We are witnessing, in real time, poor policy choices made by an administration, coupled with an abdication of legislative responsibilities by a party in control of both chambers, that are reflected nearly instantaneously in the economic indicators. Because this is most certainly not “winning…
Despite whatever else is swirling around causing heartburn for many of us, there is a quiet something that lingers beneath the discord of it all: the sense, the possibility even, that we are surrounded by angels — not winged, luminescent beings ascending and descending staircases from the cl…
April is known for spring wildflowers. But for sufferers of Parkinson’s disease it means another year has passed and we’re no closer to a cure. Michael J. Fox’s symptoms worsened despite the best care in the world. Jesse Jackson recently died with the disease as did Muhammad Ali before him. …
According to The World Population Review, the recent ranking of the happiest (actually, most content) countries in the world indicate that the Nordic counties predominate in the top 10.
California stands at a crossroads in how it addresses hunger, food access and the resilience of its food system. The pressures of recent years have exposed deep structural weaknesses, from supply chain disruptions to rising costs that strain both families and the organizations that serve the…
Cool and cloudy are ideal marathon conditions. But Bakersfield gave us sunny, scorching weather, with a high near 90 degrees. And my goodness, was it fun. No, not the heat — the course, the sights, the runners, the community, the finish line, and the medal — those were fun. The heat, not so …
America has been a land of tremendous struggles and challenges, starting from our nation’s independence after the American Revolution. We have been a beacon of hope for people seeking freedom and prosperity. Millions of immigrants from all over the world have come to America willing to work …
Although football great Tom Brady recently said he’s “very happily retired,” multiple news sources reported that he also recently tried to un-retire for the second time. As a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, Brady does have a job of sorts. However, he told reporters that he doesn’t h…
No one wants to see health insurance premiums rise. Individuals, small businesses and large employers are already under inflationary pressures. But it will be far worse if health insurance companies fail to help address rising costs facing healthcare providers.
There are conservative religious groups that are attempting to have edited copies of the Ten Commandments posted in our public schools. They are also attempting to place stone monuments of the commandments in front of government buildings. Must we obey purported heavenly commandments to be moral?
Several polls currently show that approximately 80% of Americans are in favor of voters having to show ID to vote. But does that mean people favor the provisions in the proposed federal SAVE Act? As with most things in life, the devil is in the details.
On Feb. 28, we woke to the news of yet another war. This time, with Iran. I lived in Tehran one summer. It was a beautiful city. The Iranians I met were welcoming and kind. They want what we want — to live our lives peacefully among family, friends and neighbors. My heart has ached for decad…
When Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer removed The Open Door Network from the Family Justice Center, she (perhaps foolishly, certainly unwittingly) might have made CEO Lauren Skidmore a hero and made her steady voice against abuse and violence orders of magnitude stronger than it …
Leave it to divine justice to have the week that began with the Ides of March — March 15, the day when Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by his opponents — also be the week when another man named after Caesar’s title of power and authority should be dealt a history-making judg…
I’m not going to lie. Learning the news about allegations of sexual abuse by César Chávez stung like a sharp knife. And reading about Dolores Huerta breaking her silence after 60 years … that shook me to my core. It felt like the base of heroes that inspired me to study people, movements, so…
Something is rotten in our Kern County District Attorney's Office.
There are moments in a nation’s life when bronze begins to feel heavier than truth.
“Community” has several meanings, most of them involving geography and/or common interests. Those are important, but there is one that supersedes them — “a state or feeling of caring about and wanting to interact with others.” Bakersfield is known for that feeling.
Many young people in California's foster care system face instability that hinders their transition to adulthood and increases their risk of justice system involvement. The “foster care to prison pipeline” describes how instability, school policing and criminalization of survival behaviors c…
Donald Trump’s most successful lie of his political career is to convince millions of Americans that we have an election integrity problem. We don’t, but that encouraging truth ain’t got no chains on Trump and his supporters.
Recently, the descendants of the Mongolian Empire, an empire that goes back nearly 3,000 years, met with current residents of the Golden Empire. Under the auspices of the Friendship Force of Kern County, a delegation of Supreme Court justices from Mongolia met with local legal and government…
When it comes to the second Trump administration, there are certain things that are done with clear intention; either to further a MAGA value or stake a claim on the culture war, which is a feature in today’s politics.
In recent weeks, Gavin Newsom has criticized several California counties — including Kern County — for what he described as underperformance in implementing the state’s CARE Court program. While the governor’s desire to see faster progress on mental health reform is understandable, his criti…
Less crime, City Manager Christian Clegg? (“Community Voices: Success and commitment in reducing violence in Bakersfield and Kern,” March 7.) Really? Tell that to its victims, retailers and crime-ridden neighborhoods.
Global oil prices increased by a staggering 10% following the conflict in Iran. For most of the country, this is a headache. For California, it is a self-inflicted crisis created by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Every year, thousands of dollars in financial aid go unused simply because students and families do not know where to begin. I know how overwhelming it can feel to think about college, especially when you are not sure how to pay for it.
In the past two years, Bakersfield and Kern County have experienced remarkable reductions in violent crime. Bakersfield violence has been trending down for four years, with a total 70% reduction in homicides and shootings from 2021-2024. We are grateful that there is more peace in communitie…
Donald Trump is clearly out of control. He is now a full-fledged narcissistic psychopath with the delusion that he is a king and can do whatever he pleases. His illegal war against Iran has led to the unintended consequence of more than 150 school girls slaughtered when a missile hit their s…
At a time when national attention is fixed on conflict abroad, it’s easy to overlook the quieter decisions at home that shape the public good — whether America still honors basic commitments to law, transparency and shared stewardship of our public lands. Americans are now being asked to wei…
The recent report in The Bakersfield Californian that the United Farm Workers supports legislation to cap guest worker visas raises a direct question for Kern County: Who actually benefits from limiting legal farm labor?
The Ancients knew that fire refines gold, separating the true from the faux. Allies are not so different; every nation employs a reasonably useful approximation of diplomatic influence. Soft power is a game of gradation. But hard power cannot be fudged; either a nation is capable and willing…
Saturday’s editorial in The Bakersfield Californian rightfully highlighted the urgent need to end the abuse of mental health diversions in our justice system. However, by linking the case of Zachary Scrivner to a recently introduced Senate bill, the editorial celebrates a reform that has mer…
On Feb. 26 there were two letters, one by Jeff Brockett and the other by Gregory Laskowski that address Jesus and government. They both demonstrate the trap that believers can fall into when they don’t properly consider context.
Moral certitude, the unwavering conviction that one’s beliefs and actions are right, can be both a guiding light and a source of profound blindness. It offers individuals a sense of stability in a world filled with moral ambiguity. But when it hardens into dogmatism, it can obscure empathy, …
California City feels suspended in time. Quiet, sparse, almost otherworldly. With respect to its residents, passing through town calls to mind a cinematic image: a remote outpost on a distant planet. Beyond it stretches an even lonelier road, where an ICE-run facility rises from the desert f…
"These are the times that try men's souls" is the famous opening line from Thomas Paine's 1776 pamphlet, “The American Crisis.”
On a crisp December morning in 2022, Air Force veteran Penny Martinez reported to the Bakersfield National Cemetery for the annual Wreaths Across America event, where veterans’ gravesites would be honored with wreaths for the holiday season.
I am a 72-year-old farmer or orchardist who has grown a variety of trees — apple, peach, almond, kiwi and cherry — for commercial purposes. I have traveled extensively throughout America, Europe, Argentina, Central America and various islands, experiencing the same Mediterranean climate whic…
Discouraging. That is the appropriate word to describe the city of Bakersfield’s response to our Sierra Club’s efforts to increase the city’s tree canopy. As we have repeatedly expressed, trees clean the air, filter our water, reduce energy use and naturally capture carbon dioxide. Trees red…
During the current Trump administration, our Congress has shut down the government twice. The first time, the Democrats allowed it to shut down fighting because of their stance to provide medical care for illegals. (I call them illegals, although they were allowed to enter our country by the…
The president has it all wrong on his foreign policy toward Cuba. He believes by cutting off Cuba’s oil supply coming from Venezuela and continuing existing sanctions, he can cripple the Cuban government, and perhaps, effect a regime change. Won’t work.
Today, Feb. 19, is the national Day of Remembrance. This day challenges all of us to remember the consequences of FDR’s Executive Order 9066, which forcibly relocated people of Japanese ancestry to concentration camps in 1942. As many as 125,000 people, the vast majority American citizens, w…
What do you write when you feel there are no words left? How do you express anything at all when your very core is numb and defeat presses down on every part of you?
A mighty engine that shimmered in the sun pulled President Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train north.
The longest love letter ever written by a human was the work of a French painter in 1875. Written to the woman of his dreams, the love letter contained only the phrase "je vous aime" (I love you) written 1,875,000 times, or a thousand times the calendar year of of the date (1875). The would-…
California is a land of hydrologic extremes, where the difference between a year of abundance and a year of catastrophic drought is often decided by a few winter storms. As we navigate Water Year 2026, we are witnessing a repeat of a frustrating and preventable tragedy: the California Depart…
I appreciate The Californian’s focus on ICE actions in Minnesota from multiple perspectives, essential as it affects so many people differently. Illegal and undocumented immigration supports local agriculture and many industries nationwide in this nation of immigrants, though most come legal…
Truth is absolute.
As a brown child of immigrants, I learned very early on that silence isn’t an objective; it’s only neutral to the people who are protected by it.
My now-teenage granddaughter, it appears, has reached the age when aging grandparents fade into the background and other friends and activities steal her attention.
