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By The Bakersfield Californian
Tuesday, Jan 31 2012 06:23 PM
The news hasn't been good for the mentally ill lately, particularly when they cross paths with law enforcement.
But this column isn't about second guessing the most recent shooting death of a mentally ill 18-year-old Buttonwillow man last month.
Rather, I'm focusing on a unique effort begun last fall as a means to make such shootings a distant memory.
The Mental Health Collaborative of Kern County was founded by local attorney Fawn Dessy and therapist Russ Sempell.
This isn't a government group and its only agenda is to raise awareness and share information. But in just a few meetings, the group has created a lot of hopeful buzz.
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For the second time in six months, Bakersfield will play guinea pig to fast food giant Taco Bell, serving as one of two test markets for a new line of menu items starting January 26.
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Food Services Director Sharon Briel laughed as Stockdale High School students sprinkled their salads with white slivers that looked a lot like mozzarella.
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Executive Editor John Arthur is the host on Californian Radio Friday. He'll be joined at 9:15 a.m. by Californian Health Reporter Kellie Schmitt for a discusion of the region's heavy air pollution in recent weeks and local wood-burning restrictions.
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Forgive me for saying I told you so, but I did.
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Interesting doings are afoot in the medical benefits world that should have us all peering down the road wondering what's next.
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Kern County supervisors slapped two men with a $14,000 fine Tuesday for growing medical marijuana on a rural southeast property.
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Eighth grader Ditika Khullar said she's excited about today's new salad bar option at southwest Bakersfield's Tevis Junior High School.
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Organizers on Tuesday will cut a ribbon on Delano's new Gloria Nelson Center for Women and Children, a facility they predict will serve more than 30,000 patients annually.
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David Garza, 14, needed a physical to join his high school's wrestling team, but his mother couldn't afford a doctor's visit.
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Children's asthma-related emergency room visits rise in the San Joaquin Valley at a similar rate as fine particulate levels do -- even on days where air quality is considered in the moderate range.
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When Cenel Castillo, 13, was recovering from severe burns this summer in the intensive care unit, his mother absentmindedly pulled out a mirror to check her eyebrows.
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Is a new era beginning at Kern Health Systems?
Suspect pleads guilty to lesser charge in strangling of fiancee
