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 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ... WILL SCHOOLS OPEN? The next big fight on the horizon will be over local schools: should they welcome back students to the classroom, or do the health risks to both students and teachers
[Image] demand online learning? The battle lines have been drawn, led by President Trump's insistence that classes resume, while teachers and their unions push back, arguing convincingly that teachers are not trained medical professionals and the idea could put thousands at risk. Said The New York Times: "Now, educators are using some of the same organizing tactics they employed in walkouts over issues of pay and funding in recent years to demand that schools remain closed, at least in the short term. It's a stance that could potentially be divisive, with some district surveys suggesting that more than half of parents would like their children to return."

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 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I struggle to understand what is so broken in your life that can only be fixed by going to Disney World during a pandemic."

 * ... BAD FORM: At Sprout's on Stockdale Highway over the weekend, a woman is seen in the produce section pulling off her facemask so she can press her nose and mouth up against a Hawaiian papaya. After a long embrace, she decides to leave the papaya for the next unsuspecting shopper.

 * ... MCCLATCHY: Analysts have been sounding the death knoll for newspapers for years now. Advertising has fled to digital forums, readership is old and getting older and circulation is down across the nation. And now, in what may represent a final nail in the proverbial coffin, the once-respected McClatchy Company of Sacramento is about to be purchased by a hedge fund company, signaling its final demise from its once lofty perch. Back in the day, McClatchy papers like the Bee group (Sacramento Bee, Fresno Bee, Modesto Bee) along with the Miami Herald, Kansas City Star and Charlotte Observer were some of the crown jewels in the newspaper world. Today most are near bankruptcy, their staffs trimmed to the bone and once healthy circulations whittled down to near nothing. The Californian, meanwhile, continues along under relatively new ownership but it too has suffered major cutbacks in staff and funding. Stay tuned.

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 * ... DACK RAMBO: Did you know that the character who had a role on the original "Dallas" TV show was born in Earlimart? That's right, I spotted this nugget on the Kern County of Old Facebook page saying that Dack Rambo was a Kern County product. The obit: "Dack Rambo (born November 13, 1941-died March 21, 1994) played the recurring role of Jack Ewing on the original Dallas TV series on CBS-TV, appearing in a total of 51 episodes in Seasons 7-10 of the series, beginning with the episode "Terms of Enderment". Dack was most noted for appearing as Walter Brennan's grandson Jeff in the ABC-TV series The Guns of Will Sonnett, as Steve Jacobi in the ABC soap opera All My Children, and as Grant Harrison on the NBC-TV soap opera Another World. Dack is also known for playing Wesley Harper on the 1984 short lived TV series soap opera Paper Dolls.
Born in Earlimart, California, Rambo had a twin brother, Orman Ray Rambeau, who would ultimately go professionally as Dirk Rambo[1] After moving to Los Angeles in the 1960s, the brothers were discovered by actress Loretta Young and cast in her CBS series, The New Loretta Young Show.[2] On 5 February 1967, Dirk was killed in a road accident.[3]
Later that same year, Rambo landed the role of Jeff Sonnett on The Guns of Will Sonnett, and co-starred in the short-lived Gunsmoke spin-off, Dirty Sally, with Jeanette Nolan.
During the 1970s and 1980s, he made guest appearances on Marcus Welby, M.D., House Calls, Wonder Woman, Charlie's Angels, All My Children, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Hotel, and Murder, She Wrote. He also acted out the lead role in Sword of Justice, which lasted for ten installments in 1978 and 1979. He is best remembered on television for his role as Jack Ewing on Dallas from 1985-87."


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 * ... MEMORIES: Don't you love these pictures of Pyrenees Bakery, old and new?


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