A man who sprayed bear mace on two people during a robbery at a Big Lots store in north Bakersfield will spend five years in prison after being convicted of robbery and use of a tear gas weapon. The incident happened in September 2024 when Victor Perez filled a shopping cart with items and left…… Read More
The Taft City Council last week approved a $26,000 contract with a vendor to purchase twenty new Glock 9mm handguns with mini lights and holsters. Chief of Police Damon McMinn says the new guns have a larger capacity for 17 rounds in the magazine versus 15 in the older 40-caliber models. Ammunition for the new…… Read More
A former employee of San Lauren Elementary School in Oildale is facing eleven felony counts after reportedly admitting to having sex with a teenager he used to coach. Aldrich Cadiz, 32, is also accused of using a fake social media account to obtain nude photos of the the girl and another victim. Cadiz has pleaded…… Read More
Two men have taken plea deals in connection to a deadly shooting outside the Aviator Casino in Delano. Carlos Revela, 41, pleaded no contest to first degree murder. Co-defendant Vincent Gonzalez pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter following the shooting death of David Medina, 46, outside the casino in 2014. The men will be sentenced…… Read More
The first person in Kern County to be charged under Proposition 36 has taken a plea deal. Court records indicate Dustin Towery, 25, pleaded no contest March 28 to a felony count of shoplifting with two prior convictions. A misdemeanor count of resisting arrest was dropped. Towery was charged on suspicion of stealing two electric…… Read More
A man who assaulted a Kern County prison guard will serve extra time in prison. Oshea Mann, 32, was sentenced March 28, 2025, to eight additional years after his conviction earlier in March for assaulting a correctional officer at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano in 2019. Mann attacked the guard during a visit to…… Read More
United Way of Central Eastern California has announced Eric Arias as the new President and CEO. Arias was elected to the Bakersfield City Council in 2020 and serves Ward 1 which includes communities in southeast Bakersfield and parts of Greenfield. The United Way of Central Eastern California is a non-profit organization that offers education, health,…… Read More
Kern County’s largest labor union has agreed to more contract talks with the County. A one-day strike following months of negotiations dating back to May 2024 have yielded no results, and members of the Service Employees International Union Local 521 announced Friday the two parties will return to the bargaining table with a mediator to…… Read More
A hit and run crash has left one person dead in south Bakersfield. California Highway Patrol officers responded Saturday night to the intersection of South Union Avenue and White Lane to find a pedestrian dead at the scene. Officers are looking for the driver. Southbound lanes of South Union Avenue were closed during the investigation.… Read More
The Employment Development Department has released the latest unemployment numbers, and it’s not good news for Kern County. The county’s unemployment rate was 9.3% in February, up from 9% in January and 8.2% in December. Kern’s unemployment rate was higher in February of 2024 at 9.7%. California’s unemployment rate in February was 5.5%. Nationwide, the…… Read More
