Bakersfield

A new, $5 million grant will help Kern County’s leading anti-poverty organization assist families in need and the unhoused.

California officials unveiled a plan to permanently seal some of the state’s more than 5,000 orphaned oil wells, including dozens nestled among Kern County neighborhoods that have been the focus of advocate attention for decades.

The debt ceiling debate ultimately ended with a deal between congressional Republicans and the White House. In Bakersfield, Calif., Speaker Kevin McCarthy's constituents watched the debate unfold.

California Rep. Kevin McCarthy was challenged for the job, but in the end claimed the House Speaker gavel. The San Joaquin Valley politician catapulted to one of the most powerful positions in Washington, D.C.

The final update in Kern County votes filed by the county’s auditor-controller and clerk to the Kern County Board of Supervisors on Thursday put Hurtado in the lead, and potentially winning the race, by 20 votes.

Kerry Klein’s reporting on infant and maternal mortality in Kern County and Bakersfield OB-GYN Dr. Arthur Park began with an email from the Medical Board of California in 2019.

After her daughter and grandson died following what the Medical Board of California alleged to be negligent care from a Bakersfield OB-GYN, Tracy Dominguez embarked on a crusade to reform the agency and prevent other patients from experiencing similar tragedies.

By the time OB-GYN Dr. Arthur Park surrendered his license in late 2021, all four of Bakersfield’s hospitals had been sued by patients of his, and at least two had paid out settlements. One, Mercy Hospital Southwest, was also found to have made errors in the days leading up to the death of one of his patients.

The California medical board accused Bakersfield obstetrician Dr. Arthur Park of gross negligence following several patient deaths. But he kept his medical license for more than 20 years. How did the medical and legal systems allow that to happen?

Kern County has one of the highest infant mortality rates in California and mothers die during pregnancy and childbirth in the San Joaquin Valley at a higher rate than in any other region of the state. Simultaneously, research shows that maternal mortality rates are rising among the country’s Latino population.