Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
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Two new laws lay out comprehensive, permanent water restrictionsOn May 15, 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown signed two water conservation bills into law, Assembly Bill 1668 and Senate Bill 606. The twin bills, which are lengthy amendments to the state Water Code, limit the amount of water that residents will be allowed to use. Under the legislation -- unless state agencies decide to change it -- each person in a residence will be allowed to use 55 gallons of water a day until Jan. 1, 2025,...
Members of the California State University, San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly Space Systems rocketry club had high hopes for its "HM-7 heavy" – a 15.08-foot-long, hybrid motor, 150-pound vehicle named The Kronheim Rocket after a former faculty advisor. They had been working on the beast for two years, refining the valves, the pressures, the ignition and fuel mixtures, the connections, the design. Except for two government-mandated pressure vessels, they had fabricated and machined every part of the rock...
The Tehachapi Valley Recreation and Park District survey taken to gather public response to a proposed general obligation bond found that the crucial threshold of 2/3 "yes" votes may be attainable. T The survey company recommended that the district consider placing a bond measure on the Nov. 2018 ballot. The Rec & Park board of directors would need to pass a resolution by Aug. 10 to qualify for the Nov. 6 ballot. The final tally of "yes" responses in the 400-person survey was 63.5 percent, with...
Adventist to return old hospital, other leased buildings to healthcare district When the new hospital opens (and it will, soon, honest), Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley plans to return the old Tehachapi Hospital building to the Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District. "We're going to get the original hospital back," district board member Christine Sherrill said at the May 15 board meeting at 305 South Robinson St. "We are looking at options for the community". Other buildings on the 100 block of...
Wind energy generates more than thirty percent of the power in four mid-western plains states, according to the American Wind Energy Association's U.S. Wind Industry Annual Market Report 2017. Iowa leads the wind energy parade, with 36.9 percent of its power emanating from wind turbines dotted throughout the rural landscape. Kansas is next, with 36.0 percent of its power coming from the turbines, followed by Oklahoma with 31.9 percent and South Dakota with 30.1 percent. Fourteen states derived...
It was a great turn out at McMullan Hall for the 32nd Annual Kiwanis Prayer Breakfast on May 3 as speaker Daryl Ragsdale, business development director for World Wind & Solar, shared his compelling story of faith. "It was the picture of unity, of believers and others coming together for a common purpose," Ragsdale told The Loop. The event, he said, "highlights the importance of the power of prayer." Kiwanis Prayer Breakfast Chairman Don Bowman, a retired Salvation Army officer, said the...
Pacific Crest Trail hikers, having conquered 566 miles from the Mexican border to Hwy. 58 (or 558 miles to Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road), and eager to begin the next leg into the southern Sierras, can camp at Aviator Park at the Tehachapi Municipal Airport for $5 and take a shower at a portable facility. Aside from landscape watering on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (8 -10 a.m. and 8 -10 p.m. – no wonder it's so green) and the unfamiliar train whistles, it's likely a pleasant stay. The p...
Dalton and David SteeleReed of Tehachapi and Rachel Newkirk of West Golden Hills have taken the concept of Tehachapi hiker hospitality to a new dimension with the opening of their Hiker Depot in a house at 115 S. Mojave St. At the house, named "Wits' End," Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) hikers can relax, make connections, use the wi-fi, recharge their devices, collect and send packages of supplies or grab a snack. "This is a new thing for Tehachapi," Dalton SteeleReed said. "We are open 8 a.m. to 4...
SB 54 prohibits police, sheriff deputies from cooperating on most ICE actions Law enforcement jurisdictions in the Greater Tehachapi area are upholding the California state law that prohibits them from assisting federal authorities in most illegal immigration enforcement activities. "It's not a big problem. It's no problem at all," Tehachapi Chief of Police Kent Kroeger said to Forde Files. "There is extensive policy regarding immigration violation. If there is a request for information from...
Under the leadership of Safety Officer Rob Dixon, the Old West Ranch Property Owners Association has acquired a disaster trailer fully stocked with supplies. The trailer is shared with Mountain Meadows Community Services District. Supplies in the trailer include first aid items, lights, shovels, a bolt-cutter, water, a chain saw, saline solution, hygiene items, road cones, a generator and more. Dixon is the Old West Ranch CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) leader. The Old West Ranch CERT...
Kiwanis Prayer Breakfast -- The National Day of Prayer on Thurs., May 3, kicks off in Tehachapi with the 32nd Annual Kiwanis Prayer Breakfast, 6:45 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at McMullan Hall, St. Malachy Catholic Church, 407 East E St. Tickets are $10, available at The Loop, the Christian Store, from a Kiwanis member and at the door. Other events are at 12 noon in front of City Hall, 115 S. Robinson St., and, the All-City Church Service at Mountain Bible Church, 630 Maple St., from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m....
The court-ordered realignment of the five Kern County Supervisor districts to create a second Hispanic-majority voting bloc has produced an expanded District 2 that is the size of a small kingdom. Tehachapi resident Zack Scriver represents District 2, which will lose portions of its area to other districts while expanding across the entire lower half of Kern County from the San Bernardino County line to the San Luis Obispo County line. Beginning with the Nov. 6, 2018 election, the District 2...
The theme of the National Day of Prayer on May 3 is "Unity." The theme of the men's weekly Bible study led by World Wind and Solar Business Development Director Daryl Ragsdale is "Together." Those twin themes will blend in harmony at 6:45 a.m. on May 3 as Ragsdale addresses the Annual Prayer Breakfast, sponsored for 32 years by the Kiwanis Club of Tehachapi. Together men's Bible study, launched four years ago, draws 60 to 80 men every Tuesday for a catered pizza dinner and an ecumenical evening...
Vortex of fun – As a resident of downtown Tehachapi, Forde Files has observed that many families and children who use the new Kern County Library Tehachapi Branch on Green Street eveery day. It's a joy to see the eager faces skipping along to get into the building, to find new books and to sprawl on the comfortable sofas in the children's section. Since its grand opening Dec. 4, thefacility has had its start-up bumps, as the head librarian left, and staff has been working hard to learn the ropes...
Mountainbase, a private weather reporting station located at Oak Knolls in Golden Hills, reports that the total rainfall in March through the 28th was 3.06 inches, which is 1.41 inches more than usual for the month ("departure from the norm"). The first two months of the calendar year were considerably drier than usual, with 0.91 inches in January (1.26 inches less than normal) and 0.14 inches in February (1.59 inches less than normal). The days and days of the persistent but gentle March rain...
The Forde Files No. 166...
The Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District board of directors wanted to say yes, but state regulations say no to swimming in Brite Lake. At its Mar. 21 meeting at the 22901 Banducci Road district headquarters, the board agreed to share district counsel Bernard Barmann's "Privileged and Confidential Memorandum" of research on the issue of swimming in the lake with the Tehachapi Valley Recreation and Park District (TVRPD) and let the Rec & Park District decide how to pursue it. The Rec & Park...
With the installation of more bike lanes in the greater Tehachapi area and the growth of participation in the Tehachapi GranFondo event, an increasing number of bicyclists are sharing the road with motorized vehicles. Cyclists obey the same traffic rules as motor vehicles, including stopping at all stoplights and signs. To be safe, riders need to be aware of their surroundings and be able to anticipate where trouble might arise. Forde Files here reprints a series of graphics and information...
Rio Tinto, owner of one of the three largest borate resources in the world and the largest open pit mine in California, welcomes visitors to its Boron Visitor Center, seven days a week from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Boron is 51 miles east of Tehachapi on Hwy.. 58. Mary Beth Garrison, the company's Boron public relations director (above, speaking at the Feb. 7 meeting of the Greater Tehachapi Economic Development Council at the Tehachapi Police Department community room) has a team of hosts to...
The embattled California High-Speed Rail Authority, fending off cries of "boondoggle" from detractors and awash in financial challenges, has issued a new business plan that attempts to tackle the turmoil head-on and set a fresh course. Completion of the rail line into Bakersfield is central to the success of the project, in addition to "bookend" improvements at the ends of the line. A March 9, 2018 press release from the California High-Speed Rail Authority says the plan "transparently...
Police Dept. School Resource Officer Amy Smith knows the students Tehachapi Police Department Officer Amy Smith is a visible presence at the six Tehachapi Unified School District (TUSD) sites. As the School Resource Officer, Smith handles law enforcement problems that arise among the students as well as providing support for the students and staff. "The kids are great," she told Forde Files. "They are personable, friendly. The kids talk to me." Smith spends most of her time on the campuses of...
The first order of business at the Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District Feb. 21 board meeting was to pass a resolution commending Pipeline Superintendent Alex Steele for 40 years of service to the district. Tehachapi native Steele began working for the Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District on Feb. 3, 1978. Steele was 20 years old. After his 1976 graduation from Tehachapi High School, he worked for the Tehachapi Valley Recreation and Park District, Revere Aluminum in Mojave and as a...
The Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District board of directors has appointed former district employee Christine Sherrill to fill the board seat left vacant by Don Napier. Sherrill took the oath of office at the board's Feb. 20, 2018 meeting at district headquarters, 305 Robinson St. During 16 years with the district, Sherrill worked as quality and risk manager, health information manager, acting compliance officer and privacy officer. She will fill the seat until the election in November, at which...
Kim Fahey made a big splash in the news three years ago when Los Angeles County, citing building code violations on his Acton property, ordered his fanciful structures – including a huge treehouse – torn down. He and his wife Pat packed up their collection of thousands of books, science fiction toys, model dinosaurs, vintage mechanical objects and art work and found a house on six acres in Sand Canyon. Fahey, 66, has been remaking the overgrown parcel into a whimsical wonderland of his own des...
The 2019 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) budget "reflects confidence that America will lead the way back to the moon," Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot said Feb. 12. In announcing the 2019 NASA budget from the Marshall Space Flight Center at Huntsville, Ala., Lightfoot said the budget of $19.9 billion was a $400 million increase over last year and supports a renewed focus on space flight activities. "We're once again on a path toward the moon with an eye toward Mars....
