Serving the community since 1922
Serving the community since 1922
Sorted by date Results 1201 - 1225 of 1554
Editor's note: Due to a production error, the story on Shafter Christmas Store than ran in last week's paper was a repeat of last year's report. The correct story follows, along with the appropriately captioned pictures. For a lot of people, Christmas time is full of excitement, but for some the time is very stressful and is full of doubt, wondering if they will be able to give their children a nice Christmas this year. On Saturday Dec. 7, the Shafter Veterans Hall was turned...
There are many in our county who think that too many people in Kern County are being forgotten about, especially when it comes census time. This year’s Point in Time Count that will take place is one opportunity to correct this and make sure everyone in Kern County is recognized. The Kern County Board of Supervisors, including 4th District Supervisor David Couch, are calling for as many as 500 volunteers to help with the count this year. There was an increase in the number o...
On Nov. 20, 48 Shafter FFA students traveled to Independence High School to compete in the FFA Opening and Closing Speech Contest. One of the largest speech contests in the South Valley Section, over 400 members on teams from 10 schools were present to compete. FFA members participate by reciting the FFA opening and closing ceremonies. The purpose of the speech teams is not only to teach students valuable public speaking skills, but also to encourage them to increase their...
For over two decades, the children of Shafter have been the beneficiaries of the Shafter Children's Summer Theater, led by creator Cris Starrh and a large staff of volunteers. The community of Shafter has also been a beneficiary, having been treated to a variety of entertaining performances over the years. For quite a while now, Starrh has been toying with the idea of forming a theater group for the young adults of Shafter and the surrounding areas. With the return of her...
Minter Field Airport will play host this Saturday to one of the busiest people around this time of year, as Santa is expected to touch down at around 11 a.m. near the main hangar at Minter Field. Organized by the Minter Field Air Museum and sponsored by Petsmart, the event will give the local children a chance to meet St. Nick and tell him their Christmas wishes. Opting to rest his mighty team of reindeer, with their international whirlwind looming later this month, Santa...
The Shafter Depot Museum is playing host to a variety of decorated trees in their annual Christmas Tree Contest, with all of the trees on display for the month of December. Cookies and refreshments are given out free of charge while you peruse the museum. The theme for this year's contest is "Lights, Camera, Christmas," with entrants encouraged to decorate their tree in a Christmas movie theme. There are a variety of movies represented this year, from a couple of trees...
The Christmas holidays were kicked off on Monday night with the 3rd Annual Tree Lighting and Sing held at the downtown square in Shafter. To begin the season of cheer, a large tree, full of bright ornaments and decorations, was lit up for the first time in front of a crowd downtown. Most came wrapped up in warm clothing, prepared to celebrate in the cool weather. The event had plenty of music, as the crowd was entertained by the Grimmway School choir and sang with the Distingu...
The Shafter High School fall sports season came to an end with an awards ceremony that honored outstanding performances in all of the sports except for the Shafter Varsity Football team, which will hold their awards ceremony at a later date. For the junior varsity Colonels football team, those recognized were the Most Scholarly, who was Gus Waterhouse; Team MVP Jacob Saldana; and the Offensive and Defensive MVPs. Joey Sanchez, who stepped in to quarterback the team midway...
The 72nd Annual Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet will be held on Thursday, Jan. 23, at Shafter's Ford Theater. This dinner honors individuals, businesses and groups that have made a difference in the city of Shafter. Past winners include last year's recipients, Generals football coach Jerald Pierucci, who was recognized with the Youth Development Award, and one of his students, Marco Martinez, who received the Young Person Award. Several of this year's recipients also are...
The Shafter City Council voted to extend the services of The Pun Group, which performed this year's audit on the City of Shafter, for one more year. Ken Pun and his staff completed the audit of the city and presented its findings to the council during the Nov. 19 meeting. Their findings stated that the City of Shafter is financially sound and did not find any inconsistencies in its records or budgets. Acting City Manager Jim Zervis said that he recommended retaining the...
A group of local dignitaries hit the road recently to fight for completing the widening of Highway 46. They made an appearance in Fresno at a California Transportation Commission hearing to discuss plans that Caltrans has of cancelling funding for a project that was previously given the go-ahead that involves widening Highway 46. The first phase of the project has been completed, but the second phase is ready to go but the funds are in danger of being pulled off the project...
Donald and Izetta Camp were remembered by family, friends and community members as a standing-room only crowd attended the farewell and celebration of their lives. The two local pioneers – who died within days of each other after 67 years of marriage -- were laid to rest on Monday following a joint service at the First Presbyterian Church in Bakersfield. Donald Camp, Jr. spoke about how he always saw the two as a team, so it was fitting that they would go to eternity t...
A joint funeral service was held at First Presbyterian Church in Bakersfield on Monday for local pioneers Donald and Izetta Camp, who passed away just days of each other last week in Bakersfield, after sharing over 70 years together. Donald Camp Sr., who with his family, operated one of the most well-known farming institutions in the area. He was born in Shafter, while his parents, Wofford Benjamin (W.B.) Camp Sr., and his wife, Georgia Anna Camp, were living at the U.S....
The Fourth Annual SMBC Takedown was held on Saturday, giving newer wrestlers some valuable experience in a competitive setting. The Shafter Mennonite Brethren Church was the host of the event. Started in 2016, the tourney is designed to give younger wrestlers a taste of competitive wrestling. Pastor Pat Coyle, of SMBC, was a competitive wrestler in his college days and has been running a wrestling camp for over a decade. Coyle decided to start the tournament as an addition to...
The California High Speed Rail Authority has recently completed the Environmental Clearance for the final 23-mile route between Shafter and Bakersfield. This clearance completes the state’s environmental review process between Fresno and Bakersfield and allows the authority to move forward with project construction into Bakersfield. This is the first major environmental action taken under the newly granted federal National Environmental Policy Act, and emphasizes the authority...
There will be a joint funeral service held at First Presbyterian Church in Bakersfield on Monday for local pioneers Donald and Izetta Camp, who passed away just days of each other last week, after sharing over 70 years together. Donald Camp, who with his family operated one of the most well-known farming institutions in the area. He was born in Shafter, while his parents, Wofford Benjamin (W.B.) Camp Sr., and his wife, Georgia Anna Camp, were living at the U.S. Cotton...
It has been over four years since Shafter High has won a Valley Championship in any sport, the last being the boys cross country team in 2015. The Shafter High Lady Generals tennis team came within one point from capturing that elusive title. Shafter heartbreakingly lost to Tulare Mission Oak in the Division V title match with a score of 4-5. The lone winner in the singles portion of the match was No. 1 player Nayeli Puente, who defeated Mission Oak's Madison Bowen 6-4, 6-4. I...
Today, people find it more important than ever to stay connected through their cell phones, computers and tablets. Shafter Wireless, located at 311 Central Ave., is equipped to keep customers of all carriers connected. Albert Ceballos and his son Albert Jr. have been providing the community with service for over five years at their current location. Before that, he operated Shafter Discount Store, which was just down the street at 200 Central Ave. Major surgery put Albert out...
Unexpected sales tax revenue from online business, higher oil prices and new businesses have put the city in an improved financial position, according to reviews presented to the City Council this week. The Shafter City Council listened to a presentation of the Financial Report and Audit for the fiscal year ending June 30 at their regular meeting on Tuesday. Presented by acting City Manager Jim Zervis, the report stated that the city is "financially sound" and had a net...
Veterans Day was this week. It was recognized with a parade in Bakersfield and a large crowd came out to honor the men and women who have served or currently serve in our branches of the military. It is sad to see that more and more the holiday is celebrated for being a day off of school or work, or just one more day you don’t have to worry about getting that load of bills in the mail. Well, when it was first started back in 1918, it stood for the end of World War I. It was a...
A football game is a contest made up of four quarters. Unfortunately, on Friday night, the Shafter Generals only showed up for two. Up against the Arvin Bears in the first round of the Division V playoffs, Shafter saw the Bears dominate them in every phase of the game in the first half. After spotting the Generals a two-point safety on their first series, the Bears scored 28 unanswered points. The Generals troubles started on offense, with the hosts unable to sustain a drive b...
The Shafter Congregational Church gave the community a safe option on Halloween night, holding a Trunk-or-Treat event in the church's parking lot. There were dozens of cars and trucks, each one decorated in a different theme. Kids could play games and collect candy at each car. With community members' concerns over the safety of this holiday, events like this are rising in popularity. Mother Juanita Contreras said her kids had a great time at the event, and that it eased her...
After serving the city of Shafter for 13 years, Jasmine's Bakery is still just as tasty, says owner Juan Lagunas. Juan's son Daniel, who manages the bakery, said they haven't regretted their move from Bakersfield since opening in December of 2006. Jasmine's is a family-owned and operated business. Eight members of the Lagunas family are involved in the day-to-day operations, including daughter Yvett, who helps out after practice as a proud member of the Richland Trojan...
The Minter Field Air Museum had the honor to participate in 100th year of a tradition that saw a huge crowd gathered for the Bakersfield Veterans Day Parade. The event, which took place in downtown Bakersfield, drew a lot of fans from around the county, as well as revelers paying their respects to the men and women who have served, or are still serving, the country. Minter Field was represented by the yellow Follow Me Jeep, driven by the MFAM chairman of the board, WWII...
Fabrie Jewelry Store was the victim of a burglary over the weekend, with the culprit or culprits getting away with an estimated $50,000 worth of merchandise. Richie Fabrie, owner of the store, said that he didn't discover that he had been burglarized until Monday morning when he opened the store. "The alarm system was still armed. It didn't go off, so whoever did this had to have disabled it." Once entering the store, Fabrie noticed that the cases in the back of the store...
