Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Sorted by date Results 726 - 750 of 906
During her report at the June 13 School Board Meeting, Superintendent Susan Andreas-Bervel announced Golden Hills Elementary teacher Jennifer Butler as District Certificated Employee of the Year and THS Special Ed Para-educator Clint Cass as District Classified Employee of the Year. The honorees were chosen from Employees of the Year from each school. For a full list with pictures, visit the District website at www.teh.k12.ca.us/ and click on "Newsletter". THS principal Scott Heitman announced...
Sailplanes of all sizes and colors gathered at Mountain Valley Airport over Memorial Day weekend for the 2017 Western Vintage Sailplane Regatta. The perfect weather brought out flight enthusiasts to watch and ride the sleek long winged aircraft. Sailplane owners competed on Sunday morning in the spot landing contest. The sailplane is towed into the air, released and the pilot must bring it back to earth as close as possible to a spot on the runway. The winner of this year's contest was Vern Fues...
Mike and Lisa Monahan had lived in Chino Hills, part of the Inland Empire of San Bernardino County, for 35 years. They raised their two children there. Both of them worked for Southern California Edison, Lisa in IT and Mike was a purchasing agent. Lisa said that her job was eventually outsourced, so it was time to think about retiring. Their son, Jason now works for Kern County Fire and lives in Bear Valley Springs with his wife and two children. The lure of grandchildren and living in a...
Cecelia “CeCe” Hozman moved into her new home in Tehachapi at the beginning of April. I knew she was coming here because a mutual friend in Santa Barbara gave me a “heads up” that the president of the Santa Barbara Women’s Club was moving here when her term of office was up. Even before I had a chance to officially welcome her to Tehachapi, we met at the Nonprofit Showcase. By welcome time, it was like we were old friends. CeCe moved to Santa Barbara in 2005 and after 12 years she was ready for...
At their first banquet, Honoring the Thin Blue Line, the Tehachapi Police Foundation and over 400 guests honored four special individuals who were selected by their Police Department supervisors and peers as the best of 2016-2017. Each honoree was presented with a Certificate of Recognition from the City and from the offices of Zack Scrivner, Vince Fong, Jean Fuller and Kevin McCarthy. Mayor Ed Grimes and City Manager Greg Garrett were both on had to congratulate the honorees. The Officer of...
Five members of the Tehachapi High School Robotics team appeared at the May 23 School Board meeting to express their concerns about the possible elimination of the engineering courses that have enabled the Robotic Team to be such a smashing success. According to Principal Scott Heitman, he is considering the elimination of engineering classes and replacing them with digital photo and graphic design. "We have 120 students interested in the art classes," said Heitman, "and only 35 interested in...
In November of 2014, the Tehachapi City Council earmarked several years of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds towards improving and connecting the pieces of sidewalk on the north side of H Street across from the Union Pacific rail line and on the east side of North Green Street between H and J Streets (see map). Since that time, the city has been refining and designing the Northside Neighborhood Sidewalk project. The last step for starting the project is an agreement between the...
At the May 11 East Kern Economic Alliance meeting, Adventist Health president and CEO Charlotte Briggs spoke about the problems that the healthcare district has faced in getting the new hospital licensed and open. Thanks to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), many codes have changed since the beginning of construction and the hospital must meet all the codes before it can be licensed and "there is licensing for everything," she said. Most frustrating are the new...
It was a beautiful Tehachapi morning on Wednesday, May 24 for the 8th Annual Intermediate Space Challenge. Over 700 4th and 5th graders from the three Tehachapi elementary schools, Carden School and Valley Oaks Charter School arrived by the busload at Tehachapi Airport to shoot off colorful rockets that were made by each of the classes. The competition is sponsored by The Arts, Science and Technology Educational Corporation of Tehachapi. AST's goal is to spark interest in science, engineering...
Zack Scrivner addressed the Kern County budget crisis at the May Chamber of Commerce luncheon. He told local businesses that the shortfall was primarily due to the unprecedented drop in oil prices. Oil prices were once over $100 a barrel. This dropped first to $55 a barrel and then to $35. The resulting shortfall caused a drastic reduction in tax revenue for the county and local communities. He added that oil reserves have been used to mitigate the loss but the budget still will need to be cut...
After having spent 30 years living and working in Yorba Linda, Laura Asbill knew that she wanted a change of scenery away from Southern California. She tried Prescott, Ariz. but she was not happy with that choice. Her business partner owned a rental house in Bear Valley Springs and he suggested that she take a look at it. They ended up trading houses; he bought hers and she bought his. For Laura it was downsizing but she loved it. However, since arriving in Tehachapi last summer, she has been...
May proclaimed Asthma Awareness Month At the May 1 City Council Meeting, Mary Hash and Abigail Romo of the Asthma Coalition of Kern County received a proclamation naming May as Asthma Awareness month. Presenting the certificate, Mayor Ed Grimes said that while he does not have Asthma, he does have chronic bronchitis and knows of many with childhood asthma. "It can kill," he said. The women thanked Mayor Grimes for the proclamation. Hash said that it is the top chronic condition of children in Ke...
The Tehachapi High School Robotics Team 585 demonstrated their robot. Toastie, named for its color, and the Team completed a successful year of competition that took them to the International Finals in Houston, Texas. First Steamworks was the theme for this year and the group had six weeks to complete the robot for competition. The robot can pick up gears and climb a rope, two of the criteria for this year's competition. First Team 585 received the Engineering Inspiration Award at the...
On May 18 at Rose Garden Estate in Cummings Valley, the Tehachapi Police Foundation will hold its first banquet, Honoring the Thin Blue Line. At the event, they will be honoring four people for their exemplary service to the Department and to the community. Alejandro Barajas will be named Officer of the year by the Tehachapi Police Department. Originally from the Arvin Police Department, Barajas has been with the TPD for over two years. He is the School Resource Officer (SRO) and is devoted to...
Will and Kami Dennis lived in Bakersfield for five years but wanted to move their family to more open spaces. They looked for more than two years. Will said that he wanted to go back to Wyoming where he was born but Kami had relatives in Bakersfield and wanted to stay close by. They found that there were wide open spaces, natural surroundings and four seasons available right here in Tehachapi and that would be a good solution for everyone. They finally found exactly what they needed, 53 acres...
Assemblyman Vince Fong spoke in absentia at the April Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Fong, who was called out of town, phoned in his update on the new California gas tax and other issues in Sacramento. Only in the Assembly for three months, Fong found himself Vice Chair of the Transportation Committee. The gas tax issue was just "pure raw politics" said Fong; a vote being taken only when they were sure they had the votes for passage. The 12 cent a gallon tax, which goes into effect on Nov. 1, wil...
Walmart update At the April 17 City Council meeting, Development Services Director Jay Schlosser presented two Walmart related issues. At their Feb. 21 Council meeting, the Tehachapi City Council voted for Mayor Ed Grimes to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Tehachapi and Walmart for the formation of a Mello-Roos Communities Facilities District. This CFD, financed entirely by Walmart, would ensure that Walmart would pay for landscaping, lighting and any additional police...
Much activity on Monroe campus Monroe Principal Steve Bsharah assisted by Jaime Lopez and Brittany McCalman updated the School Board on the year's activities at the Monroe campus including Monroe Continuation High School, Tehachapi Independent Learning Academy (TILA), the Adult School and Cerro Coso Community College. All programs operate out of the Monroe facility. Monroe is focusing on attendance this year, using letters and the School Resource Officer to meet with parents. They have had guest...
Ellen Hayes and Jared Ehlers moved into their Bear Valley home in January. Jared had actually bought the home in 2015 but had never moved in. He met Ellen who was living in Clovis, and that stalled his move to Tehachapi. Jared was raised in Hanford. He has a brother there and a sister who now lives in Costa Mesa. He worked for the Forest Service for some time before signing onto his present job with Kern County Fire. He is currently completing his Bachelor’s Degree online. He is into cars and w...
Police Foundation Fundraiser Jim Wallace and Kim Nixon, representing the Tehachapi Police Foundation, appeared before the City Council on April 3 to present plans for their Honoring the Thin Blue Line Banquet which will be held on May 18 at Rose Garden Estate in Cummings Valley. The event will occur during National Police Week which was established in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy. This will be the first event sponsored by the Tehachapi Police Foundation that was founded last year. Nixon als...
A bus load of students from the Levan Institute for Lifelong Learning and Bakersfield College became the first tour bus to visit our Tehachapi vineyards. The group was lead by instructor Mike Stepanovich who is current wine and food editor for Bakersfield Magazine and who was affiliated with Bakersfield College for many years until his retirement in 2014. The tour was the culmination of his wine tasting class at the college and was called Exploring California Vineyards and Wineries. Stepanovich...
At the end of February, Robert Stevens arrived in Tehachapi from Sunnyvale, Calif. to begin his new job as Nondestructive Engineer with The Spaceship Company in Mojave. Basically, his job will be to test metals and other materials for defects and weaknesses. For the last six and a half years, Robert worked for Northrup Grumman Marine Systems in Sunnyvale. He had grown tired of commuting and the Bay area traffic. He said he was starting to think about retiring. Then he heard through a Facebook...
The Tehachapi Unified School Board met in closed session with a labor negotiator for more than two hours prior to their regular Board meeting only to report that no action would be taken leaving the teachers without a new contract offer. The TAT had rejected the offer presented by the District in February which included a salary increase of 3.5 percent and increase in health benefits. It is the addition of 40 minutes to the school day for elementary teachers that the teachers say amounts to a...
The annual Brite Lake Fishing Derby is being held on April 1. After having to cancel last year's Fishing Derby due to the drought and lack of availability of fish, TVRPD was happy to announce it is happening this year thanks to corporate and business sponsors. It was thought that the current price of fish could again cause the cancellation of the event. Fishing enthusiast and businessman Steve Shaw reported that he had approached local businesses for donations totaling $1,000. Lehigh Southwest...
Ed and Lisa Sanchez arrived in Tehachapi on Jan. 28. For Ed it was coming home. He was born and raised here but had not lived here since high school. Although living in beautiful San Diego, they were ready for a simpler, less expensive lifestyle for their family. With his 25 years in the mortgage lending business, he has been added to the staff of Dignified Home Loans in downtown Tehachapi. Ed is the youngest of six children, three boys and three girls. One of his sisters still lives here and...
