With unemployment up, wages falling and even the inflated salaries of CEOs hitting the skids, you might think it’s a bad time to give the boss a nice fat raise.

Especially when the boss is paid from your tax dollars.

But on Thursday — over the strong objections of two trustees — the board of directors for taxpayer-funded Kern Health Systems voted 7-2 to give the agency’s chief executive a raise of more than $13,000.

The raise, which will increase CEO Carol Sorrell’s base pay to more than $283,000, doesn’t include the more than $40,000 Sorrell could receive through the 15 percent bonus she takes home annually.

Kern Health Systems is a nonprofit insurance company created by the Kern County Board of Supervisors but independently operated that manages the delivery of Medi-Cal benefits and health care to poor county citizens.

“We are a government agency and every dollar we get comes from another government agency,” said Al Wagner, one of two members of the Kern Health Systems governing board who voted against the raise.

Wagner, along with board members Estela Casas and Bernita Jenkins, argued that awarding the raise was unconscionable in this time of economic upheaval when thousands of workers in government and the private sector are losing their jobs, taking pay cuts and doing more with less.

What do you think? Should CEOs of public agencies be landing big raises in tough economic times?

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Let's say a neighborhood pit bull gets loose from its yard, runs down the street, breaks through your backyard gate and attacks and kills your beloved pet.

Is the pit bull "dangerous?"

Not necessarily in the eyes of the law.

For JoAnn Mayfield, the owner of Tucker, a miniature dachshund mauled to death last month by a marauding pit bull, something is wrong with this picture.

Mayfield was getting dressed Oct. 9 when she heard a commotion in her back yard in northeast Bakersfield. When she ran to the door, she found a pit bull shaking Tucker "like a rag doll."

Mayfield and her 82-year-old mother were powerless to rescue the small dog. He died hours later as a veterinarian worked to save him.

The owners of the pit bull got their dog back the same day.

More than 2,400 dog bites have been documented by animal control services in Bakersfield and Kern County since 2007. The worst offenders by far are pit bulls.

So we ask you: Should Kern institute zero tolerance for dog attacks?

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Andy Castaneda could hear the man's screams from several houses away.

By the time he and other neighbors in east Bakersfield arrived Tuesday afternoon, they saw 35-year-old Steven Herrera being attacked and brutally mauled by three pit bulldogs.

"I was four houses down," Castaneda said. "I could hear him screaming, 'Oh God, please somebody help me.'"

When he arrived at the scene, Castaneda, 69, had no weapon, except a hardwood cane.

"The big pit was chewing the man's arm off. It was horrible," Castaneda said of the victim. "I've never seen anything like that."

FULL STORY

With some exceptions, it usually takes two attacks against a human and three against another animal before a dog can be ordered destroyed by authorities.

Are we coddling our four-legged criminals?

Houchin Community Blood Bank invites the community to come out and support a local family desperately in need of a Bone Marrow Transplant.  The event will be held on:

Saturday,  November 7, 2009
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Houchin Blood Bank – 5901 Truxtun Avenue – 323-4222

Mike Person is a local leukemia patient diagnosed in August with Myelodysplastic Syndrome.  He is currently receiving blood and platelets at Memorial Hospital and is receiving chemotherapy treatments every 6 weeks. Kaiser doctors informed the Person family that a Bone Marrow Transplant is needed as soon as possible.

Raised in the Pond/Delano area and now living in Bakersfield, Mike has worked 30 years as a truck driver.

Although he experienced no serious health problems in the past, Mike's  life was turned upside down after hearing the diagnosis in August.  By signing up for the Bone Marrow Registry, you may be found to be a match for Mike — or any number of critically ill individuals in need of this life-saving procedure.

Join the Bone Marrow Registry.
It is a simple procedure.  Just three steps:
1) Watch a short video
2) Complete a health history questionnaire
3) Simply Swab your cheeks! – That’s It! (No Needles)