Someone, somewhere, needs to teach a class on east Bakersfield’s rich music history. And I know just the person.
A notice from the California State Supreme Court went out to attorneys on Friday to be ready to present oral arguments on the Kern River possibly as early as this September.
A reshaped agreement for the Kern County Water Agency to provide water to a housing development 200 miles to the north erased $14 million in debt, giving residents water certainty into the future just days before KCWA had threatened to shut off their supplies.
Before we start, some clarification on the title. It’s not “my” wedding and my sister, who is getting married, is not overweight. But we are so Sicilian! So when my sister Maria announced last year she was marrying her fiancé Joe in Sicily this spring, all her siblings, and as many friends a…
In 2013, not long after Pope Francis became Pope Francis, he gave us the encyclical “Evangelii Gaudium,” or “The Joy of the Gospel.” Pope Francis, God rest him, personified joy. He brought fresh air into the stuffy papal atmosphere. He laughed with ease and seemed to relish spending time in …
With everyone on social media these days acting like they know God better than the next person or even pretending to be Jesus, I thought I might jump into the foray and try my hand at it. I mean, besides the deadly lightning bolt that might strike me for being blasphemous, what could possibl…
More than a dozen “friend of the court” briefs have been filed with the state Supreme Court debating whether a local judge erred when he ordered that enough water be kept in the mostly dry Kern River bed through Bakersfield for fish.
Keeping invasive golden mussels out of key San Joaquin Valley reservoirs will mostly be up to conscientious boaters this summer as there is no comprehensive approach to watercraft inspection and decontamination throughout the state.
The invasive golden mussel is moving fast so it’s hard to keep up. Here are just a few tidbits to chew on.
"And you know, it ain't fiction
Forget “Star Trek’s” Captain Kirk, Luke Skywalker from “Star Wars” or even Michael Jackson’s moonwalk. I have the real deal, and his name is Charlie Duke, astronaut and Lunar Module Pilot for NASA’s Apollo 16.
The Arvin-Edison Water Storage District found invasive golden mussels in its system last December, quickly approved a $2.5 million budget and by the first week of April had already completed a 30-day treatment.
Who but our God is the rock?
The Kern River watershed suffered a rapid snowmelt during the record-breaking heat wave in March, just like the rest of the state.
"If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet."
Lawyers fighting for more flows in the Kern River got the green light to question a noted river historian and author per a court ruling issued recently.
Financial support for the controversial Delta Conveyance Project has been eroding among Kern County agricultural water districts over the past year and lost another significant chunk when the Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa Water Storage District opted recently to cut its contribution by nearly 97% —…
“It was 20 years ago today.”
Catholics know that Palm Sunday Mass features one of the longest Gospels read all year. It is also one of the few Gospels requiring our vocal participation. During the narration of the Passion and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, we churchgoers get to read the part of the rabid crowd demanding t…
It’s the little victories that matter. That’s what I told my new friend, Jesus Martinez Miranda, this past week after the Bakersfield Tennis Open tournament, held annually at the Bakersfield Racquet Club in March. He had lost in both the singles and doubles brackets and was heading home to i…
It’s usually the other way around.
With the 2026 Olympics behind us, I had the most wonderful dream. I was watching the 2040 Winter Olympics Women’s Ice Hockey Gold Medal game. Skating down the left wing, the score tied 2-2 with under a minute remaining, Lydia passes the puck across the center to an open Natalie at the right …
I'm buying a souvenir, a magnet for the fridge. It's four dollars.
The Arvin-Edison Water Storage District accepted $230 million to settle its lawsuit against Dow Chemical and Shell Oil for allegedly contaminating its groundwater with 1,2,3-trichloropropane and jeopardizing its lucrative groundwater banking program with a southern California drinking water agency.
Briefs and replies are piling up in the Kern River case pending review by the state Supreme Court.
This column is brought to you by our broken washing machine.
Strike one. Strike two. Strike three. You are out, valley fever!
If you've visited the 9/11 Memorial in New York City, the name Father Mychal Judge may sound familiar. Father Judge, a Franciscan priest, was the chaplain for the New York City Fire Department, so where else would he have been on Sept. 11, 2001, but on the terrible scene at the Twin Towers? …
In 1988, I was asked to be a very small part of several of the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s visits to Kern County.
Here on the northern Oregon Coast, we're invited every Sunday afternoon to bring our anti-fascism protest signs — our obviously handmade signs that have not been funded by some shadowy billionaire — and to stand at a busy intersection along Highway 101.
Like most people my age, I must admit, I know nothing of Bad Bunny. All I know is he ruined the Super Bowl party I attended. This event has been an opportunity to hang out with others, drink and eat, put money on squares, watch the funny commercials, and criticize the halftime show. Oh yeah,…
In my opinion, it should be called the “International” Christian Youth Film Festival.
The groundwater in parts of western Kern County is salty and, generally, considered a bit crummy, longtime farmer Brad Kroeker admits.
The recycling center we bring our glass containers to asks that we separate glass that is labeled as requiring a deposit from glass that is unlabeled. As I was separating our collection for drop-off recently, my brain registered the big "CA REDEMPTIVE VALUE" letters on the beverage bottles o…
LOIS HENRY: Water moves: Bakersfield water chief to retire and private water company gets new leader
Two key leadership positions in Kern County and San Joaquin Valley water circles are in the process of changing.
One of several “causes of action” was cut out of the ongoing Kern River case in a ruling issued Thursday by Kern County Superior Court Judge Gregory Pulskamp.
I’ve been dormant. More like in hiding. Some articles you don’t want to write. The spirit moves you, but your instincts tell you to lay low. These are the days for the timid to lay low.
The relentless rains of this past December, ominously termed an "atmospheric river," have managed to wash out a stretch of the highway that takes me from my small town on Oregon's coast to the big city of Portland. Two lanes are down to one lane, the lost lane now collapsed into a small cliff.
Jackie Fisher should write a book about growing up in the 1960s in Kern County’s 93307 ZIP code. The 07 generally encompasses a wide swath of southeast Bakersfield. Fisher, I and many of our friends who are 07 alumni went to Casa Loma Elementary School, Golden State Junior High School and So…
How to describe the dawn of a new year? It’s a fresh start, a clean slate, a breath of air, a new leaf, a virgin blanket of snow, a chapter yet unwritten, and a dozen other apt metaphors. The prospect also nudges us to consider how we can live our lives more fully, especially if we are peopl…
Directors of the Kern County Water Agency selected Tamara Johnson, a longtime California Water Services manager, to fill a vacant board seat, despite an outpouring of support from agricultural water districts for another candidate.
When I read the news these days, I'm reminded of the story of Cassandra in Greek mythology. A Trojan princess, Cassandra received the gift of prophecy from the god Apollo, but the gift came with strings attached. When Cassandra did not submit to those strings, meaning sexual submission, Apol…
“All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray.” So sing the Mamas and the Papas in their classic song, “California Dreamin’.” After years of missing Thanksgiving with my St. Louis siblings and their families, this year they celebrated early, making it possible for Deb and I to attend and sti…
Several years ago, in one of the most unlikely places, timed perfectly for the holidays, I received an unexpected lesson in humility, gratitude and happiness. As sad and happy as this true story makes me, I often repeat it during this time of year to my children. I also share it with anyone …
Another Advent is upon us, as heralded by the prophet Isaiah: "A voice proclaims: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord!" (Isaiah 40:3). The Gospel of Mark later echoes Isaiah with the story of John the Baptist, a literal voice in the wilderness crying out to the people, "One mightie…
“To give one’s very self — to think only of others and to bring the greatest happiness to others is the true meaning of Christmas.” So wrote author Millie W. Carpenter in her story “The Little Tear Gatherer,” published in 1889. For many, the secular meaning of the holidays has shifted from g…
About 30 ranchers and residents sat quietly in the Cuyama Valley Family Resource Center recently, hanging on every word from Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William Highberger as he succinctly laid out the history, the status and the substantial stakes of an ongoing groundwater adjud…
The specter of California’s strict but confounding conflict-of-interest law prohibiting public officials from profiting from their own agencies came up recently in regard to the Kern County Water Agency hiring its former board president as its general manager.
It could cost $27 million, or more, to revamp and reopen the Kernville hatchery as a Kern River rainbow trout breeding facility, according to a report commissioned by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Good news: Getting around New York City via the subway system turned out to be easy and pretty cheap, especially for a senior citizen like me. Riding the subway also taught me a lesson in democracy.
