A blog about News.
|
Whatever happened to the decorum and civility at graduation ceremonies? Reporter transported back to Mesozoic Era in fun dinosaur show at Rabobank Arena Latest Charles Manson prison photo The navel fluff phenomenon explained Today's youth more into music than sex Cancel Christmas: The date's all wrong, say scientists Smile, it's good for me You know the economy sucks when ... GM boss pleads poverty, eats at Quiznos Depressing Christmas cards 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 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 December 08 January 09 February 09 March 09 April 09 May 09 June 09 July 09 August 09 September 09 October 09 November 09 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 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    Share!
|
|
|
The Bakersfield Police Department Shooting Review board ruled Friday that Sergeant Jon Scott was legally justified in shooting at four suspected armed robbery suspects on Sunday, but he violated department policy by shooting too close to an occupied building.
Police said Scott "used poor judgment in the discharge of his firearm within close proximity of an occupied residential complex."
Scott missed hitting a suspect who ran away from a car following a high-speed chase and...
Washington Post reporter Annie Groer wrote a story about people who provide services in your home.
The list includes painters, carpenters, movers, house cleaners, air conditioning service people, appliance repair people, pizza delivery guys, window washers, interior decorators, lawn care workers and plumbers.
It was plumbers that shot my blood temp up.
I'm figuring the cost of plumbers includes a tip and a bank roll for his kid's college education. The air conditioning guys...
The median price of an existing home sold in August dropped to $225,000, 1.7 percent below August 2005.
It marked the first year-over-year price decline in more than 11 years, Associated Press reported.
The same story said sales of existing homes fell for the fifth consecutive month.
I say whoopee!
Housing prices are so artifical that it makes me wonder how collectively stupid people have to be to let that get so out of hand.
Unlike anything else, housing prices have almost no...
Carolyn Hax, whose advice column runs in the Sunday paper, is one of my favorite features.
This last week a woman wrote her complaining that after six weeks of dating a man, he broke up with her by e-mail because she didn't offer to pay half of the dinner bill.
Carolyn sort of ragged on the guy for breaking up by e-mail. I have to tell you I did that once, but it was after one date with a woman whose three children delayed our first date by a month and then one of her kids interrupted...
Sometimes your children make bad choices and it is the role of a parent to step in and take charge.
That's what a Maine couple is accused of doing Friday by allegedly kidnapping their 19-year-old daughter and forcing her to go to New York to have an abortion.
Their hometown sheriff, Mark Dion of Cumberland County, said Lola and Nicholas Kampf were upset that their daughter, Katelyn, became pregnant by a black man.
The Kampfs are white. The couple — he, 54, and...
Twins Lamb and Lynx Gaede, the 14-year-old singers known as Prussian Blue, said on the Inga Barks radio show that their white nationalist views are "civilized," not extreme.
The girls who were on the show with their mother, April Gaede, said, "We don't hate people. It would be pretty retarded to hate someone because of the color of their skin."
Lamb Gaede, who did most of the talking until she deferred to her mother on Holocaust questions, said Asians are very smart...
Swallow this if you can.
Restaurants charge mandatory tips.
At 20 percent.
Making tips a part of the bill is being proposed by some waiters.
Fairtip.org founder Yakup Ulutas, a former waiter and now restaurant manager Atlanta, wants eateries to implement an automatic 20 percent service fee to replace the current practice of tipping.
An Associated Press story noted that such a procedure would be preferable to one incident in which a waiter, unhappy with a small tipper, rushed...
Prosecutors have confirmed that the Bakersfield beating of a Centennial High School freshman girl was posted on MySpace.com.
Five teens, ages 15 and 16, have denied felony charges in Kern County Juvenile Court.
But what a concept.
First the incident has led to charges such as torture, assault with a deadly weapon and dissuading a witness.
Secondly, it was videotaped.
Lastly, it was broadcast on MySpace.com.
Isn't that special that a beating was videotaped and then posted on...
Pamela Yip of the Dallas Morning News wrote a story about how the 401 (k) is transforming.
It says that the average 401 (k) balance is $62,500.
There is some talk about making 401 (k)s more automatic and universal, and assuring company matches.
But my question is — does anyone live on these things? How much money do you have to have in it to get any kind of decent return for your retirement?
The story says 401 (k)s were set up as a supplemental pension plan. That implies...
The events and ramifications of 9/11 are so widespread and encompassing that all of our lives have felt its impact.
It's there every time we travel. It's there on every news report about the deaths in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania.
And we see the survivors -- adults and children, who are battling with grief, lung problems and nightmares.
America is trying to recover and cope.
It's hard to see if there is an end, except for time and new generations — who...
The other day I turned on The Golf Channel and tried to learn how to use my new cell phone.
I couldn't do it. Had to put Tiger Woods on mute.
My daughter would tell me I'm just incompetent. She can study and watch tv or listen to music and do great.
But a study at UCLA found that the ruckus of such multitasking may make them learn less, and to use the wrong parts of their brains to store information, the Washington Post reported.
(story is on page A2 of 9/7 edition of The...
Reporter James Burger has detailed a proposal to drill exploratory wells at Lake Ming.
If they are successful, up to 30 wells could be located as close as 300 feet from the lake's shoreline.
I know we're used to oil wells all over the city, but I'm willing to buy a little more oil from the Middle East than to mess up one of the prettier places around.
What do you think?
Posted by Steve E. Swenson
I take some pride that my desk doesn't resemble the cleanliness and organization of an insurance office.
There's nothing really gross. It's just not tidy.
The foregoing slob issue comes from reporter Fredrick Kunkle of The Washington Post who wrote about people leaving messes in beach rental properties.
I treat property that I rent much better than my desk. Other than an unmade bed in a hotel room, I leave it as good or better than when I arrived.
Apparently, some people aren't so...
Californian reporter Stacey Shepard has written a story about fundraising for schools.
We all know what she's talking about. We've all been there.
The school year is less than a month old, and already the pitches are up for cookie dough, gift wrap, candy bars and candles.
The targets — family, neighbors, co-workers of the parents, church members.
How do you feel about all this pressure to either raise money or to empty your pocketbooks?
Posted by Steve E. Swenson...
What do you suppose the percentage is of adults who use coupons to shop?
An astounding 75 percent!
This question was asked at the morning news budget meeting where a few of the dozen people at the table copped to this practice.
Executive Editor Mike Jenner seized the moment. "Buy the newspaper," he declared, noting it was a great source for coupons.
Joann Klimkiewicz of the Hartford Courant wrote a couple stories linked above on this subject. She reported coupon clippers...
A British film that depicts the assassination of President Bush is causing an uproar in Britain where nearly every British newspaper carried photos from it.
A story by Kevin Sullivan of The Washington Post said the television film, "Death of a President" shows an eerily realistic depiction of an October 2007 assassination of the American president.
Peter Dale, head of More4, the television channel that will broadcast the film next month, defended the film as a serious and...
|
