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Duck attack horrible, but tragedy is in youths He gave her the White House for celebration Recalls should be last resort, not first Barnett's views shouldn't be fodder for obsessive media High school district admits Bible blunder Gay marriage ruling an act of judicial tyranny Theft a wake-up call to give blood Two propositions, two very different promises Film evolves from lack of scientific freedom Weir drama shows we're selective in our outrage 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 Blog RollAsk The Californian Editorials Entertainment Eye of Bakersfield Faith Forum Fired Up! Inside Sports Neighbors Right Thinking Sound Off Talk of the Town 
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Once upon a time Manuel Carrizalez was a tough-talking, heroin-shooting, drug-peddling participant in Bakersfield's growing gang problem.
Manuel Carrizalez in 2004.
Now he's part of the solution.
The baby-faced former gang member was on hand Monday night when county supervisors and City Council members jointly approved an ambitious plan to run gangs out of Kern County.
It's been a long time coming, says Carrizalez, director of Stay Focused Ministries, a mentoring...
Where's a nanny when you need one? Lawmakers in recent years have produced a host of buttinsky bills intended to protect kids against everything from a parent-issued swat on the fanny to the faintest whiff of secondhand smoke, but when it comes to restricting online porn -- something parents can really use help with -- they lose to the courts almost every time.
It happened again last week when a federal judge in Philadelphia ruled the 1998 Children's Online Protection Act -- a law that...
It appears the inmates at some of our many fine correctional institutions here in California are not altogether happy with their current working
conditions.
Turns out the pay really stinks.
The wages are nothing short of scandalous, according to J. Tony Serra, a Bay Area attorney and former inmate of the federal prison camp at Lompoc, who is now suing the U.S. Bureau of Prisons over inmate pay.
Serra, who earned 19 cents an hour as an inmate, but is back at work after serving nine...
It's maddening to stand by and watch when others publicly mock the standards and values many of us hold dear, especially when they're doing it just because they can.
But a stand-and-watch attitude is likely what the U.S. Supreme Court will insist high school principals adopt the next time one of their students chooses to make an idiot out of himself in the name of free speech.
And so they should.
On Monday, such a case came before the court, which is expected to decide just how far the...
Admit it, Bakersfield. We blew it. With our votes last November, we told city, county and state officials we don't care enough about our roads to support the construction of new ones or even the upkeep of those we already have.
That's the message we sent when we failed to pass the half-cent sales tax measure in what I suspect was a case of knee-jerk resistance to absolutely any new tax.
Exasperated local officials too polite to come right out and say that now want to know what it is,...
As part of its ongoing effort to marginalize people of faith in California, the infamous 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday refused to reconsider the case of Hattie Mae Hopkins and her Faith Center Church Evangelical Ministries in Antioch.
It seems the Rev. Hopkins and her congregants reserved one of the Contra Costa County Library's community meeting rooms for a four-hour session, but when the library staffers discovered what was going on -- prayer and worship, of all things -- they...
Some years ago I caught a segment of the news show "60 Minutes" in which two editors of The National Enquirer were forced to admit they had
made up published stories about a well-known celebrity.
That a supermarket tabloid would fabricate stories was no surprise, but what really bothered me was that both the editors happened to be Scottish, a nationality I share.
It's always a blow when those we identify with commit a dishonorable act, which is why the stinging...
Christy Scott has fond memories of her years at Cal State Bakersfield where, back in the mid-1990s, annihilating opponents on the volleyball court was the joy of her days.
Photos:
Photo by Felix Adamo
A natural athlete and fierce competitor, Scott never minded those years before college when club play -- still considered a must for serious high school players -- kept her on the road or in the gym for several months of the year.
But that was then. Now a mother of two fledgling...
The buttinskies up in Sacramento are at it again, this week serving up a bill that would start a $500 savings account for every baby born in California.
That's right -- $500 for each baby born after Jan. 1, 2008, regardless of their parents' income or immigration status.
The measure, Senate Bill 752, is stunning in its scope, timing and stupidity. Introduced when illegal immigration and budget deficits are the state's hottest issues, the bill seeks to increase California's...
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