The Bakersfield Police Department and city crews, some on horseback, conducted a large-scale homeless encampment sweep in Bakersfield Wednesday morning. 24 encampments were cleared and 23 people were apprehended during the operation along the Kern Riverbed off Truxtun Avenue between Mohawk Street and Coffee Road. Three people were placed into the Brundage Lane Navigation Center.…… Read More
Forever 21 in Valley Plaza Mall is closing for good. Signs posted outside the store promote a closing sale. The Wall Street Journal reports the company is closing dozens of stores this year after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2019. The company was bought out of bankruptcy in 2020 and merged with…… Read More
A person is hospitalized after being struck by a vehicle in downtown Bakersfield. Police responded around 10:45a.m. Wednesday to an accident on Chester Avenue and 19th Street where the victim suffered major injuries. The driver remained at the scene. Officers say neither drugs nor alcohol contributed to the accident.… Read More
Several railroad cars derailed north of Bealville on Tuesday. Kern County emergency crews were set up at Caliente Bodfish and Kern River roads in response to the derailment of fifteen cars at around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. A spokesman for the Kern County Fire Department says the cars were empty, no one was injured, and there…… Read More
A man accused of causing fatal injuries to his one-month-old son faces a charge of second-degree murder. Eduardo Gutierrez, 24, is also charged with assault on a child under eight resulting in death and child cruelty after his son Valentin Gutierrez died one week after his skull was fractured November 24, 2024. The child’s mother…… Read More
A man accused of sexual battery at a Bakersfield car wash will stand trial. A judge on Tuesday ruled there is enough evidence for a trial against Fernando Moreno who’s accused of spraying semen from a bottle on a woman who was vacuuming her car at Mister Car Wash on Mount Vernon Avenue May 31,…… Read More
State Senator Shannon Grove (R) — Bakersfield has announced the introduction of Senate Bill 375 aimed at enhancing emergency response efforts and ensuring California communities are better prepared to mitigate wildfire threats. The measure would remove regulatory hurdles in the California Endangered Species Act, California Environmental Quality Act and The California Coastal Act. Grove says…… Read More
A tough-on-crime Republican sheriff who was a supporter of President Donald Trump in the 2024 election on Monday launched a campaign for California governor. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced his candidacy at an event Monday in Riverside in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Bianco has been a vocal critic…… Read More
More than $45,000 in cash and over 100 pounds of weed were seized in a Fresno County traffic stop. Highway Patrol officers stopped a vehicle February 12 on northbound Interstate Five south of Russell Avenue in Fresno County where they detected a strong smell of weed. A K-9 officer helped to find 109 pounds of…… Read More
A Kern County man accused of defrauding the California unemployment system out of hundreds of thousands of dollars has pleaded no contest to felony charges. Ruben Rodriguez entered the plea last week to two counts of making a false statement regarding unemployment compensation and preparing a false insurance claim. Rodriguez was arrested in 2023 for…… Read More
