Opinion
Editorials
Employers Foot the Bill
Notice the line on your Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) return for 2011 entitled the Credit Reduction, although not a new line item, it now comes into play for California employers. It is an additional FUTA tax passed on to the employer because California is one of the twenty states to be deemed a Credit Reduction State.
More of this storyThere are many questions concerning the grounding of the cruise ship Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy Saturday.
More of this storyWas it overboard for a Massachusetts police officer to show up to collect overdue library books from a five-year- old after months of delinquency. Most likely the officer had no clue the person was a five-year-old, Last I looked my library card didn’t list my age, and the child’s home was one of 13 homes visited that day, according to the New York Daily News. Why, too, was this five-year- -old so afraid of a policeman?
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Letters
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To the Kern Valley Sheriff’s substation
I am the owner of The Kern Lodge in Kernville. Recently one of the sheriffs from the substation responded to a call to help with a situation at my Lodge. I was so upset about the circumstances surrounding the call out, the safety of my crew and the property that I never got the name of the sheriff that protected myself and my crew.
More of this storyMy family would like to commend the nurses and staff of the Acute Care wing of Kern Valley Hospital during my mother, Rena Zukie’s, stay. They handled themselves professionally and were so compassionate in a difficult situation. They took care of the patient’s every need and offered their assistance to all of the family as well. We appreciated their efforts so much. Bless you all.
More of this storyWomen are dying at the rate of one per minute because they don’t know that heart disease kills. It simply doesn’t have to be this way.
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Dire fee hike consequences unfounded?
In 2007, the Sequoia Forest Supervisor and members of her staff met with local Kern Valley Revitalization/Chamber of Commerce officials to explain the dire consequences to the local economy (from the potential closing of campgrounds and recreation sites) if HIRA (high impact recreation area) fees were not increased and expanded.
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Hurting children experience joy of holiday
Thanks to the generous efforts of Bakersfield-area residents, thousands of hurting children worldwide will have the opportunity to experience the joy of Christmas. Residents joined Operation Christmas Child, the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind, to pack 13,046 shoe boxes with toys, school supplies and necessity items. These gift-filled shoe boxes are making their way – or have already made their way – into the hands of needy children in 100 receiving countries.
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Kudos for clear skies man of the year
The Kern River Valley Astronomy Club would like to send an astronomical ‘thank you’ to “Man of the Year” Richard Rowe for his galactic efforts to preserve our dark skies above the Kern River Valley. Clear skies.
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Re: 'Verizon DSL customers left on hold' 1/25/12
Reference is made to the above item seen in the Kern Valley Sun.
More of this storyOn Jan. 12, I attended a meeting in Tehachapi where the Eastern Air Pollution Control Board met to discuss a recommendation by the grand jury to combine the Eastern and Western Kern Air Pollution Control Boards.
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Columns
Writing Out Loud
George Stahl/Special to the Sun
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Fred Roach/Special to the Sun
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February will be spectacular for planet watching. Not long after sunset we see brilliant Venus high in the southwest and bright Jupiter high in the south. As Venus sets in the west, we turn to the east to find reddish Mars rising below Leo, the Lion. Right now Jupiter does not set in the west until about midnight and that is about the time Saturn is rising in the east. Saturn will rise earlier each night and before too long we will be able to see both Jupiter and Saturn in our night sky. Recall that Jupiter’s track is inside of Saturn’s and Jupiter is traveling faster that Saturn. In 2000, I recall seeing Jupiter and Saturn side by side in our night sky. Since then Jupiter has been getting farther and farther ahead of Saturn and is now a little more than a half a lap ahead. That is, Jupiter is now catching up with Saturn. Jupiter is closing the gap, although slowly. It will take another eight years for Jupiter to catch up, a few days before Christmas in 2020 they will be side by side again. Now back to the present. In a couple more weeks Mercury will make an appearance above our western horizon shortly after sunset. And don’t forget our Moon as it traverses the arc of the Ecliptic. It will frequently pair up with one of these planets and in between with various bright stars on the Ecliptic.
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Ray Conner/Kern Valley Sun
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Mike Hughes/Special to the Sun
More of this storyMatt Freeman/Special to the Sun
More of this storyMike Hughes/Special to the Sun
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Parents say the darnedest things
More of this storyGeorge Stahl/Special to the Sun
More of this storySheri Bowyer/Special to the Sun
More of this storyThere are many things that we take for granted. People in our lives, our jobs, that when we get into our car, it’s going to start, things like that. This past weekend something that may not be on everyone’s ‘Things not to take for granted’ list, gave many of us in the Kern River Valley a wakeup call. On Saturday, starting at around 10:20 in the morning and lasting until about 4:30 in the afternoon, a lot of SCE customers were in the dark. This isn’t a real news article, so I didn’t call to ask how many people had lost their electricity, but it was a lot. Some of those included businesses, some were people who may have been on electrically operated breathing machines, and all were people who had food in the fridge.
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Verizon DSL customers left on hold
George Stahl/Special to the Sun
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Dave Freeland
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Deborah Hess
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Daures Stephens
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Daniel Pope/Special to the Sun
More of this storyRay Conner/Kern Valley Sun
More of this storyFlats reporter Sandi Johnstone/Special to the Sun
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Mike Hughes/Special to the Sun
More of this storyGeorge Stahl/Special to the Sun
More of this storyMarsha Smith/Kern Valley Sun
More of this storyDaniel Pope/Special to the Sun
More of this storyGeorge Stahl/Special to the Sun
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Permanent AltaOne location remains undecided
Matt Martz/Special to the Sun
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When we observe the planets and compare their positions with the background stars night after night we usually see the planets moving eastward. For instance, if you have had occasions to look above our eastern horizon before sunrise during November and December, then you noticed Mars moving eastward when compared with the stars in Leo, the Lion. That is about to change. Go out before your late local news and look above your eastern horizon and look for bright Regulus in Leo. After your late local news you might see the rest of Leo and Mars. I know it is cold but you don’t need to stay out very long in order to observe this.
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