Westchester rattled by a second shooting at Jastro Park and more weigh in on union protesters

 * ... JASTRO SHOOTING: The second shooting in a year at Jastro Park has rattled residents of the downtown and Westchester neighborhoods. Blessed with wide streets, century-old homes, a canopy of trees and the charm of Rockwellian America, Westchester has always enjoyed a special allure but also bears the brunt of the occasional opportunistic crime. In the latest case, two known gang members were arrested for opening fire at two other men with whom they had an altercation. As one resident said: "My family has lived here for 60 years and we've never had two shootings in a row like this. There's one home that seems to be at the center of this activity and we're going to do something about it."

* ... PICKET LINE: Stephen J. Haupt, a senior vice president at Colliers International, responded to my post about union picket lines with a view shared by many in the business community. "Personally I do not have a problem with people exercising their First Amendment rights. However, it would be more meaningful if the union members were actually on the picket line rather than the temp workers who probably do not know all of the issues. I wonder if the union is paying these protesters union wages?"

* ... SPOTTED: From a reader: Seen at California Avenue and Oak Street an older, mid-sized truck
with two bumper stickers on the back window. "One shows a cell phone with a red slash through it and the words 'Hang up and drive.' The other says 'Keep honking — I'm reloading.' Is it just me, or would shoving ammunition into a firearm while driving represent a bigger potential traffic hazard than talking on a cell phone?"

 * ... MEMORY: Roger Abonnel asks if anyone else remembers the Kern River flood of 1950. "You are an old timer if you stood on the bluffs, as I did, on Sunday, November 19, 1950, and watched the flood take out Gordon's Ferry,  Rancheria and the Kernville bridges.


* ... FISK HARLOW: Regular contributor John Pryor wrote with some background on Fisk Harlow, who owned the old Bakersfield Hardware store. He said Fisk lived "in a charming home on the southeast corner of Alta Vista and Bernard, directly across the street  from a current news story - the Green Frog Market - whose owner Charles Everett lived across the street from the Harlow's (and my family) in the opposite direction. We witnessed Everett walking back and forth from his home to the Green Frog with a huge bag of money in his grip. It was so heavy he 'listed' to one side as he walked the almost two block distance." Pryor said Harlow also owned the first golf cart used at Stockdale Country Club.


* ... CPA: Longtime Bakersfield resident and CPA Lynn Starr Del Mundo has joined the accounting firm of Daniells Phillips Vaughan and Bock as a partner. Prior to this Lynn had been part of a successful accounting practice with her late father, Martin A. Starr.



* .... BROCK'S MEMORY: Marvin Schmidt weighed in from New Mexico with a memory of his mother, Irene Schmidt, who worked at Brock's until she was into her 80s in the drapery department. "Standing 4 feet 11 inches and weighing a little over 100 pounds, she always wore high heeled shoes and the best dresses. When management changed, they were told not to look at her age but at her abilities," he said. "For years before moving to Bakersfield she rode the bus from Shafter to come to work."