Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
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Since the pandemic struck last March the Federal Government, and rightfully so, has spent a lot of funds keeping Americans and small businesses from going under. But one thing we all know is somewhere down the line the bill will be due for all of this. Here are some ideas that have been bounced around in Washington. Please keep in mind none of these are in the proposal stage, but they have been discussed. The first idea being tossed around is the taxation of unrealized gains. Let's say for...
The City of Tehachapi's podcast TehachaPod has entered its second season of producing locally driven show topics. With 57 episodes released TehachaPod broke through the top 100 Apple Government Podcasts for the second time climbing to No. 45 on February 17. On that day, TehachaPod released an episode featuring the Tehachapi Unified School District Superintendent. The topic: the challenges faced by the school district to get kids back into the classroom. More than 650 downloads occurred...
Small Business Loyalty Program begins March 1 At the February 16 meeting the Tehachapi City Council unanimously approved the "Small Business Loyalty Program" aimed at incentivizing purchases at small businesses in the City of Tehachapi. For more information see article "Small Business Loyalty Program" on page 27. TehachaPod cracks top-100 in "Government Podcasts" on Apple Recent episodes include a conversation with Tehachapi Unified School District Superintendent Stacey Larson-Everson and...
Distance learning has been a reality for students across California since last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the full impact of physical school closures on student outcomes is yet to be fully realized, preliminary data show that schools across the state and nation are seeing a decrease in academic performance across all student groups. Today, the Kern Integrated Data System (KiDS) and Kern County’s three largest school districts released data that illustrates this trend l...
Assemblyman Vince Fong (R-Kern County) introduced a package of business relief legislation for the 2021 legislative session. During COVID-19, small businesses faced enormous challenges in light of the shutdowns across the state. In response, government has provided short-term grants and loans, however the best way to help businesses in the long-run is to provide regulatory relief and reform that reduces costs and burdens imposed by state government. The package includes three bills: AB 2:...
At the February 16 meeting the Tehachapi City Council unanimously approved the "Small Business Loyalty Program" aimed at incentivizing purchases at small businesses in the City of Tehachapi. Customers who purchase over $100 of goods/services at any small business within the City of Tehachapi can bring those receipts to City Hall from March 1-30. Qualifying purchases are those only from independently owned small businesses and exclude gas, alcohol and tobacco purchases. Other restrictions apply....
Demographics and Economic Opportunity Dashboard Launched The City of Tehachapi and eImpact have completed a new "Demographics and Economic Opportunity" dashboard that is now active on the city's website www.LiveUpTehachapi.com . The demographics report includes spending habits of consumers within the City of Tehachapi and serves as a tool for both current and potential business owners along with developers and site selectors considering the Tehachapi market for investment. This updated study...
On January 26, 2021, the City of Tehachapi Finance Department was advised they had received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for the second consecutive year. The GFOA notified Finance Director Hannah Chung her department had received the honor for the annual budget for fiscal year 2020-21. This award is considered the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting according to the GFOA. “The City of Tehachapi is very fortu...
The technologies and features we attribute to Artificial Intelligence (AI) are based on Machine Learning (ML). We currently don't have the technology to produce an artificial brain that thinks and understands the way our organic brains do. That kind of AI is called Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). The keyword here is general. A true AGI can "think" about multiple things and apply what it "thinks" about to different areas than it started with. Your organic brain can think about paying the...
Assemblyman Vince Fong (R-Kern County) announced the introduction of legislation to increase access to medical care providers and battle California's nurse shortage, particularly in light of the current pandemic. AB 410 would enter California into the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), an interstate agreement with 34 states that grants license reciprocity for Registered Nurses (RNs). As a member of the NLC, RNs in any Compact state would be eligible to practice in California. "During this pandemic,...
Josh Pierce, Manager of Training and Development at Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley was the featured speaker at the January 28 telephonic meeting of the Tehachapi Rotary Club. In his current role with AHTV, Pierce manages community outreach, business development, rehabilitation services, volunteer services, and facilitates the COVID-19 testing and vaccine programs for the hospital. Pierce joined the hospital staff about 18 months ago and has been referred to by co-workers as the "Swiss army...
On Thursday, February 18, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Houchin Community Blood Bank (HCBB) will be working with the City of Tehachapi and the Tehachapi Valley Recreation and Parks District (TVRPD) on a Tehachapi-wide blood drive. In 2020 the City of Tehachapi, TVRPD, & HCBB collaborated on 17 blood drives, receiving 594 units of donated blood that stayed in Kern County. The first blood drive of 2021 was cancelled in January due to snow and the freeway closure. Blood donations save lives, people needing...
Tony Marion, owner of Stockdale Tile and Flooring Center, has a long history of charitable and altruistic activities over the many years he has been in business. As his wife, Lori, states, her husband gives to "family, friends and foes." Many of Marion's charitable ventures have taken place in Bakersfield; however, recently he has branched out into Tehachapi, although in the past he has been a sponsor for the Tehachapi Mountain Rodeo. On February 3, he hired P-Dubs Brew Pub to cater the morning...
The City of Tehachapi and eImpact have completed a new “Demographics and Economic Opportunity” dashboard that is now active on the city’s website www.LiveUpTehachapi.com. The demographics report includes spending habits of consumers within the City of Tehachapi and serves as a tool for both current and potential business owners along with developers and site selectors considering the Tehachapi market for investment. This updated study includes a host of information and graphics from a varie...
Amanda Gordon was the lead-off speaker for the February meeting of the Tehachapi Mountain Democratic Club. She is the young poet laureate who spoke at President Biden’s inauguration. Amanda’s speech was actually a video of her reciting a poem called “Earthrise” which stressed the need to conserve and preserve our planet. It mirrored the importance of some of the steps the President is proposing in regard to the environment. Following this uplifting beginning, there was a general discussion by members of how they feel unrepresented and betraye...
California is nearing the one-year mark of the proclaimed state of emergency by Governor Gavin Newsom. The resilient people of California have endured absolute upheaval of their lives and means of earning a living in order to combat this pandemic. However, the public is rightfully frustrated as the Governor continues to mandate confusing shutdowns, move goalposts in a manner that defies logic, and is not transparent with the data in which he is making his decisions. As frustration continues to...
On January 25, Assemblyman Vince Fong (R-Kern County) released the following statement regarding Governor Newsom's sudden lift of California's stay-at-home orders: "The Governor has not been transparent with the data he is using to make shutdown decisions that have significantly upended the lives of so many people. We are seeing glaring inconsistencies about what methodology he is using and he continues to move the goal post in a manner that defies logic. Californians are fed up with being kept...
On January 26, the Kern County Board of Supervisors announced the appointment of Brynn Carrigan as the next director of Kern County Public Health. This appointment follows Director Matt Constantine's announcement of his intent to retire from his position in March 2021. Carrigan has been the assistant director of Kern County Public Health since 2012. Among her diverse responsibilities in managing departmental programs and services, she has served as Incident Commander for Public Health's...
Tehachapi Mayor Phil Smith presented former Mayor Susan Wiggins with a Certificate of Recognition at the January 19 virtual City Council meeting. Remarking about her professionalism, Smith thanked her for her, "leadership and dedication as Mayor of the City of Tehachapi." Wiggins stepped in as mayor following the passing of former Mayor Ed Grimes. "It has been my pleasure and honor to be mayor of this fine city,' said Wiggins. Per the State of California Executive Order N-29-20, this meeting...
The third Monday in January, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service. People of all racial and ethnic backgrounds celebrate the holiday by performing individual acts of kindness through service to others. In recognition of the holiday, Tehachapi Mountain Democratic Club spent the morning picking up trash along Tucker Road and Valley Blvd. Wearing masks and bright vests, members picked up lots of plastic bags and discarded masks. This is a...
It was a little over two years ago that Keith Sackawitz of Friends of the Depot appeared before a GTEDC meeting and presented the idea of building a viewing platform at the Loop Overlook on Woodford Tehachapi Rd. Over 12,000 visitors a year visit the Overlook said Sackawitz, many in tour buses and FOTD felt the narrow road and limited parking area was difficult and dangerous for visitors. The monument itself is too close to the road and in bad repair. The 144 year old Loop is known worldwide as...
As Valley Strong Credit Union begins building a new full-service branch in Tehachapi, the credit union continues to develop opportunities to build a financial relationship within the community and the surrounding areas. Valley Strong's Tehachapi Branch Manager Kristy Vasquez said that having a full-service branch and an exciting new promotion will help benefit the community in numerous ways. "Not only does it give members extra perks for opening a new checking account, it also helps support the...
Valley Strong Credit Union is proud to announce it will once again participate as a lender for the Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and offer support to businesses throughout the Central Valley. Valley Strong will begin accepting applications in the coming days and adhere to all program guidelines as outlined by the SBA. Continuing our ongoing commitment to local business, we have created an online resource at www.valleystrong.com/ppp. The page will include a...
4 Economic Development quick recap Despite the challenges in 2020 presented by COVID-19, the City of Tehachapi continued to see small, medium and large business investments as economic development efforts continued. The City of Tehachapi saw $6 million in new commercial permits and commercial improvements/renovations in 2020. This included a new Panda Express Restaurant as well as remodels to four additional new restaurants that opened in previously vacated spaces in 2020. Those were Tacos El...
Tehachapi Mountain Democratic Club, during its January meeting, looked at results of the 2020 election to understand how they might improve chances of winning Assembly and Congressional seats in the next election. Paul Mitchell, Founder of Redistricting Partners, presented his analysis of the vote. He explained that the 2020 election was unique because of high voter turn-out. At 80 percent, it was the highest number of total voters in California history. The high number was because anxiety promotes voting, and the pandemic and the vote-by-mail...
