1. Local News
   

   'First Look': BC Helmet Club president talks about sanctions

   Five or six months ago when it first was told there was something to correct, the president of the Helmet Club thought moving the Bakersfield College football boosters nonprofit under the Bakersfield College Foundation was all that was necessary. "We said, 'OK, let's do it,'" said Paul Pavletich, the booster club...

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2. Local News
   

   Crews race to find twister survivors as death toll revised downward

   MOORE, Okla. -- Emergency crews searched the broken remnants of an Oklahoma City suburb Tuesday for survivors of a massive tornado that flattened homes and demolished an elementary school. At least 24 people were killed, including at least nine children, and those numbers were expected to climb. The state medical...

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3. Local News
   

   'First Look': Eat at Outback, send a burn survivor to camp

   It's pretty simple. Eat at Outback Steakhouse during a special fundraiser, and help send a child or teen who's suffered burns to a special camp designed just for them. The fundraiser takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at Outback Steakhouse, 5051 Stockdale Highway. For $25, you get steak, chicken or salmon,...

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1. Local News
   

   'First Look': Top Boys & Girls Clubs director from Kern

   They're Kern County-wide, with 52 locations. They're in seven local school districts. They have about 5,500 kids walking through the doors each day. And more than 400 youth professionals mentor them. They are the Boys & Girls Clubs of Kern County. The organization's executive director, Zane Smith, was recently named...

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2. Local News
   

   'First Look': First News for May 21

   Lead stories from "First Look with Scott Cox's" Big 6. CELL PHONE VIDEO: The attorney representing the witnesses in the in-custody death of a Bakersfield man releases cellphone video shot by one of the witnesses. Yesterday (mon) Daniel Rodriguez released the video shot by Francisco Arrieta the night 33-year old...

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3. Local News
   

   Sun Pacific gets custody of Cuties in Paramount divorce

   The two companies behind the popular Cuties brand of mandarins have begun a corporate divorce that forces a name change on a popular product that accounts for thousands of acres in Kern County orchards. Under a deal announced Monday, Pasadena-based Sun Pacific was to pay Paramount Citrus, part of Los Angeles-based...

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1. Business
   

   KSFCU rescues ailing Tehachapi credit union

   The county's largest financial institution is riding to the rescue of a much smaller credit union in Tehachapi that federal data show has fallen on very hard times. Kern Schools Federal Credit Union announced Monday that it has agreed to merge with Tehachapi Federal Credit Union, whose perilous financial condition...

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2. Business

   Unemployment picture brightens in California, Kern

   California's unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level in 4 1/2 years as the state experienced one of the sharpest drops in joblessness nationwide, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday. Unemployment fell to 9 percent in April, the lowest point since November 2008, nearly a year after the...

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3. High-speed Rail
   

   Judge to hear lawsuit over high-speed rail bonds

   SACRAMENTO -- State officials on Thursday agreed to drop a request to consolidate all lawsuits challenging California's use of voter-approved high-speed rail bonds, allowing a trial seeking to stop their sale to begin later this month. Opponents of the $68 billion bullet train project and attorneys for the California...

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1. Business
   

   Judge faults government's 'abusive' tactics against Chevron in Elk Hills lawsuit

   A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Department of Energy owes Chevron Corp. unspecified damages in a years-old contract dispute over $37 billion in petroleum deposits at the prolific Elk Hills oil field in northwestern Kern County. A 91-page ruling issued May 8 by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims said the...

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2. Business

   Action Line: How do I stop getting unwanted magazine subscription?

   Editor's note: Action Line is a weekly column from the Better Business Bureau answering consumers' questions and concerns about money and business issues. Dear Action Line, I just received my second copy of Better Homes and Gardens magazine today. I did not order this magazine and do not want magazines. I take no...

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3. Real Estate

   California sues JPMorgan Chase over "illegal" debt collection

   SACRAMENTO -- California's attorney general sued one of the nation's largest banks Thursday, alleging that JPMorgan Chase & Co. used illegal tactics in its debt collection efforts against about 100,000 credit card holders. The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court says the company filed thousands of debt...

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1. Local Lifestyle
   

   HERB BENHAM: How forgiving is St. Christopher?

   I was driving in my car when it rattled one too many times and I said to myself, "That's it." I grabbed it around its metal waist and dumped it in the white plastic bag I'd been given my last time through Cruz Thru Express Car Wash. "It" was a two-inch-high figure of St. Christopher that I've had in the car for years...

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2. Local Lifestyle
   

   HERB BENHAM: If karma is real, Lance McCullah has a lot coming his way

   Thursday nights during football season, Lance McCullah, an assistant varsity coach at Bakersfield High School, takes linebackers and running backs to dinner. Pizza, sushi, cheeseburgers, it doesn't matter. What does is that players -- some of whom may not know how to order from a menu or behave in public -- dress in...

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3. Sound Off

   SOUND OFF: What's known, and what's not, in Silva investigation

   ARTHUR: Our coverage of the death in custody of David Sal Silva has been read around the world and has drawn many comments. It's impossible to answer them all (and some don't need answers) but a couple of online remarks from our article last Sunday -- "Deputies' video confiscations come under scrutiny in fatal...

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1. Hot Topics

   ROBERT PRICE: Has good-ol'-boy corruption seized the Kern County Sheriff's Office?

   The Kern County Sheriff's Office is out of control. That's one conclusion many people will draw based on the events of the past two weeks and in the context of recent years. We won't know whether that's a fair characterization until we get some answers, but it should grieve us all that the possibility is even on the...

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2. Steve Flores
   

   STEVE FLORES: Diving into summertime memories

   Canals and the Union Avenue Plunge: That was our southeast neighborhood's primary refuge from the San Joaquin Valley's oppressive summer heat during the 1960s. We shared the canals with crawdads, broken beer bottles and other unknown sources of refuse. Disgusting, I know, but it was almost a rite of youthful passage...

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3. Sherry Davis
   

   SHERRY DAVIS: The peril of owning a 'shop-vac' dog

   Recently, as I chastised Frank for the zillionth time about eating the mulberries that fall into my yard every year, it brought to mind my first Newfoundland, who likewise would suck up and swallow anything in his path. Or, as I call them: "Shop-Vac dogs." And because of this habit for ingesting anything he...

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1. Community - MyBakersfieldSports.com
   

   May 21 community sports announcements, accomplishments

   Announcements Golden EmpireYouth Football Tryouts for Irish team continue through May, from 6-8 p.m., at Garces High. Irish also seeking sophomore coaches. For more information on dates, visit irishyouthfootball.com or contact Chris Resendez (661) 201-1284. Tryouts for the Spartans, all divisions, 6-8 p.m., Mondays...

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2. Preps
   

   Garces' Sweaney, Ridgeview's McCall win Tyack Award as Kern's top senior athletes

   Jake Sweaney was flipping through a program Monday at Hodel's Fine Dining, but he wasn't just biding time waiting for the Jim Tyack Awards presentation to begin. Sweaney was looking for a name. "I saw it in there -- 'Junior Kennedy in 1967,'" Sweaney said. "That's one of my grandpa's good friends. I grew up with...

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3. College
   

   District to appeal sanctions levied on BC football

   Bakersfield College officials are going to fight to get back the state football championship that was taken away last Tuesday. The seven-member Kern Community College District Board of Trustees unanimously voted Monday afternoon to appeal sanctions levied on the football program by Southern California Football...

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1. Community - MyBakersfieldSports.com

   Bette Addington: Summer bowling leagues taking shape

   Summer bowling ball leagues look to be the choice of local bowlers. What's better than bowling a summer league and receiving a new bowling ball at the league's end? These leagues are short (15 weeks) and open to new and regular league bowlers. Don't have a team? There are openings for individuals and it's a great way...

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2. Sports
   

   Local report: Wright powers Blaze to fourth straight victory

   Ryan Wright had a homer, two doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Bakersfield Blaze to a 5-3 victory Monday over the High Desert Mavericks at Sam Lynn Ballpark. It was the fourth straight win for Bakersfield, it's best streak of the season. Bakersfield (15-29) trailed 2-1 before scoring four fifth-inning...

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3. College

   Roadrunners drop finale, share title

   SAN JOSE -- San Jose State rallied late Sunday to prevent Cal State Bakersfield from securing the outright Western Athletic Conference regular-season baseball title. The Spartans scored five runs in the eighth inning to beat the Roadrunners 8-5 at Municipal Stadium, and CSUB settled for a share of the conference title...

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1. Dining
   

   PETE TITTL: Getting to Coseree's Restaurant hard; staying there easy

   Some new restaurants open with all sorts of hype: spotlights scanning the skies outside, long lines, full parking lots, media attention. Coseree's Restaurant & Catering is not one of those places. In fact, one of the most valuable points I can share with today's review is how to get to this humble but worthwhile...

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2. Dining
   

   The Dish: Famous Dave's beefs up its menu; BJ's goes low-cal

   Famous Dave's has a new menu and recently had a P.I.G. (Pretty Important Guest) Club tasting on a Tuesday evening to offer samples to their email group fans. Being a pig myself, I had to go. The new items include the return of the brisket burger, which we wrote about in the past when it was a temporary menu item....

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3. Music
   

   The holy grail of Haggard lore?

   Joe Saunders thought he was finished with production on his ambitious, years-in-the-making Bakersfield Sound documentary. But the documentary, it appears, was not finished with him. For tucked away and long forgotten under a pile of memorabilia in the crowded garage of his pack-rat grandfather -- seminal Bakersfield...

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1. Dining
   

   The best Q you can chew all year long this weekend

   If you're ready for ribs and all the Q sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, then head on out to the Kern County Fairgrounds for Bakersfield's Biggest Baddest BBQ. This year you'll certainly have a lot of savory meat to choose from with more than 60 teams contending for the grand champion title in a record...

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2. Community
   

   Pot shots at Taft? Not from Chong

   You don't often think of the Taft desert as a prime destination for spiritual rebirth. But for Tommy Chong, one half of the legendary comedy duo Cheech & Chong, the solitude of west Kern's sprawling desert offered a chance to "blaze" a new path in life. Chong served a nine-month prison stint in 2003 at the Taft...

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3. Music
   

   MATT MUNOZ: Primus coming right at you!

   Bizarre, amazing, twisted and funky are just a few of the terms fans have used to describe the musical madness of Primus. Known for pushing the basic three-piece rock sound into regions bordering on the wacky, the veteran trio's technical proficiency and knack for formulating grooves remain a secret all their own. As...

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1. Our View

   A feel-good ordinance that achieves little

   The Bakersfield City Council's Legislative and Litigation Committee was wise to table a proposed ordinance that would effectively make abortion illegal within the city limits. The committee should have tossed out the proposal completely; tabling it was the next best thing. Banning a practice that under most...

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2. Our View

   KCCD board correct to appeal harsh penalties

   Over the years, NCAA has slapped down several universities for rules violations -- vacating championships, ordering forfeits and barring schools from postseason appearances. Without exception, the violations that prompt those sanctions involve the blatant, deceptive, intentional skirting of well-established rules....

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3. Hot Topics
   

   LOGAN CARTER: Why internal investigations don't just wrap up overnight

   Law enforcement actions involving violence seem to have gripped this community. Some folks always dislike the police but most citizens want to understand why such matters take so long to investigate. I served for 35 years on one of the largest sheriff's departments in the nation, investigating homicides,...

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1. Hot Topics
   

   SONYA CHRISTIAN: Sanctions against BC's football team are inappropriately harsh

   On Dec. 8, 2012, Memorial Stadium had a magical moment. With 16,000 exuberant fans supporting them, the Renegades played brilliantly and won the California community college football championship. The Bakersfield College program has been an integral part of the community's identity for the better part of a century,...

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2. National Voices
   

   MICHAEL GERSON: Common Core standards arousing baseless fears

   Modern conservatism comes in two distinct architectural styles. The first seeks to build from scratch, using accurate ideological levels and plumb lines, so every wall is straight and every corner squared. The goal of politics is to apply abstract principles in their purest form. But there is another type of...

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3. Letters to the Editor

   A man is dead and we're worried about image?

   I am writing in regard to the May 19 news story "Kern's image may be taking a hit." What I find most disturbing about this article is that the city leaders of Bakersfield appear to care more about our image than the fact that a terrible thing has happened with the death of David Sal Silva. While it is yet unclear as to...

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1. Breaking News Blog

   Herbicide spill closed road in Delano Monday

   An herbicide spill Monday closed the intersection of Lexington Street and Schuster Road in Delano until authorities determined the spill was not hazardous, Delano police said. The roadway was closed for several hours following the 4:40 p.m. spill, police said. - The Californian

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2. Breaking News Blog

   Roommate arrested in connection with man's death

   The roommate of a 45-year-old man found dead in his residence has been arrested in connection with his death. Bakersfield police said they arrested 18-year-old Theron Dale Ausbie on suspicion of murder and robbery. Ausbie is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon. The victim, Kelly William Gill, 45, was found...

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3. Breaking News Blog

   Deputies: Man reports kidnapping at gunpoint

   Kern County Sheriff's deputies say a Bakersfield man reported Monday night that he was kidnapped at gunpoint, driven away and shot once in the back near College Park at Panorama Drive and Mt. Vernon Avenue. The 48-year-old said he was confronted by two people known to him at his home in the 2000 block of Pacific...

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1. Breaking News Blog
   

   51 dead, including 20 children, as huge tornado hits Oklahoma City suburb

   MOORE, Okla. -- A monstrous tornado at least a half-mile wide roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds up to 200 mph. At least 51 people were killed, including at least 20...

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2. Breaking News Blog

   Firefighters holding fundraiser to send child burn victims to camp

   Bakersfield City firefighters are inviting the public to the Outback Steakhouse for lunch in support of the Bakersfield Firefighters Burn Foundation Send a Kid to Camp. With a $25 donation, you will receive lunch with a beverage, salad and choice of chicken, steak or salmon. Plus, one Bloomin' Onion per table and...

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3. Breaking News Blog
   

   Silva's screams mark video that lacks baton strikes

   David Sal Silva’s screams seem like they will never stop. But they do. Daniel Rodriguez, the attorney now representing the witnesses in the in-custody death of Silva following his beating earlier this month by several law enforcement officers, released cellphone video shot by one of the witnesses Monday. As...

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Editors' picks from the last week

1. Pick 6 - Editors Picks from Past Week
   

   Lost trust in law enforcement drives protest against brutality

   About two dozen protesters stood in front of Kern County Superior Court next to the Liberty Bell Thursday morning to make a statement about police brutality. Witnesses to the alleged beating of David Sal Silva by local sheriff's deputies and other community members held signs reading "protection of our rights" and...

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2. Pick 6 - Editors Picks from Past Week
   

   State oil regulators propose 30-day notice on frack jobs

   State regulators at work on California's first "fracking" rules said Thursday they may require oil companies to provide 30 days' notice before hydraulically fracturing a production well -- triple the amount of time originally proposed last year. The reason for the change of heart: Members of the public and state...

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3. Pick 6 - Editors Picks from Past Week
   

   Panama struggles with remaining options for relieving overcrowding

   The Panama-Buena Vista Union School District is scrambling to figure out how it's going to deal with overcrowding at some schools now that the school board has backed away from a proposal to redraw school attendance boundaries. An unintended consequence of the board's failure to approve the proposal Tuesday is that...

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1. Pick 6 - Editors Picks from Past Week
   

   The holy grail of Haggard lore?

   Joe Saunders thought he was finished with production on his ambitious, years-in-the-making Bakersfield Sound documentary. But the documentary, it appears, was not finished with him. For tucked away and long forgotten under a pile of memorabilia in the crowded garage of his pack-rat grandfather -- seminal Bakersfield...

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

   The best Q you can chew all year long this weekend

   If you're ready for ribs and all the Q sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, then head on out to the Kern County Fairgrounds for Bakersfield's Biggest Baddest BBQ. This year you'll certainly have a lot of savory meat to choose from with more than 60 teams contending for the grand champion title in a record...

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

   Chudy, local supporters react to sanctions against Renegade football program

   Tuesday was a gut-wrenching day for Bakersfield College football coach Jeff Chudy. He learned his program was stripped of its 2012 state football championship by the California Community College Athletic Association. The Southern California Football Association took away every regular-season win from the 2011 and...

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