The Bakersfield Californian
Air district agrees to public hearing regarding proposed refinery changes
Regional air quality regulators have agreed to host a public hearing Monday on plans to upgrade a refinery southeast of Bakersfield after environmental justice groups argued not enough was being done to gather their input. The San Joaquin Valley Air...
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Korean War veteran, working man, husband and father, Arthur Gentry dies at 95
He was only 17 when he joined the U.S. Marines in 1948 and barely 20 when he survived the frigid, belowzero cold and the brutal bombs and bullets of the battle of Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. He survived a bout with malaria, and the stress of...
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Sage confirms plan to turn former Greyhound site into high-end apartments
The former Greyhound property in downtown Bakersfield will be redeveloped as high-end rental housing under a partnership between a local developer and the family that owns the property, one of the parties confirmed Monday. Sage Equities, developer of...
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Taking the plunge
Brave the cold, drink hot chocolate as a reward. Both young and old slid or jumped into the chilly waters of McMurtrey Aquatic Center in downtown Bakersfield on New Year's Day. It was the annual Polar Bear Plunge.
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Fog to break as New Year’s rain moves through valley
Kern County's heavy fog will break, at least for now, as a series of light rain storms are expected to move through the area over the next week. A dense fog advisory from the National Weather Service lifted at noon Tuesday and skies briefly cleared...
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Locals connect with African heritage at Kwanzaa celebration
What's normally a basketball court was set up like a museum gallery Monday for Bakersfield's annual Kwanzaa celebration at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center. About a dozen tables were covered with masks, stools, statues and all other...
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Immigration raids, Trump topped 2025’s news pages
The year 2025 was one for the history books as news came at Kern County from within and without, including stories carrying federal and statewide significance. Here's a summary of the year's biggest developments: IMMIGRATION Kern County became a...
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Candlelight Christmas Eve service at First Presbyterian
Congregants filled the pews on Wednesday for a 5 p.m. candlelight service at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Bakersfield. The traditional Christmas Eve celebration began with a lighting of the candles and a warm greeting to all in...
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Winds raise dust, knock out power leading up to expected rainshowers
Heavy winds kicked up dust and leaves across Kern County Tuesday afternoon and knocked out power for several hundred Bakersfield residents. The winds were just part of a weather system moving through that's supposed to drop up to two inches of rain...
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State DOJ: ‘We are reviewing our options’ in Zack Scrivner case
The state Attorney General's Office said it's reviewing its options following the granting of a mental health diversion in the case of former Kern County Supervisor Zack Scrivner. Scrivner, accused of sexually assaulting one of his children, was...
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Chrismas comes early
Christmas came early Friday at Boys & Girls Clubs of Kern County Armstrong Youth Center as more than 200 local children came to pick out a gift, enjoy a snack and meet with Santa Claus. Volunteers from a variety organizations were on hand to help with...
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Mendiburu Magic Foundation honors local ‘Magic Makers’
The Mendiburu Magic Foundation conferred its highest honors of the year Wednesday during an annual award ceremony recognizing the efforts of people who it said continue to shine through selfless giving and community support. “These individuals are...
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Major investment
Two cities in the southern valley celebrated big in their respective communities Tuesday with ceremonial groundbreakings and triumphant speeches that anticipated the planned construction of new and muchneeded municipal facilities. Both the city of...
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‘Keep moving forward’
The wreath symbolizes a circle of eternity. The evergreens represent resilience. A bow stands for national unity. Together, wreaths honored more than 7,700 U.S. military veterans interred at Bakersfield National Cemetery, where on Saturday hundreds...
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‘God’s miracle’
Suze Lopez kept getting the question you're never supposed to ask a woman: Are you pregnant? It was perhaps understandable, in her case, because she was carrying a 22-pound ovarian cyst that had swollen her abdomen. Rather than take offense, the...
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Kern County debuts new portable AI-powered ECG machines
Starting in February, Kern County will be the first county in California to deploy new AI-powered electrocardiogram machines to more quickly detect heart attacks in patients in the field. Kern County Public Health announced Thursday it had recently...
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Got an old wheelchair?
It's a bit of an odd situation for a small nonprofit to find itself in: actually having the funding to do something, but now needing the inventory to do it. The Independent Living Center of Kern County — a local nonprofit that helps people with...
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KCSO deputy’s academy graduation a story of grit
Daisy Calso grew up wanting to be a cop, and for a woman who could do 82 consecutive push-ups — more than her husband, by the way — she seemed born for it. But on one sweltering day last year, the enormity of the challenge finally caught up with...
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Attack on Pearl Harbor occurred 84 years ago but still worth remembering, organizers say
It was a cold Sunday morning as people began gathering at Historic Union Cemetery in east Bakersfield to honor and remember those who were on the island of Oahu, Hawaii on that dastardly and deadly day on Dec. 7, 1941. Sunday was Pearl Harbor...
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A child’s eyes
It was a typical Sunday morning in paradise, for a 7-year-old. “Mom was still sleeping. My brother and I, we always got up early,” remembered 91-year-old Bakersfield resident Bob Guillory. As he sat at his kitchen table on a recent Thursday morning...
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‘A Family Christmas’
Thousands enjoyed the Bakersfield Christmas Parade, under the theme of “A Family Christmas,” in downtown Bakersfield. Thursday night's festivities saw 49 vehicle entries and live entertainment from 18 marching and performance groups and 17 bands. A...
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Kern County of f icials plant trees at Panorama Park to replace those that have died
Three months after The Californian reported on a spate of tree deaths at Panorama Park this summer, 3rd District Kern County Supervisor Jeff Flores joined a team of county parks employees Wednesday to plant 14 new trees at the mile-and-ahalf-long...
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‘Ready to put on the best show out there’
The Highland High School Black Watch Brigade will trade the bitter cold of marching around the campus track for the warm vibes of Oahu, Hawaii this week. The journey from an invitation to be the only California high school band to perform at the Pearl...
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Bears take f light
The Bakersfield Condors scored a 7-4 home victory Saturday for Teddy Bear Toss night — and children in need throughout the area will benefit. Seth Griffith scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal at 3:20 in the first period, unleashing thousands of stuffed...
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Holiday spirit
The holiday spirit was alive — pets included — Friday afternoon as the merchants of Town & Country Village put on their 32nd annual tree lighting ceremony. But first, it was time for the Pet Parade, as Healing Hearts ponies led the annual tradition in...
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BPD’s impact team makes a dif ference downtown
In September, the city of Bakersfield set up a task force with the goal of finding additional jail beds. The problem, city leaders said, is that low-level offenders — many of them the same repeat offenders — are being released within 24 to 48 hours...
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‘Just thankful’
Nearly four hundred Thanksgiving dinners were packed into boxes Monday morning before being loaded into the cars of families in need of a little extra help this holiday season. “We are providing food baskets to families that otherwise would not have a...
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Sealing a family bond
Dozens of families filled the waiting room at the Kern County Juvenile Justice Center Friday, many of them wearing their Sunday best, each waiting their turn before a judge on National Adoption Day. “Ordinarily, those who appear before court do so...
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Care for kids
More than 100 doctors, nurses and other staff gathered near the front entrance to Kern Medical on Wednesday morning to celebrate the imminent opening of the hospital's new Pediatric Emergency Department, a dedicated space designed to provide...
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Parade draws a proud, patriotic crowd downtown
Thousands of parade-goers lined the streets of downtown Bakersfield on Tuesday morning to enjoy the city's annual Veterans Day Parade and pay tribute to Kern County's sizeable veteran population. More than 110 parade entries participated, from...
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Guitar’s unveiling marks six days to opening of Hard Rock Casino Tejon
Who knew a single guitar, albeit a very large one, could carry so much symbolism? Making its debut Friday outside the soon-to-open Hard Rock Casino Tejon, the six-story Gibson instantly became a monument not only to the Tejon Indian Tribe, but also to...
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Families honor loved ones at victims’ memorial unveiling
Gloria Chavez is still waiting for the trial of the young man accused of killing her husband. Chavez's husband and partner of 15 years, Guadalupe Chavez, was killed in Wasco in 2021, allegedly by a 16-year-old who was arrested a month later. Standing...
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California’s Proposition 50 has passed. Here’s what you missed
California voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved Gov. Gavin Newsom's measure that allows the state to redraw its congressional map in favor of Democrats, pushing back against President Donald Trump's effort to hold onto a Republican-controlled...
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Thousands come for food drop in lieu of disrupted SNAP assistance
The long line of cars stretched from Ming Avenue north on South P Street, then turned east on Belle Terrace before disappearing into Gate 31 at the Kern County Fairgrounds. Sure, it was a long wait Tuesday, but the people in the cars were there for...
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Tradition marks Día de los Muertos
Thousands marked Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, at the Kern County Fairgrounds on Sunday, remembering and celebrating their loved ones who have died. The Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce put on the event for the 15th year, complete...
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‘More meals than ever’
The Mission at Kern County on Friday called on the community to come together in response to the potential loss, or interruption, of a federal food assistance program that serves many tens of thousands of low-income Kern County residents. But even as...
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The law meets fun
K-Pop Demon Hunters, Pirates of the Caribbean, Shrek, Monster's Inc. and more filled the Bakersfield Police Department headquarters Thursday afternoon and evening. It was the eighth annual HalLAWeen, which attracted more than 8,000 guests for...
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Highland High's FFA chapter hosts harvest festival
Kids from the city got a taste of life on a farm Wednesday at Highland High's annual Fall Harvest event hosted by the school's Future Farmers of America chapter. Busloads of students from kindergarten through second grade took part in a variety of...
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Courage and compassion
Historic Union Cemetery on Tuesday honored police officers, sheriff's deputies, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, emergency dispatchers and others at its First Responders Recognition Day event. Held in front of the cemetery...
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‘Our love letter to Bakersfield’
Bakersfield’s historic Woolworth’s building is surely a dichotomy, a study in contrast. It’s both a time capsule filled with nostalgia and memory and it’s the home of a new and modern vision made of concrete, steel, confidence and determination that...
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Much to celebrate
By the time the Thomas M. Hardt Tower opens in December on the campus of Mercy Hospital Southwest, it will have taken more than 10 years of work, investment totaling $350 million and the combined generosity of some 620 individual donors. The result is...
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‘One of the most beautiful facilities’
If you think and say it aloud at age 17 and, years later, remember what you said and know it can still happen, you do it. On Thursday, Nate Franklin, a 1996 Highland High graduate and three-sport athlete, including swimming, stood in front of an...
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Supporters are way ahead in fundraising for Newsom’s Prop. 50, but the race remains close
■A survey from the nonpartisan Cook Political Report earlier this month found that although 50% of registered voters said they would support Proposition 50 and 35% said they would oppose it, nearly half of those surveyed indicated they were undecided...
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Art on concrete
It's been nearly 100 years since a series of concrete structures called standpipes were installed in Hart Park, one of Kern County's most visited parks northeast of metro Bakersfield. It is believed that some of the standpipes, used in the early years...
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Taking it to the street
From the professionals with vast art experience to the kids who enjoy playing with chalk, artists gathered at The Marketplace for the 27th annual Via Arte Italian Street Painting Festival. More than 100 artists used the treated asphalt as their...
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Remains of lost airman killed in World War II laid to rest in Kern County 81 years later
Eighty-one years after he was lost to the fire and fog of war, the remains of fighter pilot Arthur M. Lingo have finally come home. Generations have passed since the young aviator from western Kern County fell from the skies over war-torn Germany and...
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Woolworth’s soft opening of its luncheonette a hit
They took some heat when they closed the Woolworth's building and its popular lunch counter nearly four years ago. Owners Sherod and Emily Waite and other partners promised they would not only preserve the famous luncheonette — the last working...
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Big welcome, Bakersfield-style
One hundred and one military veterans who served in a wide range of war zones, areas and eras of American history were cheered and honored by a crowd of local friends, family and community supporters at the terminal at Meadows Field Airport Wednesday...
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County celebrates opening of Shafter compost facility
Kern County leaders celebrated the opening of a $21-million compost facility in Shafter Tuesday, touting the environmental and economic benefits the project would bring local government and businesses. Heavy rain overnight drove what was meant to be a...
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Sikh Riders of America supports local charities
The Sikh Riders of America 13th Annual Ride occurred Saturday. It started at Bakersfield Harley-Davidson and ended at Pyles Boys Camp. The event supported local charities: RED (Remember Everyone Deployed), American Legion Post 26, American Cancer...
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Traditional fall festivities underway at Banducci's
Autumn is on at Banducci's Family Pumpkin Patch. Kids and their parents are returning for traditional fun at the seasonal attraction located at the southern end of town at 10747 Taft Highway. With a seemingly endless selection of pumpkins, the...
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‘Such a positive vibe’
Local service organizations held the 26th annual Kern County Veterans Stand Down, a massive event aimed at serving local vets, Thursday at Stramler Park. “There's just been such a positive vibe to today. It's pretty cool,” said Deborah Johnson,...
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In the Central Valley, Proposition 50 is a fight between Newsom’s California and GOP’s Washington
Along the highways of California's San Joaquin Valley, as field workers harvest almonds and pistachios and tractors churn dusty top soil into the already hazy air, drivers can't miss the giant yellow billboards. “VOTE NO on PROP 50. STOP Newsom's...
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County selects San Diego state affiliate for child welfare review
Kern County selected a San Diego State University-affiliated nonprofit to conduct an external audit of its child welfare services Tuesday following public outcry in the wake of the August death of an 8-year-old girl. Community members started calling...
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Remembering the fallen
With a mission of honoring the fallen and supporting the survivors, the Kern County 999 Foundation hosted the 19th annual Kern County Officer Down Ride on Saturday. The memorial ride and poker run took riders from the Original Roadhouse Grill on...
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Making a dif ference
Bakersfield Life magazine celebrated 20 people who are making the city a better place through their careers, volunteerism and giving spirit at a Thursday night event at Coconut Joe's Private Beach Club. While the people selected as the 20 Under 40...
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It’s pumpkin time at Murray Family Farms
Autumn has brought more than just pumpkins and fall colors this year to Murray Family Farms. multi-color sunflower maze, a scarecrow field and nighttime tractor rides are all part of the fun at the family-friendly attraction just off Highway 58 along...
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Harvey L. Hall EMS Academy’s 50th graduating class shines at afternoon celebration
Kern County resident Aubrielle Faith Lucia was one of a dozen students who graduated Wednesday from the Hall Ambulance EMT Academy before an appreciative audience filled with family, friends, academy alumni and Hall Ambulance leadership. The...
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For the fun of it!
The rides were quiet and nothing had yet been deep fried but the Kern County Fairgrounds were bursting with activity Thursday as legions of young people, their families and their animals descended on the grounds. The Kern County Fair wouldn't open to...
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High-flying fun awaits at this year’s fair
Kern County, the clock is ticking. You've got 11 days left to “Create Your Moment” at the Kern County Fair. The popular annual event is underway, bringing entertainment, rides, games, vendors, animals and, of course, lots of tasty food to the...
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