Delta plans to cutback flights from Meadows Field to Salt Lake City, airport officials said today.

The airline will cancel one of its two daily flights in June as part of a nationwide downsizing, said Meadows Field marketing manager Teresa Hitchcock.

“We're fortunate to only have lost one flight. Some communities have lost services altogether,” Hitchcock said.

While Delta is scaling back, United has added a second daily flight from Meadows Field to Denver. Flights now depart Bakersfield daily at 6 a.m., and 2 p.m., Hitchcock said.

“Airlines are not in expansion mode right now so (the Denver flight) has to be doing very well,” Hitchcock said.

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Parts of the Los Padres National Forest burned
by the Zaca Fire in summer 2007 will reopen at noon on April 4, forest officials announced today.

Here's the details from Los Padres officials:

The trail system has sustained extensive damage and the public is urged to use extreme caution when traveling in the affected area, said Forest Supervisor Peggy Hernandez.

“A great deal of dry ravel (erosion) occurred immediately after the fire, and the winter rains and heavy snowfall caused additional damage,” explained Hernandez.  “Particularly hard hit are vulnerable mid-slope trails like segments of the popular Santa Cruz trail, and the Grapevine and Potrero trails in the San Rafael Wilderness.  Another key area that sustained significant damage is the Manzana Narrows.  Many sections of the trail system have been completely obliterated.”

Forest Service backcountry manager Kerry Kellogg estimates that 167 miles of backcountry trail were impacted by the Zaca Fire.  Kellogg said other safety hazards include deep gullies, landslides and rockslides on trails; burned trees and tree limbs that can fall without warning; burned stump holes; and damaged or missing trail signs.  He warned that the land, particularly the steep terrain, will be changing constantly and will be unstable for many years until the vegetation becomes reestablished.   “Even the most experienced hikers will need to stay alert to their surroundings and not take unnecessary risks,” Kellogg said.

Forest Service officials also warned that most of the burned area will not be safe for equestrians until the trails are repaired.  “Hikers may be able to pick their way across some damaged areas, but stock would have a very difficult time,” said Kathleen Phelps, District Ranger for the Santa Lucia

District which encompasses most of the San Rafael Wilderness.  Of particular concern are sideslope trails where horses may not be able to turn around safely if they encounter a landslide or gully.

A small group of dedicated volunteers who work regularly with the Forest Service have been surveying the burned area to document trail conditions. While they have explored a large area, there are still some regions of the backcountry in the Dick Smith and San Rafael Wildernesses that no one has seen since the fire.

“We are still collecting information on trail conditions, and the trails we know about have changed over the past few months,” said Santa Barbara District Ranger Cindy Chojnacky.  She said it will take years to repair the trail system.  “We have started work with trail crews and volunteers in priority areas, and will extend that work as the ground stabilizes.

However, some of the more remote, less traveled trails may never be reestablished.” Ironically, some ridge and canyon trails in the burn area, previously impassable due to brush, may be open for the first time in years, Chojnacky said.  “For instance, the Hurricane Deck trail is now visible, although it is hard to follow in mid-slope areas.   The trails in Indian and Mono Creeks are not in great shape, but the canyons have silted in and the creek banks are fairly easy to hike.”   For experienced hikers who want to explore, “probably the best advice is, check with the district on specific areas and don’t count on making a loop trip.”

Some of the burned area will still be subject to temporary closures during rainy periods.  Some gates will remain closed to protect fuelbreaks, fire containment lines and open areas from vehicle trespass until vegetation is reestablished.   For example, an eleven mile section of the Buckhorn Road will remain closed to vehicles starting from the point where it intersects the Camuesa Road.  In addition, there are still several roads outside the burned area that sustained damage during the fire suppression efforts and are closed temporarily for repairs.

For more information about conditions in the Zaca Fire area, contact the Santa Barbara Ranger District Office on Paradise Road at (805) 967-3481, and the Santa Lucia District Office in Santa Maria at (805) 925-9538. Photos of some of the trail damage taken by the volunteer backcountry rangers are available on the forest website.

At the height of the Zaca Fire in August 2007, the closure encompassed over 660,000 acres between Highway 166 on the north and Highway 33 on the south. Nearly 330,000 acres have been closed to the public since October including most of the San Rafael Wilderness, all of the Dick Smith Wilderness.

Studies have already found that tiny particulate pollution in Kern's air is bad for your heart and lungs but new research has found it may be bad for the brain, too.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports that a UC Irvine study found mice exposed to the pollution in Riverside and Los Angeles developed brain inflammation that suggested the cells had been damaged.

The changes in the mice's brains was similar to those found in people with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease although it's unclear if the pollution actually causes the disease, Michael Kleinman, the toxicologist who conducted the research, told the Press-Enterprise.

Particle pollution occurs when tiny specks of dust, chemicals and soot from vehicles, factories and farms become concentrated in the air. The valley's meteorology and geography helps to trap the pollution.

Kern County experiences the same pollution, known as fine particulate matter. Since September, Bakersfield violated the national standard for fine particulates on 63 days, compared to 25 days in Riverside and 23 days in Los Angeles, according to state data. Riverside and Los Angeles, however, experience the pollution year-round while the Central Valley tends to see it only during winter months.

The UC Irvine study also confirmed earlier research that showed exposure to particulates puts people at higher risk of heart disease, clogged arteries and reduced heart function. 

The pollution has also previously been linked to early deaths, asthma attacks and impaired lung development in children.

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District recently drafted a plan to bring the valley into compliance with national standards for fine particulate matter by 2014. The plan will be voted on by the district's governing board on April 30.

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For anyone interested in global warming and its impact on the arctic, author Chad Kister will be in town Thursday as part of his nationwide Polar Bear Survival Tour.

His talk will focus on the horrific affects of climate change on the Arctic. Kister  went on a a 700-mile bakpacking trek through the refuge and bore witness to crumbling native villages and dwindling numbers of polar bears, walruses and seals. The speed at which change from warming is taking place is alarming, he says.

"The main thing is we need to be moving much, much faster to better energy efficiency, solar and wind energy and other alternative energy, Kister said.

The program is free and open to the public. Here's the details:

Who: Chad Kister

What: Polar Bear Survival Tour

When: 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday

Where: East Bakersfield Veterans Hall, 2101 Ridge Rd

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I was buying a soda at the convenient store across the street from the newspaper yesterday when I spied this citrus variety in the fruit basket next to the cash register. 

The cashier owner told me it was a crossed lemon/orange. A guy in line behind me insisted it was a tangelo, but it did look like a lemon and I was intrigued. So I bought it and decided to find out for myself.

It indeed had a lemony and tart taste,  with a hint of orange flavor and an orange-colored rind. I had fun playing tricks on people around the office, offering "a piece of orange" then watching their faces scrunch in sour anguish.

But who knew such a fruit existed?!? So I went back to the store, bought the last two and my obsession since then has been figuring out what it is. (When I asked the store owner where he got it, he said, "Ahhh, that's a secret.")

But I think I found it. It appears to be a Meyer lemon, according to my research, which is indeed a hybrid lemon/orange. (I've started calling it a lemorange but my boyfriend suggested the much cuter lemontine.) It's apparently native to China but is now grown in California as well.

Can anyone corroborate or debunk my findings? Have you heard of this before?

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I'm looking for some tips on growing vegetables in my backyard.

My parents are big gardener and when I lived close to home in upstate New York, my dad gave me a potted tomato plant every year. Now that I'm here, I've decided to try  my own hand at growing some veggies but the climate is so different, I need some advice.

Here's what I've got (see the slideshow to the right):

• 2 tomato plants (an heirloom and early girl)
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 cucumber
• 2 lettuce bunches
• 2 ever-bearing strawberry

The guy at Target's Garden Center said the soil in Bakersfield is not so great and suggested I plant them in pots with some good garden soil. So I did that this weekend. Things seem OK so far but here are my questions:

• Is it OK to leave these plants in full sun? Should any be pulled into a partially shaded area?
• Any suggestions on watering? I've been giving them a good soak at night and in the morning. Is that too much?
• We found a piece of lattice in our garage (we rent so we have lots of stray objects lying around) and I wondered if that might work for the tomatoes and cucumbers instead of using a dowel or cage. Any thoughts?

Any other tips would be greatly appreciated!

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Sure, the kit fox is a cute but what about the blunt-nosed leopard lizard or the giant kangaroo rat?

And while the California jewelflower is lovely and delicate can the same be said for Bakersfield saltbush or the herb called Hoover's wooly star?

In writing today's piece on mounting concerns about endangered species in Bakersfield, an editor asked me why people should care about the endangered Bakersfield cactus. It may sound trite but it's an important question in the news business, since our stories should explain why an issue is important to readers.

So I asked around and here's a couple responses I got:

Ellen Cypher, Fish and Game botanist:  We're stewards of this species for future generations. We don't know what role these species play in the ecosystem so we're worried about tinkering with it. And it's something we should be proud of. It's got the name of our city. It's part of our unique heritage. It's here and nowhere else.

Babak Naficy, attorney who has represented Kern-Kaweah Sierra Club: Apart from the moral imperative that this isn't ours to do with what we want, i think biodiversity is something that's inherently important to maintaining a healthy ecosystem. There's an emerging believe that we can't remove arbitrarily pieces of the web without undermining the integrity of the whole web.

Do you agree or disagree? Do you have a better reason for why we should care or not care?