Local engineer, cycling enthusiast and City Council candidate Bob Smith will appear on Monday's Californian Radio; meanwhile another Bob Smith heads to the Seven Oaks Homeowner's Association board

* ... CITY COUNCIL: Bob Smith is a local civil engineer and land planning expert who is running to succeed David Couch on the City Council, and Monday he will be my guest on Californian Radio KERN 1180 beginning at 9 a.m. Smith is clear front runner in the race for the Ward 4 seat, now that attorney Harley Pinson has dropped out. The only other name on the ballot is Daniel Mbagwu, who has not campaigned visibly. City council candidate Bob Smith is also the founder of Bike Bakersfield, a group that encourages cycling friendly initiatives. He has been endorsed by Couch and should easily win election. But he should not be confused with another avid cyclist named Bob Smith, who is a retired endodontist, a USC alum and now a new member of the Seven Oaks homeowner's association board. (Council candidate Bob Smith shown below)

 * ... TROJANS: And speaking of the University of Southern California, I took in the game at the Coliseum Saturday and watched the Trojans easily dispatch the Cal Bears. And proving you can't go anywhere without running into someone from Bakersfield, I stumbled into Joan and Bernie Herman and Carol and Mike Stepanovich at the game. Bernie runs the Bakersfield Museum of Art, Joan is a school administrator, Stepanovich works at Bakersfield College and Carol is a retired teacher. 

* ... B-25 CRASH: Local Realtor Dick Taylor shared with me his own personal take on the 1945 crash of a B-25 Mitchell into the Empire State Building. Turns out his mother, Suzy Taylor, worked on the 32nd floor of the New York landmark but was off the Saturday of the crash. "In a notable coincidence, her future husband, my late dad Harris Taylor, was a B-25 pilot who was shot down a year earlier near Tarawa while on his 17th combat mission.  He survived and married my mom in
1953."

* ... COLLEGE: The Princeton Review has come out with its list of the "least studious" universities, and most of them are in the deep South. Coming in at No. 1 was the University of Alabama followed by the University of North Dakota, West Virginia University, City University of New York- Baruch College, the University of Mississippi, the University of Maryland – College Park, Florida State University, the University of Iowa, James Madison University and University of Alabama – Birmingham.


* ... OKTOBERFEST: Reader David Collins submitted a shout out to one of his favorite local eateries. "Since it is currently Oktoberfest, my family and I went to Bit of Germany, a local culinary treasure.  Owner Frannie and her daughter, Denise, cooked and served a terrific dinner with Germany potatoes, melt-in-you-mouth trout and hot apple strudel.  If you haven't been to Bit of Germany in a while, now is the perfect time to take a quick spin to 'Bavaria.'

 * ... BIKE PATH: Hard to beat the cooler mornings we've been having and Sunday our local bike path was crowded with walkers, runners and cyclists. The bike path now extends from as far west as Enos Lane all the way out to Hart Park and beyond, and literally of hundreds of folks enjoy it as a way to exercise and enjoy the local scenery. It's one part of our community that we can boast about.