Kern County's grape harvest is in full swing, more heat in the 106-degree range is in the forecast, a new manager takes over at The Mark restaurant downtown and a fond farewell to Lois Henry

 * ... GRAPES: If you are lucky, this is the time of year when it's good to count a local grape farmer as one of your close friends. The grape harvest is in full swing, and I watch with envy as a neighbor unloads a case of delicious, red seedless grapes from his car, courtesy of his buddy whose family

owns a vineyard in Delano. Kern County specializes in the classic plump, seedless table grape, but vineyards like The Grapery in Shafter have also brought to market exciting new varieties like the Moon Drops, Tear Drops and Cotton Candy variety. This is the season. Enjoy the harvest.

* ... HEAT: You know you are from Bakersfield when you realize summer is never over until the Kern County Fair ends in October. An example: temperatures are heading back to the 105-106 degree range this weekend and into early next week. Hang tight because winter is coming. Just not tomorrow.

* ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "If you scan the barcode tattoo on my neck, it tells you I scored very poorly on my SATs."

 * ... ROBERT LEE: The award for the overreaction of the week goes to ESPN, which told an Asian-American sports broadcaster named Robert Lee that he could not provide the play-by-play for a University of Virginia football game because his name was too similar to the Conferdate war general Robert E. Lee. To which someone tweeted: "From 1862 until his surrender in 1865, ESPN college football announcer Robert Lee commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia." And so it goes.

 * ... STATUES: And speaking of Gen. Lee, it is important to note the distinction between history and heritage in the argument over removing statues of Confederate soldiers. History is the study of exactly what happened in the past while heritage is the celebration of local and regional life via traditions, buildings, statutes etc. As one website put it: "History is the study of the past and heritage refers to valued objects and qualities such as historic buildings and traditions that have been passed down from previous generations."

 *... THE MARK: There is a familiar face hanging around The Mark as the downtown eatery's new  food and beverage manager: George Valencia, who spent six years working in a similar position at The Padre Hotel. The Mark has struggled with a series of short tenured managers who were shown the door (Terry Maxwell and Jeramy Brown were the latest) and are hoping Valencia brings some much needed stability to the popular restaurant. Meir Brown, the Cafe Med owner who was brought it to stabilize the place, said he hopes his temporary assignment ends by late December.

 * ... FAREWELL LOIS HENRY: And finally, a farewell and good luck to Californian columnist Lois Henry, who ends a remarkable 30-year run at the newspaper today (Friday) to explore new opportunities. Her courage, doggedness, honesty and occasional snarkiness (what would a Lois column be without a dose of that?) will be missed on the pages of our local daily newspaper.

The eclipse was Mother Nature's gift, a rare moment of positivity and wonder in a world awash in negativity, terror and vitriol, and USC comes in at No. 4 in the AP preseason college football poll

 * ... MOTHER NATURE: Wasn't the solar eclipse spectacular? Even here in Kern County where it didn't totally block out the sun, the event provided a rare and welcome respite from the tsunami of

negativity and bad news that have consumed us recently: Charlottesville, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, Barcelona, Islamic terrorism, the rush to erase history by tearing down statues, to name just a few. In less than three minutes Mother Nature brought us together in positivity, wonder and hope.

 * ... SPORTS: Is there a better time for sports than fall: College football returns, we head to the World Series and the Los Angeles Dodgers are on top of the baseball world. And now this: the USC Trojans are ranked fourth in the AP preseason college football poll right behind perennial powerhouses Alabama, Ohio State and Florida State. Rounding out the top ten are Clemson, Penn State, Oklahoma, Washington, Wisconsin and Oklahoma State.

* ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "You ever get a funny feeling in the pit of your stomach and then look down and realize you're impaled on a spear?"

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Much like the moon, I also like to stand in front of my hotter friends and dramatically become the center of attention.

 * ... SUMMER TREAT: Here in the waning days of summer, the best dessert around is mango mocha ice cream from Jin Sushi downtown, topped with whipped cream, chocolate and cherries.

 * ... REALLY BAD FORM: Ginny Espinoza is a volunteer at the Rags to Rescue store on H Street that supports the HALT (Helping Animals Live Tomorrow) dog rescue operation. This past week, someone stole an old red wooden telephone booth in front of their store. "The telephone booth was going to open in October as a Little Neighborhood Library, with books to help kids learn about their pets and how to better care for them. We had plans for Pumpkin Carving for children, Kids’ Painting Sessions, and Dogs Best Costume Contests at Halloween around the library in front of our shop.
To say that we are heart-broken is putting it mildly! Hoping you can help us spread the word for return of the booth!"

 * ... MORE BAD FORM: My neighbor Bernadette Root was in Denver recently dining at the newly remodeled Union Station when she noticed a diner changing her baby's diaper at her table. "Then she left it there on top of the table," she said. Looks like bad form knows no geographic boundaries.

  * ... FRANKLIN: Kathy Kozlowski is a second grade teacher at Franklin Elementary and sent me this note to set the record straight. "On Friday morning, you had a blurb in your blog about parents at Franklin not being allowed to walk their kids to the front gate on Truxtun as being a 'sign of the times.' This is really misleading. I don't know who emailed you, but most of the parents affected are not walking their kids to school; most of them are driving them.  I have been teaching at Franklin for 28 years. When I started there in 1989, no one was allowed to drop or pick up their kids off on Truxtun Avenue because the traffic made it too dangerous. It remained that way for years. However, recently, more and more parents decided to break the rule and drop off their kids on Truxtun because it was more convenient. The traffic on Truxtun is really fast in front of the school, even though it's supposed to be 25 mph. Most cars are going much faster than that. Some parents were even double parking on Truxtun to pick up or drop off their kids. To avoid potential accidents, this year, we decided to start the new year off with going back to enforcing the rule that had been in place for years. Eighteenth Street has a crossing guard, and the traffic is not as bad as Truxtun Avenue."

Clinica Sierra Vista lends a hand to the neediest among us, the last house on 24th Street goes down and how long before someone calls for the removal of the state of Father Garces?

 * ... HELPING HAND: Hats off to Clinica Sierra Vista and a number of other organizations that teamed up to lend a hand to some of the neediest among us. The organization, which provides basic

medical services to the poor and needy, opened its doors at its Old Town Kern facility to provide free haircuts, breakfast burritos, HIV testing and screening for glucose and high blood pressure.
It was all part of National Health Center Week, an annual celebration of community health centers like Clinica Sierra Vista. Said Clinica CEO Steve Schilling: “The marginalized of our community are why Clinica was created. We can’t forget our roots.”

 * ... FRANKLIN: A sign of the times about traffic and growth: parents of students going to Franklin Elementary downtown have been told that walking their kids to school on busy Truxtun Avenue is too dangerous because of the speeding cars. Instead, they now must enter the school from the rear entrance on 18th Street.

 * ... FATHER GARCES: How long do you think it will take before someone calls for the removal of the statue of Father Francisco Tomas Garces at the Garces traffic circle? Is he a symbol of the white European repression of native Indian tribes, or an inspiration as one of the first Europeans to discover California? Take your pick.

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "I thought I felt a cold breeze but it was just my mother's sighs of disappointment."

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "If anyone asks, I'm drinking all this wine to collect corks for a Pinterest project."

 * ... 24TH STREET: The last house standing in the way of the 24th Street widening is being demolished this week, clearing the way for the next phase in what will be a long process to improve the road. Next up: installation of sound walls on the north side of 24th.

 * ... OVERHEARD: A downtown resident is telling friends about a homeless woman who showed up at his door one evening past 9 p.m. "She was holding two Ramen noodle cups and asked me for hot water. I turned on the hot water and looked back and she was inside my house. When she saw I had ordered a pizza, she said 'Can I have some?'"

 * ... PEOPLE IN THE NEWS: Providence Strategic  Consulting Inc. has announced that two local business women have become affiliated with the firm. They are Kristin Hagan, a local attorney, and Kim Schaefer, a political and public affairs advisor who most recently was the public face behind the successful effort to rescind the PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) program.

 * ... WEEKEND MOVIE: Playing locally here at the Maya Cinemas is a movie called Wind River starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olson. It is one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year and is touted as a moving, dark drama set on an Indian Reservation. Olson plays an FBI agent sent to Wyoming to investigate a murder. Worth considering for your weekend enjoyment.

The coming spectacular solar eclipse, discovering a killer superfood salad and celebrating the perfect down-home simplicity of the 24th Street Cafe

 * ... SOLAR ECLIPSE: Where will you be for the solar eclipse on Monday? This rare event will happen at 10:15 a.m. Pacific time and will end at 2:50 p.m. Easter time. We won't get a total blackout in this part of California, but it will be spectacular nonetheless. (If you want to get the full 100

percent blackout, fly to Salem, Oregon on the west coast or Charleston, S.C. on the east.) Folks are already stocking up on "eclipse glasses" or building their own pinhole projectors. Binoculars can be used but only if you have slide-on filters to protect your eyes.

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "Amazing things will happen today if you choose not to be a miserable cow."

* ... STEAK: The most popular local image on Facebook last week was a 33-ounce tomahawk ribeye steak being served at Luigi's Delicatessen. Enough to feed four or more people, the tomahawk is a stunning  culinary masterpiece that that costs the princely sum of $75. When Luigi's served it Friday, Facebook exploded with posts showing folks consuming this meat lover's special. KC Steakhouse also serves the tomahawk and given its popularity, expect to see it served elsewhere.

 * ... GOOD EATS: And speaking of our iconic local eateries, I dropped into the 24th Street Cafe on Saturday for a post exercise caloric experience. There are few more entertaining places in town to eat than at the cafe's friendly counter enjoying a deep menu and crisp service while watching the world go by.

 * ... MORE EATS: As long as I am talking about food, I would be remiss if I didn't mention  an impressive "superfood" salad available at BJ's Restaurant off Stockdale Highway in the Southwest. Perhaps one of the best and healthiest salads I have had in a long time, it features baby kale, Romaine lettuce, Peruvian quinoa, sliced apples, fresh blueberries, diced cucumbers and tomatoes, jicama, sweet corn and asparagus.

* ... GOOD FORM: Congratulations to Dr. Tom Gordon and Bakersfield West Rotary for sponsoring 30 needy children for a 'back to school' shopping spree. Vija Turjanis of Kern Behavioral Health and Recovery Services said Rotary West has been doing this since 2005. The kids were given $100 each to shop at Kohl's.

 * ... GRAPEVINE: John Kelley added this note to my recent piece about how the Grapevine was named:  "Richard to add to your blog on the community of Grapevine, as you printed Grapevine Canyon was named by Don Pedro Fages, ( La Canada de Las Uvas ) which translates to 'The Canyon of the Grapes.' The grapes are Cimarron Grapes, they grew so profusely the soldiers under Fages had to hack their way through them. Don Pedro Fages was chasing army deserters. Also Don Pedro named Buena Lake, and the area he viewed was a labyrinth of lakes and tulares. Many people believe that Father Francisco Garces was the first white man to enter the San Joaquin Valley; not so Don Pedro Fages was there four years ahead of Garces."

                         

Remembering the famous studio musicians called "The Wrecking Crew" and a young bass guitarist named Carol Kaye, Happy Jack's gives back to the Ronald McDonald House and Taft College gets a big donation from a supporter

 * ... WRECKING CREW: Before he rose to fame, the late Glenn Campbell was an accomplished studio musician and a member of a famous group of musicians in Los Angeles called "The Wrecking Crew." Active in the 1960s and 1970s, the Wrecking Crew became the most requested session

musicians of their time, playing with artists such as Frank Sinatra, Sonny and Cher, the Beach Boys, the Monkees and even the Byrds. In addition to Campbell, other members included keyboardist Leon Russell, guitarist Tommy Tedesco and saxophonist Steve Douglas. And, not to be forgotten, the crew also included a talented young bass guitarist named Carol Kaye, who at 84 now lives in Rosamond.
Kaye was the bassist on Phil Spector and Brian Wilson productions and recorded guitar on Ritchie Valens' huge hit "La Bamba." The story of the Wrecking Crew was made into a documentary now available on Netflix.

 * ... HAPPY JACK'S: My friend Gene Bonas, a proud Navy veteran, reminded me of an important event this weekend that is worthy of note. Said Bonas: "Stopped in at my favorite diner to have a delicious hamburger and spoke with the owners of Happy Jack's, Frances and Ruben Rosales. They said they're sponsoring another fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House this coming Sunday, August 13, from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. All money collected will go to Ronald McDonald House, and workers are donating their time, wages and tips. Last year Happy Jack's presented Ronald McDonald House $8,000. The goal this year is $10,000. So, for a delicious breakfast or lunch please support this worthwhile fundraiser."

 * ... RIP HARRY: Taft College lost a friend and community role model last year with the death of Harry Wilson, who graduated from the school in 1942. Wilson, who died last September at the age of 96, served in both World War II and the Korean war and later worked at ARCO for 30 years before retiring. The college has now announced that Wilson left the college $1.6 million, which will help fund  student support services along with starting the Opal Smith and Harry Wilson Endowment for Taft College.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Sometimes I'm good at eating healthy, but other times I have to change into bigger clothes in the middle of a meal."

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "Unfortunately, I don't have the type of rage that makes you want to clean house."

 * ... NUESTRO MEXICO: Congratulations to the folks who own Nuestro Mexico, the intimate eatery on 21st Street that consistently serves up quality food at affordable prices. (They also happen to offer an awesome margarita). According to the Californian's Dorothy Mills-Gregg, the restaurant is looking to open a lounge at the corner of Calloway Drive and Hageman Road to serve the fast growing Northwest area.

 * ... MEMORIES: Did you know that the Grapevine is actually a community located at the foot of what we now know as the 'Grapevine grade" headed to Los Angeles? According to the Facebook page Kern County of old, "The village and grade are named, not for the once-winding road known as the Grapevine that used to climb the steep mountain canyon, but for the canyon it passed through with its wild grapes that still grow along the original road. Its Spanish name was La Cañada de las Uvas, i.e. Grapevine ravine." Wikipedia added: "The top of the Grapevine is registered as California Historical Landmark #283, where Don Pedro Fages passed through in 1772 during his explorations through California."

One woman's story of struggle, loss, drugs, homelessness, jail and redemption and Clinics Sierra Vista joins the campaign to keep the Kern River safe

 * ... REDEMPTION: Do you believe in second chances, fate and redemption? Do you believe there is hope for someone who went to jail 10 times for everything from drug use to grand theft and spent

years living on the street? Those are long odds for sure, but 35-year-old Tara Hunt is an example of why we should never give up. Hunt has lived a life not for the faint of heart: her mother was murdered, her father died of AIDS and she fell into a life of crime, drugs, deceit and denial. But she refused to quit and today, drug free, sober and determined, is working for county Supervisor Leticia Perez as she climbs the ladder of redemption. I will be chatting with Hunt today (Wednesday) on KERN NewsTalk 96.1 FM as she shares her story of failure, despair and later - success.

 * ... KERN RIVER: Hats off to Clinica Sierra Vista which has stepped forward to take an aggressive approach to warning people about the dangers of swimming in the Kern River. Clinica, a non-profit that serves 150,000 people in Kern, Fresno and Inyo counties, has launched a multimedia campaign to keep people out of the river, whose raging waters have claimed at least a dozen lives this summer alone. The health-care organization has embarked on a blitz of radio PSAs, print ads, social media posts and perhaps the most high-profile outreach of all: five billboards – three in English, two in Spanish – that remind valley residents that there’s only one sane way to approach the Kern River: by appreciating its beauty from the riverbank. The campaign isn’t cheap; Clinica is spending $23,000 to get the word out. But the only cost Clinica CEO Steve Schilling is worried about is the human one. “Keeping our patients and our fellow neighbors healthy and safe is a public health obligation we take very seriously. This is just another way we can help make that happen."

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Sorry I used a 3D printer to make an exact replica of your mom and we're dating now."

 * ... THE MARK: The popular downtown restaurant The Mark, known for its live music and Tuesday night jazz sessions, has parted ways with manager Jeramy Brown. Meanwhile Meir Brown, owner of Cafe Med, has been brought in as interim general manager to build a new management team.

 * ... OVERHEARD: A local hair stylist is telling a customer about why she left her old salon: "I found out the owner put up cameras inside the building, with audio, so she could listen in on all of our private conversations."

 * ... TRASH: A big "thank you" to the woman who was spotted picking up trash on the Panorama Bluffs at 6:30 a.m. this week.

 * ... GREEN ENERGY: Chris Padham contributed this to our morning: "An interesting read yesterday about energy costs during the summer months. Just paid my PGE bill. I used .06 kilo watt more than last years period. It cost an additional  $35 for this year. I now understand why it's called green energy. The whole point is to take as much green from your wallet as they can."

 * ... MEMORIES: The old American Jewelry Co. used to be located at the corner of 20th and Eye streets downtown, and outside was an elegant street clock. According to the Facebook page Kern County of Old (an endless source of fascinating historical footnotes) that clock is now in Illinois. One reader noted: "The American Jewelry Co., Bakersfield  purchased a Joseph Mayer street clock in 1922. It remained in Bakersfield until Jasper San Filippo purchased it. It is now restored as part of the San Filippo collection in East Barrington, IL at 'Place de la Musique.'"

The ugly mixture of politics and social media spill over to Facebook, Sheriff Donny Youngblood weighs in on marijuana and lamenting the growing hopelessness in our society

 * ... MCCARTHY: If there are two things that don't mix, they are politics and social media. That ugly recipe was on rare display this week when a Kern County teacher, Shannon M. Barnes, posted a picture of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy having lunch in Santa Monica and implying he was "toasted" drunk. That triggered a flurry of reactions, with Kevin's wife Judy Wages McCarthy

weighing in to defend her husband. "Whether done by a child or an adult, bullying is wrong," she wrote, adding her husband doesn't even drink.  "I didn't post a lie about someone being drunk in public. Instead this person posted a lie about my husband being drunk in public. Why? Divisive politics. Stop. Please. Take responsibility." Barnes later took down the original post (only after the Democratic Women of Kern asked its members to come to her aid because of "a lot of hate from little Kevin's fan base," but the responses didn't stop there. Even Connor McCarthy, Kevin and Judy's son, weighed in, posting a long and thoughtful response and saying the picture was taken while his father was celebrating his daughter's 21st birthday party. He added: "In all honesty I found the first post pretty hilarious. I've only seen him drink alcohol three times in my entire life.

* ... MARIJUANA: Nobody is watching the county debate over marijuana closer than Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood, who has not hid his distaste for the idea of legalizing the drug. "I will follow the law," he told me on KERN NewsTalk this week. Youngblood's fear: even if the state and county impose regulations on pot shops, an underground market with even more powerful cannabis may flourish. Meanwhile, Youngblood said the mountains of Kern County remain hotspots for illegal marijuana farms cultivated illegally on private property.

 * ... ROAD CONSTRUCTION: Here's some good news for local drivers: the city has completed its renovation and repaving of California Avenue between H and Oak streets. The project, a major headache for folks who live in Oleander, was thankfully completed before students returned to Bakersfield High School.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: Coffee does a good job of waking you up but accidentally dropping your phone on your face does an even better job."

 * ... OVERHEARD: At Cafe Med recently a young married woman is confiding in her girlfriend: "We get along great. I just tell him what he wants to hear and most of the times he isn't listening anyway."

 * ... SPOTTED: A local teacher expressed this lament on social media: "I prefer the homeless downtown to any jerk in a lifted truck. They are friendly, more interesting, and don't look at you like you're a freak.:"

 * ... CHRIS ARNADE: Chris Arnade is a former Wall Street banker who spent the past two years traveling the country and spending time with the least fortunate among us. His last stop on his cross country sojourn: east Bakersfield. Some of his observations include these: "If you are at the bottom of a system that those at the top claim is fair/just... well their claim is pretty much intended to be humiliating.... The word I keep coming back to, what I see in so many 'back-row' communities, is humiliation. And as a result, a desire for respect... If that small chance is missed it means a lifetime of feeling looked down on. Because America is a meritocracy, so it was clearly your fault... For many getting out requires threading narrow needle of opportunities starting from an early age. You must do everything right. No mistakes."

 * ... OUR COUNTRY: And Jim Milledge added this about the economic disparity in our country: "I am not homeless, but I can give you an example or two of why we are in financial trouble. The haves are growing by leaps and bounds. Example: I am retired from ATT. I have not received an increase in my pension for almost 20 years. At the same time, the CEO for ATT has a total compensation package that exceeds 25 million a year. The haves have forgotten the have nots. Second, we need to give people a hand up, not a hand out. Many of the poor are generation poor. They need to help themselves or we will have to carry them for eternity."

A decade of wage stagnation and the Great Recession are leaving a long tail of homelessness and despair, celebrating the mighty sycamore tree and the benefits of owning a dog

 * ... OUR COUNTRY: What is coming of our country? Are you troubled like me when you witness the explosion of homelessness across our nation, the opioid crisis, the deterioration of our great cities and legions of Americans simply giving up and checking out of the

system? We have seen a decade of wage stagnation, the death of many programs aimed at the poor, the great recession and now we are paying the price. And check this out: according to Supervisor Leticia Perez, 25 percent of all the homeless in the United States live in California. We see it on our streets, in the tent camps along the freeways, along our river and in the alleys of our neighborhoods.

 * ... SYCAMORE: My favorite tree is the mighty sycamore that graces so many yards in the downtown and northeast areas of town. I have a tall one in my back yard, and it provides shade and a lovely backdrop to my small space where I entertain. But did you know that sometimes the

sycamores give off a distinctive odor? Answering a reader question about the scent, the New York Times reported: "The sycamore is also called the buttonwood tree or American planeteree. Perhaps you're thinking of an unrelated old world tree, Ficus sycomordus, or sycamore fig, which is far better known to perfume makers. Chanel once used an extract of its leaves in its famous fragrance. In both trees, and in many other odoriferous species, the chemical source of the scent may be the same. Their leaves, bark and sometimes wood are rich in organic chemicals called terpenes and terpenoids, volatile oils that are a major component of the essential oils used in perfumes."

 * ... DOGS: Meanwhile, the Times also reported this about one of the many benefits of owning a dog: "Older dog owners who walked their dogs at least once a day got 20 percent more physical activity than people without dogs ... and spent 30 fewer minutes a day being sedentary, on average."

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I prefer not to think before I speak. I like being just as surprised as everyone else by what comes out of my mouth."

* ... KERN RIVER: Here's a note from reader John Bertolucci, who like many of us is clearly frustrated with folks from out of town ignoring warnings about the dangers of swimming in the Kern River. In his words, dripping with a healthy dose of sarcasm: "How about a word from the realists and contrarians: Those that are going to get in the river had better do it, and decrease the surplus population of California. We are all dying as we walk through life, why not die nobly in the mighty Kern just outside the hicksville town Bakersfield. Donald Trump should build a wall around the river to keep those people IN it!"

 * ... MEMORIES: Ronal Reynier added this to the conversation about Bakersfield police officer Sgt. Chitwood. "In my school days when we still used clay tablets: Tom Kelly, of the Bakersfield Police Department, came to school classrooms to give talks. This was many years before Sgt. Chitwood. Tom Kelly was a favorite with students who went home and told their parents what a great guy he was. I seem to remember he came to the school on a motorcycle. He parlayed these stories and a great smile in running and becoming sheriff from 1951 to 1955. I am sure there are those out there who have better memories than I. I may even have my facts turned around."

 * ... MORE MEMORIES: And lastly, Lynn LeBeau had this to say: "I have often thought about Sgt. Chitwood when driving around town. He was my behind-the-wheel driver's ed teacher during East High's summer school program in 1968. He was authoritative but patient - and added a twinkle of humor to ease a nervous teen's jitters. His lessons have kept me (and others) safe these many years!"