CSUB professor warns the coronavirus could disrupt the hot economy, the homeless leave a mountain of trash at the Park at RiverWalk and lunch at Woolgrower's looks like a white pickup convention

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. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other person or organization.

 * ... CORONAVIRUS: How worried should all be about the coronavirus? According to Dr. Richard Gearhart, CSUB economic professor, plenty. Not only could the existence of the virus cause death in at risk people, but it could also upend the world economic order. The Dow has dropped 3,000 points

this week already, and Gearhart thinks another 1,000 point drop could be in the offering, an event that gut retirement and 401(k) accounts and possibly affect the reelection prospects for President Trump. And, Gearhart warns it could also disrupt the production of penicillin and antibiotics, which China leads the world in. Of the four major companies that produce the  active pharmaceutical ingredient for benzathine penicillin G, three are located in China. Most of the world's antibiotics are produced in China and India.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I just finished the laundry and all my socks had their partners. Is this what having your life together feels like?

 * ... HOMELESS TRASH: If you think the homeless prefer to hang about downtown, think again. These pictures are from the Park at Riverwalk, an absolutely disgrace. Here is what Peter Wolleson said when he posted these pictures on Facebook: "I witnessed this catastrophe firsthand. If you live in the southwest, and you think the homeless problem is mostly sidewalk-crappers in the downtown area, I’ve got news for you. This is the Park at Riverwalk. This is a few hundred feet from where your children play at the playground. And ultimately, this is your drinking water. This debris will be washed downstream and buried. These propane canisters will continue to rust until they burst, and the bottles of charcoal lighter fluid and buckets of human feces will gradually leach into our groundwater. The city needs to address this- IMMEDIATELY."

* ... GOOD FORM: Congrats to Bakersfield photographer JoJo Butingan, a master cameraman who had one of his pictures published in Westways magazine, the publication of the Automobile Club of Southern California. The stunning photo of the hills of Kern County appears in the March issue.

 * ... OUR TOWN: Tell me if these pictures, and the caption by my friend Jeff Flores, don't speak to our community. "No this is not a white truck convention or a Ford or Chevrolet dealership. It is just another fine day at Woolgrower's Restaurant where the food is good, people are friendly and the white truck memo circulates!" Amen to that.

 * ... MEMORIES:The evolution of Mercy Hospital downtown in old photos, compliments of the Kern County History Fans Facebook page. Amazing.