breaking featured
As of this writing, six people are still in the Kern River, missing and presumed drowned. An 11-year-old local girl is among them.
See those big letters at the top of this page? It still says, "The Bakersfield Californian," doesn't it?
Reader: I have no quarrel with gay people. To each his own. But I can't accept that anyone has the right to choose his/her own pronoun. Let me say that you can certainly choose your own pronoun. Use it as often as you wish. Just don't expect others to use it.
Within the culture of methamphetamine and heroin addiction that festers on the poverty-wracked south side of Oildale are some heart-wrenching stories. I stumbled upon a few of them there last year peering into dank garages and illegal gambling parlors, trying to interview twitching junkies, …
Reader: This article ("Suspended priest Craig Harrison, back from self-exile, formulates his defense," June 9) is a load of crap. Once again Robert Price is doing Monsignor Craig Harrison’s bidding. Is this what The Californian is about now? Trying to protect an alleged child predator before…
People undergo life-changing transformations all of the time, both for good and for ill. Few of those changes are documented for posterity in all of their agonizing, exhilarating glory.
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Californian exclusive: Suspended priest Craig Harrison, back from self-exile, formulates his defense
"Welcome to the bat cave," Monsignor Craig Harrison's attorney announced. "Look up here."
Reader: My friend sent me this email: "Send this letter to the editor, 'Principal made honest mistake with card use,' as well as the chicken-suit article, to Bob Price and see what he has to say."
History meets innovation when two institutions — one early 20th century, the other early 21st century — merge this month in Bakersfield.
Reader: Thank you for all of the feel-good stories in the May 30 paper. The happy high school graduates (photo collections of the commencement exercises at Stockdale, South, East, West, Ridgeview, Shafter and Mira Monte high schools), Megan Holmes' outstanding high school counselor award ("W…
It's high school graduation time and at hyperlocal midsize papers like The Californian, that means all hands on deck, even the crotchety old veteran columnist with zero photo skills. We had 18 commencement exercises to cover over two days, and my services would be required. My assignment was…
A lot of schoolteachers will tell you that their profession is no walk in the park. Some days, walking onto campus is like entering a war zone populated with unruly, occasionally violent people who don't care, and don't care that you know they don't care.
Reader: I read Sam Morgen's article on the Bakersfield College student ("BC student believed to be detained by ICE for second time," May 18) and to be honest I found it completely lacking in journalistic integrity and used to promote/incite more on the immigration issue.
As rock bands go, the Aviators are seriously lacking in at least one vital area. They are entirely too responsible.
Jaclyn Allen's cute little vegan restaurant has some things working against it.
Reader: Your column about handicapped parking tickets ("We're the state's hotbed of disabled parking violations," May 15) was very interesting and informative. I have similar feelings about the issue. I have disabled license plates on my personal vehicle because my wife has physical walking …
editor's pick
Admit it. This has happened to you.
This is the story of two fathers and the son they, in a sense, raised together.
Reader: I read your column on convicted murderer Bobby Mistriel, released from prison last month after serving 38 years ("Powerful gay men. Vulnerable teenage boys. Murder. Justice. And now, for newly freed Bobby Mistriel, a measure of vindication," May 5). I thought your article was complet…
Its 19th campus opens three years from now, and the Kern High School District needs to come up with a name for it. A number of factors must be taken into consideration in the decision-making process, but the most important one is this:
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It took a few ding-ding-dings, but the seat-belt-scold alarm finally got Bobby Mistriel's attention. "All right, all right!" he sputtered, annoyed that a 35-year-old federal law, new to him, had interrupted his story midsentence.
Reader: "The victim told police he was alone with (Monsignor Craig) Harrison when it happened. The victim, now an adult, was 16 or 17 years old at the time. A date when the incident happened was not given."
The natives are getting restless.
Some neighborhoods are working class. Some are white-collar professional. Some are retirement, some are historic, some are Bohemian.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on the Trump administration's mission to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. Court watchers say, based on the discussion, things appear promising for the president's side.
Originally published Feb. 23, 1997
Reader: This month, TBC ran an editorial hit piece on President Trump ("Our View: Trump ‘tilts at windmills’ with bogus cancer claim," April 7). He had made a speech about wind power causing cancer, which frankly was ridiculous. I love him but would be the first to admit that he sometimes is…
Contact The Californian's Robert Price at 661-395-7399, rprice@bakersfield.com or on Twitter: @stubblebuzz. The views expressed here are his own.
It was dusk when Gary Moore, his wife Petrina and their 4-year-old daughter jumped into the family's little red Honda for a short jaunt down Highway 99, from Delano to McFarland, for a Sunday-evening visit with another couple.
Reader: The bar that TBC sets for those reporters that contribute to its op-ed, national and world news pages is not set very high. As a matter of fact anyone who is a Trump hater is always welcomed with open arms. Case in point was "Trump struggles with border issues," published April 7, ab…
New York City cab driver. Hazardous waste cleanup technician. Budget airline flight attendant. To that list of challenging jobs, add this: top executive of the California Republican Party.
Reader: I know you are getting a lot of well-deserved compliments on your excellent Baker Street neighborhood article, as well as suggestions for places left out ("Where We Live: In Old Town Kern, renowned restaurants and pervasive homelessness are side by side," March 24). I have a couple o…
Paul Golla, the new head coach at Garces High School, likes what he sees of his new team thus far, even without the pads and footballs.
In what will be his first extended interview with local media, Michael Stewart will sit down with The Californian's Robert Price for a special installment of TBC Media's "One on One" webcast to talk about his new job — head football coach at Bakersfield High School.
editor's pick
In the spring, they pick oranges and tangerines. In August, grapes. Then, come October, a choice: vegetables in and around Arvin or strawberries over in Santa Maria. The hours can be long, the work backbreaking.
Reader: The "article" about how local new car sales will be affected by the impending 1-cent sales tax increase is hardly relevant for the front page of The Californian, even on a slow news day ("Car dealers see purchase incentive in impending city sales tax increase," March 26). This is not…
East Bakersfield's history-rich Baker Street corridor is populated with a number of great restaurants — and the city's most severe homeless problem. Disconnected souls live both on the street and in homeless shelters around and among several renowned dining establishments. The result is a pr…
The Gaslight Melodrama, one of Bakersfield’s great little treasures, just opened a show called “Shafter vs. Wasco.” It’s corny, slapstick fun, but the theme speaks to an actual truth: The Kern County farm towns, 10 miles apart and almost identical in size and demographic makeup, have a decad…
The late, great food critic Jonathan Gold was known to have visited Old Town Kern even when he had no intention of writing anything about the trip.
Reader: How can The Bakersfield Californian post the (March 19) headline, "Jury acquits Kern High teacher who allegedly sexted with student"? They said (Kern High School District teacher Johnny Gray Watson) wasn't guilty of that (charge) and the girl (who had accused him) admitted it wasn't …
editor's pick
Wondering what's so pleasantly different about that chile verde? Wide-eyed over that steaming platter of garlicky Basque fried chicken? Sizing up an angle of attack on that briny, rich clam linguine?
Filmmakers have been turning their cameras on Kern County landscapes practically since moving pictures first existed.
Here is one way to bring a community together.
Reader: I am a 73-year-old, Bakersfield-born-and-raised grandmother. I am not a big reader of the Sports section. I have one grandson at Garces High School and no connection to the state champion Foothill High School boys basketball team. But I want to extend my greatest compliments to The C…
The Union Pacific Railroad has finally broken ground on a new train depot in east Bakersfield, a turn of events that frees us to speculate on what could or should become of the historic old one, built in 1889 by the defunct Southern Pacific.
Two unimaginable things have taken place in Bakersfield's Sikh community over the past several days.
Reader: I am responding to your question from last week's Sound Off, "Did we go too far in reporting on Chris Burrous' bizarre death?" Yes: You go too far in reporting on people who died with drugs because you're not considering the children.
Announcing the return of the "notes" column ...
Old Stockdale, that proud little bastion of winding, tree-lined streets and sprawling mansions spaced incongruously alongside quirky pastel bungalows and low, broad ranch homes, has a stubborn streak.
Reader: Honestly, Bakersfield Californian? What is the purpose of this article ("LA coroner: Burrous died of meth toxicity," Feb. 23) other than the posthumous shredding of his character? Is this really newsworthy? Seems far more sleazy tabloid. Wonder how Chris’ family feels when they read …
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