Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
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Andre and Gina Colon decided to move to Tehachapi after a visit to friends here. They enjoyed the visit so much that they decided to stay overnight and then eventually move. Andre said that the weather and the sense of community he found here helped them make the final decision. They had lived in Bakersfield for three or four years where Andre pursued his programming and web design business and Gina studied to be a Realtor while managing two popular Facebook pages in Bakersfield. "Bakersfield...
Two aviation related youth groups were front and center at the April 15 City Council meeting. Agenda items involving Tehachapi youth were discussed at length. The first was the Build-a-Plane project that has been under way at Tehachapi Airport for over a year and a half. Thanks to an anonymous donation through Arts, Science and Technology Corporation of Tehachapi (AST), the Tehachapi Society of Pilots has been able to purchase a kit airplane, a Zenith CH750 Cruzer for a group of high school...
Always Ready Construction may be new to Tehachapi but the company's owner, General Contractor Jeff Thorsnes is not. Seeking a simpler life lifestyle, Thorsnes and his family moved to Tehachapi in 2013 from the Bay Area following his retirement from a 15 year career with Starbucks where he rose through the ranks from services manager to facilities manager to construction manager to senior project manager of construction. Always good with a hammer, his Tehachapi friends always asked him first when...
Groundwater Sustainability Project "It's an exciting project that will change the way the City uses water and wastewater in the future," Public Works Director Don Marsh told the City Council at their April 1 meeting. As planned, the new Groundwater Sustainability Project would ensure a reliable, high-quality source of water for the City especially in dry years. In addition, it would also ease the reliance that the Tehachapi Cummings County Water District (TCCWD) has on the California State...
Eight members of the Tehachapi High School FIRST Robotics Team will be headed to the 2019 FIRST Robotics Championship in Houston held April 17-20. The robot's performance is only a part of the team's presentation. The three members of Team 585 who will be doing an oral presentation in Houston practiced on Tehachapi Rotary at their April 11 meeting. The speech encompassed the team's outreach activities with the other TUSD schools. Andres Pena, Chloe Shadduck and Sophie Therault won The...
It is said that, "it's not work when it is a labor of love." A perfect illustration of that old saying applies to the new owner of Tea Donuts, located next to Rite Aid at the corner of Tehachapi Blvd. and Tucker Rd. Chantha Sokny Lay comes from Bakersfield donut royalty. Her family has owned Foster's Donuts on Chester and Columbus for 15 years and when the opportunity arose to expand the family business to Tehachapi, Chantha jumped at the chance. Once having thought about moving to Texas, she...
New-resident welcome to Krystal Watkins and welcome-home to her husband, David. David was raised in Tehachapi and graduated from Tehachapi High School before leaving to pursue his career in the wind industry. He and Krystal moved from Amarillo, Texas into their Tehachapi home in the middle of January; welcomed by a colder-than-normal Tehachapi winter. David said that they had visited only three or four times since leaving the area. David is the new regional director for World Wind & Solar...
The City Council voted on March 18 to proceed with the development of a CEQA Environmental Impact Report for the planned housing project to be located on 138 acres on the south side of Valley Blvd. and west of Tehachapi High School. The City will produce the document and developer Greenbriar Capital Corporation will then reimburse the city for the report. The Tehachapi Planning Commission approved the initial development concept at their Feb. 11 meeting. For many years the City has used AECOM...
Doug Bennett from Magdalene Hope and Josh Pierce EMS Outreach Coordinator for Dignity Health, teamed up at the March Chamber of Commerce lunch to present a shocking program on the human trafficking problem in our country and particularly in Bakersfield and Kern County. "Human trafficking does exist also in Tehachapi," said Bennett. Describing the different types of trafficking that goes on in Kern County, Bennett said there are families that are selling their children, grandchildren, nieces and...
On March 4, the Tehachapi City Council heard attorney Jesse Maddox of the firm Liebert Cassidy Whitmore report on their findings following an investigation of seven different complaints from a number of current and former city employees against Councilman Kenneth Hetge. The complaints listed were retaliation, intimidation, unprofessionalism, undermining the police chief and both gender and ethnicity harassment. The earliest complaint was dated April 2018. The City of Tehachapi belongs to a...
"We want to get away from the big city," is the reason we hear most often from new Tehachapi residents and Michael and Lea Banton are no different. They had moved to Santa Clarita 13 years ago from the San Fernando Valley thinking they were moving to the country. Now both retired, they finally chose Bear Valley Springs as their retirement home. Michael said the move here was actually a compromise. He wanted to move to Arizona or Nevada but Lea didn't want to be that far from their kids, Sean...
At the March 6 Greater Tehachapi Economic Development Council, Aaron Falk, representative for Congressman Kevin McCarthy read a letter the congressman and five other members of Congress sent to President Trump on Feb. 28 recommending Kern County as the perfect place to base the new Space Development Agency. The letter stated that Edwards Air Force Base and Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake and the extensive areas of restricted air space of Kern County are well-equipped to be the headquarters...
Last month, Cristin Lassen was appointed to the Tehachapi Valley Recreation & Park District Board by the Tehachapi City Council. The March 12 TVRPD Board meeting was Lassen's first meeting as a member of that Board. Michael Biglay of Sand Canyon argued that as far as he knew, the two County appointed members of the Board had not been reappointed when their term expired so there was no quorum. Chairman Laura Lynne Wyatt assured him that he could check the minutes of the February Kern County...
Sally Periman Lawrence and Andrew Atkins from Wood Family Funeral Home spoke to Tehachapi Rotary on March 6 about the importance of making your final wishes known to your loved ones before they are ever needed. Lawrence emphasized that having a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) were also a planning must. She reminded everyone how the stress of losing a loved one can cloud one's memory making it difficult to even remember the...
At the end of last year, the Greater Tehachapi Economic Development Council (GTEDC) added a student representative to their board. Andres Pena was chosen to fill that position. Pena and his friend and business partner Julian Romero spearheaded the formation of an entrepreneurial club at Tehachapi High School. Pena said that with the help of their faculty adviser Ms. Guadalupe, they hope to make the group self-sufficient before they graduate in June. Pena and Romero started their business last...
Beginning in February, City Manager Greg Garrett began a tour of civic organizations, presenting the City's "2018 Annual Review: Moments that Mattered." Although his initial audio/visual program at the Greater Tehachapi Economic Development Council encountered Wi-Fi problems, his second presentation to the Tehachapi Rotary Club on Feb. 7 went off without a hitch. The presentation began with a video welcome by Mayor Susan Wiggins. Garrett introduced a video of each department head who in turn...
Salvation Army Director Sandy Chavez appeared at the Feb. 12 TUSD School Board meeting to express her appreciation for the partnership the Salvation Army shared with the school district. She thanked them for the food donations for their pantry and coats from the elementary school Lost & Founds. The Salvation Army was able to provide 350 families with Thanksgiving dinner and Chavez said that they could not have done that without the school district. Superintendent Kaminski said it was reciprocal...
Sage Ranch may be the largest planned community ever presented to the Tehachapi Planning Commission but, by the end of the presentation, the commission found that Tehachapi resident Stuart Natch and JZMK Partners had done their homework and presented a well thought out project that does fit within the City's General Plan for growth. In this initial presentation, the Planning Commission was only approving the preliminary plan which is strictly conceptual and allows them to go on to the next step...
In early January, Hannah Thompson arrived in Tehachapi from Wichita, Kan. Her husband, Christopher French, had come to California in September to start his new job at The Spaceship Company as a test technician for rocket propulsion systems. He was just in time to be part of the launch team for Spaceship Two. Hannah said that she and Christopher have been married less than six months. He came to California for his interview the day after they got back from their honeymoon. Some of his friends...
At the Jan. 22 City Council meeting, Charles White, representing Main Street Tehachapi, presented Mayor Susan Wiggins with a check for $5,000 to help fund the new Christmas decorations that adorned the downtown street lights during the holidays. The City had purchased the decorations last year with the assistance of donations from downtown businesses and civic organizations. White said that he wanted to take a minute to familiarize the new council members with Main Street Tehachapi's purpose...
Jim and Sally Arnold, owners of Triassic Vineyards, proudly announced that Triassic was again a winner at the 2019 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Triassic had submitted seven wines to the competition and all seven brought home awards, including a Double Gold for the 2015 Zinfandel. "This is like the Super Bowl of wine competitions," said Jim Arnold. Nearly 7,000 entries from 35 states were submitted to the competition in December. During the first week of January, 60 prestigious...
Have you ever been stuck trying to think of a unique theme for an adult or children's party; or perhaps you just need more party space for your event? Picture Perfect Parties can help you with that. Although the Picture Perfect Parties Photo Booth has been seen around town for much of last year, they will be celebrating the Grand Opening of their party space located at 20601 Hwy. 202, Ste. A103 on Jan. 28. Everyone is invited from 4 to 6 p.m. to help them celebrate. The Greater Tehachapi...
At their December Board meeting, Tehachapi Valley Recreation and Park District was asked to put a discussion of how Board members are chosen on the January agenda. The request was made by a group of Sand Canyon residents spearheaded by Michael and April Biglay, Dr. Beverly Billingsley and the group that was actively opposing Measure R on the November ballot. Historically all members of the TVRPD Board are appointed, two by the Tehachapi City Council and three by the Kern County Board of Supervis...
Before any other business was transacted at the Jan. 7 City Council meeting, new council member Joan Pogon-Cord was sworn in by City Clerk Tori Marsh. Pogon-Cord had been out of town at the time of the Dec. 17, 2018 meeting. That done, Councilman Kenneth Hetge nominated Mayor Pro Tem Susan Wiggins to be the next mayor. She was unanimously elected. Councilman Mike Davies nominated Phil Smith as mayor pro tem and he also was unanimously elected. Kim Nixon was appointed to complete the Planning...
Before any other business was transacted at the Jan. 7 City Council meeting, new council member Joan Pogon-Cord was sworn in by City Clerk Tori Marsh. Pogon-Cord had been out of town at the time of the Dec. 17, 2018 meeting. That done, Councilman Kenneth Hetge nominated Mayor Pro Tem Susan Wiggins to be the next mayor. She was unanimously elected. Councilman Mike Davies nominated Phil Smith as mayor pro tem and he also was unanimously elected. Kim Nixon was appointed to complete the Planning...
