No, not tea and crumpets. But those are mighty good.

We learned land that's zoned for a small commercial center will include a fresh & easy, a neighborhood market that features everyday items and gourmet fare. British food giant Tesco is the parent company.

Tom Ryan Jr. said Thursday that he has a signed lease with the store. Ryan works in commercial real estate in Pacific Palisades and is a partner in Rykal Bakersfield LLC.

The land is on the northeast corner of Brimhall and Jewetta roads, across the street from Liberty Park, near Liberty High School. 

The center would be upscale and feature higher-end tenants because "it's in a nice area," Ryan said.

Fresh & easy markets are in LA, San Diego, the OC and Bay Area, as well as Nevada and Arizona.

We hear plans for other fresh & easy stores in Bako are in the works, including a site at Buena Vista Road and White Lane. The city council will consider a zone change for Mustang Square to go forward in mid-March. 

I want to ride my bicycle. I want to ride my bike.

It's official: The Finish Line is moving from its longtime Coffee Road location to 8850 Stockdale Highway, across the street from Cal State Bakersfield. The new digs are bigger and close to the bike path. Location, location, location.

Owner Alan Bradley signed the lease Thursday. He's owned the business for 24 years and needs more floorspace.

The Finish Line carries bikes for all levels of riders — from bikes for little ones to something that can tackle Alpe d'Huez — and swimwear. Note: These suits are designed for actual swimming or water exercise. 

Although the building's exterior is complete, the inside is bare. It needs interior walls, flooring, carpeting and plumbing. Bradley says his Web site, www.finishlinebikes.com, will soon feature construction photos.

Bradley hopes to open the store by August. 

larger view

Looks like eight areas of California will become Enterprise Zones. In plainspeak, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is interested in "revitalizing economically challenged parts of our state."

Businesses in the eight areas, if approved, would get various goodies in the form of tax credits for each employee hired, preference points on state contracts and other bennies.

There's a report on what good these zones do for local economies.

So who's included? Well, not Kern.

Here's the list:

Siskiyou County, San Joaquin County, East Los Angeles, Salinas Valley, Kings County, Oakland, West Sacramento and Santa Ana.

But makes you think Kern might need a boost too.

larger view

Everyone seems worried about health care costs these days.

President Bush, of course, is weighing in too.

The Associated Press just sent out the following alert:

"WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior Bush administration official said President Bush’s 2009 budget will virtually freeze most domestic programs funded by Congress and seek nearly $200 billion in savings from Medicare and Medicaid."

Looks like more details will be out later today. But the early indications are Medicare and Medicaid will take a hit.



 

Paying the mortgage? Paying for kids' college? The cable bill. The heating bill. Whatever.

The Federal Reserve made its second interest rate cut in eight days on Wednesday on fears of a recession.

Cox news service reports that "since September, the nation's central bank has slashed interest rates five times, taking the benchmark federal funds rate from 5.25 percent to just 3 percent."

Banks use the federal funds rate when they lend to each other, which then sets guidelines for other interest rates that impact people like us.

Will it help?

Last weekend's storms gusted up to 60 mph in some parts of Kern, knocking down fences, felling trees and wreaking havoc on some rooftops.

It's too soon to get exact numbers of homeowners with damage claims, insurance company spokesmen said Wednesday. But one roofing contractor told me he has received about 150 calls related to wind damage.

How did you guys fare in the storm? Anybody got a story to tell about trees crashing through the garage or shingles sailing away? If you've got photos, post 'em with your comment!

Speaking of photos, that's one of the tips from the state for how you should document any storm damage. Find the rest of those tips on negotiating the claims process with your insurer at the California Department of Insurance Website.

--Vanessa Gregory, staff writer

Who says L.A. media ignore Bakersfield?

Why, just this afternoon, a Reuters television crew stopped by Bakersfield to ask locals — including The Californian's assistant business editor, John Cox (who actually lives in Frazier Park) — about the state of Kern's housing market.

The occasion? Earlier this week a Santa Ana-based real estate information service ranked Kern ahead of every other large market in the nation by mortgage risk. The Reuters crew — nice guys, both of them — wanted to know where the rubber was meeting the road, and how that might affect how Bakersfield votes in the upcoming presidential election.

Well, we didn't have much to say about the political end of it, but we did share our observations about the economic uncertainty created by Kern's foreclosure numbers. Hard times, we said. Not something for L.A. to envy us for.

The best part of the experience was walking up the front steps of The Californian's historic home, for the camera. We usually go in through the employees' entrance out back.

Yep, it's that time of year. Tax time.

And for some people, it's a particularly tough time because it's hard to pay someone to prepare a tax return.

Here's a press release from a group offering free help:

The 2008 VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) Program is about to start!
For the last three years Community Action Partnership of Kern has been providing the local community with a valuable tax preparation service through the VITA program. The program is supported by United Way of Kern County, and volunteers prepare tax returns for the public free of charge. The program was developed with the goal of helping individual taxpayers cope with the complexity of filing an accurate tax return.

“When you come to a VITA site you are treated just like you would be if you were paying for your tax return to be done somewhere else. You are required to bring in all the same documentation as you would elsewhere, the only difference is that it is a FREE service and there is no money out of pocket,” said Sandy Truman, VITA program coordinator.

Community Action Partnership has one site to serve the public. We also have a central appointment number 2-1-1 that anyone can call to make an appointment to have their tax returns done.

Trained community volunteers will help taxpayers with special credits, such as Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child Tax Credit. In addition to free tax return preparation assistance, VITA program also offer free electronic filing (e-filing).
 
The VITA program office address is: 22 “P” Street, Bakersfield. (entrance is on 710 Brundage Lane)
 

Planners say they want to hear from you. It's all part of the Kern Regional Blueprint Program. Pretty formal name, but the idea is we better plan now for growth in the community over the next 40 years.

One meeting was held Tuesday night, but there are more chances to have your say.

There are two more town hall meetings:

• 6 p.m. Jan. 30, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 1000 S. Owens St., Bakersfield

•6 p.m. Feb. 6, Bakersfield Convention Center, Potato Room, 1001 Truxtun Ave., Bakersfield

Read more about it

You can peruse online documents about the Kern Regional Blueprint program by going to the Kern Council of Governments Web site, www.kerncog.org. From there, click the Kern Blueprint link in the left-hand column.

Or read what happened at Tuesday night's meeting. Reporter Jenny Shearer gives us the specifics in her story. Click here.

The median home price in Bakersfield was $250,000 in December, down 15.3 percent from $295,000 in the same month of 2006, according to a Tuesday news release from the California Association of Realtors.

The median home price for Kern County fell 14.3 percent, the statewide trade group reports. The local decline was gentler than the state's 16.5 percent price plunge.

The figures include sales of new and existing homes and condos.

If you are, you're certainly not the only one.

Assistant editor John Cox reported this week that ...

"Kern County tops a new list of large U.S. home markets with a high probability that homeowners will miss a mortgage payment.

Santa Ana-based First American CoreLogic’s report ranked Kern ahead of every other large metropolitan area in the country, just above No. 2 Stockton and No. 3 Fresno."

Tough times. But read the full story for yourself here.
 

Good morning, all!

We're the new growth and economy team in The Bakersfield Californian's newsroom. We "officially" kick off our new jobs Feb. 12, but let's get the conversation started now.

We'll be writing about anything and everything in our local economy and our community's growth. So send us your news and information so we can share with all the other readers out there.

There will soon be six of us dedicated to giving you the latest info.