2009 Small Business of The Year Volume 21, #12
Dec. 20 - Jan. 7, 2012
Be included in the fun!
Tehachapi’s Favorite Source for Community News & Entertainment
Take one!
www.theLoopNewspaper.com
Read up! Mountains inspire Tehachapi brand by Tina Forde
The mountains surrounding Tehachapi are the inspiration for the area’s new branding campaign unveiled Dec. 5 at the Tehachapi City Council meeting. “We already have a reputation,” said Tehachapi Capital Projects Manager Chris Kirk in presenting the results of the research. “We uncovered the brand.” “A brand is not a logo and a logo is not a brand,” Kirk said, emphasizing that the logo graphic is a starting point. “It’s about reputation – what people
FREE
say about you when you’re not around. It’s a promise that’s unique and relevant.” Months of study and research in collaboration with Nashville-based North Star Destination Strategies led a local team to settle on an evocative mountain image incorporating calligraphy-like strokes and a promotional message that good things abide in Tehachapi’s higher elevation and mountain environment – hence the creative use of the concept of Up.
(continued on pg. 18 Branding)
NEWS
Find out the latest on... èPegasus èWind Industry èPerforming Arts Center Also inside this issue • Adopt-A-Pet section • • Holiday Shopping Guide • • Dining Guide • • Money Saving Coupons • • New Years Celebrations
Page 2
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Inside This Issue
Page 4 Real Estate Spotlight • Tehachapi Skywatch Page 5 My’ Success Consultant • Shag said... Page 6 LaBella Amore • Have A Heart For Hoppers Page 7-10 Adopt-A-Pet • Wrangler Round-up Horse Events • In the Dog House Page 11 Jennifer’s Thoughts... • Know the Science Page 12 Music Notes • Readin’ & Writin’ Page 14-15 Shop Local for the Holidays - directory A Culinary Christmas Canon by Go Green Bunny Page 16-18 The Forde Files Page 19 Daydreams • Lost in the Stars • Bob - the ‘Wine Guy’ Page 20 Somewhere Out There • Yoga 101 Page 21 Dr. Brady - the ‘Spine Guy’ • Meet Your New Neighbors Page 22 The Butcher’s Wife • Memories of the Mayor Page 23 Tilting at Windmills - Part X Page 24-25 Business Directory • Classifieds Page 26 Classic Car Page 27 Mortgage Matters Page 28 Seasons Eatings – Local dining offers and events
The Loop Our next issue will be on stands: Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012 Deadline is DEC. 30, 2011 Sales: Heather Pardus Distribution: Adam Bailey Copy Editor: Christopher Gripkey Layout & Photography: Sam White Publisher & Layout: Claudia Henson Production Manager: Alysia Bailey
Hilltop Publishers; Home of The Loop newspaper 204 South Green St. in Downtown Tehachapi, CA 93561 www.theLoopNewspaper.com • sales@theLoopNewspaper.com Phone: 661-822-8188 • Fax: 661-822-5646 Classified Ads: Call or email. Deadline Wednesday at 4 p.m. a week before publication date. For rates please call our office. Distribution to Tehachapi, Bear Valley, Stallion Springs, Keene, Mojave, Rosamond, California City, Edwards Airforce Base, Bakersfield and Lancaster. Mailing directly to homes. The Loop has been East Kern’s guide to entertainment and local news since 2001. It is picked up and read by over 11,000 readers (22,000 monthly) and delivered to over 250 locations, two times a month. Subscriptions are available for price of mailing. Editorial Policy: Opinions of
contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of staff or management. All humor is strictly meant for fun and not intended to offend. All contents of are the property of Hilltop Publishers.
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Spotlight on Business
There’s a New Designer in Town by Adam Bailey and Susan Palm
Experienced flower arrangement In 2000 Dave moved to Salt Lake designer/artist Dave Bryant joins the where he worked in the bouquet business Tehachapi Flower Shop as well as the making arrangements for big league super Tehachapi community. markets such as Sam’s The art of flower Club, Albertsons and arranging has deep Smith's Groceries. By roots in various ancient 2003 he was back in human cultures. Las Vegas and working Throughout history for Mayesh Wholesale flower arrangements Florists where he have been an important worked his way up to part of our society. assistant manager. Beautifully styled In 2006 Mayesh arrangements have Wholesale had a store been used in religious in Bakersfield that was ceremonies, worn as failing. They were decoration, exchanged thinking of closing it by lovers, and given down, but Dave thought to honor important he could turn the store achievements. around and stepped Dave is well versed up to the challenge. in the various aspects He transferred to of the floral business Bakersfield and of today and still has relocated the store Experienced f lower ar rangement desig ner/ art ist Dave Br yant joins the a passion for what he from the Southwest to Tehachapi Flower Shop does. "You really have downtown Bakersfield. to love it," says Dave. Soon the store was back His story begins in 1975 when he started from the brink and thriving. work at a flower wholesaler in Phoenix, Ariz. At this time Dave began to get restless. He became part of a team that opened the He had spent five years rebuilding the first flower wholesale house in Las Vegas. Bakersfield store and he was looking for his He went on to work at the Sahara next challenge. Village Florist – one of the largest flower While in Bakersfield, Dave met Kandi, shops in Las Vegas – where he cut his teeth the owner of the Tehachapi Flower Shoppe. in retail. He had been wanting to get back into retail Throughout the 80s Dave honed his and also was looking for a place to settle retail skills, then went to work for a grower down. Through Kandi, he discovered in Carpentaria where he learned the many Tehachapi and made his move. facets of that end of the business. Dave and About Tehachapi Dave says he loves his wife also opened and operated their own the weather and the small, nice community. successful retail store in Santa Maria called "The people that come by the store are just Country Club Flowers. really friendly," says Dave, "I haven't met Every opportunity and every experience anyone bad yet." came with more understanding of this We hope you don't Dave Bryant. ancient art and concepts of its modern Welcome to Tehachapi. demands. In the early 90s Dave was back in Las Vegas and went to work for the MGM that had opened the first hotel owned flower shop. His artistry for the MGM was bestowed upon Call The Loop newspaper some of the biggest entertainment stars of our time. His floral designs were appreciated at 822-8188 or by Barbra Streisand, Red Skelton, Lucille Go online for our Ball, among others. He also provided Rates & Publication Dates arrangements for Frank Sinatra's 40th Anniversary in show business extravaganza TheLoopNewspaper.com held at Caesar's Palace.
Promote your Business!
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
COUPONS Look below for great discounts at your local businesses.
Hungry Howie’s (661) 822-1000
20
$
Deal
2 Large, 1 Topping Pizza & 16 piece Howie bread with a 2 liter Soda
Books & Crannies Bookstore Valley & Tucker - Tehachapi Next to Radio Shack - (661) 822-8440 Mon-Fri 10-6 ~ Sat 10-5 ~ Most Sun 12-3
Yarn Special! Buy one Skein & Get the second one
1/2 OFF
Plus tax & delivery. Must mention coupon when ordering. No substitutions - Exp 12/31/11 - LOOP2112
Must present coupon. Exp 12/31/11 - LOOP2112
New You Holiday Hair Makeover
Bay Front Inn
$180 of Hairdressing Services for just
$99!
Includes: Base Color, Partial Highlight, Scalp Massage, Hair Cut, Blow Dry & Style.
Morro Bay, California on the waterfront www.BayFront-Inn.com 1-888-772-0072
$10 OFF
Merle Norman
any room, any time
Available to first 10 bookings only - LOOP2112
Expires 2/29/12 - LOOP2112
(661) 822-4322
Tehachapi Lawn & Garden Equipment Center (661) 822-3210
105 W “H” St. - Behind Train Depot - Tehachapi
$10 OFF
$20
any service over $50 OFF any service over $125
$10 OFF
any new “Echo” chain saw Must present coupon. Exp 1/31/12 - LOOP2112
The Lost Box (661) 822-1480 • 125 W. Tehachapi Blvd New Location next to Kohnens for the Holidays! Open 7 Days A Week - 10 to 6pm
10% off all your holiday shopping
Layaway & Gift Wrapping Available Must present coupon. Exp 12/24/11 - LOOP2112
Page 3
From Tehachapi to Tianjin by Mano Lujan
Sorry for the scare everyone. We’ve had so many calls about our upcoming (Dec.22) closure and many inquiries as to why we have chosen China for Red House BBQ #2. The lists of reasons are long and believe me; I’m scared to death about the whole thing! However I’m also excited. We will reopen on Jan. 7, and – yes – I will still be here. I am not moving to China. I love this town and there is nowhere else that I want to live and raise my children. We will take lots of photos from our trip and we will have some here at the restaurant to share with you. Winter is coming and with it brings financial tightening. Mortgages, car payments and Christmas gifts are all tapping into our bank accounts. Here at Red House BBQ we feel it too. We are all in this together. Look, I never went to business school, I went to culinary school. I do not have the best mind for business and I try to use common sense as my business plan. With that in mind, we are going to make some changes here at the restaurant; it can’t always be about dollars and cents. We want you to get a bigger bang for your hard earned buck. First, we are increasing the size of our beverages from 16oz to 20oz. We do a lot of take-out orders and this means that you walk out of here with more beverage for the same price. Second, we are going to forget about our “split fee” of $1. We know our portions are big (our small sandwiches have a half pound of meat alone!) and if you want to share it with a friend, we are not going to charge you extra to do so. At Red House we never charge you extra for a large group. Really?! Who thought of that? If you come in with a large group, why would I punish you by adding a set gratuity? I know I hate it when I go out and someone
tells me that I have to give them a tip because we are a large group. What if the food/service sucks? My staff will back me on this one, we would rather have you save your tip money when you eat here and use it to come back and eat again. We still give an elder (60+) discount, as well as an ASB card discount for students. Don’t forget about our cash discount. I think we were the first restaurant to give you a cash discount in this town and we even combine the cash discount with other discounts. I preach to my staff all the time that we need to work harder and produce better so that we can earn your business. You work hard so that you can treat yourself and family to a night out. Shouldn’t we work hard to get you through our door? I believe so. I want to share with all of you something that happened here recently. First off we look at Red House as being a local place (it’s who we cater to), but we do get a lot of tourists. A few months ago, right at closing time, three French tourists walked in and asked if they could still get something to eat. We took their order and fed them. They were very nice and started to ask a lot of questions about Tehachapi and about me. I told them that I worked in France in late 1999 and that I use to eat at a small café and drink (way too much) Pernod (a liqueur). They laughed and were happy that I had fond memories of France and Pernod. Last week a box was delivered to Red House and we didn’t get around to opening it until after closing. In the box was a card, a box of homemade cookies and a bottle of Pernod. My staff and I were blown away. They had remembered us and sent us a gift from France. People never cease to amaze me. Be good Tehachapi, see you soon.
Page 4
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
The Loop’s Real Estate Spotlight
Custom craftsman estate
Beauty of the old world and the efficiency and magnificence of the new!! This 2620 SF home has 3 MA suites with a bright open floor plan. Kitchen has Elmira appli., custom cabinets and granite counters. On 5 acres, pro. landscaping, and a separate 30 x 44 x 15 Ft. RV Garage, in addition to the 1800 SF attached garage. “THIS IS a dream come true.” $675,000. Text 36001 to 43766
Charming ranch style home
located on cull de sac, sits down from street for privacy plus .55 acre lot; so horses okay. 3 Bdrm, 1.75 BA, approx. 1480 SF Covered patio. Just reduced to $110,900.
Terri Juergens
Linda Costelloe-Clough
Office: 822-4433 EXT 227 • DRE Lic#00841071
cost@bak.rr.com • DRE Lic#01087650
Cell: 661-303-6868
Broker Associate®
BEAR VALLEY COUNTRY REAL ESTATE
(661) 332-3191
Realtor®
Town & Country Real Estate
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Tehachapi Skywatch
Dark Sky is now the Law
Tehachapi has some of the darkest skies for the City Council to get in line with Kern County and Bear Valley Springs in enacting in all of civilized California (which I define its own lighting control ordinance. as a place where you can enjoy the stars The Tehachapi Valley and still use your cell phone to can become an astronomicalcall for pizza). The ability to Mecca, especially for those clearly see the Milky Way is a living in the Los Angeles spectacle that few Californians Metropolitan Area; but not enjoy and a natural resource that until the city gets with the Tehachapians should treasure. program. However our dark skies Almanac are being threatened by rapid Dark skies will prevail growth. When I arrived in with a new moon on Dec. 24. Golden Hills seven years ago, Welcome to winter! As we I couldn’t see my hand in front dive into the New Year, earth of my face on a dark night. This passes through Perihelion – our is no longer true. As new malls by Dale ‘Hawk’ Hawkins closest approach to the sun. and Wal-Mart are constructed, huge lights are left on all night. New housing This helps moderate our winter weather. Concerned about Global Warming? Save has brought many new streetlights. Seeing some pity for our friends Down-Under; their the Milky Way from the city is problematic summer begins when we’re closest to the at best. There were plans to build an sun, making for far more brutal summers. Of observatory at the Tehachapi High School. Due to light pollution, an outlying site is now course they are farthest from the sun as their winter begins. Tehachapi really is a sweet being sought. spot! Proponents of the right to a dark night One of the best meteor showers of the sky achieved a critical victory when the Kern year occurs on Jan. 4. After the moon sets, at County Board of Supervisors unanimously about 4 a.m., the Quadrantids should present approved a dark sky ordinance. It is now 60 to 200 meteors per hour until dawn. illegal to shine a light onto someone else’s Remember to fire up plenty of hot chocolate property. All new lighting fixtures must (or hot toddies for us retirees)! be shielded from “spillover” onto other The planets will continue in fullproperties. Plans for retrofitting existing bloom. Venus is in the west at sunset, while lighting are being developed. With a little Mercury rises in the east at dawn. Jupiter help from my neighbors, I am assured of dominates the eastern sky at sunset. Mars great astronomy for years to come (as long rises before midnight with Saturn rising a as I don’t look towards the city). My heartfew hours later. Sunrise/Sunset (Dec. 24) 7 felt thanks go out to County Supervisor a.m./4:48 p.m. Zack Scrivner for strongly supporting this initiative. The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) recommends other simple measures to prevent undue light pollution, such as keeping lighting no brighter than necessary and turning it off when no longer needed. (Most lights need not be on any later than 11 p.m., which is the beginning of the prime astronomy hours.) Unfortunately the ordinance applies only to unincorporated parts of the county. Light pollution will certainly continue to grow within the City of Tehachapi until your City Council enacts their own dark sky ordinance. I fought for such an ordinance a few years ago. The idea was rejected on the grounds that the Planning Department already had Dark Sky requirements for all new projects. Yet the city itself continues to install unshielded, omni-directional sidewalk lights on street corners! The time has come
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Tell them you saw it in
‘My’ Success Consultant
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Let Us Have a Grand Finale! As Christmas approaches, let us Assistant for $12.50 per hour and bought appreciate and be grateful for the results my first car! Thanks to that investment in we produced this year. Right myself, I can now type this now is the time to create more Microsoft Word document space for grander ideas, daring today. That simple investment actions and a much bigger life. in training will continue to pay How do you keep of for the rest of my life. moving forward when you are I would like you to shift frustrated with where you are your view of spending money and far away from your goals on training and coaching for and dreams? How do you pass your business. Think of it as by the inertia of everyday life investing in yourself. That is that torpedoes your ambitions what I did and it changed the and keeps you stuck and less course of my life. Matter of then well-off? fact, I still invest in myself By investing! regularly and that is how I Let me explain. It is keep re-creating my life for the by Klaudia Kovacs strange how society seems better each year. to put more faith into investing Even the Bible says (Prov. in outside resources instead of investing 23.23): “Invest in truth and wisdom, in ourselves. People think it is clever to discipline and good sense, and don’t part put their capital into stocks, funds and real with them.” estate but just look at what happened with With this in mind, I designed a powerful those assets during the recession… Many Christmas Special for you so you can grow families’ lives were ruined because they your business and elevate your income could not “bank” on their savings (no pun quickly. I cannot think of a better finale intended). for the year than preparing yourself for a Now, I am not saying you should not successful and abundant 2012. be putting some money away. However, that Take advantage of this affordable and is not what is going to change your life and amazing coaching program fast because dramatically increase your income! it will only last until 12/24: http://www. When you invest your funds outside mysuccessconsultant.com/successstore/ In of yourself, you do not invest in where you January my prices will be changing so you have the most potential. Consider that you want to grab this affordable opportunity and your business are always your very before Christmas. best assets. Continuing to learn how to If your daily routine has not been paying grow and increase your income is the best off, stop hoping the results will be different investment ever! in the future. They will not be! I learned this When I was 18, I worked as a babysitter from Albert Einstein, who said: “Insanity is making $5 per hour. I saved up my money doing the same thing over and over again and and a year later I had $10,000 in cash but expecting different results.” I still did not have a car. Every morning When you want something you have at 6 a.m. I was riding my bike to work never had, you have to do something you and frankly, I hated it - it was always too have never done! I provide personalized cold no matter how warmly I dressed up. I business advice during a 15-minutes free wanted nothing more than to own a car and consultation with no obligation or pressure to have the comfort of sitting pretty in a warm purchase. Say yes to yourself! automobile. Wishing all my clients and loyal readers Yet, I did not think that a car was a a 2012 filled with breakthroughs and a year good investment. I needed something more of impeccable health, love and abundance. profitable that would truly elevate my life to a different level. Instead, I enrolled in a computer school and paid my $8000 Much Success, tuition with a stack of twenty-dollar bills, Klaudia Kovacs so eventually I could get a better paying Business Success Consultant job. Ten months later I was working as an www.MySuccessConsultant.com
If you want to drink, That’s your business! If you want to stop, That’s our business! We have a solution!
We can help!
Give us a call! Alcoholics Anonymous, Kern County Central Office
(661) 322-4025
Shag said,
Page 5
‘There’s no Free Lunch’
I’m devoting this column to This was drilled into my head sayings which I have heard over by my late mentor and colleague, Joe the years, along with my Giannantonio. He strongly interpretations. Naturally I felt, as do I, that healthy have heard others, but these interpersonal relationships have had more value for me; could be invaluable to one’s and, in some cases, for my wellness, particularly in clients. time of need. By connected, “There’s no free I don’t mean through lunch.” impersonal, soul-baring In the saloons and pubs cyber-social networking. of yesteryear, proprietors I mean honest, personal would put out snacks and contact, through healthy sandwich-makings for their professional or social By Fred Shaughnessy, patrons. This was referred activities. CADC II to as “free lunch”. The “If you do what you practice continues today, throughout always did, you’ll get what you always the world, where clubs and bars have got.” “happy hours” with no-cost snacks. The This is all about behavior change. motivation is the same, i.e. – to induce It also relates to a popular definition you to stay longer and drink more, to of insanity, i.e. – doing the same thing justify the cost of snacks. over and over again, while expecting The saying is often used to clarify a different result. I first heard the government spending. You see, the original saying at a 12 Step meeting government has no money of its own, years ago. It stuck in my mind because except that which it has collected as it made so much sense. If a person taxes, fees, etc. There is no such thing wants to change the way they behave, as “free from the government”. If the the must learn to do things differently. government gives you something, it If they do all the seemingly “right” has been paid for by others. Just as things, but don’t change the way they with happy hour, there really is no free interact with others, the desired change lunch. is unlikely to occur. “The healthiest among us are I’ll be back next issue...hope you those who stay connected.” are too. Fred Shaughnessy is a board- certified alcohol and drug counselor with TAASK, Inc. He holds a license in his field, a non-governmental license conferred by CCBADC/CAADAC.
Page 6
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
La Bella Amore Name That Dish! shrimp, chicken parmesan, eggplant parmesan Making it real...and really making it! and so on. Each dinner includes a main dish, That’s what we are doing at La Bella Amore, a family size salad and garlic bread. You can’t really making it. Every day, every order, beat the price and you can’t every time! We don’t make make it at home for less. it ‘til you order it, so it’s Most family dinners are always hot, delicious and priced less than $30. Give fresh from our kitchen. We us a call or stop by and we’ll only use the best quality have one ready for you in fresh ingredients so it’s about fifteen minutes. That’s consistently scrumptious. La fast food time without the Bella Amore is the perfect fast food taste! place to bring your holiday We also have a guests for a special treat. WeightWatchers menu Our “name that dish” for those of you who are contest continues through looking to eat on the lighter the end of the year. Stop by side of things. We offer and order our special for a meals from four points to chance to name the dish. infinity and beyond. Ask for Sundried tomatoes, spinach, Come on in to “Name that Pasta a menu. walnuts, garlic and chili Dish” (pictured). At La Bella Amore flakes sautéed together in See ad below for details. we also have a wonderful a cream sauce and tossed Vegetarian menu as well with linguini, gorgonzola cheese and mozzarella cheese. It’s creamy and as several Vegan options. Our Marinara sauce is 100 percent vegan, so top some pasta with delicious. Even better if you add chicken! it and you’re all set. And if there is something Like you I am still anxiously awaiting you would like that is not on the menu, whether, the economic recovery we all keep hearing about. I know, you know, and I know that you regular, vegetarian, or vegan, just let us know and we will do our best to create it. We cook our know that this elusive economic recovery is food fresh to order so it’s never a problem. beginning to seem like a Unicorn – mythical Drop by 209 S. Green St. any evening that is. The good news is that you can still dine after 4:30 p.m. for Tehachapi’s best Italian food, out at La Bella Amore for a reasonable price. always fresh and homemade from scratch in In most instances, dinner for two – including my kitchen from my own original recipes. Try beverages and dessert – is still around forty dollars, not including tax and tip. Of course the our fresh gourmet pizza, it takes a little longer sky is the limit if you aren’t on a budget, but if than others, but it’s worth the wait. Choose one of our popular Italian staples like Chicken you are, we’re here for you. We don’t mind if you share a meal and will not add a surcharge Parmesan, Spaghetti and Meatballs, Fettuccini for doing so. We don’t mind if you drink water Alfredo or Cannelloni. If you are a vegetarian or to avoid the cost of beverages and we do offer vegan come on over, we have a great selection of dishes for you too, like Pasta Primavera, a limited children’s menu for the wee ones Angel Hair Fresco, or our hot gooey Eggplant (under ten). The bottom line is that without Parmesan. Every dinner entrée is still served you and your families we don’t exist, so we want to make it affordable for you to continue with fresh house salad and garlic bread at no additional charge. Choose one of our original to partake of our delicious food. For those of you who purchased the 2012 recipe homemade salad dressings or upgrade to our Tuscan Onion soup, spinach salad or caesar Bulldog card, the offer from La Bella Amore salad for only $2 more is for 10 percent off not $10 off. The error Every Friday and Saturday evening we was on the part of the company who prints the feature live music by local musicians including card and was printed without them sending The Pat Strong Trio, The Geezers, Craig Shaw, me a proof of the ad. Apologies for any Alicia Hansen, Movin’ On, The Jug Band, and inconvenience this causes my customers. Blue Rose. After you’ve tried all the rest, come Don’t feel like cooking? Don’t have back to the best, Tehachapi’s oldest Italian time to cook a fresh nutritious meal for your restaurant. Since the owner of La Bella is also family? Good news for you. La Bella Amore the executive chef at La Bella, the food is the offers a variety of family size meals ready to same consistently delicious fare that has always go. Enough food to feed four to six people. been served at La Bella. Stop by for a meal, We offer Spaghetti with meatballs or Italian you’ll be glad you did! sausage, fettuccini alfredo with chicken or
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Have A Heart For Hoppers Holiday Thoughts by Shannon Turner
The spirit of the season is helping others, this includes shelter pets. Please, don’t breed or buy while shelter pets die. Dogs, cats and rabbits all need forever homes. There are so many wonderful, trained, housebroken, smart, forgotten furry kids at shelters all over California right now. They need our help! Can you do something to make a difference? Donations are always needed. Volunteers are always welcome. Foster homes are so necessary, especially for injured animals that need medication and time to heal. Our hearts grow when we give love, can you give a little? Recently the Santa Cruz Rabbit Haven experienced a growth spurt of 114 rabbits. All were confiscated from a breeder that allowed absolute neglect to take over the helpless rabbits. Basic needs were neglected; overcrowding, ignored injuries - left to get infected, water bowls dirty/dry, and fecal build up that is inexcusable! These rabbits have been saved, treated and given another chance. So far reports are very encouraging for these hoppers! Rabbit Haven had three generous vets donate their services for a spay/neuter marathon. Also, volunteers and shelter workers report success in socializing the rescued bunnies. They are ready for loving homes! This is just one story, one example of what shelters and rescues all over deal with. I worked with a similar situation in Santa Barbara County. The shelter I volunteered for rescued 70 rabbits from a neighborhood overrun with domestic rabbits, all from one
house! The (un)responsible resident allowed rabbits to roam, mate, breed and fend for themselves. Once Animal Services was called in, rabbits were found everywhere! Really, under the house, all around the house, down the street destroying landscaped yards of his neighbors, in an abandoned car, in the field behind the neighborhood and most disturbingly, ran over on the major highway just around the corner from the original location. Other neglected animals “resided” there too, all taken by Animal Services. I would ask all that read this to take a moment, think about how much joy and unconditional love they receive from their house pet. The investment of time, training and love pays off ten fold! Spaying/neutering helps our pets to stay healthy, live longer and mind us – not their hormones. So I understand that some of you might have plans to “gift a pet” this season. It’s a gift of love! I get that. Might I just suggest...no, please, I beg you, consider visiting a responsible, educating and exciting rabbit rescue for your adoption needs. Many beautiful bunnies of all shapes and sizes await you. Online pictures can assist you in making a good choice. The perfect love bunny awaits you. Please don’t breed or buy while shelter pets die! Please email haveaheart4hoppers@ mail.com to contact me, and here are some available sites: www.rabbithaven. org (watsonconfiscation), www.bunssb.org, www.slobuns.org, www.myhouserabbit.com, www.haveahearthumanesociety.com, www. rabbit.org, and www.medirabbit.org.
TMQ January 9 Meeting Notice Tehachapi Mountain Quilter’s Guild will meet Jan. 9 at 9:30 a.m., at the regular place, Bear Valley Springs Church, 26180 Plateau Way. The guild president, Eve Hall, will present a trunk show for the program. Eve has many interests including home decorating, fashions, cooking and gardening – besides her love of sewing and quilting. Her quilts are both timely and antique. Eve was a member of Yuba-Sutter Valley Quilt Guild where she chaired their 1994 quilt show, was president, newsletter editor and block of the month chairperson. She has also been a member of the Antelope Valley Quilt Association and Cotton Patch Quilters. Since joining the TMQ, she chaired the 2003 Quilt Show, was third vice president, on the by-law revision committee and is
currently serving as president. She took her first quilting class in 1986, having made one quilt before that. Previously she had made garments for herself and family. An interest in color, patterns and various techniques of quilting have led her to making many quilts, but she considers herself a traditionalist. Her trunk show will include recent quilts as well as the first incorrect one. On the following Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Eve will conduct a workshop geared mostly for beginners featuring a nine-patch technique. If you are interested in attending the workshop, contact Judy Dobbins at 661-821-4056 for a reservation and supply list. If you wish to attend the meeting contact Cheryl Johnson for a gate pass.
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Tell them you saw it in
In the Dog House Lessons Learned from a Ranch Dog
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
When I lived in Ventura County, I often Teddy into his first competition. Sitting in thought that the word was out among the stray the shade of a tree on a warm July morning, dog population that my home provided great Teddy and I watched other competitors work shelter and food for homeless canines. I was the course. Actually I was the one watching the convinced that there was a sign competitors. Teddy was watching posted some where in the vicinity! everything else – the other dogs, In the ten years that I lived there, the screaming children, and the no fewer than twenty dogs found food vendors! Finally it was our their way to my doorstep. I found turn and, indeed, Teddy worked homes for many of them, but the the course like a pro! He earned majority came to live with me. a qualifying score. I was elated Dobermans, Staffordshire terriers, with our success and eager for the chow, shepherd/pit bull mixes, and next leg of the competition. Late an assortment of herding breeds in the afternoon, our turn came shared my home in the avocado again. I entered the ring with high grove. None of these was a dog I expectations. Teddy completed the would have chosen for myself, but first half of the course brilliantly. all of them became extraordinary However, as he left the pause table, teachers in my journey to my a family who were sitting next to by Rosemary Evans current profession. the arena enjoying their picnic Teddy, a Finnish Spitz mix, lunch distracted him. He came lived at the ranch next door. With his red hair, to a complete stop, and then wandered over to curly tail and pricked ears, he resembled a large say hello and presumably mooch some treats. fox. His family moved, leaving him to fend The next few moments were the longest in my for himself. Days turned into weeks. Teddy life, and they were caught on film by a friend. subsisted on the hand-outs of ranch workers in Frantically calling his name and stomping my the area while faithfully waiting for his family foot on the ground in the vain attempt to get to return. From my hilltop home, I watched his attention, I appeared quite out of control! him sitting ramrod straight and surveying his Just before we were disqualified, Teddy finally yard every morning. During the day, he would turned to look at me. His face said it all – disappear, but each evening he returned to his “Really?!” position as faithful sentinel. This experience was a turning point for The weather turned cold. Worried about me. As I replayed the video of my performance, his welfare, I took some food and an old dog I saw myself from another perspective – the bed to the stables where he maintained his perspective of my dog and the perspective of vigil for his family. Clearly independent and friends and family. What had started as a team unwilling to approach me, he inspected my sport to build Teddy’s confidence had evolved gifts and walked away with an air of disdain. or devolved into a competitive moment for me. I wasn’t expecting a big reception, but a little Agility had become all about winning. gratitude would have been nice! His reserve I often recall and share this story. It serves became a personal challenge, and thus began many purposes, and the retelling reminds me our life together. of the lesson learned and the gift freely given. Early in our relationship, I realized that Seeing myself from another’s perspective has Teddy needed a job. The long walks through the helped me develop greater patience and empathy. groves were not sufficient stimulation for him. I am a little less self-centered today because of Although still reserved and dignified, he clearly Teddy. loved being in the limelight with an audience, Training dogs is much more than getting so agility seemed the perfect enterprise for us. obedient behavior on cue. The heart of training We started classes, and Teddy loved it. The dogs is developing an engaged relationship, one speed, the challenge inherent in the course, and in which you are willing to learn lessons from the applause of class observers transformed your canine companion. This is as important him. With tail held high, he would jump and to talk about as training tips. Therefore I will spin at the conclusion of each run. He knew he alternate between In the Dog House and this was special! new column, Lessons Learned from a Ranch After almost a year of classes, I entered Dog. I hope you enjoy both.
Page 7
Welcome to the ADOPT-A-PET Section!! Many of the animals up for adoption can be seen at:
petfinder.com/shelters
This Section is in need of support! For years The Loop has generously dedicated two pages per issue to helping local pets in need find homes and in this issue we’ve added to it. Advertisers please call the The Loop today to find out how you can help to support this section. Remember, when thinking about adopting, that the adoption cost is a tax deductible donation! If you find a pet you want to adopt please call the number listed next to the pet or in their rescue’s information. All Dobie SOS dogs are neutered/spayed, vaccinated, micro-chipped, and have received a veterinary exam. All adopted dogs come with one free bath at Canine Creek and one free grooming at Tehachapi Pet Lodge. You can see all of the Dobie SOS dogs waiting for homes at www.dobiesos.org. 661-886-1721 • dobiesos@earthlink.net
Jova Jova is a four-year-old purebred Doberman with natural ears and a docked tail. She is red and on the small side. Jova was found wandering and picked up by a good Samaritan. She had a registered microchip, but her owner did not want her back. We wonder why because she is a very sweet, soft and affectionate female. She is easy to handle and obedient. Jova is much more interested in her human companion than other dogs. She would be best as the only dog in a home or she could live with an tolerant male dog. Jova is crate-trained.
Angus Angus is a 6 month old male Doberman that was relinquished from a breeder who was unable to place the entire litter. He is an easy-going male that will probably grow to be quite large. He is very dog-social and loves to play with other dogs and he is friendly though a bit shy with people he does not know. Like all young Dobermans, Angus needs a home that will expose him to lots of places and things, so he can be well socialized. He has a good solid temperament and no known health issues. He will be available after he is neutered: sometime in January. Angus is crate-trained and knows how to use a dog-door.
Page 8
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
ADOPT-A-PET
Tehachapi Humane Society Our office hours are Mondays 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. and from 10 a.m. till noon on the 2nd Saturday of each month (rain or shine) for our monthly Shot Clinic. 21600 Golden Star, Unit #3 - 661-823-0699 (menu #5 for dogs & #6 for cats) Note: We are unable to do dog licensing for Kern County Animal Control until further notice! DON’T FORGET ADOPTION DAY! Adoption Day is held the 1st Saturday of each month at PET LODGE from 11 a.m. till 2 p.m. You can also check out our adoptables at Books and Crannies most Saturdays starting at 11am.
Raggedy Ann Raggedy Ann is a one year old Terrier Mix with crazy long hair. She is spayed, micro chipped , and current on her shots. She is house trained and we are working on crate training. She is good on a leash and likes to go in the car. She gets along with her foster sisters and loves to be held and cuddled. Raggedy Ann is waiting for her forever home!
Year-round Fundraiser See’s Candy @ Mountain Antiques & Tehachapi Automotive to help STOP save more dogs & cats in dire need of a 2nd chance at life ~ Be the change to make it happen ~ AND for good measure, be a volunteer, it is extremely rewarding & priceless! contact@thestoppers.org 661-823-4100, menu #2 (dogs); menu #3 (cats) Nick & Ponyo were abandoned in the desert and need a forever home before the holidays. If you are the special one to call Ponyo or Nick as your loyal companion, call Lynda at 661-821-0518 or STOP at 661-823-4100, menu #2.
Ponyo Ponyo is a 1 ½ year young 14 pound male Wheaten/Silky Terrier mix, he plays well w/others, loves kids, and is housetrained.
Nick
Sweetie Sweetie is a 9 mo. old Chihuahua/Pug mix plus. She has been spayed and is current on all of her shots and Micro-Chipped. She is house trained and crate trained. She walks on a leash and likes to go in the car. She gets along with her foster sisters but likes to sit on laps and and cuddle. Please come meet her!
Rayleigh Rayleigh (Ray-Lee) was returned to the THS because of catastrophic illness in the family. She is now looking for a quiet, loving home. She is a 4 year old, very sweet, gentle kitty, but very shy with strangers. With patience and understanding to help her through a change in environment, she would become a very loving addition to a quiet home. She has not been around children and is still apprehensive around dogs. She has been well cared for (loves to be brushed), is spayed and current on shots. Please find a place in your heart and home for this beautiful girl.
Willow
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Willow was returned to the THS because of catastrophic illness in the family. She is now looking for a quiet, loving home. Willow is a 4 year old, shy girl, but curious and able to make new friends. With a little time and patience, she comes into her own with ongoing conversations and demands for affection. She is a big kitty with a very regal bearing. She prefers to lie close to you and purr rather than being held tightly. She is not accustomed to small children and is still apprehensive around dogs. She has been well cared for, is spayed, and current on shots. Please find a place in your home and heart for this beautiful girl.
Nick is a smart and sturdy housetrained Corgi mix who weighs 11 pounds, is 1 ½ years young; he likes kids ‘n car rides and plays well w/others. To adopt your side-kick, Nick, call Lynda at 661-821-0518 or STOP at 661-823-4100, menu #2.
Foxy Lady My name is Foxy Lady and I’m a 3 year young female Pomeranian mix weighing about 9 pounds and look like my mother who was a purebred Pomeranian. I am super friendly and love to play with the other foster dogs and would be a great addition to any family or a great companion dog. To meet/adopt me, please call my foster mom, Lynda at 661-821-0518 or the S.T.O.P. line at 661-823-4100, menu #2.
Dot E
My name is Dot E and I am a 2yr .young female Jack Russell Parsons Terrier mix and weigh about 10lbs. I am very sweet and easy going along with my lovable nature. I am also leash trained and doing well on my housetraining. I am quite adorable with my striking markings on my face with lots of dots, thus my name. To meet/adopt me, please call my foster mom, Lynda, at 661-821-0518 or S.T.O.P. at 661-823-4100, menu #2.
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
ADOPT-A-PET
Visit our new Pet Adoption Center at 1121 W. Valley Blvd. Ste. C, inside Books & Crannies. We offer new/ used pet supplies, photography, antiques and collectibles for donations. We raise funds continuously with a variety of See’s and Dewar’s candy. To contact us leave a message at 661-750-2261 and your call will be returned.
Rainbow Rescue is a no-kill 501 (c) 3 dog rescue located in California City specializing in puppy rescue. Donations toward our high vet bills would be greatly appreciated through our Paypal account at rainbowrescuepets.com. Your donation would truly help us make their life differences possible. Our available pets for adoption can be seen on Petfinder.com or by private appointment by calling (760) 373-2907. So many sweet puppy kisses waiting to share with you!
Paco
Paco: You’ve now met the most perfect gentleman and loving companion and playmate! Paco, 3 yr. old male Chihuahua, is truly the most perfect loving friend so perfect for all types of families and wonderful with all companion playmates. Housetrained, quiet, non-barker, loving, devoted, Paco will do happy circle dances when you come home showing you how much he loves and missed you! Paco is absolutely the most instantly perfect part of your loving family’s lifetime sharing warm hearts and devoted love together.
Piper
Piper is quite our little girl, tail wagging sweetheart! Piper is a 3-4 yr. young, female, house trained pure bred Shitzu that so wonderfully magical for a quiet family lifetstyle with a full time mom/dad to share her with yours. A her new family must share loved hearts with so many warm loving, cuddling laptimes with puppy rules to make sure she does try to make her own rules as spoiled Shitzus are so good at! Piper always wag her tail a mile a minute happily reaching up to cuddle with you and share her very special, warm, loving heart!
Ginnie Ginnie is our very special, loved fill heart Mixed Female Doxie Mix that is the meaning of full-time devoted love, companionship and friendship to your shared lifetimes. Beautiful, happy, always tail wagging & waiting to share loving cuddles & laptimes, Ginnie needs a quiet, older family to share her day and loving heart with filling your heart with her warm & smiling heart!
Marley’s Mutts Zach @ 661-972-3852 or 661-821-1327 or visit MARLEYSMUTTS.COM
Macie
Usually I don’t find grey women attractive, much less grey with blue noses, but Macie is the exception. She is a breathtaking 2 year-old Blue Nose Pit bull. Macie has the dynamic 1-2 –punch of being uniquely gorgeous as well as calm and managable. Macie was found stray in Bear Valley. She is incredibly friendly and found the first car she could to hop in and seek comfort and companionship. Needless to say Macie has gone unclaimed, which is somebodies great loss. Lucky for her, Macie’s foster family has made her part of the crew. They have a thgree-dog pack of which Macie is now a part of (#4). Macie goes for rides, hikes, dog park trips and all the other excursions that a dog should be comforatble in. Don’t let her breed fool you, she is a gentle soul with great companion qualities. Macie responds very well to instruction and is relatively easy to handle. Macie is terrific with other dogs, good with children but will need a home without cats. Often times dogs have a predatory drive when it comes to cats and she is no different. Macie is really a lap dog that loves to give and receive love, if you are a family that is interested in those qualities, please conatct Zach@661-972-3852or visit MARLEYSMUTTS.COM.
Page 9
Maddie
Maddie: She is 3-4 years old, Shar Pei(coat), Ridgeback(face), Lab(personality) and heeler mix, she is good with kids, other dogs and cats as a rule (although she will chase and has killed cats when provoked). She doesn’t bark unless there is something to bark at, she has good manners, doesn’t jump, sits on command and loves to have her belly rubbed. She is great in the house, loves to go for rides and loves to play with other energetic dogs. She has a very short coat that doesn’t shed, so she cannot be an outside only dog, needs to come in the house when weather is cold. Enjoys laying in a dog bed curled up with other warm dog bodies. She is spayed, has had all her shots including Rabies and is Microchipped. Please call Gina 661-822-8440 or Have-A-Heart Humane Society at 661-750-2261 for more info on Maddie.
Barney Barney is a beautiful Chocolate lab. He is a fun loving, easy going, energetic dog who would love a family to call his own. He loves children and absolutely lights up when people especially kids are over to the house. He has a white chest and belly and white on his toes which might mean he has some Chesapeake Bay retriever in him. He is retriever so he is not afraid of water or rain. He stays outside mostly, but likes to come in during the evening to get snacks and loves. He will fetch and play until the cows come home. He is very smart and knows some basic commands and is very eager to learn. Barney is about 4-5 years old, but still very much a puppy, puppyhood last years. He doesn’t really bark unless there is something to bark at. He is completely house trained and loves to go for rides in a car but not in the back of pickups. He is good with cats in the house, will let little kittens curl up in bed with him and love on him. However when he is outside, he will chase cats especially in a pack if you have several dogs. He gets along great with other dogs and loves to play and run with his dog friends. If you would like more information on Barney, please call Gina at 661-8228440 day or 661-822-7331 evenings. He has a $200 adoption fee and is neutered, micro chipped, vaccinated including rattlesnake vacs for 2 years and Rabies.
Itsy Itsy was dumped in someone’s yard 2 months ago. They would feed him, gave him a little dog house to live in, but would not allow him in their home. They came to Have a Heart to find a home for him because they were concerned he wouldn’t survive the winter. He is 5 lbs. He is adorable. He currently is being fostered with other dogs. He gets along just fine with them. He has adapted very quickly, loves being held and responds when called. He is approximately 2-3 years old, very playful, and is kenneled every night. He looks like a long hair chihuahua or perhaps some pomeranian in there, hard to tell. His all white fur/ hair is very soft and long. If you are interested in meeting Itsy, please call 661-750-2261.
Jet Our Jet is an awkward little guy. He has a really long neck and legs. He’s not much more than 6 pounds and he has brindle socks and little bits of brindle on his head. Jet is not an alpha dog but quite submissive. He likes toys and chews but will share them with his foster mates. We think Jet would do well with another small dog in a home with mature adults. He currently is in a large pack of little dogs and gets along just fine. He uses a doggy door. He is 75% house trained and is a quick learner. Jet is neutered, has his vaccinations and is micro chipped. His adoption fee is $200. If you are interested in meeting Jet, please leave us a message at 661-750-2261.
If you have any extra cash this imposed in 2006 because Congress holiday season, maybe you can donate it didn’t have the money to fund inspection to some less fortunate horses. plants that butchered horses The 2nd Chance Ranch for consumption. Without in Tehachapi is in need of inspections, the meat couldn’t your help. The ranch has be sold and the plants closed. a number of permanent The new bill will now residents as well as adoptable fund inspections, and the horses. There is a shortage of administration said it now interested adopters because is ready to conduct them of the economy and soaring should anyone open a horsefeed prices, so the ranch is slaughter plant. By Jill Barnes Nelson asking for assistance from the “Responsible processing community. represents a vital first step in The ranch’s monthly feed costs reversing the unintended consequences for hay and grain are approximately to blame for the dismal state of neglected $5,200. Include hoof care, veterinary horses and their frustrated caregivers bills and property up keep, and it across our country,” said Rep. Adrian all adds up. It also currently has 12 Smith, who fought for the change. permanent residents due to age and/or “Reinstating a humane, accountable and medical reasons. All the retirees need legal management tool is good for horses, sponsorship to aid in their continuing good for owners and is good policy.” care and boarding. A June report by the Government 2nd Chance Ranch also has 15 Accountability Office said the ban adoptable horses looking for a “forever depressed prices for horses in the U.S. home.” Any assistance with adopters, and led to a surge in reports of neglect or hay or cash donations would be abuse as owners of older horses had no appreciated. way of disposing of them, short of selling For more information, contact them to “foreign slaughtering facilities Wendy at 661-972-8395. Visit or where U.S. humane slaughtering send donations to the ranch at 23028 protections do not apply. Cummings Valley Road Tehachapi, CA In 2010, about 138,000 horses were 93561. exported for slaughter, and another United Pegasus Foundation, also in 30,000 horses were shipped for other Tehachapi, is another rescue ranche that purposes. Congress actually banned could use some assistance. UPF takes horse slaughter outright, but gave in retired and abandoned thoroughbred inspection powers to the Agriculture horses. A $20 donation can provide a Department in 1996. In 2006, it voted bale of hay to a horse in need. to halt federal inspections, which For more info, go to www. essentially ended the industry. unitedpegasus.com, or visit the ranch at The Agriculture Department’s Food 20411 Pegasus Rd., Tehachapi. It also Safety and Inspection Service said there has a gift shop. are no horse slaughterhouses operating President Barack Obama recently in the U.S. that produce meat for human signed into law a spending bill that consumption, but the agency would be restores the American horse-slaughter ready for inspections if a facility opens. industry. The law was signed basically Don’t forget, if you have any because of a government investigation information to report on the horse that said the ban on slaughtering was community such as tack sales, upcoming backfiring. events, clinics, raffles or if you’ve The domestic ban didn’t end horse won an award, please contact me at slaughter but instead shifted the sites 661.878.2932, e-mail jillbn@yahoo.com. to Mexico and Canada. The ban was Thanks.
Horse Events Around the Area JAN. 14 – CHSRA District 9 Rodeo, Zamrzla Ranch, Lancaster, www.chsra9.com. FEB. 11-12 – CHSRA District 9 Rodeo, Zamrzla Ranch, Lancaster, www.chsra9.com.
Share
the
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Good News!
Don’t keep us a secret!
Take a minute to tell your friends how much you enjoy reading The Loop newspaper. Find and share us on facebook:
facebook.com/theLoopnewspaper
Business Directory Veterinarian
Advertise
$35 per issue Prepay and get 5 for $120 Call 1-661-822-8188 Today! Horse Boarding
WOLFE HAVEN Horse Boarding Stables Covered Pipe Corrals, Barn Stalls, Paddocks & Pastures
Board By The Day, Week or Month
Owner: Lynn Wolfe 25731 Banducci Road
661-823-0616 Tehachapi, CA
Horse Supplies
22.01
Wrangler Round-Up
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
22.03
Tell them you saw it in
22.05
Page 10
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Tell them you saw it in
Jennifer’s Thoughts...
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Requesting a Copy of Your Credit Report
Under the Fair and Accurate Credit If you make your request online, you Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA), every should get access to your report immediately. If consumer is entitled to a free credit report you request your report by phone or mail, you every 12 months from each of should receive it within 15 days. the three credit bureaus. To get What information will you your free annual report, you need? can contact each of the three Whether you go online, call, credit bureaus individually, or write for a copy of your credit or you can contact one report, you will have to provide centralized source that has certain information so that your been created for this purpose. file can be located, and your Besides the annual report, identity can be verified. If you you are also entitled to a free order by phone, you will be asked report under the following to speak, spell, or key information circumstances: into the phone. Generally, the 1. A company has taken information requested includes: by Jennifer Williams adverse action against you, such as denying you credit, Name insurance, or employment (you must request Address a copy within 60 days of the adverse action) Spouse’s name (if applicable) 2. You’re unemployed and plan to look Previous address for a job within the next 60 days Social Security number 3. You’re on welfare Home phone number 4. Your report is inaccurate because of Name of employer past and present fraud, including identity theft Date of birth If you are not eligible for a free report, Tip: If you write to a credit bureau you can buy a copy from each of the three for a copy of your credit report or for any credit bureaus. You may be charged up to other reason, you should include the same $9.50 for each copy. information in the letter. Tip: For more information, go to www. Will you be able to ask questions about annualcreditreport.com. your report if you call? How do you order your free annual When you call to order a copy of your report? credit report, you will not speak to a real You can order your free annual report person. You will hear a series of recorded online at www.annualcreditreport.com, by messages. You will be given prompts and calling 877-322-8228, or by completing an asked to respond by speaking or keying your Annual Report Request Form and mailing response into the phone. It is very simple and it to Annual Credit Report Request Service, self-explanatory. In most cases, your credit P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. report will be processed within 48 hours. Alternatively, you can contact each of Tip: Some agencies provide instructions in the three credit bureaus: other languages, such as Spanish. Experian National Consumer Assistance Why would you want to get a copy of your Center, www.experian.com, P.O. Box 2104, credit report? Allen, TX 75013-2104, (888) 397-3742 Your credit report is important because Trans Union LLC, Consumer Disclosure it can affect whether you get a mortgage or Center, www.transunion.com, P.O. Box 1000, other type of loan, insurance, or employment. Chester, PA 19022, (800) 916-8800 You should review your credit report to make Equifax, Inc., www.equifax.com, P.O. sure it is accurate, complete, and up to date. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374, (800) 685- Reviewing your report can also help you guard 1111 against identity theft. Please call me to find out more information, Jennifer Williams, President J. Williams Personal Financial Planning: 413 S. Curry St, Tehachapi, California Office Phone 661-822-7517 Office Email: jennifer.williams@npbfg.com Jennifer is a Registered Financial Consultant. She has over 20 years of experience in the industry. Article is Courtesy of Forefiled, LLC Securities offered through NPB Financial Group, LLC. A Registered Investment Advisor/Broker-Dealer Member FINRA, MSRB, and SIPC.
Page 11
Know the Science Interesting, but not about Money or Marriage by Stephen F. Rudin
The search for the Higgs boson (a subatomic particle) is in the news. I find this search to be an amazing quest – a quest to better understand the natural world that we live in. The fact that this effort even exists is amazing to me. Consider the massive machine called the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) used for the experiments. From the Cern-LHC web site we learn that this is the largest machine in the world. The machine is 26,659 meters in circumference, or about 16.8 miles around. The machine is located 100 meters below the surface partly in Switzerland and partly in France. At full power protons will be accelerated to 99.9999991 percent the speed of light. The LHC is currently running at that half power. The machine can generate two beams of protons traveling in opposite directions that are slammed head on into each other. A proton at rest is about one thousand million electron volts (938.272 MeV/c) of mass. When slammed together at the maximum speed it would release about 14 TeV of energy, about a thousand times the mass-energy of the proton. The temperature of these collisions are 100,000 times that is in the core of the sun. The LHC is kept at a super cool temperature of -271.3°C, even colder than outer space! The machine is only piece of the story. The next big piece is the collection and analysis of the data. The particle beam collisions generate massive amounts of detected events. The largest of the detectors is known as ATLAS. It is 45 meters long, more than 25 meters high, and weighs about 7,000 ton. If all the data of ATLAS could be captured it would fill 100,000 CDs per second. Actual data collection is more like 27 CDs per minute. Still a lot of data to parse through. There are thousands of scientist, hundreds of institutions across 38 nations involved.
The idea behind the search for the Higgs boson is to fill in pieces of what is known as the Standard Model in physics. The theory behind this gained momentum in the 1970s at the intersection of the group theory and particle physics. The mathematics that fit this unification of forces implies no mass for force carrying particles. To account for mass, several scientists proposed a new invisible force field (the Higgs field.) The theory suggests that at the beginning of the Big Bang no particles had mass. As the Universe expanded/cooled an invisible force field formed together with the associated “Higgs boson.” Particles that interact with the field are given mass by the Higgs boson. Particles that do not interact have no mass. Another detector experiment at LHC is the the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS). CMS is also involved in the search. CMS uses a different system and technical approach. Results from the two independent experiments increases the weight of evidence, two witnesses to the same phenomenon. Although, even combined, the evidence does not yet reach the certainty required by the scientific community to assert a positive finding. There is much more than hinted at here. The underlying mathematics is interesting by itself. If the Boson is found to be at 126 MeV, as it now looks like it might be, brings into play a variation on the theory known as supersymmetry (SUSY). Instead of a single Higgs boson there might be five types. A definitive answer is expected by next summer. However there will always be more to discover and understand about the universe we live in. It seems that each answer generates more questions. I’m a licensed attorney practicing in Tehachapi, but confess I am also a physicist. By the love of science I find this exciting physics for our generation.
Page 12
Tell them you saw it in
Music Notes
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Last-minute Gifts and a Great Musical New Year….
We have a wide variety of music to offer What a wonderful, musical and so far – from blues to bluegrass, with Blue theatrical Christmas we’ve had so far! Mustard Unplugged and Susie Glaze and the We had the Symphony’s Messiah, and HiLonesome Band. Returning to the T-POPS big shebang in the Tehachapi to play Fiddlers Crossing Whiting Center, sponsored by the is cowgirl favorite Juni Fisher, and BVS Cultural Arts Association. one of her saddle pals, Dave Stamey. Summit Singers lifted their voices in Wendy Waldman (“Save the Best harmony, and Jamie Laval fiddled. for Last”) is bringing her trio, “The We all loved seeing our TCT friends Refugees” with her this time around. in “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa For the Celtic lovers, the next Claus.” We’re looking forward few months will be a feast. Jan. 21 to the “Christmas Extravaganza Variety Show” and Alex Zonn’s “A by Deborah Hand will be a magical night with Irish harper and storyteller Patrick Ball. Christmas Carol”, both coming to St. Paddy’s Day falls on a Saturday this year, the BeeKay. so a wild Irish night is only appropriate. The first Fiddlers Crossing Holiday It’s still a bit early to confirm, but the Wee Sing December 11 was an ecumenical People have been spreading rumors that Paint occasion. With Lauren Alexander and a Rose, my old Celtic pub band, may come Candice Semasek leading us, and members of T-POPS playing, we sang Christmas carols together – at least in part – for a rollicking reunion show. To cap it all off, we’re working and seasonal favorites, munched cookies on getting a return visit from premier everyone brought to share, and jangled Scottish fiddle-cello duo Alasdair Fraser and jingle bells. Rabbi Hershey Worch and his Natalie Haas. wife, Salome, thrilled us with some stories Tickets are available at Mountain Music and songs to honor Hanukkah. I think it for all these shows, and at Fiddlers Crossing reminded us all “what fun it is to laugh and Open Mic on Wednesday at 7 p.m.. (Frasersing” together. Haas is still pending, however, as of this Even though we’re still enjoying the writing.) sounds of Christmas and Hanukkah, Fiddlers For another gift idea, Mountain Music Crossing is looking ahead to the New Year. is offering all CDs for $10. The store will be Concert tickets make wonderful and unique open until 3 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. gifts and stocking-stuffers for those hard-toSee ad below for contact information. buy-for people on your lists.
Gallery ‘N’ Gifts To Close For Remodeling by Susanna Monette Gallery ‘N’ Gifts will be closing its by their members. There are many unique doors at noon on Jan. 7 and will reopen in one of a kind items at a wide range of prices. Thursday, Jan. 12 at 10 a.m. While the store Jewelry selections range from “Just for Fun” to is closed, the front room will be remodeled exquisite handcrafted pieces. There are many and modernized. The store is located at 100 choices for soft goods in addition to carved W. Tehachapi Blvd. in Tehachapi. The phone gourds and figures, ceramics, candles, soaps, number is 661-822-6062. lotions decor items, paintings, photos, and A reminder also that Gallery ‘N’ Gift’s much more. went to winter hours starting on December On First Friday, Jan. 6, the store will stay 26. The store will be open 7 days a week open until 8 p.m. Stop in for food and music. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until spring. Enjoy a wide array of arts and crafts. Gallery ‘N’ Gifts is a coop of local Please don’t forget to stop in and see the artists. All of their merchandise is created Gallery’s new look after the reopening on Jan. 12.
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Readin’ & Writin’
Lauraine Reads: 2011 Shopping Guide
Have I ever mentioned how much I those authors. The sad thing is that The love kids’ books, other than in this column Elephant’s Tale is her final book in Legend about this time every year? I have a rather of the Animal Healer series. The character extensive collection of picture Martine starts her adventures books and one of my someday in London when her parents dreams is to write one. But not die and she is sent to her to illustrate it. The other reason grandmother in Africa, who I write this December column owns an animal sanctuary. The on kids’ books is because I first tale, The White Giraffe, want everyone to read to their absolutely caught my fancy. So children. If your children and did The Dolphin Song and The grandchildren are too old to be Last Leopard. What a great gift read to, find some other kids by that set would be. visiting a classroom or library. I am also reading the Reading to children is one of the new-to-me author Erin Hunter, greatest gifts you can give them by Lauraine Snelling who has written oodles of and the benefits last a life time. books. The Quest Begins is My favorite new picture book is Charlie book one in the Seekers series about bears the Ranch Dog by Ree Drummond. The and features two polar bear cubs. A retired fact that Charlie is a real dog and a Basset librarian, who works in a bookstore in Hound might have something to do with my Truckee, CA, introduces me to new authors delight but the artist did an extraordinary every year. Great bookstore. job with the illustrations and the story is Kate DiCamillo who wrote one of so clever I know you all will enjoy it. One my favorite kid’s books ever, Because of of the pleasures of a good picture book Winn Dixie, has a new one out, titled The is that the adult enjoys it as much as the Magician’s Elephant. The story is about an children. Ree Drummond has a blog called elephant who is on display and very sad. Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, writes As you may already know, I have cookbooks and has a sometimes cooking also written two youth series: The Golden show. I am impressed, but I love Charlie’s Filly series about Trish, who races story the best. Thoroughbreds, and the High Hurdles Dr. Seuss has a new book out too. I series about DJ Randal’s dream of being an know he died but an enterprising editor Olympic equestrian jumper but she doesn’t went back to the early days when Dr. even have a horse. What About Cimmaron? Seuss was writing for magazines and is my stand alone novel for readers eight took those stories to create The Bippolo through 12 years old and tells the story Seed and Other Lost Stories. Dr. Seuss of Sarah’s adventures after Mt. St. Helens always needs to be read aloud. I read so erupts. many of his bhooks so many times, that I All of these books can be found online memorized them, especially “the A book”, or at your favorite bookstore. This spring my children’s name for the Alphabet book. watch for Dog Daze, the first book in the “Big A, little A, what begins with A? Aunt SAVE Squad series, which I have co-written Annie’s alligator. A, a, a.” I have a friend with Kathleen Wright. who has collected all the originals. I don’t Hope that gives you some ideas for care if they are first editions or not, but I your Christmas shopping list. Remember want them all too. to have fun reading to the kids in your I-Can-Read books and first chapter life. I know of several families who have books are the next stage for kid readers. I continued the tradition of mom reading didn’t pick one in that category this year. aloud every night even though the kids are Sorry. now in their teens. One woman and her Oh, but the wealth of good books in husband read to each other every night, the middle readers division. Often I look even though their children are grown and for authors because, like other readers, have moved out, they enjoy it so much. We when I like an author I want to read all all love to be read to. Merry Christmas, my of their books. Lauren St. John is one of friends and happy reading.
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
CrossRoads Artist Spotlights
Page 13
CrossRoads Gallery Looking for a Great Start to the New Year by Mel White
CrossRoads Gallery has plans to hit the floor running with the New Year, starting with January’s First Friday Artist Reception on Jan. 6 from 5 to 8 p.m. Featured member artists Greg Loskorn, Lynne Freeman and Jenny Zur will be presenting new works, and guest artists will be represented in a show entitled “Winter Wonderland.” Every month the gallery features a number of guest artists in themed shows, bringing ever new energy into the gallery, while member artists are busy producing new works to delight regular customers and new visitors alike. For artists who may want to participate in future shows, upcoming
Lynne Freeman & Jenny Zur Many of us who reside in Tehachapi remember the old barn on Cummings Valley Road, which has in the past few years succumbed to weather and old age. Fortunately for all of us, Lynne Freeman had the privilege to visit the old barn in its better days and the foresight to visit it regularly and then captured her perception of it on canvas. This large figure painting, (one of a two piece set on the right) is one of the most recent works of Jenny Zur. Jenny says, “I began with sketches from live models; the sketches had such fluid lines that I just had to put them on a tough, gritty background. “I worked and thought in strictly visual symbols and followed their lead. Paint was shot through a syringe to create the black lines. After the paintings were completed, I saw in them a story about light and moods or time. Imagine my delight to then learn about the Goddess of Light and the Apportioner of Time: Uelanuhi (pictured). She is Cherokee part of my personal heritage, and America’s.” Editor’s note: Lynne and Jenny’s artwork will be featured at CrossRoads Gallery in January, kicking off with a First Friday artist reception on Jan. 6 from 5 to 8 p.m.
themes include: February’s “Love, Actually” and March’s “Celebrations.” The January First Friday will be a great chance to get the New Year off to a good start, by celebrating new art, meeting the artists, and raising a glass of champagne to toast all the newness. CrossRoads Gallery is located on the northeast corner of the Compass Rose in the middle of historic downtown Tehachapi, at 101 E. Tehachapi Blvd. For more information call 661-822-5242 or check out website at crossroadsgallerytehachapi.com.
(above) Lynne Freeman Captures the Old Barn.
Alex Zonn captures Scrooge’s moment of redemption in TCT’s presentation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” at the BeeKay Theatre Thursday and Friday Dec 22 and 23 at 7 pm. More information at www.tctonstage.com (photos courtesy of TCT).
‘A Christmas Carol’ Returns to BeeKay Theatre
“Honoring Uelanuhi: Apportioner of Time” by Jenny Zur, 18” x 36”
First Friday in December was really great! These customers came up from Bakersfield to get one of Tina Dilley Magie’s paintings, and they were thrilled to meet the artist and pose for this picture with her.
Alex Zonn’s performance of “A Christmas Carol” returns to the BeeKay Theatre under the auspices of Tehachapi Community Theatre for two performances only, Thursday Dec. 22 and Friday Dec. 23 at 7 p.m. This is the fourth holiday outing of Zonn’s adaptation of Dicken’s beloved story which has now grown into a Tehachapi tradition. Returning for a second year is special Guest Artist (and TCT President) Jonathan Hall, performing another familiar story of redemption, this one especially popular with young children. For those bringing children, the program will finish about 8:30 p.m. TUSD classes are not in session on Friday,
Dec. 23. Zonn and Hall are favorites with TCT audiences. Zonn has played major roles in several productions, including the title role in “Sweeney Todd,” and last season directed “Foxfire.” In the spring Zonn will appear as King Henry in TCT’s production of “Lion in Winter,” currently in rehearsal. “Each year ‘Carol’ has grown in audience size and affection,” noted TCT President Hall, “We’re so happy to have the show back this year, and I’m delighted to repeat as the opening act.” All seats are $10, and are available online at www.tctonstage.com and from agencies Apple Shed Restaurant, Johnny’s Take n’ Bake Pizza, and Tehachapi Furniture.
Page 14
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
A Culinary Christmas Canon by the Festive Go Green Bunny ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all up in here, was the smell of vegan cooking and Mr. GGB with a beer. The sauces were bubbling and brewing with care, with hopes that an understanding family would soon enjoy this fare. Pickles and peppers, all green and red, were carefully nestled in their own lettuce beds. And I with my ginsu and a wrap, attempted to make a delicious gravy with a mushroom cap. When all of the sudden Aunt Rose made such a clatter, Whining and moaning about no meat on the platter. So to appease the hungry I jumped up in a flash to serve the hors d’oeuvres, an eggplant that I had mashed. From within the oven the tofu bird did glow, and glistened with sauce from yesterday’s mow. And while I was slaving what did I hear? Three unexpected guests would soon appear.
As I reached for the dried seaweed up on the shelf, I thought excellent, more victims for this little elf. With more people I had to stall them quick, hot brandy wassail, that would do the trick. Soon to the table the courses they came, people squirmed as I listed ingredients by name. Tofu, tempe, seitan, cauliflower, mushroom gravy and rolls made without flour. Through the windows and out the doors, the timid of the family hit the floors. Yelling and screaming, their coats they did not grab, hoping and pleading there would be a cab. With all the family who bolted and flew, leaving much more feast for those with a clue. The moral of the story, don’t tell people what’s in it. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good k-nig-ht. (Let’s see if anyone is a Monty Python fan.)
Page 15
Page 16
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
The Forde Files
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
No. 10
ICON hiring in run-up to production
ICON’s ideal permanent manufacturing site (Rendering from the ICON Aircraft web site; used by permission)
ICON Aircraft has narrowed its search for a permanent headquarters/manufacturing site to the states of Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada and Texas. The new campus will consolidate the company’s operations, including engineering, production, corporate and flight training. Initial production will begin in a facility adjacent to its existing engineering facility in Tehachapi. ICON’s site requirements call for a climate that permits year-round flight training as well as a land runway and water accessibility for flight training of customers. ICON officials also are evaluating potential sites on the basis of their proximity to appealing destination vacation areas for ICON customers and their families who are visiting.
Aerial of Tehachapi Municipal Airport ICON Aircraft Chief Technical Officer and Vice President of Engineering Matthew Gionta holds the remotecontrolled model of the ICON A5 amphibious Light Sport Aircraft by Horizon Hobby that will be for sale to the public in January. Photo by David Crook, ICON Chief Financial Officer.
As it searches for a permanent manufacturing/ headquarters site, ICON Aircraft is expanding its presence in Tehachapi, hiring 60 new employees and leasing more space at the Tehachapi Municipal Airport. With strategically placed billboards on Hwy. 14, the company aims to snag engineers from the aerospace hotbed of the Antelope Valley, knowing that many of the professionals it targets already live in the Tehachapi area. Matthew Gionta, ICON’s Chief Technical Officer and Vice President of Engineering, said that while the newly leased footage is not large – one being “a plot of dirt to store equipment on” – , the development team is clearing spaces at their airport facility to transition to manufacturing mode. The hard-working prototype A5, often seen circling over Tehachapi and venturing up to Lake Isabella for water tests, has to be adapted to production design, thus the push to attract new engineers. The ICON A5 amphibious sport plane has become a legend in design and concept before the first product has rolled out, with 630 orders worldwide as of Dec. 9. It’s been under development by ICON’s engineering team in a hangar at the Tehachapi Municipal Airport for four and a half years. The corporate headquarters is in Los Angeles. High bar “We set a pretty high bar for ourselves,” Gionta
said of his personnel search. “That’s what it takes to succeed. We cannot be average.” The Tehachapi facility now employs 18 fulltime equivalent personnel. The hiring process will be “a continuous ramp-up for a year and a half,” Gionta said. “We’ll be in the 60 range at the end of next year.” The current openings (see http://www. iconaircraft.com/careers.html) include 11 in Tehachapi and two in Los Angeles. The personality profile listed under “Structures Engineer – Composites” seeks a person who is “highly intelligent, confident, team player, analytical, problem solver, instinctual, decisive, competitive, energetic, passionate, entrepreneurially minded (more startup, less big aerospace corporate).” That’s in addition to being “Extremely detail oriented and weight sensitive.” The future Vice President of Operations and Global Supply Chain (Gionta’s counterpart on the production side) must possess an “adventurous personality.” “We’re still a small team,” said Chief Financial Officer David Crook. “It’s an opportunity for people to get in on the ground floor.” Made in Tehachapi The first A5s to be delivered to customers will be built in Tehachapi. Production will start at the end of 2012. “There’s no way we will move before we
There will be... .
San Diego-based Helo Energy LLC has informed the Kern County Department of Planning and Community Development it no longer plans to build a wind turbine project in Sand Canyon. Canyon residents got the news Dec. 15, shortly after Helo told county planners they were withdrawing their application for wind energy zoning. The official announcement came that afternoon from the office of 2nd District Supervisor Zack Scrivner, who said the turbines would fundamentally change the existing community and environment. “This made our Christmas,” said Sand Canyon resident Shelly Young, who has been active in Friends of Sand Canyon – a group that fought to keep the turbines out of the canyon. “It was a job well done,” said the group’s president veterinarian Dr. Beverly Billingsley, whose home and animal hospital are near the mouth
of the canyon where the development had been proposed. The project would have placed turbines on the hillsides and on the flood plain adjacent to Hwy. 58. Calling the company’s retreat “one small step for the home team,” Billingsley has high hopes for the Tehachapi wind turbine boundary map that Scrivner asked the planning staff to prepare by Jan. 30. Scrivner requested that county staff develop a boundary past which wind projects cannot be built. Residents of Tehachapi and surrounding rural areas have become
Tehachapi Municipal Airport covers 264 acres, much of which the city uses for spreading waste water and leasing for agriculture. Is there room for a shallow lake? The FAA recommends that a body of water required to operate a seaplane base be at least 2,500 ft long (762 m or slightly more than half a mile) by 200 ft wide (60.96 m) with a depth of three feet (almost a meter) or more. It must be free of floating debris or submerged obstacles. In addition, a 20:1 glide path to the landing lane is the recommended minimum for obstacle clearance. The ICON A5 is capable of landing and taking off in less than 750 ft of linear space (228.6 m or 1/7 mile). build five,” Gionta said. That number could become hundreds, he said, depending on how much construction is required at the chosen permanent site. Tehachapi has a lot to offer – the priority specification being good flying weather – but there are drawbacks. ICON will need a dedicated building that is larger than any that exist in Tehachapi. There’s also the little problem of water – the company needs a lake, just as it needs a land runway, to demonstrate the aircraft to clients and to offer instruction to buyers. Another drawback for Tehachapi is its distance from a major metropolitan area like Los Angeles. Nevertheless, Tehachapi is still in the running for the permanent site and the city, Gionta said, has been supportive. “We are in constant communication,” he said. The Tehachapi schools – always an important factor in attracting families – “are a shining star,” Gionta said.
Get in line ICON opened its order book in the summer of 2008, Crook said. The first hundred A5s will be a special, more expensive limited edition and includes flight training. The price tag for a deposit on the first hundred was $100,000 (all sold out). Standard A5s will be built starting at No. 101, at an estimated price tag of $139,000. The deposit is $5,000. Those who attended the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh this year were able to put down a $2,000 deposit on their future amphibious power toy. One of the first hundred A5 customers, Crook said, is Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google. With four-and-a-half years of testing, is it possible ICON engineers have developed significant advances in aeronautics? “The work we have put into it will come to light. It’s hard to develop a truly great product,” Gionta said. “It flies really well. The details of our design I’ll leave for another day.”
. ...in Sand Canyon
alarmed as rapid wind farm development brings new turbines closer to homes. “With Helo (pulling out) and the boundary, it’s a battle we don’t ever have to face again,” Billingsley said. In their venture into Sand Canyon, Helo Energy LLC purchased the 300-acre and 80-acre agricultural parcels on which they planned to build instead of leasing the land, as most wind companies do, and they signed a power purchase agreement with Southern California Edison before securing approval from the county. While the project was
under environmental study, in an unusual action, county planning Director Lorelei Oviatt sent a letter to the company expressing non-support of the project, citing the location as inappropriate. Representatives of the company, appearing at several meetings to explain the project to residents, faced intense opposition from the start. Residents raised issues of noise and vision relating to the proximity of the turbines and safety issues in the one-exit box canyon. They expressed concern about potential destruction of native artifacts, as the canyon is the location of Tomo Kahni, the California State Park that protects the winter home of the Kawaiisu native people and the cave paintings they left behind. Helo has not made a public statement and there is no indication as to the fate of the land. “No comment,” Helo Director Richard Rodiglia said to Forde Files Dec. 16, “But thank you for calling.”
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Page 17
Shedding light on local issues.
Articles by Tina Forde. email: fordefiles@aol.com • tel: 661-822-4515
Photo above, Jockey Helen Meredith wins a woman’s amateur race at Vichy, France, circa 1985, aboard an $800,000 filly from a United States stable. Photo below, retired race horse Time To Pass (left), 22, bonds with his buddy Kingdom Found, 18, at the United Pegasus Foundation ranch in Cummings Valley. Between them they won $1,350,273 during their racing careers. Photo left, Kingdom Found nuzzles Meredith, wrapped in a blanket after feeding 60 horses in the rain. Photo above courtesy of Helen Meredith. Others courtesy of United Pegasus Foundation, photos by Nick Smirnoff.
Pegasus Foundation cares for discarded race horses Worn-out or injured race horses, or Thoroughbreds who fail to win money for their owners, don’t have much of a future. If they are lucky, they might be taken in by the United Pegasus Foundation to live out their days among other retired race horses on a ranch at the west end of Cummings Valley. The ranch is home to 60 retired race horses, some aging peacefully and some young, banished early from the track because of an injury, unsuitable personality or bad habits. Some of the equine residents had stellar racing careers. Cardmania, 25, winners of the Breeders Cup in 1993, raced all over the world and won $1,518,735 for his owners. With employee Catilin Bress, Foundation President Helen Meredith personally cares for the animals, spending most of her week at the ranch, away from her home in El Monte and
her husband, a trainer at Santa Anita. Born in Scotland, Meredith left home at 16 to work with race horses in England and subsequently spent 17 years in France training horses. As a jockey, she won races for owners in the amateur women’s circuit. She founded the United Pegasus Foundation in 1994. The first care facility was in Mira Loma. It was moved to larger acreage in Hemet and then to Tehachapi. “I’ve been around horses all my life,” Meredith said. “They are such noble creatures. They’re giving you everything they’ve got to please you.” As the horses get older, she said, they drop in (racing) category and go from trainer to trainer. “They have the brain and heart of a race horse but the legs are weary.” A retired healthy Thoroughbred may find
a new life as a pleasure horse, in dressage or show jumping. Others end up headed for slaughter in Mexico or Canada. “These horses don’t deserve to be thrown away,” Meredith said. “Not a lot won a lot of money. The ones that really tried hard, it was the industry itself making money. The owner, the jockey, the trainer makes money.” The California racing industry, she said, now collects 0.03 percent of every purse toward the care of retired race horses. The fund provides Pegasus with a yearly donation. With hay prices doubled and donations down 70 percent, it helps, but it’s a constant struggle to keep the operation running. The Foundation also cares for 25 horses in Canada that were the by-product of the Premarin mare industry, in which mares were bred and kept confined to collect their urine, a source of estrogen for human females. The foals were sold for horse meat at few months of age. “I don’t know how Helen can do this,” said Bear Valley resident Daniel Cruthirds, who with his wife Debbie has been a supporter of Pegasus since the beginning. They sponsor 17-year-old Rapturous, who won just $17,502, but, Cruthirds said, “He’s a sweet, sweet horse.” The Cruthirds spend time at the ranch
grooming and caring for their chosen adoptee. The horses in Meredith’s care are not abstractions; she knows all their names, their histories and their needs. And they know her. The horses at Pegasus ranch are calm and friendly, sidling up to a visitor to say howdy and solicit a pat. They seem to know they are safe.
Commissioners keep Performing Arts Center dream alive
Rebounding from rebuffs by the city of Tehachapi and the Kern County Department of Planning and Community Development staff, the proposed Red Apple Avenue site for the Tehachapi Performing Arts Center received a lifeline from the Kern County Planning Commission Dec. 8. The commissioners, concluding that staff had not had all the information they needed when they recommended denial of a conditional use permit, voted 5-0 to refer the matter back to staff. “There’s more to this item than is being unraveled,” Commission Chairman Peter Belluomini said. “Staff needs time to reanalyze and give it its best shot.” Summing up the situation at the end of the discussion, Lorelei Oviatt, director of the planning department, said that none of the new information presented before the commission -- including a proposed outdoor ampitheatre and two wind turbines -- was presented in the Tehachapi Performing Arts Center Foundation’s mitigated negative declaration environmental report, and consequently was not analyzed by the staff. The problem arose, according to foundation President B.J. Mitchell, when the original architect became ill and, after a period of time, a new architect took on the project. When changes were made in the
foundation’s plans, the application that had been submitted to the county on Oct. 1, 2010 remained the same. “We had to wait for a new architect,” Mitchell said. “He walked every foot (of the site) and said, ‘This would be the perfect place for an amphitheatre.’ It didn’t occur to me it would be an issue.” The revised site plan, she said, did not agree with the original application.
Mitchell said the foundation decided to leave out the added elements and return to the original, as a new application would require starting the approval process all over. Fast work The current architect, Myrle McClernon of MDM Architects in Lancaster, wasted no time in providing the Kern County planning department with what they need. “The revisions will be done on Monday
Lawsuit could delay hospital ‘years’
The lawsuit challenging the environmental study of the Capital Hills site for a new hospital could delay the project from “a minimum of five to six months or it could be years,” according to Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District CEO Alan Burgess. The petition for a writ of mandate to order an injunction against construction, filed Nov. 18 in Superior Court by the Tehachapi Area Critical Land Use Issues Group, forced the healthcare district to stop the bidding process on the day the first four contracts were to be awarded and to hunker down with lawyers instead. Burgess said the healthcare district has requested an extension of the hospital building permit from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), the state body with authority over hospital construction. “(The extension request) is based on circumstances beyond our control,” Burgess said. He said the OSHPD officer “verbally responded” in the affirmative and the district expects to receive an extension in writing. The next Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District Board of Directors meeting is Wed., Dec. 21, 2011 at 6 p.m. at the Golden Hills Community Services District, 21415 Reeves St., Tehachapi, California 93561. Public comment is welcome.
(Dec. 19),” McClernon told Forde Files on Dec. 16, and said county planners would have the documents in their hands that day. McClernon, a LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green architect, said the foundation wants to get the project approved in its original form, together with the county’s required mitigation measures. “We’ll leave room for an ampitheatre,” he said, and seek a permit for it later. As a principal driver behind the remarkable rebirth of Lancaster Boulevard (branded “The BLVD”) in Lancaster, McClernon brings fresh perspective to the proposed performing arts center. “It’s a fun project,” he said. “There’s a lot to it.” He described the TPAC building, with its theme of “rustic elegance,” as a mountain lodge with a large central gathering place, exposed timber and perhaps a gas-fueled fireplace. “The architectural elements will be large. It’s not a box.” ‘Plus, plus, plus’ The commissioners’ Dec. 8 vote to refer the matter back to staff followed a staff report by Planning Operations Division Chief Scott Denney that recommended (see Performing Arts pg. 18)
Page 18
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Brand celebrates living ‘Up’ in Tehachapi (continued from front page)
Armed with local- and area-wide research, the team of Kirk, Anthony McDemas, Mary Beth Garrison and Michelle Vance recognized that visitors and residents alike connected Tehachapi with the mountains in a positive way. People come UP to Tehachapi because the mountains offer something good in so many ways, they concluded. • The Tehachapi railroad Loop, built in 1876, is an engineering marvel, Kirk said, demonstrating innovation. • The climate and weather offer four seasons and comfort, especially in summer, when it’s cooler than on the desert or Central Valley. • Tehachapi offers good health in the fresh air above the smog. • The scenic beauty in the Tehachapi area is a photographer’s dream. • Renewable energy projects offer power and opportunity. • Tehachapi has a unique agricultural environment which provides delicious fruit and vegetables a place to grow. • Outdoor recreation in Tehachapi – biking, cycling, picnicking, horse riding, soaring – mean the mountains are playful. • All these lead to a higher quality of life. • Aviation in Tehachapi enables people to soar to new heights. The existence of mountains and a higher elevation were not enough for the branding team, Kirk said. Other than the Kern County Tehachapi Mountain Park, there’s little actual access to or use of the mountains. “We can’t deliver like Mammoth,” Kirk said. “We had to translate the concept.” “[T]he city is technically not ‘in the mountains,’” it says on North Star’s web site, which is prominently featuring the Tehachapi campaign. “but rather is a mountain valley. So there was some debate how to best claim their ‘mountain town’ status. The conclusion: regardless of mountain or mountain valley, there is only one direction the population base of Southern California can go to reach Tehachapi – and that’s Up. “North Star recommended that Tehachapi leverage their mountain setting as a way to elevate all things. In other words ‘Live up.’ In Tehachapi, living up means reaching new heights professionally and personally, as well as mentally and physically. It means you’re
consistently working up, playing up and growing up in every sense of the word. “When you live up, you experience a new found sense of freedom. One that only continues to take you higher.” Thus Tehachapi’s branding mission statement, Kirk said, is: “For those seeking a fresh alternative where the Central Valley meets Southern California, the Greater Tehachapi area is a charming, invigorating mountain setting that energizes and elevates your quality of life.” The color palette utilizes the soft, elegant colors residents see every day – colors that evoke emotion, Kirk said. The squarish logo, clean block-letter font and dream-like suggestions of mountains was designed to be adaptable. To gain coherence of message, the city is encouraging civic and business entities to incorporate the graphic in their own logos. “We strongly encourage everyone to use it,” City Manager Greg Garrett said at the City Council meeting. “‘Up’ is a two-letter word and it means so much,” Mayor Ed Grimes said. Grimes liked “Study Up” and “Warrior Up.” “Coming up the mountain fighting the trucks, Tehachapi means, ‘relax, you’re home now,’” Grimes said. “So many things can be done. It really hits the mark.” “It’s simple,” said Councilwoman Linda Vernon, “It’s a real basic line for our community. Any business can take it and make it their own.”
Graphics by North Star Destination Strategies and the City of Tehachapi.
( Performing Arts, continued from pg. 17)
denial of the center’s application. With public comments, the matter was under discussion for two hours. One person, William Nelson, spoke in support of the county staff’s recommendation to deny a CUP. The city of Tehachapi earlier had issued a memorandum in strong opposition to the site, which is outside city limits, citing traffic, water, waste water, impact on rural lifestyle and noise issues. The commissioners applauded the concept of a performing arts center in Tehachapi and, referencing persuasive data they had heard that night, asked the staff to take another look at the proposed location. Pro-TPAC speakers included architect McClernon, Leslie and Mark VoVilla of Pinnacle Engineering, Tehachapi Community Orchestra concertmaster Gayel Pitchford, foundation treasurer Myra Fletcher, Sharon Elsworth and Brandon Guthrie of the Old Time Fiddlers Convention, Doug Jockinson of Tehachapi Community Theatre and Warren Maxwell of the Kern County Roads Department, who said that the planned upgrade of Red Apple Avenue and the revised TPAC plans would mitigate traffic impact. “This is a great project for Tehachapi as well as Kern County and the residents of
Bakersfield,” Commissioner Ron Sprague said. “It really comes down to ‘If you build it they will come,’” he said, referring to the film “Field of Dreams.” “I believe that will happen.” “This kind of amenity to a community is a plus, plus, plus,” Belluomini said. “There’s a fit there.” He said he perceived “chicken and egg problems” and unknown issues between the Golden Hills Community Services District – which borders the property on several sides – and the adjacent city of Tehachapi. “There’s something funky going on there,” Belluomini said. “There are problems with the site politically.” “I think there’s probably some some kind of subtext involved in this project involving local politics that I don’t fully understand,” Commissioner Brandon Martin said. The performing arts center will be privately funded by donations and grants. The TPAC Foundation is non-profit. Mitchell, who returned home Dec. 15 from a long stay in a rehabilitation hospital for a broken vertebra, said she watched the Planning Commission meeting on KGOV from her hospital bed. “I was mightily pleased,” she said. “There were good people speaking.”
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Lost in the Stars
Resolution
It’s that time of year again. Time for work and the theatre, a writing group, and New Year’s Resolutions. Popular resolutions other hobbies. So when I do have some free include: losing weight, saving money and time, I can squander it due to being tired. managing stress. I’m making slow progress There’s still a bit of fear. That’s right, on the first two and the last one fear. Of what I write not being doesn’t apply to me too often. good enough. Rejection never Only when one of Tehachapi feels very good, and it is all too Community Theatre’s shows common for writers. I still have takes over my life. That’s a pile of rejections letters from generally short term and when I submitted some short voluntary. stories several years back. People also resolve to The thing is, rejection isn’t quite smoking, but I never have. what it used to be. In the past, Another common resolution is if you wanted to get your word to drink less. I don’t drink much, out, you had to find a magazine maybe the equivalent of a bottle or book publisher to print your of wine a month. I don’t really words. Today it is easy to create by Mark ‘Doc’ Fisher need a “better education.” Which an ebook and sell it online, or I interpret as formal education. use a print-on-demand (POD) I’ve got more of that than I can currently use. service to create and sell printed copies of As for informal education, I never seem to get your books. enough of that. I don’t need a resolution to I have started to look into these options keep me learning. and may well try to use them to get more So what should I resolve? Well there is people to see my writing. Though how people one thing that has been weighing heavily on will find these books is hard to imagine. There me lately. That is, the time I have for writing. are numerous sources for ebooks and POD I’ve had some pretty good success books, and a lot of the ones I’ve seen really writing this last year. I had several poems aren’t that good. published in various magazines and However maybe that’s what I’m needing. anthologies. I had a couple of my ten minute I have kept this one book on my shelf for plays make it into the finals of a couple of the a few years now. One that was simply bad. ten minute play contests and festivals. I was I always thought, “you know, if that got able to keep my self going through almost published, there will always be hope for me.” every issue of The Loop for these “Lost in the So this next year, I’m going to make Stars” pieces. more time for writing. This might mean that However I feel I need to do more. I have I can’t spend as much time doing some of the a book that needs editing and some other, other things I like to do. Unless I can figure longer, scripts to finish up. Short stories and out how to combine them. Maybe I need to screenplays to work on. Some of it I think is work on a cookbook, or a book on the natural pretty good. history of Tehachapi. Or... What I have trouble doing is finding the You know, I don’t think I’ve narrowed time to do the writing. I am pretty busy. With things down a bit. If you would like to let me know what you think, send me an email at mathnerde+loop@gmail.com. If you would like links to additional information visit my blog at http://mathnerde.blogspot.com/.
Bob - the ‘Wine Guy’
That’s What It’s all About Around this time of the year...first of all Let’s not forget all the men and women I can’t believe it’s almost over. Holy Moly. in the military that are still fighting for our Where did it go? freedom – yes many have returned home I just want to say safely – but many thank you to all my are still in theatre, readers for what has risking their lives been an incredible everyday. year for me. Talk about Your support and being thankful, loyalty through The really makes you Loop publication is think how fortunate what keeps me going. we are to have our My families, friends and loved ones accomplishment is to gathering around provide informative by Bob the Wine Guy this time of the year wine information, and how blessed we are as a nation to have truths, facts, silliness and, oh let’s not forget, a lot of fun too. the freedoms we have and to be living in this beautiful community. However do you think about all So Bob the Wine Guy is just saying... you’ve accomplished this year? Whether it’s at your job, maybe even found a new hug a little tighter, say “I love you” more often, be a good neighbor, reach out to those job, promotions, new home purchases, things you’ve done around your home, who are less fortunate than us and, above all, pay it forward. milestones such as the birth of children God bless our country, God bless you or grandchildren, graduations, weddings, and your loved one’s, have a Wonderful surgeries or life changing situations. Christmas and I’ll see you all next year. So many things in your life. Makes you realize how much there is to be thankful for. BTWG (Bob the Wine Guy) That’s what it’s all about! Abbondanza Fortuna
Daydreams
Page 19
Forgiveness
Most of us have people in our past that have to forgive and forget. They tell me this person is not said or done something that we hold onto like going to change. It is hard for me to forgive because a dog with a bone that won’t let go. We use that as soon as I extend myself and put my guard down, something to prove that they are Whamo! There it is again. For wrong. We gather consensus when instance the other members of my we tell the story, to value our feelings family want me to be at Christmas of injustice. Most of the time we get this year. This year I am changing the upset, because we don’t want what value of my tradition and having a they said to be their truth. We become Christmas that I will enjoy. a victim, going back into the same I am going to forgive, but as circumstances over and over. We hard as it maybe; I am not going to think how could they say that? How be vulnerable any more. I am not could they think that? How could going to live with the guilt, or fear they do that? We let it hurt us and of repercussion of not being with my give our power away. We stop being family at Christmas. Will this person authentic and allow what happened to still be coloring my world? Maybe, dictate our actions. but in a good way. I am still going to Charisse Rudolph So much of your past has wish him or her well, because I can ~The Leadership~ nothing to do with you. We come see that their past hurtful words and into this life with lessons to learn and while others actions had nothing to do with me. I forgive them around us are learning their lessons, we are learning and I am thankful for the lesson of forgiveness, ours. We are in a spiritual, orchestrated concert of acceptance, and self-love versus guilt. I am going to life. stand up for my self, not in words that clash, but in Let me tell you something. When we cannot my actions. forgive, it becomes part of who we are – like a Why bother to forgive? You do it for yourself, chip on our shoulder. We all know that we are so you don’t feel that negative energy. Who in your responsible for what we say and the actions we take. life do you have to forgive? The best gift you can We are also responsible for what we allow others give yourself for this holiday season is the gift of to say to us. The question is how do we forgive, but self-love and forgiveness. Happy Holidays. not allow what happened to occur again? If we want This Dec. 17 Rising Moon Ranch will be respect, we have to respect ourselves. Forgiveness hosting an Equine Experience for 14 veterans does not mean that the circumstances that we have from the VA. It is free of charge. The Red House chosen, even the traditional ones, have to remain the is donating lunch, Witts is donating the printing of same. Does someone in your life continually say or the certificates of participation, ’Hachapi Tees is do things that tear you down? An acquaintance can giving us half price on T–shirts for x-mas gifts, that be dismissed as long as you can forgive so it does say the programs name, “Healing Horses & Armed not fester. A family member is hard to dismiss – Forces.” People are donating baked goods. The local especially a parent, child, or sibling. I have someone news is coming out to the ranch from Bakersfield in my family who is continually hurtful. He or she and Tehachapi. If you want to donate anything, go to is someone who I would expect to be supportive www.risingmoonranch.org. and loving. Since I have a big family, I continually Thanks to all for making this program so let it go. I feel the pressure from the other members special.
Until the next time, “To Thy own self be true!” Todays Quote; ~ Nothing changes if nothing changes. The next column, Ego. Download Words Hit Hard as a Fist, With 18 Tips on How to STOP being Bullied at Balboa press or Amazon.
Page 20
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Somewhere Out There
Our 2012 Odyssey by Ray Bilger
[The views of this author are not necessarily the views of the Loop. We offer it as entertainment.]
In the ancient Mayan city of Palenque on the Mexican Yucatan peninsula, there is an inscription in stone of a Mayan ruler-priest, "explaining that [all] knowledge originates from the Milky Way. In our solar system the sun is the representative of the Milky Way as it channels powerful energies from a distant galactic core toward Earth, influencing our planetary evolution." (Mayan Vision Quest, Harper Collins Pub., 1991) If we can tune into the Sun, and listen to the Sun, we may become informed, through consciousness, about the direction our planetary evolution is taking. 2012 presents us with unique opportunities to participate in our planetary evolution. "Throughout time there have been intersecting moments when the cycles of the great cosmic clocks line up in such a way that we're not only given a glimpse of all that is possible, but we actually have the opportunity to step beyond all that we've known as truth, and participate in a grander truth within a higher level of consciousness." (www.choicepointmovie.com) 2012 is such a time, and it's becoming more obvious to people all the time that there's a shift happening, a planetary shift, a dimensional shift, as frequencies rise, and that we are about to experience a shift to a higher dimension. This is not a shift that will happen overnight, where one day things appear one way, and the next, another. This will happen gradually throughout 2012, and beyond. Many ancient prophecies converge in 2012. 2012 presents us with an incredible challenge. It's like we're being handed the universe and all of its secrets. The challenge is, "Now, what are you going to do with it? How will we make things happen?" For we are co-creators with the Source of all things that created us. It certainly seems that we will embrace the future, once we can get past those who currently control the world for greedy purposes. You see, all of this information has generally been kept from the masses in order that an elite minority might more
easily control humanity for purposes of maintaining a system where the people provide the labor to build an elaborate elitecontrolled empire of many nation-states. Albert Einstein said, "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." Their reality is now fading away. This is a transitional period we are in, between the world as we have known it – with divisions, endless wars, the glaring contrast between poverty and wealth, and suppressed cures for most diseases – and a higher spiritual dimension. A dimension perhaps incomprehensible to us because it is something we have never known. We stand now at the threshold of a magnificent new world that will usher in fueless energy, abundance for all, the capacity to jump dimensions, and the ability to move forward and backward in time. From now on our leaders will be chosen according to their spiritual advancement and their record of service to society, and not according to how many millions of dollars they can raise in an election campaign to get elected to a position in a corporate controlled, selfserving government. All of this will be possible, and become manifest, because of the assistance offered to us by advanced civilizations that have been visiting this planet for decades. They are ready to offer us technologies beyond anything we can imagine, just as soon as they can see they are welcome here. So we see that 2012 is really the time of the great awakening of humanity to the truth, where all truth shall stand revealed. What the people will do once they learn the truth about what the governments, and the corporations, and the banks have been doing to the people, will define more precisely just how 2012 will unfold. And as the high-frequency energies reach us from galaxy center, we will be guided to do what is right, and good, and just for the future of all. Like Homer's Odyssey, we are in for a wonder-filled adventure, where goodness ultimately prevails!
City Reaches Settlement for Unfinished Development
For the residents of the 62 occupied homes in the Alta Estates, a neighborhood near Curry Street and Highline Road, the incomplete public improvements in the subdivision have been a frustration at best. After three years of waiting however, residents will soon see those improvements begin to take shape. That’s because the City of Tehachapi has negotiated a settlement with the bonding company that backed the construction of those improvements. When a developer approaches the City with the intent to build a subdivision, the City requires that public improvements be constructed and that bonds be provided by the developer. These bonds are like an insurance policy for the City so that in the event a developer does not complete the subdivision and the associated public improvements, that local taxpayers will not be saddled with the costs of completing this work. While these bonds are not often exercised, in 2008, the developer of
the Alta Estates subdivision filed for bankruptcy and left the neighborhood incomplete. The City was forced to demand payment on the bonds and after multiple years of litigation, a settlement was recently finalized. This settlement will allow the City to now finish the public infrastructure including the streets, landscaping, sidewalks, fencing and more. Over the coming months, City staff will be finalizing design and engineering work necessary to bid these improvements, with construction expected to begin in summer 2012. Additional information about the settlement and the completion of the improvements will be provided to residents and interested members of the public at an upcoming informational meeting, the date of which will be announced in early January. Any residents with questions prior to that time are encouraged to call City Hall at 661-822-2200.
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Yoga 101 - Stumbling Towards Enlightenment
Roll up! Roll up for the Doomsday Tour!
"The mayor of a picturesque French the apocalypse hits, the aliens will select a village has threatened to call in the army to few humans for a very special rocket ride. seal it off from a tide of New Age fanatics (Pick me! Me! Me!) and UFO watchers, who are Rumors are circulating that convinced it is the only place on the Peak contains doors into Earth to be spared Armageddon other worlds. Your Tour Group in 2012 ... in the past few will participate in the Secret months, the quiet village has Portal Hunt, led by devotee been inundated by groups of Kean. I’ve recently received an esoteric outsiders who believe email from Kean boasting about the local mountain is an "alien the bread oven being built at his garage". According to them, settlement. He is extending a extraterrestrials are quietly 50 percent discount to anyone waiting in a massive cavity helping construct the oven. A 50 beneath the rock for the world percent discount on your stay! to end, at which point they will And fresh baked bread? Pinch leave, taking, it is hoped, a me, somebody! This is too good lucky few humans with them ...” to be true! by Yogashanon (telegraph.co.uk) An excursion to climb Welcome to 2012, kids! It’s the Peak is being considered. time for Earth to explode with asteroids, Statistics register record numbers of hikers: aliens and super volcanoes as the Antichrist 10,000 last year, and an estimated 20,000 and Quetzalcoatl (new bff!) ride off with this year. In some cases, lack of training has the Four Horsemen into the gaping mouth proved lethal. One hiker recently reached the of Hell. The Mayans said so. And Harold peak only to succumb to a heart attack. "The Camping. But fear not, my T-town friends! I end of the world came earlier for him," said have discovered refuge in the one tiny town the mayor with a touch of irony. declared the lone sanctuary for the planet. Your Doomsday Tour package features Have you heard? accommodations at one of the six Ramtha Hundreds of websites are claiming that Camps that have sprung up in the past year. after an apocalypse on December 21, 2012, Founded by J.Z. Knight, the group claims only the small village of Bugarach, France, to follow the mystic teachings of Ramtha, a will be left standing. In the American Lemurean warrior who fought the residents tradition of shamelessly marketing the crap of the mythical Atlantis 35,000 years out of any gruesome disaster, I have an offer ago. Scuba gear and continental breakfast for you. Check it out: included. Wanna survive Endtimes? Looking for a Apocalypse devotees dressed in white way out of the Apocalyptic scorching? Well, are a familiar sight in the picturesque neighbor; book your spot on the Doomsday village. Since white can be difficult to keep Tour to Bugarach, France! clean, I recommend you bring multiple Since we cannot fly direct due to the tunics. Or you could wait and pick up a magnetic pull of the mountain and the few extras at the local Bugarach Outfitters. spaceship shaped cloud hovering over the Remember, we want to blend with the local top, the Tour will begin in Paris. After scene, not stand out like some kooks from a short eight hour drive, we’ll arrive in California. the hamlet of Bugarach, population 200. Your tour ends in your own custom cave Our Doomsday Destination has long been where you’ll survive Armageddon and be considered magical due to the Peak of lifted up into space by aliens, escaping the Bugarach: the “upside-down mountain” Endtimes smackdown. The vacation to end where the top layers of rock are older than all vacations. Literally. the lower ones. So what are you waiting for? We Rising 4035 feet above sea level, need to fly before the mayor calls in the geologists say that soon after the mountain army. Don’t be left behind next December! was formed, it exploded and the top landed Operators are standing by! upside-down. (I had a lasagna do that once.) (Sorry, cash only. Travel insurance not Geologist, shmeologist. My UFOlogists are available for this tour.) convinced that the peak is a sacred home to Reserve your spot at www. aliens with a roomy garage for UFOs. When tehachapiyoga.com. Bon voyage!
TVGMS Presents Indian Rock Art of Tehachapi Tehachapi Valley Gem & Mineral Society invites you to attend their January General meeting. TVGMS is a non-profit educational group of your friends and neighbors promoting interest in the earth sciences and lapidary arts. We make frequent field trips to the nearby mountains and deserts and to area gem and mineral shows. Each guest at the meeting will be invited to select a free rock specimen from our Buck-A-Rock tub. Our short business meeting will discuss field trips, lapidary workshop activity, and Society business.
After a short break for refreshments and to view and discuss items on the show and tell table we will be treated to a presentation about Indian Rock Art by Jack Sprague. Jack Sprague is an authority on native American Rock Art and it’s preservation, please join us. The January meeting will take place at St. Malachy Church youth center, 407 W. F St. (corner F and Mill) at 7 p.m. on Jan. 5, 2012. Please join us for an educational and enjoyable meeting.
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Tell them you saw it in
Dr. Brady - the ‘Spine Guy’
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Edison Very Smart Guy “The doctor of the future will give no you don’t fully understand what causes your medicine, but will interest his patients in symptoms. What does cause your symptoms? care of the human frame, in diet, and in the Many times it is the misalignment of a cause and prevention of disease.” vertebra that causes nerve — Thomas A. Edison impingement and eventually This quote by Thomas Edison allows those symptoms to is very appropriate when it comes appear. There are a variety to chiropractic care. From a of scenarios that cause chiropractor’s standpoint Thomas impingement – including Edison was a very smart guy. This trauma from an accident, is what we chiropractors do every poor posture over a period of day. We check your spines for time, incorrect exercise or the subluxations and pinched nerves, lack of it, sports injuries and we are interested in what you put repetitive stress or cumulative into your bodies, what is causing trauma injuries. Another by Terence G. Brady, DC your problems and what we can do cause is stress from any and to prevent those problems. all the things we do on a daily Nerve Impingement Syndrome, or basis. The subluxation is what causes the vertebral subluxation, occurs when a impingement and this in turn prevents you misalignment of any of the joints of your from enjoying the pleasures of life. spine causes pressure on any of the nerves “Subluxations caused by Nerve that radiate in or out from your spinal Impingement Syndromes can reduce nerve column. Nerves communicate with your impulses by 60 percent” body from your brain, through the spinal — Dr. Chung Ha Suh, University of cord and out to cells and from your cells Colorado back through your spinal cord to your brain. Subluxation or Nerve Impingement Pressure on any of these nerves can cause Syndrome Facts: interference with the transmission of the 80 percent of all childbirths result in signals throughout your body. This can cause Nerve Impingement Syndrome. pain and/or discomfit, as well as many other 40 percent of all children fall on their symptoms. Some of the symptoms of nerve heads by age one. According to OSHA, this interference/impingement can be headaches, can result in Nerve Impingement Syndrome. muscle fatigue, sleep problems, allergies or Between the ages of two and five years digestive problems. old, children fall over 200 times; this can You may be among the thousands of be a major cause of Nerve Impingement people who are suffering needlessly because Syndrome. Within two years of getting a drivers license, 70 percent of all teens are involved in an auto accident. Car accidents very often result in Nerve Impingement Syndrome. Since there are numerous causes of Nerve Impingement Syndrome, everyone at sometime or another will suffer from NIS. In many cases symptoms do not appear for months or even years. When the body detects a problem, it tries to compensate for it over time. The compensation and adaptation causes pain. If left untreated, the condition can lead to degeneration of joint and irreversible damage to the nerve, causing chronic pain or worse. The best approach for you is to get a chiropractic checkup and determine if you have any early onset of Nerve Impingement Syndrome. It is relatively simple to check your spine and determine if this is the case.
Page 21
Meet Your New Neighbors
Bonnie Badner lived in Tehachapi a is looking forward to finding a “new” little number of years ago and has now returned. doggie from one of our pet rescue sources as She and her husband, Dr. David Badner, soon as her hip is strong enough to originally came to Tehachapi care for that new little darling. in 1989, when he opened a Bonnie said she would like chiropractic business here. to publicly thank all of the people Bonnie had previously lived who have helped her get settled in a town where the norm and who saw to her needs before was manicured lawns, seven and after her return here. Included foot trees, houses all in a in her thank you are Ellen, Carol, row, and she thought that was her son, daughter-in-law, and what made a town beautiful. granddaughter. Bonnie says, She reluctantly accepted “Tehachapi, I’m home!” Welcome the move just to please him. back, Bonnie! With in a few short months Sharyn and William Berglund by Evie Campbell-Best she found the beauty here. have come to us from Palmdale. Welcome Hostess She said, “It’s the people, the They had friends up here, and rugged landscape, the weather, soon fell in love with the natural love and compassion, true friendships settings and peaceful way of life, and decided and brilliant minds that made this town a they wanted to be in this safe community. wonderful place to live.” She experienced William is employed by Lockheed, in a major part of this while working with computer security. Sharyn is a kindergarten her husband on some of the broken bodies teacher at Edwards Air Force Base. They that came through his office, which led to met through mutual friends in 1982 and endearing friendships. This brought her to were married in 1984. Sharyn says she was the realization of what she was getting in pregnant during the last part of her education return for coming to Tehachapi. to become a teacher and delivered her baby Bonnie’s husband’s business thrived, just four days before finals. We women are a their friendships grew and of course their tough group! love for Tehachapi deepened. Unfortunately William enjoys skeet target shooting. Dr. David became ill with a number of For those of you unfamiliar with this, it things, including a bad liver. He was in line is a recreational and competitive activity waiting for that much-needed liver transplant where participants attempt to break clay when he suffered several strokes, and lost his disks flung into the air at high speed from a battle for life in 2001. variety of angles. This is, in part, meant to Bonnie decided to move to Indiana simulate the action of bird hunting. Sharyn’s to be with family. She was there for eight hobby is collecting Bosson heads. These years, but longed for the beautiful life are collectable heads or busts of various she had come to know in Tehachapi. Her characters such as Dickens, fishermen, and heart was yearning to come back to, to Arabians. They are very detailed, colorful, be enveloped by the heart and soul of this and fill the upper part of several walls in unique, quirky, honest and warm town. her great room. She also has many porcelain Although Bonnie broke her hip shortly dolls of various sizes from several feet tall before returning, she has found peace and to Storybook size. Hubby William is very joy after just a few weeks of being here. handy with building and is constructing She is eager to get reacquainted with some some nice shelves for all of her dolls. This of her old friends that she met through the is one of the most interesting displays of chiropractic business, yard sales, square dolls and character heads I have ever seen. dancing, and Popcorn. Popcorn was her Her large collection would be fun if she had beloved little doggie that was born and a little get-together for those Tehachapians raised here. Popcorn has also passed and was who enjoy this sort of display. Welcome to brought back to Tehachapi in a box. Bonnie the Berglunds.
Welcome! If you have moved to the Greater Tehachapi Area within the last six months and would like to know more about your new community, call 661-822-8188. We will be happy to make an appointment for a hostess to come by and give you lots of helpful information, some valuable coupons, gifts and much more. Many families and individuals who come to the area are pleasantly surprised with the amount of knowledge they gather about their new home. Publishing your welcome article is completely voluntary and is not a requirement of being welcomed.
ymail.com
Page 22
Tell them you saw it in
Memories of the Mayor
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Willie’s Jeep Adventures
I finished my last memory with saying would look at us so much, now I know it was my racing career was over. It was over, as because they couldn’t see who was driving. far as racing my horse Cinder, but with cars Now just imagine seeing a 10-year-old it was different. We had an old driving a jeep 50 miles an hour Military surplus Willie’s Jeep. and he is having to look though It had been used during WW II the steering wheel to see. Yep and my foster father bought it that was us, and we never from someone who didn’t have crashed or ran over anyone. any use for it. He got it for next When we got to our destination to nothing. There was nothing we would work like crazy to get wrong with it and, besides, we done because there were some could use it to go deer hunting in patches of mud and we would the fall. However that wasn’t the put the jeep in four-wheel drive only reason why we got it. My and go through it and get all by Ed Grimes muddy. We never got stuck but my brother and I needed transportation to get over to Brite’s Valley to foster father always wondered why irrigate about 100 acres of potatoes. He the jeep was so dirty. Of course we would wasn’t always able to take us over there, usually wash it up some before we got home so we needed something we could drive. so he wouldn’t notice so much. I think he The Willie’s Jeep was perfect for us, but it noticed and didn’t say anything because he needed a little bit of modification. You see knew we would clean it up anyway. my brother and I were only a little bit taller Like I said I loved that old Jeep and, than four ft. We were only 10-year-olds and sometimes during hunting season, we would we weren’t able to reach the pedals to shift go up into the mountains and climb hills gears. So holes were drilled in the pedals so steep that my brother and I would lie on and wooden blocks were attached. Perfect, the front hood to give it more weight on the so we thought, wrong again. We didn’t sit front wheels. I guess that is dangerous, but up high enough to see over the steering we never thought of it that way. After we wheel. We improvised again and would put sold the farm I inherited the Jeep and kept folded potato sacks on the seat so we could it until the 1980s, and then I sold it to a guy at least see through the steering wheel. Then in Northern California who wanted to fix it off we would go, up Dennison Road to the up and keep it as a relic of the War. I know Pole Line Road (remember it was called that it is in good hands and I don’t ever worry in the 1940s and ‘50s). We really did like about it anymore. Again I have got to go, but driving the old Pole Line because we would remember that God is good, and God is great. get the jeep up to 50 miles an hour and it So keep him in your life. Merry Christmas was pure bliss. I often wondered why people and Happy New Year.
The Butcher’s Wife
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Ahhhh…The Holidays!
sounds so sweet doesn’t it? I just love it. (Que “Andy Williams - White Christmas” music soundtrack). Well, if you are at least going to try to make the Prime Rib part of the above dream Family and friends gathering ‘round the fire place, sipping egg nog come true…here is how to do it and a recipe for a fantastic and reminiscing of the joys of potato side dish as well! the past year and the wonders of everyday life. Everyone Happy Holidays to all! From our crazy, non-perfect sharing good conversation and complimenting each other on family to yours! how great they look. – Love, Tomi Get your Harris Ranch The children are playing quietly or reading books together Prime Rib from The Butcher Shop today, for that special in the den while mom prepares holiday meal they won’t soon her famous Prime Rib feast by Tony and Tomi (Sighhhh). Huh! Whatta ya forget! Nuckolls, Butcher If you have a recipe you’d mean that doesn’t sound like and Wife like to share, please email it to your holiday get together? lesliejreynolds@yahoo.com. Hmmmm doesn’t sound like mine either but I read it in a book somewhere and it just
Prime Rib Divine
Ingredients: 1 Prime Rib Rock Salt (to coat)
Directions: Pre heat your oven to 450 degrees. (Clean your oven door window first.) Take your prime rib, wash it off and then coat it on all sides with rock salt. Insert a meat thermometer into the meat making sure not to touch the bone, as doing so would give you a false reading. Place meat on a rack in a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven and cook in oven at 450 to sear the meat. Then turn oven down to 250 and cook for another 2 ½ hours (or 20 minutes per pound depending on how much meat you are cooking). Do not open the oven door to check on the meat! Doing so will compromise the tenderness. Just make sure you can read the meat thermometer through the oven door window which, you made sure was clean before you preheated the oven! The following is a temperature gauge to verify the done-ness of your prime rib: 140 degrees for rare, 160 degrees for medium, and 170 degrees for well done. Remember the end pieces of the prime rib will be more “done” then the center, so go by the temperature not the visual way it looks. When done remove from oven and let stand for about 15 to 20 minutes before carving. Don’t forget to serve some creamed horse radish sparingly over the meat… and on the side. (You can add a little sour cream to the horse radish to make it a bit milder.)
Grrr-reat Potato Casserole
Tehachapi Community Congregational Church United Church of Christ
A Progressive Christian Church
10:30 am Worship and Sunday School Pastor Diane Ryder 100 East E St. (Disability Access)
(661) 822-4443
Ingredients: (Based on a serving for 4 to 6 people) 1 large bag of frozen cubed potatoes ½ cup of chopped white or yellow onion 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese 1 cup of sour cream 1 can of cream of mushroom soup or celery soup ½ tea spoon each of salt and pepper (Mix together and pour into a 9 x 14 baking dish) Directions: In a large sauce pan, melt 5 tabs of butter and add 1/2 tsp. of garlic salt Add three cups of corn flakes to the skillet. Heat and mix well in the butter, then set aside. Mix all of the above ingredients together in a large bowl and pour into a 9 x 14 glass baking dish. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 35 minutes. Ten minutes before the potatoes are done, pour the buttered corn flakes over the top of the casserole. This is so easy, and can be put together in the morning and then popped into the oven later on while You are enjoying your “Yule Tide” egg nog or glass of wine! The Butcher Shop is located on Hwy 202 and Woodford Tehachapi road in the new Grand Oaks Plaza, between the Shell station and Frosty King. Come on by and try our 100 percent natural Harris Ranch Beef or call us at 661-822-9600 We’re open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Part X
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Page 23
Tilting at Windmills Hot Air
The tenth in a series of articles examining the many aspects of the growing wind energy business in the Greater Tehachapi Area Although I’ve been writing fiction since I was eight years old, I must confess to being rather new to journalism and all of the rules and requirements that come with it. As many readers have no doubt surmised, most of the information regarding the latest happenings in the wind industry that I gather and distill here are gleaned from other sources, but it has been brought to my attention that I have been remiss in citing those sources. My primary source has been the very informative online magazine Wind Power Monthly (WPM) located at www. windpowermonthly.com. That said, I will endeavor to site WPM and any other sources as necessary, so now on to the latest. The biggest breaking news is of course the Helo wind project pulling out of Sand Canyon. Following a lengthy and often vitriolic battle with local residents – and in an echo of TerraGen’s ill-fated Pahnamid project last June – Helo Energy LLC has notified the Kern County Planning Department that they are withdrawing their application for wind energy zoning in Sand Canyon. See this issue’s Forde Files for more details. As the Helo/Sand Canyon situation and the subtitle for this installment of TAW implies, things are indeed heating up for the wind industry. Across the pond, England’s Duke of Edinburgh recently made a fierce attack on wind farms, describing them as “absolutely useless”. According to an article in the UK Telegraph, “he criticized the industry’s reliance on subsidies from electricity customers, claimed wind farms would ‘never work’ and accused people who support them of believing in a ‘fairy tale’”. The article goes on to point out that “the Duke’s views are politically charged as they put him at odds with the British Government’s policy to significantly increase the amount of electricity generated by wind turbines. The country has 3,421 turbines – 2,941 of them onshore – with another 4,500 expected to be built under plans for wind power to play a more important role in providing Britain’s energy.” According to the Telegraph, “It was revealed last year that electricity customers in Britain are paying an average of £90 a year to subsidize wind farms and other forms of renewable energy as part of a government attempt to meet carbonreduction targets. One of the main reasons the Duke finds onshore wind farms to be “a very bad idea” was their reliance on such subsidies. The generous financial incentives being offered to green energy developers have led landowners to look to build wind farms on their estates, including the Duke of Gloucester, the Queen’s cousin.” Meanwhile, China is suing the US government for restriction of trade. According to an article in Wind Power Monthly, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) is launching trade investigations into the US government's support and use of subsidies for its renewable energy sector, including wind, solar and hydroelectric energy in Washington, Massachusetts, Ohio, New Jersey and California. The MOC’s complaint argues that “the US government's policy support and subsidies for its renewable-energy industry constitute a trade barrier, because they violate the rules of the World Trade Organization and have hindered and restricted the development of China's renewable energy sector." The MOC is requesting “the elimination of any negative influence from the US government's policy support and subsidies in order to maintain a fair trade environment.” The brass tacks is that the US is in no way “hindering and restricted the development of China's renewable energy
sector”, but our subsidies make it more desirable for manufacturers to build the turbines and their components in the US rather than in China. The MOC said the investigation will end before May 25, 2012, although it may be extended to Aug. 25 under special circumstances. Here in the U.S., the subsidies that are infuriating the Chinese government face the chopping block and it appears that renewable energy developers will need to find new sources of funding after the stimulus-inspired cash payments to the sector expire at the end of this year, according to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The report found that tax subsidies, including the 2.2 cents per kWh production tax credit (PTC), will again become the most important support mechanism for the industry. But Wind Power Monthly points out that “wind proponents are ramping up their efforts to push through recently tabled legislation calling for a four-year extension of the PTC. In a letter sent to Congressional leaders, 369 groups and companies – including the American Wind Energy Association, the National Association of Manufacturers and the United Steelworkers – said the looming expiration is already beginning to impact the sector.” This does not bode well for wind industry jobs. "Investments are stalling now and will continue to stall, with corresponding job losses, until a bill to extend the PTC is passed," WPM writes. A coalition of 23 state governors sent their own letter endorsing such a bill which was introduced earlier this month by Representatives Dave Reichert, a Republican from Washington State, and Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon. "If the tax credit is allowed to expire at the end of 2012, there will be negative impacts on the high-tech manufacturing jobs that the industry has brought to or created in our states," the governors warn. And just days ago, an article in WPM quoted a piece of research published by consultant Navigant (commissioned by the AWEA) predicts that investment in the industry will drop from $15.6 billion in 2012 to $5.5 billion in 2013, while jobs will fall from 78,000 to 41,000. New wind installation would fall to 2 gigawatts from the 8 gigawatts of installation that is projected to occur if the PTC is renewed. “37,000 jobs will be lost if the PTC is no longer available as a subsidy”, the report claims, “while conversely a further 17,000 jobs could be created if the tax credit was extended beyond its current 2012 expiry date.” Time Magazine is also chiming in on the hot topic of Production Tax Credits. In a recent article, Time reports that “U.S. wind and solar companies are panicking over the murky future of federal support for renewable energy. Generous tax credits and subsidies – especially since the 2009 stimulus – have helped the U.S. renewable industry thrive, with wind power alone growing 37 percent annually over the past four years. But much of that government aid is set to expire at the end of the year, and if Congress doesn't act – which seems increasingly unlikely in these politically dysfunctional days – the U.S. renewable-energy industry could suffer a major crash in the years ahead.” According to the Time article, there are more than 400 facilities in 43 states producing parts for wind turbines [much to China’s chagrin], and today 60 percent of a turbine's value originates from the U.S., up from 25 percent before the PTC was enacted in 2005. Time states “There's also the argument that government aid should focus more on supporting breakthrough-energy technologies, instead of spending money year after year enabling sources of renewable energy that are unable to survive without government aid. But the cost of wind and solar are dropping rapidly, finally
putting renewable energy in a position to compete in the marketplace – as long as the certainty of government aid doesn't disappear. The history of U.S. clean-energy policy has been one of fits and starts, with the renewable industry rising and then crashing when subsidies expire. As the climate crisis worsens – and countries barely seem to be able to do anything about it on the international stage – now's not the time to pull the rug out from under American renewables.” Closer to home, WPM reports that Pattern Energy has been forced to cut a 100MW wind project in Yolo County, California as a result of environmental concerns. “The developer said the wind project near Sacramento had been cancelled following concerns about the wind farm's effect on the local bird population. Pattern said this included Golden Eagles and Bald Eagles. The project was in the planning stages and had not yet gone into construction.” A couple hundred miles away from Tehachapi, the “Battle for Chino Hills” rages on for Southern California Edison’s $2.1 billion Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project (TRTP). According to an article at www. ChinoHills.com, Reps. Ed Royce, R-Orange, and Gary Miller, R-Brea, recently joined Chino Hills officials and residents in their fight against the 200-foot high towers that are being built through the city's neighborhoods. Royce called for a congressional hearing on the impact on neighborhood home values and the ability of
by Robert Lugibihl homeowners and buyers to obtain loans in the TRTP area. "I disagree with the California Public Utilities Commission in allowing the construction of 200-foot high, 60-foot wide monster towers so close to homes," he said. "Because of the impact on home values, this is equivalent to a government taking of private property. It is just plain common sense that these power lines should have been routed through uninhabited Chino Hills State Park, or underground." It’s not all doom and gloom for the wind industry. WPM also reports that WindMade, a consumer standard designed to show products have been made using wind energy, has announced its first brand partners who will source the equivalent of 25 percent of their operational electricity consumption from wind energy. "These companies are at the forefront of the global sustainability movement," said Henrik Kuffner, WindMade's CEO. "We are delighted to have them on board the unique WindMade initiative, and are confident that many others will follow suit in the coming weeks and months." Among the first WindMade companies are Motorola, Deutsche Bank, Method (maker of home and personal care products), Better Place (electric car infrastructure), Widex (hearing aid manufacturer), Vestas Wind Systems (wind turbine manufacturer), Bloomberg (financial news and data service) and LEGO Group (toy manufacturer).
Funds For Freedom Inc. Donates $18,000 to BNCSC
A place of solitude and reflection where family, friends and comrades can pay respects to their fallen veterans. This is the place at the Bakersfield National Cemetery designated as a memorial walkway to remember our nation’s heroes. Funds For Freedom, a non-profit organization, has been raising money for the construction of the walkway and is proud to donate $18,000.00 to begin the fund raising efforts. The design and construction of the Memorial walkway is funded only by public donations and is managed by the Bakersfield National Cemetery Support Committee. The Memorial walkway design will be a place where military and civic organizations will place memorials to honor our veterans for the viewing of the public while reflecting on
the loss of their loved ones. Funds For Freedom Inc. is a non-profit organization that raises money for veteran and children causes. Their fundraising efforts have supported the Bakersfield National Cemetery, Tehachapi Salvation Army, Central California Children’s hospital, Tehachapi pregnancy life center and Funds For Freedom scholarship foundation. Founded in 2004 Funds For Freedom has organized numerous motorcycle and musical events to support theses worthy causes. For more information on the complete story, contact Cindy VanBibber, Director, Bakersfield National Cemetery, 661-867-2250; Tom Pasek, President, Bakersfield National Cemetery Support Committee, 661-654-9116; and/or Orion Sanders, President, Funds For Freedom Inc., 661-340-0026.
Orion Sanders (left) and Tom Pasek (right)
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
22.02
Construction
Remodelers
22.03 21.11c
Auto Glass
22.01s
Auto Body & Paint
22.03
Business Directory
Cell (661) 972-6411 • Shop (661) 822-4500
Co me to:
Make Your Car a Happy Car!
Don’s Pro Technology Automotive Repair
Your Full Service Automotive Center Pass or Don’t Pay Smog Test Center 230 East Tehachapi Bld • Tehachapi
661-822-1600
Finley Pump Service, Inc. Complete Water Well Services Design & Installation Submersible & Booster Pumps Water Storage & Pressure Tanks Down Hole Video
661-822-9283
Locally Owned & Operated Mike Finley - Lic. #874581
Where Quality & Service are Number 1
Construction
Water Well Service
Batteries
21.13c
Automotive Repair
21.13 21.8s 21.02
151 N. Mill Street, Suite E • Tehachapi 21.12s 21.09c
Tell them you saw it in
22.02 21.12
Page 24
Batteries installed for Off-Grid Homes •Quality US Built Batteries •Licensed and Insured •30 years experience Powerstride Battery Co.
Ask for Dave (661) 549-9621
Attention Readers:
Want the LOOP delivered directly to your door? We ask a nominal $35 a year to cover the cost of mailing.
If you would like to receive Tehachapi’s main source for community & entertainment news, please send a check or money order; or look on line for more information www.theloopnewspaper.com or call The Loop office at 661.822.8188 with your credit card information.
Please fill out the form below and include a $35 check or money order payable to “The Loop”.
I Don’t Want To Miss an Issue Of ! in 2012 Mail to: P.O. Box 964, Tehachapi, Ca 93581 If you wish to pay with a credit card call our office at 661.822.8188
I want to get my subscription mailed directly to my home each issue in 2012! Your Name _____________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________________ City ____________________________ State ____ Zip __________ Email ____________________________________________________
22.02
Barber Shop
2113
Manicurist
2201 22.01
R.V.RV Repair Mobile Repair
Alterations
21.12c
Business Directory
22.03
Manicurist
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Beading
Remodelers
Home & Office Cleaning
Page 25
21.12
Tell them you saw it in
h
2113
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
House & Office Cleaning
Good References • Free Estimates All Services Guaranteed Alex&Dora (661) 822-6567 • Cell (661) 319-5899 1002 Green St, Tehachapi • Lic# 65484
Framing
21.12c
Massage
21.12c
22.01c
Pet Services
22.03
Cement
Sally Lyon Owner
Licensed Bonded
Pet Services By Sally Pet Sitting & Pet Taxi Serving the Tehachapi area
Vendor Mall
22.02
Construction
21.12
Pet Rescue
22.13
Heating & A/C
22.05s
(661) 823-7136 • (661) 972-5826 Cell
Rainbow Rescue, Devoted love waiting to find you! Meet our pets on www.petfinder.com or California City, (760) 373-2907
Chimney Cleaning
22.02s
Advertise
Mortuary
22.04s
Plumbing
2113
Tractor Work
22.01
IRS 501 (c) 3 Non-Profit Organization.
Advertising to Fit Any Budget! This ad in color is only
$190 for 7 issues:
That’s 14 weeks total!
Sonner Electric • Residential • Commercial • Bonded & Insured Specializing in all Homeowner Needs • Ceiling Fans • Outlets • Lighting • Panel Changes, Etc.
661-810-7867 Licence #C10 800944
Advertise
$35 per issue Prepay and get 5 for $120 Call 1-661-822-8188 Today!
Call Today! (661) 822-8188
Fireplaces
21.12
Electrician
22.02h
Call 661-822-8188 Today!
The Heat Source
Woodburning, Gas & Pellet Stoves 2 Locations! (661) 823-0117 20817 South St - Tehachapi (661) 949-0906 42247 12th St. West - Lancaster
Advertise in The Loop’s Business Directory
Page 26
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Classic Car
1934 Forde Model B The 1934 Ford when CW and Paula got it in 2007, he loved his cars! Photo by CW. Column by Randy Horne, Thanks to Protech Auto Service and Scott’s Suto Body for sponsoring this column
I have elected to finish up the year with this particular car for two reasons, I’ve always liked the body style and my dear friend, the late and yes great, CW Jones built this one. The Ford Model B was produced starting with model year 1932 and ending with 1934. It was a much updated version of the Model A and was replaced by the 1935 Ford Model 48. Strictly speaking the Model B was a four-cylinder car with a much improved version of the Model A engine, but Ford also began producing a very similar car with Ford’s new flathead V-8 engine. The V-8 car was marketed as the Model 18, although it is commonly called the Ford V-8, and, other than the engine, is virtually identical to the Model B, both mated to a manual three speed transmission and running Firestone 525/550x17 tires. Up to this time, Ford had produced only one “model” at a time with range of body options and retained the idea of a single basic platform, despite the engine choice and two associated model designations. (This explains why the name “Ford V-8” by itself was sufficiently descriptive in the early 1930s; it was the Ford with a V-8, unlike in later decades, when various models had so many options.) Model B and Model 18 Fords came in a large variety of body styles: two-door roadster, two-door cabriolet, four-door phaeton, two-door and four-door sedans, four-door “woodie” station wagon, two-door Victoria, two-door convertible sedan, Panel and sedan deliveries, fivewindow coupe, a sport coupe (stationary soft top) and the three-window Deluxe Coupe. Prices ranged from $495 for the roadster and the coupe’s $490 to the $650 convertible sedan. Production totals numbered from 12,597 for the roadster to 124,101 for the two-door sedan. 298,647 V8-powered B’s sold in 1932, and except for the fact Ford could not keep up with demand, the fourcylinder B would have been a disaster: dealers switched customers to them from the V8, and even then sold only 133,539, in part because the V8 cost only $10 more. Today
the roadster and coupe are most sought after, as these body styles are the most popular for streetrods and intact classic examples have become rare. The Model 18 was the first low-priced, mass-marketed car to include a V-8 engine, an important milestone in American automotive history. The V-8 was rated at 65 hp when introduced, but power increased significantly (85 HP) with improvements to the carburetor and ignition in later years. This engine choice was more popular than the four-cylinder, which was essentially a variant of the Model A engine with improvements to balancing and lubrication. In both models the fuel tank was located in the lower rear of the car, as is typical in modern cars, rather than in the cowl as in the Model A and late Model T, requiring Ford to include an engine-driven fuel pump rather than rely on gravity feed. Today the 1932 Model B is a highly collectible car that people will pay thousands of dollars to restore to exact original style. During the WWII period the Model Bs and V-8s were frequently altered into hot rods. Since the 1970s, 1932 bodies and frames have been reproduced either in fiberglass or lately in steel, which has helped resolve bodywork shortages, and increased the number of “rods” being created or restored. Being the perfectionist, when CW built a car, it was always a work of art – he did nothing half way. The original ‘34s had a bowed wooden top, kind of like a moon roof, prone to rotting. He welded a solid steel top on the car before adding a stunning paint job and new chrome. Under the hood improvements included a Ram Jet 350 injected crate motor, a 700R4 transmission, a custom radiator, and air conditioning. The interior was completely updated including a custom dash with TCI gauges, a GPS-RadioCD system, seats, carpet, and headliner. CW and Paula originally bought the car in Salinas in June 2007 where it had been sitting in a barn for years and looked it. CW worked on it for a year and a half, having almost finished it when he passed away in September 2009.
Maddox, the miniature Hereford Bull
Maddox, the miniature Hereford Bull, has returned home to Tehachapi from the San Francisco Cow Palace Livestock Show. He took third place in the Open Hereford Bulls class out of 16 seasoned entries! “We are very proud of Maddox for this was his very first show and he is only 1-1/2 years old,” said owners, Gary and Angela Pearson, of their prize winning bull. Pictured in the photo is our handler,
Bob Potter. According to Bob the first place went to a mature bull, said to be worth $150,000 and who had already been competing all over the USA and had won everything. Second place went to Bob’s own bull, and Third Place went to Maddox of the Pearsons’ Wild Coyote Ranch, located in Brite Valley. Quite an accomplishment for a young bull from a small town! Congratulations Maddox!
“We Do It All!” State of California
LICENSED SMOG CHECK
661-822-1100 410 West “J” St. - Tehachapi Mon-Fri 8-6pm, Sat. 9-4pm
INSPECTION and REPAIR STATION
Chad All Major Credit Cards & ATM accepted
your Complete Auto Care Facility
Bring a non-perishable food item to our shop for the Salvation Army and we’ll give you $10 OFF a smog inspection, including the certificate.
10.oo
$
OFF!
No Hidden Costs!
Must present coupon before invoicing
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Mortgage Matters
Think Twice Before Doing a FHA Streamline Refi
Everybody wants to save money, and that’s a lot for mortgage insurance”. Further low interest rates are probably tempting this increase in MIP erodes the savings they’d you to refinance your mortgage. get from the lower rate. Also, to add Here’s an invitation to look insult to injury, the MIP on their closely before jumping on the “purchase” loan may be a tax writeloan known as “FHA Streamline off, but it won’t be if they refinance. Refinance.” It sounds great To recap – the before payment because you can refinance at 5 percent is $2138 and the after without an appraisal, so it works payment at 3.875 percent is $2077. if you already have a FHA loan Okay, so there is a net savings of and owe more than your home is $61 per month, but remember the worth. Here are the details that monthly MIP is a throw-away. It might make it a really bad idea. doesn’t do anything except allow by Tammy Engel, The case we’ll examine is you to participate in the FHA Mortgage Advisor for a family who bought their program. home in 2009 – using an FHA There’s more. Even if you loan at 5 percent – and borrowed $370,000. threw caution to the wind, did the refinance Right now they pay $1987 per month in for the “glory” rate and used the $61 monthly principal and interest, and $151 per month in savings to prepay the new loan, you’d pay off mortgage insurance premium (MIP). the new loan at exactly the same date as your Reducing their interest rate to 3.875 original loan would have. If we only run it out percent on a new loan does indeed reduce the five years from today without any prepayment, principal and interest expense to $1728 per the balance on your old loan would be $10,000 month, so on the face of it they’d save $259 less than your new refinance balance. Yuck. per month. Great, right? Not so fast. Now What’s the take-away? It’s not all about let’s look at what happens to the MIP. interest rate, folks. The way your loan is At the time their original loan was structured needs to be considered when you’re written, the monthly factor for MIP was thinking about refinancing. The postcards and 0.5 percent per month (that’s $151). Today websites that tease you about this stuff aren’t the monthly factor is 1.15 percent, or $349, necessarily going to have the expertise – or per month. You should be saying “holy cow the incentive – to dig deeper for the truth. Tammy Engel is your local Mortgage Advisor, and is the only lender in Kern County authorized to display the Lending Integrity Seal of Approval. Reach her at 661-822-REAL with your home loan questions about purchase, refinance, or reverse mortgage.
Ribbon Cutting & Holiday Boutique
Chamber Directors Kathy Carey, Carl Gehricke and Claudia Henson and Chamber Ambassador Laurin Bierman joined Anne Hite the new owner of Expressions Salon at the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony during her Holiday Open House Boutique on Monday Dec. 12th. Expressions Salon is located at 20406 Brian Way, Ste 1-A, 661-823-7007. Photo by Ida Perkins
Page 27
Page 28
Tell them you saw it in
~ Your Community News & Entertainment Guide, Since 2001
Dec. 20 ~ Jan. 7, 2012
Tehachapi’s Holiday Dining Options