TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

The county's parks chief will ask the Board of Supervisors Tuesday to let him develop restrictions on where people can smoke and chew tobacco in county parks.

Parks and Recreation Department Director Bob Lerude wants the OK to develop a law drawing a 25-foot no-smoking zone around all major features in county parks.

Lighting up or chewing tobacco close to picnic shelters and athletic fields, for example, would be unlawful.

Lerude said state law already bans smoking and use of other tobacco products near park tot lots and playgrounds. His department used that law as a template for his proposal.

Lerude said he expects some debate Tuesday, during the board's 9 a.m. session.

"I think we will have the (Tobacco Free Coalition of Kern County) there and, initially, the tobacco coalition wanted a total (smoking) ban," he said.

Helicopter for Youngblood?

Sheriff Donny Youngblood wants a new helicopter.

He's got four smaller copters used for aerial patrols, some rescues and support roles for marijuana eradication and other missions in remote county areas.

But Youngblood says he needs a real workhorse -- a $3.9 million rebuilt Bell Huey II -- to do the heavy work of fighting crime in the wild areas of Kern County's 8,000 square miles.

On Tuesday morning he will ask supervisors to approve a finance plan to buy the helicopter from Bell for $525,000 a year.

"We've needed it for 15 years," Youngblood said. "We can't afford not to do it."

Current helicopters can carry two SWAT members. The new helicopter could insert up to 13 SWAT members into dangerous situations.

And the Huey II would be powerful enough, Youngblood said, to fly anywhere in Kern County.

The Sheriff's Department's smaller helicopters can't fly in the highest altitudes of the Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi mountain ranges.

And Youngblood said he'd even share the Huey II with the Kern County Fire Department -- equipping the helicopter with a water tank to fight fires in the summer fire season.

Legal bills

Supervisors will also be asked Tuesday morning to approve an additional $20,000 payment to the law firm that represented the county in its legal battles with former Sheriff Carl Sparks.

The increase would bring the total cost of the lawsuit to $308,000.

The county and Sparks have been embroiled for years in a legal fight over Sparks giving some sheriff's commanders extra pay without approval from the Board of Supervisors.

Manure

And Tuesday afternoon, supervisors could abandon a proposed ordinance banning the spreading of manure on county crops used for human consumption.

The rule was recommended to prevent locally grown food from being contaminated by E. coli bacteria through contact with feces.

After meeting with growers who stridently opposed the suggested rules, county officials are suggesting supervisors leave regulation of E. coli risk factors such as manure to the California Department of Food and Agriculture under the "Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement."

How to go

The Kern County Board of Supervisors meets for morning and afternoon sessions at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday at the County Administrative Building, 1115 Truxtun Ave., across N Street from the Rabobank Arena downtown.

You can also watch the meeting live on KGOV, the county’s local cable television station. The station lists available channels at www.co.kern.ca.us/gsd/KGOV.

The board’s agenda as well as some background materials are available online at www.co.kern.ca.us/bos.