Santa Carota beef gets some love from Food and Wine magazine, the city takes heat for moving too slowly on our homeless and drug crisis, and who knew In-N-Out burger had treats for dogs?

Friday, September 13, 2019

 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. Send news items to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... DRUG CRISIS: It was an angry scene at City Hall this week when dozens of residents lined up during the public comment session to voice their concerns about our drug and homeless crisis. The

theme was clear: we need to understand that we have a drug addiction problem, not so much of a homeless problem. The city has been criticized for being too tentative, moving too slowly, sitting on their hands while this problem has grown out of control. The county, by contrast, has already approved plans for a low-barrier shelter while the city continues to "study" where their's might be located. If nothing else, the city got an earful from a public that is at its wit's end with crime, public intoxication, public urination and defecation and general craziness that rules our streets. Is anyone listening?

 * ... SANTA CAROTA BEEF: Do you hear that Food and Wine magazine threw some love to our local producers of the grass fed and carrot finished Santa Carota beef? That's right, this is the same beef raised by the Pettit family that has proved to be wildly popular in local restaurants. Fed on grass and finished off by tons of carrots, the process produces a beef that is both more tender and tastier, and healthier as well. Check out this excerpt from the story: "The Pettit family has been raising cattle in Edison (an unincorporated community just seven miles from Bakersfield) for 30 years, and much of that time they have been supplementing their grass-fed cattle with culled carrots from nearby producers like Bolthouse Farms and Grimmway Farms, which produce more than a million pounds of carrots each in a day—the most in the world. But until two years ago, Justin and Corinne Pettit and Justin’s father, Mike, were growing their cattle to 800 pounds on grass and carrots, then sending them to a feedlot to be bulked up and finished to nearly 1300 pounds on grain. They had never considered finishing a cow on carrots, until, Justin describes, they conducted a single experiment, which they planned to try for Justin’s birthday in April of 2017 (with a pizza order as a back-up plan). Just one bite of the steaks, and they put down their forks and looked at each other. “And we said, Oh, now we have to go to work.” And they literally bet the farm. “We sold all our equipment, put everything on our credit line … had packing boxes all over our conference tables. We have everything riding on it, but we believe in it.” Within 18 months, they’d developed their logo and began selling to some of the best restaurants in the West."

 * ... DOG TREATS: Did you know that In-N-Out burger has a few menu items for your dog? That's right, the popular chain actually has two offerings for your mutt: the first a plain, salt-free burger patty. Another off-menu item, which is also available for humans but was supposedly originally devised for dogs, is the Flying Dutchman, which is two beef patties and two slices of cheese.

* ... BRANDING: The city and county rolled out their new branding and message campaigns this week, ending a two year process meant to reposition our hometown in a more positive light. The city's version, branding as "The Sound of Something Better," features a green logo in the shape of a guitar pic emblazoned with a 'b" that looks like a musical note.

 * ... THEFT: We talk a lot about our "homeless" crisis but our real problem is a drug and crime crisis. As Sacramento has passed a series of decriminalizing laws to keep people our of prison, crime has risen dramatically. Consider this post I spotted on Facebook: "Two tall skinny black guys with baseball caps came running out of the garden dept at the Home Depot on Ming with 3 big boxes. Power tools of some sort. Hopped in this black car and hit a shopping cart that a guy was trying to block them with. Glad he wasn't hurt. Headed east on Ming. I hate thieves. So brazen. "

 * ... MEMORIES: And check this amazing photo out from the Kern County History Fans Facebook page. Just wow.

 * ... MORE MEMORIES: And how about the old Plunge on Union Avenue?

Radio producer J.R. Flores gives his take on Kern County's drug crisis, it goes viral and the public anger reaches a boiling point

 J.R. Flores, producer of both The Richard Beene Show and The Ralph Bailey Show on KERN NewsTalk 96.1 FM, had planned to give this three-minute speech before the Bakersfield City Council during the public comment session at this week's council meeting. But that never happened because Mayor Karen Goh limited all speakers to just two minutes instead of the allocated three minutes. Here is your chance to read the Flores' take in its entirety. 

"Good evening Madam Mayor, members of the council. My name is J.R. Flores, program director for Kern Radio and producer of The Richard Beene Show and The Ralph Bailey Show. I wanted to address you this evening regarding the epidemic happening in our city, and I do mean epidemic.
 "This isn’t a homeless issue, this isn’t a housing crisis. This is a drug epidemic, this is a mental

health crisis, and if we are not careful a public hazardous health warning.
"With the human waste that plagues our downtown business alley and doorways, to the drug paraphernalia left in the playgrounds where my kids used to play. I understand the laws that come out of Sacramento, AB109 and Props 47 and 57. But I refuse, my neighbors refuse, my community refuses, the citizens of this city refuse to continue to hear 'Our hands are tied.' OUR CITY IS UNDER SIEGE, IT IS NOT SAFE!
 "A BHS teacher told us that he no longer lets his daughter put gas downtown, a neighborhood he grew up in. Yesterday my fiancé was told by a vagrant/street criminal at our neighborhood gas station 'Hey baby why don’t you just take me home with you?' How long till one of them, if not already, start sexually assaulting woman?  Just this morning as she dropped off my son at William Penn

Elementary, as many other parents dropped off their kids or while they walked to school, a drug induced or mentally deranged man had defecated on himself, buttocks exposed wandering about just outside the gates.
 "Our kids can’t go to school without being exposed to this? They definitely can’t play in the parks, as they’ve been overrun by drug addicts and mentally unstable individuals. AND YES DRUG ADDICTS AND MENTALLY UNSTABLE, NOT HOMELESS PEOPLE. Do they happen to live on the streets? Yes they do. But these are not the families visiting Louis Gill at the homeless shelter, that guy at the gas station isn’t visiting Carlos at the Mission, the man this morning isn’t the guy visiting Kern Behavioral Health.
 "I applaud the effort of those individuals working those places, on the front lines of the real homeless crisis. This, what we are dealing with, is not a homeless crisis. You want to give them low barrier shelters. I applaud the county for their leadership and moving forward with their site, even if I don’t believe that will solve this problem.

 "Providing drug addicts a safe haven is only enabling the problem. That is no better than the mom that lets her son get high down the hall rather than on the streets. These people will continue to plague or neighborhoods and break in to our cars, our homes and our businesses, harassing the law abiding taxpaying citizens of the city. I hope, I pray that the people that do occupy those beds are going to get the true help they need. We talk about wrap around services and setting these people up with the help they need. But the services are already there and these people aren’t taking advantage of them now, what leads you to believe they will once given a place they don’t have to conform to enter.  "Our sheriff has 600 beds… How about beds in a intervention clinic or at a mental health place? So when given the option those beds or Lerdo they have to take responsibility for their place in life. I hear the cries for compassion, but allowing these people to do drugs and wander aimlessly un-medicated is not compassion.
 "Hiring 100 cops that cannot or will not enforce laws is not going to solve the problem. All of this going on while a priority tonight is spending $390,000 of measure N money on staging lights inside of Rabobank. While we worry about Soccer parks and softball fields. While adopting a new brand and slogan. “Bakersfield, The sound of something better.”  How about we actually make it better and not just sound better. Thank you!

Kern County prepares to unveil a new branding campaign, the county moves forward with a low barrier shelter for the homeless and a beautiful new mural graces downtown

Monday, September 9, 2019

 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. Send news items to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... STREET CRISIS: You have to applaud the county and the Board of Supervisors for moving swiftly to confront our drug and vagrancy crisis on our streets. The county will vote this week on

erecting a temporary low-barrier shelter near Golden State and O Street on a 5-acre vacant lot owned by the county. This is a credit to county chief administrative officer Ryan Alsop and the entire board for moving with urgency. Meanwhile, we await as the city decides where it will put its shelter. Ironically, the earlier site for the city shelter was just a block away from where the county is going, and it would be wise for the city council to reconsider this spot and move with all due speed.

 * ... DRUG CRISIS: Despite all this, we have to be careful to rein in our expectations. These "low barrier" shelters are designed for the true homelesss. Our crisis here is a drug crisis disguised as a homeless crisis. Iy is doubtful that the addicts, vagrants, crazies and criminals who walk our streets causing mayhem will avail themselves to these shelters. That is going to take a different kind of enforcement involving the police. Speaking of addicts, a friend took this picture of a vagrant in a lingerie dress near Rosedale and Calloway. And so it goes.

 * ... BRANDING: Meanwhile the county and the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce will unveil a new branding campaign for the county Monday during a press conference at the historic Padre Hotel. Presumably this will replaced the dated "Life As It Should Be" campaign. Attending will be Mayor Karen Goh, Supervisor David Couch, Chamber president Nick Ortiz and other city and county elected officials. I will be moderating a panel at 3:30 p.m. in the Belvedere Room at the Padre.

 * ... MURAL: Hats off to local artist Jennifer Williams Cordova who added a little class and style to our downtown when she painted this mural near a local restaurant.

 * ... NO HANDOUTS: Check out this poster the city is using to advise people not to give money to street beggars.

 * ... MEMORIES: Now here is a trip down memory lane. Apparently this is a picture of the building that stood where the Silver Fox now stands. The caption: "This building at 700 18th in New China Town 1932 is the current location of the Silver Fox. Things have changed a little. :-)"

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

Friday, September 6, 2019

 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. Send news items to rsbeene@yahoo.com.W

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

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

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

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

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

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

A local men's clothing store is the latest to suffer from our explosion of drug addiction and vagrants, David Valadao jumps in the race to reclaim his congressional seat and some fun facts on Labor Day

Monday, September 2, 2019

 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. Send news items to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... LABOR DAY: Happy Labor Day, and here are some fun facts you may not know: The first Labor Day was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882 ,in New York City, planned by the Central

Labor Union. Labor Day is also considered the ‘unofficial NFL season kickoff.’ And, the first Waffle House opened on Labor Day. In 1955, in Avondale Estates, GA, the very first Waffle House opened its doors to the public.

 * ... DOWNTOWN CRIME: The sheer amount of petty crime - larceny, burglary, theft, vandalism, public urination and intoxication - can seem overwhelming at times. There is hardly a day that goes by when someone in town - a business person or an individual - is not victimized by the tsunami of drug addiction, homelessness and general craziness that thrive on our streets. This weekend it was the turn for H. Walker's, our premier downtown clothing store, to have its windows smashed out. Owner Tracy Walker Kiser had the glass replaced and installed in hours, but the damage - and expense - was done.

 * ... HOMELESS: Here's a distressing image of something we have grown accustomed to: a homeless man with a stolen blue waste can sorting through trash next to the DMV on F Street. The caption on the Facebook post read: "Anyone missing their blue recycle can? This guy is sitting there picking through everything! This is on F Street across from DMV."

 * ... VALADAO: After losing reelection by the slimmest of margins, former Congressman David Valadao has signaled he will run again for the 21st Congressional District seat now held  by Democrat T.J. Cox. The 21st is an overwhelmingly Democratic district, one of the poorest in California, and Valadao served as a moderate, advocating immigration reform and often taking sides against his own Republican Party. Nevertheless he lost during the "blue wave" in the 2018 mid-term elections. (file photos of Cox, Valadao)

 * ... MEMORIES: Feast your eyes on these classic old pictures of our town back in the day.

Merced DA's office takes up the Father Craig case, frustrated business people consider vigilante justice to combat the drug addicts and looking into the horrific death of young Sara Hudson

Friday, August 30, 2019

 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. Send news items to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... FATHER CRAIG: The Merced District Attorney's office is now reviewing the allegations of

sexual abuse against Monsignor Craig Harrison. The Merced police ended their probe and passed it onto the DA's office, which will now conduct its own review to determine if the case is worth prosecuting. Bakersfield police recently closed their investigation into a decades-old allegation, saying there was no "corroborative evidence" to support formal charges. No matter what the Merced DA's office rules, the most important ruling on Father Craig's fate will come from the Diocese of Fresno, and there is no word on when that might come.

 * ... VIGILANTE JUSTICE: If there is one thing downtown business owners can agree on, it is this: we do not have a homeless crisis. Rather, we have a drug crisis. That was the consensus of a group of downtown business owners who discussed our crisis on my radio show (KERN NewsTalk 96.1 FM) this week. Among those we talked with was Dixie Haley Brewer, a downtown retailer whose business - In Your Wildest Dreams at 19th and Q streets - has been vandalized and targeted by thieves multiple times over the past year. Haley said if things continue to spiral downward, it will only be a matter of time before vigilante justice kicks in as people take their safety into their own hands. What that means, and how it is handled, is unknown at this time but it reflects the extreme frustration business owners feel as this situation spirals out of control.

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: Speaking of the drug addicted homeless, a business owner downtown posted this on Facebook: "Now we've got these 'animals' pounding on windows and breaking them in broad daylight. This little white chick with very short bleached blonde hair, in a grey hoodie and black shorts just walked up 19th Street pounding our windows with her fist as she walks by. She shattered a window at Mill Creek Antiques and kept on walking. Then proceeded to hit ours.  I currently have a boarded window and a boarded door. I guess we're "blessed" to not have another broken one ourselves. Watch for this little hoodlum.  Usually has a 'girlfriend' with her. They like to try and get inside and divide employees so one can steal.'"

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "No matter how nice I ask random people, nobody will take me to Funkytown."

 * ... THEFT: And finally, now that it is a misdemeanor to steal anything merchandise valued under $950, businesses are witnessing a wave of shoplifters simply walking out the door with stolen goods. Check out this post from 23ABC: "The Bakersfield Police Department is asking for help in finding two people wanted for questioning regarding a petty theft on July 15 at an Albertsons on Brundage Lane. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Dunn at (661) 326-3876." In many cases, thieves will steal items like cases of diapers and then sell them individually at the transient hotels scattered about town.

 * ... SARA HUDSON: Did you hear about the terrible death of 22-year-old Sara Hudson in Dallas? Hudson, who attended Garces Memorial High School and later the University of Arkansas, was killed in Dallas on her 22nd birthday. Her body was discovered in a burning SUV and authorities believe she was the victim of a car jacking that led to her murder. Arrested in the case was Glen Richter, 49. Hudson has relatives in Bakersfield and she was well known in the Garces community.

 * ... ALLISON GARGARO: Congratulations to 23ABC weather forecaster Allison Gargaro, who has become a certified meteorologist. The Arizona State graduate received her credentials from Mississippi State University.

 * ... ANNIVERSARY: Happy 27th wedding anniversary to House minority leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy and his wife, Judy. Check out this adorable picture of the two back in the day. The couple met in high school and have been inseparable since.

* ... MEMORIES: More old photos from two Facebook pages devoted to local history, Kern County History Fans and Kern County of Old. Do you spot Dewar's n the first photo?

We will explore the homeless crisis all week on The Richard Beene Show, Kern County leads the state in hemp production, it was move-in day for CSUB students and remembering the night that Jimi Hendrix came to the Civic Auditorium

Monday August 26, 2019

 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. Send news items to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... HOMELESS: I am turning over the airwaves this week to local business owners who have suffered at the hands of our homeless crisis, and there are a lot of them. All week on The Richard

Beene Show (KERN NewsTalk 96.1 FM/1180 AM from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.) I will be chatting with people whose businesses have suffered at the hands of the free-range homeless and vagrants who now move about our streets with virtual impunity. We will hear from Diana Klawitter and her daughter Amanda, who run House of Flowers on 19th Street. We will chat with Dixie Brewer Haley from the In Your Wildest Dreams consignment shop, which has been broken into and vandalized numerous times. We will hear from Shawna Haddad of Muertos and Crash Lounge, who will give us the perspective of someone who has been in business downtown for decades. And yes we will talk solutions, but not before we understand what individual business owners are contending with on a daily basis. Tune in and join the discussion.

 * ... VISUAL POLLUTION: And here is something you don't want to witness.

* ... HEMP: Here is some rich irony: despite the fact that the city and county have banned the retail sales of marijuana, Kern County has emerged as the top hemp producing county in California. That's right, John Cox of The Californian reported that we have 33 different groups planning to grow hemp on 76 different sites in Kern, covering an astonishing almost 7,000 acres. So how do we justify this while banning retail sales? The county has an open arms policy toward growing commercial hemp, leveraging our deep knowledge of agriculture, water and distribution to make Kern County an ideal place to grow hemp for multiple purposes, including the manufacturing of CBD oil.

 * ... CSUB: It was "move in" day at CSUB over the weekend as hundreds of students settled into their dorms for the start of the semester on Monday. CSUB president Lynette Zelezny and men's basketball coach Rod Barnes were there to lend a helping hand, as well as dozens of upper classmen ambassadors who welcoming the incoming freshmen and returning students. CSUB expects a record enrollment this year topping 12,000 students.

 * ... WHEN JIMI CAME TO TOWN: Here are some pictures to feast your eyes on. Jimi Hendrix appearing at the Civic Auditorium on Oct. 26, 1968. Photos by Ron Raffaelli.

 * ... MEMORIES: Some more pictures from our past thanks to the Kern County of Old Facebook page. Do you recognize the Garces Circle?