We will be skiing at Mammoth into August thanks to the snowpack, CNN will focus on Tom and Christy Morgan and Dignity Health wins Corporation of the Year at the annual Beautiful Bakersfield awards

Monday, June 3, 2019

 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 community such a special place.

 * ... SNOWPACK:  How much rain did we get this summer? Enough to make the snowpack in the

high Sierras 202 percent of average, or 33 percent bigger than last year. That's right, that means there is enough snow to keep the ski lifts at Mammoth open until August. It's all great news for the spring and summer runoff that will feed rivers and reservoirs, water crops and fill bathtubs.

 * ... WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE: The Kern River is bank to bank with water through town, giving all of us a sneak peak into how our city would look with year-round water. Kayaks and canoes were out in force this weekend, but they had to contend with the visual pollution of literally dozens of homeless emcampments along the river, a kind of homeless "House Hunters" episode where everyone gets a waterfront camping spot.

 * ... DIGNITY HEALTH: It's been a great week for Dignity Health. First, it won the coveted Corporation of the Year award at the Beautiful Bakersfield Awards, and later it was announced that Derek and David Car had signed on to continue their sponsorship and endorsement of Dignity Health Central California. Not a bad week I would say.

 * ... MONEYWISE GUYS: And speaking of the Beautiful Bakersfield Awards, it was great to see the Moneywise Wealth group (known as the Moneywise Guys on KERN NewsTalk radio) recognized as the Small Business of the Year. Outstanding people and outstanding service.

 * ... REDEMPTION PROJECT: If you watched CNN's Redemption Project Sunday night chances are you spotted a few familiar faces. The project focuses on victims of crime facing their accusers, and among those featured was former Kern County deputy (and later county counsel) Tom Morgan, who was shot and left for dead by a gang member more than 20 years ago. In the series, Morgan comes face to face with the shooter and talks about forgiveness, hope and salvation.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Welcome to middle age. Prepare to pay for all the damage  you did to your body over the past 40 years."

 * ... MORE SPOTTED: "Got one of those laser pointer things for my cat, and now I'm having to sit through all these presentations."

 * ... CLIFFORD AND BROWN: There has been a mass exodus at the law firm of Clifford and Brown, where eight attorneys have left to form their own firm. Leaving to form the new comprehensive law firm called Zimmer and Melton were Charles Melton, Richard Zimmer, T. Mark Smith, Nicholas Street, Victoria Trichell, Jeffrey Travis, Dennis Gallagher and William Zimmer. The head of the firm, Steve Clifford, died last year and his son, Dan Clifford, recently left the firm to become house counsel for Bolthouse Properties.

 * ... FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Think about this for a minute.

 * ... MEMORIES: Courtesy of the Facebook page Kern County History Fans,. check out this picture of the old Vincent's across from the post office.