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  1. Messmore finds his groove as 'Runners rout Northridge
  2. Messmore finds his groove as 'Runners rout Northridge
  3. President: CSUB's future hinges on tax measure vote
  4. President: CSUB's future hinges on tax measure vote
  5. Amtrak suing Kern County truck driver over 2010 crash
  6. Amtrak suing Kern County truck driver over 2010 crash
  7. HERB BENHAM: Always a sad day when last Pioneer leaves
  8. HERB BENHAM: Always a sad day when last Pioneer leaves
  9. GV's Scott, BHS' Nacita earn Tyack Awards for athleticism
  10. GV's Scott, BHS' Nacita earn Tyack Awards for athleticism
  11. May 22 community sports announcements, achievements, results
  12. May 22 community sports announcements, achievements, results
  13. Young's Marketplace on Brundage to close this week
  14. UFW pioneers get to share their stories
  15. UFW pioneers get to share their stories
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Recent Stories

  1. CVS acquiring troubled Faast Pharmacy

    Bakersfield’s Faast Pharmacy is going out of business and will be acquired by the big chain CVS, it was confirmed Monday. The news came just a month after California pharmacy regulators slapped owner Lisa Faast with $100,000 in penalties and put her on three years’ probation. Wednesday will be Faast Pharmacy’s last...

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    Young's Marketplace on Brundage to close this week

    Young's Marketplace, an independent grocery store that's a Bakersfield institution, will close at the end of the week. Owner Brent Cruz is shutting down the business and will lease the 37,500-square-foot building at 3030 Brundage Lane to Dollar General Corp., a Goodlettsville, Tenn., discount retailer. Dollar...

  3. State regulators plan new rules after sinkhole death

    Conditions that created a fatal sinkhole near Taft last summer "have the potential" to occur again, state oil regulators acknowledged Monday as they pointed to industry work on new rules to prevent a similar accident. Although the sinkhole that killed a Chevron Corp. supervisor in the Midway-Sunset oil field June 21...

  1. City staff to present safety, public works budget plans

    As the budget season begins, the three largest city departments -- public works, police and fire -- will present their budgets for the upcoming fiscal year at the Bakersfield City Council meeting Wednesday night. All three are expected to see increases in their staff numbers and funding. City staff unveiled their...

  2. Sex offender on the loose

    The Kern County Sheriff's Department is asking for the public's help in locating Curtis Cain Jr., a registered sex offender and parolee at large. Cain is on parole for failing to register as a sex offender. On Sunday, he removed his GPS monitor. Cain is described as black, 5 feet 5 inches tall, 220 pounds, with black...

  3. Anthony_Chacon.JPG

    Police identify suspect in child's murder

    Police have identified a suspect in the killing of a toddler last month and are asking for help finding him. Investigators believe Anthony Ralph Valenzuela Chacon, 28, is responsible for murdering 2-year-old Ka-mya Robinson, according to a Bakersfield Police Department news release. A Ramey warrant has been issued...

  1. Funeral services for May 23

    TO OUR READERS The Californian provides free death listings using information supplied by local mortuaries. The in-depth notices that follow are paid obituaries and remembrances. These listings must be purchased by 2 p.m. To place an Obituary or In Loving Memory, call 395-7302. Full obituaries are posted at...

  2. Barks settles sex harassment claims with former employer

    A settlement has been reached in radio talk show host Inga Barks' sexual harassment lawsuit against former co-host Scott Cox and American General Media. Contacted by phone Tuesday night, Barks said she could not discuss the terms of the settlement. Kern County Superior Court records show Barks' attorney filed a notice...

  3. Council committee votes to retain emails longer

    Members of the Bakersfield City Council recommended Tuesday to increase the length of time city emails are automatically kept and to have employees retrained on the retention policy. During a meeting of the council's Legislative and Litigation Committee, City Attorney Virginia Gennaro presented a script that would be...

  1. CSUBBUDGETONECC.JPG

    President: CSUB's future hinges on tax measure vote

    He was short on specifics -- unlike in the past -- but Cal State Bakersfield President Horace Mitchell warned Tuesday the campus would have to cut $5.3 million from its budget if the governor's tax hike measure fails in November. That would force the university to rethink how it operates, he said during one of his...

  2. Heading out for Memorial Day weekend? Expect traffic, busy campsites

    Despite the cost of fuel, Californians will do more driving then flying this Memorial Day weekend. That's according to the American Automobile Association, which found that typically, the Pacific coast region has a large percentage of travelers who expect to fly to their destinations. But compared to last year, air...

  3. Luis_Camargo1.JPG

    Amtrak suing Kern County truck driver over 2010 crash

    Amtrak is suing a Kern County truck driver for more than half a million dollars in connection with a 2010 train crash in Shafter that injured about 20 people. The lawsuit filed May 10 in U.S. District Court in Fresno alleges Luis Camargo ignored flashing lights, crossing gates and the train's horn and drove his truck...

More Local
  1. 33 jobs up in air during Meadows Field transition

    Skywest Airlines has lost its contract to perform baggage handling and other services at Meadows Field and 15 other regional airports, a change that could affect 33 jobs in the Bakersfield area. United Airlines said it decided to go with a yet-unidentified replacement service after a review of its ground handling...

  2. Growers concerned about proposed water regulations

    Growers and their allies are gearing up for a fight against efforts to broaden protections for surface and groundwater that could potentially hike agricultural production costs. Under proposed new regulations, growers would have to join water quality coalitions at a cost of $29 to $176 per acre per year, develop farm...

  3. youngs_fa.JPG

    Young's Marketplace on Brundage to close this week

    Young's Marketplace, an independent grocery store that's a Bakersfield institution, will close at the end of the week. Owner Brent Cruz is shutting down the business and will lease the 37,500-square-foot building at 3030 Brundage Lane to Dollar General Corp., a Goodlettsville, Tenn., discount retailer. Dollar...

  1. State regulators plan new rules after sinkhole death

    Conditions that created a fatal sinkhole near Taft last summer "have the potential" to occur again, state oil regulators acknowledged Monday as they pointed to industry work on new rules to prevent a similar accident. Although the sinkhole that killed a Chevron Corp. supervisor in the Midway-Sunset oil field June 21...

  2. Kern Economic Journal: Businesses, consumers optimistic

    The Kern Economic Journal's latest quarterly report finds both businesses and consumers are feeling optimistic, but the feeling is tempered by continued uncertainty about the economy. Researchers from Cal State Bakersfield use telephone survey findings to produce a Business Outlook Index and a Bakersfield Consumer...

  3. Market Intelligence: Amgen tour draws upscale, active audience

    In addition to larger California markets such as San Francisco, San Jose, Fresno and Los Angeles, the 2012 Amgen Tour of California will once again include Fresno/Clovis and Bakersfield, drawing an upscale, active audience of event-goers. Based on the characteristics of event attendees in 2011, many Bakersfield...

More Business
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    HERB BENHAM: Always a sad day when last Pioneer leaves

    My last purchase: One glass rain gauge (a man can dream, can't he?), a 12-ounce sugar pourer, a green garden rake, a pair of extra-grippy ThermaFit gloves and two pairs of premium grain goatskin work gloves (one a gift for my son, because every man should have a soft pair of work gloves). Pioneer Mercantile closed...

  2. VALERIE SCHULTZ: Film documents battle for women to be priests

    There are things we Catholics are not supposed to consider. Sometimes those things may take up residence in our souls, however, and we feel nudged by the Spirit to ponder them. Such is the issue of the ordination of women to the Catholic priesthood. A patriarchal wind has long blown from Rome, engulfing both women and...

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

    BC athletics Hard to beat the spring-like weather we enjoyed this weekend, and it proved to be a perfect setting for the annual fundraiser for Bakersfield College athletics at the beautiful home of Joe and Jana Campbell near Bakersfield Country Club. Gino Valpredo and his crew from Luigi's provided the steak dinner...

  1. Sound Off -- Reader: "If I had a hammer, I'd smack someone"

    Reader: Regarding the headline on Wednesday's letter from former council member [Conni] Brunni... Bad job. The editor who did that ["Salvaggio is a tool who gets his facts wrong"] should be suspended... or smacked with a tool. Glen Davis Bakersfield Editorial Page Editor Robert Price responds: Headlines on letters...

  2. D.A. investigating supervisors' secret meetings

    Here's a bit of news that I didn't expect. The Kern County District Attorney's office has launched an investigation into whether the Board of Supervisors' practice of routinely placing the job performance of County Administrative Officer John Nilon on the "closed session" portion of its agenda is legal. I say no, it...

  3. Robert Price

    Last standing anti-Romney still plugs away

    When Newsweek called Barack Obama America's "first gay president" last week for his embrace of same-sex marriage, Fred Karger had to have had mixed feelings. Karger wanted to be America's first gay president, and not simply in the sense that Newsweek's Andrew Sullivan meant it. Karger is seeking the Republican...

More Columnists
  1. garces_baseball_sm_3.JPG

    Rams rally in 7th, edge Lemoore in semifinal

    Hail Mary is a football term, but it's also a Catholic term, so maybe it's fitting that Garces pulled off the baseball version Tuesday. The Rams scored five seventh-inning runs to stun Lemoore 6-5 at home in the Central Section Division III semifinals. "Never seen anything like it," Garces shortstop Nick Vehlewald...

  2. HITTERCC.JPG

    Heideman, Bloomquist power BCHS past Fowler, into D-4 final

    At the plate and on the mound, Andrew Heideman and Casey Bloomquist provided quite the 1-2 punch for the Bakersfield Christian High School baseball team on Tuesday. Powered by the pair's multi-faceted exploits, the seconded-seeded Eagles earned a third straight section championship game appearance by beating visiting...

  3. CSUBONECC.JPG

    Messmore finds his groove as 'Runners rout Northridge

    Cal State Bakersfield pitcher Spenser Messmore was on his game Tuesday night. And it helped that Cal State Northridge's pitching had a nightmare game. Northridge's five pitchers allowed 11 hits, hit seven batters and walked five to help the Roadrunners pull away in a 10-1 win at Hardt Field. "They gave us some...

  1. Jam's Higdon honored as Executive of Year

    David Higdon, managing partner of the Jam, has been named Executive of the Year for the NBA D-League. Higdon, 43, oversees the day-to-day operations of Bakersfield's D-League franchise. "This came out of nowhere. It's a nice surprise," Higdon said. "He deserves it," said Jam owner Stan Ellis. "He worked hard for it....

  2. Local report: Varner to wrestle for US in exhibition vs. Russia at Times Square

    Bakersfield's Jake Varner will be among a group of U.S. Olympian wrestlers who will take on Russian wrestlers in New York's Times Square next month. It's a repeat of "The Grapple in the Big Apple" from last year, when the U.S. defeated Russia 5-2 in a world-class freestyle dual meet. This year's event is scheduled...

  3. May 22 high school roundup

    Baseball Central Section semifinals DIVISION I: No. 8 Clovis 12, No. 4 Clovis East 3; No. 2 Fresno-Bullard 4, No. 3 Clovis-Buchanan 3 DIVISION II: No. 8 Visalia-Mt. Whitney 3, No. 5 Tulare Western 0; No. 6 Fresno-Edison 14, No. 7 Tulare 6 Division III No. 2 Garces 6, No. 3 Lemoore 5 W: Lopez (8-1). L: Farrar...

More Sports
  1. THE DISH: How will tomorrow taste?

    Contributing writer No one can deny that tastes in food change over the decades, and many powerful forces from people to politics can influence that. Would Americans still be eating mostly pot roast if Julia Child and James Beard had not nudged us in new directions? So what will we be eating in upcoming decades?...

  2. PETE TITTL: Can a chain claim to be truly local? Applebee's does

    BY PETE TITTL Contributing columnist pftittl@gmail.com The mid-priced chain restaurants of America are hurting. Sales are down nationwide. Though the reasons are varied, I think part of the cause could be the increasing sales of frozen versions of several restaurants' food in grocery stores. Wolfgang Puck got on...

  3. Donna Summer, Queen of Disco, dies at 63

    NEW YORK -- Disco queen Donna Summer, whose pulsing anthems such as "Last Dance," "Love to Love You Baby" and "Bad Girls" became the soundtrack for a glittery age of sex, drugs, dance and flashy clothes, has died. She was 63. Her family released a statement saying Summer died Thursday morning and that they "are at...

  1. Fitness can be fun, or so Third Thursday assures us

    With bikes racing into town today for the Amgen Tour, it's only natural that other events, like Third Thursday, celebrate health and fitness. Bakersfield Museum of Art will host a special screening of the new HBO documentary, "The Weight of the Nation." The screening and subsequent panel discussion, sponsored by...

  2. CAMILLE GAVIN: Open for discussion: 'h#sht#g'

    Visual artists are known for their creativity, so the unusual title of the students' senior thesis show at CSUB should come as no surprise. It's called "h#sht#g,"-- pronounced "hashtag"-- and it opens with a reception this evening on campus at the Todd Madigan Gallery. Anyone familiar with Twitter and other social...

  3. puppet_fa.JPG

    Puppets for grown-ups on stage at The Empty Space

    "Avenue Q," said director Jason Monroe, is hilarious, relevant and fast-paced, zipping along at just over two hours, including intermission. "No one's attention will get drained," he predicted. "A lot of people are gigantic fans of the show because it's funny and delivers a message without browbeating." The Tony...

More Entertainment
  1. DA right to take closer look at closed sessions

    Kern County District Attorney Lisa Green is to be commended for acknowledging that her duties go beyond the prosecution of crime, violent and otherwise. The DA's office also has a responsibility to make sure local government agencies are fulfilling their obligations under state law. And, in the case of the Kern County...

  2. It's about time America took aim at Alzheimer's

    Today, 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's. As the U.S. population ages, that number is only likely to grow. It is welcome news, therefore, that the Obama administration has announced plans to devote $130 million in federal funds to Alzheimer's research over the next year and a half. The goal is to find a cure or an...

  3. Leanne Knudsen

    ANOTHER VIEW: Can we hate 'hate' campaigns without being labeled haters?

    Are we ever going to be able to hope for civility in our society when everyone is yelling, interrupting and shouting "Hate!" to whoever disagrees with them? Our society is a recipe for disaster now that we are refusing to have civil dialogue. I have to laugh at Shepard Smith on Fox News when he says, "Now it's time...

  1. Harvey Hall

    Teamwork made success of Amgen Tour possible

    I could almost hear the "pop, pop, pop" of buttons bursting off the shirts of many proud Bakersfieldians as we staged the social milieu for America's Greatest Race -- the 2012 Amgen Tour of California. AEG Sports, presenter of the Amgen Tour, for the second time in two years chose the picturesque bluffs, elevation...

  2. Obama is doing his best to alienate Catholic voters

    In a blowout presidential election, a few large issues dominate. In a tight election, a range of smaller concerns -- important to strategic constituencies in battleground states -- can end up being crucial. President Obama may have hoped for a decisive re-election victory styled on Ronald Reagan's in 1984. At best, he...

  3. Green is wrong: Addicts need treatment, not jail

    I disagree with Lisa Green's May 3 op-ed article, "Reducing drug penalties isn't worth the risk to public safety," which criticized The Californian's April 29 editorial "Prison reforms require smart choices." The same day Green's article appeared, The Californian published a news story titled "Former Mexican president...

More Opinion
  1. Several arrests made in Hookah Lounge shooting

    Several arrests have been made in connection with an April shooting at the Hookah Lounge on California Avenue. Following tips from the public, the following were arrested: Thomas Mojica Palenzuela, 20; Frankie Baltierra, 30; Walter Sterling Robinson Jr., 29; Kari Elena Rodriguez, 24; Jennifer Reyes, 21; and James...

  2. Hundreds without power in southwest Bakersfield

    A power outage affecting 772 southwest Bakersfield PG&E customers Tuesday was caused by "third-party damage" at a construction site, PG&E spokeswoman Katie Harlan Allen said. The outage occurred at 10:45 a.m. and impacted areas south of Brimhall Road to Kroll Way, west of Mondavi Way and east of Ashe road, Allen said....

  3. Supervisors could face Measure G supporters, other challenges

    The Kern County Board of Supervisors is likely to hear, again, from opponents of Measure G, a ballot-item which would severely limit development of medical marijuana dispensaries in the unincorporated areas of the county. Also on the plate for the morning and afternoon sessions of the board are cash control issues at...

  1. Seth's Law discussion to be held at CSUB

    In July, a law will kick in requiring all California school districts to institute anti-harassment policies with shorter timelines for investigating bullying claims. Schools for months have been gearing up for Seth's Law, named after Seth Walsh, a 13-year-old Tehachapi boy who hanged himself in 2010 after being...

  2. Fire destroys garage, car

    A fire gutted a detached garage and charred a car Monday night in Oildale. Kern County Fire Department spokesman Capt. Derek Tisinger said firefighters were called to the blaze in the 700 block of Ray Street just after 7 p.m. when a passerby reported the fire. About 18 Kern County and Bakersfield firefighters were sent...

  3. Anthony_Chacon.JPG

    Police identify suspect in child's murder

    Police have identified a suspect in the killing of a toddler last month and are asking for help finding him. Investigators believe Anthony Ralph Valenzuela Chacon, 28, is responsible for murdering 2-year-old Ka-mya Robinson, according to a Bakersfield Police Department news release. A Ramey warrant has been issued...

More Blogs

Editors' picks from the last week

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

    BC athletics Hard to beat the spring-like weather we enjoyed this weekend, and it proved to be a perfect setting for the annual fundraiser for Bakersfield College athletics at the beautiful home of Joe and Jana Campbell near Bakersfield Country Club. Gino Valpredo and his crew from Luigi's provided the steak dinner...

  2. UFWCONVENCC.JPG

    UFW pioneers get to share their stories

    The lines on his face are a map of his life's history. Guadalupe Martinez, 82, sat in front of a laptop computer at the United Farm Workers' 50th anniversary convention in Bakersfield on Saturday and shared some of his memories to be archived on video. Later he spoke of his birth in the Mexican state of Michoacan in...

  3. Ask The Californian: Who paid for the Amgen-area roadwork?

    Q: I was driving west on Panorama Drive and noticed the resurfacing of the street and a very long stretch of chain link fence, which seemed to be preparation for the Amgen race. Likely there have been similar "improvements" along the route and other places in the city. Who is paying for all these Amgen Race...

  1. D.A. investigating supervisors' secret meetings

    Here's a bit of news that I didn't expect. The Kern County District Attorney's office has launched an investigation into whether the Board of Supervisors' practice of routinely placing the job performance of County Administrative Officer John Nilon on the "closed session" portion of its agenda is legal. I say no, it...

  2. Arvin police chief keeps job after meeting

    Arvin Chief of Police Tommy Tunson appeared to be in the crosshairs of two items on the Arvin City Council's agenda at a special meeting Friday night, but emerged from the meeting with his job intact. While "Performance evaluation: Police Chief" and "Discipline/Dismissal/Release" were on the agenda for the closed...

  3. Just what the doctor ordered, but why so slow?

    When there's a problem, just say so and fix it.If that were the county's regular M.O., perhaps it wouldn't have taken so long to make some painfully obvious corrections in how medications are doled out to children at the A. Miriam Jamison Center for abused and neglected kids. Unfortunately, the county's standard...

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  1. Several arrests made in Hookah Lounge shooting

    Several arrests have been made in connection with an April shooting at the Hookah Lounge on California Avenue.

  2. Hundreds without power in southwest Bakersfield

    A power outage affecting 772 southwest Bakersfield PG&E customers Tuesday was caused by "third-party damage" at a construction site, PG&E spokeswoman Katie Harlan Allen said.

  3. Arrest Log for May 21

    Not sure what crimes these folks were arrested for?

  4. Police identify suspect in child's murder

    Police have identified a suspect in the killing of a toddler last month and are asking for help finding him.

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