Los Angeles reports typhus cases linked to rising homelessness, San Francisco has a new app to report feces and urine (from the homeless), TLO wines will open a tasting room in town and Liberty Roche will debut her new album

Friday, October 12, 2018

 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this such a special to live. Send your news tips to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... SNAPCRAP: Just how bad has homelessness affected San Francisco? Well, it is so bad that an app has been created so people can take pictures of feces on the sidewalk and send the images to the

city to have it cleaned up. It's called Snapcrap, and it allows people to take shots of feces and deliver an alert to the Public Works Department. It uses GPS to track the specific location and also creates a ticket so user can make sure their complain is received and dealt with. Meanwhile, health officials in Los Angeles are warning of a typhus outbreak linked to the homeless encampments that are so prevalent downtown. Typhus outbreaks linked to homeless encampments have been reported in Los Angeles, Pasadena and Long Beach.

 * ... RIP PAT DEMOND: Pat DeMond, who served as the Ward 2 represented on the City Council, has died. Not sure what was the cause of death. Demond served as a councilperson and vice mayor from 1987 to 2000. Said current Ward 2 councilman Andrae Gonzales: "Among her notable contributions to our city and downtown revitalization include approval of the Chester Avenue streetscape, the Cenntenial Garden (now Rabobank) arena, the Holiday Inn Select (now Marriot) hotel, and the Amtrak station."

* ... TLO WINES: Here's a first for Bakersfield: TLO winery, owned by the Zaninovich family, is opening the first tasting room downtown. Andy Zaninovich and his daughter Avery say the tasting room, located on 18th Street across from Sequoia Sandwich Co., should be open by the end of the month.

 * ... WINE DEALS: And speaking of wine, if you head over to Imbibe Wine and Spirits and partake in their "six for $60" offering (six bottles of wine for $60) you will receive two Reidel wine glasses free. Tell them you want "the Richard Beene deal." Imbibe is a sponsor of The Richard Beene Show that runs daily from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on KERN NewsTalk 96.1 FM.

* ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Kids today don’t know how easy they have it. When I was young, I had to walk 9 feet through shag carpet to change the TV channel."

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "Just installed one of those little dentist's sinks on my wife's side of the bed."

 * ... LIBERTY ROCHE: Liberty Roche, a 16-year-old song writer and singer, will debut her new album at the Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame on Thursday, Oct. 25. Roche is a junior at Bakersfield Christian High School and has been singing when she was just 11 years old. She is working with American Idol contestant Amy Adams for the past five years.

 * ... MOVING ON: Bob Meadows is leaving Mission Bank to become business development director for the city of Shafter. Meadows served as vice president/community development officer for the bank but said he could not pass up the "amazing opportunity" in Shafter. His last day will be next week.

 * ... MEMORIES: Who remembers Helms bakery from back in the day? Check out this photo from the Kern County of Old Facebook page, where the caption read: "The Helms Man. Every drawer in the back of the truck was loaded with pies and donuts. A childhood delight in Westchester."

With the Kavanaugh vote behind us, will we ever return to a state of civil dialogue in this country? And it was a weekend full of events including craft beer at Imbibe Wine and Spirits

Monday, October 8, 2018

 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this such a special to live. Send your news tips to rsbeene@yahoo.com.

 * ... KAVANAUGH: I can only speak for myself but I am glad that we have seen the end of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. No matter where you stand on Kavanaugh, this has been a sad and sordid time for the country. As one friend told me: "I can't speak to my in-laws about it and I am

afraid to even talk about it at work people are so riled up. It's impossible to have a civil dialogue." Opposing Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court doesn't equate to convicting a person without evidence, and neither does supporting his nomination make you a woman hater. It's time to move on. The process and ultimate confirmation vote has boosted the base of both parties, and we will see in November if either party will pay the price at the ballot box.

 * ... MORE KAVANAUGH: A friend on the east coast posted this on her Facebook page: "Let's make Facebook great again. I'm going to refrain from posting or commenting on anything political. It's tearing us apart a a country. I'm going to stick to posts that make people smile or laugh. And, not at the expense of others. Who's with me?"

 * ... WEEKEND: If it's October, you can be sure our weekends are jammed with events. There was the 10th annual Latination Friday night at Metro Galleries, followed by the Greek Food Festival, the Farm to Tableaux event benefitting the Boys and Girls Club, the Valley of Hope Gala for the American Cancer Society, the 20th anniversary of Rabobank arena, the annual Action Sports Marathon at Lake Ming, the Village Flea at the Kern County Museum and Imbibe Wine and Spirit's Craft Bear Festival. And who says there is nothing to do in Bakersfield?

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "If you enjoy roller coasters and near death experiences, falling in love with a redhead might be right for you."

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "Sixty may be the new 40 but 9 p.m. is the new midnight."

 * ... OOPS: A sharp eyed friend, Chris Lowe, caught an error in a campaign mailer for Supervisor Mike Maggard. The flyer touted Maggard's accomplishments and included a picture of a freeway with brown hills. The problem: the freeway is in another county. Said Lowe: "Shouldn’t that be a picture from Kern County if you’re running for election in Kern County? The picture is from Ventura county between Calabasas and Agoura Hills. Whoops!"

 * ... MEMORIES: Check out this old picture looking East on 19th Street, the Bakersfield Opera House is the first building on the right circa 1910.