Men's Health magazine, in another monthly survey, is taking Bakersfield to task for its lack of charitable giving during the holidays.

The magazine gave Bakersfield a D grade and a rank of 78 out of 100 cities nationwide. Our friends in Fresno fared horribly, earning an F and a 97 ranking. Los Angeles was 95th. Yonkers, N.Y., ranked last, while Madison, Wis., earned the only A+.

In determining its rankings, Men's Health measured:

• Which cities account for the largest online donations to charities (as measured by Convio, an online software provider)
• The number of donations to Goodwill for December
• The money collected via the Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign
• Number of toys donated to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation

What do you think of this survey? Do you donate through any of the four paths described above, or otherwise donate time or money during the holidays?

Our friends at KGET have a short story on so-called secret menus at local restaurants. 

Some of those menus -- such as In-N-Out and Jamba Juice -- aren't so secret given that their items are all over the web. In-N-Out's secret menu isn't secret at all, given it has its own webpage. Jamba Juice, to its credit, doesn't appear to have such a page on its site, although there are all kinds of other web references to secret flavors like Gummy Bear and Sour Patch Kid.

But KGET found menu items at four local restaurants -- Lie-N-Den, Sushi Kato, Mama Tosca's and Narducci's -- that's aren't so publicized. 

What "secret" menu items are you aware of at local restaurants?

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Fall brings Friday night football and halftime shows, but for the bands the hard work carries over into Saturdays at weekly local and regional competitions.

The Pep and Pageantry Arts Association of Central California has posted tons of videos from 23 Kern County high school marching bands performing at a variety of recent local competitions, including Saturday's big show at Stockdale High School.

PPAACC also hosts videos from Winter/Spring drumline competitions, which are an indoor version of halftime shows.

As those involved in the grind can attest, these performances are a testament to the hard work, discipline and pageantry that's occurring at local schools big and small.

File this under Mildly Surprising: Bakersfield ranks last among 26 California cities in a so-called Pedestrian Danger Index that measures “the relative risk of walking, adjusted for exposure.”

The rankings from a group called Transportation For America gave Bakersfield a 128.0 score, well above the next worst California city, Stockton, at 112.4, Fresno was the fourth worst, at 92.8. The safest among the 26 cities measured was San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles (15.4).

The scores were calculated by dividing the “average pedestrian fatality rate” (using data from 2007-2008) by the percentage of residents walking to work (data from 2000). The thinking is that cities with higher percentages of people walking to work will naturally have higher fatalitiy rates, so Transportation For America created the Pedestrian Danger Index to compensate for those differences. Clearly the different time frames for the two datasets flaw the accuracy of the rankings. but something tells me that while the score might change, Bakersfield would still rank near the bottom.

Bakersfield’s score was based on 39 pedestrian fatalities in 2007-08 and only 1.9% of workers walking to their jobs.

Incredibly, some cities were far worse than Bakersfield, with Orlando-Kissimmee and Tampa-St. Petersburg both earning scores above 200. Two other Florida cities – Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach and Jacksonville, ranked 3^rd and 4^th. Moral of the story: If you visit Florida, never leave your car.

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West High graduate Ryan Mathews currently leads NCAA Division 1 football in rushing, and at least one member of the media thinks the Fresno State junior deserves serious respect for college sport's top award: The Heisman Trophy, which is awarded to the so-called best player in college football.

Paul Loeffler of KMJ Radio -- the Bulldogs' flagship station in Fresno -- writes:

"Ryan Mathews gets no respect. That's right, the guy who opposing defenses see as danger on the field is the Rodney Dangerfield of college football."

Traditonally, the Heisman has been awarded to athletes at top football schools at or near the top of the rankings. Fresno State is neither, despite periodic ventures in to the Top 20 in recent years, including David Carr's senior season when the Bulldogs cracked the Top 10. So, Mathews realistically has no chance of winning the Heisman, despite having an incredible season.

If there's a consolation, Mathews is a finalist for other awards this season -- including the Maxwell Award as the nation's best player and the Doak Walker Award recognizing the nation's best running back -- but Loeffler maintains Mathews shouldn't be ruled out simply because he's not at a so-called top-tier football school:

"Mathews' results are legitimate and speak for themselves. Comparing apples to apples, he comes out ahead. My advice to Heisman voters? Don't fault Mathews for who he hasn't played. Look at the quality defenses he has gone up against, and how he's outperformed everyone else on those teams' schedules. There are still four games to go in the regular season, but at this point, no one has produced more effectively and consistently for his team as well as Ryan Mathews has."

Do you think Mathews has a chance at the Heisman?