Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Sorted by date Results 176 - 200 of 327
Every once in a while Mother Nature likes to prove to us just how small we really are. The latest series of earthquakes in Ridgecrest, that started on July 4, were that harsh reminder. We of course felt and continue to feel them here in Tehachapi, ourselves no stranger to major earthquakes given our location to active faults in the area. Ridgecrest, Trona and the Searles Valley took the brunt of the hit and the resulting damage. We continue to work with Ridgecrest city officials as we exercise o...
With a 4-0 vote, the Tehachapi City Council approved a new five-year police contract at the June 17 council meeting. “We felt it was a fair and equitable contract for both sides,” said Tehachapi Police Officers Association President Wayne Horning. “It was a pleasure working with Chief Kroeger and the City of Tehachapi to reach an unheard of five-year agreement,” said Horning. The new contract reduces the pay scale from 15 steps to five steps for both police officers and senior officers. Officers will receive a 3.6 percent Cost of Living...
Civil societies are those in which ideas are explored openly with the intent of discovering truth. This is done through the process of public meetings, community workshops and other engagement tools offered by the City of Tehachapi. Recently some have taken issue with the three minutes that are limited to each speaker at Tehachapi City Council meetings. This time limit certainly isn't new, but recently with the increased amount of public business and disruptions, it was necessary to enforce...
The Tehachapi City Council last Monday night approved a balanced five-year budget for the City of Tehachapi. During my tenure as City Manager the budget has always been balanced, that is a theme that has been ingrained in my staff as they prepare their departmental budgets and set their goals each year. The budget is a reflection of those goals, their accomplishments, projects and initiatives to better the City. It is the playbook by which we plan the coming fiscal year as well as the...
Ever wonder if the faces on area murals are actually those of real Tehachapi residents? This week I divert from my normal column, taken from my mother Marion Deaver's files, to highlight one of those faces. I met with a much taller Tanner Garrett, son of Greg and Chrissie Garrett, who had his profile added to the BeeKay Theatre mural, which depicts present and past residents of this wonderful mountain city of Tehachapi. The mural was nearing completion when Tanner, a graduate of Tehachapi High...
Recently the Tehachapi Police Foundation, a wonderful group of community volunteers who raise funds to help purchase equipment for the Tehachapi Police Department, held their annual awards ceremony and honored some very-worthy individuals. John Funderburk was named "Volunteer of the Year," Mark Machanic was recognized as "Civilian Employee of the Year" and Richard Kiser was named "Officer of the Year." All three have tremendously helped our organization under the leadership of Police Chief Kent...
Tehachapi Heritage League, Main Street Tehachapi and the City of Tehachapi joined together on May 7 to dedicate 16 plaques describing different aspects of local history that line the two and a half block section of S. Green St. from Tehachapi Blvd. to the Tehachapi Museum at 310 S. Green St. The project was the result of a joint effort to beautify Downtown Tehachapi and to educate residents and visitors about the city's history and what makes Tehachapi a special place. It is a true joint...
The California High-Speed Rail project appeared to be careening toward oblivion when California Governor Gavin Newsom said in his Feb. 12 State of the State address that "Currently, there simply isn't a path to get from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from San Francisco to LA." Echoing opponents of the project, Newsom said there had been "too little oversight and not enough transparency." Rather than abandoning the High-Speed Rail plan, the new governor chose to reduce the monster to smaller...
The May 2 National Day of Prayer in Tehachapi featured three events that began with the 33rd Annual Kiwanis Prayer Breakfast at McMullan Hall, St. Malachy Catholic Church. Shown at the breakfast, (left to right) Tehachapi City Manager Greg Garrett; guest speaker Tehachapi Mayor Susan Wiggins; United Methodist Church Pastor Rev. Falamao Samate, who prayed for state, county and local governance; and Kiwanis Prayer Breakfast Chairman Don Bowman. Pastor John Lopez of the First Baptist Church led...
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...
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...
There's no denying the fact that we live in an amazing place. In a mountain valley that looms over deserts to our east and rich agriculture valleys to our west. Tehachapi was forged from its very beginnings to be unique, set apart from our neighbors, outside of the mold that has been cast around us. You could credit this to science, or a creator, that's your business but I know where I stand and what has been placed in our hands is nothing short of divine. We were provided with God-given...
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...
Legendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey had a well-known feature that was heard by millions of Americans on radio stations across the country each week, it was called "The Rest of the Story." His features included more information on stories that were reported in the news media and throughout history. "The Rest of the Story" was Harvey's chance to tell everyone what really happened. It's been grossly-underreported over the last few weeks about what is actually being prioritized by the City of Te...
I had heard multiple comments over the last few months that it doesn't snow in Tehachapi "like it used to" or like "when I was a kid." I know my former classmate Jon Hammond even wrote about that sentiment recently as well. Thanks Jon, it seems like it hasn't stopped snowing since. The recent series of snow storms added to the charm of Tehachapi and brought back those memories of "real" snow. Not the one-inch icy varieties that became commonplace the last few years, but a real measurable snow...
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...
On Feb. 12 during his “State of the State” address, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a scaled-back effort for the California High Speed Rail project. As initially proposed, the City of Tehachapi was to be impacted by the rail line to connect Northern and Southern California. Although not considered for a stop, the rail project was proposed to run through the Capital Hills area, across Highway 58 and through Steuber and Tehachapi Willow Springs Roads. The new focus for the project fro...
Keeps getting better – The city of Tehachapi will be debt-free in two years, Tehachapi City Manager Greg Garrett told the Greater Tehachapi Economic Development Council on Feb. 6. "The budget is solid as a rock," he said. The city is financing the new Police Department parking lot in-house. He said the city has partnered with Waste Management and churches in a community engagement program to help people clean up their yards. Some people are older and can't manage the task on their own, and o...
The City of Tehachapi has joined several other stakeholders throughout Kern County in assisting the Kern Economic Development Corporation with a new talent, innovation and entrepreneurship endeavor. The end goals are to create a support structure for upstart businesses in Kern County and help them grow into major economic contributors in our area. At the kickoff meeting, Tehachapi representatives suggested one thing when it came to the 10-year goals for this organization, sustainability. What...
12 has arrived and as the City Manager I have the privilege of spending some time in the coming weeks bragging about the accomplishments over the last 12 months in our soon-to-be-released 2018 Annual Report. For those that aren't familiar, each year we release an annual report that recaps the accomplishments by our City in the previous year and spend late January and February presenting the multimedia version of the report as a guest speaker at various community gatherings, including the...
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...
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...
I've written before about the great work being done by very smart and talented people on behalf of the City of Tehachapi. It's work that has an everyday positive impact for the community, our citizens and those who simply visit Tehachapi to experience for themselves the wonderful place we've created. That work continues to be recognized regionally and from time to time we'll be awarded for those efforts. This year I'm happy to announce that the Kern Council of Governments has selected the City...
After a long and somewhat contentious election campaign season, the newly elected City Council members were sworn in at the Dec. 17 City Council meeting. Mayor Pro Tempore Susan Wiggins and Councilman Phil Smith were both reelected by their districts and Michael Davies was elected to complete the at-large term of the late Mayor Ed Grimes. The other new member to the Council, Joan Pogon-Cord, was out of town and will be sworn in at the Jan. 7 meeting. A recount held prior to the Monday night...
