A blog about Technology, News, and Kern County.
Address: 1707 Eye St. Bakersfield, CA 93301 Member Since: May 14, 2007 Last Signed In: November 05, 2009 Profile Views: 2886 Blog Views: 183506 Bakersfield man with colorful record in middle of billion-dollar Chevron dispute Mobile haiku puts Bakersfield in new light Songs do more than namedrop Bakersfield Pedro Martinez taken back to his Bakersfield Dodger days Fresno piles on the hate for Bakersfield Bakersfield man files suit over Sidekick debacle Simulation suggests major SoCal quake could maintain intensity on way to Bakersfield Speaking of office romance ... Local blogger recounts horror of traffic accident Best french fries in Bakersfield? 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 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 December 08 January 09 February 09 March 09 April 09 May 09 June 09 July 09 August 09 September 09 October 09 November 09 Submit your local links to bakosphere@bakersfield.com. Bakersfield Observed CompuDave greener bakersfield 
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By all means give Merle Haggard a standing ovation at his Bakersfield concerts Friday and Saturday night, just don't offer the country music star a post-show Snoop Dogg-type hit of gratitude from your marijuana pipe. According to a Reuters story, Merle is singing better than at any point in his life because he's in the process of giving up his daily pot habit. He used to loosen up before every show with marijuana or tobacco. Merle underwent surgery in November to remove a small cancerous lump in his lung.
Tomorrow's daily poll asks about your go-to hangover cure. Do you get up, pour all the half-inches of alcohol left in the bottom of last night's party glasses into one big mug, and chug it down? Or perhaps a trip to one of Bakersfield's many Mexican restaurants for a steaming bowl of pigs feet and tripe, more commonly referred to as Menudo? Usually a 32-oz Gatorade helps with the dehydration problem, but it's useless for the raging pain between your ears. Many of us will wake up tomorrow morning searching for the ultimate cure. Will you be the one to provide it? It’s New Year’s Eve and that can only mean one thing. Some will pull their party poppers and some will fire their weapons into the air. Bakersfield has ended up on the wrong end of yet another list, this time for being close to the bottom of the most well-read cities. We may not read much, but if there was a list for number of lists appeared on, we'd be pretty darn close to the top. So there. The latest study focused on newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment and Internet resources. The best-read cities are Minneapolis, Seattle, Washington, St Paul and San Francisco; the worst are Anaheim, Bakersfield, Corpus Christi, Stockton and El Paso. Read more here. Or don't. No one expects you to. “Da, da, da, da, da — It’s the one and only D-O double G… Snoop Dogg!” — Jorge Barrientos To read about Snoop’s busy year, go HERE. Only the luckiest employees get to work on Christmas Day. "I've got a news tip," the voice at the other end of the newspaper's main phone line said. "The first baby born on Christmas Day at KMC. That's news, right?" I replied that that was probably bigger news to her than to anybody else, but I took down the newborn's particulars because it seemed like the polite thing to do. Name: Bobby Joseph Garcia Weight: 7 pounds, 7 ounces Length: 19.5 inches. Time of birth: 12:29 p.m. Parents: Patrick and Rachel Garcia. Proud aunt (and caller): CeCe Cross. The author of the blog, Beat Diaspora: Beats, Buses, Bricks, visited Bakersfield recently and drew parallels between Buck's blinged-out Pontiac and rap music's excesses. But it was a visit to the Black Gold exhibit at the Kern County Museum which really got the author going: I choose to live a lifestyle that minimizes the need to use an automobile, although I understand perfectly well that much of America still lives auto-dependent lifestyles. To that extent, Bakersfield seemed no different from most sprawling towns that aren’t quite cities across America. But the blithe disregard about the consumption of gasoline — in short, the historical pride in oil, which as of late has become such an ugly symbol — is to me incomprehensible. Soon (or within the next 100 years) there will be no need to drive to Zingo's for a late-night/early morning chili cheese dog. A commercial design Web site has provided more details on the Padre renovation: The 10-story, 80,000-sq.-ft. project will encompass 112 guest rooms and suites, a restaurant, bar, nightclub lounge, and a 24-hour diner/café. Meeting rooms, as well as sundeck event space, fitness and business centers ... But will it have a woman on a trapeze? Will it? It's always good to be original. That's why tattoos have lost all semblance of chill. As soon as the middle school teacher from Bakersfield got a butterfly tramp stamp, and the real estate agent who fancied himself as a beach volleyballer because he spent a year being unsuccessful in Huntington Beach got a tribal pattern around his bicep, the age of the tattedly-hip rebel was effectively over. But your name can still set you apart as a true one-of-a-kinder. See how many of you there here. What is it with these Bakersfield dogs and their heroic owners? Twice in a matter of months, a local Chihuahua has decided to chew through an electrical cord for the ultimate buzz. And in both cases, the owner was on hand to do whatever it took to revive his plucky pet. The latest heroics occured Wednesday. The owner's aunt called the newspaper on her nephew's behalf. Dale Griffin didn't think anyone would be interested in how he gave mouth to mouth to revive his Chihuahua-mix, Clyde! Reporter Steve Swenson met with Griffin for his story this afternoon. The previous rescue took place in November. Bubba was the name of the lucky Chihuahua in that incident. Ah, those pretty twinkling lights, melodious holiday jingles, young scamps selling hot chocolate to warm the soul. Who doesn't love Haggin Oaks at Christmas time? Er, this guy! "There is no communion with people supposedly living in the Haggin Oaks mansions behind the lights. Supposedly. This night, they were driven away by the megawatt brilliance of their own extravagance. Probably in a hotel room somewhere watching cable TV, looking forward to the day after New Years, wishing they hadn’t set up their display, but unwilling to forego it because they might go unrecognized while Neighbor Bob and his 10,000 light display hogs all the glory. America has been awash in hokiness ever since World War II. People have been trying desperately to mass produce and consume themselves into an oblivion of triviality." A busy Bakersfield Monday for the compulsive eater in your family. For more events, go here. The local TV news station that claims it investigates stories others won't has reported on a real stinker. From Anthony Bailey, Eyewitness News (Ch.29): Flyers have been circulating in Bakersfield recently about a stomach-turning new way to get high. Snopes, the popular and reliable rumor-busting Web site, says the jenkem rumor is false. This photo appeared in our Sports section today. It shows a Bakersfield woman and her family with a deer they had hunted and killed. As far as hunting photos go, it's not that out of the ordinary. A caller to the newsroom a few moments ago wasn't the slightest bit impressed by the "disturbing" photo. "It's actually quite disgusting that this family is smiling together after slaughtering a deer," she said. "It's clearly a disturbing photo that should never have been published in your newspaper." Is she right? When will these listmakers get it? According to a new study from Men's Health and Women's Health magazines Bakersfield is the unhealthiest place for women to live in the entire U.S. The study is based on cancer rates, number of gyms and air quality. These never-ending lists remind us of a soccer chant sang by Chelsea fans when they were very unpopular in the 80s because they had a notorious hooligan element and basically fought everyone they came across. They also weren't doing too well on the field at that time, so they took their frustrations out on visiting spectators. "No one likes us. No one likes us. No one liiiiiiikes us, we don't care. We are Chelsea, super Chelsea. No one liiiiiiikes us, we don't care." We're like Chelsea. No one likes us. And we don't care. So much for Bako and Fresno being indistinguishable in every facet of daily life other than carjackings (they win) and minor league hockey attendance (we win). The Fresno Bee has a story about displaying the "In God We Trust" slogan in city halls (a movement spearheaded of course by our very own motto missionary, Jacquie Sullivan) and how it hasn't caught on in their fine city, or Clovis, or Madera. The headline of their story is a bit vague though, claiming that "'God' motto not catching on in Valley," while the story lists a myriad of Valley locations where the motto has indeed caught on: Porterville, Lemoore, Kerman, Selma, and all 11 Kern cities. The gist of the story seems to be that Fresno is too 'big-city' for such religious or patriotic fervor. And therein lies another difference between out two cities: Bakersfield doesn't claim any illusions of grandeur. We know what we are and for the most part, we're quite happy with it. (And God's on our side!)
Not sure who would pay for this service if it wasn't free, but we're here to help, so give this number a call and chat about the meaning of life, why there are so many single socks in the world, and why Michelle deserved to win the "Biggest Loser." One of our Growth and Economy reporters has been looking into the new Hooters coming to Bakersfield for an Ask The Californian question. She has discovered the exact location and a pretty specific opening date, but it was an interesting titbit from a Hooters official that really caught our attention: In his 19 years with Hooters, Chopski said he’s never gotten as many phone calls about a store that’s not open yet. Condorstown? No, Boobersfield! A typo in the wording for Prop 8 means that Bakersfield resident Patricia Millard is legally banned from marrying her boyfriend. There's lots of layers to this story. Bit like an onion! The location: Seven Oaks Country Club. The event: A work Christmas party. The lure: Free booze. The result: A particularly well-written blog post about dodgy outfits, Coors Light drinkers and ornate, but over the top decor. Enough with the blogs about politics and pets. Time to tell some stories. Bakosphere salutes the author, who in his own words was: "the most fabulous person there."
Poor little Adolf. All he wanted was a birthday cake when he turned 3. (The Gaede twins have nothing on this family) A set of Pennsylvania parents can't understand why a Shop Rite supermarket in their hometown won't personalize a birthday cake to one of their three kids: Adolf Hitler Campbell. The other two kids are JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell. It could have been worse. They could have been banned from performing at the Kern County Fair!
What's one to do when a canine companion dies suddenly and leaves a gaping hole in your heart? Go to a Delano animal shelter and get 27 others to replace him! That's exactly what a Nevada woman did recently and now she's trying to find homes for her new family before her husband gets back tomorrow.
Never mind the driving conditions and the old people rubbing their hands to keep warm when the electricity goes out, what really concerns us are our fine feathered friends who didn't know they were signing on for this when they agreed to live at a local nature preserve! Don't look at the beautiful pictures; think about the chilly sparrows.
There's a Starbucks on every corner. The roads are full of gas-guzzling SUVs. The air is so bad you can't see the mountains. Blah, blah, blah. This is Bakersfield, baby — the land where time stood still! Is that Jack Kerouac's legs dangling out of the box car?
Most legitimate questions posted to the Ask The Californian blog are assigned to a reporter for an answer. Some are so outlandish they deserve special mention on Bakosphere. This is one of those questions: I have recently heard that the Valley Plaza is said to be closing thier doors to the public consumers. Is this true and how and when is this to take place? Thank you for your response. signed concerned citizen Now the elections season is way behind us and silly sign stealing stories are long forgotten, it's time for a new rash of criminal behavior to rear its ugly, costumed head. And it's no coincidence the new crime wave is coming a month after Halloween, when most sane folks have long put away their Magnum P.I. mustaches and Sarah Palin spectacles Bakersfield's recent trend of police impersonation incidents continued Saturday, with the latest suspect showing up to a northwest urgent care center and demanding treatment. Treatment for schizophrenia, perhaps? It's no laughing matter though, as the arrested man, Jason Holmes, carried a gun and wore a bullet-proof vest. His action follows on the heels of a fake cop who kicked in a door and stole a wallet, and another fake cop, or cops, who pulled people over using red and blue flashing lights. It's not exactly a white Monday in Bakersfield, but our neighbors to the east in the Kern River Valley are spoiled with the stuff. Check out these photos from today's snowfall, and find out what the snowy conditions mean for our local skiing/snowboarding resort. But it's not all fun and games. Winter weather often mean hazardous driving conditions. The snow’s coming and that can only mean one thing: Tehachapi wants you to stay the hell away. The Kern County Sheriff’s Office issued the following news release from the staff at the Tehachapi substation: The Frazier Park substation is mildly more accommodating, as evidenced in their news release: In the end, the message appears to be: Look, we live here and it’s our snow. But you’re more than welcome to buy some moose antlers from our stores. One might expect our environmental health boss to put a positive spin on Kern's smelly reputation, but Matt Constantine went a step further in an answer to a reader's question about regulating the odor from dairies on our Ask The Californian blog. “I actually kind of enjoy it." "It reminds me of why I don't live in Los Angeles.” "Dukes of Hazzard" pajamas have never, and will never, go out of style. Love this Christmas pic. After asking Tuesday whether the local gay community would derail our stuttering economy to the point of collapse, it appears we've found the answer. Well we haven't, but facebakersfield has. The new Web site's investigative work has uncovered the following: There was an openly gay unnamed employee of an unnamed downtown business, who according to an anonymous employee, called in gay. “I just don’t think he cared,” the anonymous employee said of the unnamed coworker.
Local law enforcement recruited a bunch of high schoolers to act as decoys and try to buy cigarettes from tobacco sellers. And guess what? Thomas Philip is upset that decals appeared on two KC Sheriff's patrol cars with the slogans, "We'll Kick Your Ass" and "We'll Bite Your Ass." Philip was involved in an altercation with two deputies and while it's true, according to our story, that Philip did indeed have his "Ass" bitten, it's not so clear that his "Ass" was kicked. From Chief Deputy County Counsel Mark Nations' description of the incident: Philip was actually overpowering one of the deputies when another deputy tried to take the fight out of him by using pepper spray, Nations said. The deputy, however, ended up mostly dousing his partner with the spray and a crowd of onlookers had to pull the man to safety. There's a few Web sites out there which search a myriad of sources and pull everything with a Bakersfield or Kern County tag. One of the sources they search is the online photo sharing site, Flickr. Here's our debut Flickr pic of the day. It's amazing how often Hart Park is used as a photo shoot. Californian photographer, Felix Adamo, took this picture of a bumper sticker on a truck driving on Rosedale Highway Tuesday. There was apparently more than one bumper sticker on aforementioned truck. Goodness knows what the other stickers said! This odd video just goes to show that high school has always been awkward. And that BHS hasn't changed much in the last 16 years.
Even colder temperatures than we're experiencing at the moment, coupled with the possibility of upcoming rains, means it might — and we emphasize the word might — snow in Bako next week. Here's some blurbage from the national Weather Service: TURNING MUCH COOLER AND UNSETTLED OVER THE UPCOMING WEEKEND... RELATIVELY MILD WEATHER FOR THE REST OF THE WORK WEEK WILL BE REPLACED BY MUCH COOLER AND UNSETTLED WEATHER OVER THE WEEKEND. A SERIES OF LOW PRESSURE AREAS ARE FORECAST TO DROP SOUTH ALONG THE WEST COAST...WITH THE FIRST ONE REACHING NORTHERN CALIFORNIA SATURDAY. THIS WILL USHER IN THE COOLING TREND...BUT NOT A GREAT DEAL OF PRECIPITATION. A SECOND COLDER AND POTENTIALLY WETTER SYSTEM DROPS DOWN THE COAST SUNDAY...WITH YET ANOTHER MONDAY. SNOW LEVELS WILL FALL SHARPLY SATURDAY...REACHING WELL INTO THE FOOTHILLS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. SNOW LEVELS BY SUNDAY COULD BE AS LOW AS 1500 FEET...AND POSSIBLY AFFECT TRAVEL INTO FOOTHILL AREAS AS WELL AS ANY MOUNTAIN PASSES. WHILE IT IS STILL TO EARLY TO SAY FOR CERTAIN THIS WILL OCCUR...EVERYONE SHOULD PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO LATER FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS WINTER WEATHER. IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO GREATLY AFFECT TRAVEL...NOT ONLY PASSES SUCH AS I-5 OVER THE GRAPEVINE...BUT COASTAL PASSES AS WELL. This song is by the Bakersfield Boogie Boys. Here's a brief article on the band. We're thinking they're from the 80s "We're a rarity for Bakersfield," says bassist Billy Joe Conrad, "because none of us know anyone related to Buck Owens." They've also done a cover of Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee," but the only version we could find was of such low quality it was almost impossible to listen to. Whatever happened to this trio? City workers in Tehachapi already get lovely mountain views and a bit of snow in the winter, and now they'll have an extra day off to enjoy all that the 'land of four seasons' has to offer. As a cost-saving measure (and not because they all fancied a day off every week), the Tehachapi City Council has implemented a four-day workweek for city staff. City hall hours will be extended by an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening on Mondays through Thursdays so frantic Tehachapi residents can take care of urgent business. The extra hours have not been added to keep city workers from feeling guilty when they're playing a round of golf at Horse Thief Country Club every Friday. The measure was meant to go into effect on Jan 1, but city staff worked feverishly to get everything put into place so they could save even more taxpayer money and the new schedule will now commence on Dec. 22. By a huge stroke of luck, now city workers will be off the Friday after Christmas too. Local pharmacists won't have to get high on their own supply because they're already loaded! Bakersfield is the top-paying market for pharmacists, and Bakersfield dentists make more money than their Los Angeles counterparts, according to a new analysis of high-paying jobs across America. Using raw data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the bizjournals study refutes the long-held claim that only America's biggest markets provide the highest-paying jobs. You can read more on the analysis here. Oildale dentists aren't included on the list because their existence hasn't been proven.
Tomorrow is "Day Without A Gay" day, where gays from all over the U.S. are urged to 'call in gay' and not go to work to protest the passage of Prop 8 last month. It's being billed as "a nationwide strike and economic boycott." In this economy, that seems just a little ill-timed. In Bako, according to KERO 23, the local LGBTQ organization plans to collect, "hygiene and non-perishable food items for two local charities" at 10:30 Wednesday morning. Does that mean our gay community is 'calling in gay,' unemployed, working late, or simply taking a break at 10:30? And how does one go about collecting hygiene? The highlights in high school soccer are usually few and far between, but fortunately someone on the Highland sidelines had a video camera running during a recent game when Carlos Placencia stepped up to take a free kick last night against BHS. David Beckham would have been pleased with this effort.
Many years ago when Merle Haggard was released from San Quentin on parole, his parole officer was Jack Wood. Describing Haggard as "affable" and "appreciative," Wood talks about his relationship with Merle and wishes the singer well following his recent surgery. You can read Wood's memories here.
We're sure not every McDonald's in the U.S. is as pristine and perfect as the one in Porterville (which was recently reviewed in the most sickly-sweet style by a college student for an English assignment) but the golden arches must be doing something right. Or is it just that everyone's broke and the dollar menu is too good to pass up regardless of its taste and nutritional value? Whatever, hamburgers are flying off the shelves and Ronald McDonald is still making bank. Well known Frazier Park resident, Gloria "Gigi" Day is recovering in the ICU at Kern Medical Center following a nasty crash on Frazier Mountain Park Road the night before Thanksgiving. By coincidence The Mountain Enterprise (the voice of the mountain communities since 1966) arrived within minutes of the crash and has detailed the incident and provided a compelling account of Day's recovery in its paper and on its Web site. According to the article, Day hs written for The Mountain Enterprise and (in the 1970s) for The Bakersfield Californian. Bakosphere wishes her a continued recovery. You can check on her Gigi's progress here. Fur crying out loud! Just received a call from a Realtor friend who just got a listing for a central Bakersfield home. There are two guinea pigs in the back yard abandoned by the previous owner, he said. If you want them, they're yours. Call the Cope Real Estate Team at 871-2673. The rodents are free. The house is not included. If the guinea pigs were living in a 5-square-foot home that home would be worth $500 in today's market, according to the latest report from appraiser Gary Crabtree. (these are not the actual guinea pigs in the photo) "Covering the stories other Yesterday, the Channel 29/58 combo team posted on its Investigations page a story about Frazier Park residents being upset over the amount of no-burn days they've had to contend with since being lumped in with the same air-quality forecasts of those of us city dwellers in the great valley below. It was remarkably similar to a Frazier Park no-burn day story we ran a few days before.
Bakersfield and its surrounding burgs have long been known for long being stinky. It's not the unwashed masses lining up at Jerry's on a Friday night causing this funk, but rather those smelly beasts we all like carved up on our tables every Sunday ... and Monday and Tuesday, etc. Our dairies provide a great economic boon to the area, but they do smell so. All those farting, burping cows are contributing to the area's nasty air quality and making us shut our windows when we drive past. But if a federal proposal to charge fees for air-polluting animals becomes law, dairy farmers will either be paying huge animal fees or we'll all be eating contaminated cows from England and China and other third-world countries, as Alabama's agricultural commissioner points out. Heck, some of those two-headed cows may end up on the shelf at Vons. That reminds us of a story running around a couple of Christmases ago about the Scottish love affair with turkey legs. The legs are the favorite part of the Christmas turkey for most Scots, so scientists cloned a rare three-legged turkey to satiate demand. Only problem was, no one could catch the turkeys! When the Harv looks for another sister city to align Bakersfield with he could make it much easier for us to remember who the heck we're twinned with by picking a name we can all pronounce. He could even find a city inhabited by the same kind of people who live here. Then if residents from both sides of the world fancied a house swap, it wouldn't be too difficult to fit in. In fact, we're recommending a place in Nottinghamshire, England. And it's name is, you've guessed it — Bakersfield! There's morons living there too. We were quite excited to read this morning about the new owners of Jezabelle's adding men's clothes to their racks. The Lauren Conrad wannabes in their daddy-paid-for BMWs and Ugg boots have lots of choices in Bako's pricey boutiques, but the offerings for gay men or those simply interested in stepping out from Target T-shirts or slacks at the Gap once in a while are scant. That's not to say decent men's fashion in Bakersfield doesn't exist. There's a great store called Guilty which resides timidly in the House of Moseley on Chester Avenue. Seven jeans and Ben Sherman shirts are among the offerings. And the walking stick crowd who would even consider buying a shirt from the Tejon Ranch Collection have H. Walker's (opposite Uricchio's downtown) and Snead's in the Marketplace. But for those of us who have actually sat through an episode of "Stylista" and enjoyed it, the Jezabelle's announcement is nothing but good news. We'll be there ... once the sales start! It's obviously a rough day here following the announcement yesterday that we were laying off 25 employees, including 7 in the newsroom. Our story is here. Here's a media observer's take on the cutbacks. Feel free to comment on the layoffs, but please remember these are our colleagues and our friends. Former Bakersfield High grad and current Washington Redskins cheerleader, Tiffany Bacon, has been selected to cheer at the Pro Bowl. This isn't an excuse to link to lots of pictures of her. Let's ignore for a moment facebakersfield's detective work and subsequent claim that there is more than one bike path beaver. There are far more pressing concerns. Let's name that beaver! This idea came in a phone call to us a few minutes ago from northwest Bakersfield resident, Dallas Walton. He said: "With all the troubles going on in our nation and world, this would lift our spirits." Mr.Walton's suggestion: Big Mac Following Californian photographer Felix Adamo's photos of the bike path beaver yesterday, there is much debate about the number of beavers living in the area and whether they ever left. Apparently, FaceBakersfield.com has been carefully inspecting the trees in the area for a couple of years now, and claims there are at least three of the furry rodents living there. There's also a fuzzy video offered as proof. The grocery store with the porn name opens its first Bakersfield location today and you can follow along with Fresh and Easy's very own live tweets! Go here for instant satisfaction. The locations can be found on our Money Talks blog. One of our Growth and Economy reporters is on location at the store. We'll have a story online as soon as she gets back. We're actually quite aroused, er excited, by Fresh & Easy's arrival. The aisles are too narrow at Trader Joe's, while Lassen's isn't too keen on the gays.
At what age do you stop referring to your best friends as BFFs? That's one of many questions we had when reading this melancholy tale of a birthday weekend that wasn't. The sad details are here. Two days ago on Bakosphere we highlighted, Cade, a shepherd mix with a sad face who was looking for a new home. We were promoting the Pets of the Week section on our new You Report page. Just got this e-mail from the Wasco Animal Shelter: Just wanted to let you know your wish came true, Cade was Adopted today!!!We are so thrilled! And thanks to the newspaper making people more aware that the Wasco shelter exists , someone else came out to the shelter and adopted Erickson!!! And last Sat we had another adoption at PetSmart and when I asked where they had heard about us they said Bakersfield.com....We cannot thank you enough. I cannot express what a difference the paper has made in the lives of the animals at the Wasco shelter. Before you started listing our animals the shelter was lucky to do 1 (one) dog adoption a month out of the shelter, Now there have been 3 in two days. Thank you so much!! We realize it's sort of tacky to blow our own trumpet, but there's nothing better than this type of e-mail to get the day off to a good start. Have a great life, Cade. Got this lovely e-mail from Mary. We're looking forward to co-orporating with her: "Hello, Nice to meet you, how is everything, hope all is well with you. My name is Mary kalo, I found your profile and I picked interest to contact you. I've something very important which I would love to share with you, therefore, would advise you to kindly write me back so that I'll give you details. Waiting anxiously for your anticipated co-orporation. Yours, Mary." It's good for the environment, it purrs like a kitten, and it's free. But the best part of the new downtown electric shuttle is that it comes with a greeter. His name is Mike Butler. Today was the first day for the little, green bus that could. It hums around downtown, stopping at restaurants and shops and places in between. Hop on and enjoy the ride. The shiny hub caps would make Snoop Dogg proud. There's nothing like a bunch of old-timers going on about credit cards and living within your means to make you really depressed. The Washington Post caught up with a group of "Okies," whose families migrated to Bakersfield during the Great Depression, to get their impressions on the current state of the economy. We know it's breakfast, but why no fish and chips at Westchester Bowl? Most aspects of this job are enjoyable (OK, typing in the death notices on a weekend shift is bit of a bummer), but there's one part of it which makes you feel like you're making the slightest difference. Every Monday we list four animals from the local shelters who are in need of a good home. There are thousands, but we only have room for four. Invariably, the profiled animals are the lucky ones. Readers seem to fall in love with their beautiful faces and sad stories. Lia, the poodle mix, was featured today, and this e-mail just came in from the Wasco shelter. "The shelter has been receiving numerous calls about Lia since they opened this morning. She has been adopted. Thank you soo much!!!!" How great is that:) Underneath Lia in today's paper is Cade. That's him in the photo. Perhaps the next e-mail we get from Wasco will be about Cade's new home. You can see more shelter animals at our You Report page. And here's Cade's info: Cade is a 6-to-8-month-old shepherd mix. This handsome pup was turned in to the shelter by his previous owner who had too many dogs. He still has some growing to do, and would love a home with an active family with lots of love to give him. Don’t let his size fool you, he is a gentle fellow and would love to meet you. Two weeks ago we bemoaned the lack of a decent English cucumber. One that would last a week in the fridge without going soft and pathetic at the end. Trips to Young's and Vons and Trader Joe's were all to no avail. But then we were saved by the Saturday morning farmer's market on F street. It was purchased two Saturdays ago and stayed as crisp and hard as the day it came out of the ground. How we rejoiced at this example of locally-grown produce beating all competition. When it was time to throw the final inch away this morning, the words on the packaging came as a surprise: Produce of Mexico. Is this what they mean by 'investigating the stories others won't"? Some salsa splatted on the wall of an east Bakersfield home in the shape of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Eyewitness News rushed out to get the story.
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