HITS & MISSES: Attack of the sporty little Italian jobs
HIT: Don't look now, but the little cars are starting to take over. That's been the case in many parts of the U.S., but cities like Bakersfield have been holdouts that still strongly favor trucks and SUVs. But lately we're seeing more Mini Coopers and those odd little phone booths called Smart cars. Now, here comes the iconic Fiat, an Italian car that's now for sale in a small Bakersfield showroom the company calls a Fiat "studio."
The Bakersfield Fiat dealer has opened a temporary sales lot at 611 Oak St., offering only one Fiat model, the subcompact Fiat 500.
More than a dozen of the sporty little items are already buzzing around Bakersfield, says general sales manager Alex Karegaran. Not hard to believe: The 500 sells for as little as $14,000. If the local dealership sells enough, maybe it can expand its employee base to exceed the present three jobs.
HIT: At last -- wet weather
Two winter storms pushed through California from the Gulf of Alaska this weekend, delivering the first droplets of water on the parched southern Central Valley in months.
Blame this winter's La Nina for the long dry spell, NASA scientists say. La Nina's influence is peaking, increasing the odds that the Pacific Northwest will have more stormy weather this winter and spring, while the southwestern and southern United States will be dry.
So far this winter, California is tracking toward one of the driest years on record. We'll take what we can get.
MISS: Trouble on Baker Street?
Little pieces of Bakersfield keep blowing with the winds of time, progress ad economics. The latest casualty could be the old Cornet dime store on Baker Street. The reason: On Feb. 1, the Bakersfield Redevelopment Agency and about 400 others across the state will fold. Cities that will become their successors are to sell off their assets -- like the Cornet building. The city can keep control of the Cornet, but it could also decide to raze it, making way for continuing development on Baker Street.
HIT: Meadows Field gets a break
Meadows Field, struggling with a $1 million annual principal and interest payment on the new terminal and a large line of credit from the Kern County main operational fund, is breathing a little easier financially, thanks largely to a new Continental Airlines flight to Houston. Meadows is seeing its first true turnaround in passenger volumes since they peaked, then plummeted, after the William M. Thomas Terminal opened in early 2006. In 2011, the addition of two flights to Houston and half a year of direct air travel to Las Vegas helped boost total passenger trips at Meadows by 18.8 percent over 2010.
HIT: Crazy talk about tacos
For the second time in the six months, Bakersfield will play guinea pig to fast-food giant Taco Bell, serving as one of two test markets for a new line of products starting Jan. 26. Last time, it was the Doritos Locos Taco. This time it's the Cantina Menu, an entire line that seems to mimic Chipotle Mexican Grill -- on a budget. Or does it? "That's crazy talk. I'm not trying to reposition Taco Bell to be Chipotle," the chain's chief executive, Greg Creed, told Reuters. OK, if you say so.
