Ask The Californian - askthecalifornian's Blog - Bakersfield.com

Why is the fire department wasting taxpayer money?

Q: In recent news we were told about the fire department’s budget struggle with fuel costs. What’s interesting is how often I see the big red 5 MPG fire truck parked outside of a local fitness center on a regular basis. Doesn't the fire department have fitness equipment at their respective locations? On a regular basis I see this mammoth fire truck in the grocery store parking lot. Why does the fire department have to take a fire truck to the grocery store? I went to a local fast food place for lunch yesterday and saw the big red truck parked outside while three uniformed firemen were casually eating inside the restaurant. Is this how the fire department handles its budget issues? Is this what taxpayers are supposed to accept? Here’s your budget solution; Send one person to pick up your fast food and do your grocery shopping using their own car. Buy an all-in-one fitness station for your workouts so you don’t have to go to gym. Stop running your errands on our dime, do it on your own time.
— James Ford

A: Bakersfield Deputy Fire Chief Doug Greener gave the following answer:
Unfortunately, most BFD Fire Stations don't have on-site facilities with fitness equipment that provides a significant benefit relative to the physical demands required of firefighting. However, we agree that this would be a very convenient solution, and the department is trying to include space in future fire station designs to accommodate on-site workout facilities.
BFD firefighters are required to stay together in what we in the fire service refer to as a cohesive emergency response crew. Firefighting operations, emergency medical responses, technical and heavy rescues, and other critical life-saving efforts require a minimum number of personnel to effectively carry out, or we unnecessarily risk the lives of our citizens, as well as the lives of our firefighters.
The men and women of the Bakersfield Fire Department feel that eating meals whenever we can get them, maintaining physical fitness levels to meet the rigorous demands of firefighting, and being visibly available 24/7 in the community is part of what public safety service is all about, and what you the taxpayers deserve!

What's the new Beach Park skate park going to look like?

Q: Is there a specific resource to access the plans of the expansion of the Beach Park skate park? I would like to see what the planned additions are.
— Anselmo Moreno

A: You can see three pictures of the planned expansion here.

What are those black cables you see taped across the street?

Q: Hello. I’m Elliot. I’m 21 and a college student at BC and I have a question for The Californian. Lately I’ve noticed black cables taped across the street to the pavement on many streets in Bakersfield. In some cases these black cables are connected to a box. What are those boxes, and moreover what are those cables for? Is it to control speed? I’ve noticed they are installing them in more and more streets. Thank you.
— Elliot Rodriguez

A: Most of the cables and boxes you see around Bakersfield are installed by a contractor hired by the Kern Council of Governments, which addresses regional transportation issues. The cables and boxes are used to record vehicle speeds and volume. That data — traffic patterns and traffic growth, for example — is used in a regional transportation modeling program, said Ryan Starbuck, Bakersfield civil engineer.
The city places the cables and boxes near intersections for a glimpse of how many vehicles travel through them. Sometimes you’ll see two cables spread about five feet apart. One counts cars, and the other records speed, Starbuck said.
Other times you’ll see the cables in residential areas. Those are primarily installed out of neighborhood complaints to record speeding cars.
The council of governments contractor will install about 500 meters this year.
For more information, including a traffic monitoring map, go to www.kerncog.org.

What are those flashing blue lights you can see from the bluffs?

Q: Recently walking on the Panorama Drive Park walkway, my grandson and I noticed many flashing blue lights in the Kern River Oilfield. What is the significance of these blue lights?
Thank you!
— Nikki Moon

A: We are happy to inform you that this not a blue light special, Chevron style. The blue locator strobe lights mark the automatic well testing sites (and the equipment required to do the testing), said Roger Christy, spokesperson for Chevron.
They are used by the night operators to locate the sites on hazy and foggy nights. In other words, the blue lights are a safety feature.
“Before we installed them, the engineer who was in charge of the project stood on the bluffs to look at the lights we already had at the gates to make sure that more lights were not going to be a distraction,” Christy said. “We didn’t want them to be overly bright.”

What's being built on the corner of Alfred Harrell and 178?

Q: I would like to know what they’re planning on building at the corner of Alfred Harrell Highway/Commanche Drive and Hwy 178. Currently there is a big sign at the corner advertising leases for retail space. Do you know when and what they’re going to start building? Thanks!
— Chris Gathings

ANSWER: New development is planned for three corners at that intersection, though only plans for the southwest corner are moving forward at this time.

Duane Keathley, a senior vice president with the commercial real estate brokerage CB Richard Ellis, said a large national retailer is in escrow to purchase four acres at the southwest corner from the Santa Clarita-based partnership that owns all three corners.

While he declined to disclose the buyer’s name — escrow is not expected to close until around the end of this year — Keathley said the company hopes to build one unit there for its own operations and then invite other retailers to move onto the remaining land.

He said the property could accommodate a total of 25,000 to 40,000 square feet of development.

The 10-acre southeast parcel is slated for eventual office space, but Keathley said that plan is on hold because of waning demand. Another 18 acres on the northeast corner is expected to become as many as 175,000 square feet of retail space, but he said it won’t be developed until a major tenant such as a supermarket steps forward.

A question about Johnny Cash and bodily fluids

Two things have been bothering me for some time: 1. Why do almost all journalists use the adverb "bodily" to modify the noun "fluids"? 2. If he "shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die", why would he be incarcerated in Folsom Prison? Thanks.
— Bill Casady

Answers
1. A search through the Californian archives found that reporters only used the term “bodily fluids” twice in the last year. Wire stories from the Associated Press and other organizations are not kept in our archives. Here is feedback from two reporters on the term:

“I don't think I've ever used the term ‘bodily fluids’ in my reporting, but the modifier "bodily" obviously connects the substance in question to a person, unlike such fluids as motor oil, vinegar or cabernet sauvignon.”

“Rather than using police jargon like ‘bodily fluids,’ it's preferable to be more specific if possible by identifying the fluid as blood, saliva, sweat or other fluids generated by the human body. Unfortunately, police aren't always able or willing to be more specific.”
- Reporter Steven Mayer

“To distinguish it from fluids you buy in a store. The fluids in question do come from the body through one means or another, and that’s just the over-arching way to categorize them.”
-Reporter Steve E. Swenson

2. In the Johnny Cash song “Folsom Prison Blues,” he sings a line “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.” The protagonist of the song is supposedly singing this ballad from Folsom State Prison, which is in California. A reporter called both the Nevada Department of Corrections and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to see if it was possible to be imprisoned in California if you committed a violent crime in Nevada. Spokesmen for both departments said that if someone commits a crime in their state, they will serve time in the state they the committed crime. Between many states, including Nevada and California, there is an interstate compact, or agreement, which allows prisoners who may be at risk within their own state to be transferred to another state for safety reasons.

According to Cash, Cash’s autobiography, that line is “imaginative, not autobiographical.” He wrote, “I sat with a pen in my hand, trying to think up the worst reason a person could have for killing another person and that’s what came to mind.” The explanation of the violent act still does not answer the reason why the protagonist was in prison in California.

According to a Reno Gazette-Journal story from 2005, when on stage, Cash explained how audiences are curious about the line. He replied that he also shot a woman in Ventura, with a wink. Caleb Cage, an author in Reno, said the line is “more about character development than plot development.” He wrote in an e-mail that Cash was saying the protagonist in the story was a sociopath and a sociopath could simply continue to commit such crimes once over the border in California.

Now if you are still unsatisfied, you can rely on Cash himself. In Cash, he endorses musician Kris Kristofferson’s line about himself: “He’s a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction.”

What can I do about my neighbor's overflowing trash cans?

My neighbors leave their two brown trash cans on the street 24/7. Usually, they are overflowing and trash ends up in the street. Is there a county law that prohibits this nuisance and eye sore?
— Darrell Sephus

A: Overflowing trash cans are code violations in both the city of Bakersfield and the County of Kern. Anyone whose trash cans overflow onto the public street can be cited by code officers, according to officials with the Kern County Waste Management Department and the city Solid Waste Division. City of Bakersfield code enforcement violations can be reported by calling 326-3712. Violations in the county of Kern can be reported by calling 862-8603.

Is a Sam's Club coming to Renfro and Rosedale?

Q. I heard a rumor last year that a Sams Club was planned for the corner of Renfro and Rosedale. True or not?
— Dwight Tackett

A. Not.
“We are always looking for opportunities but we have no current plans for another Sam's Club in Bakersfield,” said Aaron Rios, a spokesman for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. “We have one in Gosford Village and will be constructing a new Wal-Mart Super Center next to that Sam's Club, which was approved last year. That’s it for now.”

What happened to the trees near the Ben Austin Senior Center?

Q: I live near McKee Road in south Bakersfield just down the street from the Ben Austin Senior Center.
Recently, all the trees behind the center were cut. I thought this area was a planned city park and was hoping the mature trees would be incorporated into the park.
What are the plans for this open area?
— Joanne Hoover

A: The city and county discussed putting a park next to the senior center, said Bob Lerude, director of the county’s parks and recreation department.
But for now, it’s an idea without financial backing.
Initial estimates for a neighborhood park with a play area and picnic shelters were about $2.5 million, Lerude said.
But that figure could change based on park amenities. The city and county haven’t identified where the money would come from to develop a park.
Trees along McKee were cut down within the past 30 days, Lerude said, because they were dead.
If the site becomes a park, more trees would be planted.

Why no flag at Hart Park?

At the west entrance into Hart Park is a flag pole. It used to have a flag flying all the time. Is there a reason for not flying the flag anymore?
— Harold Johnston

Kern County Parks and Recreation Director Bob Lerude said cutbacks in staff led to the temporary cessation of flying Old Glory at the entrance to Hart Park.
But staffers have hit upon a solution to the problem and it should add some eco-green to the traditional red, white and blue
A solar-powered light will be installed at the site “so the flag will be flying all the time,” Lerude said. “We’ve already done it at a couple of other locations.”