Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
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Looking good – The Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District finances are looking better. The district has $5 million in cash, $3.1 million in reserves and $1 million in Medicare reserves. A year ago, Chief Financial Officer Chet Beedle reported to the board on June 16, the district had $500,000 in investments and $500,000 in the bank. District counsel Scott Nave said that healthy cash reserves must be kept for expenses related to lawsuits. Bond money cannot be used to settle lawsuits, he said. S...
The California High-Speed Rail (HSR) Authority, facing fierce opposition from property owners and governments along the proposed I-14 and San Fernando Valley track alignments, is ramping up its message that the fast rail line will bring Californians together. "It really does change the dynamics for the entire state," HSR spokesperson Valerie Martinez told the June 16 luncheon meeting of the Greater Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce at Don Juan's Restaurant. "It's a different view of how we move...
The city of Tehachapi's 2013-2014 mid-year budget adjustment, showing an anticipated fund balance change of negative $1.7 million, graphically illustrates the down-and-dirty battle between the city and the state of California over Redevelopment Agency (RDA) funds. The RDA program – which enabled Tehachapi to carry out acclaimed projects like the Centennial Plaza (and enabled less conscientious cities to rip off the program, which contributed to its demise) – no longer exists, but the city and...
I was sad and upset when the federal sequester of funds targeted things the public loves, like veterans memorials, national parks and especially the Navy/Marine Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron and the Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team. These exciting teams once again are giving the taxpayers their money's worth at air shows around the country. The Blue Angels performed at Lancaster's Fox Field at the Los Angeles County Air Show on Mar. 21-22. I was not able to attend, but our...
The Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District board of directors approved an expenditure of $25,000 to hire financial advisor and investment banker Gary Hicks to provide a plan for raising $20 million to complete the construction budget of the Tehachapi Replacement Critical Access Hospital. Interim Chief Executive Officer Evan Rayner said at the Mar. 26 board meeting at the Golden Hills Community Services District that the district "will come up with new ideas and explore other avenues of financing...
At its Mar. 19 meeting, the Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District board of directors mulled and tabled a proposal to pay for the construction of a new well that possibly could prevent a cutback in agricultural water delivery this drought year. The Golden Hills Community Services District would own the well, dubbed the Steuber Well after its location off Steuber Road just north of Highline Road at the east end of the Tehachapi Basin. Under the proposal, set forth by district Manager John Marti...
15 acres at the corner of Red Apple Ave. and Tucker Road The commercial corridor of Tucker Road has come 119,651 square feet closer to build-out. The Tehachapi City Council on Mar. 3 approved an agreement with Curtis Zacuto, principal of Westlake Village-based EcoTierra Consulting, to produce an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on a new shopping center called the Red Apple Pavilion. Located on the west side of Tucker on Red Apple Ave. (the western extension of Tehachapi Boulevard), the...
Following three-and-a-half months of intensive fundraising and the support of a generous community, it's on to Disneyland for the clients of Mountain Pathways, a private, non-profit day program in Tehachapi for adults with disabilities. Lead Staff Melissa Bell said the goal of $6,000 has been met, and will be sufficient to treat 40 clients to the trip, scheduled for April 29. Thirty-two adults currently are in the program; the additional funds will cover up to eight new clients. Any extra money...
The 2013-2014 second interim budget for the Tehachapi Unified School District, which updates the revenues and expenses for review by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, includes additional funding for Secondary programs and Special Education mental health services. Total revenues are projected to increase from $33,332,813 in the first interim budget report to $33,432,401. Reporting to the district trustees at the board meeting at the district board room on March 11, Nick Heinlein, chief a...
Wow – Forde Files had a hard time recognizing the man in black (with a cheery Irish shamrock tie) at the March 11 school board meeting. By now, Tompkins Elementary School Principal Shirden Prince is accustomed to the quizzical looks, as he has lost 160 pounds since undergoing duodenal switch surgery less than a year ago. Prince weighed in at 367 pounds at the time of the surgery, performed June 24, 2013, by Dr. Ara Keshishian at the Delano Regional Medical Center. Prince, 43, has exceeded his t...
The Antelope Valley Board of Trade Annual Business Outlook Conference ventured for the first in 42 years into Kern County, and the county emerged as a star. "The most rapidly growing economy is Kern County," economist Christopher Thornberg told the 1,000 attendees. "Folks, you live in a boom town. This is great!" Kern County, he said, has construction, retail, good local government and abundant energy resources. In Los Angeles County, he said, "The hotels are on fire." Kern County 2nd District...
In 2010, the principle water purveyors in the Greater Tehachapi area completed a Regional Urban Water Management Plan. In it, the Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District as Watermaster, the city of Tehachapi and the Golden Hills, Stallion Springs and Bear Valley community services districts mapped out a long-term plan for water management and conservation. The State Water Project's Jan. 31 declaration of a zero allocation for all its customers was not on the radar when that report was written....
Former United States District Judge Oliver W. Wanger told a Feb. 13 audience at the Tulare Ag Expo that Congress has given non-human species priority over humans, and the way to win the "water wars" is to elect legislators who will change the law. "A judge no longer has equitable discretion," said Wanger, whose decisions on California environmental water issues have become a flash point for Central Valley ranchers and farmers. "They have only species on the scale. Humans and the economy are not...
The Tulare Ag Expo – located a quick drive up Hwy. 99 in Tulare County and held every February – is a cornucopia of shiny monster farming machines, down home visiting, community pride, international marketing and big-money purchases. Industrial vendors may write their entire year's contracts at the expo, which is the world's largest annual agricultural exposition (there's a larger one in Europe that is held every two years). The agricultural machines cost in the hundreds of thousands of dol...
Our loss – Lisa Gilbert, Tehachapi Unified School District's dynamic superintendent, has accepted the position of Chief Academic Officer for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools. Gilbert will finish the school year in Tehachapi and start her new job July 1. She will oversee curriculum instruction and accountability, migrant education for region five, school community partnerships and Community Connections for Child Care. "I'm excited," Gilbert told Forde Files. "Those particular areas of t...
CEQA judge will render final decision The Tehachapi City Council unanimously approved the construction of a 165,000-square-foot Walmart Supercenter at a special meeting Jan. 27 in the Tehachapi High School cafeteria. The matter now moves back to the courtroom of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Judge Kenneth Twisselman, who, on June 22, 2013, had ordered additional environmental studies on traffic, noise and water. He will rule on the adequacy of those Environmental Impact Report...
In its annual election of officers Jan. 29 in the crowded hospital conference room, the five-member Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District Board of Directors elected Mike Nixon, its newest member, to the position of president. The action ends the 10-year presidency of Dr. Sam Conklin, who will now serve as second vice president. "I've had it for a long time," Conklin said in response to Director Henry Schaeffer's comment that "Dr. Conklin has done a hell of a good job." The board appointed Nixon...
Lifeguards prepare to welcome public! At their orientation session, the group of nine young lifeguards who will be working at Dye Natatorium when it re-opens to the public Feb. 10 got a pep talk from the heart. "Welcome to the new era of life guarding," Tehachapi Recreation and Park District Manager Matt Young told them. "No other job instils responsibility like life guarding. Your responsibility from day one is public safety. "You're the person people come to and thank for keeping us safe."...
Money – The Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District cash on hand has gone up for the last two months, with $1,340,000 in the bank as of Jan. 29. Outreach – Formerly a volunteer, Teri Cryer is now a certified crime prevention specialist with the Tehachapi Police Department following training in San Diego. Cryer works with everyone from children to seniors and presents crime prevention programs for businesses. She organizes Senior Day at the movies and put together the "Shop with a Cop" event bef...
BUT IT'S BAD... "We are hoping for a March Miracle or a Fabulous February." - John Martin, Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District manager John Martin, manager of the Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District, is mapping out a battle plan to combat potential agriculture water shortages arising from the statewide drought. The plan includes recovering district-owned water from the Kern Water Bank, utilizing unused wells, filling up the reservoir and meeting with growers to discuss scheduling of...
Developers of the proposed Bay Delta Conservation Plan, now in a 120-day public comment and review period, are on a 12-city trek around the state to explain the ambitious project to the people. On its second stop, Jan. 16 at the Four Points Sheraton in Bakersfield, visitors were treated to free glossy publications, CDs of the environmental impact reports (EIR/EIS), a court reporter to take public comments, a roomful of well-executed posters and about 20 project team members from various...
California Assembly measure ACA5 that would have required a physician to notify parents or guardian of a minor girl prior to carrying out an abortion failed to pass the Assembly Health Committee on Jan. 14. Tehachapi’s representative Shannon Grove, R-District 34, introduced ACA5 (Assembly Constitutional Amendment), which received five “aye” votes, 12 “no” votes and two “no votes recorded.” The vote was along party lines. The Republicans supported the measure and the Democrats rejected it. ACA5 w...
Tehachapi Police Chief Jeff Kermode reports that FBI-tracked "Part 1" crimes in the city dropped 19 percent from 2012 to 2013. The total number of reported crimes in that category was 580 in 2012. For the year 2013, the total fell to a total of 472. "Part 1" crimes include homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault, burglary, larceny, auto theft and arson. See chart. The only "Part 1" crime that increased in the city of Tehachapi was rape, with five in 2013 compared to four in...
Welcome! – Triassic Legacy Vineyard has new owners – three siblings whose roots run deep in Tehachapi. Jim Arnold of Newport Beach, with his wife Sally, sold his company and moved to Bear Valley Springs, where his family has had a presence for 42 years. His sister Annie Arnold, who is the vineyard marketing manager, moved from Carlsbad to Bear Valley Springs. The third member of this troika is Country Real Estate broker/associate Teri Juergens. Their mother Alvalee Arnold was an original Bea...
Construction on the Tehachapi Replacement Hospital (replacing the seismically outdated 1956 hospital currently in use) is proceeding smoothly as welders bond massive steel beams and concrete floors take shape. The awesome girth of the structure is seen in these photos taken Jan. 2, 2014. Left, Superintendent Rick Bussard, Jr. of Bernards-Colombo and Project Inspector Ron Hastie stride in front of the medical-surgical unit; below left, beams for the backbone-walkway rise above the med-surg unit;...
