Serving the community since 1922
Serving the community since 1922
Sorted by date Results 251 - 275 of 301
“…forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus…” --Philippians 3:13, 14 George Bernard Shaw once wrote, “A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” Wouldn’t life be easier to “swallow” if we could just remember these words? I often wonder why we worry so much about making mistakes -- sometimes so much so that it paralyzes our creativity and even dulls our ability to dream....
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 day to recognize t...
Few passages have caused as much fear and anxiety as the verses where Jesus states that there is an unpardonable or unforgivable sin, which is mentioned in all three Synoptic Gospels (see Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-29; Luke 12:10). Many questions arise in the minds of concerned readers: What exactly is the unpardonable sin? Have I committed the unpardonable sin? Can the unpardonable sin still be committed today? Can we know if someone commits the unpardonable sin, and if so, is there absolutely no repentance from or forgiveness for this sin?...
I got the chance to speak at the second Annual Civil Rights for Immigrants Conference recently in October at Hodel’s. It was an honor to be invited by the host, the Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance (GBLA), to welcome the attendees (about 280 people) from around the country. The following is the speech I prepared for that event. “I wanted to thank you all for coming today to this very important conference. While immigration is a very divisive subject in our country right now, I contend it does not have to be in Kern County. I believe we agr...
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” -- The Golden Rule “For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.” --Matthew 7:2 NLT Ah, the golden rule…remember that one? As kids, it was drilled into our heads and hearts by parents, teachers, clergy and the man on the street. Years ago, it was the mantra of business, church and government alike. However, through the years it has lost its luster so to speak and...
I recently wrote a piece about new legislation that makes it illegal for schools to suspend students for “willful defiance.” This phrase includes noncooperation, such as cussing out a teacher, sleeping in class, refusing to obey classroom rules and being disruptive. Before, a student could be suspended if he or she did not heed warnings given by teachers and administration. This new legislation recommends the use of positive reinforcement, or a “focus on healing, respect, support, and the gener...
I recently learned of the Housing Authority of Kern’s concept of using farm labor camps they own in Shafter and Lamont to house about 50 homeless women from Kern County temporarily this winter. [Editor’s note: The county has since eliminated the Shafter camp from the plan for this year.] Having no more details than that, I let a member of the Shafter community know. Within days, our District 4 office phones were lighting up. Many people were upset and opposed to “the plan.” Not knowing any details ourselves, we contacted HAKC. We learned...
Just a few weeks ago we had a men's barbecue here at the church. At that event, we talked about Paul's short statement in 1 Corinthians 16:13: Act like men. That statement comes in a rapid-fire list of short commands. The primary idea is to be mature, but we can ask our men specifically, "What does a Biblical man act like?" If the church is to advance or progress, there must be a group of godly men leading the charge. That is not an indictment on women, but a recognition of the reality that men...
I recently learned of the Housing Authority of Kern’s concept of using farm labor camps they own in Shafter and Lamont to house about 50 homeless women from Kern County temporarily this winter. Having no more details than that, I let a member of the Shafter community know. Within days, our District 4 office phones were lighting up. Many people were upset and opposed to “the plan.” Not knowing any details ourselves, we contacted HAKC. We learned a management plan was being developed but not completed yet. So where do I stand on this? At this...
No, I am not going to preach you a sermon this morning; this verse is just apropos to what I have been thinking about and dealing with -- thought maybe some of you have, also. Have you ever just wanted to stop the world for just a few minutes? We move at such a rapid pace in 2019 -- used to be we’d had to wait for the evening paper or Walter Cronkite to come on the 6 o'clock news to let us know what was happening around the world. Now, all we need do is “move a mouse,” click a button and shaza...
James, the half-brother of Jesus, shared a bold statement that causes one to question whether he was in His right mind: "Count it all joy, brothers, when we face various trials” (James 1:2-3). Has life thrown more lemons at you when you try to do everything righteously? Perhaps you reconciled your relationship with Christ, and life only became more challenging. James shares some insight in how to go through trials in a divine manner. Ask God for wisdom (James 1:5). Wisdom is like the box to t...
Do you find it difficult to find peace in a chaotic world? At the rhythm that our world is spinning it is difficult to pump the brakes and simply breathe. I know that I have been there various times in my life. Peace is listed as a virtue of the fruit of the Spirit because God knew that we would face chaotic times. As the Holy Spirit does His perfect work in us, we can rest assured that we can find ourselves in tribulation but yet be at peace in our soul. Unless we don't find peace internally,...
The Board of Supervisors adopted the fiscal year 2019-20 budget last week. In addition, we also adopted a resolution declaring the end of the County of Kern’s fiscal emergency. By the end of this fiscal year – June 30, 2020 -- the county will have addressed the structural deficit in the General Fund that occurred with the large drop in the price of oil in 2016 which, in turn, resulted in a large decrease in the property tax from oil-producing properties. Progress has also been made in addressing and mitigating the deficit in the Fire Fund. Tha...
Do you find it difficult to find peace in a chaotic world? At the rhythm that our world is spinning it is difficult to pump the brakes and simply breathe. I know that I have been there various times in my life. Peace is listed as a virtue of the fruit of the Spirit because God knew that we would face chaotic times. As the Holy Spirit does His perfect work in us, we can rest assured that we can find ourselves in tribulation but yet be at peace in our soul. Unless we don't find peace internally,...
The Board of Supervisors adopted the fiscal year 2019-20 budget on Tuesday. In addition, we also adopted a resolution declaring the end of the County of Kern’s fiscal emergency. By the end of this fiscal year – June 30, 2020 -- the county will have addressed the structural deficit in the General Fund that occurred with the large drop in the price of oil in 2016 which, in turn, resulted in a large decrease in the property tax from oil-producing properties. Progress has also been made in addressing and mitigating the deficit in the Fire Fun...
To the editor: I considered it an honor and privilege to have served the City of Shafter for 20 years as a member of the City Council, eight of those years serving as mayor. Throughout those 20 years, the council worked together to maintain a financially sound position for the city. The council also set priorities of providing a safe environment to live and raise a family by maintaining and adequately staffing our Police Department. Other major goals were to create a business environment conducive to companies locating here to provide jobs and...
You can smell it in the air. The green grass is being tended, the fields being prepared for another season of gridiron battles. This is my favorite time of the year, as the football teams begin practice, each team looking for that big season in which they are on top of their respective leagues, that dream of a championship in their sights. It seems that on the college level, and even on the high school level, the challenges schools face are pretty much the same each year. Sometimes, the challeng...
“…Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5 This is one of my favorite Psalms and one that has helped me through some tough bumps in the road of life. We all have those crooks in the “road” coupled with a “pothole” or two as we travel down life’s roadway, don’t we? It’s called life, but some are a little tougher than others. One of the tough ones is when you lose a friend, a mate, a classmate, to death. And as we mature (age) it seems as though that event comes mo...
A lawyer once asked Jesus, “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment?” Jesus replied, “Love God with everything in you, and secondly love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:36-40). Who are our neighbors? There are nine virtues that Paul writes about in the book of Galatians that describe what a life of a Christian should look like. To put it plainly, if you want to live like Jesus, be sure that you are bearing the fruit of the Spirit. “Love” is the first one, since it is the foundation...
“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” --Genesis 6:8 I am not going to bore you with how I happened upon this verse concerning the time of the great flood and righteousness of one man; however, what struck me was the concept of grace. That word is used in so many ways and situations today, the meaning can become quite convoluted and even watered down. Many say “grace” before a meal, which means, of course, the giving of thanks. When it comes to bills or insurance policies, we are aff...
After reading Stan Voth's "Letter to the Editor" in the June 27 Shafter Press, I feel compelled to state a few more facts. The Richland School District is in a sorry state of affairs, with approximately a half-a- million-dollar deficit. The Richland School Board trustees, with a 4-1 vote, just approved the second deficit spending budget in two years. This budget approval included the creation of two new nonteaching positions, shifting money away from classroom instruction. As enrollment decreases each year, mainly because of the Grimmway...
In the fall of 1958, it was the day of our an annual athletic physicals in our small rural community. On this appointed day every would-be athlete walked down to the local clinic to see Dr. Helmut Hartmann for the necessary health check. This was my first of seven such fall afternoons, and my excitement was off the charts. Dr. Hartmann's nurse lined us up a few at a time at the scales and recorded our height, weight and blood pressure on a small card before handing us the medical card to give...
“I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.” -- Abraham Lincoln Doesn’t it seem as you look around, read the newspaper or listen to or watch the daily news that one of the key concepts missing in all of humanness is the quality of wisdom? A very old dictionary that I have -- actually the 1953 College Edition of Webster’s New World -- defines wisdom in this way: “the quality of being wise; the power of judging rightly and following the soundest course of action, based on knowledge, experience, understan...
Kern Transit will offer free rides to those from Wasco and Shafter attending Bakersfield College. The rides will continue through the summer session. In addition, the county also has funding available to offer the program again during the 2019-2020 school year. Over 12,000 free rides were given during the spring semester, and over 25,000 rides were given over the 2018-2019 fiscal year. Communities in District 4 who also receive transportation from Kern Transit are Arvin, Lamont, McFarland and Delano. The Wasco Road Yard did AC cutouts and...
We received a letter recently but the letter was not signed, so we are unable to verify its author. Since it's the policy of the paper not to publish anonymous opinion, we didn’t have the privilege of printing the the submission. If any reader has a concern or just wants to voice an opinion, they are invited to write a Letter to the Editor. But any letter must be signed and have a phone or email so that we can verify its authenticity. We encourage input from our readers and value your opinions. If you have any questions about this policy, p...
