Bako Bits: Get ready for the "Nut Festival" in June, voting is underway for the Best of Kern County and a new face at KBAK TV

 * ... TRASH: Betsy Gosling spotted something you don't see often in our community. "On Sunday morning on my way to church at about 8:30 a.m., a man is picking up trash along Gosford across the street from Sam's Club.  I really commend him for doing that. He's obviously doing that on his own and

wants the street to be clean.  I want my residential area and have begun pulling garage sale signs off poles and picking up papers myself.  It's our planet and we need to take care of it.  Most people don't think about that, unfortunately."

 * ... NUT FESTIVAL: Planning is well under way for the first Kern County "Nut Festival," a two-day celebration of the almonds, pistachios and other nuts that are so important to our local economy. Organizers are promising a"truly unique experience" that will put Bakersfield on the map, much as the garlic festival has done for Gilroy. It is planned for Friday and Saturday June 14-15.

 * ... BEST OF KERN: Remember to vote in the annual "Best of Kern" competition that highlights everything from the best romantic restaurant to the best personal trainer in town. The voting started this week and extends over a month. To vote, go to bestofkern.com and register your email. The results will be printed in the April 27 edition of BakersfieldLife magazine.

 * ... DIVAS: Speaking of BakersfieldLife magazine, a new group of "Dining Divas" will debut the February issue. The new group includes teacher Andrea Ames, Stephanie Pickering, Marlene Morales of Chain Cohn and Stiles, Denise Ornelas of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and pastry chef Mai Giffard.

* ... OVERHEARD: Best panhandling line of the week, so far: "Do you have any change I could use to get back to Shafter to get my debit card?"

* ... SPOTTED: Posted by a friend on Facebook: "While I was waiting for my takout pimento cheese sandwich, a woman walked in, placed an order and said to the cashier, apropos of nothing, 'I need some affirmation.' Without missing a beat, he replied, 'You are awesome. Nice to get what you ask for, isn't it?'"

 * ... DID YOU KNOW? Did you know that certain birds actually mourn the death of other birds? That's the conclusion of a study in the journal Animal Behaviour, which concluded that when a Western scrub jay dies,"other jays may hold a kind of funeral - screeching over the body for as long as half an hour."

* ... KBAK: More comings and goings in the local television market. Rob Finnerty is joining Lynda Halligan and Aaron Perlman on KBAK/KBFX Eyewitness News Mornings. Finnerty arrives from Boston where is was most recently a wealth management advisor at Merrill Lynch. Previously he was sports anchor for New England Cable News.