Orchard Supply Hardware is going out of business, photographer Casey Christie set to retire from The Bakersfield Californian and Alissa Carlson prepares her return from maternity leave

 * ... ORCHARD: I was sad to see the huge "Store Closing" sign draped across the entrance of Orchard Supply Hardware on Ming Avenue. I suppose it was just a matter of time before Orchard

was gobbled up (Orchard was bought by Lowe's a few years ago) but I will miss the attentive customer service at this location. The days of the smaller mom and pop hardware stores seem to be coming to a close, a shame, but a sign of the times.

* ... CASEY CHRISTIE: I ran into Casey Christie this past weekend and the award winning Californian photographer told me he is retiring at the end of this year. Over the almost three decades Christie has worked at The Californian, he has won legions of fans for his stunning photography that has graced the pages of our local newspaper. His shots of wildlife are a particular favorite of mine, and who can forget the way he captured a family of owls standing at attention? Most photographers do their work in anonymity, but Christie has always been a fan favorite. So here's to Casey Christie, a family man, a true professional, a gentleman and a friend.

 * ... FATHER CRAIG: And speaking of local treasures, I ran into Casey Christie at the Fox Theater where Monsignor Craig Harrison was unveiling his new star on the Fox sidewalk. Harrison's star was sponsored by his eight adopted children and a gaggle of grandchildren.

* ... ALISSA CARLSON: Reader Sue Bramen wrote to ask when that "sweet weather" forecaster Alissa Carlson was returning to KGET from maternity leave. Well according to her Facebook page, it looks Carlson is set to resume her role as KGET's chief meteorologist any time now. Carlson took three months off after giving birth to her daughter. Meanwhile, KGET morning anchor Maddie Janssen is taking a few months off to prepare for delivery of her third child.

* ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Marriage is an institution. And like all institutions the inmates are always looking for ways to escape."

 * ... OVERHEARD: A local lawyer is speaking to a friend: "Last year we were all thinking about the drought and only one person on my street planted winter rye. This year everyone is."

 * ... GOOD FORM: Up on Panorama Drive on Saturday morning, a man and his young son are walking the bluffs with a large black trash bag picking up the litter others have left behind.

 * ... MEMORIES: Former mayor Mary K. Shell responded to John Pryor's post about the open fields west of Oak Street. "He mentioned local Joe Shell’s oil patch.' My husband, Joe, an independent oil operator in those years, liked to tell the story of flying from LA and landing his plane on an open field west of Oak street to check on a well. This was in the late 1940s or early 1950s after World War II. But Kern County Land Company eventually brought a halt to his idea of efficiency.  They said the plane scared their cattle."