LOCAL AND REGIONAL NEWS

Friday, February 14th, 2020

Thursday marked the deadline for those pushing to recall Governor Gavin Newsom to reach their goal of more than 1.5 million signatures. At the Kern County elections office Susan Adams, a local organizer for the recall effort, turned in more than 4,700 signed petitions. She said in the last few months she's handed in about 10,000 signatures, but these ones were the final push.

After a promising start to 2020, drought conditions are creeping back into the Central Valley. The United States Drought Monitor relapsed its weekly drought map Thursday with new indicators designating nearly all of Kern County as “abnormally dry” and parts as experiencing “moderate drought” conditions.

A few more folks will be running around the Valley this weekend. Yes, it's the 63rd annual Whiskey Flat Days celebration. This year's theme is Rivertown Hoedown. The Rodeo and encampment will be going all weekend, and the parade will begin at 10am tomorrow. A lot of people on foot so drive carefully.

When your cellphone battery is not lasting the way it used to, it could be frustrating, and it could also be your fault. There are bad habits many mobile phone users have, that is killing the overall battery life of their technology. The thing that is going to drain your battery the most are what’s known as network apps. That’s your location services, Bluetooth, and WIFI. If you need to save some battery life, turn those off.

California is approaching an election milestone as the state joins 13 other states in the 2020 presidential primary March 3, or Super Tuesday. The state is voting earlier than its usual June primary in an effort to give the state more of an edge come election season. You may have already received your mail-in ballots, which counties started sending on Feb. 3.

An internet voting app that has been used in pilots in West Virginia, Denver, Oregon and Utah has vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to change a person’s vote without detection, according to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The analysis of the Voatz app, which has mostly been used for absentee voters and overseas military personnel, found that attackers could “alter, stop or expose how an individual has voted.”

An official with the White House has confirmed that President Trump will be visiting Wednesday, Feb. 19. According to White House Officials, "On Wednesday, the President will join Leader Kevin McCarthy in Bakersfield, CA, to speak with hardworking farmers in the Central Valley about efforts to dramatically improve the supply and delivery of water in California and other Western states."

Get your “Boots, Chaps, and Cowboy Hats” ready for the 63rd Annual Whiskey Flat Days in Kernville this weekend. The event kicks off today and goes into Monday. Some of the events happening include the parade, line dancing, carnival rides, and gunfighter skits. By the way, the parade begins Saturday morning at 10.

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore a free hotline that let detained immigrants report concerns about custody conditions until shortly after it was featured on the TV show “Orange Is the New Black.” A U.S. District Court Judge Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction ordering officials to restore the hotline that had been run by the nonprofit Freedom for Immigrants since 2013.

California's primary election is less than three weeks away, scheduled to be part of Super Tuesday on March 3, instead of its usual time in June. Information about local measures affecting Kern County, including two marijuana measures, are not on the Kern County election website. This information is usually posted on the county’s website weeks in advance but with only three weeks until the March primary, it doesn’t appear that there’s any information about local measure D, measure E, nor anything about the Wasco or McFarland School bond measures.

The Bakersfield City School District is looking to hire a wide variety of educational positions at a job fair on Saturday, February 29th from 7:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. The 6th Annual Teacher Job Fair will take place at Harris Elementary School on Garnsey Lane in Bakersfield. Anyone working towards obtaining a credential this Spring/Summer, is intern ready, or is a recent graduate is encourage to attend.

The man accused of killing a woman and wounding five others on a Greyhound bus pleads not guilty in court on Thursday. According to the California Highway Patrol, Anthony Williams allegedly opened fire while the bus was passing through the Grapevine near Lebec, striking six people. A 51-year-old woman from Colombia was killed.

Los Angeles County prosecutors are joining other district attorneys to use technology to wipe out or reduce as many as 66,000 old marijuana convictions years after California voters broadly legalized the drug. The county is working with the Code for America nonprofit tech organization, which uses computer algorithms to find eligible cases that are otherwise hard to identify in decades-old court documents.

Thursday, February 13th, 2020

A 36-year-old man was arrested for attempted murder after he tried to run over another man with his car. According to the Kern County Sheriff's Office, deputies with the Kern Valley Substation responded to a call on Wednesday morning at around 8 a.m. in the 6500 block of Wofford Blvd in Wofford Heights. When they arrived on the scene, it was determined that Douglas Nelson used his vehicle to strike another man. The victim was transported to the hospital with "moderate to major injuries." Nelson was later arrested in South Lake and booked for attempted murder.

Authorities say an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 3.7 has shaken California's central coast but no damage or injuries are immediately reported. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake hit at 7:33 p.m. Wednesday on the San Andreas Fault. The quake was centered in an unincorporated community located about 30 miles northeast of Monterey.

A powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit off Japan's northern coast on Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, but there were no reports of serious damage or injuries and no danger of a tsunami, officials said.

The 63rd edition of Whiskey Flat Days begins tomorrow and runs through the President's day weekend. This year's theme is "Rivertown Hoedown" and things will kick off with a street dance tomorrow evening with a band called the Red Headed Strangers. The rodeo, the food, the vendors, the reinactors, and live music throughout the weekend. The parade will begin at 10 am Saturday morning. A complete list of W.F.D. events is on the main page of our website at Kern River Radio dot com.

A video posted to social media Thursday, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service in Australia announced brush fires in state have been contained. The fire service called the very "traumatic, exhausting and anxious bush fire season," and clarified that not all fires are out and that there was still some fire activity in the far south of the state. Fires in Australia have claimed at least 33 lives since Sept. 2019 and destroyed more than 3000 homes, according to The Associated Press.

The McFarland Planning Commission will once again be in the spotlight next week when it holds the second and final public hearing on a private prison company’s request to expand immigrant detention capabilities in the city. The Planning Commission is scheduled to reconvene Tuesday for what could be a raucous meeting. GEO Group Inc. has requested the city change the conditional use permits for two prisons — the Central Valley Modified Community Correctional Facility and the Golden State Modified Community Correctional Facility — to allow for the incarceration of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees.

The Kern County Board of Supervisors voted to tighten restrictions on local hemp research at Tuesday’s meeting. The unanimous vote comes as the county attempts to close a loophole officials say allowed certain hemp producers who held a research permit to operate unregulated. Late last year, the Sheriff’s Office conducted a raid on a 459-acre hemp field grown near Arvin that officials say was really marijuana. The county claims the plants were worth $1 billion on the streets and has sought to curtail any repeat offenders.

The Fresno County Republican Party that President Trump is expected to be in Bakersfield next Tuesday, Feb 18. Eyewitness News reached out to Assemblymen Vince Fong's office who said that they have seen the rumors as well and are waiting to hear back from the president's office.

The estimated cost to complete California’s high-speed rail line rose another $1.3 billion, to $80.3 billion, while construction is on schedule to meet a 2022 deadline to have about 20% of the track laid, according to a new business plan released Wednesday.

Wednesday, February 12th, 2020

CHP officers out of the San Bernardino area say multiple calls came in around 2:30 p.m. Monday about a driver going the wrong way on Highway 210. The callers said the driver of a Jeep was driving eastbound in the westbound lanes at speeds up to 85 miles per hour. The reports also said the driver nearly crashed multiple times. Officers located the Jeep and attempted to make a stop, but the driver would not pull over. A PIT Maneuver caused the Jeep's right rear wheel to ride up the hood of the patrol car. 35-year-old Katherin Kim Armistead of Los Angeles was booked at West Valley Detention Center for felony evading, assault with a deadly weapon, and suspicion of driving under the influence. Suspicion?

The High Speed Rail Authority has started to pour concrete columns that will serve as support for the high-speed rail to pass over existing tracks at the Wasco Viaduct. Crews are drilling and placing shafts on the east side of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe that will ultimately support a pergola allowing high-speed train to pass over the existing freight tracks, according to the High Speed Rail California. This structure will be nearly a mile long when complete.

On January 29th, the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received several tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding a person who was in possession of child pornography. The account was eventually identified as being owned by 51-year-old Erik Wadelin of Ridgecrest. Investigators were later able to connect the account with Wadelin's address in the 100 block of W. Church Ave in Ridgecrest. Wadelin was arrested and charged with five felony accounts, including lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years, and possession of child pornography.

It just got more expensive for some to visit “The Most Magical Place on Earth” and “The Happiest Place on Earth.” Tuesday, Disney World and Disneyland raised their prices for annual passes, which offer year-round access to the parks on select days. Single-day Tier 1 parkhopper: $159 (up from $154)...Evidently, to enter the Magic Kingdom, you need a Magic wallet.

Doctors and other experts say at least 50 more people, many of them elderly or ill, likely died as a result of the 2018 wildfire that devastated the town of Paradise, California, but were not counted in the official death toll, an investigation by the Chico Enterprise-Record found. Authorities have said the deadliest wildfire in California history killed 85 people. But the newspaper reported Tuesday that it had identified at least 50 more people whose deaths were linked to the fire but not attributed to it.

On the first Friday of each month, the CAPK food band senior food program will be handing out 30 pound boxes of heathy food items. The next one will take place at the Veteran's and Senior Center in Lake Isabella on Friday, March 6th from 10 to 11 am.

Today, the dam project is going to involve some more blasting. The anticipated blasting window is from noon to 4pm with no traffic slow downs or road closures. That's your boom boom report.

Classes at Mojave Unified School District were canceled Wednesday morning due to water issues. Around 8 a.m. Calfornia City Police department announced that water had been restored to all areas. The same issue caused California City schools to close today as well.

The Kern County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday morning about industrial hemp cultivation. The ordinance would require permits for all cultivation and establish new registration and renewal fees on hemp cultivation. The ordinance would set a $25-per-acre fee, a $100 registration amendment fee and a $100 background check fee.

Three people died and two others were detained after federal agents were called to rescue a group who had crossed the border from Mexico illegally and got lost in frigid weather near a Southern California mountain. Border Patrol agents responded Monday following a report of five people in need of medical attention in rugged terrain just south of Mount Laguna in San Diego County. The area is about 15 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The group called 911 when some of their members began suffering from hypothermia. Several inches of snow fell Monday on Mount Laguna.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday appointed State Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, to the Governor’s Military Council, an organization founded by former Gov. Jerry Brown in 2013 to support the military in the state. Grove, 54, has served in the State Senate since 2018, where she has vice chaired the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and been a member of the Senate Committee on Health since 2019.

A 48 year old man pleaded not guilty in Kern County Superior Court to four felonies and seven misdemeanors for allegedly posing as an Uber or Lyft driver in order to get women into his vehicle and stalking and prowling near women's homes. The most serious charges against him are three counts of false imprisonment with violence and kidnapping — all felonies. Ragheb was arrested Friday following an investigation of several separate incidents dating back to 2018, Bakersfield police said.

It's never a good idea to cheat the HOV lane with a fake passenger. But if you decide to do it, here are a few tips. 1) Don't pick something that is extinct. 2) And especially, don't pick something that is bright green and obviously not a human. A driver in Federal Way failed on both counts. He was busted Wednesday for driving in the carpool lane along I-5 alone. It was just him and a large stuffed dinosaur.

Tuesday, February 11th, 2020

A person by the name of Zanae Fields is a first time homebuyer. She bought her home in Tarina Homes' Shamrock Hills development in Northeast Bakersfield. The builder finished Fields' home a year late. Her dream-home quickly became a nightmare. According to county records, one owner of Tarina Homes Inc. is suing the other. One of the sources says it's for alleged embezzlement. Now Hernandez and the other homeowners are looking for legal help, but their money is tied up in the unfinished community.

An evacuee from China has tested positive for the coronavirus and has been isolated at a San Diego hospital. A person with direct knowledge of the matter tells The Associated Press Monday that the person is an adult who arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar last week from Wuhan, the epicenter of the Chinese outbreak.

The government has persistently pushed the upcoming October deadline to get the "Real ID," but is that deadline something you need to worry about? For many people the answer is a resounding "no." According to Triple-A the only benefits of having a the new drivers license are the ability to fly domestically without a passport and access to federal buildings such as prisons. However, if you have no plans on visiting a prison or getting on a commercial flight anytime soon, then you may not need a "real ID." In fact, even if you are planning on doing those things, if you have a passport or passport card then you technically already have a "real ID" and don't need to get the drivers license version.

A federal judge has approved T-Mobile's $26.5 billion takeover of Sprint, rejecting objections from a group of states and removing a major obstacle to a shakeup in the wireless industry. After the deal closes, the number of major U.S. wireless companies would shrink from four to three.

The latest craze sweeping the internet is the “standing broom” trick or #BroomChallenge. A viral tweet implies that NASA said Monday was the only day the “standing broom” trick would work, because of the earth’s gravitational pull. This, of course, caused thousands of people to post videos and pictures showing how they can make brooms stand up all by themselves. However, there is no such announcement from NASA to verify the claim. The Earth’s gravitational pull on a certain day has no role to play in a broom standing on its own. Turns out, anyone can perform this trick on any day of a year. It is all about balance. And may I add that it's all about stupid things people do.

Southern California Edison has paid $900,000 to resolve the United States’ claim for damages resulting from the 2014 "Way Fire" that burned more than 4,392 acres, including Forest Service lands in Kern County, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced today. The fire ignited on August 18, 2014, in Wofford Heights. The United States alleges that the fire ignited when, as a result of SoCal Edison’s negligence, an insulator broke free from its pin on the cross arm of a SoCal Edison power pole, allowing the conductor to come into contact with another conductor.

A small child was attacked by a dog Monday in Oro Grande, police said. According to the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, a 5-year-old boy died after being attacked by the family’s dog. The dog was quarantined at Animal Control, and the child’s parents were notified.

The Kern County Fire Department is issuing a "smoke advisory" for the Bear Mountain Ranch area as they perform burn operations. Smoke may be seen north of Bear Valley & south of Hart Flat for the next few days, according to KCFD. KCFD said the piles of dead trees are created when removing bug killed trees in the area. Remember that prescribed burns will be going on this week on the upper Kern, south of Kernville near School House Road, and just below the ski resort at Alta Sierra.

The blueprint for President Donald Trump’s future priorities is now official with his proposed budget, in print, and now in the hands of Congress. Meanwhile, Trump is proposing a 21% decrease to foreign aid and deep cuts to food stamps, affordable housing and student loans and disability benefits to offset some of the deficits that grew following the Tax Cut and Jobs act.

After 16 years as quarterbacck with the former San Diego, now Los Angeles Chargers, Philip Rivers is entering free agency as the Charger did not wish to renew his contract and let him go.

New details are emerging in the death of former McFarland city manager John Wooner, more than half a year after his body was pulled from the Kern River. Wooner's death was ruled an accident. The coroner's office said drowning and blunt force were the causes of his death.

Alcohol is suspected as a factor in a fatal motorcycle accident that killed a 53-year-old Bakersfield man on Saturday at around 1:00 p.m. According to the California Highway Patrol, James Dean Steiber was driving his Harley Davidson motorcycle south on Granite Road just south of Highway 155 when he drifted onto the right shoulder and collided with several rocks and boulders. Steiber was thrown from the motorcycle and suffered major injuries.

A gust of 209 mph (336 kph) recorded atop a California peak over the weekend was likely not a new state wind record but a mistake resulting from a faulty sensor, meteorologists said yesterday. The wind recording was made Sunday morning by an instrument at 9,186 feet. Forecasters now suspect the sensor wasn’t working properly.

Monday, February 10th, 2020

This week, February 10-14, 2020, fire crews from the US Forest Service may proceed with further hazardous fuel pile burning. Conditions permitting, burning will rotate between piles on the Upper Kern, above Kernville; the Penny Pines project below Alta Sierra Ski Lodge in the Greenhorn Mountains and possibly School House road, Sierra Way below Kernville.

Dave McCoy, who transformed California's Mammoth Mountain from a remote Sierra peak into a downhill destination for skiers and snowboarders from around the world, has died at 104. Rusty Gregory, former chief executive of the resort, said McCoy "died peacefully in his sleep" at his home in Bishop.

A man was arrested after Bakersfield Police conducted a search warrant in East Bakersfield yesterday. The warrant was done on Easter Street, near the area of Mt. Vernon Avenue. During the search, officers found a reported stolen short-barreled shotgun, an additional shotgun, two pistols, and an AK-style assault rifle.

G&E is reporting more than 2,000 people are without power in the area of Niles Street and Fairfax Road, and the outage appears to be due to a vehicle crashing into a pole. Power waso be restored earlier this morning., according to PG&E.

The Kern County Coroner’s Office has identified a man killed in a traffic accident on SR 155 as James Dean Steiber. Steiber, a 53-year-old male from Bakersfield, was killed on Saturday at S. Granite Road and SR 155 in in Glennville. Just before 2 p.m., Steiber died after he was ejected from the motorcycle he was riding. The California Highway Patrol is the agency investigating the crash.

The Defense Department, under White House pressure, is expected to announce this week that billions more in Pentagon funds will go toward the border wall, according to an administration official. A senior Defense official also told CNN that a major announcement about the border will made this week. While the White House is poised to ask for less money for the wall in the upcoming formal budget request to Congress, the administration appears to be increasingly relying on Pentagon funds to meet its goal of constructing additional barriers on the border.

An Alaska company has taken pizza to new heights by providing airplane deliveries around the state. Alaska Public Media reported Papa Murphy's in Anchorage flies hundreds of miles to deliver about 150 pizzas each week. The pizzas now travel as far as Prudhoe Bay at the top of the state, which would be a delivery of 855 miles by car.

It was extremely windy in the Valley Saturday. Not as windy though as this. A gust of 209 mph was recorded atop a California peak, a potential record that wowed forecasters monitoring a cold storm moving south through the state. The blast of wind was captured by an instrument on Kirkwood Mountain south of Lake Tahoe. The National Weather Service it could take months for state climatologists to verify the record.

A group of 100 minors allegedly participated in stealing from various stores at the Valley Plaza Mall Saturday evening, officials say. The large group separated into smaller groups before going into multiple stores, where some of the the group members stole merchandise before fleeing from the mall, according to BPD. They did not confirm which stores the minors stole from or whether any arrests have been made.

A deputy from the Kern County Sheriffs office was investigating a burglary in the Ridgecrest area. The suspect was located late last week in Lake Isabella. KCSD found heroin, methanphetames, around 650 dollars in cash, and stolen property valued at 21 thousand dollars. Clayton Sprouse and Shanti Guyre were arrested on numerous felonies.

Police arrested a Brandon, Florida, man outside the White House on Saturday after he threatened to assassinate President Donald Trump. Roger Hedgpeth, 25, approached a US Secret Service police officer on patrol and said, “I am here to assassinate President Donald Trump,” according to a DC Metropolitan Police Department arrest report. Hedgpeth was placed under arrest at which time the arresting officer was advised by the Secret Service that the suspect was a critically missing/endangered person as well as a mental health patient.

A minor earthquake struck the Southern California high desert and was felt across the region. The U.S. Geological Survey reports the 3.9-magnitude earthquake hit an area about 13 miles northeast of Barstow around 11:34 a.m. Saturday. Authorities said there were no immediate reports of damages or injuries. People reported to the USGS that they felt light shaking as far away as Los Angeles and Indio.

Three local pot shops are operating once again after search warrants were conducted earlier this week. The state Bureau of Cannabis Control issued warrants on the pot shops after undercover investigators found the shops operating without a license. Despite the search warrants, all shops were back operating Saturday.

Friday, February 7th, 2020

The Bakersfield Police and Fire Department are trying to determine the reason a driver crashed into a building on Oak Street Friday morning. A white sedan with major damage can be seen in front of the Behavioral Health and Recovery Services. No word on injuries.

On March 3rd, the controversial debate over allowing medical marijuana dispensaries back in Kern County, will come to a vote. Measure D, backed by the Central Valley Cannabis Association, and supported by thousands of signatures to get onto the ballot, wants to allow medical dispensaries that were operational prior to 2018 to reopen for business. Measure E, crafted by the Kern County Board of Supervisors, would allow brand new dispensaries to open. But there are many more differences including far more restrictions on the Board of Supervisors measure.

California drivers who hate their DMV photo may soon have an option to replace it. AB 2045 , a California bill proposed this week by Assemblyman Phillip Chen, R-Diamond Bar, would allow a licensee to request up to three extra photos be taken for up to $5 each. That revenue would then be deposited into the state's transportation fund to support driver education and training programs.

Authorities in Huntington Beach are trying to figure out what triggered a tsunami alarm Friday morning. According to the Huntington Beach Police Department, a civil defense/tsunami alarm triggered this morning was a false alarm.

For the first time, the U.S. government's highway safety agency has approved a company's request to deploy a self-driving vehicle that doesn't meet federal safety standards for human-driven cars and trucks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration granted temporary approval for Silicon Valley robotics company Nuro to run a low-speed autonomous delivery vehicle, without side and rear-view mirrors and other safety provisions required of vehicles driven by humans. Also not on the safety feature list; windshield wipers, steering wheels or brake pedals.

Thursday, February 6th, 2020

The Rolling Stones The band announced Thursday that it will kick off a 15-city leg of its No Filter tour in San Diego on May 8. Other cities where the band will play that it hasn't performed in recently include Cleveland; St. Louis; Austin, Texas; Louisville, Kentucky; Charlotte, North Carolina; Tampa, Florida; and Vancouver, British Columbia. The band will also perform in Minneapolis; Dallas; Detroit; Pittsburgh; Nashville, Tennessee; and Buffalo, New York. The shows will end July 9 with a concert in Atlanta.

California officials announced Monday that marijuana vape cartridges seized in illegal shops in Los Angeles contained potentially dangerous additives, including a thickening agent blamed for a national outbreak of deadly lung illnesses tied to vaping. The findings highlight the risk for consumers at underground shops and delivery services that are common in Los Angeles and elsewhere around California, officials said.

The town of Trona was hit with a magnitude 2.9 earthquake Thursday morning. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake struck the San Bernardino County town at about 5:20 a.m. Trona is near Ridgecrest, where magnitude 6.4 and 7.1 quakes struck in July.

Pacific Gas & Electric is still operating a rickety power line near the one that ignited a 2018 wildfire that wiped out the Northern California city of Paradise and killed 85 people, according to an expert inspection conducted as part of a legal claim. In an inspection just two months ago, an expert hired by the wildfire victims' attorneys found a power line with rusty equipment and some parts apparently held in place by electrical tape.

Illegal pot shops keep popping back into business, in the last six days seven shops have been raided and officials said they are doing what they can to keep owners from reopening illegal stores. Five days after KCSO raided Superior Med Cannabis shop, it appeared to be back open. The lights were on and several customers were seen going in and out of the store. State cannabis control officials said they are doing their best to coordinate with local law enforcement agencies first to combat the issue.

A Korean Air flight from Seoul, South Korea to Las Vegas was diverted to Los Angeles Wednesday afternoon due to a coronavirus scare. According to a statement from a Korean Air spokesperson, the flight was diverted due to three passengers on board who had stayed in China within two weeks of their departure from South Korea. After it was confirmed that the three passengers did not have the coronavirus, the flight was cleared to continue to Las Vegas.

Wednesday, February, 5th, 2020

A Grand Jury report Tuesday found that the Kern County coroner's office current facility is in inadequate standards. The report found that the current facility cannot support the necessary work load. The facility should be able to handle at least 200 decedents at any given time. "It appears the Coroner is functioning in the 21st century with 1970's infrastructure," according to the report.

The United States' tax season is here, and so are people who want to steal your information. Con artists are using Social Security numbers to file phony tax returns and steal refunds. The United States' tax season is here, and so are people who want to steal your information. Con artists are using Social Security numbers to file phony tax returns and steal refunds. If you feel like you have been the victim of a tax scam contact the Internal Revenue Service immediately.

Our governor has proposed a plan that would keep more water in the fragile San Joaquin River Delta. The framework proposed Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom would restore 60,000 acres of habitat for the delta's endangered species and generate more than $5 billion in new funding for environmental improvements. Newsom said he is committed to doubling the state's salmon population by 2050.

Hundreds of thousands are expected to flood downtown Kansas City on Wednesday despite a predicted winter storm as the triumphant Chiefs bring home a Super Bowl trophy for the first time in 50 years. Several schools in the area canceled classes, freeing up buses to haul fans to the celebration of the team's come-from-behind 31-20 win against San Francisco.

Two planes carrying coronavirus evacuees have landed at Travis Air Force Base in Solano County. One of the planes came from Wuhan, China filled with Americans evacuated from the country due to the growing outbreak. Hope they like M R E's.

The Bureau of Cannabis Control issued search warrants on two local pot shops after they were found to be operating without a license. According to the bureau, the two shops, Knotts Collective on Knotts Street and Backyard Organics on River Boulevard, were working without a license. After receiving complaints the bureau sent someone undercover to make a buy and confirmed they were operating without a license.

Nineteen people were arrested last week as part of a probation sweep in Wasco. The Kern County Sheriff’s Office said the sweep took place on Feb. 1 with the assistance of the Kern County Probation Department, Bakersfield Police Department as well as other police departments in the county. The operation conducted 35 probation and parole searches. As a result, 19 people were arrested.

Voters in November will once again decide whether to expand rent control state-wide. The debate and controversy over California’s rent control laws will continue heading into the November election. The Secretary of State this week announced a measure that would further expand state-wide rent control officially qualifies for the ballot this fall. It would end the restrictions in California law and give local jurisdiction the power to limit how much rents can increase each year. Voters rejected a similar measure in 2018.

A federal judge on Tuesday approved a settlement that moves Pacific Gas & Electric closer to getting out of bankruptcy, but the troubled utility still must navigate nettlesome obstacles being put up by the state of California. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali signed off on a deal to refinance billions of dollars in debt to pay off PG&E bondholders.

Taft Correctional Institution, which can hold 2,500 inmates, is under threat of closure yet again. That's according to WARN Notices sent from the Management & Training Corporation. According to the notice, sent to Kern County Supervisor Mick Gleason, the facility contract is expected to end and 332 staff members will be laid off as of March 31. MTC said it is working to find alternatives to closing the facility but are required under state and federal law to give a notice of potential closures.

A new report found that the number of homeless students in the United States hit a 12-year high during the 2017-2018 school year. The report from the National Center for Homeless Education says more than 1.5 million public school students reported being homeless as some point during that time period.

Macy's said Tuesday it is closing 125 of its least productive stores and cutting 2,000 corporate jobs as the struggling department store tries to reinvent itself in the age of online shopping. The store closures represent about one fifth of Macy's current total. They include about 30 that are in the process of closing and account for $1.4 billion in annual sales. The corporate jobs will be shed as Macy's closes its offices in Cincinnati and San Francisco, leaving New York as its sole corporate headquarters.

A sheriff's deputy fatally shot a machete-wielding man Tuesday after he attacked three people in central California, authorities said. Deputies responding to a call just before 8 a.m. near Hanford found a woman and two men seriously injured. Deputies ordered the suspect to drop the machete but he “continued to advance aggressively toward the deputies,” and one of them fired his gun. The man died at the scene.

Tuesday, February 4th, 2020

Conditions permitting (daily) the Kern River Ranger District plans to burn hazardous fuel piles most of this week. The areas planned are:

1. Eleven (11) of the developed/dispersed campgrounds along the Upper Kern River, off Mountain 99. No road closures anticipated. These piles will be extinguished at the end of each day.

2. Greenhorn Mountain – piles below Alta Sierra Ski Area, off Rd. 25S21 – road is closed to public use.

3. Greenhorn Mountains – Piles near the recreation residences – no road closures anticipated. (Penny Pines).

Throughout this week, smoke will be visible from many communities surrounding Isabella Lake. If traveling, please use caution to help ensure the safety of our firefighters along these roads.

A gunman who killed a woman and wounded five others on a Greyhound bus on the Grapevine was cursing and muttering incoherently before the attack, passengers and authorities said. Investigators are trying to determine a motive for the apparently random assault Monday that left two people in critical condition. Anthony Devonte Williams, 33, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, was arrested after passengers managed to disarm him and get him off the bus.

A cold front with damaging winds caused scattered power outages in Southern California on Monday and sent temperatures plunging from springlike levels just a few days earlier. A 747 cargo plane taking off from Los Angeles International Airport was damaged when it struck a trash bin that had blown onto the runway. Nobody was hurt. A gust of 80 mph was recorded at Warm Springs Mountain in the Angeles National Forest.

A 5.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico Tuesday morning. The latest earthquakes comes as the island has been trying to rebuild from a series of quakes and tremors over the past month, including a 6.4 magnitude quake on and a 6.0 aftershock that left at least one person dead.

A man and woman from Bakersfield were arrested Saturday near Morro Bay when an officer found numerous stolen items inside their car. Police said an officer pulled the car over after the driver of the car did not stop at a stop sign. The officer found the driver, Michael Aden Mahoney, had outstanding felony warrants for his arrest. The officer also found the passenger, Holly Lynn Mahoney, also had outstanding felony warrants for her arrest. Police found stolen credit cards, counterfeit id's, counterfeit bank checks and counterfeit $100 bills.

The Bakersfield Police Department arrested two people in connection to an illegal gaming operation in the 1100 block of Niles Street on Sunday. According to the BPD, a warrant search was conducted at around 9:20 p.m. at which time police seized three large "fish" gaming tables and an unspecified amount of money. Two people were arrested for possession of illegal gaming devices, maintaining an illegal gaming facility and conspiracy.

A lawmaker has proposed legislation that would require closer scrutiny of hunting licenses like the one used by a teenager charged with opening fire at a synagogue last year. Earnest, age 19 at the time, picked up the weapon the day before from a San Diego store. Having a valid hunting license is the only way someone under 21 who isn't in the military or law enforcement can legally buy a weapon under state law.

Deputies at a San Francisco Bay Area jail confiscated 200 gallons of prison-made liquor that inmates were preparing for a Super Bowl party, a sheriff’s official said. Known as “pruno," the illicit alcoholic beverage is fermented from leftover fruit, sugar and juice with a little bread to provide the yeast and made in sealed plastic bags.

Home warranties are popular, because they promise peace of mind if a major appliance breaks in your home. Choice Home Warranty is one of the most popular. It's offered by many realtors to buyers, then renewed year after year. But the company is now battling a state attorney general's lawsuit, a Better Business Bureau alert, and more than 5,000 BBB complaints.

Frustrated by repeated safety lapses at the nation's largest electric company, a California lawmaker on Monday introduced legislation that would force taxpayers to buy the struggling utility and turn it into a public entity with a safety-first mission ahead of shareholder profits. The proposal follows the bankruptcy filing last year by Pacific Gas & Electric after sections of its sprawling network of power lines were knocked down in windstorms and started wildfires that killed dozens of people and caused billions of dollars in damage.

Monday, February 3rd, 2020

California Highway Patrol Ft. Tejon confirmed there was a shooting on a Greyhound bus headed north on I-5 over the Grapevine Monday morning. California Highway Patrol said 43 people were on the bus, including the driver. Five people were taken to the hospital and a woman died at the scene. The bus driver pulled over to the right shoulder. The gunman left the bus voluntarily and left the gun behind on the bus.Officers said the person who died in the shooting is a 51-year-old woman from Colombia. Right now, there is no word on a motive behind the attack.

The comeback Chiefs did it again and are Super Bowl champions. Patrick Mahomes threw for a pair of touchdowns in the game’s final 6:13, helping the Kansas City Chiefs erase a 10-point deficit and beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl 54.

We should say thank you to the majority of advertisers during yesterday's Super Bow. In the real world, political primaries are looming, impeachment is ongoing and heavy news never seems to stop. But during commercial breaks in the Super Bowl, advertisers did their best to serve up an antidote heavily spiked with fun.

The Centers for Disease Control announced Monday that it has confirmed five new cases of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus in the United States, bringing the nation’s total to 11. The CDC says one of the five new patients contracted the virus from a person they were close to that had traveled to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak.

A consortium of buyers, including mall owners Simon Property Group, Brookfield Property Partners, are bidding $81 million for Forever 21, the ubiquitous mall staple that filed for bankruptcy protection in September. Simon and Brookfield are Forever 21’s biggest landlords. The other bidder is Authentic Brands Group, which has acquired the licensing rights to other troubled retailers like Barneys New York.

A partially built housing development off Highway 178 has become the focus of a police inquiry after contractors working on the project went unpaid and one of the development partners sued another alleging misappropriation of millions of dollars. Bakersfield Police Department Sgt. Nathan McCauley said the agency is investigating locally based Tarina Homes Inc. for "possible embezzlement" after a substantial sum appears to have gone missing from corporate accounts.

The only statewide measure on the March 3 ballot is Proposition 13, a $15 billion bond to build, repair and modernize schools in California. If voters approve it, $9 billion would go to K-12 schools. The priority is on health and safety concerns, including earthquake risks, and removing toxic mold and asbestos from aging classrooms and lead from drinking water. The rest would go to public universities and community colleges.

The Kern County Coroner's Office has identified the person who was shot and killed in Delano on Friday night. He was 21 year old Adam Rene Guillen, and was declared dead about 11:50 p.m. Officials will conduct an autopsy to confirm the manner and cause of death, according to the Kern County Sheriff's Office.

A 4.4 magnitude earthquake struck near the Mammoth Lakes area at 10:36 a.m. Saturday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake's epicenter was in Toms Place, an unincorporated community in Mono County. The temblor happened about 50 miles southeast of Yosemite National Park. No reports of injuries or damages have been made so far.

On Friday, the Kern County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Unit executed search warrants at multiple marijuana dispensaries in the Bakersfield area. According to KCSO, those dispensaries were Budville, Superior Meds, Bombay and BMC. Ten people were arrested on suspicion of various felony charges, according to KCSO.

A man in southwest Fresno was shot just before noon Saturday after an argument with a man on a bicycle over the Super Bowl, according to the Fresno Police Department. The victim, identified as a Latino man in his 40s, told police that a homeless man on a bike pulled up to where they were having a barbecue and started an argument over the Super Bowl since the house was adorned with San Francisco 49ers decorations. The argument escalated and the homeless man shot the victim in the abdomen with a makeshift weapon. The victim was taken to Community Regional Medical Center.

A paqlindrome is of course, any word or number that is spelled the same way backwords. Words like level, radar and the like. Whether you noticed or not, yeasterday was 02.02.2020 . The first palindrome of its kind in over 900 years.