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1. Summer school not available? Try this

   By The Bakersfield Californian

   Friday, May 17 2013 11:00 PM

   School will be out in just a few weeks, and thousands of high school students -- some of them new graduates, others underclassmen -- will be looking for things to do with their time. Parents who may previously have assumed that summer school remains an option may be in for a surprise, too.

   Summer school is now primarily "recovery credit" driven, meaning most of the students are taking classes to make up for poor grades or performance. Summer school for students looking to "jump ahead" by earning credits for things like college enrollment? Not so much.

   It's just not as easy for teens to find meaningful things to do in the summer as it once was. And, sorry, we don't consider playing "Halo 4" for three months straight a meaningful activity....

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2. At last, we have progress on a farm bill

   We have good news and bad news regarding the prospects for a new federal farm bill this fall. The good news: Both the Senate and House versions are moving forward, setting the stage for the two houses to begin structuring a new, five-year...

3. BC should put up a fight over stiff sanctions

   Were the infractions committed by Bakersfield College's football program serious enough to justify the sanctions imposed Tuesday? Or did college administrators roll over and accept penalties -- including the loss of last season's state...

4. Panama-Buena Vista made the wrong call

   Cheryl Palla, a Panama-Buena Vista Union School District board member, is right: Delaying approval of new school boundaries was the wrong decision. While it's nice that the board has opted to stop and consider every bit of input from the...

5. Trust took a beating that night, too

   Cooperation between law enforcement and the broader community is so vital to public safety that police and sheriff's departments across the U.S. typically devote money and resources to building those relationships. From Neighborhood Watch...

6. Give witnesses back their phones, Sheriff

   The more we learn about the Kern County Sheriff's Office's seizure of two witnesses' mobile phones -- specifically, the manner in which they were seized -- the more we are troubled. Less than three hours after Maria Melendez and an...

7. HITS & MISSES: Sequester hits home for local oil industry

   MISS: For those who thought the sequester, that series of automatic, across-the-board cuts to federal agencies that kicked in on March 1, was much ado about nothing, consider the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's decision to postpone energy...

9. Vidak for state Senate special election

   Five candidates are vying to replace Michael Rubio as state senator for California's 16th District. Two of those candidates have the credentials, connections and means to win the May 21 special election and serve with effectiveness. And...

10. Policing the streets in age of constant digital scrutiny

    It won't be surprising if we get two wildly divergent versions of what exactly happened when police arrested David Sal Silva in Bakersfield last week: the sheriff's account and the account of witnesses who watched it unfold. Two things are...

11. Solve bee-colony collapse issue with haste

    In 1985, "killer bees" landed in California's San Joaquin Valley, perpetuating what had become a serious worldwide buzz. These Africanized bees turned out to be more hype than anything else. Few people were killed, none of them here, and...

12. Economy could flower from law reforms

    Immigration reform, still working its way through the U.S. Senate, is expected to pay dividends by boosting the state's economy and contributing to the nation's Social Security system, according to two new studies. Stephen C. Goss, the...

13. Some new insight into state's working poor

    The true makeup of California's poor doesn't jibe with common stereotypes. That's one of the takeaways of a new report by the nonprofit Campaign for College Opportunity and the Women's Foundation of California that looks closely at poverty...

14. Local control of dispensaries makes sense

    Monday's ruling by the California Supreme Court that essentially authorizes cities and counties to decide individually whether they will allow marijuana dispensaries to operate in their jurisdictions makes good sense. Local governments...