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Californians deserve better Gun thefts demand change County’s health report card grim Tejon agreement a ‘great conservation achievement’ A $10 smoke alarm can save a life Jail funding coming just in time Who has a conflict? Voting early by mail helps count Californian recommends Learn to prevent drownings June 06 July 06 August 06 September 06 October 06 November 06 December 06 January 07 February 07 March 07 April 07 May 07 June 07 July 07 August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 06 May 06 April 06 March 06 February 06 January 06 December 05 November 05 October 05 September 05 August 05 July 05 June 05 May 05 April 05 March 05 February 05 Blog RollAsk The Californian Editorials Entertainment Eye of Bakersfield Faith Forum Fired Up! Inside Sports Neighbors Right Thinking Sound Off Talk of the Town 
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PUBLISHED 9/21/08 ----
Gov. Schwarzenegger claims California government doesn’t have a “revenue” problem. It has a “spending” problem.
Guess what! It has both.
There is a disconnect between Californians’ expectations for government services — law enforcement, fire protection, education, roads, you name it — and their willingness to pay.
Since voters’ 1978 passage of Proposition 13, which set limits on property tax rates and...
PUBLISHED 5/21/08 ----
The theft of 20 guns from the Kern County Sheriff’s Department property room by a part-time employee demands a hard look at the Sheriff’s policies, procedures and available technology related to security.
Sheriff Donny Youngblood is justifiably furious and mortified that an “extra help” employee, 18-year-old Edgard Luis Nava, has been taken into custody in the wake of revelations that 20 handguns have disappeared from storage over the past...
PUBLISHED 5/20/08 ------
Living in Kern County can be hazardous to your health. That’s one way to look at the findings in a new report on public health from the Great Valley Center.
Central Valley residents don’t have the doctors and medical specialists, per capita, found elsewhere in California, and they are more likely to die of diabetes and heart attacks. They suffer more often from assorted poverty- and pollution-related illnesses than the rest of the state, and are...
PUBLISHED 5/18/08 ----
Applaud the Tejon Ranch agreement for its promise — to preserve about 90 percent of the largest private landholding in California and the largest private parcel of wilderness land in Southern California.
Applaud the company for its forward thinking — protecting the habitat of endangered species and the public’s access to what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger described as a “vast California treasure.”
Applaud for the landowner’s...
PUBLISHED 5/16/08 ----
Back-to-back fires this week, one resulting in the death of an elderly Bakersfield man, are evidence that more must be done to convince homeowners to buy and install smoke detectors.
The fires and death could have been prevented if the Bakersfield homes had been protected by low-cost, effective warning devices.
Bakersfield City Fire Department crews responded to a morning fire at 806 E. Belle Terrace Tuesday. Investigators believe an elderly man was smoking in...
PUBLISHED 5/15/08 ---
Kern County is in line for a $100 million expansion of its Lerdo Jail, and the check won’t come a moment too soon.
Overcrowding and disrepair have forced the Sheriff’s Department to release nonviolent offenders who, in most cases, have served only 30 percent of their sentences — a non-solution solution the 2005 Kern County grand jury criticized as a blow to judges’ intentions when they issue sentences.
Space constraints are so bad that at...
PUBLISHED 5/15/08 ----
This is the tale of two Bakersfield city planning commissioners. One appointed by former Ward 3 City Councilman Mike Maggard, the other by Ward 7 Councilman Zack Scrivner.
Ken Weir, the present Ward 3 councilman, wants to oust Russell Johnson from the Planning Commission. Weir’s supporters contend Johnson has a conflict of interest because he now works for Maggard, an elected Kern County supervisor. When Johnson was appointed to the commission, he worked...
PUBLISHED 5/14/08 ---
Vote-by-mail ballots for the June 3 primary started going out to voters May 5. There’s a record number of them this time. That’s not a big surprise given the continuing upsurge in voter preference for that type of balloting.
But with new mail-ballot voters joining the ranks every election, it’s clear that voter education is a continuing challenge. The rules for voting via mail are a little different than they are for traditional precinct voting...
PUBLISHED 5/14/08 ----
Kern County voters are receiving their sample ballots in the mail and their applications to vote by absentee ballots.
The Californian’s editorial board met with candidates vying for offices and with proponents and opponents of initiatives that appear on the June 3 ballot.
A summary of the editorial board’s recommendations follows.
To read the entire editorial, go to the Opinion section’s FIRED UP! blog at www.Bakersfield.com/blogs.
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PUBLISHED 5/13/08 ----
Eighty-degree days are here, which means 90-degree days are right around the corner. And that means people, especially kids, will be drawn to water.
Sadly, almost inevitably, that means drownings.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proclaimed May “Drowning Prevention Month,” and the declaration is not empty words. His proclamation marks the launch of a six-month effort by the California Department of Developmental Services to raise awareness about...
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