Shari Rightmer calls it her Forrest Gump moment.
The Kern River Valley has one of the most severe opioid problems in California. One particularly stricken burg in the area, Wofford Heights, has an opioid overdose rate five times the national average.
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Kern County's days as a capital of crude oil production are numbered. California is seeing to that. Bakersfield hasn't reached the end of that road but we can see the T intersection ahead in the distance.
Reader: Your criticism of Rep. Kevin McCarthy was disappointing ("McCarthy's tired talking points on gun violence," Aug. 7).
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Three years ago, in the wake of yet another mass shooting, a reader submitted an op-ed commentary to The Californian that laid out his thoughts on this national scourge.
The charming little Kern County mountain town of Tehachapi has one and only one big box store: A Kmart on West Tehachapi Boulevard. At the moment, anyway.
Reader: As Will Rogers used to say, “All I know is what I read in the newspapers.” I imagine he did get a lot of useful information in the 1920s and '30s and this info was a good source for his humor. But today, thank God, we have social media, the internet and other venues that supply a gre…
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One day 20 years ago, a slightly flustered UPS driver asked Margaret Hoover for directions. She’d seen him drive past her house three times already, so she wasn’t surprised when he stopped. “So,” he said, trying to get his bearings. “This is 621 Walnut Drive?”
Reader: So the Big Enchilada for The Californian gives his journalistic take on Jose ("Who killed audacious, driven Jose Arredondo, and why?," July 21). A large portion is dedicated to salacious speculation — based on unsubstantiated rumors started by other, green-with-envy car dealers.
When Matty Roberts invited his Facebook audience to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," he accomplished several things:
The grandiose, arched entrance into the Cabo Real Golf Club resort community has no gates.
Reader: I see that Bakersfield College has closed the Latinx gap ("Bakersfield College earns Student Success award," July 17). The article uses the term "Latinx," which I'm reading as "Lah-teenks." I think this ought to be explained to us. My guess is that the term is intended to replace the…
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Mr. and Mrs. Waddell couldn't have known it at the time, but the sight of their 2-year-old son Willard atop the 30-foot-tall windmill that pumped water for their southeastern Nebraska farm was a glimpse into the future.
Reader: I was born and raised in Bakersfield. I am 77 years old. In his article, Steven Mayer ("Some tried to burn him out, but 'Uncle' Larry still in Oildale 50 years on," July 12) stated that 50 years ago there was a sign telling colored people to leave Oildale by sundown.
The Bakersfield City Council is about to embark on an undertaking that will determine the city's direction like no other single decision in recent memory: Finding the right person to call the shots.
Many Bakersfield natives have ventured out into the world that lies beyond that flat, low valley horizon and made names for themselves. Musicians, athletes, inventors, artists, entrepreneurs.
Reader: With all the change at The Californian, I was not surprised, but was still saddened, to see that longtime sports reporter Mike Griffith was leaving.
Martin Croad was just looking for a place to crash.
Let's get something straight: That lovely and historic home of yours two or three blocks from 100-year-old Jastro Park is not in Westchester.
On Jan. 26, 1897, Alfred Harrell, then the 34-year-old Kern County Superintendent of Schools, bought The Daily Californian. On June 30, 2019, his great-granddaughter, Ginger Moorhouse, sold it.
Reader: Your recent column ("Loaner life vests: Another possible answer to Kern River drownings," June 26) said if anybody out there is in a position to donate to a local loaner-vest program for the Kern River, to call you. I think I probably can scrounge up enough money to take care of some…
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 …
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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.
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