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Driving through Westchester on my way to work this morning, I saw something you rarely see anymore: a man clearing leaves from his lawn with -- gasp -- a RAKE!
I wished I pulled over and thanked him. Usually what you see is someone wielding an obnoxious leaf blower stirring up a mini dust storm...
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Garden Solves Problems
I don't mean to brag but this photo of my small garden taken this morning says a thousand words.
Green leaf gardens grow their best in this valley in the Fall. We have been eating nightly salads from this small 4 x 8 foot garden for 3 weeks already. ...
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Here's a heartwarming story for any horse-lover like myself. Apparently, Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens' wife is going to adopt some 30,000 wild mustangs and burros now in federal holding pens.
The animals are rounded up yearly when the wild herds become overpopulated, or too large for the land...
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Residents are reminded to check the daily burn status before lighting their fireplace, woodstoves or outdoor chiminea starting Saturday.
From November through February, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District prohibits indoor and outdoor residential burning when air quality is...
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Considering the various economic crises we now face -- state budget issues, global credit crunch, recession, etc. -- how will you vote on Proposition 1A, the high-speed rail bond on Nov. 4?
I asked this question a couple months ago and think about 8 of the 10 respondents said yes. But a lot has...
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There's a lot of news this week, with Hurricane Ike threatening the Houston area and non-stop Sarah Palin coverage, but this is not be missed.
Several reports given to Congress Wednesday documented an incredible tale of bureaucrats gone wild that's been going on within a Department of Interior...
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A U.S. Senate Committee briefing on the safety and science of land applying sewage sludge this morning was canceled at the last minute.
Staff for the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee, chaired by our own Sen. Barbara Boxer, said the hearing was called off after the committee...
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A group calling for an end to the land application of sewage sludge is collecting stories from people who have been affected by the practice in their community.
Their stories will be submitted to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, which had planned to hold a hearing...
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Just wanted to mention that the Kern County Planning Department has scheduled three public workshops on the environmental impact report for the Big West of California refinery. The first is tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. at Discovery Elementary School, 7500 Vaquero Ave. The other two meetings are...
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Does anyone every take the Amtrak train from Bakersfield? If so, where to?
Amtrak says ridership on its San Joaquin route (which runs from Bakersfield to Stockton, then onto either Oakland or Sacramento) is up 32 percent this July over the previous year.
But from what I can tell, the options...
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What happens to Olympic venues like the stunning Bird's Nest and sleek Water Cube when the Olympics end?
There's a couple interesting articles surfacing on this issue that highlight the disrepair, neglect and sad ending that's come to some of the buildings from previous Olympics, and how that's...
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Think you could go a month without out buying anything new -- no new clothes, shoes, books, etc.?
How about a year? How about forever?
I've been reading recently about several movements out there aimed at reducing personal consumption as a way to lessen one's environmental footprint, save money...
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I saw my first 'smart car' while on vacation with my family in Germany in 2000. My brother and I still laugh at the picture we took of my 6-foot-4 dad hovering over the little thing with a "what the heck" grimace on his face.
(By the way, that's not dad in the picture. That's Rick...
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Controversy over the Big West refinery expansion has focused on one thing in recent weeks: which toxic chemical would be safest, modified HF or sulfuric acid.
But a revised environmental report out Friday contained a bit of a surprise.
How about neither?
The 3,000 page report examines a wide...
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Do mosquitoes serve any purpose besides endlessly annoying us and infecting us with malaria, Dengue fever and West Nile virus?
A reader posted that question in my last blog post, and because it's such a good one, I looked into it some more.
As reader CatherineBaker wrote, "They say...
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These are days when I love my job. I spent the afternoon with my jeans rolled up to my knees wading through a small stream trying to find a beaver.
This morning we received a report of another tree lost to the animal along the bike path near the Park at Riverwalk. As you may recall, this is the...
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It's time for Big West to answer a few questions ... again.
As promised, state Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, will hold a senate committee hearing in Bakersfield Thursday night regarding the Bakersfield refinery's response to a recent ammonia leak as well as the company's handling of past spills...
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Will Kern County be ground zero for West Nile virus again this year? Are we doing anything to prepare?
Find out for yourself.
County directors from Public Health Services, Environmental Health Services and the Kern Mosquito and Vector Control District, among others, will talk about their West...
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I live in Northwest Bakersfield and have always wondered why there aren't any recycling centers (especially on the west side of Bakersfield) that accept recyclable items such as #3,4,5,6, or 7 plastic? These plastics are used for many things from grocery bags to the bags The...
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The Big West of California refinery leaked a small amount of ammonia early Sunday that sounded an alarm in which a recorded voice told people to evacuate the area.
Emergency crews responded and no one was injured.
The alarm was meant to alert refinery personnel but was heard by an off-duty...
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Fly Solution?
If, like me, you live a few miles from several of those newly arrived factory-run-mega-dairies, you may have noticed more flies than usual during the spring, summer, and fall. These dairies weren't around a few years ago and many people around me think the flies are...
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At least 50 cars have reportedly been damaged by a bad batch of gas produced at a local refinery and delivered to 25 Kern County gas stations in late March.
The county Department of Agriculture and Measurements says the gas contained a sediment that's plugging fuel filters and damaging...
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised today's Tejon Ranch announcement as an example of how developers and environmentalists can come together and find solutions.
"When forward-thinking people, like the people that are standing here with me today, are willing to sit down and make something...
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The LA Times is reporting that the Tejon Ranch Company has struck a deal with national environmental groups to go ahead with its plans for development without fear of lawsuits.
As part of the deal, the company will set aside chunks of land to create a state park, add to the Pacific Crest Trail,...
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In Case Anyone Missed It
Poor air quality kills. People die sooner when the air is bad.
Here's the latest.
From the American Lung Association
Top Ten U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution:
1) Pittsburgh, Pa.
2) Los Angeles/Long...
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They Do Less Rather Than More
You would think improving the health of residents would be the top priority for a health agency like the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. No, saving businesses money is their goal.
Air board OKs new plan
Activists say strategy to...
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Foolishness In Wasco Challenged
Local Environmental Group files suit against Proposed Wasco Ethanol Plant
(KBAK video on lawsuit above)
When the subsidies are gone this stupidity will stop. Corn is now $6.00 per bushel. One bushel of corn will produce 2.5 gallons of ethanol...
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I went on a mission a few weeks ago trying to find fresh, locally-grown produce. I thought this would be easy considering all the farms and orchards around here. But that was not the case.
Some local farms have fruit stands but it seems the options are limited to what that farm specializes...
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Earth Day is tomorrow so I've compiled a few news items here that I think are worthy of a peruse.
Sign up to stop junk mail and get $1
From Greendimes: "Pankaj Shah, an “eco-preneur” who founded GreenDimes, a Palo Alto, California-based company that leads the nation in...
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http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/den...
This video exposes the truth that ExxonMobil and the Bush Administration have spinned Global Warming around to make it sound less threatening.
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There's lots of talk of prison expansion in Kern County, as we've reported here in the blogs, and now it's reached Tehachapi.
And some people there just don't like the idea that there could be more convicted criminals in their community — albeit behind bars.
Read reporter Jenny...
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I worked on a story today about spring being an excellent time to visit one of the several nature preserves around Kern County. These sorts of places don't advertise so it's likely many people haven't heard of them. They're no trip to Disneyland but a great way to get out and enjoy the weather...
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Would you carpool to work or take the bus to help clean the air? How about if you knew that vehicle exhaust contributes to 75 percent of the air pollution in Kern County, which boasts some of the dirtiest air in the nation?
This summer air district officials will launch the Healthy Air Living...
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Parts of the Los Padres National Forest burned
by the Zaca Fire in summer 2007 will reopen at noon on April 4, forest officials announced today.
Here's the details from Los Padres officials:
The trail system has sustained extensive damage and the public is urged to use extreme caution when...
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Country Home magazine just released its Best Green Places report.
Bakersfield ranked 120.
Here's what their report says: "Across the nation, people are looking for ways to shrink their proverbial footprint. And along with that push to live a little closer to the Three-R mantra...
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Studies have already found that tiny particulate pollution in Kern's air is bad for your heart and lungs but new research has found it may be bad for the brain, too.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports that a UC Irvine study found mice exposed to the pollution in Riverside and Los Angeles...
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For anyone interested in global warming and its impact on the arctic, author Chad Kister will be in town Thursday as part of his nationwide Polar Bear Survival Tour.
His talk will focus on the horrific affects of climate change on the Arctic. Kister went on a a 700-mile bakpacking trek...
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Like batteries, it's prohibited to dispose of fluorescent light bulbs in your home trash can. In fact, it's against the law. Instead, you should be taking them to the Kern County Special Waste Facility at 4951 Standard St. in Bakersfield.
The facility is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday,...
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I was buying a soda at the convenient store across the street from the newspaper yesterday when I spied this citrus variety in the fruit basket next to the cash register.
The cashier owner told me it was a crossed lemon/orange. A guy in line behind me insisted it was a tangelo, but it did...
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I'm looking for some tips on growing vegetables in my backyard.
My parents are big gardener and when I lived close to home in upstate New York, my dad gave me a potted tomato plant every year. Now that I'm here, I've decided to try my own hand at growing some veggies but the climate is so...
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Sure, the kit fox is a cute but what about the blunt-nosed leopard lizard or the giant kangaroo rat?
And while the California jewelflower is lovely and delicate can the same be said for Bakersfield saltbush or the herb called Hoover's wooly star?
In writing today's piece on mounting concerns...
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Approve it now and apologize later?
Our Supervisors welcomed Green Acres and Honey Bucket sludge farms with open arms. Then they jumped on the bandwagon a couple years later to ban the same with their token support of the anti-sludge ballot measure. Now they are getting ready...
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Wildflowers are starting to bloom in Kern County and you can get a glimpse of the early display this weekend in the Kern Valley, where Alison Sheehey of Audubon's Kern River Preserve will lead a tour Saturday morning. It's free and all you have to do is show up. (Details below)
Enthusiasts are...
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Some days you wake up and the view is exceptional. Here are 180 degrees of mountains for your viewing enjoyment.
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The Californian has launched a new web page dedicated to news about plans to expand the Big West of California refinery on Rosedale Highway.
Check it out: www.bakersfield/com/refinery
On the page you can read past stories, watch a video about the expansion, join a blog discussion, take a poll...
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Rules are Lax
The following is a continuation of an earlier post today but with a better video link.
This flare is in Kern County. The video was taken Tuesday evening (2.12.08). The flare belongs to an independent oil producer with a permit to flare under emergency conditions. The...
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The California Living Museum is looking for volunteer guides. Candidates must love people and animals.
Sound interesting? Here's the details from CALM:
Do you enjoy talking to people, like animals and take pleasure in working outdoors? If so, the California Living Museum (CALM) may offer an...
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This a post about the human touch but not necessarily in the warm, feel-good sense.
There's been a lot of buzz lately about a new film called "Manufactured Landscapes" that features photographs of things like quarries, mines and factories in China to illustrate how industrialization...
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Big West of California has hired a L.A. production company to produce a six-minute video that touts plans for a $600 million expansion at the Rosedale Highway facility. I got to see it Thursday at the Bakersfield Energy and Clean Air Expo at the Holiday Inn. However, my attempts to post it...
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As if we need another reason not to eat red meat. The Humane Society released a video today that shows inhumane treatment of cows at a Chino slaughterhouse. The footage was taken by an undercover animal welfare activist who was employed at the slaughterhouse
Be warned, this video is graphic. It...
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