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You really have to read the full article to get where this piece is going... I hope you read it and comment. - Nick, ABC23

When Jackie Parks asked me to write a blog about the current Bakersfield High School crime controversy, I at first hesitated. Parks was clearly ruffled about the BHS Blue & White article that stated kids were getting iPods and cell phones ripped off. I was more concerned with the idea of criminals out of control.

Maybe I hadn’t written enough in the article, “BHS Crime Unnerves Students, Local Business.” I don’t know if anyone in the media other than ABC23 read the article. But it was meant as a further wake up call to school officials who deny problems on campus with youth crime.

Yet Parks had a different angle. Where does a kid get a $600 cell phone? And I get her drift. But I’ll get back to that. I mean, I have an opinion about the school, its problems and my kids. Both of my kids have attended BHS. One is still there. My kid isn’t a valedictorian, though I don’t hesitate to call him a creative genius. And I’m not the PTA type of parent. I don’t participate like I used to when my kids were little, though I did attend a Kindergarten pumpkin patch outing recently. I do encourage from the homefront that my kids, no matter what their age, are to be stand-up people, compassionate, listeners and doers.

My philosophy is different than most parents. I don’t believe it’s what you become in high school, but what you become in college. So I allowed my kids to explore and focus on self identity.

My youngest: he’s deep in self exploration. He’s in a pop punk band and recently wrote an anti-racism song. I really like the lyrics. They’re meaningful. He’s maturing.

We as the people must stand for what is right.
We don’t want any judgment in race and color.

I can see that an incident that took place on BHS campus a few years ago possibly helped mature his thought process.

We’re a multicultural family, part Latino, though we don’t look it to most people. Sometimes skin color is stereotyped not just among people in general, but among youth. If certain types of kids think you’re white, they’ll call you derogatory names. In the case of my kids, it was after a BHS football game, I believe in 2005, and was more than just name-calling. They, along with two friends, also of Latino origin, were jumped by a pack of 20-30 roving kids, for no reason other than Hispanic kids likely thought all the kids who were walking were white. Can I prove such? No. Other than what may have been said as fists swung and kids ran. Yet it doesn’t take a brain surgeon, especially since I grew up facing dual ethnic issues.

(Read the full article)

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ABC23 allowed an accused drunk driver to speak out from his jail cell. Mike Hart wrote his opinion about why it's important to do so. My reply to Hart's blog was, "It takes guts to show the face of the despised.

"I'm glad ABC23 let the man cry from his prison cell into their cameras. I'm making my kids watch the video. And they don't even drink. But just in case they ever start, they will remember."

Here's an excerpt from Hart's blog:

To let a DUI suspect speak, or not to speak.

That is obviously the question on this Friday as we head into the weekend.

Jose Hernandez hopped into his SUV last Sunday and headed home with his 2-year old daughter in tow after a couple beers.

He got into an acceleration contest with a 22-yr old in a little sports car.

You've seen it a million times at almost every stop light.

It's not a planned street race.

One car pulls away quickly, the other catches up and nudges ahead, the first car then speeds up a little more and before you know it, you've got two guys racing down the street.

Only last weekend, an innocent couple were caught in the middle.

A woman is killed and her husband remains in critical condition.

We asked for a jailhouse interview with Jose Hernandez this week and he agreed.

That decision has riled a few feathers on local airwaves and blogs.

It seems not many people wanted to hear an apology, or in this instance, an outright admission of guilt.

Well, 99% of the time the people in our community who end up in prison decline the media's request for an interview.

But we got the interview and reported what he said, for better or worse.

Hopefully, for the better.

I guess I could stand here and "What if" this thing to no end like many people have been doing, but it's done.

Where was this, why was that, he should have known, and so on.

I'm hoping his face and his confession will burn a lasting memory in your brain.

Read the full blog

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Here's the scoop from ABC23. No need for a fancy intro. Just thought there might be some other fans out there like me. Make sure to check out the link to the Fresno Beehive where the reporter loses it:

Portion Of Indiana Jones Movie Filmed In Fresno: Harrison Ford, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg Make Fresno Movie History 

By Nick Belardes
 
FRESNO, Calif. -- Fans of Indiana Jones stopped for a photo-op in Fresno, where a portion of the latest installment of Indiana Jones was filmed.

ABC30 reported that portions of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” were filmed at two locations in the Fresno area.

Buildings at the Chandler Airport, located near grape vineyards, were repainted to look like an airport in Mexico City, circa 1957. One building read, AEROPUERTO INTERNACIONAL DE CIUDAD DE MEXICO.

An airport water tower was painted to resemble an airport in Branford, Conn.

Movie props also arrived, including a lone DC-3 plane with the words “Pan America” painted on its side, and vintage vehicles including cars, trucks and an old bus.

(Read The Full Article)

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I know. It doesn't even sound strange--for a news anchor to plug her own station. Maybe it's just a fresh and funny blog compared to all the hard news day in and day out we get our eyeballs glued to.

Parks plugs the fall ABC line-up, and it makes me almost want to watch television. I know, you're wondering how I can work for ABC and not watch TV?

I guess that's why I'm their digital media guy, because I pay more attention to the Web.

Actually, I'm too busy in my spare time doing other projects. But still, Parks almost had me convinced.

She writes in "Falling For TV":

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When I heard that a man brought in candy clusters filled with maggots into the ABC23 studios, I grabbed my digital camera and ran to the lobby.

Nasty. He pulled the candy out of the bag, opened the box and the maggots came out to play.

And it wasn't just maggots. There were spiders too.

Now just so you can lose your lunch or your itch to pig-out on Halloween candy this year, I've provided two videos for you to peruse. The first shows an ABC23 salesman grimacing and touching a cookie. The second video is a creative effort from our cameraman to film maggots up close. Nice touch. At least I didn't have to handle those little wormy critters.

And this maggot story is hot! The tale of the 99-cent store bugs has made the homepage of CNN.com, their national pages, and populated to dozens of ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC web sites across the nation.

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It's already on money. Kids carry money don't they? It's already a part of America's christian heritage. If kids go to church they might just get a dose of godliness.

The days of puritanical America tied to education are over. Today's reality is a clearer separation of church and state. If you want  more of a dose of church in your schools, send your kids to christian schools.

Personally, I think Chad Vegas is pulling a David Couch. He knows his proposal won't fly; he just wants to raise the issue.

Personally, I'd rather see the KHSD Board of Trustees talk about more relevant education-based topics.

OK, now that you have my two cents, here's what Mike Hart of ABC23 has to say:

Excerpt:

First, it was changing winter and spring breaks, back to Christmas and Easter.

Now, Kern High School Trustee Chad Vegas wants to redecorate every classroom in the district with the phrase, "In God We Trust".

In a press release from Vegas, he stated that it was the "logical first step in making sure our students are informed and grounded in these basic tenets."

Which ones?

I don't have a problem with the phrase in the Bakersfield City Council chambers, in fact, I silently supported the idea from Jacquie Sullivan.

Take another step back.

I openly complained about the lawsuit brought by an atheist in San Francisco wanting to erase "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance.

(Read his full blog entry and leave a comment here or there, or anywhere!)