I manage the Myspace page for Bakersfield.com and I had a friend request from "Gillian Maxim Hometown Hottie Finalist 2007."

Being curious, I clicked around to find out some more. To my surprise a Bakersfield girl is in Maxim Magazine's Hometown Hottie Top Ten Finalists. Gillian needs votes to win.

If anyone says there aren't hot girls in Bakersfield, I guess this proves them wrong.

--Mary Russo

The Hanford Sentinel is reporting that former Bakersfield Assistant City Manager Alan Christensen is facing criminal charges related to his short tenure as Hanford City Manager.

Christensen left Bakersfield in 2006 to take the top job in Hanford. Nine months later he left Hanford too.  Here's some details from the Sentinel story:

"Christensen faces two misdemeanor charges stemming from falsifying "a request for payment" and grand theft for illegally claiming $1,000 in city money in December 2006, according to documents filed with the Kings County Superior Court on Aug. 29.

The information was not available through the court until Tuesday.

Details of the allegations were sketchy this week, as prosecutors declined to discuss the specifics.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Reinhart said he would refrain from disclosing the specifics of the case until Christensen's arraignment. Reinhart said the investigation was handled by a state agency.

"The case was investigated by the California Department of Justice and their investigators," said Reinhart. "The case was then reviewed by the Attorney General's Office, and it was sent to us for prosecution. Until he makes an appearance, that's the only thing I can say."

Christensen, 45, is scheduled to appear in court for arraignment on Sept. 20."

-- Davin McHenry, web editor

File this under Tehachapi-sphere: Seems there's a business up in Tehachapi called Java Mama's that is pushing the concept of adding a little sugar in your coffee.

According to "A Tehachapi Business Owner" posting on TehachapiNews.com, the coffee at Java Mama's is being served by employees in bikinis (it's not clear, but I presume the staffer was a woman).

The "business owner" to his/her credit has tempered the usual histrionic response and posted a thoughtful response that tries to break down the issue from a business and marketing perspective (the thoughtful "business owner" even includes a photo of a proposed alternative uniform that covers more skin but remains far from normal office attire; sorry, I'm gonna make you click through to see it).

As I write this, the post has 119 views and zero comments. Has life in Tehachapi become so wild that this is a yawner?

--Logan Molen

This is kind of a cool site -- if you've got extra change and a flexible schedule: OneSky Jets has all kinds of charter flights out of Bakersfield.

Just go to the site, put "BFL" into the search field (BFL is the FAA designation for Meadows Field) and see what comes up.

As I write this, I'm seeing a flight to Tahiti leaving sometime between 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5 and 10:12 p.m. Thursday. A flight to Eagle, Colo., on a Beechjet 400A also is set to leave on Wednesday. A flight to Knoxville, Tenn., on a Hawker 800XP is set to leave the next day.

All of my searches didn't turn up any pricing -- you have to submit info to get a quote. But just remember this the next time you and your buddies dream up a road trip. If you pool your money, a charter flight may not break the bank.

Has anyone out in the Bakosphere used this service?

--Logan Molen