Kern County Animal Control Director Jen Woodard laid out, in general terms, Tuesday how she hopes to tackle the county's overcrowded shelter and the more than 30,000 animals that pass through its doors annually.
Simply put, she told the Board of Supervisors, the community, animal control and nonprofits have to work together to spay and neuter more companion animals to decrease the numbers flowing into the shelter and having to be euthanized.
The five supervisors have shown interest in additional funding for spay and neuter efforts -- and while the clinics supervisors are holding are great, Woodard said -- the community needs to do more than that.
"Low-cost spay-neuter services are critical for success," Woodard said. Woodard...
Kern County Animal Control Director Jen Woodard is poised to make some interesting proposals to the Kern County Board of Supervisors Tuesday during this morning's sessions. I've gotten a glimpse of the power point and, while I haven't had...
Kern County Supervisors will review - and possibly approve - the "it's not really our budget" budget this morning. Expect chatter from a few departments looking to get their foot in the extra-funding door a little early -- most notably the...
Kern County supervisors are in for a bit of a wild ride today -- especially in the afternoon session -- when county health care contracts and a controversial dispute between the oil and agricultural industries both come back to the board in...
Republican Andy Vidak is even further from a win in the 16th Senate District Wednesday after a few final votes trickled in from Fresno County. Fresno County Elections has now published its Official Final Report. That report adds an...
It's chicken time for the Bakersfield City Council. Will they welcome the fowl on residential property inside the city limits or will they keep the status quo and forbid the coop community from roosting in Bakersfield?
Supervisors have had some quiet meetings the past few weeks and today's offering seems set to be quiet as well. But you never know whose going to show up and apologize for hiring George Martin. So stay tuned County-watchers. Kern Quirks is...
Kern County supervisors will, once again, tackle a proposed plan that would let agricultural interests and the oil industry bring disputes over oil industry drilling locations to the Kern County Board of Supervisors. The idea, cheered by...
Kern Count supervisors will consider approval of a 20 megawatt photovoltaic power plant by Orion Solar on 265 acres of farm land three miles southwest of Arvin. A nearby resident has protested the project and has hired a lawyer from Fresno...
Kern County supervisors tackle their Third Party Administrator contract today in the morning session. Last month the debate was aggressive, accusatory and took six hours to complete. Lots of people care about who gets the $11 to $13 million...
The Kern County Board of Supervisors will engage in the third round of a fight Tuesday over the award of a hotly-contested $11 to $13 million county contract which controls health insurance for more than 5,000 county workers and their...
Today's meeting of the Kern County Board of Supervisors seems destined to be mellow. They are back after two weeks off, but most of both the AM and PM agendas are on the routine consent calendar. We have some proclamations during the...
I can't complain much, after yesterday's busy news cycle, that the Kern County Board of Supervisors agenda today is a little calm. In the morning supervisors will honor some retirees, including Airports Director Jack Gotcher, and talk about...
Silva family files federal claim (11)
The family of David Silva announced Friday it has filed its long-expected federal civil rights claims against the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, six sheriff’s deputies and a sergeant, two California Highway Patrol officers, the county and the state alleging excessive police force killed him.
CSUB awards Haggard, Owens top honors (9)
He’s Dr. Merle Haggard now. The bad-boy hero of the rebel strain of music that put Bakersfield on America’s cultural map half a century ago did something Friday he hadn’t done since he was 9: He sat still in school.
Sheriff's office: Man who died in custody had drugs in throat (7)
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.
Key green light for California high-speed rail (5)
SACRAMENTO -- The California High-Speed Rail Authority won approval Thursday from a federal railroad oversight board to start construction this summer on the first leg of what would be the nation's first bullet train.
Local attorney arrested in shooting of his wife
A Bakersfield attorney’s rocky marriage, marked by a divorce suit and a history of loud, public arguments, reportedly erupted into violence early Wednesday morning when police say he turned a gun on his wife and fired.
Coroner's office identifies woman found dead in garage
A woman found dead in a southeast Bakersfield garage Tuesday was identified Friday as 18-year-old Mia Ramirez of Bakersfield.
Sheriff's Office makes arrest in homicide
After a search that lasted much of Tuesday afternoon, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man on suspicion of homicide in connection with the discovery of a woman’s body in a southeast Bakersfield garage.
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.