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Mr. Bubba paused to consider the question.
Reader: Congressman Kevin McCarthy voted Oct. 16 to oppose President Trump's decision to pull U.S. troops from northern Syria, exposing the Kurdish population there to Turkish advances. Your column on McCarthy ("McCarthy needs to catch a different train while he can," Oct. 6) may have helped here.
They call it Cafe 1600 because that's the number on the outside of the county government building where it resides. But, considering all that goes on there, a better name might be the Second Chance Cafe.
Is it a tool of the devil, a meaningless family game or mental wormhole between the dead and the living? The Halloween season is the perfect time to ask anyone who has touched or been touched by, what some people claim to be, the mystical powers of the Ouija Board. Flicker the lights, cue th…
Cop Tales are true stories as told by law enforcement officers from all over the country. The stories are told in the first person. The actual officer’s initials follow each story.
Things I like about the ukulele:
Reader: Well, Robert, you may be an expert on the Bakersfield Sound, but as a political pundit you basically suck. Your article on Kevin McCarthy ("McCarthy needs to catch a different train while he can," Oct. 6) was an indication of your total hatred of President Trump. It began the day tha…
I have a vivid memory of one morning during the initial 1970s when a young man, who appeared to be in his early 20's, walked into my office at Barnes Big O Tire on the Garces Circle, and asked for a job.
Tell me this doesn’t feel good. Mornings in the 50s, warm, lazy afternoons that are easy on your skin. The relief is palpable in everybody’s faces.
editor's pick
In August 1996, Kevin McCarthy invited me to accompany him on an Amtrak ride from Los Angeles to San Diego. It was a party train, in more ways than one: Thirty people from Kern County, happily sequestered in the far-rear car, were heading south for the Republican National Convention. McCarth…
Sometimes I wonder how we got to the point of doing things the way we do them. Did you ever ponder men wearing ties? Or elaborate birthday parties for one year olds? Another one struck me the other day.
I was in Reseda trying to buy some drugs. They call this an attention-seeking lead in journalism. Grab them quickly and see if you can fasten their attention to the page (or screen) for 90 seconds.
editor's pick
San Joaquin Valley farmers have pumped the basin’s groundwater so furiously and for so long that parts of the valley are sinking, endangering roads and bridges and even breaking one of the main canals that brings in water to support local agriculture.
Reader: I think you missed or didn’t know a very important incident that happened during the selection of the Cal State Bakersfield location mentioned in your Sunday column about Rio Bravo and the 1966 decision to reject it as a possible site for the new Kern County college campus ("Where We…
I tried to squeeze in a haircut the other day and remembered that “squeeze” and “haircut” do not belong in the same sentence. A visit to the barbershop is not something to endure or put behind you. Better to look forward to a haircut, enjoy it and feel a twinge of melancholy when your time i…
Several things impress about Scott B. Bomar's exhaustive history in word and song of Bakersfield's (mostly) post-war music legacy, but two stand out.
Tom Richardson was dressed to the nines Sunday morning, resplendent in his biker best. As a cancer survivor, he was taking this Distinguished Gentleman's Ride seriously.
Young Arun had been targeted and targeted again. White teens were beating him because his skin was too dark. Black teens were assaulting him because his skin was too light. Finally, Arun decided the only solution was physical superiority: He would pump iron until his muscles bulged. Then he …
editor's pick
Raphael Avenue just might have the best view in all of Bakersfield and, by extension, the entire San Joaquin Valley.
Today’s list has 24 items on it. “Make a list” should be first on any to-do list because then you can cross it off and be on your merry, productive way.
The first time the four Hernandez brothers and their cousin from a northern Mexican ranching family crossed the U.S. border into California was in 1968.
Cop Tales are true stories as told by law enforcement officers from all over the country. The stories are told in the first person. The actual officer’s initials follow each story.
The brown leather recliner was sitting on three good legs, the fourth bent sideways like a twisted ankle. I tried fixing it, but I might as well have been an orthopedic surgeon with a medical degree from a box of Cracker Jack. The patient lived but wouldn’t be dancing the tango soon.
Welcome into the midst of the Season of Creation, which runs each year from Sept. 1 to Oct. 4. It is a time of Christian prayer and action to honor and preserve God’s wondrous work. A little history: Sept. 1 is the World Day of Prayer for Creation, which was initiated in 1989 by Ecumenical P…
I agree. Let’s name the next high school after Wendy Wayne. Wendy Wayne High would fill the hearts of those who knew her and inspire those who never had the chance.
editor's pick
SACRAMENTO — The end of oil.
I’ve become popular. I’m making new friends. People have been calling, texting and emailing.
Cop Tales are true stories as told by law enforcement officers from all over the country. The stories are told in the first person. The actual officer’s initials follow each story.
“Your life is your message.”
Now you will feel no rain
Four years before Gov. Gavin Newsom set in motion the managed decline of California's oil industry, Aera Energy CEO Christina Sistrunk was asking questions about the mechanics, and wisdom, of such an undertaking.
Reader: David Hogg was not on campus during the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018, where a lone gunman killed 17 people and injured 17 others ("Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg to hold lecture at CSUB," Sept. 20).
“I haven’t done this for a while but do you think anybody would take these things if we put them by the trash?” Sue said.
I thought it was me. Mosquito bites can be like depression. When you’re down in the dumps, it’s hard to imagine there is somebody sitting next to you in the darkness.
During all the many years I was able to film hunts in Canada, I usually flew out of Meadows Field if I was with a group of local hunters. One quick stop in Denver, and then on to Edmonton, Alberta.
It's Extraterrestrial Week, an observance I made up just now to mark the confluence of two noteworthy news items concerning alien visitation.
We saw one of Sue’s favorite cousins recently and had a chance to catch up. We have eight kids between us — four each — so catching up took awhile. They mentioned their son in Seattle. I was surprised to hear he had moved from Salt Lake City.
Cop Tales are true stories as told by law enforcement officers from all over the country. The stories are told in the first person. The actual officer’s initials follow each story.
It’s amazing how stupid truck drivers become immediately upon crossing the border from other states into California. There must be something in the air.
editor's pick
Today's column was supposed to reveal precisely where Bitwise Industries, the coding-education, software development and coworking space innovator, intends to set up shop in Bakersfield.
Reader: I like The Californian and many of its features but I have been very frustrated with its political bias favoring liberals over conservatives and in the last two years slanting the news to always be critical of President Trump while never giving him any credit for his success, i.e., t…
I have nothing new to report on the Kern County Fair. I’ve said it all. I’m tapped out.
There is no way to put this nicely.
Notice came with an email alert from Capital One. One of those alerts that signify possible fraud. The notice read: “Is the tip that you left 48 percent?”
Craig Garrett taught karate, but that was just a front. What he really taught was happiness — a concept that inspired every bit as much passion for him as did his quest to instill fitness, discipline and self-confidence in the children of his farm town.
Originally published Sept. 11, 2002
Originally published Sept. 11, 2014
editor's pick
Maybe we should drop the "y" and start identifying this part of the state as Kern counties, because it really is two distinct places: The Kern of the Central Valley and the Kern of the Mojave Desert.
You may not have seen the match. You might not even care. This is tennis, an “Oh, really?” afterthought for many sports fans.
Accusations of a hidden agenda. Calls for "clarity" and transparency. Disarray in the city.
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