Bakersfield news

• Artist's epiphany 'like flipping a switch'

  28-03-2015 23:48
  
  There's a spot not found on any map that is miles off the beaten path, light-years from the paved highway, made of imagination, dreams, hard work and experience. For most of his life, Bill Clark had no idea he was headed there.
  
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• ASK EMILY: Millions need to be alert for Medi-Cal renewal

  28-03-2015 23:36
  Another in a series of Q&A columns answering consumers' questions about the Affordable Care Act.I spend the majority of my time (and space) writing about the new state health insurance exchange, Covered California.
  
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• Police academy's biggest hurdle: written test

  28-03-2015 23:00
  
  More Hispanics than whites applied to enter two Bakersfield Police Department academies last year but more whites were accepted -- perhaps because Hispanics had more trouble than any other ethnic group with the written entrance exam. Hopefuls were scored on everything from turning in their application to passing background checks and written, agility and oral exams.
  
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• How other police forces rank on diversity

  28-03-2015 23:00
  
  Diversity isn't just an issue for the Bakersfield Police Department. Statistics from a sampling of other law enforcement agencies around the state show they, too, are majority white. This includes the Kern County Sheriff's Office, whose 884 sworn employees are more diverse than BPD but still more than half Caucasian.
  
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• Suspect in house fire, rape is killed in officer-involved shooting

  28-03-2015 22:01
  
  The man accused of raping a woman and setting fire to a southwest Bakersfield house died Friday night after a police pursuit and officer-involved shooting in northeast Bakersfield.
  
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• HOW OUR LAWMAKERS VOTED: Budget pacts, same-sex spousal rights, paid sick leave

  28-03-2015 21:00
  Key Votes Ahead
  
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• Free spay/ neuter vouchers for the public

  28-03-2015 18:48
  
  Bakersfield, CA - Could you use a voucher to spay or neuter your dog?
  Marley's Mutts is handing out vouchers worth $30.
  The voucher is good for one dog spay or neuter and includes a microchip, pain meds and rabies vaccine.
  It's happening from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Saturday at the Walmart Neighborhood Market, located at 3111 N. Chester Ave. In Oildale.
  To receive a free voucher you must be a county resident in zip codes 93305, 93306, 93307, 93308 and 93241.
  Last year Marley's Mutts helped spay and ne
  
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• Arson, rape suspect killed near Garces HS

  28-03-2015 15:04
  
  A man accused of raping a woman then setting her house on fire was shot and killed Friday evening.At about 9:45 p.m., Bakersfield police officers said they found a vehicle associated with Adrian Hernandez being driven in the area of Hart Park. 
  
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• Suspect in house fire, rape, killed in officer involved shooting

  28-03-2015 10:18
  
  The man accused of raping a woman and setting fire to a SouthwestBakersfield house died Friday night after a police pursuit and officerinvolved shooting in Northeast Bakersfield.
  
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• PHOTO GALLEY: Wishing I was fishing at the derby

  28-03-2015 10:10
  
  Friends and families picked their campsites and enjoyed coffee while they prepared for the 26th Annual Isabella Lake Fishing Derby. The lake is heavily stocked with more than $18,000 worth of money fish waiting to be caught. The three-day event starts Saturday morning and goes through Monday.
  
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• Low Kern River forcing business to get creative

  28-03-2015 10:04
  
  For all of us water is life. But for those living and working on the Kern River, it means even more than that. 
  
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• Panama-Buena Vista teachers OK 7 percent raise

  28-03-2015 07:52
  
  Teachers in the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District approved a tentative agreement Thursday that would, if approved by the school board, mean a 4 percent raise next school year and a 3 percent raise the following year. The first would go into effect July 1, the second one year later.
  
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• Attorney: There may be more victims of guards accused of sexual assault at Juvenile Hall

  28-03-2015 07:47
  
  An attorney who filed claims against Kern County this week on behalf of two girls allegedly sexually assaulted by correctional officers at Juvenile Hall says he knows of a third victim -- and there may be even more. Neil Gehlawat of Chain Cohn Stiles said Friday morning he hopes the civil claims he's filed encourage other victims to come forward. Officers at Juvenile Hall are supposed to protect those left in their care, he said, but in this case they violated that trust and left these girls
  
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• Volunteer opportunities: Monopoly Mania, Nut Festival, more

  28-03-2015 07:45
  
  Here are your latest opportunities to volunteer: Volunteer Center of Kern County "Monopoly Mania 2015, April 10:Want to have loads of fun while supporting our community? "Monopoly bankers" are needed for this event, where six players at each table will be playing Monopoly while bankers assist with controlling the Monopoly "money" and "properties" for players and alerting our "Monopoly police" if someone lands on "go to jail." Training will b
  
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• Drought forces district to cut off ranchers

  28-03-2015 07:40
  
  The drought continues to cause pain as cattle and sheep ranchers in the Arvin-Edison Water District have had their water cut off. The ranchers typically have year-to-year or even month-to-month contracts for small amounts of water.
  
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• JOHN COX: A roadmap pointing toward a stronger economic base

  28-03-2015 07:34
  
  What timing! The Milken Institute's analysts nailed it when it decided this was the month to release recommendations for strengthening Kern County's economy. The report's key suggestion -- that four important things can be done to lessen the region's dependence on oil and agriculture -- might have fallen flat a year ago, when Kern was less fearful of the drought and still riding high on the commodity prices that made it a top performer through the recession.
  
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• SOUND OFF: Why not speculate about future of decrepit mall?

  28-03-2015 07:29
  
  Reader: This (March 24 article, "Concerns grow over the future of empty building") is the single most useless story I've read in years. Not only does it not say, or even speculate, what use might be made of the (Golden State Mall) building, it doesn't even say what the rumors or speculation are in regard to its possible use. Realtor Leslie Walters, who lives nearby (the building in question), is ... (referenced like this): "She's concerned about information she's h
  
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• Police: Accused rapist sets house on fire in southwest Bakersfield

  28-03-2015 07:26
  
  A man armed with a gun allegedly raped a woman in southwest Bakersfield Friday morning and then set the house where she lived ablaze, sending smoke visible for miles into the sky. Late Friday afternoon, police identified 22-year-old Adrian Hernandez as a person of interest in the case. Police said his involvement, if any, in the incident is "not yet clearly understood."
  
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• TV's 'teen whisperer' visits CSUB

  28-03-2015 06:59
  
  By the time Josh Shipp was 14 years old, he'd been abandoned at birth by his biological parents, been raped at the age of 8, had survived several suicide attempts, and had been kicked out of more than a dozen foster homes. By his own admission, Shipp was a whirlwind of bad behavior who deliberately provoked adults, convinced that nobody cared about him, and that no one could be trusted.
  
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• Cops: Man barricades self, sets home on fire

  28-03-2015 05:02
  
  Bakersfield police officers have a neighborhood in southwest Bakersfield blocked off after a man barricaded himself in a home and set the house on fire.
  
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• Ducks going missing at Central Park

  28-03-2015 04:25
  
  Frequent passersbys at Central Park in Downtown Bakersfield are noticing ducks just going missing.
  
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• Attorney lays out sexual assault claims against juvenile hall officers

  28-03-2015 02:42
  
  Kern County may soon be named in a civil lawsuit, after two minors say they were sexually assaulted by two different correctional officers at the James G. Bowles Juvenile Hall.
  
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• Mom seeks custody of daughter placed with sex offender dad

  28-03-2015 02:31
  
  Though she can't afford an attorney, Lisa Knight says she will continue to fight to regain custody of her daughter, who was placed in custody with the father, a registered sex offender.
  
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• Kern County, LA argue green waste dumping at hearing

  28-03-2015 02:25
  
  A hearing officer on Friday listened to both the city of Los Angeles and Kern County regarding a green waste dispute.
  
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• New information in teen shooting death

  28-03-2015 01:54
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - It's been nearly one year since a 13 year old was shot to death in southeast Bakersfield. Police are confirming what has been suspected, Cortez Batiste's death was gang related.The secret witness program offering a $5,000 reward for information on who killed Batiste.
  Stay Focused Ministries Director Manuel Carrizalez said, "As many kids as I've buried, that case was the worst one."Carrizalez says batiste was shot more than a dozen times."When they killed him lik
  
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• California table grapes set crop value record

  28-03-2015 01:43
  
  The crop set a new record for value at $1.76 billion. California's table grape growers harvested their second largest crop ever: 110 million 19-pound boxes of grapes.
  
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• Pit bulls attack 6-year-old boy in Arkansas

  28-03-2015 01:13
  
  A 6-year-old Arkansas boy suffered serious injuries after he was attacked by three pit bulls owned by his grandparents.
  
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• Bakersfield man indicted for green laser strike on KCSO helicopter

  28-03-2015 00:29
  
  A federal grand jury returned an indictment this week against a Bakersfield man accused of shining a green laser at the Kern County Sheriff's Office helicopter.
  
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• BPD investigating events that led to fire in southwest

  28-03-2015 00:16
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - Bakersfield police and Bakersfield fire officials are looking into what caused a house fire in southwest Bakersfield on Friday.According to the Bakersfield Police Department, a man allegedly raped a woman inside the southwest Bakersfield home on Friday morning and then set the two-story house on fire.
  The incident happened on the 10,000 block of Tungsten Street, near Old River Road and Harris Road.BPD officials said they got a call from a woman around 11 a.m. saying she was ra
  
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