1. Local News
   

   Document: Local attorney called wife's shooting 'an accident'

   Bakersfield DUI attorney Mark Joseph Madrigali told Bakersfield police that the June 12 shooting of his wife "was an accident," according to a one-page probable cause statement filed in Kern County Superior Court and put online Wednesday by KERO Channel 23. This amounts to Madrigali's first official explanation of...

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2. Local News

   Body recovered from lake may be that of National Guardsman

   A body recovered from Isabella Lake Wednesday is believed to be that of a local member of the Army National Guard. No official identification has yet been made by the Kern County coroner's office, but several people said they'd heard through friends that the victim was Michael May. Daniel Garza, a close friend of May,...

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3. Local News
   

   RALPH ROBLES: The cat that survived a ride under the hood

   Monday morning I got a call to go to Shafter to check my work site there. I got into my employer's car and started to Shafter by way of Santa Fe Road. As I passed Olive Drive, I heard a "pop" from under the hood of the car. The car lost power and pulled to the right. I eased off the road onto the shoulder, thinking I...

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1. Health
   

   San Joaquin Community Hospital names new CEO

   Florida hospital executive Doug Duffield will take the top post at San Joaquin Community Hospital, as its new president and CEO starting July 15. Duffield's hiring comes four months after former CEO Robert Beehler left the hospital for a corporate position with Adventist Health amid an ongoing Centers for Medicare &...

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2. Local News
   

   James Gandolfini, actor famed for role in "The Sopranos," dies in Italy

   LOS ANGELES — James Gandolfini, whose portrayal of a brutal, emotionally delicate mob boss in HBO’s "The Sopranos" helped create one of TV’s greatest drama series and turned the mobster stereotype on its head, died Wednesday in Italy. He was 51. In a statement, the cable channel, and Gandolfini’s managers Mark...

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3. Local News
   

   Southwest residents: 'Take down the wall'

   A walkway between the Amberton and Stockdale Estates neighborhoods used by a generation of children to walk to school has become the most hotly debated territory in southwest Bakersfield since a homeowner closed it June 14 with a cinder block wall. According to city officials, the move by homeowner Michael Hansen,...

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1. Business

   Business groups criticize bill to penalize employers whose workers go on Medi-Cal

   Local business advocacy groups came together in a rare joint news conference Tuesday to declare their opposition to a state bill that would penalize large employers whose workers enroll in Medi-Cal. Kern County business and political leaders called Assembly Bill 880, authored by Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles,...

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2. Real Estate
   

   'First Look': Local real estate market shifting

   The Bakersfield residential real estate market continues to change, the founders of Majestic Properties said Tuesday on "First Look with Scott Cox." Bart Tipton offered these numbers: Two years ago, active for-sale listings were comprised of about 33 percent bank-owned properties, 33 percent short sales and 33...

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3. Business
   

   Innovative energy storage project tested near Tehachapi

   Century-old railroad technology is mixing with green-style innovation at an energy storage project now being tested in the heart of Kern County's wind power region. Santa Barbara-based Advanced Rail Energy Storage recently began running a specially designed locomotive up and down quarter-scale railroad tracks a few...

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1. Business
   

   Walmart proposes new store in Lamont

   Walmart Stores Inc. proposes to build a new store in Lamont that would anchor a 20-acre shopping center on what is now farmland. Still in the planning stages, the 130,000-square-foot store would open within the next two or three years at the southeast corner of Weedpatch Highway and Di Giorgio Road, Walmart...

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2. Breaking News Blog
   

   Couple pleads guilty in federal mortgage fraud case

   A Bakersfield couple pleaded guilty Monday in a mortgage fraud scheme that prosecutors say cost lenders more that $6 million in losses. In a Fresno federal court, Eric Ray Hernandez, 37, and Monica Marie Hernandez, 32, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud. They are...

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3. Business
   

   Goats nibble away at weeds, an eco-friendly alternative for GET

   She isn't like normal goats. She doesn't roam around with her herd all day. She prefers to socialize with humans and get rubbed and massaged. And once in a while nibble at clothes. Her name is Panchita. With a chiming bell around her neck, the one-and-a-half-year-old goat rubs her head against Javier Onaindia's hand,...

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1. Music
   

   CAMILLE GAVIN: BHS grad returns for Stars concert

   New York-based singer-songwriter Emily Nicholas has a strong connection to Bakersfield in terms of friends, family and local theater. And for me and many other local residents, it's been a joy to see the Bakersfield High School graduate grow into a standout performer with a unique style. Nicholas will perform...

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2. Richard Beene
   

   RICHARD BEENE: Bakersfield Observed, a blog about life, media, politics and people

   Scam alert Local kindergarten teacher Jolie Brouttier shared this story of almost being scammed on a "too good to be true" rental property. She was on the popular real estate website Zillow.com when she spotted a three bedroom, two bath home with a pool that was renting for just $700 a month. "It wasn't until the...

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3. Lois Henry
   

   LOIS HENRY: Sacramento blunders with your public records

   I'm tired of Sacramento playing chicken with the public's right to access its own government. Gov. Jerry Brown is about to sign Assembly Bill 76, the budget trailer bill, which includes language that will make parts of the Public Records Act "optional" for government agencies. Not to be cynical or anything, but if...

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1. Music
   

   SCOTT COX: This Foo Fighter would do his honky-tonk heroes proud

   I went to the Crystal Palace last Thursday to see Foo Fighters guitar player Chris Shiflett. It seems Chris and some friends decided to devote a year to proper honky-tonk music. The tour they're on is obviously to get comfortable with the material in advance of their album, "All Hat and No Cattle," which comes out in...

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2. Local Lifestyle
   

   HERB BENHAM: The dime I can spare, brother, but not the guilt

   March of Dimes sent me a solicitation. In the envelope was a shiny dime. An attractive, shiny dime. What made it more compelling was that the envelope contained address labels, too. A shiny dime and address labels. Usually, you get one or the other. Both is a banner day. Address labels come in handy. There aren't...

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3. Jamie Butow
   

   JAMIE BUTOW: Hashtags arrive on Facebook

   Hashtags have become such a huge part of Twitter that it's hard to imagine the platform without them. And now after months of speculation, hashtags have arrived on Facebook. Support for the topic organization system began rolling out to some Facebook users last week, and will roll out to all users in the coming...

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1. Community - MyBakersfieldSports.com
   

   Locals pedal to victory in 857-mile endurance race

   A team of four Bakersfield cyclists covered an 857.6-mile endurance race from California to Colorado in less than two days to win the mixed division title of the Race Across the West. Tony Castiglone, Mark Farias, Patrick Mason and Lori O'Lin, representing the Jeremy Staat Foundation, covered the course, from...

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2. College
   

   Pro baseball careers starting for 5 ex-Roadrunners

   It's pro baseball careers for all five Cal State Bakersfield players selected in Major League Baseball's first-year player draft earlier this month. Senior pitchers Scott Brattvet, Jeff McKenzie and Chuck Buchanan and juniors Cael Brockmeyer, a catcher, and shortstop Tyler Shryock will all be signed to contracts by...

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3. Preps
   

   State 800 champ Gonzalez picks Cal

   Ridgeview graduate Ivan Gonzalez, the state champion in the 800 meters at this month's CIF State Track and Field Championships, will run collegiately at Cal. Ridgeview coach Adam Setser confirmed that Tuesday, saying the Golden Bears came through with a grant and scholarship combination that will pay Gonzalez's...

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1. Sports

   Local baseball: Cal League All-Stars thumped

   SAN JOSE -- The California League All-Stars committed four errors in a 12-2 loss to the Carolina League All-Stars in the California/Carolina League Single-A All-Star Game at Municipal Stadium on Tuesday night. Pitcher Carlos Contreras, the lone member of the Bakersfield Blaze available to play in the game, did not...

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2. Condors

   Consistency keeps Hood in tight IMCA points race

   Four drivers are locked in a tight points battle midway through the IMCA Modified points season at Bakersfield Speedway. Heading into Saturday night's race on the third-mile clay oval, just seven points separate points leader Larry Hood from fourth-place Roger Holder. Nestled in between is Brad Pounds, two points...

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3. Condors

   Condors' schedule heavy on weekend home dates

   Who will be the next coach remains a mystery, but who, when and where the Condors are playing during the upcoming season has been revealed. The Condors on Wednesday released their 2013-14 season schedule, which starts with an opening-night home game against the Colorado Eagles on Oct. 18. That game will be a rare...

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1. Music
   

   Newshounds unleashed for charity concert

   When Danny Spanks sings karaoke, he likes to catch his audience off guard. So the go-to choice for the 40-something DJ/program director at KRAB Radio -- Bakersfield's edgy, 18-to-34-skewing alternative station -- is "Like a Virgin" by Madonna. Consider his audience officially off guard. "I just get a kick out of...

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2. Music
   

   Lorrie story: What a tale

   Love gone wrong, tragedy and redemption: Lorrie Morgan doesn't just sing country music, she lives it. In fact, Morgan's life and career have been full of highs -- a string of radio-friendly hits in the '90s -- and lows, including failed high-profile romances with the likes of former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy...

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3. Community
   

   Big-bird alert: Ostrich ranch throws a party

   Ever heard that tale about ostriches hiding their heads in the sand? That's likely to ruffle some feathers over at Indian Point Ostrich Ranch. "Put their heads in the ground? They don't. It's a myth," said David Brust, spokesman for the Tehachapi facility. Celebrating 21 years in business, the popular tourist...

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1. Community
   

   This volleyball tourney is spiked with mud

   It's time to get down and dirty for a Kern County tradition that's good clean fun. The 21st Annual Mud Volleyball Tournament to benefit the Epilepsy Society of Kern County takes place Saturday at Stramler Park. The venue, best known for festivals and concerts, will be transformed as thousands of gallons of water is...

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2. Music
   

   CAMILLE GAVIN: BHS grad returns for Stars concert

   New York-based singer-songwriter Emily Nicholas has a strong connection to Bakersfield in terms of friends, family and local theater. And for me and many other local residents, it's been a joy to see the Bakersfield High School graduate grow into a standout performer with a unique style. Nicholas will perform...

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3. Arts & Entertainment
   

   PHOTO GALLERY: Ramos Circus comes to town

   The Ramos Circus, which has been around nearly 100 years and has been passed down five generations. visits Bakersfield for about a week before touring California for the rest of the summer. The circus will perform at the Golden State Mall parking lot off F Street through Sunday with performances Wednesday through...

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1. National Voices

   MICHAEL GERSON: Taking a closer look at the GOP's leadership challenge

   It is often argued, including by me, that the GOP needs its own Bill Clinton or Tony Blair -- a leader to reposition the party and reinvigorate its political appeal. But if these figures are examples of successful reform, British Prime Minister David Cameron is a warning of its perils. Cameron set out to modernize...

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2. Hot Topics

   ROBERT HARGREAVES: Critique of California dairies outdated and underreported

   The headline in the June 13 Californian read "Chinese demand for dairy products has a big environmental impact on California," but most of the full-page story had little to do with China. Instead, it was devoted to telling everything that is supposedly wrong with California dairies. The authors, Susanne Rust and...

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3. Letters to the Editor

   Revenge fueled penalties against BC football team

   The real story on Bakersfield College football is this: What would make California Community College Athletic Association President Carlyle Carter violate the CCCAA bylaws at the behest of disgruntled BC track coach Pam Kelley? Kelley's testimony before the accounting firm Brown Armstrong, which was hired by the...

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1. Letters to the Editor

   Don't punish legal immigrants

   There is a whole side to the immigration reform issue that has remained in the shadows because those affected fear they take the chance of being branded troublemakers and sent home. When a gap developed in the job market in the early 1990s because of the dot-com, high-tech, Silicon Valley explosion, employers were...

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2. Our View

   Don't let govt operate behind closed doors

   If Robert Rizzo, the former city administrator for the Los Angeles County city of Bell, were a member of the California Legislature today, we can be pretty sure how he would have voted on AB 76 and SB 71, two bills tucked into the 2013-14 state budget that essentially turn the California Public Records Act into a...

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3. Community Voices

   BRIK McDILL: Following the scientific method doesn't make us all materialists

   Stafford Betty's June 11 Community Voices column, "Materialism: The creed of the scientific fundamentalist," gave support and an invitation to the domain of the paranormal while at the same time creating a quite amazing caricature of those of us who hue to the methods and canons of science. For starters: We are not...

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1. Breaking News Blog

   Stolen gun, drugs seized

   About 7 p.m. Tuesday, deputies conducted a drug investigation in the 3500 block of Belle Terrace Avenue and found a stolen pistol and a .32-caliber revolver in a bedroom in the home. The suspect, Jeffrey Stephens, drove up the front driveway and deputies arrested him for an active no bail warrant. Deputies seized a...

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2. Breaking News Blog

   Twelve pounds of meth seized from vehicle

   At 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, deputies concluded a drug investigation at a parking lot near White Lane and Highway 99 and made two arrests. Deputies contacted two men sitting in a Chevrolet Suburban and seized 12 pounds of methamphetamine from a box on the back seat. The occupants, Jose Mendoza-Garcia, 35, of Gilroy, and Luis...

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3. Condors Talk Blog
   

   Condors announce schedule; guarantee making playoffs

   Who will be the next coach remains a mystery, but who, when and where the Condors are playing during the upcoming season has been revealed. The Condors released their 2013-14 season schedule on Wednesday,  which starts with an opening night game at home against the Colorado Eagles on Oct. 18. That game will be a...

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1. Breaking News Blog
   

   Award-winning military journalist Michael Hastings dies

   LOS ANGELES -- Award-winning journalist and war correspondent Michael Hastings, whose unflinching reporting ended the career of a top American army general, died early Tuesday in a car accident in Los Angeles, his employer and family said. Hastings, who was 33, was described by many of his colleagues as an...

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2. The Grade Blog
   

   Administrator looking forward to new challenge at academy

   Saul Gonzalez enjoys a good reputation in education circles. Until recently, he was the assistant superintendent of the Delano Joint Union High School District, which is known for high state test scores even though most of its students are low-income Hispanics, who often don't score well on standardized exams....

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3. Breaking News Blog

   Woman arrested on drug, stealing charges

   The Kern County Sheriff's Office Rural Crime Investigation Unit arrested a woman in connection with stolen farmland equipment in Delano. Last Friday, deputies stopped a vehicle driven by Michelle Terese Blaylock, the sheriff's department said in a news release. It said she was found with farm equipment that was...

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Editors' picks from the last week

1. Pick 6 - Editors Picks from Past Week
   

   Sheriff's office: Man who died in custody had drugs in throat

   A 25-year-old man who died in Kern County sheriff’s custody Monday night had two plastic baggies with illegal drugs stuffed in his throat, the department reported. Deputies noticed Wilfredo Ramos was having trouble breathing after he’d been put in the back of a patrol car at about 9:40 p.m. in the 1900 block of South...

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2. Pick 6 - Editors Picks from Past Week
   

   Freeway opening just around the corner

   At long last, Bakersfield officials see light at the end of the freeway. The opening of the Westside Parkway, a key thoroughfare connecting with the Thomas Roads Improvement Program, is just around the bend -- an unspecified date in August. Construction began in 2009. Commuters will initially have about six miles of...

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3. Pick 6 - Editors Picks from Past Week
   

   HOLLY CULHANE: National gun control debate spills into workplace

   It's not surprising that the debate over gun control that is roiling across the nation is spilling into the workplace. More than 20 states have enacted "parking lot gun laws," which require employers to allow their workers to bring guns onto company property as long as the weapons are locked in parked vehicles. Some...

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1. Pick 6 - Editors Picks from Past Week
   

   From ‘curly-haired Willie’ to councilman-elect

   It was 2 p.m., the hottest part of the day, when the subject of Ward 1 Councilman-elect Willie Rivera’s tender, young age arose. He made the mistake of trying to guess the location of the Valero gas station where constituent Patricia Warner worked, and what was there before it was built, and she let him have it. “You...

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2. Pick 6 - Editors Picks from Past Week
   

   Big-bird alert: Ostrich ranch throws a party

   Ever heard that tale about ostriches hiding their heads in the sand? That's likely to ruffle some feathers over at Indian Point Ostrich Ranch. "Put their heads in the ground? They don't. It's a myth," said David Brust, spokesman for the Tehachapi facility. Celebrating 21 years in business, the popular tourist...

   Read More
3. Pick 6 - Editors Picks from Past Week
   

   Newshounds unleashed for charity concert

   When Danny Spanks sings karaoke, he likes to catch his audience off guard. So the go-to choice for the 40-something DJ/program director at KRAB Radio -- Bakersfield's edgy, 18-to-34-skewing alternative station -- is "Like a Virgin" by Madonna. Consider his audience officially off guard. "I just get a kick out of...

   Read More