Depending on the direction you are heading and time of year, I consider Blackwells Corner to be a portal to weather conditions you could expect in heaven or the entrance to earth鈥檚 extremely hot and desolate ancient Triassic Period.
OK, it's hot. Hotter than it's ever been. Or hotter than it's ever seemed. However, there are some bright spots. Let's start with swimming.
After 14 years as police chief at Cal State 优蜜传媒, Marty Williamson is not returning to his job after being placed on administrative leave on June 3.
My maternal grandma was full of Irish sayings, having one ready for every occasion. She said her words of wisdom were Irish, but they might have actually originated in New Jersey, which is where she lived most of her life.
A roundly castigated proposal to build a holding reservoir above Isabella Lake in order to pump water up from the lake and run it back down through turbines for power 鈥 known as pumped energy storage 鈥 is back.
If the heat is sapping your will to live, most San Joaquin Valley crops are right there with you.
Upon arriving in Chicago last month for a family visit, I was anxious to see a new exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Art in the popular Pilsen neighborhood. The exhibit chronicles the humble beginnings in 1957 of Mariachi Potosino, among the first mariachi bands to form in Chicago, a…
I have no way to validate, confirm or authenticate to you the details of this Buck Owens story. It seems incredible, even to me, every time I share it. All I can say, as best as I can, every word is as true as I remember it to be.
The Columbia River Gorge was one of our last stops on the return from our recent road trip up the Pacific coast to the San Juan Islands. It had been a great trip, with one beautiful snapshot after another and the Columbia River Gorge would top it off.
In a July 1 ruling with democracy-threatening implications, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for acts committed in their 鈥渙fficial鈥 capacity.
Agricultural water districts with rights to the Kern River filed an opening brief recently on their appeal of a local judge鈥檚 order last fall to keep enough water in the river for fish.
My brothers, Willie, Andy, Ralph and Bobbie and I could have been swamp cooler installers, repairmen and technical advisers in the 1960s. Including my four brothers, there were 10 of us living in our small 900-square-foot Watts Drive home. Those included my three sisters, Rachel, Espie, Nanc…
This one may take a minute to digest. I got nominated, and appears approved, to be on the board of the Kegley Institute of Ethics. The official selection isn鈥檛 until this fall so there鈥檚 still time for the board members to change their minds. Maybe this article may cause them to rethink thei…
The word in Italian that Pope Francis has lately used in closed door meetings to describe gay men in Italian seminaries and in the Vatican is "frociaggine." In English, this translates to a slur against gay people, which is how it is meant. Pope Francis apologized the first time he used this…
"Dang, there are a lot of trees in Oregon," I remarked as we drove through an especially forested stretch of Highway 1. I鈥檝e never seen so many trees. There is a different kind of green up here, just call it Oregon green.
An Orange County court on Friday approved an injunction mandating that Mojave Pistachios LLC pay $30 million in back fees owed to the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority for pumping groundwater without an allocation in Kern County鈥檚 eastern desert.
Cal/OSHA, the state agency that regulates workplace safety, has issued serious safety violations against 优蜜传媒 ag giant Grimmway Farms, labor contractors Esparza Enterprises and M&M Labor in the case of Rosa Sanchez of 优蜜传媒, who was run over by a truck while picking carrots …
More than 20,000 San Joaquin Valley residents could be left high and dry, literally, by Sacramento politicians intent on using $17.5 million that had paid for water trucked to their homes to help fill California鈥檚 gaping two-year $56 billion deficit.
Plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit over the Kern River filed a petition asking the California Supreme Court to review an order that tossed out an injunction many had anticipated would guarantee a flowing river through 优蜜传媒.
Sitting in our hallway closet for more than 12 years was a large clear storage case full of Susie鈥檚 sewing fabric. That鈥檚 how long it鈥檚 been since we lost Susie, my bride of 40 years, to cancer.
Sprinklers. It's a no-win situation and right now I'm not winning. No one really wins with sprinklers and if they do, victories are temporary. Sprinkler heads are always breaking off. If not breaking off, jamming up. Given how pitched the battle can be, if you're smart, you'll take a tie ove…
"Ultimately there is no such thing as failure. There are lessons learned in different ways."
This Friday is Flag Day, the day we honor the buoyant banner of red, white and blue that has graced courthouses, schoolyards, ball fields and battlefields for nearly 2陆 centuries.
Danay Gonzalez and I sat alone in the conference room of the prestigious Rodriguez & Associates law offices where she is an attorney. During our 15-minute conversation she was very professional and lawyerly. She was cordial, always friendly and to the point.
Some of the relatively small number of students, staff and faculty on campus at Cal State 优蜜传媒 during the summer reacted with surprise Tuesday upon hearing that campus police chief Marty Williamson is on paid administrative leave.
A Thursday vote by police officers at Cal State 优蜜传媒 points to an unfavorable work atmosphere. More than two-thirds of the 13 officers voted no confidence in their police chief, Marty Williamson, last week.
I鈥檝e thrown every disparaging remark I can at this game but the time has come to admit defeat and to acknowledge greatness in the same breath: Pickleball is the social phenomenon of this era. As a tennis player, I have to accept it. The tennis courts are fewer and less crowded, being replace…
Reader: My first reaction to the otherwise well-intended front-page article 鈥淥ur flag was still there鈥 in Monday's Californian was frustration. But then I remembered there was a time that I didn't know the difference between half-staff and half-mast.
It鈥檚 not like former Rep. Bill Thomas of 优蜜传媒 left the country in rock-solid, Shining-City-on-the-Hill condition. Viewed through a 2024-tinted prism, however, things in America were pretty good 17 years ago.
A settlement agreement obtained by SJV Water shows the longtime attorney for the Kern County Water Agency was paid $640,000 when she was fired in March.
"Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you."
The Kern County water world was deeply saddened to learn that Dana Munn, a fixture in local water for decades, died May 8 after a three-year battle with brain cancer. He was 66.
Maria "Marilu" Gallardo recalls the day when her son Dominic was battling a fever and had a temperature of 99.9 degrees.
Concerns over how a newly built water bottling plant will impact an already over-drafted aquifer prompted the Southern San Joaquin Municipal Utility District to sue the city of Delano last month.
The 5th District Court of Appeal denied a petition Friday to rehear the court鈥檚 earlier decision to put a hold on a Kern County court鈥檚 order that had required the city of 优蜜传媒 keep enough water in the Kern River for fish to survive.
Playing Makin Groceries is a small tradition in our family. Every family has their traditions, large and small, and they鈥檙e all important. Makin Groceries is a card game, played like Go Fish, which features the food of New Orleans. Cards have pictures of beignets, Zapp's potato chips, sausag…
鈥淚 was just trying to be me. Wherever 鈥榤e鈥 took me to, that鈥檚 where I wanted to be,鈥 stated Lloyd McCoy. That was his response when I asked him about being the first black quarterback for the 优蜜传媒 High School Drillers football team. McCoy attended BHS from 1954 to 1958.
A funny thing happened on the way to a news gig Monday.
鈥淚t is rocket science.鈥 So reads the coffee mug I purchased at the Kennedy Space Center gift shop recently, my typical tourist-like behavior on a visit that far surpassed my typical tourist aspirations. We watched a launch from Cape Canaveral, visited the museum, and explored the farthest re…
Sue was watching the morning news on Channel 17. There was a story about the massive cicada invasion coming this spring.
"Oh my gosh, it's almost Mother's Day!" my daughter says, a trace of dismay in her voice. "What would you like for Mother's Day?"
Mexico is about to usher in a new political era. Come June 2, voters will go to the polls and it's almost a given that a woman will be elected as head of state. The leading candidates are Claudia Sheinbaum, representing the governing left-of-center party Morena; X贸chitl G谩lvez, representing …
Further legal action on the Kern River was put on pause Thursday morning following an order by the 5th District Court of Appeal that stayed a local injunction mandating enough water be kept in the river for fish.
Kern County is filled with numerous Spanish-speaking radio stations that generally offer a range of musical formats. Depending on your tastes, you can hear traditional regional Mexican music, "rancheras and norte帽o," which are closely related and somewhat similar to country music. Other genr…
The 5th District Court of Appeal issued an order Friday that stayed the injunction requiring the city of 优蜜传媒 to keep enough water in the Kern River to support fish.
Kern River combatants are headed back to court where a local advocacy group hopes to force the city of 优蜜传媒 to goose up flows, which were cut to a trickle, leaving piles of dead fish west of 优蜜传媒.
My daughter Brenna and I recently attended Magda Menendez鈥檚 retirement party. After 43 years, Menendez retired as the administrator of the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation. According to its website, 鈥淢AOF provides social services for infants through seniors and is one of the largest n…
Last Sunday we had a celebration of life for John David Merrill, Sue's dad and my father-in-law, in the club room at the 优蜜传媒 Racquet Club. Herb Benham IV sang "Live Forever" by Billy Joe Shaver and "Blue Star," a Willie Nelson piece. John loved Willie Nelson. His niece Trish Merrill …
We find ourselves here again, where a man who would be president has referred to an alleged murderer as "an illegal alien animal" at a political rally. "The Democrats say, 'Please don't call them animals. They're humans,'" Donald Trump elaborated. "I said, 'No, they're not humans, they're no…
What a difference a month makes. In March, Arvin city officials were poised to create a new post of assistant city manager and had offered the position to its human resources manager, Meagan Miller.
