Bakersfield news

• Gilmore homicide victim identified

  05-02-2015 23:54
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - Kern County Sheriff's deputies are investigating the death of a man in Rosedale.
  
  On January 31, deputies found 45-year-old Johnny Hernandez of Bakersfield  unresponsive in the 49-hundred block of Gilmore Avenue.    That's just north of Rosedale highway.
  Hernandez was taken to Bakersfield Heart Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
  An autopsy found the cause of death was blunt force trauma.
  Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's O
  
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• AP: State regulators took chances with ground water

  05-02-2015 23:35
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - Regulators in California, the country's third-largest oil-producing state, have authorized oil companies to inject production fluids and waste into what are now federally protected aquifers more than 2,500 times.
  State records analyzed by The Associated Press show that the practice risks contamination of underground water supplies that could be used for drinking water or irrigation.
  The AP found that nearly half of those injection wells - 46 percent - were approved or bega
  
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• California permitted oilfield discharge in protected water

  05-02-2015 22:40
  
  Regulators in California, the country's third-largest oil-producing state, have authorized oil companies to inject production fluids and waste into what are now federally protected aquifers more than 2,500 times, risking contamination of underground water supplies that could be used for drinking water or irrigation, state records show.
  
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• California permitted oil field discharge in protected water

  05-02-2015 22:40
  
  Regulators in California, the country's third-largest oil-producing state, have authorized oil companies to inject production fluids and waste into what are now federally protected aquifers more than 2,500 times, risking contamination of underground water supplies that could be used for drinking water or irrigation, state records show.
  
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• OIS review board rules on Mt. Vernon shooting

  05-02-2015 22:36
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - Bakersfield police have released the results of review of the officer involved shooting on Mt. Vernon and High 178 in November.
  
  Police say the review board found the shooting was within Department Policy, and within State and FederalGuidelines. All of the involved officers have been returned to full duty.
  Cops shot and killed 22-year-old Ramiro James Villegas on November 13, 2014 after he led them on a chase.
  
  Four officers all with less than a year on the forc
  
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• Family makes Nicki Minaj parody music video

  05-02-2015 22:25
  
  The Ha family is getting a lot of attention after they put together a parody music video that debuted on YouTube in late January.
  
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• Kern County dogs get new homes on East Coast

  05-02-2015 22:14
  
  The Kern County shelter dogs were flown by a volunteer pilot to New York, where they will be adopted.
  
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• Driver's licenses could go digital in California

  05-02-2015 21:44
  
  A state lawmaker wants to make California driver's licenses digital. 
  
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• Lamont community forum focuses on immigrant driver's license, health coverage

  05-02-2015 21:41
  
  The Dolores Huerta Foundation will host a community forum Thursday focused on immigrant driver's license and health care coverage.
  
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• State Attorney General issues fraud alert

  05-02-2015 21:40
  
  SAN FRANCISCO – California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today issued a consumer alert in response to the reported Anthem Inc. data breach, which has impacted up to 80 million people.The Attorney General’s Breach Help: Tips for Consumers has simple instructions for consumers who have been affected by a breach and includes what to do in response to a Social Security number breach. Breach Help is also available in Spanish.Steps for Responding to Social Sec
  
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• Caesar's Deli closing Eastside location

  05-02-2015 21:18
  
  Caesar's Deli is closing its Eastside location, at Nile Street, the company confirmed on their Facebook page Thursday.
  
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• Discharge in protetected water permitted by CA

  05-02-2015 21:07
  
  Regulators in California, the country's third-largest oil-producing state, have authorized oil companies to inject production fluids and waste into what are now federally protected aquifers more than 2,500 times, risking contamination of underground water supplies that could be used for drinking water or irrigation, state records show.
  
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• 2 babies found in apartment with marijuana, other drugs

  05-02-2015 20:53
  
  A man has been arrested after two babies were discovered inside a home with marijuana, concentrated cannabis and prescription pills.
  
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• Blind student has vision of earning black belt

  05-02-2015 20:49
  
  A blind 9-year-old hopes to one day earn a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu.
  
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• New details revealed in Buena Vista fatal hit and run

  05-02-2015 20:49
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - A man accused of hitting and killing his friend while under the influence in southwest Bakersfield was revealed to have a blood alcohol content on .17, according to court documents.
  
  Joselito Meza, 25, pleaded not guilty to charges on Feb. 3, of gross vehicular manslaughter, DUI causing bodily injury and hit and run resulting in death.
  According to court documents, Meza tested for a BAC of .17 after giving a breath sample to officers.
  According to BPD, Meza hit and kil
  
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• 'First Look': Clay shoot tourney to support Bakersfield Police Activities League

  05-02-2015 20:46
  
  The Bakersfield Police Activities League is hosting its fifth annual Clay Shooting fundraiser later this month and teams are encouraged to sign up for some friendly competition.
  
  BPAL is a nonprofit charitable organization that was formed in 1994 by officers and citizens who wanted to benefit youth by teaching them skills and giving them opportunities that might not normally be available.
  
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• Two arrested in Maricopa

  05-02-2015 20:41
  
  Two Maricopa residents were arrested for manufacturing concentrated cannabis and child endangerment.
  
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• Dog call leads to bust of marijuana operation

  05-02-2015 20:37
  
  MARICOPA, CA - Kern County deputies discovered a honey oil manufacturing operation inside a Maricopa home.
  
  Honey oil is a concentrated form of marijuana.
  
  Deputies say the suspects had 8 pounds of marijuana they were making the honey oil from.
  
  They also found a 1-year-old girl and a 1-month-old baby boy in the home.
  
  Deputies say the girl was playing on a box full of marijuana.
  
  They originally went to the home to help animal control seize a dog.
  Deputies arr
  
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• Teen gets 5 years in pot shop murders, robbery

  05-02-2015 20:36
  
  A teenager was given a five-year sentence for her role in a pot shop double murder and robbery.
  
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• Pot shop murder suspect given life sentence

  05-02-2015 20:22
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - A teen convicted in a deadly robbery at a Bakersfield medical marijuana collective in 2013 was given a life sentence Thursday. On January 2, 17-year-old Miracle Jackson pleaded guilty to one count of murder. Jackson will be eligible for parole in five years in exchange for testifying against her co-defendant, Aaron Burris in his upcoming murder trial. Police say Jackson was with Burris went he shot and killed two men at first reliable collective on Chester Avenue July
  
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• Go Red activities to raise awareness for heart disease

  05-02-2015 20:09
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - February is National Heart Month and the American Heart Association in Bakersfield will be participating in the following activities to raise awareness.
  
  Announcing National Wear Red Day - Thursday, February 5th  American Heart Association volunteers will stand on the corner of Truxtun Avenue and Oak Street, between 6:30am-8:30am, to remind women and men in Bakersfield to take action and wear red in support of the cause on February 6th. 
  National Wear Red Day -
  
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• Coroner's ruling prompts homicide investigation

  05-02-2015 20:08
  
  A homicide investigation has been launched after the coroner's office determined a man died of blunt force trauma.
  
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• Man killed in Ridgecrest crash identified

  05-02-2015 19:59
  
  RIDGECREST, CA - Ridgecrest Police say a man died after crashing his car into a fence and house just after 2 a.am.
  
  
  The Kern County Coroner has Identified the man as 22-year-old Timothy Scott Hudson of Ridgecrest.
  
  
  Police say the man was not wearing a seatbelt and died at the scene.
  
  
  No cause for the crash has been announced.
  
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• Several arrested for having stolen property

  05-02-2015 19:43
  
  On January 3, at approximately 3:40 p.m., deputies from the Taft Substation responded to investigate a burglary and theft of an off-highway vehicle in the 300 block of Buchanan Street in the Ford City of Taft. 
  
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• Eagled-eyed deputy busts copper theft operation.

  05-02-2015 19:37
  
  An alert Kern County deputy buts a large copper theft operation and recovers a stolen vehicle and seizes meth. Taft Senior Deputy Cindy Cisneros was on patrol January 28 when she noticed a large amount of copper wire in the bed of a pickup. Cisneros also saw several men in the back yard of the home stripping copper wire. The investigation linked the wire back to a theft from a utility company’s yard in the Mettler area. Deputies arrested four men including one who had meth on him. The
  
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• Cupid's Challenge raises money for good cause

  05-02-2015 19:26
  
  Need a last minute gift for Valentine;s day?   One local charity is making it easy and you can support a good cause at the same time.   KGET is partnering up with Mendiburu Magic Foundation and Dewar's candy to raise money for patient assistant funds.   MMF responds to the unmet needs of local children and their families that may be facing cancer and/or other catastrophic or life threatening illness. "Cupid’s Challenge" is next Wednesday, February 11 from 5
  
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• Miracle Jackson sentenced today

  05-02-2015 19:19
  
  Miracle Jackson agreed to testify against co-defendant Aaron Burris in exchange for a plea deal.
  
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• Hackers access records for millions of Anthem customers

  05-02-2015 19:18
  
  The nation's second-largest insurer said it has yet to find any evidence that medical information like insurance claims or test results was targeted or taken in a "very sophisticated" cyberattack that it discovered last week. It also said credit card information wasn't compromised, either.
  
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• Special Report: High school suspension rates

  05-02-2015 18:35
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - Districts have been searching for ways to remedy the problem of high suspension and expulsion rates, and one method in particular seems to be working.     It's a strategy that can be beneficial for students like eighth grader Paloma Garcia who was suspended five times last year.     "I would get suspended then come back and get suspended for what i'm wearing," said Garcia. " People didn't care for me so I said I'm not gonna care.&nb
  
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• Accused child killer in court

  05-02-2015 18:27
  
  A man charged in the death of a California City toddler is scheduled to appear in court Thursday. Mathew Berry was arrested in the death of 2-year old Pharaoh Vanvactor. Berry was dating the toddler's mother, Adriana Brown. A bus driver found Berry and the toddler on the side of the road last month. Vanvactor was pronounced dead. Documents show detectives questioned a woman who allowed Berry to stay with her and her three-year-old son in the past. She told police she found "her son's
  
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• Schedule for upcoming LCAP forums

  05-02-2015 18:15
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - The Kern High School District would like to inform the community of another public forum for parents to engage with school officials about using resources to improve students' performance.
  The Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) is an educational action plan to improve the learning outcomes of our students.     The next public forums are scheduled for: 
  Thursday, Feb. 5, Bakersfield High School @ 6:30 p.m.Thursday, Feb. 12, East Bakersfield High @
  
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• Parents face judge in child death

  05-02-2015 18:14
  
  A mother and father arrested in connection to the death of their infant are expected to make their first appearance in court Thursday afternoon. Bakersfield police say they found the three-month-old dead in October on L Street and the father a few blocks away. Police arrested the father, 25-year-old Eddie levy for murder and child endangerment. The baby's mother, 30-year-old Vanessa Wolfe was also arrested for child endangerment. The coroner is still trying to determine a cause of death, P
  
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• Man accused of killing boy appears in court

  05-02-2015 18:04
  
  A Bakersfield man arrested in the death of a one-year-old baby is due in court today. It'll be two years ago tomorrow that Joaquin Ramirez Junior died. But Carlos Laguna the mother's live-in boyfriend was just arrested this week in the boy's death. Laguna told detectives he and the baby were home the day before the child died and the baby fell off his bed twice. However, the doctor who performed the child's autopsy said the boy's severe internal injuries could  not have been caused fro
  
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• Covered California deadline approaching

  05-02-2015 17:53
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - The deadline to sign up for health insurance through Covered California is less than two weeks away.
  Omni Family Health hosted an event on Feb. 4 at their office on Chester Avenue to help people who need coverage sign up.     Peter Lee, the executive director of Covered California was there to discuss the various enrollment plans.
  "The number one reason people haven't stepped forward they don't believe they can afford the coverage. They don't understand
  
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• New report says Bakersfield lags behind in advanced jobs

  05-02-2015 17:38
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - A new report from a Washington think tank says Bakersfield lags behind most big cities in advanced industry jobs and wages.
  The report from the Brookings Institution states Bakersfield is 86 out of the 100 largest U.S. metro areas in the proportion of workers employed by advanced industries.     Advanced industries are those that spend at least $450 per worker per year on research and development and in which at least one out of five employees work in science,
  
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• Rating companies keeping watch on Kern County

  05-02-2015 17:33
  
  Kern County is on watch by yet another rating service.
  
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• 100 Kern County dogs flown to New York

  05-02-2015 17:30
  
  100 dogs were flown from Kern County to New York in hopes of finding their forever home, Thursday morning.
  
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• Man who died in shooting on Cottonwood identified

  05-02-2015 17:19
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - The Kern County Sheriff's Office has released the name of a man who was killed in a shooting in southeast Bakersfield last week.
  He is identified as 20-year-old Rudy Flores III. 
  Flores was found unresponsive suffering from a gunshot wound at the corner of Padre Street and Cottonwood Road just after 11 p.m. on Jan. 29th. He was taken to Kern Medical Center where he died of his injuries Jan. 30.
  
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• Emergency food for local families

  05-02-2015 16:46
  
  The food bank operated by the Community Action Partnership of Kern will continue to distribute pre-packaged food boxes to families directly affected by the drought.
  
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• 'First Look': First News for Feb. 5

  05-02-2015 16:40
  
  Lead stories from "First Look with Scott Cox's" Top Stories:
  
  COVERED CALIFORNIA MAKES PUSH FOR ENROLLMENT: Leaders of the state's health insurance exchange are pleased that the Affordable Care Act has dramatically reduced the ranks of the uninsured, but they're still scrambling to reach the uncovered with open enrollment closing in less than two weeks. Statewide, the rate of uninsu
  
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• Weatherford to cut 5,000 jobs as it fights oil slump

  05-02-2015 16:15
  
  From CNBC.com
  
  Weatherford International plans to cut 5,000 jobs, or about 9 percent of its workforce, by the end of the first quarter as the oil services company tries to save costs amid sinking oil prices and budget cuts.
  
  The job cuts will focus on both operating and support positions and a majority of the reductions will be in the Western Hemisphere, the company said in a statement.
  
  Weatherford, which currently employs about 56,000 people across the world, expects the job cuts
  
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• THE GRADE: Speech winners and love letters

  05-02-2015 08:51
  
  ORAL LANGUAGE FEST WINNERS: More than 30 local students placed in the 44th annual Kern County Oral Language Festival Saturday at Stonecreek Junior High School.
  
  Trophies were awarded to winners in five categories.
  
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• Covered California makes push for enrollment

  05-02-2015 08:45
  
  Leaders of the state’s health insurance exchange are pleased that the Affordable Care Act has dramatically reduced the ranks of the uninsured, but they’re still scrambling to reach the uncovered with open enrollment closing in less than two weeks.
  
  Statewide, the rate of uninsured has dropped to 11 percent, down from 22 percent last year, according to Covered California. In Kern County, itR
  
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• Ranchers oppose state’s drive to regulate livestock grazing

  05-02-2015 08:40
  
  Local ranchers are speaking out against a state water protection initiative they say would threaten private property rights and hurt the industry by imposing new rules on livestock grazing.
  
  A group of ranchers delivered testimony Tuesday at a meeting of the county Board of Supervisors, which then voted unanimously to send the State Water Resources Control Board a letter opposing a program known as the Grazing Regulatory Action Project.
  
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• ROBERT PRICE: Musings of a father, idealist, taxpayer and lover of juvenile humor

  05-02-2015 08:36
  
  REMEMBER HER, ANYONE?: Tom Lukko emailed from Gilroy last week with a rather dark research question. While doing some genealogy work on his wife's family, he came across an article I wrote in February 2006 on the subject of matricide.
  
  Specifically, I was comparing the sentences of two teenage Bakersfield mother-killers. One was Parker Chamberlin, then a 16-year-old Centennial High School student, who
  
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• Hospital’s new ‘Serenity Room’ offers privacy in medical crises

  05-02-2015 08:34
  
  San Joaquin Community Hospital on Wednesday dedicated a new “Serenity Room” where families who are visiting the hospital’s emergency facilities can get updates on a critical patient’s condition or grieve the loss of a loved one.
  
  The roughly 200-square-foot room off the hospital’s trauma area was remodeled about a month ago, converted from office space for case managers who h
  
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• Proposed bill aims to raise smoking age to 21

  05-02-2015 08:22
  
  If you're too young to drink, you would be too young to smoke.  That's the goal of a new bill, but not everyone thinks it will work.
  
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• Teen suffers major injuries after being struck by vehicle Wednesday morning

  05-02-2015 08:19
  
  A Centennial High School student suffered major injuries when she was struck by a vehicle in northwest Bakersfield Wednesday morning.
  
  Police said the 16-year-old girl was struck at 7:13 a.m. at Clay Patrick Farr Way and Abbott Drive. The location is west of Centennial High and north of Endeavor Elementary School.
  
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• Defendant sentenced Wednesday for indecent exposure was acquitted of 1999 murder

  05-02-2015 08:15
  
  A suspected Bakersfield gang member acquitted of murder in 2007 was sentenced Wednesday to 6 years, 8 months in prison for exposing himself to two women near Beale Park.
  
  Darnell Lucifer Pierce, 34, was found guilty Jan. 6 of two counts of indecent exposure with priors. Prosecutors say Pierce approached the women while masturbating with his penis exposed in separate incidents on Oct. 25, 2013.
  
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• Soundwalls, safety issues at 24th Street meeting

  05-02-2015 08:06
  
  Bakersfield officials aired their plans to improve one of Kern County's busiest highways in public Wednesday afternoon to an audience of more than 200, at a three-hour community meeting on widening 24th Street.
  
  Here's the latest on the project's aesthetics and design -- two major reasons for the open house at Rabobank Convention Center:
  
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