Post a Comment On: Bakersfield Observed

 * ... DUTCH: The Dutch Frontier restaurant in Ducor has always had a big Bakersfield following, and by some measures offers some of the best steaks and customer service around. One of its biggest fans in Lee Marek, one of the owners of The Mark restaurant on 19th Street. In honor of the Dutch
[Image] Frontier, The Mark will be recreating the Dutch Frontier's menus for one special night on Thursday, August 6. Said Marek: "I really wanted to spark everyone's great memories of their visit to Dutch Frontier and hopefully convince them to drive to Ducor again. After much conversation and initial reluctance, his family agreed. They will bring their menu, their meats, their French onion soup, their lemon drops, etc. to The Mark on August 6."

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* ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Why do I wake up tired and go to bed wide awake?"

 * ... OVERHEARD: A woman is telling a friend: "Oak Street between San Emidio and California Avenue is the new Union Avenue. I live there and it has everything: drugs, prostitution, gangs. It's a mess."

 * ... GOOD FORM: Pat Mahan sent a shoutout to the city of Bakersfield's mobile app that allows folks to report potholes and other problems. "I sent in a request regarding horrendous potholes at the intersection of Tulare Street and California Avenue. Within seven days the potholes cease to exist. My car thanks you."

 * ... DATA: Research data tells a lot about our community and how we spend our leisure time and money. Here's a tidbit that may (or may not) surprise you: only 6.4 percent of Kern County adults report going to a symphony concert in the last year, while more than 60 percent regularly go to the movies.

 * ... ADVICE: Sal Cruz of Delano has some free advice for all you young people who travel in the passenger side of a car with your bare feet on the console. "I see it all the time and it's dangerous," he said. "If something happens your feel fly through the windshield. Now that the weather is warmer I see it all the time traveling to Bakersfield."

 * ... BIKE SAFETY: Warren Rooney is an avid bike rider, and he has ridden the trails about town literally hundreds of times. But this weekend, we crashed while headed out to Enos Lane on the bike path, and he credits his helmet with saving his life. "I went over the top of the handlebars landing on my head and face. One eye was swollen shut and the other was full of dirt so I was almost blind. Thankfully, several cyclists stopped within a few minutes, the first on the scene called 911, others called my wife, gathered my belongings and my bike and gave me both assistance and emotional support. I am very thankful for everything these very caring fellow cyclists did. Additionally, I wanted to stress the importance of wearing a bicycle helmet every single time that you get on your bike. This was the 'safest' part of my ride. It is a flat, wide bike path that I have ridden well over 100 times and I was going less than 15 miles per hour. It couldn't have been much safer yet, in a split second, I was on the ground with a shattered helmet. I think that helmet saved me from a cracked skull, a broken neck and possibly saved my life. Please wear a bicycle helmet no matter how fast or slow that you ride. I am recovering from a black eye, a very sore neck, many abrasions, and a whole lot of swelling. But, thanks to the helmet, I was treated at the hospital and released later that day with no broken bones or serious injury."