Bakersfield.com Local News

Veterans Day Parade salutes those who have served

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:05:00 PST

A large American flag hanging from an extension of a fire truck waved in the breeze above the Veterans Day Parade route Wednesday as a fitting reminder of who and what the parade is really about.

Members of ROTC and JROTC, school bands, veterans' and military organizations marched the streets of downtown Bakersfield to grateful applause and cheers from the large crowd.

Government roundup: Coffeehouse brings Florez, Parras together

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:10:29 PST

Got this fun tidbit from a friend Tuesday:

Rival political powers found themselves sharing the comforts of Dagny's Coffee Co. in downtown Bakersfield Tuesday afternoon.

Developer returns with Rosedale shopping center proposal

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:30:00 PST

In August, a 3-2 vote of the Kern County Board of Supervisors killed a plan to build homes and apartments along Rosedale Highway at Driver Road in northwest Bakersfield.

Tonight Andreis Lewis with Neighborhood Development LLC will try to re-incarnate the project as a shopping center.

Worth Noting in business: Grant for green job training, new hotel, new Bright House channels

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:17:28 PST

A $319,655 grant awarded recently to Employers' Training Resource is expected to cover job training expenses for 120 people interested in working in the energy efficiency industry.

The grant would fund creation of a Green Building Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program in Kern, Inyo and Mono counties. The program would prepare participants 18 years and older to apply for apprenticeship programs and jobs connected to the so-called green building economy.

Ask TBC: Why is Highway 119 being repaved again?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:12:59 PST

Q: I would like to know why Taft Highway is being repaved only after five years of previously being paved? Nothing is or was wrong with the road. I understand that 119 is under review to be widened, but this new paving looks to have nothing to do with that. Is this just a way to spend (WASTE) stimulus money?

- Paul Olivarez

Four more dead of swine flu in past week

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:28:00 PST

Kern County's death toll from H1N1 swine flu increased from 10 to 14 during the past week, the Kern County Department of Public Health reported Tuesday.

The first local fatality from seasonal flu was also documented. Doctors say in most years, the seasonal flu doesn't typically take hold until November or December.

Don't mess with retirees: plan reps sent packing

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:50:00 PST

Bakersfield officials Tuesday temporarily backed off a controversial proposal to switch insurance providers for retired city workers after an informational meeting Monday night went awry.

"It's on hold," the city's human resources manager, Javier Lozano, told retirees Tuesday.

WIC shows off foods new to the nutrition program

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:48:23 PST

Single mother Monique Rocha, 23, has a 2-year-old son with a stomach condition.

So it's especially important for his diet to be packed with healthy foods.

LOIS HENRY: War never ends for veterans

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:10:00 PST

War never ends.

I don't mean that in the literal sense (though that does seem to be the case these days).

National Guard unit returns home after service in Kosovo

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:41:54 PST

After waiting 13 months for their relatives to return, a crowd gathered outside the Bakersfield Armory had to wait a little longer than anticipated Wednesday night.

The flight carrying the nearly 100 returning soldiers from the National Guard's Company A, 1st Battalion, 185th Armored Regiment was delayed, which meant their arrival at the armory was put off by about two hours.

Oildale's secret military history

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:29:00 PST

Who knew Oildale was a hot spot of the Cold War? But what better place than Norris Road to help build U2 spy planes if you're trying to throw Soviet agents off your trail -- or so went the reasoning of the government and teams at Lockheed working on the new plane.

It was January 1956, and the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union was gathering momentum when President Eisenhower, along with his military and intelligence advisers, agreed the country needed sound information on the enemy's nuclear capabilities.

Man gets 16 years in fatal DUI wreck case

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:41:00 PST

A Bakersfield man with three drunken driving convictions has been sentenced to 16 years to life in prison for the traffic death of a woman in 2008.

That crash was the second time Tommy Vincente Valenzuela, 35, killed someone on the road. He got two years in prison for the death of an Arvin man in 2004. Investigators tried to find out if Valenzuela was drunk in that crash but were unable to find proof.

LOIS HENRY: Small town gave huge sacrifice to war

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:40:22 PST

The farming town of Wasco was tiny back in the 1940s, 4,196 people.

But it made a huge contribution to the war effort, losing at least 23 sons in countries across the globe.

VALERIE SCHULTZ: Missing dad not as painful as forgetting him

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:43:18 PST

The U.S. Navy has taken good care of my dad, a former sailor, even in death. At his funeral in July, an honor guard of three young sailors came to the cemetery, to present my mother with an American flag. Then one of them played taps as we laid my dad to rest. Three months later, the Navy delivered a grave marker for their old quartermaster signalman, a simple bronze plaque that memorializes my dad's name and rank and pertinent dates. I went to see the marker last week, with my mother and three of my siblings. I think our dad rests peacefully knowing he is forever identified as a sailor.

It is now four months since my dad died, a third of a year of life that he has not experienced with us. A new grandchild has been born, and another granddaughter is engaged. We've had to get used to him not being around to harass us and guide us and cheer for us. You wouldn't think that one person would be missed so much in a family of 27 and counting, but my dad was a larger-than-life character in all of our lives. All of us -- my mother, my siblings, my brothers- and sisters-in-law, my husband, my children, my nieces and nephews -- are still mourning him in our own ways.

Worth Noting in the community: open houses, Christmas Parade, Thanksgiving events and more

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:22:13 PST

The University of Phoenix will host an event to celebrate the expansion of its Bakersfield Learning Center, 4900 California Ave., from 5 to 7 p.m Thursday.

Students, alumni, local business representatives and community members are invited to tour the center.