ExpressJet is launching a new airline carrier and plans to begin service to Bakersfield and 23 other midsized cities, including Fresno, this spring. The new airline, which plans to add routes that currently do not have non-stop service, has not yet released flight schedules and would not confirm which city or cities it will fly to from Bakersfield.
Does Bakersfield need more airline service?  Whenever I fly out of LAX, I always seem to bump into plenty of people from Bakersfield.  Airport Bus of Bakersfield also seems to be pretty busy.  What do you think?
Read more about ExpressJet coming to Bakersfield here.

Banana Republic will soon add a store at Valley Plaza.
What do you think?
National upscale chains P.F. Chang’s China Bistro and California Pizza Kitchen recently added Bakersfield restaurants. With the addition of a Banana Republic, is Bakersfield starting to attract more high-end offerings? What other stores would you like to see come to Bakersfield?

The Home Depot will move into the long vacant building formerly occupied by Zody’s department store on Ming Avenue near Stine and Akers later this year. Click here to read story.
What do you think about finally having a permanent tenant for the building, which also housed Builders Square?  Was it long overdue?  Had the building become an eyesore?  Will this spark more development of the Ming Avenue corridor?

Does the honeymoon stop after the wedding?
According to a recent poll, unmarried men are four times more likely to purchase jewelry for their girlfriends then married men are to do the same for their wives.The same poll says four out of five married men claim to be "lost" when shopping for jewelry. I guess I'm one of them.
It's kind of a no-win situation. Do you buy something your wife ends up not liking (and then returns or keeps just so she doesn't hurt your feelings)?  Or do you not buy jewelry and have your wife tell you don't treat her the way you did before you were married?
What do you think women?  Do you trust your man to shop for jewelry?

Is Bakersfield's housing market a bubble?  If so, will the bubble burst?
Some national experts say it is inevitable that Bakersfield will have one of the worst housing markets in the nation in 2007 after the local market was one of the hottest in the nation in recent years, propped up by artificially high prices led by investors.  The number of houses on the market increased by about five times in two years and some say so much supply with much less demand will spell doom for the local market.
But many local members of the real estate industry disagree, saying the local market is still strong and the recent slowdown is a natural correction of the market, pointing out that the  housing market had to slow down eventually to allow supply and demand to even out.
What do you think?

Check out what some local real estate professionals say will happen in the local housing market in 2007 in a Californian story: www.bakersfield.com/102/story/93367.html

What do you think of gift cards?  If you're like me, you got a few in your Christmas stocking this year.  Are they a great gift that allows you to go out and buy what you really want or a thoughtless cop-out, a sign the gift giver didn't spend much time looking for gifts for you?
I sent gift cards to several relatives living out of state for Christmas this year (much cheaper than spending almost as much as the gift itself cost to ship it).  If you got gift cards for the holidays, how and when do you plan to use them?

A recent blog about California's minimum wage increase predictably expanded into a discussion about everything from Vietnam, feminism and illegal immigration to Monica Lewinsky.  It also led to debates over the benefits and drawbacks of capitalism.
So why not debate (hopefully in a civil manner) economic paradigms?
What is the best economic system?  What do you think of capitalism?  Is it working here?  Is there room for a mixing of economic models in the U.S.?  Is there something inherently bad or subversive about communism and socialism?  What's wrong with socialized health care?