City of Bakersfield

California State University, Bakersfield marked its 50th Anniversary with a virtual celebration Oct.1 that included a speech from Sir Richard Branson and a performance from Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist Gregory Porter. To learn more about the milestone celebration, and how the university is adjusting to distance education, Valley Edition Host Kathleen Schock spoke with CSUB President Lynette Zelezny.

As residents call for cities to defund police departments, some parents and students want the same in their school districts. The Kern High School District board is voting on its annual budget Monday and ahead of that meeting, community organizers have been circulating a petition to defund the district’s police department.

Kern High School District has its own police department. Only two percent of districts in the state operate one; most contract with a local city. 

Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties have closed their parks to keep people home during the coronavirus pandemic. But Kern County parks are still technically open and with Easter coming up, some residents are worried.

A statewide survey conducted last month by the Public Policy Institute of California found most Californians see homelessness as a top issue for the state, but how counties are choosing to tackle it differs widely. In Kern County, officials are considering jailing homeless people for misdemeanor drug offenses. To go into effect, the proposal needs funding approval from the Bakersfield City Council.

If the leaders of California’s High-Speed Rail Authority are to be believed, by 2029 Bakersfield residents will be able to hop on a bullet train bound for LA’s Union Station or San Francisco’s Transbay Terminal. That’s if all goes according to plan, for a project that still doesn’t have enough funding to finish the job.