Bakersfield news

• Free health fair on Saturday

  18-02-2015 23:50
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA- Dignity Health will host a free health fair at Memorial Hospital on Saturday, February 21.
  
  "Pathways to a Healthy Heart" will have free health screenings, nutritional services, wellness and fitness classes and health risk assessments.
  
  There will also be a number of speakers including 5 doctors talking about how to have a healthy heart.
  
  The event will be held at Founders Hall at Memorial Hospital on Saturday from 8 a.m. to Noon.
  
  It is free and
  
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• Official: Video shows Jenner rear-ended cars in fatal wreck

  18-02-2015 23:31
  
  A law enforcement official says video of a fatal car crash shows Bruce Jenner's vehicle rear-ended two cars and pushed one into oncoming traffic.
  
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• Tehachapi considers banning hookah lounges

  18-02-2015 23:18
  
  The Tehachapi City Council received a report as it considers banning hookah lounges.
  
  The council approved a temporary moratorium last month.
  
  According to the agenda, city staff looked at communities that either embraced hookah lounges or banned or regulated those businesses.
  
  The city council will mull over the report and continue to discuss possible methods to use to ban hookah lounges at their meeting.
  
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• Police investigate bank robbery

  18-02-2015 22:50
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA- Police are investigating a bank robbery in southwest Bakersfield.
  
  They say they got a call just after 5:00 p.m. Tuesday that the Wells Fargo Bank branch located in the 3400 block of Panama Lane had been robbed.
  
  The suspect entered the bank and presented the teller with a note demanding currency.
  
  The suspect, described as a white male, 50 to 60 years old, fled from the bank in an unknown direction.
  
  Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Detec
  
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• Former BPD officer sentenced to prison for DUI crash that paralyzed woman

  18-02-2015 22:26
  
  Former Bakersfield police officer Kristofer Carter prays each day the woman he paralyzed while driving drunk can one day walk again.
  That's not likely, and the injured woman, Leann Harris, wrote there are times she'd rather Carter have killed her than face confinement to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
  
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• Former cop headed to prison

  18-02-2015 22:23
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA- The former BPD officer convicted of driving under the influence and hitting a woman at a gas station last April will spend 7 years, 4 months in prison.
  
  Kristopher Carter was convicted of one count of DUI causing bodily injury.
  
  The CHP says Carter was drunk when his truck plowed into the Shell gas station off Merle Haggard Drive, and struck Leanne Harris, 20.
  
  According to her father, Harris is now a paraplegic.
  
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• 'First Look': Health seminar seeks to educate the community on heart disease

  18-02-2015 22:14
  
  Heart disease continues to be the No. 1 killer in Kern County.
  
  As defined by the American Heart Association, heart disease is a condition that develops when plaque builds up in the walls of the arteries. The buildup narrows the arteries, making it harder for blood to flow through.
  
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• 'First Look': East Bakersfield High School Hall of Fame dinner tickets now on sale

  18-02-2015 22:12
  
  The East Bakersfield High School Hall of Fame Class of 2015 list is filled with a variety of alumni.
  
  From attorneys to coaches to oil industry leaders, the new inductees represent a little bit of everything in Bakersfield.
  
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• Mom takes on pimps: 'I told the police, but they took too long'

  18-02-2015 22:05
  
  The mother of a sex trafficking victim is speaking out in hopes other families won't suffer the heartache of having a loved one trapped by the crime.
  
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• Former cop sentenced in DUI crash that injured woman

  18-02-2015 22:03
  
  A former police officer was sentenced Wednesday to seven years and four months in prison for a drunken driving crash that left a woman injured.
  
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• Security cams catch woman stuffing purse with stolen goods

  18-02-2015 21:36
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA- Bakersfield police want your help in identifying and finding a Theft suspect.
  
  Police say a woman entered the Walmart on Rosedale and stuffed several items in her purse.
  
  The say she then walked out with paying.
  
  The suspect was caught on the stores surveillance system.
  
  The suspect is described as a: white female, 30’s, 5’6”, 180 lbs., long curly brown hair, wearing a black jacket and blue jeans.
  
  Anyone with information regarding this cas
  
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• SunEdison unveils newest solar project

  18-02-2015 21:25
  BAKERSFIELD, CA- SunEdison unvieled its newest solar project Wednesday morning.
  
  The company says it is focused on creating clean energy for Southern California.
  
  The 737-acre Regulus project is expected to produce enough energy to power over 10,000 homes and reduce enough CO2 emissions to offset burning 125 million pounds of coal annually.
  
  The facility is at 13651 E. Panama Lane.
  
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• Runaway found safe in Mexico

  18-02-2015 21:13
  
  A Bakersfield teen who the BPD reported missing last week has been found.
  
  The BPD says Marisol Flores, 14, was last seen last Thursday morning in the 11oo block of Monterey Street.
  
  Investigators say Flores was located in Mexico with her grandparents.
  
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• Taft City Council bans bath salts

  18-02-2015 21:07
  
  The Taft City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday night banning bath salts.
  
  Bath salts are drugs that contain synthetic chemicals that are similar to amphetamines.
  
  Some, but not all, of the chemicals used to make them are illegal.
  
  Exactly which chemicals are in the drugs isn't known, but the effects can include agitation, paranoia, hallucinations, chest pain, increased pulse, high blood pressure, and suicidal thinking and behavior.
  
  The Taft ban prevents the sale
  
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• BevMo to plans big grand opening celebration

  18-02-2015 20:53
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA – BevMo will celebrate its grand opening in Bakersfield with free giveaways and special events.
  
  The store on Stockdale Highway will open February 27.
  
  To celebrate the opening, the newest retail location will offer gift bags valued at $50 to the first 500 customers lined up before the store opens at 9 a.m. on grand opening day, Friday, Feb. 27. Each gift bag will include a number of fabulous BevMo! specialty items, such as Govino wine glasses, a FOOD & WINE c
  
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• Blast hits Southern California refinery

  18-02-2015 20:52
  
  An explosion erupted at an Exxon Mobil refinery on Wednesday, triggering a huge smokestack flare, raining down ash and leaving two with minor injuries.
  
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• Stockdale High School headed to Science Bowl nationals

  18-02-2015 20:23
  
  A group of Stockdale High School Students are headed to Washington, D.C.
  
  The National Science Bowl team from Stockdale won the regional championship to advance to nationals in April.
  
  "The National Science Bowl® has grown into one of the most prestigious science academic competitions in the country and challenges students to excel in fields vital to America's future," U.S. Energy Secretary Moniz said. "I congratulate these students for advancing to the National Fina
  
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• Large solar project unveiling Wednesday

  18-02-2015 20:20
  
  Officials are cutting the ribbon Wednesday on a large solar energy project.
  
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• Large solar project unveiled in Kern County

  18-02-2015 20:20
  
  The SunEdison Regulus Solar Project spans 737 acres and is expected to produce enough energy to power more than 10,000 homes, according to Bakersfield-based Dagny Energy Group.
  
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• Police looking for phone thief

  18-02-2015 20:02
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA- Police are hoping someone will recognize a man they say walked out of an AT&T store without paying for a phone.
  
  On December 8, 2014, at 2:00 pm, the suspect entered the AT&T store located at 3401 Coffee Rd., selected a cellular
  telephone from the display rack and left the store without paying for the phone.
  
  The suspect is described as a: white male, 30’s, 5’10”, 180 lbs., short brown hair, wearing a grey sweater blue jeans and sunglasses.
  
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• California weighs new drought rules at restaurants, hotels

  18-02-2015 20:02
  
  Officials are considering new water restrictions as California's drought drags on, possibly forcing residents to ask for water at restaurants and for fresh towels and sheets at hotels.
  
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• Man on bike killed by hit-and-run driver

  18-02-2015 19:52
  
  A man riding a bicycle was hit and killed Tuesday night by a motor vehicle.
  
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• Explosion at refinery in Torrance

  18-02-2015 19:34
  
  We're following some breaking news out of Torrance this morning, where there has been an explosion at the ExxonMobil refinery.
  
  In a statement, ExxonMobil said the plant experienced an incident at 8:50 this morning.
  
  Shaking was reported at homes miles away from the plant.
  
  You can see dust covering a wide swath of the damaged area, and smoke can be seen still rising from the damage.
  
  ExxonMobil says its accounting for all personnel and still evaluating the cause of the
  
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• Local reaction terror acts: 'ISIS is not Islam'

  18-02-2015 19:28
  
  "I don't think anybody is safe from ISIS unless you are a part of the program," said Emad Meerza, president of the Islamic Shir Council of Bakersfield.
  
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• Navy man's writings to wife being returned: 'still good people out there'

  18-02-2015 19:15
  
  Sam Wiseman had been writing in a notebook to his wife while overseas. Email was down, and he resorted to a notebook to write to his wife, Marisa, back home in Bakersfield.
  
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• Police: Las Vegas mom, 44, killed in road rage shooting

  18-02-2015 19:04
  
  A Las Vegas mother of four killed in a road rage shooting last week got in her car with her adult son and his gun and drove around their neighborhood looking for the assailant who ended up shooting her in a residential cul-de-sac, police said Tuesday.
  
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• Vineland teachers pack board meeting in pay dispute

  18-02-2015 18:55
  
  There is no end in sight to the impasse in contract negotiations in Lamont's Vineland School District.
  
  Teachers rallied again, urging trustees to settle their dispute.
  
  In a packed board room last night Vineland teachers came to say they just want their income restored with cost of living adjustments and added health care costs.
  
  They say no one in their district has received a raise since 2008.
  
  And now since the district has some extra tax money from proposition 30,
  
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• Dylan backs off his comments about Merle

  18-02-2015 18:24
  
  Over the course of a 50-year career, you're going to accumulate some scores that need settling -- at least that seemed to be the lesson from a recent insult-laden awards ceremony speech by Bob Dylan. The most head-scratching takeaway was Dylan's remarks about Merle Haggard, a friend and tour mate, whom the legendary songwriter compared unfavorably to Buck Owens, the other pillar of the Bakersfield
  
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• Bakersfield man dead after fatal hit and run

  18-02-2015 17:53
  
  Still no arrest this after a bicyclist was struck and killed in south Bakersfield Tuesday night, and the person who hit him just kept on going.
  
  It happened around 8:00 p.m.near Union Avenue and Panama Lane.
  
  Police say the bicyclist was riding south in the middle of the street on a dimly-lit stretch of South Union.
  
  Police blocked off the street as paramedics worked to save the victim, but he was later pronounced dead at the scene.
  
  There may have been no witnesses.
  
  Police
  
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• Bicycle rider hit & killed on Union Avenue

  18-02-2015 17:07
  
  A hit & run accident on South Union Avenue in central Bakersfield has left one person dead.
  
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• 'First Look': First News for Feb. 18

  18-02-2015 17:00
  
  Lead stories from "First Look with Scott Cox's" Top Stories:
  
  TWO KILLED IN HIGHWAY 58 CRASH AFTER RUNNING STOP SIGN: Two people died Tuesday morning after the vehicle they were traveling in ran a stop sign and was broadsided by a big rig on Highway 58. The victims' names have not yet been released, but California Highway Patrol officers said they are a 24-year-old woman and 41-year-old
  
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• LOIS HENRY: PUC-PG&E entanglement gets even stinkier

  18-02-2015 08:39
  
  Back in September, I noted a certain stinkiness emanating from a smattering of emails between PG&E and California Public Utilities Commission then-President Michael Peevey regarding the Hydrogen Energy California project.
  
  Now that several more waves of emails have been released, the stench is overpowering.
  
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• Will the elephant rides return? Still no answer from fair board

  18-02-2015 05:47
  
  With the issue of animal welfare at the heart of a contentious meeting of the Kern County Fair board of directors Tuesday, there was a figurative elephant in the room -- and a real one just outside it.
  Have Trunk Will Travel, a Perris, Calif., company that has contracted with the fair for years to provide elephant rides, brought along Rosie, a 30-year-old pachyderm, as Exhibit A in its argument that the animals are treated humanely.
  
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• CSUB program gets $7.3 million grant

  18-02-2015 05:37
  
  A Cal State Bakersfield program newly energized by federal funding will teach educators more engaging ways to instruct their students in science, technology, engineering and math.
  The program called Growing Rural Opportunities STEM Residency Program (GRO STEM) is tasked with helping narrow an achievement gap between students in high-need rural districts and their peers in more urban areas. It is funded through a five-year, $7.3 million grant it
  
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• Mom of teen hit by car: Daughter was 'beautiful, bright, caring'

  18-02-2015 04:28
  
  Tuesday the family said they’d like to share more with others about the kind of person their daughter and sister was.
  
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• Sheriff's office releases 911 audio from Wasco OIS

  18-02-2015 04:14
  
  The Kern County Sheriff’s Office has released audio from a chilling 911 call leading up to the moments of a deputy-involved shooting in Wasco.
  
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• BHS student a finalist in Bright Ideas competition

  18-02-2015 04:03
  
  William Schallock is a senior at Bakersfield High School and one of six finalists in the Bright Ideas STEM from Today's Youth Contest from Bright House Networks.
  
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• Final defense witness testifies in Lightsey hearing

  18-02-2015 03:48
  
  A psychiatrist who examined convicted murderer Christopher Charles Lightsey in 1994 said Tuesday that, despite spending only two hours with the defendant, he stands by his diagnosis that Lightsey was bipolar and not competent to stand trial.
  
  Dr. Luis H. Velosa became increasingly flustered under cross-examination by District Attorney Lisa Green after she noted he failed to ask Lightsey questions about hi
  
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• Immigration reform advocates say they're undeterred

  18-02-2015 03:43
  
  A host of Latino leaders from around Kern County urged undocumented residents not to lose hope after a Texas judge blocked the federal government from implementing programs that would have protected millions from deportation.
  
  "We thought we were going to come here today to celebrate. This is just a temporary setback," said immigration advocate and civil rights icon Dolores Huerta. "Don'
  
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• Bakersfield police investigate attempted robbery at Wells Fargo

  18-02-2015 03:41
  
  A man attempted to rob a Wells Fargo branch on Panama Lane.
  
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• Cause of gas price increase? The typical 'spring spike'

  18-02-2015 03:32
  
  As of Tuesday, AAA reported the average gas price in Bakersfield was $2.76 a gallon. On Monday, it pegged the price at $2.74. A week ago it was $2.64, but that's a steep drop from one year back when the average price per gallon in Bakersfield was $3.68.
  
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• Kern County Fair Board delays elephant-ride decision

  18-02-2015 03:21
  
  The Kern County Fair Board will take two more months to decide if elephant rides will be allowed at the fair this year. Animal rights activists have called for their end.
  
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• Vets reunite after 60 years

  18-02-2015 02:59
  
  Three veterans who served together in the Korean War reunited for the first time in 60 years in Bakersfield.
  
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• Local drivers see more aggressive drivers

  18-02-2015 02:47
  
  When you're on the road, do you ever get the urge to cut someone off or give them a mean glare?
  
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• 3 men charged in human trafficking, child porn investigation

  18-02-2015 02:25
  
  Prosecutors say William Clyde Thompson of Las Vegas paid foster care provider and special education teacher assistant John David Yoder of Desert Hot Springs to recruit minor boys to be photographed for use in child pornography.
  
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• 1.4 million Californians sign up in second health enrollment

  18-02-2015 02:20
  
  More than 1.4 million Californians have either signed up or renewed their coverage for individual private insurance in the second year of the federal health expansion, a state official said Tuesday.
  
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• Delays expected on Taft Highway on Wednesday

  18-02-2015 01:24
  
  The Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in cooperation with Eslick Construction, Inc. announces two-way traffic control next week on State Route (SR) 119 and Stine Road in Kern County to conduct culvert repairs.
  
  Maintenance operations are scheduled to take place Wednesday, February 18th through Friday, February 20th from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., weather permitting. Closures may continue for longer periods of time if necessary, due to delays caused by weather or uncontrollable events th
  
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• Experts: Trim California prison crowding to reduce inmate deaths

  18-02-2015 00:32
  
  Experts say trimming the inmate population is the best hope for protecting sex offenders. Their recommendations respond to an Associated Press report that the state's long-term inmate homicide rate is twice the national average and that sex offenders make up a disproportionate share of those killed.
  
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• Low-cost spay or neuter vouchers available in Kern County

  18-02-2015 00:09
  
  Some residents qualify for vouchers to have their pets spayed or neutered at little cost.
  
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