Workshop for struggling homeowners
| Monday, Nov 14 2011 05:36 PM
Last Updated Monday, Nov 14 2011 05:38 PM
Local homeowners struggling to avoid foreclosure are invited to a free workshop being put on Tuesday by Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Kern & Tulare Counties.
The 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. event at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 2525 Belle Terrace, is to focus on Keep Your Home California, a program that has provided the state with nearly $2 billion in federal money.
CCCS encouraged participants to bring to the workshop copies of their mortgage statements and two most recent pay stubs, which are to be used for evaluating eligibility for the program.
More information is available online at keepyourhomecalifornia.org, or by calling CCCS at 324-9628, extension 6100.
Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mark Jaccard is scheduled to present the keynote speech at this week's fifth annual Kern County Energy Summit.
Jaccard, a professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and author of "Sustainable Fossil Fuels," plans to discuss impacts and risks presented by energy production -- and how Kern County can simultaneously be economically prosperous and environmentally healthy.
Hosted by the Kern Economic Development Corp., the event is to take place from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Bakersfield Marriott at the Convention Center. Registration information is available online at kedc.com.
The Alon Bakersfield refinery on Rosedale Highway is expected to shut down for two weeks in December for what the company says is preventative maintenance and an opportunity to fine-tune the facility's fuel processing operations.
The closure is to coincide with a change in crude oil blends at the southeast Los Angeles County refinery complex that feeds vacuum gas oil to the Bakersfield plant.
"This time was selected for these projects because it's routinely a period of lower demand for products we produce," refinery spokesman Chad Druten wrote in an email.
Four Bakersfield entrepreneurs, each with a developmental disability, are opening new businesses this week with the help of a local nonprofit and state support.
The businesses are: Rob's Dream Machines, a vending company owned by Robert Palomo; Dolphin Star, a publishing business created by Loren Presley; Matt Silvius Enterprise, which focuses on emergency preparedness; and Beadazzled, a customer jewelry and fashion accessories business launched by Catherine Flores.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the enterprises is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at Business Builders, 841 Mohawk St., Suite 100. Business Builders is a nonprofit that contracts with Kern Regional Center, a state-supported program that helps people with disabilities.
