Free Republic

A California history professor delivered a scathing rebuke of his former administration after a federal judge struck a blow to the statewide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion "DEI" mandates for faculty. Tenured professor Matthew Garrett was dismissed last April from Bakersfield College in the Kern Community College District after he says far-left professors and students brought false accusations against him because of his opposition to DEI policies on campus. Administrators have argued he was disciplined for "unprofessional" conduct and "unsatisfactory performance," according to a 19-page report from interim college president Zav Dadabhoy last March. He is fighting the decision through the...

The Kern County Coroner's Office reports the cause of death for the inmate, 53-year-old Juan Pablo Villanueva, killed in North Kern State Prison in Delano on February 24 as ligature strangulation. CDCR said Villanueva was serving a sentence for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 years old, when he was found unresponsive in his cell on February 24, 2023. CDCR said his cellmate, Ramon Escobar, was serving several sentences for five first-degree murders and seven counts of attempted second-degree murder. A CDCR officer saw Villanueva unresponsive in the cell and immediately went to get medical personnel. Responding staff...

No one disputes Wendy Howard killed ex-boyfriend Kelly Rees Pitts after finding out he molested her teenage daughter. Last week, a Kern County, California jury acquitted Howard of murder but deadlocked on a charge of voluntary manslaughter. The jury found Howard not guilty and moved on to voluntary manslaughter. With that charge, the jury voted on two theories: imperfect self-defense and heat of passion. In imperfect self-defense, a person believes they need to use deadly force and kills someone to stop a perceived threat, but in reality deadly force wasn’t necessary. The jury found Howard not guilty under that theory....

There are dozens of slayings in Kern County each year, but the murder of Yvette Pena at a Bakersfield motel received particular notoriety. Her killing in 2011 stood out not only for its gruesomeness, but for the heavily-tattooed, remorseless man who eventually admitted carrying it out.

The company that flew the first privately funded manned rocket into space has been cited in connection with an explosion last summer that killed three workers, the state said today. California occupational safety inspectors said in a report that Scaled Composites LLC failed to properly train workers about the dangers of nitrous oxide that was used during a test in July. The state levied three citations against Scaled, including two that were considered "serious," and fined the spaceship builder $25,870. The company has 15 days to pay or appeal. Three workers died and three were seriously injured in the explosion...

... He said: "We would love to finish what we started some years ago and I think pretty well all our astronauts would love us to finish and would love to go into space. "I think millions of people in the world would one day love the chance to go to space and this is the start of a long programme."

CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL SAYS ONE PERSON KILLED, ONE INJURED IN CRASH OF VIRGIN GALACTIC SPACECRAFT IN MOJAVE DESERT -CNN, CNBC This is a breaking news story. Please check back for further updates. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Oct 31 (Reuters) - A suborbital passenger spaceship being developed by Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic crashed during a test flight on Friday at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, officials said. Two pilots were aboard the spaceship, which was undergoing its first powered test flight since January. It was not immediately known if they were able to parachute to safety. More than 800...

MOJAVE, Calif. — Two people were killed and four others injured Thursday by an explosion at a Mojave Desert airport that is home to pioneering civilian rocket programs, authorities said. Wreckage of equipment and vehicles could be seen in an overhead view of the site broadcast by a KCAL-TV news helicopter. A sign on a truck behind a bunker had the name Scaled. Scaled Composites is the Mojave-based builder of SpaceShipOne, the first private manned rocket to reach space. "Reports are two fatalities and at least four critical injuries," said Kern County fire Capt. Doug Johnston, who was not at...

DELANO, Calif. (KABC) -- A Kern County man is in custody after he was allegedly caught on video throwing a Molotov cocktail at some parked cars. Delano police say the video helped them find the suspected arsonist they believe is responsible for setting multiple fires in the downtown Delano area last month. In the most recent incident, on the afternoon of April 26 video captured a man on a bicycle lighting and throwing an incendiary device at two parked cars, setting a fire in the outdoor parking lot. Firefighters put out the flames and police were able to obtain video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDojhkcs2V8 

Big one just hit.

The good news about Thursday's 6.4-magnitude quake... is that it happened in an unpopulated area of the Mojave Desert about 100 miles from the main San Andreas fault. The bad news? "The probability of a 'big one' hasn't changed at all," ... "You realize the last big earthquake to hit the L.A. segment of the San Andreas fault was 1680. That's over 300 years ago. But the cycle time for breaks and earthquakes on the San Andreas fault is 130 years, so we are way overdue. In any given year, the probability of the big one is 3% in any...

Ridgecrest, California — A 6.4 magnitude earthquake is still fresh on everyone's mind in Ridgecrest and the aftershocks won't let them forget it. After the quake, rattled nerves kept Donnie Morrison's family up through the night. "We had our shoes by the bed. We had our clothes ready to go if we had to bail out real quick," Morrison said. More than 1,000 aftershocks have rocked the community. CBS News witnessed the biggest aftershock while preparing for an early morning live shot. Another struck during an interview with seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake jolted Southern California on Thursday, touching off house fires and damaging buildings in a desert town northeast of Los Angeles, but authorities said it has caused only minor injuries. The 6.4 magnitude quake, the largest in two decades in the area, struck about 113 miles (182 km) northeast of Los Angeles near the city of Ridgecrest at around 1:30 pm EDT (1730 GMT), according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The Kern County Fire Department said it was dealing with “multiple injuries,” two house fires, small brush fires and gas leaks.

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Southern California on Thursday, the largest temblor to hit the region in decades. The 10:33 a.m. quake was centered in the Searles Valley, a remote area of Kern County about 100 miles from Los Angeles.

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Southern California on Thursday, officials said. The quake hit the Kern County community of Searles Valley, about 160 miles northeast of Los Angeles, CBS Los Angeles reported. The United States Geological Survey said the quake struck at 10:33 a.m. PT. The earthquake was initially given a magnitude of 6.6, but was later revised to 6.4. No injuries were immediately reported Thursday, the San Bernardino County Fire Department said. They said buildings and roads "sustained varying degrees of damage."

6.6 magnitude, 12km SW of Searles Valley, CA

We just felt a 20-30 second long earthquake. . . From the third floor apartment of the friends we are visiting in Las Vegas, Nevada. An after shock hit about a minute later.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - 24 million American voters already have cast a ballot this election. Of the 251,432 ballots issued by the Kern County Elections Division, 52,642 have been returned. Information released from the Kern County Elections Division shows Republicans in the county have cast more early votes than Democrats. 88,111 ballots were issued to Democratic voters in the County, while 87,892 were issued to Republicans, according to the Kern County Elections Division. Even so, Republicans have outvoted Democrats in the early voting process. Kern county democrats have cast 16,239 early ballots, while members of the grand old party have cast...

KERN COUNTY, Calif. – A convicted child molester was killed by another inmate less than a week after arriving at a California prison, officials said. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said it received Agustin Duran at the Wasco State Prison, about 30 miles northwest of Bakersfield, on July 2. The 66-year-old was sentenced to serve 55 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole after being convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old in Los Angeles County, according to the agency. On July 7, at around 7:20 p.m., 19-year-old Andres...