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Well Bakersfield has dropped two places in the list of the cities with the worst air, according to the American Lung Association.
Los Angeles is back at the top of the list, followed by Pittsburgh. Then us.
You can read more about it here. (The story is technically embargoed until tonight, but Riverside broke the rules.)
Columnist Robert Price shot me an e-mail about the rankings this morning with a very appropriate subject line.
Does this qualify as 'good news?'
-- Davin...
The Californian on Sunday began what will be a continuing series on gangs in Bakersfield.
Gang activity in recent years has reached out to touch almost everyone in Bakersfield, be it graffiti on block walls or a shooting death at Valley Plaza or a southwest neighborhood where people were playing cards in a garage.
This isn't new in Bakersfield. Back when the Bakersfield Dodgers were in town, my wife wanted me to accompany my 9-year-old son to the restroom. I protested he was old...
The Kern High School District Board of Trustees is poised to vote in May on a proposal that could keep as many as 2,000 9th graders from becoming 10th graders.
I'll explain that in a minute. But first, the alarming part of reporter Lisa Schencker's story that will run in Friday's newspaper is that as many as TWO-THIRDS of incoming 9th graders are performing below the 9th grade level when they get to high school.
I may be naive in my ignorance about this, but that's outrageous.
...
Conventional wisdom is that defendants in murder cases should not testify.
The idea is they might hurt themselves when the prosecutor gets done with them.
Vincent Brothers is on trial for his life as he is accused of murdering five members of his family — mother-in-law, wife and three small children.
Until he began testifying on Tuesday, the defense was aimed at punching holes in the prosecution's case.
Then Brothers got on the stand and under friendly questioning, denied...
A call was announced this week to clean up rap lyrics, ridding them on the N-word, bitch and ho.
It's not the first time people have wanted to remove an edge to the lyrics. Back in the early 1990s, the late C. DeLores Tucker began railing against rap's "pornographic filth."
For that, she was vilified by rappers.
On Monday, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, who just two weeks ago was arguing for the rights of rappers to express themselves as artists, did a seeming...
Apparently worrying a lot can hasten your move to casket shopping.
A study says people who worry too much don't live as long as people who take things more in stride.
I deny that this blog has anything to do with my wife. (Don't worry about it, Sweetie)
A Los Angeles Times story says:
In a study to be published in next month's issue of Psychological Science, investigators at Purdue University tracked 1,663 men middle-aged and older over a 12-year period starting in 1988. Regularly...
Morgan Pozgar is 13 years old and she is a champion.
Of text messaging.
She won $25,000!!!!!!!
It was a competition sponsored by LG. That is a cellphone maker, I'm pretty sure, because my phone has an LG on it.
The above-linked story says this, "Bravely risking serious injury, Pozgar typed "Supercalifragilisticexpialidoucious! Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious. If you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious" flawlessly in 15...
A new study says women are paid 80 percent of what men are in their first year after college.
Then it gets worse, falling to 69 percent after 10 years, according to a review of 10,000 people who received bachelor's degrees in 1999 and 2000.
The study was conducted by the American Association of University Women.
Let's acknowledge right away there are issues with pay-gap studies — typically they measure all jobs not the same jobs; women tend not to work as many hours as men nor...
Okay, I'm late on this, but you can still buy a DVD.
In perhaps the most extraordinary television I've ever seen, the Discovery Channel's Planet Earth is stunning and riveting.
The last of the 11-part series which began on March 25, ended Sunday night. I watched three hours of it and had no urge whatsoever to watch something else.
Never-seen-before-footage of a Himalayan snow leopard chasing its prey or a Giant Panda nursing it's young inside a cave were just a couple of the...
On April 11, Alex Baldwin, who has been engaged in a bitter custody dispute with his ex-wife, Kim Basinger, left an enraged voice mail for his 11-year-old daughter, Ireland.
He was very upset that her telephone wasn't on at the time he was supposed to call her. One gets the impression this wasn't the first time.
Baldwin is angry, uses bad language and calls his child names. He got in a dig against Kim.
An Associated Press story says this,
"You don't have the brains or...
If you haven't, what's wrong with you?
Researchers have found workplace stress has decreased 23 percent since 2000.
If that hasn't happened at your place because, for example, there is less people doing more work and your personal life is timed out to the max, then there is something clearly wrong with you and where you work.
DON'T STRESS OUT ABOUT IT!
Do you even believe the research is true?
"I was astounded myself," says Rachelle Canter, a psychologist and career...
As a newsman, this is an easy question.
Of course, it should be published. It's a no brainer.
But the reason I ask is because others feel it should not be published.
News reports say the police weren't happy to see Cho Seung-Hui's stuff on TV.
Speaking at Virginia Tech, Steve Flaherty, superintendent of Virginia State Police, said he appreciated NBC's co-operation, but regretted the decision to broadcast the tapes.
"A lot of folks saw images that were very...
The proposed expansion at the Big West Refinery on Rosedale Highway has been delayed at least a couple months while its environmental impacts are studied further.
“Given the nature of this project, given the nature of the chemicals and processes that are being used, given the surrounding land uses; we want to side on the side of caution,” said Kern County Planning Director Ted James.
Gene Cotten, vice president and manager of the...
The United States Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote upheld a ban on a rarely used type of abortion in the mid- to late-second trimester.
A much more common type used in 95 percent of such cases remains legal.
But this decision is the first time in six years the U.S. Supreme Court has limited abortion rights in a major case. The 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision provided legal protection for the procedure.
Swing vote Justice Anthony Kennedy said that law "does not have the effect...
Two grams of methamphetamine and some prescription medication were found stashed in a crucifix at the home of a Taft woman, Kern County sheriff's deputies reported.
Janneice Lee Smith, 42, was booked into jail on several drug charges, deputies said.
People hide drugs in all sorts of things, officers said. Baby strollers, dog collars, appliances, etc.
But can't they stay away from symbols of salvation?
Posted by Steve E. Swenson
The shooter in Monday's rampage at Virginia Tech has been identified.
He is Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a senior from South Korea who was in the English department. He was described as a loner and little is known about him.
He killed two people in one dorm at 7:15 a.m. and while investigators initially believed that was a domestic problem, two hours later at 9:15 a.m. after chaining the doors in the engineering building, he calmly executed 30 more people, injuring about 20 others, before killing...
The above question is really not the choice facing the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (4/17), but that appears to be the issue in the minds of off-road enthusiasts on one side, and environmentalists on the other.
The choice is whether SLO County should sell 584 acres of the dunes to the state. Those who favor the sale feel it will protect off-road vehicle use, which has already been reduced from 15,000 acres to 1,500 acres over the years.
Those who opposed the...
Madonna said she will not try to adopt a second child from Malawi, an impoverished southern African country.
She went Monday to Malawi with David Banda, the 18-month-old child she is adopting.
Her adoption follows the adoption of thee children by Angelina Jolie, Maddox, 5, Pax, 3, and Zahara, 2. Jolie and Brad Pitt are raising those children and their own, Shiloh Nouvel, 11 months. The couple want to spend more time with their current family before they consider adding...
I have many problems with the income tax system, but I'll share two.
The deadline is Tuesday at midnight by the way.
The first is one I learned this year. Our household doesn't have significant deductions and this is the first filing since we got married in June.
We owe the federal government a reasonable amount. We owe the state much more.
We apparently didn't withhold enough money to please the state.
Therefore, the state has penalized us $22 for not withholding enough money....
Teens who have been taught abstinence from sex until marriage are as likely to have sex and use protection as those who haven't been counseled that way.
One might expect that, but the U.S. Government report finding for 2000 students (average age 16 and 1/2) surveyed was the mean age for first time intercourse was 14.9.
We in the old fogy range think that's a bit young.
Here are results from the study released by California Congressman Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles:
Teens in...
Or perhaps you don't think cars are classified as gay, bisexual, heterosexual and whatever other mix of preferences there are out there.
A story by Alex Williams suggests otherwise.
Seems that Ron Geren, an actor in Los Angeles, rented a Cadillac Escalade for a date with a woman because he was so used to his friends saying his Mazda MX-5 Miata was gay.
One man thought a woman was a lesbian because she drove a Subaru Outback station wagon.
And one gay man told his partner he...
A Fresno Bee columnist has a dig at our city, and our sports columnist responds.
Let's face it, Fresno and Bakersfield share pretty much the same problems: Awful air quality, gang problems, stifling summer heat, boring landscapes.
Our saving grace is that we're smaller.
Right here in Bakersfield.
The goal is educate those attending on HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), according to a Californian story that will run on Thursday.
It is called the Bakersfield Alternative Prom and it was held on Saturday night at the Junior League of Bakersfield building.
It was open to anyone ages 17 to 25, and no drinking or smoking was permitted by organizers known as Mpowerment. The primary target audience was...
As you know, some people drive two or three hours a day getting to and from work.
Fresno to Bakersfield, or Bakersfield to Los Angeles and points in between and farther away.
Researches have studied that and have linked higher blood-pressure and stress to such commutes, not to mention back aches and neck pains.
For added wounds, there's lack of time to spend with families or to work out, according to a Washington Post story.
Furthermore, it turns out the ills associated with long...
Thailand is a relatively poor country which took a stand against soaring prices for life-saving prescription drugs.
It threatened to break patents and produce its own drugs. International law allows that for emergencies.
Pharmaceutical companies reacted with fury, one even withdrew an HIV drug.
But now those companies are offering lower prices. Here is the story.
The price of one drug was lowered 75 percent. Another was set at a price lower than the cheapest generic.
All this...
A Field poll to be released today says more than four in five California voters support giving legal residence to illegal immigrants.
The poll also says the state's voters favor creating a temporary worker program to allow future immigrants to enter legally, increasing the border patrol and imposing stiff penalties on employers who hire unauthorized immigrants.
Those proposals are elements of a plan outlined by President Bush as he revived his call Monday for comprehensive immigration...
The new street corner for begging is the Internet.
Reality Charity LLC has set up a Web site where people in need can appeal directly to people who might want to give.
An Associated Press story said the site promises to be an eBay for fundraising.
The story linked above used the example of Ken and Kristie Sigler who are trying to raise the final $8,700 they need for a $16,000 adoption of a boy from Guatemala.
Any potential donors would use their credit cards to send money directly...
I just did a quick survey of 16 news people in the room. Every single one of them eats at his or her desk.
A column by Dana Knight at the Indianapolis Star says experts contend eating at your desk is wrong.
It lacks etiquette; exposes others to smells, sounds and bacteria; clogs up your keyboards and isn't a healthy use of your lunch breaks.
The column didn't mention rice cakes, but those little pieces fly everywhere. How would I know that?
I eat at my desk every morning. A...
After months of controversy, the oversight commission of First 5 Kern and its executive director, Steve Ladd, agreed to end his contract next January.
Ladd will get $113,000 to leave.
In comparison to CEO's of car and oil companies, who leave with multi-million-dollar packages, this is small potatoes.
But it's still a lot of potatoes.
My perception of this controversy is that First 5 set up some good programs for child care under Ladd's leadership, but they had some expenses that...
This question does not apply to me. We have to pay through the nose.
But a USA Today-Gallup Poll says 62 percent of Americans will spend their refunds on bills or they will save it.
A story by Mindy Fetterman linked above suggest that might not be accurate because spending in America goes way up in March, April and May as people get their refunds.
I tend to believe that because back in the day, I spent at least some of my refund on vacations, clothes or material goods. In the bad...
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is now saying he was just joking when he talked about snorting his dad's cremated ashes mixed with some blow (cocaine).
The above link will give you a snyopsis of the story.
But Rachel Legan on KGFM radio this morning asked the pertinent question about all this — considering how whacky Richards is, why wouldn't you believe his snorting dad account?
Just because it's outrageous, disrespectful to a stratosphere level or sounding like the...
A new analysis has found up to 25 percent of people diagnosed as clinically depressed really are just reacting normally to stresses of life.
In other words, they are taking pills for a disease they don't have, and they are being classified as clinically depressed when they are just going through a sad time.
The analysis was based on a national survey of 8,098 people.
I am in no way an expert on depression. I get depressed when I miss a few golf shots. It goes away entirely when I...
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