Reader: Shame on you for writing this article ("'Mikey Smash,' killed in downtown knifing, had apparent Hells Angels affiliation," Feb. 21). You state you contacted his family and got no response. First of all, can they not grieve in peace? Second of all, because they don’t respond that give…
Each of the dusty old documents in the Walter Stiern Library Historical Research Center's voluminous archives tells two stories.
The killer approached from the backyard.
Reader: The photographer caught this devastated woman at possibly the most extreme moment of her shock and grief ("Woman dies, four children left injured and orphaned in northwest Bakersfield house fire," Feb. 9). How unkind, actually cruel, to publish this picture for the public to witness.…
top story
This may come as a shock to some, but Gov. Gavin Newsom knows where Bakersfield is. Not only that, he seems to appreciate the depth of its economic challenges.
Lynne Haley used to occasionally imagine herself standing up in a crowded Bakersfield restaurant and shouting, "Raise your hand if you've ever been to Camp KEEP!"
This will be simple, I assured myself. I am large and hairy and capable of simulating a deep, authoritative voice.
We live in the age of apology. We're sorry we misspoke, we're sorry we were insensitive, we're sorry we had the audacity to once have been less enlightened.
Reader: Just read your article on Bakersfield's Westpark neighborhood ("Where We Live: In Westpark, the new freeway's path determines homeowners' fate," Jan. 27). You captured the human side brilliantly. As one the property appraisers commissioned to perform the eminent domain appraisals for…
By now, most people are at least vaguely aware that something culturally monumental is happening Sunday that will compel Americans to gather around television sets.
If you work in oil, agriculture, construction or a line of work associated with one of those industries, Bakersfield is a great place to call home. If you work in the creative arts — as a writer, an animator or a musician — Bakersfield is a great place to be from.
Forty years before the first bulldozer tore into Bakersfield's Westpark neighborhood, people were attempting to drive on the Centennial Corridor freeway.
Reader: Your columnist, Leonard Pitts, wrote that Nathan Phillips, the Native American elder who was mixed up in that incident in Washington with the high school kids from Kentucky, was a "Vietnam veteran." Fake news! The man served in the military during that time but that doesn't make him …
It was 7 a.m. when I picked up the phone in our Seattle hotel room and called home. Pam, who had been minding our house, feeding the dog and collecting the mail, answered.
Reader: I refer to the Associated Press article in the Jan. 10 Californian headlined “Trump stalks out of shutdown session with Dems.” Who fact-checks Associated Press material and associated headlines? There are conflicting reports in the article sourced both from Democrats and Republicans …
At her swearing-in ceremony last week, new District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer playfully borrowed an ominous line from "Game of Thrones," HBO’s bloody medieval fantasy of power lust, betrayal and assassination: “Winter has come.”
If you are the type to dodge jury service, today’s column is not for you. If you are the type that looks forward to it, read on.
A few years ago, the TV comedy team of Key & Peele had a running shtick: the Obama Anger Translator.
Reader: Reading The Californian’s “Notable deaths of 2018” article, one was notably absent: Pat DeMond. I also do not recall seeing any coverage of her Oct. 10 passing in your paper at that time.
Mark Witsoe is not in charge of the Meadows Field airport. You are.
The House of Representatives has 435 members. The two who represent Kern County couldn't be much further apart in the pecking order.
Reader: One of your Monday columnists, Anna Smith, was right when she said local news sources are the watchdogs that protect democracy and local quality of life ("When we starve the watchdog, we threaten democracy," Dec. 31). I wish they’d make decisions that ensured they’ll be here for us i…
Anyone who has driven the surface streets of Bakersfield recently knows big changes are coming. The Centennial Corridor is about to roll across and over the city's west side, and the 24th Street widening project northwest of downtown is gaining momentum.
Every year at this time, many in my profession, and perhaps yours, find themselves bidding the old, departing year a not-so-fond "don't let the door hit you on the way out."
Reader: What a big surprise and Christmas gift it was for us to see the front page of the Dec. 23 Californian and your Sunday column ("Where We Live: The fight to save Oildale"). For those of us old enough to remember, the TV show from the early ’80s comes to mind: "You take the good, you ta…
This Christmas, I asked my kids to just show up and we'd call it good. That's all I wanted from them in terms of gifts: To just sit around together, reminisce, dream and be reminded how out of touch I am with today's youth-driven culture. (I'm a cool dad; this wasn't supposed to ever happen.)
A flyer is taped to the front glass doors of Wattenbarger hardware, the Oildale lumber store and neighborhood institution founded in 1946.
Reader: Teddy Feinberg’s essay about local football players having significant impact at the college level was a natural for me to read in detail with a Saturday coffee while the dogs had breakfast on a chilly back porch ("Former Bakersfield athletes star in college football bowl season," Dec. 15).
Reader: On Dec. 8, you ran a story with the headline, "New pesticide regulations expected to reduce Kern's crop yield." I wonder why you didn't choose the headline, "New pesticide regulations expected to save lives"? I understand we live in an agricultural community, but I would expect a new…
Greg Gallion is like our conscience.
Readers like to complain that the national news media is picking on President Trump by characterizing his every step in the worst possible light.
Robert Mistriel, complicit in one of Kern County's most brutal and infamous murders, has been recommended for release by the Board of Prison Terms, his husband confirmed Wednesday.
Recent high school graduates with no clear idea of their next move will want to sit still and read this. The rest of you, too, of course.
Reader: I don’t know why you are sensationalizing news, but this ("Sexual misconduct charges sought against ex-Liberty coach," Nov. 30) is ridiculous and harmful. Shame on The Californian for this kind of news.
I donned a plastic apron, snapped on some disposable gloves and helped serve Thanksgiving dinner to residents of the Bakersfield Homeless Center this past Thursday.
Orange County, one of the last bastions of Republicanism in California, has gone completely blue.
We had a fire drill Thursday at our new offices north of Bakersfield.
Reader: As much as I like Peter Wonderly, I must strongly oppose his suggestion that evangelical Christians should "Vote for the common good" (Community Voices, Oct. 30) by selecting Democrat candidates. Even if I agreed with Peter's talking points questioning the morality of Republican posi…
In the annals of great human migrations, this one is not especially noteworthy. Moses and the people of Israel from Egypt to the Holy Land — that was a migration. Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs from the partition of colonial India — definitely epic. Okies and Arkies from the environmental devasta…
Our Oct. 31 article on the dust-up in the Kern High School District race for the open Area 4 seat attracted some fiery criticism from two prominent Colebrook supporters, political consultant Cathy Abernathy and state senate candidate Shannon Grove.
Every two years, right around this time, Kevin McCarthy throws himself at the mercy of Central California voters. And every two years, unfailingly since 2002, Central California voters have overwhelmingly endorsed him.
Reader: The news media does an excellent job reporting the names of arrestees and their crimes. Why not report their immigration status also? This would provide factual information instead of emotional bias to help develop common immigration reform. Just kidding — that wouldn't be politicall…
In July the Arvin City Council voted to establish restrictions on new oil and gas operations within its borders.
Reader: I moved to Kern County in 1998 and when Kevin McCarthy first ran for the California Assembly in 2002, I supported him. At that time I was totally disinterested in politics. Fast forward to today's political atmosphere, with the ongoing devastation dividing the nation at the hands of …
Two years ago, Mimi's Cafe was a highly visible fixture in the commercial strip of California Avenue immediately west of Highway 99. The well-loved (considering it's a chain) restaurant was a magnet for lunch traffic, owing to its appealing menu and prominent location.
Reader: I don't understand how TBC Media can endorse Mike Williams for the Kern High School District Board of Trustees, and I would like you to help me understand. A year ago Mike was angry with The Californian because you guys printed an opinion he didn't like so he threatened to pull the p…
Next year at this time Kern County is expected to have a population of about 931,000. But its official population — the number of people who actually get counted — will be about 888,000. That's a difference of 43,000 people. And, potentially, a difference of a lot of money.
Young citizens of voting age need to understand their rights and responsibilities in this democracy thing, and I’m always happy to give them a little shove in the right direction.
We've all heard about the fake news that propagandists in Russia, Macedonia, Romania and elsewhere dropped into America's scarcely regulated social media network in the run-up to the 2016 election.
Not a single vote has been cast in the closely watched race for 4th District Kern County supervisor, but Delano Mayor Grace Vallejo has a big lead in the second-most important measure of electoral success — money.
Commented