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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.

 * ... OFFENSIVE NAMES: First came the Washington Redskins, then the Cleveland Indians and then Confederate statues honoring Civil War dead were targeted because of their offensive nature, but the cleansing is not done. It now looks like the San Diego Padres have been targeted by a group that
[Image] demands major league baseball stop using all "Catholic names and depictions" and in particular "cease all papist caricatures." Dozens of Catholic leaders are pressuring baseball to drop the Padres nickname, and they are also asking the Los Angeles Angels to "cease using the halo." Where will it all end? Well, late word has yet another group is pressuring the New Orleans Saints to rename its team.

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 * ... PRISON DUMP: Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood is warning us about yet another move to dump release hundreds of prisoners onto the streets of Bakersfield. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has signaled it will release some 600 inmates from four Kern County facilities: North Kern State Prison, Kern Valley State Prison, the California Correctional Institution and Wasco State Prison. Said Youngblood: "You must be an overachiever at committing crimes to be in (a state prison)," he said. "These are reoffenders and they're going to go out and reoffend."

 * ... COVID: We made another list and this one is as bad as it gets According to Fox News, Bakersfield ranks No 2 on the list of metro areas with the fastest growth in the coronavirus, second only to McAllen, Texas. Rounding out the top five are the Texas cities of Brownsville and San Antonio and then Boise City, Idaho.


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 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "Be careful allowing someone to take your temperature before entering a supermarket. It erases your memory and instead of leaving with a dozen eggs you return with two cases of beer."

 * ... SURGE TESTING: A new federally funded Covid-19 testing site is up and running at the Kern County Fairgrounds, where officials hope to test as many as 60,000 people over 12 days. Rep. Kevin McCarthy announced the federal surge program, which is being replicated in other metro areas. There is no cost for the testing but reservations are recommended.

* ... TEJON PASS: Consider these remarkable pictures of Tejon Pass circa 1870 and a more recent shot. The caption read: Civil War photographer, Alexander Gardner, took this photo of Tejon Pass prior to his retirement in 1870.


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