BOOM AND BUST: Kern's last 5 years
DECADE: Economy hits jobs, homes
| Sunday, Jan 03 2010 09:44 PM
Last Updated Sunday, Jan 03 2010 09:45 PM
Second of two parts: 2005-2009
The Decade of Zero changed the nation and the world -- and those changes filtered down to Kern County as well.
Before we close the books on the first decade of the new century, here are some key events that made headlines in the second half of this period: the years 2005-2009.
2005
Bakersfield native Brian "Head" Welch, guitarist for Korn, turned to religion and quit the band.
Flying J took over the Shell refinery on Rosedale Highway.
Chimpanzees at the Animal Haven Ranch in Havilah attacked and severely injured St. James Davis who, with his wife, was visiting their pet chimp, Moe. The two chimps who attacked were shot dead.
A development plan for the Kern River Bluffs became mired in controversy after the developer, General Holdings, fenced off land traditionally used by hikers, mountain bikers and runners.
Dr. Horace Mitchell was installed as Cal State Bakersfield's fourth president.
Buck Owens unveiled several larger-than-life statues of country music legends at his Crystal Palace nightclub. During the celebration, superstar Garth Brooks proposed on stage to fellow singer Trisha Yearwood.
Mesa Marin racetrack, which opened in 1977, hosted its last race after being sold to a housing developer.
Kern County Supervisor Barbara Patrick announced her retirement.
U.S. Rep. Bill Thomas secured $722 million for local transportation projects.
James Moore died after a fight with Kern County sheriff's detention deputies in the downtown jail. The death was ruled a homicide, and five deputies were arrested.
Local music group Prussian Blue, made up of twins Lamb and Lynx Gaede, was pulled from the lineup at the Kern County Fair. Songs by the twins contain racist lyrics.
2006
Bakersfield country legend and businessman Buck Owens, 76, died in March. Country artists Garth Brooks, Brad Paisley, Dwight Yoakam and others paid tribute to Owens at his Bakersfield funeral. Then, a month later, Bonnie Owens, ex-wife to Owens and Merle Haggard, died at 76.
Bill Thomas announced he would retire after 28 years as Kern's 22nd District congressman. Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy, Thomas' longtime protege, won Thomas' House seat. Jean Fuller, former superintendent of the Bakersfield City School District, won McCarthy's Assembly seat.
Mike Maggard won the race to become Kern County supervisor after a bloody political brawl with land speculation company General Holding, which spent thousands on ads attacking Maggard over the issue of development on the Kern River bluffs. Ken Weir won Maggard's vacant Bakersfield City Council seat.
Donny Youngblood defeated Mack Wimbish for the office of sheriff.
The Bright House Networks Amphitheatre at the Park at River Walk hosted its first concert.
Cal State Bakersfield President Horace Mitchell announced the university would move its athletic program to Division I.
Spending at First 5 Kern, the county commission that spends state tobacco tax money to help children, came under close scrutiny. Consultants spent taxpayer money on cars, furniture, plane trips and other things.
Kern voters passed Measure E, a ban on the land application of sludge in the county. The city of Los Angeles and Orange County filed suit.
Concerns about Isabella Dam shot off the charts with the news that the structure was the most-worried-about dam in the country.
Kern County sheriff's Deputy Joe Hudnall was killed when his patrol vehicle collided with a BMW driven by Daniel Patrick Willsey on Highway 178 inside the Kern River Canyon.
2007
Bakersfield City Councilman David Couch jumped into the debate over illegal immigration with proposals to declare English the official language of Bakersfield, to affirm that Bakersfield is not a sanctuary city and to look for services that Bakersfield could withhold from illegal immigrants. The issue fired up immigrant-rights groups, but Couch's resolutions were voted down.
The City Council elected to replace the signs on Highway 99 featuring a squiggle with a new design featuring a leaf. The debate occupied a City Council committee, and then the council, until Councilwoman Sue Benham's leaf proposal beat Jacquie Sullivan's squiggle.
Bakersfield City Councilman Ken Weir ran afoul of state demands that he reveal the names of clients who paid his accounting firm more than$10,000 the previous year. Weir eventually released the names.
The record-setting home value appreciation that swept the city mid-decade was replaced by reports listing Bakersfield as one of the nation's hardest hit cities, both in foreclosures and the prevalence of subprime lending.
A freeze destroyed half of Kern's citrus crop -- some $179 million.
David Crisp and Carl Cole, the image-makers of Bakersfield's real-estate boom, ended the year in a quagmire of home loan defaults, allegations of deceptive borrowing practices, civil lawsuits and an FBI investigation.
Vincent Brothers was convicted of murdering his wife, children and mother-in-law.
Some 138 Kern residents were diagnosed with the mosquito-borne West Nile virus, making the county the epicenter for infection in the state. Four Kern residents died.
San Joaquin Community Hospital added 70 beds after dedicating its $72 million, five-story North Tower.
2008
Nine cottonwood trees downed along the Kern River Bike Path by a prolific beaver led to a bounty on the rodent's head. But a flood of calls for leniency lifted the death warrant. Oh, and the beaver is still out there.
A canceled political fundraiser sponsored by the local Sikh community became a minor international incident when then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton failed to show, leaving an expected $1 million on the table.
Kern County Auditor-Controller-County Clerk Ann Barnett drew national media attention after announcing her office would stop conducting marriage ceremonies following the state Supreme Court's legalization of gay marriage. Voters later blocked gay marriage via Proposition 8.
Republican Danny Gilmore and Democrat Fran Florez spent millions running for Assembly, a race Gilmore won by a razor-thin margin. Florez waited weeks to concede.
Kern High District trustee Ken Mettler and a gay-marriage advocate scuffled over political signs on a street corner. A videotape showed Mettler kicked and hit Rob Badewitz; Mettler said he was acting in self-defense. No charges were filed.
A judge ended years of legal maneuvering over two controversial Wal-Mart projects by approving environmental reports for both.
County supervisors approved the Big West of California refinery expansion, ending contentious debate over the proposed use of a hazardous chemical.
Plans for three new medical facilities were announced: A burn center at San Joaquin Community Hospital, a center providing combat veterans with free counseling and a new cancer center.
A portion of 7th Standard Road was renamed Merle Haggard Drive. The music legend dedicated the street name at a ceremony and later celebrated with a concert.
The historic Oildale recording studio once owned by Buck Owens closed for good.
The price of thick Kern crude topped $130 a barrel in July before sliding to less than $30 a barrel in December, capping a rocky year in the world economy.
Sky-high jet fuel prices forced three airlines to pull out of Meadows Field.
David Crisp lost his real-estate sales license after a hearing where state regulators accused him of fraud. Carl Cole, his former partner, lost his broker's license.
Larsen Jensen, formerly of Garces Memorial High, won bronze in the 400-meter freestyle and placed fifth in the 1500 freestyle at the Olympic Games in Beijing. Taft High graduate Billy Nelson finished second in the steeplechase in the Olympic Trials and qualified for the Olympics, where he was unable to reach the finals.
Construction on a $30 million half-mile paved racetrack adjacent to Enos Lane and Interstate 5 ground to a halt and never resumed, victim of mounting debt.
Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter, a 1996 Foothill graduate, made a run for the NFL sack record.
Sheriff's Deputy James Throne was killed in the line of duty when his patrol car collided with a car driven by Deputy Doug Swanson, who was injured.
Allena Hansen was mauled when she stumbled upon a bear near Piute Mountain Road. Two bears were shot and killed in the days following the mauling.
Kern County district attorney officials announced a DNA lead in the murder of Jessica Martinez, a 4-year-old girl abducted and killed 18 years before. Her killer was never found, but police named as a suspect Christopher Charles Lightsey, currently on death row for another murder.
The Kern County District Attorney's crime lab inadvertently destroyed blood evidence taken from Daniel Patrick Willsey, the attorney charged with vehicular manslaughter in the 2006 death of Kern County Sheriff's Deputy Joe Hudnall.
Prominent doctor Jeff Mark Freesemann and his wife, Shelly, were among seven people arrested on charges of distributing illegal drugs.
Shafter High School chemistry teacher Jeff Scheidemantel was sentenced to nine months in jail after policy said he attempted to make methamphetamine in the school lab.
2009
More than 6,000 jobs were lost in Kern County in 2009, and the county's unemployment rate surpassed 15 percent. Arvin (37.1 percent) and Delano (36.3 percent) posted the highest rates, while the Bakersfield rate was 10.6 percent in November.
Real estate values and sales bounced along the bottom as the market worked through a glut of foreclosed properties. And although home resale prices began to inch up, more than half of residential mortgage holders in Bakersfield owed more than the value of their homes.
Swine flu swept through the county, and public health officials stopped testing for and counting confirmed cases. And while the death rate slowed in recent months, 20 people died in Kern in 2009, and more than 200 were hospitalized with the H1N1 virus.
The Big West refinery on Rosedale Highway was shuttered all year as its parent company, Flying J, went bankrupt. Despite rumors of an imminent sale several times during the year, none materialized.
After a massive effort to recapitalize and build reserves to offset sour loans, San Joaquin Bank was closed by state and federal regulators. The bank had been a community institution for 27 years, specializing in business banking. Its assets were purchased by Citizens Business Bank.
In January, Gottschalks, the largest department store in Bakersfield, filed for bankruptcy and closed locations in the Valley Plaza and East Hills malls.
The economy's seizure sent tax revenues plunging, bringing cuts to services and payrolls at all levels of government. Kern County laid off 174 employees and cut 506 vacant positions. The city of Bakersfield managed to avoid significant layoffs, but local school districts lost hundreds. And districts are expecting more bad news in 2010.
The local energy industry was excited by Occidental Petroleum's revelation in SEC filings it had made a significant discovery of oil and gas on its property, but kept a tight lid on details about the find and its location.
District Attorney Ed Jagels said he would not seek re-election to the office he has occupied since 1983.
A number of businesses or entities staged comebacks or prepared for them:
* Owner Stan Ellis refocused the Bakersfield Jam minor league basketball team to appeal to a niche market.
* Attorney George Martin and Borton Petrini announced the resurrection of the Bakersfield Business Conference in 2010.
* After years of dormancy, the Padre Hotel prepared for a grand reopening in the first month of the new year.
