|
Who should pay for development? Get 17-year-olds involved Keep July 4th safe, legal, fun Doctor’s stroke, community’s tragedy California is going up in flames Talk’s cheap, but campaigns aren’t Move on, Bruce Sons Time to weigh in on our future Put leeches to work Find the will to ‘fix’ homelessness June 06 July 06 August 06 September 06 October 06 November 06 December 06 January 07 February 07 March 07 April 07 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 June 06 May 06 April 06 March 06 February 06 January 06 December 05 November 05 October 05 September 05 August 05 July 05 June 05 May 05 April 05 March 05 February 05 Blog RollAsk The Californian Editorials Entertainment Eye of Bakersfield Faith Forum Fired Up! Inside Sports Neighbors Right Thinking Sound Off Talk of the Town 
RSS 2.0    |
|
|
PUBLISHED 10-2-2006
Chill out, dude. When will this stupid sand fight end? Bickering between Huntington Beach and Santa Cruz has taken an ugly twist, leaving many onlookers wondering: Don’t these folks have something better to do?
The dispute is over which city can market itself “Surf City, USA.”
Huntington Beach wants to claim the title, contending surfing in California began in 1910 in the city. Santa Cruz claims its surfing history dates back to 1885, when three...
PUBLISHED 10-2-2006
Most residents of Kern County recall with pride the suborbital flight of Burt Rutan’s privately funded SpaceShipOne from Mojave Airport two years ago.
But only aerospace fans probably remember that 50 years ago, not far from where Rutan’s venture took place, two pioneering suborbital flights also took wing.
Without them, neither Rutan’s nor NASA’s manned space flights could have occurred.
In September 1956 the then...
PUBLISHED 10-1-2006
It’s time to patch the potholes. It’s time to unsnarl the traffic jams. It’s time to make Kern County roads safer.
Measure I on the November ballot will help do that.
It will raise the local sales tax just one-half of one percent — from 7.25 percent to 7.75 percent — to provide much needed money for local road improvements.
It’s a small amount — estimated to cost an average Kern County family less than $200 a...
PUBLISHED 9/28/2006
Kids will be kids. But when several kids gang up on one kid, cause injuries requiring emergency room treatment and are so brutal that they boastfully videotape the beating, kids need to be harshly punished.
Five Centennial High School students are scheduled to be sentenced next week after entering into plea agreements following the videotaped beating of a 14-year-old freshman girl.
The plea agreement reduced the criminal charges — which included torture,...
PUBLISHED 9/28/2006
Wal-Mart and Target chains’ decision to slash the price of some generic drugs to as low as $4 per month per prescription is huge. The two stores’ combined clout could have enormous impacts on the industry and consumers.
There are some questions:
• Which 300 of the approximately 9,000 generic drugs will be offered?
• Will the generics be only older ones that may be less effective than more recently approved drugs?
• Will there...
PUBLISHED 9-27-06
Few districts are more deserving than the Bakersfield City School District of voter support for its proposed $100 million bond issue, Measure G.
If passed by voters, Measure G will allow the 28,000-student district to qualify for an additional $57 million in matching state funds to modernize all of its existing 42 schools and fund three new ones.
Especially targeted for upgrades in health, safety and security are schools that have not previously been improved. They...
PUBLISHED 9-26-2006
Proposition 83, the Sexually Violent Predators Initiative, should be passed by voters despite its complexity, flaws and expense to implement.
Proposition 83 better categorizes a variety of especially heinous sex crimes, plugs holes in current laws dealing with many types of felony sex offenses and more sensibly sentences sentences than present laws do.
The most supportable of its many aspects deals with the worst kinds of violent sex crimes against our most...
PUBLISHED 9/26/06
Don’t go to a plastic surgeon to fix your earmarks. Earmarks are blemishes on the body politic, not on yours. Earmarks are the trendy name for what at various times have been called “demonstration projects” and “pork.”
They are funds set aside by Congress for members to dole out in their districts or to favored interests.
By themselves earmark-funded projects are not necessarily bad. They can be used for worthwhile programs that...
PUBLISHED 9-24-2006
It has been a long road to travel to reach this point in creating an off-highway vehicle park north of Bakersfield. The journey must continue until the Bakersfield State Vehicle Recreation Area is a reality.
The most remarkable aspect of the journey, so far, is the group of people who traveled together.
They included representatives of groups that most often vehemently disagree — environmentalists, off-highway vehicle enthusiasts, land owners, and...
PUBLISHED 9/25/2006
Personal responsibility, common sense and courtesy are essential to keeping the Kern River Parkway’s bike path one of Bakersfield’s great amenities.
A serious back injury suffered by a pedestrian after she was struck by a bicyclist last month demonstrates the need for greater vigilance along the increasingly popular multi-use facility.
Bicyclists are not the only users of the pathway. It is popular with joggers, pedestrians, skateboarders, parents with...
PUBLISHED 9/25/2006
The “new” or “reform” math programs launched in the 1980s didn’t add up.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics now recommends that schools focus on fundamentals such as multiplication and long division in early grades.
For years, teaching experts said it was important for students to grasp the concepts of math, even if they don’t get the right answers to problems. They contended that was more important than being...
PUBLISHED 9-22-06
Bakersfield city officials need to understand the meaning of “no.”
For years, the city has applied for and received millions of dollars in Federal Aviation Administration funds to improve Bakersfield’s airpark on South Union Avenue.
And as they were scooping up the FAA money and signing off on longterm operating agreements with the federal government, city officials were grousing about being saddled with what some called an eyesore and blight on...
PUBLISHED 9-21-2006
“The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism. To redefine Common Article 3 would add to those doubts.”
— Gen. Colin L. Powell (Ret.)
in a letter to Sen. John McCain.
------------------------------------------
In the face of overwhelming opposition to his policy on treatment of detainees, President Bush says he will send to Congress proposals for rules governing detention and trials of alleged terrorists.
...
PUBLISHED 9-21-2006
Kern Medical Center is one of Kern County’s most vital public resources, but it is also threatened.
Looming changes in federal and state funding will complicate financial and structural problems the hospital has faced for years.
Possible solutions will be the topic of a daylong health care summit Monday at 9 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors chambers, 1115 Truxtun Ave.
Experts in public hospital operations, community leaders, members of the medical...
PUBLISHED 9-20-06
With most problems, if you work together, you have a better chance of solving them.
Monday’s joint meeting of the Kern County Board of Supervisors and the Bakersfield City Council is proof of that.
Years ago, these two government bodies squandered their time bickering and undermining each other.
Today they meet at least twice a year in joint sessions to discuss mutual problems in metropolitan Bakersfield and commit to working together to fix them.
As the...
PUBLISHED 9-20-06
What happened to immigration reform? Real reform, we mean. Remember the street-clogging protest marches, the congressional “hearings” that were more scripted theater than a search for substance? What happened to the commitment to comprehensive reform?
The Senate may vote as early as today on the House of Representatives’ proposal to build 700 miles of new fencing along the Mexican border.
What is unforgivable is that Congress has failed to...
PUBLISHED 9/18/2006
Private business has just become the public’s business at Bakersfield City Council meetings.
During the portion of last week’s meeting reserved for City Council member comments, Ward 6 Councilwoman Jacquie Sullivan responded to a lawsuit recently filed by a tenant complaining of Sullivan’s alleged dilapidated rental property.
To her council colleagues, city staff, people sitting in the City Hall audience and thousands watching the meeting being...
PUBLISHED 9/18/2006
Prompted by the increased popularity of online social sites, UC Berkeley encourages incoming freshmen to attend special workshops before receiving Internet use in their dorm rooms.
Online sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, which showcase users’ personal information, expose students to potential dangers, including identity theft.
These Web sites can also jeopardize students’ futures. Employers now regularly scour the Internet, searching for...
PUBLISHED 9/17/2006
It was quite the scene. FBI agents stood on corners, their automatic weapons ready to fire. Overhead, a helicopter circled. Traffic was redirected, while U.S. marshals escorted their prisoner into a temporary downtown federal courtroom.
It was the arraignment earlier this month of a Bakersfield man accused of conspiring to acquire U.S. defense secrets, steal military items and sell them in Yemen. Law enforcement was treating the suspect as a danger to U.S. security....
PUBLISHED 9-15-06
The drama and criminal investigations swirling around the infighting among Hewlett-Packard’s board members makes sensational reading.
But unless you own HP stock, you may believe it’s nothing more than a corporate soap opera.
Think again. The scandal is shedding light on a shady industry that can — and does — touch ordinary people. The industry is pretexting.
It’s a deceptive scheme to illegally obtain private information about the...
PUBLISHED 9-14-06
Were Democrats stupid or criminal? An investigation by the California Highway Patrol will likely settle that question.
Was Gov. Schwarzenegger violated by a computer hacker, or was this just another example of the state’s inept handling of sensitive data? Maybe the CHP probe will answer that question, as well.
But a couple of things we know for sure:
• Our very own Republican Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy — or as he is known around the...
PUBLISHED 9-14-06
Enough with the voter fraud. The pay-as-you-go system for collecting signatures on initiative petitions and registering people to vote promotes fraud.
The latest example is a case out of Southern California being investigated by Secretary of State Bruce McPherson.
Several Republican voter registration workers allegedly created fake individuals in documents submitted to the state’s Republican Party. An internal review caught the fraudulent names and the...
PUBLISHED 9-12-2006
California’s members of the House of Representatives, including those who represent Kern County, should support S2590, a bill by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma that will give taxpayers a way to monitor federal spending.
The bill gives Americans the right to see how their tax dollars are being spent more easily. It passed the Senate and in substantially similar form is due for a vote in the House, perhaps as early as today.
The Federal Funding...
PUBLISHED 9-12-2006
The sunshine bill pending before the House of Representatives that would give taxpayers easier access to critical budget information almost didn’t see the light of day.
Why? There’s an insidious little parliamentary procedure unique to the Senate called a “hold.” As a matter of personal privilege, a senator can anonymously block consideration of legislation, such as S2590, or a nomination to high office.
It’s not in the...
PUBLISHED 9-11-2006
Sept. 11 has etched the memories of Americans in the same manner as the attack on Pearl Harbor did an earlier generation. But there is a difference this time. It is the degree of domestic politicization and divisiveness stemming from the war on terror.
Earlier traumatic events have had their share of domestic recriminations. But the meanness of arguments related to the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., are more intense and the motivations more suspect....
PUBLISHED 9-10-2006
Two down and more to go. How many people must die before Bakersfield city officials do what is right, instead of just what is legally required?
City officials must make the new Park at River Walk on Stockdale Highway safer for all of us to use — even safer for those who are so foolish or so young that they are tempted to swim in the park’s two lakes.
July 1, Jasmine Korin, 8, died after she was pulled from the water of a lake at the park.
...
PUBLISHED 9-10-2006
Drowning is the leading cause of children’s deaths in California and throughout the nation.
While most of the drownings occur in backyard pools, local waterways are plagued by these tragedies. Two deaths occurred recently in a lake in Bakersfield’s new Park at River Walk on Stockdale Highway.
Rescue crews routinely respond to tragedies at Kern County parks, including Buena Vista Aquatic Recreation Area, Hart Park and Lake Woollomes.
The lure...
PUBLISHED 09-08-06
The shroud of secrecy covering police misconduct is nearly total following a ruling by the state Supreme Court.
The court ruled Aug. 31 that the public has no right to information regarding police officer discipline during administrative appeals, including those before civil service commissions and police review boards.
The case involved a San Diego County sheriff deputy’s appeal to a civil service commission after his termination resulting from a...
PUBLISHED 9-07-06
A hit-and-run accident that critically injured a Bakersfield child at a popular mountain lake near Fresno has renewed calls for improving boating safety.
Our prayers go out to 11-year-old Dallen McEntire, who was being towed on a kneeboard behind his father’s boat on Shaver Lake last weekend.
Bakersfield Fire Capt. Jeff McEntire said he was heading toward shore when he saw another boat coming at him. He tried to get the other boater’s attention, but the...
PUBLISHED 9-07-06
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should sign a bill that makes a small but vital change in information farmworkers are given about their employment.
AB 2327 by Assemblyman Juan Arambula, D-Fresno, would require pay stubs of farmworkers hired by a labor contractor to list the name and address of the contracting grower.
As Arambula — a one-time farmworker himself — put it, “It’s a very modest Band-Aid.” He might have added that it is no...
PUBLISHED 9-06-6
Bakersfield City planning commissioners are being asked to help create a legacy in northeast Bakersfield that will serve city residents for generations to come.
When they convene Thursday night, they will make recommendations regarding a proposed ordinance that will set building standards to preserve the integrity of the hills, valleys and bluffs that make northeast Bakersfield unique.
They will be asked to protect future homeowners and city taxpayers from hillside...
PUBLISHED 9-6-06
Oh, puhleezze. How childish can you get? “I did it!” “No, I did it!” &nb sp; &nbs p;
We really don’t care who did it. We are just happy that someone convinced Democrat Senate Leader Don Perata to quit blocking a bill that would reimburse counties, including Kern, $38.8 million for the cost of conducting last year’s disastrous special election....
PUBLISHED 9-5-2006
In the aftermath of the disastrous crude oil leak in British Petroleum’s North Slope pipelines, questions arise:
Can it happen here?
Yes.
What can be done to stop it?
There have been accidents here in California, even though experts say California has good regulations in place. They may not be enough.
As the investigation into the Alaska case — and explosions and spills that have occurred in California demonstrate —...
PUBLISHED 9-5-2006
California cigarette smokers who buy their cigarettes online are about to get burned.
Many smokers purchase their cigarettes online in an effort to save money; if they buy from out-of-state Internet and mail-order vendors, they don’t have to pay these vendors sales and excise taxes. The state, however, is not amused.
Fed up with the lack of revenue these taxes provide, state tax collectors are cracking down on these purchases. They are planning on...
PUBLISHED 9-3-2006
The biggest expansion of gambling since California voters gave Indians an exclusive on casinos in the 1990s was derailed by legislators last week.
Californians should be relieved by the delay.
Five proposed Indian gaming compacts negotiated by the Schwarzenegger administration were shelved when legislators ended their session without giving their approval.
The compacts are expected to be considered again when the Legislature reconvenes briefly in December,...
PUBLISHED 9-3-2006
According to the American Psychiatric Association, the following are signs that you may have a gambling problem:
• You have a preoccupation with gambling — reliving gambling experiences; planning next ventures; scheming to get money for gambling.
• A need to gamble with increasing amounts of money fulfills your need for excitement.
• Repeated efforts to control your gambling are unsuccessful.
• You become restless or irritable when...
PUBLISHED 9-4-2006
“Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country. ... other holidays are more or less ... connected with conflicts and battles of man’s prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day ... is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation.”
— Samuel Gompers,
founder, American
Federation of Labor
...
|
