil K. Gehlawat, a graduate of Stockdale High and later UC Berkeley, has joined the law firm of Chain, Cohn and Stiles as an associate attorney in its personal injury department. He graduated from Stockdale in 2005 and later earned a degree from Cal. He went on to attend The University of Texas School of Law, where he served as a Notes Editor for the Texas Law Review and was a regional champion in the National Appellate Advocacy Competition. He obtained his juris doctorate in
2012.

 * .... OVERHEARD: A young woman who just returned from Boston is overheard talking about coming home. "I am always amazing how friendly people are here," she said. "At the airport, at the car wash and even at Starbucks people are just so nice. Yesterday in the drive-through at Starbucks and woman two cars in front of me paid for the entire line. It's just great coming home."

 * ... SEXTING: If your teenager is using his or her cell phone for something other than emergencies - like sending suggestive flirty messages to others - chances are that she may be engaged in sex. That's the result of a survey as reported in The Los Angeles Times, which said teenagers who engage in "sexting" are seven times more like to be engaged in sex. (photo courtesy of The Los Angeles Times)

 * ... HISTORY: Several readers wrote with questions about the 1945 incident in which a B-25 Mitchell ran into the Empire State Building, killing 14 people including three crewmen. It happened on a Saturday morning when the B-25, headed from Boston to LaGuardia, was cleared to land in heavy fog and mistakenly veered right into the building. The plane hit the north side of the building between the 78th and 80th floor.

 * ... SNYDER: Congratulations to Toni Snyder who came home with a prestigious honor from the Radio Show convention in Dallas. Snyder was named "general manager of the year" in the 2012 National Association of Broadcasters and Radio Advertising Bureau competition. Snyder runs the seven American General Media radio stations in Bakersfield. Californian Radio, which runs weekdays from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., appears on KERN 1180, one of the AGM stations.

 * ... ASHBURN: Former state Sen. Roy Ashburn has picked up more endorsements in his bid to return to the Kern County Board of Supervisors in the First District. Among those endorsing Ashburn were Delano Mayor Grace Vallejo, Ridgecrest Mayor Ron Carter and McFarland Mayor Manuel Cantu Jr. Ashburn faces former China Lake Naval Weapons Station commander Mick Gleason in November.

Liberty High school girls' tennis and golf teams get some well deserved recognition and state Sen. Michael Rubio takes aim at revising and improving the California Environmental Quality Act

 * ... ACHIEVERS: Hats off to the girls' tennis and golf teams over at Liberty High School who earned some terrific recognition recently. Turns out both teams were honored as the CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) 2011-12 Academic Team Champions for being the tennis and golf teams in the state with the highest grade point averages. Said Molly Busacca, whose two daughters play on the tennis team: "They are the only teams from Kern County to have received this distinction.  I love to see the teams do well both in their sports, and in the classroom!'' The girls tennis team: Paige Basconcillo, Isabella Busacca, Sophia Busacca, Taylor Carter, Karissa Coronel, Kendra Duncan, Michelle Kirby, Kelsey Owens and Emily Smith. Girls golf: Lexis Bell, Kirstin Horton, Mckenzie Pardue, Kayli Ryan, Tori Schrock, Chanie Smith and Mallory Wells.

* ... FLU SHOTS: Terri Nelson wrote with a tip about flu shots. "My husband and I took our entire family to Rite Aid to get our flu shots. Normally we pay around $20 to $30 for each one. One of the pharmacy techs asked to scan our medical insurance cards and I told them not to bother they never pay for them. Two of us have Blue Cross and the rest have straight MediCal. Well surprisingly this time they did pay and it saved me a boatload of money. Maybe more people will get their flu shots if they are free and they don't have to wait in the doctor's office for hours."

 * ... OVERHEARD: And speaking of staying healthy, a woman who has spent a lot of hours at a local hospital is overheard talking about how hospitals should provide small gyms for visitors. "Instead of sitting there for hours why not provide a little workout room?" she asked. "It will keep you healthy and isn't that what the hospitals want?"

 * ... SPOTTED: Two young men in a black Ford Expedition headed north on Chester Avenue and 18th Street get a good laugh after the passenger throws a handful of trash at a black city trash can and misses, sending napkins and litter all over the street.

 * ... CEQA: Keep your eye on state Sen. Michael Rubio (D-Shafter) and the work he will do as the new chairman of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. Rubio told me he has taken aim at CEQA (the Californian Environmental Quality Act), the law that drives businesses and developers crazy. Rubio told me CEQA is now some 40 years old and desperately needs to revised. He said it's the only law where "a business can still be in compliance but we penalized."


 * ... GIRLS FUND: The Women’s and Girls’ Fund, part of the Kern Community Foundation, is getting ready for another round of grant funding. Its current emphasis is on educational issues for women or girls: literacy; educational attainment; dropout prevention; high school graduation; college preparation or re-entry; job skills training; and education/training for emancipated foster youth. Nonprofits can access necessary forms and grant policies at www.kernfoundation.org or call Kern Community Foundation at (661) 325-5346. The deadline to apply is Nov. 8.


 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're from Bakersfield when a friend mentions he can tell it's almost fall because the temperature only reached 92.

Kern County almond producers expect a near record crop, and State Sen. Michael Rubio comes on Californian Radio to talk politics and reforming our state environmental laws

* ... ALMONDS: Good news for Kern County's almond growers: it looks like prices are going up and we are headed to another solid harvest. The almond harvest is now under way, and producers expect a harvest of some two billion pounds, just slightly under last year. Prices and demand have been steadily climbing every year, thanks to some degree to a strong demand from overseas but also to a growing national appetite for fresh nuts.

 * ... RUBIO: State Sen. Michael Rubio, recently appointed chairman of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, will be my guest on Californian Radio KERN 1180 Monday to talk about his plans to revise the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). We will be talking about state pension reform and other issues facing the Golden State. Rubio will be on at 9 a.m.

* ... GOOD DEED: Janada Shepard was dining at Uricchio's Trattoria last week, complements of two friends who were treating her for her birthday. "A server approached me and said a gentleman would like to know if he could buy me a glass of wine. Of course I agreed and asked who the gentleman was so I could thank him.  He chose to remain anonymous. So hopefully I can thank him through your column, that I read and enjoy every day. He made my day even better... how thoughtful!"

 * ... SINGLE: Did you know that a third of all Americans ages 45 to 63 are single, a 50 percent increase since 1980? That's according to the Wall Street Journal, which reported that one in four adults over the age of 50 is divorced, a huge increase over the past decade.


 * ... CORRECTION: Mark Romero wrote to correct an earlier blog post that misidentified the type of military aircraft that hit the Empire State Building in 1945.  "It was a B-25 Mitchell that hit the building in 1945.... a B-24 Liberator is a much bigger bomber with four engines. A B-25 has two engines."

 * ... ENIGMAS: Good luck to Adam Vinson and Jason Gutierrez, partners in a new multi-media agency called ENIGMA specializing in public relations, social media, multimedia production, web site design, hosting and maintenance, graphic design and marketing strategy.