Local theater artist David Zent suffering from throat cancer, I take some heat on my defense of fossil fuels and a shoutout to a city employee from a local business owner

* ... DAVID ZENT: I was shocked to learn that David Zent, one of our community's great creative talents in local theater, was suffering from throat cancer. Zent shared his condition in a very public way, posting a lengthy update on Facebook that triggered hundreds of prayers and positive comments. Said Zent: "I have stage four throat cancer,

involving the tonsil and tongue area, a condition which began nearly two years ago. It reached this rather dire stage because, although I applied five times for Medi-Cal insurance, I was essentially stonewalled until September of this year.... Now my life is about to change in a most radical way... I want to thank all the people out there it has been my privilege to work in theatre and music with, to know socially, to have been close friends with, to have loved. In fact, I have loved you all in my own way. Even adversaries have given me many welcome life lessons, and made me a better person." Friends have stepped up to help Zent deal with his medical expenses. To participate, go to http://tinyurl.com/pjofafd.

* … ENERGY: There are a handful of issues that seem to get folks' blood boiling (climate change, abortion, immigration among others) and I expose myself to criticism each time I weigh in on one or the other. So it wasn't surprising to get an email from Margie Bell, a retired high school journalism teacher, who rose to defend the folks from San Francisco and Los Angeles who have pledged to show up at a Nov. 9 hearing to protest streamlining local energy regulations. "Your sneering attitude towards people who may come to Bakersfield to protest the oil production fast tracking proposal is unbecoming to you as a journalist and human being. It is apparent (to anyone who knows about valley air quality issues and unacceptable oil industry practices) that you don't understand all the issues. You pander far too often to the oil industry. I'll leave it at that." Thank you Margie, I appreciate that feedback and here is my take, not necessarily directed at you: I don't awake each morning lamenting the fact that fossil fuels have helped create the world's most prosperous society, and my dreams are not focused on demonizing those who work in the sector or profit from it. Proper oversight and regulation? You bet. Hold Big Oil accountable to protect the environment and safeguard our ground water supplies? Of course. But I accept fossil fuels as part of our future until that time - and it is a long way off - when alternative energy is affordable and scalable. Devoting your life to opposing every new pipeline or power plant simply because you don't like the idea of fossil fuels (and in the absence of clear alternatives) seems foolhardy and unproductive.

 * ... NAMES: Did you know that Noah and Emma are the most popular names for boys and girls born in 2014? It wasn't long ago that those names were out of style, but they are now among a long list of "old" names making a comeback. Other classic names making a comeback include Ruby, Rose, Oscar, Josephine, Joel, Hazel, Silas, Max, Stella, Evelyn and Levi.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Politicians and diapers have one thing in common. They should both be changed regularly, and for the same reason."

 * ... FOODIE: If you haven't tried Quig's BBQ and Catering, head over to the Garces Circle to enjoy some of the best ribs and pulled pork in town. At lunch, the aroma emanating from the brightly colored Quig's trailer makes the circle the best smelling block in town.

 * ... GOOD FORM: Linda Sheffield, owner of the Five and Dime Antique Mall on 19th Street, gave a shoutout to one of our city employees. "I am writing in praise of Bakersfield City Street Cleaning Supervisor, Damon Chow.  I called his office concerned about excessive litter around my business, Five and Dime Antique Mall, on the corner of 19th and K streets.  Within three days, Damon came to our store to personally check this out.He determined that at the time of our scheduled sweeping a nearby bar was open and using the K Street side for parking. This situation was preventing the street from being cleaned.  Also, some trees at the front of the building prevented the sweeper from getting close.  He not only got the city to come and trim the trees, but he changed the sweep schedule to come after the bar closed! This has resulted in regularly cleaned streets on both sides.  Problem completely solved in a matter of a few weeks! What a difference in the appearance of a busy downtown corner!"

Anti fossil fuel activists to descend on Bakersfield to "save" us from oil production, Conan O'Brien takes a swipe at Bako and celebrating bacon and popcorn pork

 * ... ENERGY: It was mildly amusing to read that busloads of anti-fossil fuel activists will be descending on Bakersfield soon in order to "save" us from oil production. And exactly who are these people who think we need to be "saved" anyway? And if they are using fossil fuels to get here via trains, planes and automobiles, what kind of mixed message does that send? As the Kern Citizens for Energy noted: "We strongly object to the organizations'

constant supposition that our strong community - including our Latino and other minority populations - is somehow a 'victim' of our century-old petroleum industry." And speaking of fossil fuels, I hope you didn't miss the special section in Sunday's Californian on the recent West Kern Petroleum Summit. The essay and speech by Alex Epstein in defense of fossil fuels is a must read for anyone who lives in the oil patch.

* ... BIKE PATH: John Strand of Lake Isabella wrote to comment on the idea of building a bike path up Round Mountain Road and naming it after the late ski shop owner Doug Bentz and Bakersfield College professor Norm Hoffman. "The bike path sparked my interest, not because I ride, but because Doug and I went through school together and were pretty good friends. I also knew his sister Mary Jo (now known as Marijo), his brother Tommy, and his parents Bill and Virginia. We all lived in Taft at the time. Here's my profound thought:  If this path comes to fruition, it will need a name, right? How about the" Bentz-Hoffman Parkway or the Bentz-Hoffman bike path? A fitting tribute to two stellar guys."

 * ... CONAN: Johnny Carson made a pretty good living making fun of Bakersfield, and now comes comedian Conan O'Brien following in his path. This weekend he tweeted this: "Massachusetts was named the most liberal state. Researchers almost picked California but they stopped for gas in Bakersfield."

 * ... PORK: Last week researchers told us that processed meats like bacon are bad for us. I chose to ignore that admonition and celebrated this weekend with an order of the tasty "popcorn pork" from Muertos downtown.

* ... BEST COLLEGE TOWN: No surprise here but San Luis Obispo made the Forbes list of the top ten college towns in America. The home of Cal Poly ranked seventh on the list. The top three: Chapel Hill (University of North Carolina), State College (Penn State) and Oxford (Miami University).

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I just don’t understand why Flo from Progressive needs to have an apron on to sell car insurance."

* ... FUND RAISER: Lynn Finch dropped me a note to remind us that the annual Light the Night Walk to benefit The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society will be held at Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday, Nov. 7 from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. This is a fun event that has been expanded to include a kid zone carnival area, information booths, refreshments, the walk with lighted lanterns, and a fireworks display following the walk. All proceeds go to help with research, patient services, help with medical co-pays and other expenses.

McCarthy: President's move to send small numbers of U.S. troops to Syria falls short of serious, comprehensive action

 House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy gives us his weekly view from Capitol Hill. In his words:

 "On Friday, President Obama announced that the United States would be sending U.S. Special Operations Forces into Syria to help fight ISIS. The President’s decision comes after years of neglect of our Syria policy and a failed Syrian training program. Putting small numbers of troops in Syria is yet another tactical move in the absence of a comprehensive strategy for Iraq, Syria, and the broader

Middle East that does nothing more than create the appearance of serious action. What the President has failed to address is a proper response to increased Russian-Iran cooperation in Syria, including Russia’s willingness to help Iran smuggle weapons to Iran’s proxies in the civil war. Instead, the President is rewarding Iran and Russia by accepting their place at the negotiating table. Ultimately, this follows the now-familiar pattern of President Obama tolerating our enemies and neglecting our allies.

 "This abdication of leadership extends beyond our foreign policy and to the failure to lift American families up to a more prosperous future. Just this week we learned the economy in the third quarter of this year expanded by a meager 1.5 percent. 

 "This puts us on track to have yet another year of slow, nearly imperceptible ‘recovery’—a recovery so slow that the American people can’t even feel it. Each and every day, with every new economic measure, it becomes more and more obvious just how much President Obama’s economic policies have failed to help the American people. Wages are down, costs are going up, labor force participation is low, and people are struggling just to get by. More of the same obviously won’t work. House Republicans have passed bills with new ideas to cut regulation, create jobs, and grow our economy. These bills trust the people to improve our nation, not the government. If the President started signing these bills instead of obstructing Congress, the American people would again start feeling the benefits of a growing economy.

  "From here at home to across the globe this Administration has made our future more uncertain. But in the House, on the heels of the election of Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House, we will continue to fight for the principles that have made the United States the greatest nation on earth.  


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What do you do when a neighbor neglects his dog, a local boy starts for the Baylor Bears and hats off to a couple of local restaurants

* ... BAD FORM: Here is an ethical question for you: what do you do when your neighbor's pit bull  keeps getting loose, runs the streets without a collar, and the owners seemingly could care less about its welfare? This happened to a friend who, three straight times, found the dog in the streets and

returned him to its owners. Once, she even offered to have the dog fixed, but the owners refused. "Is it illegal not return a dog to irresponsible owners?" she asked. "He is a pit bull mix and I'm worried these people are going to use him just to breed or God forbid make him into bait for dog fighting. Not sure what to do."

 * ... CAMPBELL: Cody Kessler isn't the only Bakersfield product making a splash in college football. Consider Grant Campbell, the starting linebacker for the No. 2 ranked Baylor Bears. A graduate of Garces Memorial High School, Campbell played two years at Bakersfield College before transferring to Baylor. Keep an eye on him as the Bears try to make the four-team playoff.

 * ... THE MARK: If you haven't driven by The Mark restaurant on 19th Street recently, it's worth doing. The parking lot next door has been converted into an outdoor dining area, called The Park at The Mark, and it is a dazzling display of white lights and striking signage. Here's to the owners who have gone a long way in sprucing up our downtown.

 * ... EWINGS: And speaking of restaurants, reader Lynn Simmons wrote to tell me that Ewings in Kernville has been remodeled and is worth a visit. "It's quite an event with a view that you will never forget... please inform everyone!"

* ... SCAMS: And the email and telephone scams just keep coming. Consider this one from Barbara Mullen who received a scam email from Bank of America. "I called the B of A and was transferred to the fraud department. After checking, they said there was nothing wrong with the account and was told not to open the attachment, that it was a scam probably to get my banking information. A few days later, I got a phone call which showed up as the U.S. government so I answered it. The man was foreign and said he was from Microsoft and wanted me to go to my computer and open it, which I did not, in fact hung up on him. This is the second call I've received from someone saying they were Microsoft and detected something wrong with my computer. I sincerely hope no one else bites on these calls."

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "The sinking of the Titanic must have been a miracle to the lobsters in the kitchen."

 * ... FUND RAISER: Looking to donate to a good cause while getting some exercise? Then consider showing up at Yokuts Park this Sunday with your bike for a Breast Cancer Awareness Ride sponsored by the Kern Wheelmen. The cost is just $5 (for $10 you get a pink water bottle) and you can ride as far west on the bike path as you desire. All proceeds will stay local and benefit Link for Life. The ride starts at 9 a.m.

A local attorney proposes a bike path for Round Mountain Road, more on local postal theft and bacon lovers rise up to defend their pork

 * ... BIKE PATH: I ran into local attorney Phil Ganong this week and he floated an idea that makes a lot of sense for those who use Round Mountain Road for running or cycling. Ganong owns

property along Round Mountain (his home is the near top) and he is willing to donate enough of it to build a bike path to keep cyclists off the road, which is heavily used by oil maintenance trucks. "I'd like to challenge other land owners to join me so we could build something that would keep everyone safe," he said. "I'd like to dedicate it to people like Doug Bentz (a former ski shop owner who died last year) and Norm Hoffman," the popular Bakersfield College professor and fitness instructor who was hit and killed by a motorist on Fairfax Drive in 2001. It's an idea in its early stages but one worth of consideration by the county. (photo by Derek Smith)

* ... POSTAL THEFT: I bet we all wish we had a mail carrier like the one who serves Ken Beggs. Said Beggs: "I wanted to let you know of an action taken by my mail carrier. I received a phone call from my mail carrier asking if I posted a letter in my my box. Yes he called me. I'm not going to give you his name because he would probably get in trouble for calling. He said our mail flag was up and no letters were in the box. He was worried that someone may have taken our out going letters. I told him the neighbors children were playing around our mail box and must have put it up. I thanked him for being concerned. Who does that nowadays? We have the best ever mailman."

* ... BACON: So now the World Heath Organization says that processed meats - and that means bacon and sausage - may cause cancer. First it was milk that was bad for you, then eggs (thank goodness eggs made a comeback), then almond milk (consumes too much water) and now the target is processed meats. As the comedian Albert Brooks quipped: "World Health Org says processed meat causes cancer. Pigs respond, 'You put your family in a grinder and see how healthy it is.'"

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "If I had a dollar for every time I thought about you, I would start thinking about you."

 * ... BAD FORM: Shame on whoever left two large Taco Bell soda cups, assorted used napkins and paper food wrappings plus - ready for this? - a soiled diaper - in the parking lot of the Target near the Park at Riverwalk. A trash can was a mere 30-second walk away.

 * ... MARINES: This is for all you Marines who served in the Korean War, compliments of veteran John D. Mixon: "With regard to the Marine at the Rio Bravo County Club, as submitted by Rick Tomlinson... I too, was a Marine with the First Marine Division at the Chosin Reservoir battle during  November-December 1950 in North Korea, and thought that I was the only survivor of that famous battle that lived in Bakersfield. I would be very interested in knowing who that person is, and I would greatly appreciate it if you would run a short sequel and perhaps he may see it, and give me a call. You may print my cell phone number (661) 889-1179. Of the 15,000 marines that participated, I suspect that after 65 years, there are fewer than 2,000 of us still alive. Best regards, and Semper-Fi."

Homeless camps crop up on the dry Kern riverbed, Cody Kessler shines in the USC victory over Utah and is the housing market headed for a downtown?

 * ... HOMELESS: Homelessness is not a problem that is easy to solve or is one that is going away anytime soon, but runners and cyclists along our bike path say they have never seen so many

homeless camps along the dry Kern river bed. Said a friend: "In 12 years of running the Kern River bike trail, I have never seen any homeless camps set up from Yokuts and west. Over the past few months I can now count at least six that are in or near the riverbed  from Yokuts all the way to the field across from CSUB."

  * ... HOUSING: Are we seeing the end of the California housing juggernaut? That is the question that local appraiser Gary Grabtree asked me when he passed along a new study showing a softness in the market in some pockets of the state. “When you take a step back and look at sales volumes over a longer period of time, they remain weak,” said Madeline Schnapp, Director of Economic Research for PropertyRadar. “Lack of inventory and declining affordability are holding sales back." According to PropertyRadar’s report, the median price of a California home in September was $405,000, which was down 2.4 percent from a revised $415,000 in August. It was also down 2.6 percent from the 2015 high of $416,000 in July. More disturbing: "According to PropertyRadar’s report, the counties with the largest price declines were Contra Costa (-5 percent), Kern (-5.2 percent) and San Mateo (-3.3 percent).

* ... COMEBACKS: This is a country that believes in second chances, so it was good to see Cody Kessler and the USC Trojans dispatch No. 3 ranked Utah 42-24 this weekend. Kessler was playing against his friend Jared Norris, also a Centennial High School grad, who didn't see action because of an injury, adding more intrigue to the highly anticipated game. USC has had a rough couple of weeks, including a couple of unexpected losses and the firing of coach Steve Sarkisian because of a drinking problem.

* ... PORCH PIRATES: It looks like we are not alone in experiencing the theft of postal packages left on our front porches. The CBS Morning News ran a story on the rash of "porch pirates" hitting communities across the nation, and it will only get worse during the holiday season.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Break the ice in a crowded elevator by asking how much everyone weighs."

 * ... MORE TWITTER HUMOR: "Whenever I have a panic attack, I put a brown paper bag over my mouth … and drink all the vodka inside … It seems to help."

 * ... ROTARY: Heads up to all you local Rotarians: Boston Red Sox pitching prospect Michael McCarthy will speak at the Twilight Rotary meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Hors d' oeuvres and cocktails begin at 5:30 p.m. and the bell rings at 6 p.m. McCarthy writes an occasional column for The Californian.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy calls on the federal government to prepare a plan to capture El Nino-related rain and snowfall

 House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy gives us his weekly report from Capitol Hill. In his words:

 "Unfortunately, four years of historic drought and decades of mismanaged water policy have threatened our water supply so much that communities are forced to ration usage.  So it isn’t a

surprise that predictions of El Niño were initially met with the hope that our drought might finally subside.

 "But El Niño also comes with great risks. As we saw last week, an unexpected storm rolled over the Central and Antelope Valleys, and the downpour of rain on the dry land caused mudslides onto the 5 through the Grapevine and along the 58. Tragically, it appears this storm has claimed its first casualty, and another man remains missing. Future heavy rains could cause even more damage.

 "So here we are, a couple months away from a possible godsend to our parched state that could quickly become a recipe for disaster. To respond to heavy rains compounded by years of drought, we must have a coordinated plan. The question is, have our state and Federal governments developed or discussed that plan?

 "Under the Stafford Act that Congress enacted in 1988 the Federal government has the ability to help states prepare for imminent storm threats — but only if the states request it. So has the state developed streamlined processes to do so should storms threaten to make landfall?

"Separately, we must also ensure that our infrastructure is prepared for the coming storms. With the rivers dry and storms on the horizon, what needs to be done to ready our infrastructure for the potential deluge?
 While it is important to prepare for potential mudslides and flooding, we must also remember that our constituents desperately need water.

 "Outside of repeated attempt to address the water crisis through legislation in the House, I have led my colleagues in the House and State Senator Fuller has led her colleagues in the state legislature to question President Obama and Governor Brown on their water policies ahead of El Niño. We want to know: What plans do the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Marine Fisheries Service have in place to capture El Niño-related rain and snowpack for human use? Or will they just let all this usable water go to waste?

 "Heavy rainfall can be a blessing or a curse depending on how we prepare for it today and use it when it comes. But with the right policies and leadership, the coming rain and snow can be part of the answer to, not the cause of, our challenges.

New scam involving the cheating website Ashley Madison makes the rounds, more crime downtown and lamenting the trash and litter about town

 * ... SCAM: One of the latest email scams going around involves the controversial website Ashley Madison (ashleymadison.com), which is devoted to connecting men and women who want to cheat on their spouses. The website was hacked, and now thousands of unfaithful cheaters across the world are living in fear of being exposed in their local communities. Of course, if you never signed up, you have nothing to fear, but that doesn't stop scammers from trying to extort a few bucks out of you. One local man received the scam and shared the email, which began like this: "If you want to keep your cheating and lies secret from your significant other, your family, your friends and work contacts then pay very close attention to this email. As what we demand is non-negotiable and you might ruin your life if you decide to ignore this email." It goes on to demand multiple payments or even payment in Bitcoins.

 * ... CRIME: There has been another burst in criminal activity in the Oleander and Westchester areas. Two homes downtown were burglarized in the past two weeks, and both of the break ins happened between noon at 3 p.m. located on alleyways. Similar break ins are reported in Oleander while a rash of car thefts has been reported in the Northwest neighborhoods. We are headed into the holiday season so turn on that alarm and join a neighborhood watch.

 * ... SMALL WORLD: Jeff Pickering, who ran the Kern Community Foundation before leaving to take a similar job in Florida, sent me this note the other day: "Retired Col. Martin Zickert was in today discussing the work of our local veteran's council. During conversation he shared a story of his time in early 1990s as a commanding officer at Edwards AFB. He was adopting his wife's 12 year old daughter and rather than hiring a lawyer, drove the back and forth ride to Bakersfield over several months to complete the process at the Kern County courthouse himself. 'Some of the nicest people I've ever met,' he said. Small world."

 * ... STARS: Kudos to the Stars Music Theater downtown and its attractive new outdoor dining and seating area covered by a beautiful new shade awning. The project at 20th Street and Chester Avenue was made possible by a grant from The Bakersfield Californian (family) Foundation.

 * ... SPOTTED TWITTER: "I would like to give thanks to the brave men and women who died a long time ago tasting which plants were edible and which plants were not."

 * ... TRASH: Randy Dickow recently hiked a 140-mile segment of the Camino de Santiago trail from southern France to Pamplona, Spain (how fun does that sound?) and he had this observation. "Litter, it is beneath us. Along with retired Superior Court Judge Jon Stuebbe and another friend from the coast we just hiked" the 140 miles and "it quickly became very obvious that litter is not a problem over there. I saw a total of three pieces of litter during the entire adventure. This path is not some little used trail in the wilderness, but goes though hamlets, villages and cities. Over 250,000 people use it every year. Just sayin', 140 miles and no litter. I can't walk 14 feet here without seeing lots of trash.

 * ... ACHIEVER: It was nice to see the photo of a smiling Rachel Goldner on the front of Fordham University's website the other day. The daughter of local attorney Barry Goldner and county counsel Teresa Goldner, Rachel graduated from Fordham University last year and is now working in Manhattan.