Government roundup: Another tea party planned
By The Bakersfield Californian
A Freedom Rally Tea Party for folks who advocate for fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets will be held up the road in Tulare Saturday and locals are participating.
Kern County residents can meet up at the Wal-Mart parking center on Rosedale Highway at 7:30 a.m. and then head to the International Agri-Center Show Grounds at 7:45 a.m. in a convoy of cars decorated for the event.
The free event, for entire families, will include bounce houses, water slides and activities for kids outside along with dozens of vendors with a variety of food. Speakers and entertainment will be offered inside the Farm Credit Dairy Center.
The event runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information, including a schedule of events, go to www.centralvalleyteaparty.com or call 333-7041.
-- Californian staff
PET BILL ADVANCES AGAIN
State Sen. Dean Florez's SB 250 Pet Responsibility Act passed the Assembly Committee on Business and Professions on a 6-3 vote Tuesday.
Now it's to the appropriations committee, then to the full Assembly.
The bill would require people to spay or neuter their dogs or obtain a license to keep them unaltered. It also would mandate that cats allowed to roam freely be spayed or neutered.
If the bill passes the Assembly it will head to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk for a signature as it has already cleared the state Senate.
The governor doesn't have a stance on the bill yet, his office said.
-- Staff writer James Burger on the Quirks of the County blog at Bakersfield.com/blogs.
MOVIE SWITCHEROO
The city will continue offering free movies in the Park at River Walk Wednesday nights, though some titles have changed.
Wednesday night, The Sound of Music runs, replacing Harvey. On July 8, Miracle on 34th Street will provide a dose of Christmas in July, bumping Rebel Without a Cause. The movies, at Bright House Networks Amphitheatre, begin at dusk.
7TH STANDARD WIDENING BEGINS
A nearly $50 million widening of 7th Standard Road kicks off Wednesday with a 10 a.m. groundbreaking ceremony in Shafter.
The work will transform 7th Standard from a two-lane route into a four-lane expressway between Coffee Road and Zachary Avenue. Estimated completion date is summer 2010.
Funding includes $34 million from county bonds, $11 million from the state, $4.5 million from the Thomas Roads Improvement Program and $2 million from the city of Shafter.
If you enjoy speeches from elected officials, you can hear at least three at the groundbreaking, which is being held at the International Trade and Transportation Center at 7th Standard and Zachary. County Supervisor Jon McQuiston, Shafter Mayor Cathy Prout and Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, are slated to talk.
An interchange at 7th Standard and Highway 99 is already under construction, while a planned grade crossing at the railroad tracks by Santa Fe Way is in the pipeline.
Most CommentedMost Popular
Since Karen Goh returned to Kern County from a publishing career in New York in 2004, she has helped foster a strong network of Christian leaders in government, politics, media, business and nonprofits.
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.
Is Kern County, as has widely been reported, really the expulsion capital of California? That's the question posed Friday by state Sen. Michael Rubio, D-Shafter, to 50 or so Kern County educators, elementary and high school district administrators and community leaders.
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...
Since Karen Goh returned to Kern County from a publishing career in New York in 2004, she has helped foster a strong network of Christian leaders in government, politics, media, business and nonprofits.
Young's Marketplace, an independent grocery store that's a Bakersfield institution, will close at the end of the week.
Bakersfield’s Faast Pharmacy is going out of business and will be acquired by the big chain CVS, it was confirmed Monday.
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.