Post a Comment On: Bakersfield Observed

 * ... NEW YEARS: Welcome to 2016, have you set your goals yet? If you smoke, now is a good
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 * ... BAD AND GOOD FORM: Here are a few things I can do without in 2016: Miley Cyrus, any of the Khardasians, selfies, selfie sticks, litter, bad service, gossip and pettiness. We could use more gratitude, graciousness, charity and a more civil discourse.

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 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Chickens: The only animals you eat before they are born and after they are dead."

 * ... MORNING CHUCKLE: From my pal Bryan Kelly: "Never take a chess player to a restaurant which uses checkered tablecloths... it will take them an hour to pass the salt."

  * ... JIM MURRAY: I was saddened to hear of the passing of Jim Murray from congestive heart failure. He was 94. I met Jim two years ago when I interviewed him on First Look with Scott Cox, where he entertained us with stories of old Bakersfield. From that interview: Murray was a tail gunner on a B-24 Liberator during World War II and later spent years working for S.A. Camp Co. Among his other memories, he recalled the excellent food in the old Southern Hotel, a bar called the Drink-a-Link that featured a restaurant and putting green where downtown Mexicali is today, and a bar called the Oil Zone in the old El Tejon Hotel where oil executives and businessmen would make deals. "Bawdy houses," or houses of prostitution, were common back in the day when Chinatown flourished in the "tenderloin" district a few blocks behind Brock's on Chester Avenue. And of course, as a young boy, he and friends would sneak into the Fox Theater and pick up ticket stubs to "prove" they had paid to enter.

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 * ... MEDIA MOVES: More moves on the local media scene: Cristi Jesse, KBAK/KBFX News Director for the past four years, is leaving the Sinclair owned CBS and FOX affiliates and is joining KVVU FOX in Las Vegas as news director in February. During her time at KBAK/KBFX the stations have seen an uptick in the ratings, particularly their morning newscasts. Jesse arrived in Bakersfield after working in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Little Rock, AK and Grand Forks, N.D. Also, KGET TV morning anchor Kiyoshi Tomono has left the station to work in local health care.

 * ... MEA CUPLA: I make a mistake in reporting about the history of the Wind Wolves Preserves. Turns out the Wildlands Conservancy was incorporated in 1995 and the purchase of the San Emidio Land Grant (once owned by John C. Fremont of all people) was purchased the next year. Truly an amazing place and right on our doorstep.