McCarthy: Small business is the engine of growth, and we need to free it from regulations

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, gives us his view from Capitol Hill.

 "Christmas is just two days away and the New Year is right around the corner. I know many of us are gathering with our families and loved ones to celebrate the holiday season, to reflect on the past year and
to look forward to the hope of a new one. This Wednesday, I had the honor to meet with Elmer Wielenga and his family to present him with a long overdue award that he deserves: a Purple Heart for his valor
during the Korean War. We are truly grateful to have heroes like him in our community.

 Members of our community don’t have to be reminded that 2011 has had its challenges, but we have fought throughout this year to fundamentally change the culture of Washington and make it more responsive and transparent to the American public. We have taken action to cut spending and reduce our debt and to repeal onerous regulations so small businesses can create jobs for people looking to get back to work.

 "Right now, there are more than 25 House-passed bills that would have a significant impact on job creation and economic growth that are stalled in the Senate. These bills, among other things, would boost America’s energy security and foster job creation, put EPA regulations in check to ensure industries would not be crippled by overzealous rules, and open new doors for small business owners and entrepreneurs to access the funding they need to expand, innovate and hire. It is also important to note that every single one of these bills passed the House with bipartisan support. Getting them passed was the first step and compelling Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring them to the Senate floor will continue to be a top priority in the new year.

 "I have often said that it is the private sector – the innovators, the risk-takers and the small business owners – that will bring our country and economy back stronger than ever. That remains the case. We all saw that the government spending nearly $1 trillion on a stimulus did not result in the employment changes that were promised. That’s because the government doesn’t create jobs, the private sector does.
That is why empowering the private sector to start investing and hiring by increasing certainty that new taxes and unnecessary regulations won’t be waiting around every corner is more important than ever. My colleagues and I have taken real action to try and do just that, and in 2012, I will continue to fight to get our nation on the road to prosperity.
 "I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Bakersfield Observed sends out a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all

 * ... MERRY CHRISTMAS: In this special time of the year, make sure you reach out to all those folks who are struggling with emotional, family or physical issues. There is no better present than the gift of friendship and a soft place to land.

 * ... KIND WORDS: My thanks to Superior Court Judge David Lampe, who dropped me an encouraging note the other day. "The First Amendment is the most profound embodiment of rights we enjoy as citizens. News organizations are absolutely essential to a good society. They are the little angel on our shoulder. I remember the first day on the job as a judge I thought about jaywalking across L Street to the Metro Courthouse. I stopped and went to the light. It will help all of us in our public lives if we stop and think for one minute-- how would this look printed in The Bakersfield Californian?"

* ... BAKERSFIELD OPTICAL: Hats off to Jack and Sharon McGee, owners of Bakersfield Optical who are celebrating 30 years in business. Locally owned family businesses are the backbone of our local economy, and Bakersfield Optical specializes in intimate customer service and value. The store is located at the corner of Oak and 19th streets. And speaking of Jack, he still has the picture, circa 1956, of him sitting on Santa's lap along with twin brother John at Brock's Department store.

 * ... HICKORY FARMS: It's never too late to say 'thank you,' as Vicki Utt reminded me. "At Christmastime in 1969 my husband was a combat infantryman serving in Vietnam and I was waiting at home with our newborn son (Dennis shipped out when our first-born was 2 1/2 weeks old), and Hickory Farms was in Valley Plaza. There was scant public support for our troops at that time, but lots of war protestors. I'll always have a soft place in my heart for Hickory Farms as they had a promotion that the first 100 people who provided an APO address for a soldier in a combat zone would get a free Hickory Farms gift pack shipped directly to the loved one free of charge. I was No. 5 in line early that morning. These days the troops are receiving the respect they so greatly deserve, and the Vietnam veterans are beginning to get their just due as well - but Hickory Farms was the ONLY merchant who reached out in 1969."

 * ... THE DOORS: Charlie Wilmot wrote to correct an earlier post on when the rock band The Doors visited Bakersfield. "Just reading your blog in the Californian this morning, as I religiously do, and the reference to The Doors in 1968 is incorrect.  The correct date was August 21, 1970.  I was back from Vietnam and enrolled at Bakersfield College at the time.  It was a GREAT show. Also of note, you know you are from Bakersfield if you saw The Rolling Stones at the Civic Auditorium July 24, 1966. They performed two shows, a matinee and evening. Totally awesome!"

* ... SEQUOIA: If you're one of the thousands of college students home for the holidays, chances are you are broke, hungry or both. If that's the case, head over to your closest Sequoia Sandwich shop for a free fountain drink and cookie, courtesy of the owners. With so many kids home, the manager of the southwest store on Ming Avenue, Valerie Damron, had the idea to treat the students to a drink and cookie if they wear their college sweatshirts and shirts. Hats off to Sequoia for the nice gesture. The offer is good for Friday, December 23, only.

 * ... DID YOU KNOW? Did you know that the original Cal State Bakersfield offices were located in a state-owned building on Kentucky Street?

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Former county Fire Chief Nick Dunn holds a retirement party at $55 a head and more blowback on the 'smoke police'

 * ... NICK DUNN: Kern County Fire Chief Nick Dunn, who abruptly resigned following a criminal investigation that turned up no wrongdoing, is having a retirement party at Seven Oaks Country Club. Nothing wrong with that, except it will cost you $55 a head to join in the celebration. And this from a retiree who could earn a public pension as much about $175,000 a year for the rest of his life. The invitation promises a lot of "eating, laughing, reminiscing and dancing" and no host cocktails. I wonder if also includes parking? By the way, if you can't make it, the invitation allows you the option to write a check to "contribute to the gift for Chief Dunn."

 * ... OVERHEARD: This comes from Chuck Wall, founder of the "random act of kindness" movement. "My wife was standing in line at the mailing center at the Country Club Liquor Store.  A lady came up behind her carrying a beautifully wrapped gift with a large red bow on top. My wife asked her how she was going to mail her beautiful gift without wrapping. She replied, I'm not mailing this package, I'm just carrying it with me because if I left it in my car it would be stolen!"

 * ... SMOKE POLICE: reader J.R. Lewis shared my dismay over the "smoke police," those employees of the Valley Air Pollution Control District who drive around neighborhoods trying to find those who dare have a fire on a no burn day. "I share your dismay over the smoke police, but also have to shake my head at the thought of individuals driving around handing tickets out the front while spewing exhaust out the back. Or did the state also pony the money for electric cars? Do they actually curb enough fireplace pollution to mitigate their own carbon footprint?"

 * ... RIP: Mary Anne M. Beesley wrote to note the passing of Jeri Schwocho, a perennial club champion at Stockdale Country Club. "She loved golf. She didn't care to what handicap you played, she just wanted a game. She will be missed by her many friends and by the golfing community. She leaves her husband Kenneth, her son Eric and her two daughters Lisa and Jill, as well as grandchildren Whitney, Maria and Jarrod and too many friends to count."

 * ... FAN CLUB: An anonymous reader wrote to criticize this column as "a waste of ink and newsprint. The tidbits regarding 'you know you're from Bakersfield' border on the ridiculous. An example is: you know you are from Bakersfield if you saw The Doors in 1968. Huh?" Note to anonymous: The Doors were a rock 'n roll band featuring the late Jim Morrison. You missed a good show.

 * ... MEMORY: Kathy Scott wanted to share some of the businesses that her husband’s grandfather, Ralph (Raphael) Parenti, owned after he moved her from Italy when he was just 13. "In the late teens or early 1920s he owned the Country Fair Market located on the corner of K and19th streets (where the old Sears and Roebuck’s was later on). Then in the early 1920s he owned the Parenti Atlantic Richfield gas station on Wible and Stockdale. In the 1930s he owned the Parenti Bar on Wible and Stockdale that later became Tommie and Joe’s when he sold it to them. From 1952 until 1962 he owned the property (a poultry shop) on Wible Road. In 1962 the new freeway (99) purchased the vast land that Ralph owned and along with the business on that property they got three homes on the Wible Road plus three other properties on Parenti Lane which now is an off  ramp!"

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A daughter of Bakersfield pens a valentine to our sometimes quirky hometown

* ... HOME SWEET HOME: A beautiful tribute to Bakersfield showed up on the online forum Zocalo Public Square, written by Bakersfield High graduate Paige Hill, who now lives and works in Washington, D.C. A graduate of the University of North Carolina and the daughter of Bart and Napier Hill, Paige penned a moving valentine to our sometimes quirky and always endearing community. In her words: "The fog is something I can try to describe in a series of corny colloquialisms, but I ultimately fail to capture it. Bakersfield is like that, too. It's a city where in the same breath its residents will knowingly laugh and admit it is no cultural rival of San Francisco - and then fiercely defend it for what it is. It is ours."

 * ... SMOKE POLICE: Call me cranky, but was anyone else appalled at the story in Sunday's Californian about people from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District driving around town looking for people using their fireplaces on no burn days? Say what? California is broke, the educational system is in crisis, Sacramento is a dysfunctional mess and yet somehow we can still afford to have people on the public payroll driving around town  looking for people enjoying a warming fire. Sheesh.


* ... CAL STATE: The California state university system just seems to suffer blow after the blow, the latest coming last week when Gov. Jerry Brown announced it would absorb another $100 million in cuts. And that's on top of the $650 million in cuts the system lost earlier. CSUB President Horace Mitchell will join me Monday at 9 a.m. on KERN 1180 to talk about the effect on our local campus, and what we can expect in the future.  Tune it to learn how all this mess will affect our Cal State Bakersfield.

  * ... PADRE: Robert Bunker has returned to Bakersfield to become one of the general managers of the Padre Hotel downtown. Bunker worked at Seven Oaks Country Club as assistant clubhouse manager, left a few years ago and was recruited to return to our community to help run the Padre. He joins Jon Stephens who is the hotel's general manager for food and beverage service.

 * ... HICKORY FARMS: Bev Hayden wrote that she also remembers the Hickory Farms Store in the Valley Plaza.  "In the 1970s my husband Rod and his friend and partner George Thornburgh were constructing pre-fab housing on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru. The native food wasn't exactly what they were used to so we would buy beef stick and crackers from Hickory Farms and ship it to them in cargo containers along with adult beverages. These packages were gratefully received."

 * ... FIELD OF DREAMS: Here's a fund raiser that is worthy of your attention: it's the League of Dreams gala that will raise money to to build playing fields for physically and emotionally challenged children. It's all part of physical therapist Tim Terrio's Field of Dreams project to give these youngsters the same opportunities as others. The event is set for Friday, January 20, at Monsignor Leddy Hall at Garces Memorial High School. Tickets are $125 per person or $200 a couple. Contact Nathan Gutierrez at (661) 377-1700.

McCarthy: California high-speed rail is a $100 billion bad bet

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a Bakersfield Republican and House Majority Whip, gives us his weekly view from Capitol Hill. In his words:

 "California’s high-speed rail project was in the spotlight in both Washington D.C. and Bakersfield this week. On Thursday, I testified at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in opposition to the HSR project as currently planned. This followed Wednesday’s action by the Bakersfield City Council, which voted to oppose the HSR project as well.

 "Like many members of our community, I have had long-standing concerns about this project and am glad that from the local level to the federal level, we’re taking a stand to demand more answers. From the costly impacts the rail line would have on our community to the enormous price tag and questionable ridership estimates, I simply do not have confidence that this project is even viable. And clearly the private sector doesn’t either.

 "To date, not a single dollar of private money has been committed. And while the California High-Speed Rail Authority has admitted private dollars won’t be forthcoming anytime soon, it does assume about $11 billion in private funding once they start building. This “if we build it, they will come” scenario is nice in theory, but it is not something I want to gamble $100 billion on. And that’s why I introduced legislation (H.R. 3143) to freeze all unspent federal dollars on this project.

 "Contrast California’s HSR project with this week’s announcement of Stratolaunch Systems, a new space travel venture spearheaded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and aerospace designer Burt Rutan. This is fully financed by private investors willing to take a risk on an idea they believe will be profitable. And that risk will mean new jobs and revenues for our local economies, as the first plane for this new venture will be constructed at the Mojave Air and Space Port. Speaking of Mojave, December 14 marked the 25th Anniversary of the historic Voyager Aircraft flight; the first aircraft in history to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. On Saturday, there will be a celebration at the Mojave Air & Space Port and I encourage folks to turn out to reflect on how our communities have made history and visit with some of the people behind it, including the Rutan brothers.

 "Earlier this week, the House passed legislation with bipartisan support to extend middle class tax relief, reform our unemployment insurance system to make it more accountable and compel the President to make a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, which can create tens of thousands of jobs now if it were not blocked by federal bureaucrats. The legislation also included a provision that ensures our seniors continue to have access to doctors by preventing a massive payment cut to physicians who treat Medicare beneficiaries. And we did it all without raising taxes or adding to our debt.
 "I remain optimistic that we can bring our nation back stronger than ever, and I will continue to fight for policies that empower the families and small business owners in our communities.

The Christmas spirit alive and well in Bakersfield, but what happened by my old black Crocs?

 * ... CHRISTMAS SPIRIT: If you are not in the Christmas spirit, you will be after reading this note from reader Janet Fishburn.  "I just learned that people in California and Michigan have started going into K-Mart stores to act as 'Layaway Angels'.....which means someone would pay off a stranger's layaway bill so that the children in that family would be sure to have the Christmas gifts their family intended for them. We went to the Wilson Road K-Mart yesterday and were able to pay off a bill for a single mother with three children. (the gifts were still in the shopping cart so we could see them, but were ready to go back onto the shelves, because she had missed some payments).  The store manager, Patrick, was most helpful in getting this set up, and it only took us 10 minutes in the store to take care of this and write her a quick Merry Christmas note. And then Patrick called her to inform her that a 'Layaway Angel' had taken care of her bill. Hopefully, she was very happy about this.....it certainly made us feel good!

 * ... THEFT: It's easy to get jaded about petty theft, but sometimes (like when a pair of old black Crocs was snatched off my porch) it just makes you shake your head and wonder. For Olivia Garcia, editor of BakersfieldLife magazine, her surprise came when her double jogging stroller disappeared from her front porch in a desirable northeast neighborhood. "It's a sad state when you have to worry about leaving a stroller out by your front door and risk it being stolen," she said. "Really. Who steals a stroller?" Well, someone does and it may just show up at some yard sale next to my tattered old black Crocs. And now that we're on it, this is a good reminder to be vigilant about UPS or FedEx deliveries. The thieves are out there in force.

 * ... KAPPA SIGMA: An earlier blog post mentioning the Kappa Sigma fraternity drew this response from Joseph Gianquinto: "Brother Beene, fortuitous as it may seem, when I provided the information regarding the return of my sons to Bakersfield to make their lives, I did not mention their fraternal memberships, nor mine for that matter.  I became acquainted with the Five Friends and Brothers .... in 1960 at the then Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy, Beta Chi Chapter.  My older son took the walk at Northern Arizona University, and my younger at Colorado University.  We are all three proud Kappa Sigma brothers, and now we know you as a brother as well."

 * ... SPOTTED: A young mother with three very small children is spotted jaywalking amid afternoon rush hour traffic on Ming Avenue near Toys 'r Us.

 * ... DUSTIN'S DINER: If you are out seeing the Christmas lights of Bakersfield make sure you swing by Haggin Oaks to visit Dustin's Diner, the hot cocoa and cookie stand that has raised thousands of dollars for the homeless over the past decade. The original Dustin - Dustin Kilpatrick - is now long gone, having graduated from USC in engineering, but his cocoa stand remains staffed by energetic neighborhood kids. It will be open until Friday, December 23.


* ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You might be a Bakersfield old timer if you remember the "Chubby Steak at Tiny's on the Northeast corner of 18th and Chester, the 25-cent burgers at Burger Haven at 34th and Union, and Axelrod the Basset hound mascot of the old Flying A gas station on the same corner!" Thanks to Craig Holland for submitting this memory.

The oil patch is booming and a group of 30-somethings create a shadow group to promote good government

 * ... ENERGY: There is a lot of good news on the local energy front. Oil and gas production is booming, good jobs are being created and now I read that U.S. petroleum imports are down to just 46 percent of total consumption, compared to 60 percent just a few years ago. That's according to the Wall Street Journal which says U.S. crude oil production has risen by 18 percent since 2008. "The reason is the appearance of a new source," the paper said, "'tight oil' which is extracted from dense rocks. In 2000 it was only about 200,000 barrels per day, 3 percent of total output. Today is is about a million barrels per day." All good news for our local companies and suppliers.

 * ... GOOD GOVERNMENT: Keep your eye on a new organization in town that is supporting responsible and sustainable government. It was created by three 30-something local businessmen - John Paul Lake, Patrick Wade and Chad Hathaway - and it promises to be an important new group to hold our local politicians accountable. It's called "Kern Citizens for Sustainable Government" and no doubt you will be hearing more from these guys in the days and weeks to come. They've got the smarts, the money and the connections to make things happen. Lake works at his family's business Rain for Rent, Wade owns Precision Pharmacy and is a member of the city Planning Commission and Hathaway is in the oil business.


 * ... OVERHEARD: A young woman at a Starbucks orders two iced green teas, one with three packets of sugar and the other with 20. That's right, 20 packets of sugar.


* ... ONCE A DRILLER: Jean Park wrote to congratulate Bakersfield High School on its undefeated season and Valley Championship. "My husband, Carl Park, played on the 1951 Valley Championship team. That game was 60 years ago almost to the day. Game was in Fresno, not sure if same school, but same town. It was a good game for Carl and good day for me. First time we met and still going strong 56 years later!" (Driller photo by Henry Barrios)

 * ... LIGHTS ON: I stopped by a neighborhood gathering in La Cresta recently to watch the lighting of a huge Christmas tree outside and join in the revelry. For the past 20 years, folks in La Cresta gather along a stretch of Hermosa Drive to light the tree and enjoy the Christmas spirit. Cindy Anspach and Kathy McDermott organized the event with That's Amore Pizza supplying dinner via a portable pizza oven mounted on a trailer. Neighbors brought appetizers and desserts and it was a remarkable way to usher in the season. Other neighbors involved included Jane and Bruce Haupt, Frankie Villani, Greg McDermott, and Reed Adamson.

 * ... SPOTTED: From reader Harry Love: "At the corner of Merle Haggard Drive and Highway 65 next to the Choco Taco stand at the Shell station. Two signs: 'Now Open Unit 7 PM,' with one underneath 'Obama Bin Lyin.' Apparently tacos are political or not liked by Democrats."

Californian digital edition marketing plan rolls out with new bus wraps

 The Bakersfield Californian rolled out a new marketing campaign to focus attention on its new digital edition of the newspaper, an exact replica of the print edition. Company artist Billy Simkins designed the bus wraps.