Bakersfield news

• PHOTO GALLERY: Bakersfield’s Biggest Baddest BBQ

  17-05-2015 08:31
  
  The seventh annual Bakersfield’s Biggest Baddest BBQ championship, which serves as a fundraiser for local charities, was held Saturday at the Kern County Fairgrounds. The contest offers a grand champion purse of $3,000, $1,250 for reserve champion, $450 for first place in chicken, brisket, pork and pork ribs and cash prizes for the rest of the top 10 finishers. Californian photographer Casey Christie shares these photos.
  
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• L.A. YouTube channel pirouettes into town

  17-05-2015 08:24
  
  Inside Bakersfield's Legacy Dance Factory it looks like any other class. But Saturday's instructors were something of celebrities in the dancing community.
  
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• VIRGINIA COWENHOVEN: At TBC Media, we build upon our legacy, embrace change and value community

  17-05-2015 08:12
  
  I grew up in New England and frankly never thought I would end up so far from home. Like many of my generation, the idea of working for one company over the course of several decades was not as attractive as job hopping and seeing the world. But in 2002 I moved to Bakersfield, a world away from my comfort zone but the home of my family's business. I hoped to gain some invaluable experience and then head to business school.
  
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• KRC terminates CEO

  17-05-2015 07:00
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - The Chief Executive Officer, who has been under fire for months, was ousted. During Friday night's board meeting by a two-thirds vote, board members terminated Duane Law's contract.The move comes after an audit released last month by the state Department of Developmental Services, revealed questionable practices and oversight at Kern Regional Center.
  There have also been protests by KRC administrators and frustrated parents, demanding new leadership and increased transparency
  
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• PSA aims to increase valley fever awareness

  17-05-2015 05:11
  
  More than 50 valley fever survivors and their friends and family members gathered Saturday at Jastro Park, just west of downtown Bakersfield, to reconnect and record a television commercial promoting the fourth annual Valley Fever Awareness Walk Aug. 8. Many wore blue T-shirts bearing the slogan "I am a Survivor," and gray baseball caps that read "Ask me about Coccidioidomycosis." Some designed posters with valley fever themes and videotaped their own stories of loss and triu
  
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• Many questions remain in Delano boy's death

  17-05-2015 04:05
  
  A 13-year-old boy collapses during a P.E. class at a school in Delano. The 911 call is inexplicably routed to Canada.
  The call is then routed back to the Delano Police Department via its public phone line. Only then does it end up where it needs to go -- to the Kern County Fire Department's 911 dispatch center.
  
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• Dreading Bush, Clinton? It could be worse

  17-05-2015 03:50
  
  Three-hundred and forty-one.As of Friday afternoon, that's how many people have filed papers to run for president in 2016, according to readily available, and humorously fascinating, public data from the Federal Election Commission.
  
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• LOIS HENRY: We need a plan for the next inevitable drought

  17-05-2015 03:29
  
  I fear more and more people will soon experience first-hand the lack of a true disaster plan for our prolonged drought.
  I wrote last year about how the plights of several small towns and neighborhoods in Tulare County had revealed how terribly unprepared California is for one of our most regularly occurring disasters.
  
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• Library union illustrates their opposition to privatization

  17-05-2015 03:26
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - Union members joined in the fight against the possibility of privatizing local libraries with the help of a book. 
  "The Privatization Beast" is a story of a community coming together to support public services.      The beast made an appearance Saturday at the Beale Memorial Library.      People who frequently use our libraries are opposed outsourcing libraries to a private company.      That's an optio
  
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• Local ministry delivers food to the community

  17-05-2015 03:22
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - Food inequality continues to be a problem in Bakersfield, according to researchers. 
  And with more and more families in need, one organization is making an effort to provide healthy food to local families.     According to a study by the Food Research and Action Center, Bakersfield ranks number one in households experiencing food hardships.     The study shows more than 26 percent of local households did not have enough money to buy food at t
  
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• KCSO investigating a double shooting in south Bakersfield

  17-05-2015 03:13
  
  BAKERSFIELD, CA - Sheriff's detectives are investigating a double shooting in south Bakersfield.
  The shooting happened just around noon on Jastro Avenue, near Feliz Drive.     According to deputies, it appears to be a drive-by shooting.      The windows were also shot out of a silver Chevy truck.     Deputies say two people were shot, one of them multiple times.     Both victims were taken to Kern Medical Center.
  Deputies say the
  
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• Dignity, launching new medical residency programs, takes on valley physician shortage

  17-05-2015 02:36
  
  Dignity Health and Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona are partnering to launch a new medical residency program in Bakersfield.
  Slated to begin next year, the program will start out with three family medicine residents and five internal medicine residents per year, each receiving three years of training. The goal is to expand it over time, as well as add additional residencies in pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology in 2017.
  
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• Local families show support for public libraries

  17-05-2015 02:34
  
  Kern County families gathered at Beale Memorial Library on Saturday for a special event to support public libraries.
  
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• From star to mom to star? The return of Susan Raye

  17-05-2015 01:00
  
  You'd never guess how big a star Susan Raye was in the 1970s when you walk through the front door of her Rosedale home. The living room's decor, the worship music playing in the background, and an eager four-legged companion offer an indication of what Raye is today: a mom, devoted Christian and, if the contented pug snoring nearby is any indication, a doting pet owner. Visitors hoping to see the gold record for "L.A. International Airport," Raye's signature hit, or picture
  
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