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Independent The Taft

September 14 - 20, 2012

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TAFT INDEPENDENT

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September 14 - 20, 2012 • Volume 7 Issue 12

“Serving the West Kern County Communities of Taft, South Taft, Ford City, Maricopa, Fellows, McKittrick, Derby Acres, Dustin Acres, and the Cuyama Valley”

Taft Fox Theater Movie Listings and Showtimes Inside

The Taft Camera Club Wants to Take Your Picture

This Weekend: - The Apparition - The Campaign - The Expendables 2 - Dairy of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

Jane McCabe Reviews Obama’s America 2016 On Page 8

MESSENGER AUTOMOTIVE SEE US FOR YOUR AUTOMOTIVE NEEDS

Over 36 Years Experience Combined

Gorilla Demolition Gets Serious About Ford City Clean-Up

MONDAY - FRIDAY 8:00am - 5:00pm

SENIOR & 531 Center Street MILITARY DISCOUNTS (661)763-1123 Over 50 Different Craft & Imported Beers

WE SERVICE MOST MAKES AND MODELS

*Must ask for discount

2 TAFT INDEPENDENT

September 14 - 20, 2012

Shop Taft

Black Gold Cafe and Deli

508 Center Street 765-6556

Passion For Nails Nail Services:

Gel Polish • Sea Shell • Glitter Acrylic Metalic Flakes • Rock Star

acme jewelry co.

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Fine Jewelry • Gifts 14K Gold • Sterling Silver 14K • Sterling Silver Black Hills GoldGold • Jewelry Repair • Watch Batteries Candles • And More!

Black Hills Gold • Jewelry Repair

Men & Seniors & Diabetics Welcome

Like Us on Facebook

Clocks,Watch Knives, Batteries Flash Lights 426 CENTER STREET • 661.763.5451 “O - My”

Store Hours: Tuesday to Friday 9:30am - 5:00pm Saturday 10:00am - 2:00pm Closed Sunday and Monday

1014 6th Street • Taft In the Save A Lot Shopping Center Monday to Friday

10am-7pm and Saturday 9am-6pm

Geiger Construction & Plumbing Residential • Commercial

Cement & Asphalt Cutting

J e w e l r y

Small town, family owned, low overhead.

We can save youFine money on •quality Jewelry Candles jewelry!

• Gifts

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426 Center Street

(661)763-5451

Personal Style Used to be Paul’s

Women • Contemporary • Junior • Toddler • Infant • Men

New Arrivals!

Bike Shop

The New 2013 bikes are here! Start your Christmas shopping now with our lawaway plan.

New shipment of flip-flops Jewelry, Purses Lic # B-721903

661-765-4377 Fast • Friendly • Affordable Se Habla Espanol 661-301-4660 24 Hours/ 7 Days a Week

and More!

421 & 423 Center (661)763-3527

A Hint of Class

Prepaid Phones, Accessories & Cards 610 Center Street • 661-745-4954

Kyocera Hydro Prepaid Android Phone (Boost Mobile) $129.99 3G and Waterproof

Internet Cafe Now Open.

First 15 minutes Free.

Inside The Historic Fort • 623-1783 • 763-1700 915 N. 10th Street Suite 34 Name Brand Clothing Shoes • Jewelry Accessories & More

Fall Arrivals In Stock Yankee Candles Shoes & Sandals Sunglasses & More!

New Store Hours: Mon. Tues. Thur. Sat. 10am-8pm Wed. 3pm-8pm Sunday 10am-7pm

Now located at 210 6th Street

FREE

Tire Rotation & Brake Check Plus We will check all fluids & tire pressure

Monday - Friday 11am to 6pm Saturday 10am to 5pm Host a party 415 Center Street Visit us on Facebook sales@bluejeansandbling.com

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*Most Cars & Light Trucks Up to 5 Qts.

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39

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523 Finley Drive • 765-7147 • Mon-Fri 8am-5pm Sat 8am-1pm

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Electronics • Prepaid Phones Service • Accessories

WE SHIP!

September 14 - 20, 2012

Inside Community Events.........3

Community Events News Briefs Taft California “Home of the Taft Oilworkers Monument” “Gateway to the Carrizo Plain National Monument”

News Briefs......................3

Have a community event that you would like to include?

Email it to us at Publisher@Taftindependent.com Taft ROCKTOBERFEST! October 5 & 6.

Westside Watcher............4

Annual Golf Classic - October 13. Sign up at the Chamber!

Westside News.................5 Westside News.................6 Westside News.................7

Annual Trout Derby - November 17. Registration opening soon.

Monday, Dec. 3--Christmas Parade Thursday, Dec. 6--Fort Craft Fair Friday, Dec. 7--Tour of Trees Shopping Night and Cruisin’ Center Again Car Cruise Sat., Dec. 8--Soroptimist Home Tour and Luncheon

Liberty Under Fire.........8

What’s New at the Oil Museum?

Movie Review...................8

by Jane McCabe

Classified Ads.................10 Shop Taft........................11

TAFT INDEPENDENT

According the Don Maxwell, museum director, there will be two special events during the month of October: • On Saturday, October 6th at 2 p.m. the Museum Theater will be dedicated to the late Don Gillaspie, a beloved Taft resident who died more than a year ago. Refreshments will be served.

• On October 27th, another Saturday, the museum will hold its annual Fall Barbecue, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Ten dollars will purchase your meal. If planning to attend, come early because the food always sells out.

There will be an antique engine display with engineers operating pumps and such that were used in the oil fields.

BIG NEWS! Plans are in the works to move the Railroad Express Building currently at 4th Street and Main (next to the Rails to Trails) to the museum. Funds are being raised for the move by the West Side Sunset Railroad Historical Society and current owner, Robert Mitchell. Once moved, the building will be home to an exhibit of early photographs of Taft, the oil fields, and other special exhibits.

By end of September some special exhibits at the museum will be complete. An article on them will be published in the Independent. (We know, the suspense is hard to take.)

Grandma’s Attic, Preschool Story Times Begin At Library The fall session of Grandma’s Attic Storytime will begin at the Taft Branch Library on Saturday, September 15 at 10:30 a.m. and will continue every Saturday morning through November 17. Aimed at 5 to 8 year-olds, Grandma’s Attic offers an old trunk full of surprises and stories presented by a different volunteer reader each week.

Children who participate will receive a form to return to their teacher for credit in their school reading program. Preschool Storytime, for 3 to 5 year-olds, takes place weekly on Thursdays at 11:45 a.m. Parents are always welcome to attend, or may enjoy some library or computer time while their child is occupied.

For more information, call 763-3294 or visit the library at 27 Emmons Park Drive. Hours of opening are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Westside Christian Ministers Association Sets November 12th for PROJECT RESTORE 2012

SUBSCRIPTIONS. Subscription home or businessdelivery of the Taft Independent is available for $6.50 per month or $78.00 per year. To subscribe to please call 765-6550.

PROJECT RESTORE is a mission to help our community by repairing twelve homes in Taft by volunteers on Saturday, November 12th.

The criteria are that the occupant of a home to be repaired must be the homeowner and that the project must be completed in one day. (Roof repair, for example, would not qualify because it would take longer than one day.) Materials involved and necessary permits will be paid for by the WCMA and sponsors who want to give their neighbors a boost.

According to Pastor Rodney Wikoff of the Church of the Nazarene there are still openings for those who seek assistance: There also is a need for volunteers to help with work and for individuals and businesses willing to become sponsors.

Interested people can call Pastor Wikoff at 661.4196 or Pastor Howard Tello at 661.910.1621 or they can write to the WCMA at PO Box 1023, Taft, CA 93268. Further information can be found at www.wcmataft.org.

Preparations include screening projects to verify they meet the criteria, obtaining necessary permits, the purchase of materials and transport of them to the location before November 12th.

People will work in teams to complete the work, and each team will have a team leader. Volunteers will meet beforehand to be assigned to a project.

There are different sponsor levels, from $100 to $250, $500 and $1,000.

Various benefits are awarded sponsors, as for example, posters and t-shirt logos.

Domino’s pizza will provide lunch on that day for workers.

The Westside Ministers Association (WCMA) is a fellowship of Christian churches in Taft. There are about fifteen congregations that are involved in the association.

“The WCMA is interested in how we can be a blessing to our community,” says Pastor Wicoff. “Sometimes we are seen as takers. This is an opportunity for us to participate in our community. I’m excited about the vision.”

LETTERS-TO-THE-EDITOR. Send us your letter to Taft Independent at the above address. Limit it to 300 words and include your name, address, and phone number. Fax: (661) 765-6556. Email your letter to: Publisher@taftindependent.com.

CITY OF TAFT COUNCIL MEETINGS

The Taft Independent 508 Center Street P.O. Box 268 Taft, California 93268 (661) 765-6550 Fax (661) 765-6556

Email: Publisher@taftindependent.com Website: www.TaftIndependent.com Locally and Independently owned since 2006 The Taft Independent is a locally owned community newspaper published weekly on Fridays for your enjoyment and reading pleasure. We publish 3,500 issues and distribute to over 225 locations in the city of Taft and the neighboring communities of Cuyama Valley, McKittrick, Maricopa, Fellows and Western Kern County, California.

The Independent is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies are $1 each. The contents of the Taft Independent are copyrighted by the Taft Independent, and may not reproduced without specific written permission from the publisher.

We welcome contributions and suggestions.

Our purpose is to present news and issues of importance to our readers.

Tuesday September 14th, 2012 – 7:00 p.m.

ADVERTISING. Display Ads: Rates and special discounts are available. Contact our advertising representative at (661) 765-6550, or email to Publisher@taftindependent.com.

Classifieds: Call 765-6550 or fax us at (661) 765-6556. Phone orders are taken. Visa and Master Card accepted.

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Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Michael J. Long taftindypublisher@bak.rr.com Advertising

Contributing Writers June Woods, Kent Miller, Wesley Morris, Nicole Frost Columnists Randy Miller Jane McCabe, Dr. Harold Pease Subscriptions\Delivery Tim Webb, Patrick Harget

Member California Newspaper Publishers Association Printed in California

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AGENDA POSTED ON BULLETIN BOARD OUTSIDE CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS AND POSTED AT THE CITY OF TAFT WEB SITE www.cityoftaft.org TELEVISED ON BRIGHT HOUSE CABLE CHANNEL 11: Wednesday 8 p.m.

Thursday 10 a.m. 8 p.m.

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4 TAFT INDEPENDENT Editorial

Westside Watcher

The Taft

Independent

Restaurant and Entertainment Guide

Your Guide To The Best Restaurants and Entertainment on the Westside Tumbleweed Café Asian Experience and Steakhouse Asian Food and Pizza

Steak, Seafood, Wild Game, Full Bar Monday – Friday 6 am to 2 pm Saturday – Sunday 7 am – 2 pm Dinner Hours Friday and Saturday 6 pm to 9 pm 24870 Highway 33, Derby Acres 768-4655

Paik’s Ranch House Where Everybody Meets Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Open 7 Days Mon. Tues. Thur. 6 am-8:30 pm Sun. Wed. Fri. & Sat. 6 am - 9 pm 765-6915 200 Kern St. Taft Sagebrush Annie’s Restaurant and Wine Tasting Wine Tasting and Lunch Sat. & Sun. 11:30-5 pm 4211 Highway 33, Ventucopa (661) 766-2319

Lunch and Dinner Tuesday - Friday 11 am - 2 pm 4 pm - 9 pm Saturday 4 pm - 9 pm 215 Center Street, Taft 763- 1815

Black Gold Cafe & Deli Pastas - Sandwiches Espresso - Beer - Wine Craft Beers Open Monday to Friday 6:30am to 8pm Saturday 7:30am to 8pm Sunday 10am to 2pm 508 Center Street 765-6556

514 Center Street • (661)765-7469 LIKE us on Facebook: Fox Theatre Taft TAFTFOX.COM Week of Friday, September 14, 2012 through Thursday, September 20, 2012 The Apparition (PG-13) Fri & Sat: (4:30), 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 Sun: (1:30), (3:30), 6:30 Mon - Thu: 6:00 PM The Expendables 2 (R) Fri & Sat: (5:00), 7:00, 9:00 Sun: (1:00), (3:00), (5:00), 7:00 Mon - Thu: (5:30 PM) The Campaign (R) Fri & Sat: 6:30, 8:30, 10:30 Sun: 6:30 PM Mon - Thu: 7:00 PM Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (PG) Fri & Sat: (4:45 PM) Sun: (1:15), (3:15) Mon - Thu: (5:00 PM)

Taft Petroleum Club 450 Petroleum Club Road - 763-3268 Open Monday- Friday 3:30pm to Close

Friday Night Ribeye Steak or Chicken Dinner from 6pm - 8pm

Open Friday Nights for Dinner Starting this Friday!

The club is available for Weddings, Birthdays, and Anniversaries Hall holds up to 200 people and the bar can hold 70.

A Return to Growth

By Brendan Miniter Like a summer houseguest who outstays his welcome, the current economic climate just won’t leave.

That was the message in early September when the Labor Department announced that the unemployment rate was still locked above 8 percent. Even more troubling, the Commerce Department recently reported that America’s gross domestic product is growing at an annual rate of just 1.5 percent, as the debt crisis in Europe and looming end-of-year tax hikes continue to slow the recovery.

This is tough news to swallow, as we have long been accustomed to steady economic growth. From World War II until the current recession, the economy has grown, on average, about 3 percent a year.

Occasional slowdowns have always been followed by periods of robust recovery and expansion, leaving most Americans today substantially better off than their parents and grandparents were.

Growth, to most Americans, is simply the natural state of the economy.

As we enter the heat of election season, Americans will find themselves faced with a decision between two theories of economic recovery. One says we should turn to government to provide for the people, to stimulate the economy by pumping money into the system. The other says we should help Americans help themselves, and empower workers by finding new ways to unleash the creative potential of our entrepreneurs.

It’s often assumed that federal spending will stimulate theeconomy.

But there is mounting evidence that it can actually be harmful to economic growth. Half a century ago, economist James Buchanan, who would later win a Nobel prize, pointed out that government policies are often driven not by altruistic motives, but hidden incentives.

Government agencies, for example, have a strong incentive to exhaust their budgets every year, even if they don’t need to. Otherwise, lawmakers might cut those agencies’ budgets the following year.

Meanwhile, firms in the private sector often seek and receive money from the government without creating real value. Dubbed “rent seekers” by economist Gordon Tullock, these organizations seek to profit through the political process, not by producing a better or cheaper product.

In a world of unlimited resources, this would not be cause for alarm.

But in reality, the public and the private sectors compete for the same financial and human capital. That is to say, they compete for the same

ROGER MILLER INSURANCE a division of DiBuduo & DeFendis Insurance Group

Rich Miller • Jordan Miller Kathy Devine • Shelly Hamilton

License # 0707137 • (661) 765-7131 531 Kern Street - P.O. Box 985 (661) 765-4798 FAX Taft, CA 93268 • (661) 203-6694 Cell E-Mail: Richrmia@bak.rr.com Your Hometown Insurance Store

Paik’s

Ranch House Restaurant “Where Everybody Meets” Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Open 7 Days

Mon, Tues, Thurs - 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Wed, Fri. Sat. and Sun. 6 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

765-6915

200 Kern Street, Taft, Ca.

September 14 - 20, 2012 2012 MORON INVITATIONAL GOLF AND TAFT UNION HIGH SCHOOL FUND RAISER Thanks to all the supporters and the participants of our tenth annual golf tournament and dinner. We had another very successful get together of Taft Union High School Alumni and community supporters which we kicked off with a Friday night party at Larry and Chris Brown’s house. We had 106 players (most of us are hackers) from classes 1936 to 2011 show up at Buena Vista Golf course, hosted by Alan Sorenson and his wife Shannon. We were all up for the challenge of being the top of the class in several categories and along the way we were able to muster up over $3000.00 for the TUHS golf teams (just a few hundred dollars short of a total of $25,000.00), thanks in part by some very generous sponsors. We would be amiss not to mention a few of them even though we will catch a little flack for doing so: Jim Cupp and Amador Olivarez at Driller Printers, Bob Hampton, Donna Gill Morrison, Larry Brown, Doug Wheeler, John Oxford, Doug Hall, all the players and the “Memorial Bench” supporters. Our honored guest was Pete Gianopulos and his guest Phyllis Toft.

We finished up at OT’S COOKHOUSE, hosted by the very talented Dominique Strand, to another great dinner, awards ceremony and a popular raffle. This year we raffled off a Savage 243 Riffle and scope won by Jim Kozloski. Go Wildcats! Brad Cross, Mike Garratt, Rich Miller and Bill Means.

Long drive winner: (A-B player) Gene Olson. (C-D player) Jeremy Letterman.

Closest to the hole on 3 pars: (A-B players): Brian Patrick, John Oxford, Jim Cowan and Frank Loperena.

(C-D players): Jim Simonson, Bob Shugart, Dan Keeter, & Stanley Holder.

First place team A-Flight: Alan Miller, John Ryan, Jeremy Letterman, Randy Logan.

Second place team A-Flight: Mike Cowan, Jim Cowan, Butch Neal, John Lippert, Eddie Brannan.

First place team B-Flight: Blake McPherson, Bill McPherson, Les Clark III, Les Clark.

Second place team B-Flight: John Oxford, Steve Haskins, Darrell Cross, Pat Decant, Bob Shugart. pile of money and the same group of innovative entrepreneurs. So when the government spends a large sum of money -- whether for stimulus or otherwise -- there is that much less capital in the system for private entrepreneurs.

There is another way that government spending provides a disincentive to private industry. By offering a wide variety of programs from which businesses can profit, not by producing better products but by currying political favor, it drains away talented entrepreneurs who would otherwise put their talents to work in the private economy.

After all, if profits are easy to make in government contract work, why spend the time and capital to develop the next innovation that could revolutionize an entire industry?

There is also a moral dimension to economic growth.

Jobs, of course, mean much more than just an income. They provide value and instill pride. They’re an opportunity to live up to one’s potential -- to form the bonds that are vital to thriving in a free society.

Merchants must build trust among their customers, and individuals must build a community with their neighbors.

That’s why sustained growth is not just an economic privilege, but a social and moral imperative that enlivens our fellow citizens by freeing them from the economic despair of joblessness. Prosperity provides a better life for millions Americans and hundreds of millions of people across the globe. There is a virtue to prosperity, as it inspires people, removes pressures that lead to embitterment, and allows us all to step back and get a healthy perspective on what is actually important.

Americans can have the kind of growth we became accustomed to before the Great Recession, but our government must adopt economic policies that nurture -- not disincentivize -- private entrepreneurship.

The truth is that we don’t yet know how fast the economy could grow on a sustained basis if public policy were lined up with the right incentives. But we do know that a vibrant, strong, and free economy makes for a vibrant, strong, and free nation. By recognizing inefficiencies in the system and eliminating the transfer of resources from private industry to rent seekers, we may finally find out how fast we can grow.

Brendan Miniter is Senior Editorial Director at the George W. Bush Institute and editor of “The 4% Solution: Unleashing the Economic Growth America Needs.”

Visit Us Online taftindependent.com

September 14 - 20, 2012

TAFT INDEPENDENT

West Side Recreation Report Check us out online!

Need more information on programs, classes or facilities?

Visit us on the web: www.wsrpd.com www.facebook.com/wsrpd www.quickscores.com/wsrpd www.twitter.com/wreckerwsrpd steph@wsrpd.com

by Stephanie House

CANDY BAR BINGO Wednesday, September 19 3:00-4:00 p.m.

Community Center Assembly Room Grades 1-8 FREE! Join us for an hour of Bingo fun with candy bar prizes. Be sure to bring a friend!

JR. HIGH “BLACK & WHITE” DANCE Friday, September 21 7:30-10:00 p.m.

Community Center Auditorium Grades 6-8 $5 per person Music and lights will be provided by DJ Brandon & Amazing Sound. Dress is casual – but black and white clothing is suggested! Drinks will be sold.

TEEN NIGHT OUT Saturday, September 22 7:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.

Recreation Center Grades 6-8 $7 per person Come enjoy a fun-filled night of Glow Bowling, use of the Aera Gymnasium and karaoke and music with DJ Orteezy.

PIZZA PARADISE Wednesday, September 26 3:00-4:30 p.m.

Community Center Assembly Room Ages 6-11 $6 per person ** pre-registration required by September 25 Aspiring chefs will learn to make (and eat!) different types of pizza goodies and even a pizza dessert! Space is limited and pre-registration is required.

CHEERLEADING When: Tuesday Evenings Ages 3-5, 4:30-5:00 p.m.

Grades K-1, 5:15-5:45 p.m.

Grades 2-3, 6:00-6:30 p.m.

Session: September 18 – November 6 Where: Community Center Assembly Room Fee: $30 per person *poms and shirts are available at an additional cost Instructor: Nicole Cleveland TENNIS CLASSES Who: Ages 9-14 When: Monday and Wednesday, beginning September 5 Time: 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Where: TUHS Tennis Courts Fee: $30 per month Instructor: Doug Taylor Students will be introduced to the rules and fundamentals of tennis. Classes will include drills, game play and athletic fitness activities. No previous experience or knowledge is needed; all skill levels are welcome. Racquets will be available for use at the first practice; parents can speak with the coach prior to purchasing a racquet. Class enrollment is limited. Classes will operate on a monthly basis.

TINY TOT PUNT, PASS, KICK & CATCH Who: Ages 2-4 When: Saturday Mornings Time: 9:00, 10:00 or 11:00 a.m.

Session: October 27 – November 17 Place: ‘A’ Street Park or Wrecker Field Registration deadline: Thursday, October 11 Fee: $25 per person Kids will discover the joys of football without the contact. This program teaches the basics of the game, teamwork and fun. No games are played in Tiny Tot sports.

WEST SIDE RECREATION AND PARK DISTRICT 500 Cascade Place, Taft, CA 93268 (661) 763-4246 info@wsrpd.com www.wsrpd.com

YOUTH/INSTRUCTIONAL FLAG FOOTBALL Instructional: Ages 4-6 Youth: Ages 7-10 Practices: 1 day during the week Games: Saturdays Session: October 15 – November 17 Place: ‘A’ Street Park or Wrecker Field Registration deadline: Thursday, October 4 Fee: $40 per person This program provides young players a fun and exciting opportunity to engage in non-contact, continuous action while learning lessons in teamwork.

S.T.O.P. PROGRAM SCHOLARSHIPS (Strive To Optimize Participation) Did you know that the District has a youth scholarship program? Children in low income, single parent or multiple participant households are eligible! For more information, or to find out how your child can take advantage of reduced program fees, give us a call in the District Office at 763-4246.

BOWLING PARTY RENTALS Make your reservation now!

Reservations are now being accepted for party rentals at the bowling alley in the new Recreation Center. Parties may take place on Friday evenings, Saturday or Sunday. Rental fees start at $100 for 2-lane rentals. Rental prices include shoes, balls and use of the party room. Call 763-4246 for more information or to make a reservation.

GIRLS NIGHT OUT BOWLING LEAGUE Who: Women Ages 16+ When: Monday Evenings Time: 7:00 p.m.

League: September 24 – November 26 Place: West Side Lanes, Recreation Center Registration deadline: Thursday, September 20 Fee: TBA at Captain’s Meeting This league is just for women! The 10-week league is sanctioned by USBC and is open to a maximum of 8 teams.

A minimum of 4 teams is needed (5 people per team). For more information, please contact the Recreation Center at 765-6677.

YOUTH BOWLING LEAGUE Who: Ages 15 and younger When: Saturdays Time: 12:00 p.m.

League: October 6 – December 8 Place: West Side Lanes, Recreation Center Registration deadline: Thursday, October 4 Fee: $20 at time of registration and $5 per week Register now at West Side Lanes! For more information, please contact the Recreation Center at 765-6677.

FRIDAY NIGHT BOWLING SPECIAL Friday, September 28 8:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.

West Side Lanes, Recreation Center $5 per person – includes 3 games of bowling (does not include $2 shoe rental) Additional games can be played for $2 each BOOK CLUB Who: Ages 18+ When: 2nd Tuesday of the Month, First Meeting: October 9 Duration: October 2012 – May 2013 Times: 9:30-11:00 a.m. or 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Where: Community Center Fee: $15 per person ** register by October 1 Our goal is to have 8-16 members I each group. Members will purchase their own books and/or e-books (any format is fine). Books were chosen with the help of the online book club resource LitLovers. Meetings will consist of socializing, snacks and book discussion. Facility use and drinks will be provided; the group will take turns with snacks. Books will include Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn), Summer Rental (Mary Kay Andrews), The Red House (Mark Haddon), The Postmistress (Sarah Blake), I’d Know You Anywhere (Laura Lippman), The Next Best Thing ( Jennifer Weiner), Fathermucker (Greg Olear) and Night Road (Kristin Hannah). For more information, or to register over the phone, please contact the District Office at 763-4246.

YOGA Who: Ages 14+ Morning Flow Yoga – Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 5:15-5:45 a.m.

Chair/Restorative Yoga – Tuesday & Thursday, 7:00-8:00 p.m.

Hatha Yoga – Tuesday & Thursday, 8:00-8:45 p.m.

Where: Community Center Assembly Room Fee: $25 per month ** register prior to attending class Instructor: Valerie Taylor, R-HYI This is the perfect class for beginners looking to improve flexibility and enhance general fitness. Class goals are to strengthen muscles and joints, improve circulation and relieve stress through common yoga stretches. Students should bring a yoga mat and wear comfortable clothing. Class space is limited – registration is REQUIRED prior to attending class.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! BINGO Thursday Afternoons Games start at 1:30 p.m.

Community Center Assembly Room Ages 21 and older Buy-in varies, $10-15 average Cash pots! Pull-tabs also sold.

HUNTERS SAFETY COURSE October 1-3, 2012 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Community Center Auditorium Sign-up the first night of class! $5 per person Instructors: Larry Heptinstall and Ken Beard

6 TAFT INDEPENDENT

Big Money up for Grabs, and Local Taft Club Hopes to Get its Share

For fifteen youth sports organizations demonstrating their commitment to responsibility on and off the field, Liberty Mutual Insurance will soon make a very memorable contribution, in the amount of a $2,500 Responsible Sports™ Community Grant. The Taft Roughnecks Travel Baseball team is hoping to be one of them.

Community Grants are part of Liberty Mutual’s Responsible Sports program, which is an ongoing effort championing and celebrating responsibility in youth sports. This communitybased program offers meaningful, easy-to-use educational resources for youth sports parents and coaches, including access to on-the-field game and practice preparation tools, as well as self-paced online coursework filled with learning tools, videos, and topics addressing youth sports issues.

“The Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports program targets many of the issues we see happening at youth sporting events by shining a positive light on what it means to be a responsible coach and a responsible sports-parent.

Beyond that, Liberty Mutual Insurance is making a significant financial contribution to support the efforts of local organizations like Taft Roughnecks,” said Greg Gordon vice president of Consumer Marketing at Liberty Mutual Insurance.

The Responsible Sports program, including the Community Grants, comes at a crucial time for communities like ours. Like other communities across the U.S., our own youth sports programs are under pressure from increasing numbers of participants, limited volunteer activity and mounting program management and administration costs. The Responsible Sports program provides access to valuable resources and assets that can ensure our organizations thrive even under challenging circumstances.

The Taft Roughnecks travel baseball team, a non-profit organization, is registered for the Responsible Sports program. They are encouraging individual community members to complete one of the self-paced online courses (Responsible Coaching or Responsible Sport Parenting) and take a 10-question review quiz. Every completed quiz is worth one point.

The organizations that earn the most points at the end of the grant period, in this case September 1st through November 31st, in each of the three divisions will earn one of the 15 grants. Youth sports organizations (club programs, park and recreation departments, etc.) are competing for one of 10 $2,500 grants in two divisions, large and small, based upon the number of players.

And five school athletic programs will earn a $2,500 grant, for a total of 15 Responsible Sports Community Grants to be awarded this fall. The more people each registered organization gets to complete the courses, the greater its chances of winning.

Complete details on the grants as well as the qualifying selfpaced courses are available through the official program website at ResponsibleSports.com.

To show your support, visit ResponsibleSports.com/Grant.

To show your support for your local group of athletes, be sure to credit your quiz to the Taft Roughneck Travel Baseball Team.

As an incentive to Rally the community for support, submit your certificate of completion at the Fox theater for a chance to win 8 movie tickets. Drawing to be held on Sunday September

September 14 - 20, 2012

Gorilla Demolition Gets Serious About Ford City Clean-Up Bob Hampton, owner of Westside Waste Management is getting serious about cleaning up Ford City and the many abandon and vacant owner neglected homes that bring down the quality of life of those who live near the houses. Hampton has secured his contractors license and drawn up a list of 17 homes in Ford City that have been served notice

by Kern County to clean up or else.

Hampton plans to work with the county and owners to demolish the condemned properties. Most of the derelict homes are abandon by the owners because owners don’t want to pay back taxes, don’t have the funds to pay for planned renovations, or have just given up, leaving the old homes stand in terrible condition which attract crime, drugs and harm value of adjacent homes. The Taft Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting in front of this old house on Wednesday in Ford City with Hampton and Chamber members to recognize Hampton’s efforts and welcome Gorilla Demolition as a new member of the Chamber of Commerce.

30th. Winner will be contacted by phone, be sure to write your phone number on your certificate.

The Taft Roughnecks Travel Baseball Team is a non-profit organization established in 2009. The Roughnecks team is made up of 15 talented local young men that truly enjoy the sport. The team competes throughout California in highly competitive baseball games and tournaments. The skills learned on and off the field while participating in this organization are helping to better shape citizens of the community as well as prepare for athletic advancements. The team has thrived solely on community donations and sponsorships.

Visit taftroughnecks.com to view the roster of players/ coaches, upcoming games and tournaments, as well as photo albums and stats from previous games.

“Helping people live safer, more secure lives” since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance is a diversified global

insurer and fifth-largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2009 direct written premium. Liberty Mutual Insurance ranks 71st on the Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. corporations, based on 2009 revenue.

The company has over 45,000 employees located in more than 900 offices throughout the world. The eighth-largest auto and home insurer in the U.S., Liberty Mutual Insurance (libertymutual.com) sells full lines of coverage for automobile, homeowners, valuable possessions, personal liability, and individual life insurance.

The company is an industry leader in affinity partnerships, offering car and home insurance to employees and members of more than 13,000 companies, credit unions, professional associations and alumni groups.

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September 14 - 20, 2012

TAFT INDEPENDENT

Taft Camera Club Wants to Take Your Picture

Taft ARC Fund Raising Raffle Winner

by Mimi Collins This coming January, Taft Camera Club (TCC) will be 80! Taft has always been a very photography-friendly community. You can see early black and white photos displayed around town, most of them courtesy of KC Photography and Framing, which has a large collection of historical photographs. Many of Taft’s most distinguished photographers were members of Taft Camera Club, which was organized in January 1933 and has been meeting continuously ever since, outlasting two other Kern County camera clubs, Kern in Bakersfield and Tejon in Wasco. The very first club competition in 1933, titled “Oilfield Pictures,” included a nighttime photo shoot where the subject was moonlight photography.

Ken Willis of Taft won the ARC raffle fund raiser for 20 pounds of Harris Ranch beef this past weekend. Ken is seen here with ARC Executive Director Mary Ann Hasgtrom.

The Derrick, by Mimi Collins Taft Camera Club is even older than the Photographic Society of America (PSA) and is one of fewer than a dozen charter members of PSA, now an international organization. Taft Camera Club, along with Los Angeles Camera Club and with the help of Taft member Fred Hankins, helped found PSA in February 1934. TCC is also a member of the San Joaquin Valley Camera Club Council (SJVCCC), which includes Modesto, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Selma, and Taft. TCC helped form SJVCCC in 1954.

TCC is a loosely organized group of people who like taking pictures and sharing them with others. Members meet monthly for show-and-tell and in-club competitions, and often go on photo shoots, attend photo workshops, and compete outside of our own club. Last year, four members competed in the Photography Exhibit at Kern County Fair, and each member brought at least one ribbon back to Taft!

At TCC’s show-and-tell meetings, members bring their own digital and/or print photographs to share and discuss. These discussions are often helpful for tweaking a good photo and making it even better. At competition meetings, the photos are displayed anonymously and each member scores each photo. Scores are averaged and recorded, and the highest scoring digital and print photographs are recognized. Annual awards are given to the members with the highest overall scores for digital and for print photographs. In December, members bring their favorite photos to an end-of-year party.

Today’s camera club members range from beginning photographers to those who have won several recognitions and awards.

We shoot disposable film cameras, cellphone cameras, point-andshoots, DSLRs—whatever works! Being a TCC member is like being in a one room school; even if you’re in first grade, you have sixth graders there to help you learn! You can see some of our photos on Facebook or our Web site, www.taftcameraclub.org.

If you love taking pictures and sharing them with like-minded folks, please email TCC at taftcameraclub@yahoo.com, visit our website at www.taftcameraclub.org, find us on Facebook, or join us on a “second Tuesday” for one of our monthly meetings, held 6:308:30 p.m. in the CVCU Conference Room. Annual membership is $20 for adults, $10 for full-time high school or college students, or $5 for children in grade 8 or lower who attend with an adult member.

Ben’s Books The Largest, Cheapest and Only Used Book Store in Taft

Fiction • Non Fiction • Paperback Hard Covers • SciFi • Biography • Religion Childrens • Cookbooks and More!

Shop Our Huge Selection of Half Priced Books!

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HAYDENS HOPE THRIFT STORE

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Mossy Shed, by Mimi Collins TCC membership includes SJVCCC membership, and TCC members may attend SJVCCC meetings and workshops in Fresno and take part in SJVCCC competitions. Four Taft members recently enjoyed an SJVCCC workshop on digital imaging.

In its earlier years, several Taft Camera Club members achieved wide recognition. The club showed members’ prints at the San Francisco World’s Fair in 1940 and at the New York World’s Fair “Century of Progress” in 1941. Member Fred Hankins was world renowned for his desert photographs of the Ibex Sand Dunes, winning awards on six continents and having gallery exhibitions at the Smithsonian and in Johannesburg, South Africa. Hankins won PSA’s award for best black and white landscape in 1970. Fred’s wife, Ida, was a highly accomplished exhibitor in PSA’s Nature Division, and TCC member Joe Weddle was a frequent recipient of major awards and medals in PSA’s nature salons, winning PSA top awards in 1969 and 1971.

Visit Us Online taftindependent.com

8 TAFT INDEPENDENT

September 14 - 20, 2012

Movie Review Liberty Under Fire Obituary

Obama’s 2016

The Dairy of a Wimpy Voter

by Jane McCabe Believing that our upcoming presidential election is perhaps the most important in our lifetime, I paid more attention to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions than I normally would. Before the conventions I thought that the most important issue at hand is the stubborn rate of unemployment that has afflicted millions of Americans, so I was looking for the candidate who has the best prospects to alleviate, if possible, this situation.

On this score Romney seems to have it over Obama. Although I don’t hold Obama responsible for this situation because the outsourcing that eroded America’s manufacturing base was in effect long before he took office, but, he seems fairly clueless as to how to remedy it whereas Romney says he knows how to create jobs.

Watching the Republican convention gave me confidence in Romney and Ryan’s ability to handle the job crisis—I wondered how the Democrats were going to able to top their enthusiasm…

Everyone admits that the delivery of Michelle Obama’s speech was impeccably delivered—it took listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio the next day to fully realize that her speech was 50% pure corn, especially when she extolled the virtues of her stalwart husband poring over letters from the populace and saying to her, “Michelle, you wouldn’t believe how these people are suffering.

We have to do more to help them!” You would have thought her husband was Abraham Lincoln reading by the light of a candle in a log cabin in Illinois…

Watching Bill Clinton hold forth the following night I thought perhaps I had gotten it all wrong: according to Uncle Bill, we should stay the course and give Obama’s policies more time in order to reap their benefits. It would be a big mistake for the country not to re-elect him. “Do the math,” he kept saying.

Now I was really getting confused.

Several people, whom I respect, including my brother who’s no dunce, told me that I should go see Obama’s 2016, and so last Saturday, even though I would have preferred to see Possession, I went to see it. What an eye-opener it is!

The writer and producer of 2016 is an Indian writer by the name of Dinesh D’Souza, author of Illiberal Education and Obama’s America. He tells us that he was born in the same year as Obama—1961. Having been born in Mumbai, India, both his parents are foreign. Only Obama’s father was foreign; he was a black Muslim who was born in Kenya. Both young men, Obama and D’Souza, attended Ivy League schools, Obama, Harvard, and D’Souza, Dartmouth.

Dinesh D’Souza is like a detective solving a crime—he flew all over the world seeking to understand what makes Obama tick.

In so doing he has concluded that the strongest motivating force in his psychology is his absent father—the black Kenyan, whose hatred toward imperialism and belief in the redemptive powers of socialism, was unequalled. Though D’Souza has reason to feel similarly, given India was freed from England in 1947 and Kenya from England in 1965, he sees that India is improving economically not by imbibing communistic ideas that run one’s economy into the ground but by imitating the policies of her previous oppressor.

Obama’s affiliation with left-leaning individuals and groups has been common knowledge but now people are becoming more alarmed about the degree to which he identifies with their antiAmerican rhetoric. D’Souza makes the case that the President is secretly anti-American, bent on weakening the nation to atone for its imperialistic sins.

Imagine having a president who seeks the decline of the nation he leads!

According to D’Souza during his first term in office Obama played his cards close to his chest, but if re-elected he will have nothing to deter him. During his first term he ran up the debt to such a dangerous level that if continued it will spell the financial collapse of the United States and the entire world! He has steadily sought to reduce our military strength. He has prevented off-shore drilling here but has encouraged it in South American countries.

He has shown hostility towards Israel but camaraderie with Muslim countries.

Perhaps one should take D’Souza’s ideas with a grain of salt, yet the fact that this country would elect Obama in the first place, a man with insufficient experience to lead, only shows a scary truth—how easily we can be misled by hope and the promise of change, by the wiles of a charlatan.

I doubt that anyone who sees this film will vote for Obama.

What’s the adage? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

End Run Around the Constitution Will Change How We Elect our President Dr. Harold Pease Opponents of the Electoral College seek to alter a process that has worked for well over two hundred years. Unable to get two-thirds of the states to consider altering this part of the Constitution as required, some seek an end run around it instead. They say that the Electoral College is not democratic enough. They call their plan the National Popular Vote Plan. In it participating states would allocate their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, rather than the winner of the popular vote in their state.

There exists no language in the Constitution authorizing a popular vote for the executive branch of government. Such came about in 1824 after the Electoral College denied the presidency to Andrew Jackson, the most popular man in America due to his success in the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. His supporters, believing the denial to be an injustice, created a straw vote so that the people could participate in the election although this vote had no power.

Over time the media empowered it by treating it as the “legitimate” vote for the president belittling the College process as unfair and undemocratic. Seldom do they remind us that it works because we are not a democracy, but a Republic, and that none of the branches of government are democratic; most especially the Senate and Supreme Court. Andrew Jackson had to wait until he could convince the seasoned citizen voters of the Electoral College that he was not too emotional for the office. He did so four years later in 1828. Moreover, today the media seldom cover the real election for the president in December such is their disdain for it.

Those unable to get a two-thirds vote to begin the process of altering the Electoral College have conceived a brilliant plan to do just that without the constitutional amendment required. The plan is to have each state legislature commit their state to support the national popular winner instead of the candidate winning their state. When enough states do so that the Electoral College numbers exceed 270, remaining states will be required to support as well. Wham!! Almost without any public debate outside state legislatures, and seemingly overnight, the popular vote will replace the Electoral College as the means by which a president is elected.

We would be back to a few highly populated states deciding for the rest of the country.

Ironically proponents ignorantly use a small portion of the Constitution to destroy a larger portion. They cite Article II, Section 1 which reads, “Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress.” This, they say, gives state legislatures the right to award their electors as they see fit. Actually, the phrase allows the state legislatures appointing powers only.

To suggest that they should have influence over their voting once selected, nullifies the reason for their existence. The Electoral College was to be a non-governmental body completely separate and unaccountable to the State Legislature once appointed, as per the rest of the section. Certainly the phrase did not authorize states to simply alter or dump Article II, Section 1 and Amendment 12 of the Constitution.

Moreover, the National Popular Vote Plan also violates Article I, Section 10. This prohibits states from entering into “alliances” with other states unless Congress gives its consent. Certainly agreeing states have entered into an alliance with one another to nullify the Electoral College and the vote of states immediately following reaching the simple majority of Electoral College votes.

At present eight states and the District of Columbia, a combined electoral vote total of 132, have come on board delivering about half the 270 electoral votes needed to impose this upon the rest of the country and nullify a long standing pillar of the Constitution. States voting to change the Constitution without amending it, as required by the document, are: New Jersey 14, Wash 12, Hawaii 4, Illinois 20, Vermont 3, Maryland 10, Mass. 11, DC 3, CA 55. Colorado is likely to be next.

Granted the Electoral College is the most difficult part of the Constitution to understand and is easy to oppose because it is undemocratic. Spend some time to understand it. A patriot and constitutionalist will see through the scheme to destroy it without the debate and transparency required in Article V. No end run around this document should ever be permitted.

Dearly Beloved Mel Gregory M.L. Gregory of Maricopa passed away on September 2, 2012. His funeral will be held on Friday, September 14th at 10:45 a.m. in Bakersfield at the Veterans National Cemetary located at 30338 E. Bear Mountain Blvd.

Pension Deal Commentary

By Senator Mimi Walters On the last day of this year’s session, the Legislature approved Assembly Bill 340, which Governor Jerry Brown, Legislative Democrats and our state’s public employee unions all negotiated.

Like many of you, there were a number of legislators, including myself, who were concerned and in some cases livid, with how legislative leaders pushed a complex bill that was not properly reviewed or fiscally analyzed -- legislation that was deceptively called by proponents “comprehensive” reform.

Despite my serious reservations and the misgivings of many legislators regarding the backroom process and the lack of substantive and long-term reforms, we ultimately supported the bill because of the immediate need to stop the bleeding.

Since that time I have I have been repeatedly asked, was there anything I liked about the proposal.

My answer continues to be: Yes. As noted, I am disheartened that the proposal approved by the Legislature lacked substantive reforms and failed to include the minimum reforms Governor Brown, himself, demanded in the December Pension Conference Committee hearing, embodied in his 12-point pension plan; there were some important and necessary changes made.

Specifically, AB 340 will end many of the pension abuses that have outraged all of us. There will be no more pension holidays (where employers and/or employees stop contributing to the pension fund); we have ended the ability to grant retroactive benefits; we prohibited “airtime” – the ability for a public employee to increase their pensions by purchasing service time for years they did not even work. Also, as a result of the bill, convicted felons will no longer be granted pensions.

In addition, we have increased the retirement age and instituted a pension cap.

While the measure that was passed is a good start, the pension changes addressed in AB 340 are woefully inadequate in addressing our state’s massive unfunded pension liability. Depending on which study you use, that liability is estimated to be between $250 billion and half a trillion dollars.

Regrettably, the negotiated pension changes approved by the Legislature will do very little to address California’s growing debt problem. First, the majority of the changes will only impact new employees hired after January 1, 2013. That means most of the identified savings will only slow the growth rate of our debt problem. In fact, these saving will not be realized for at least 15 to 20 years. Further, there was nothing included in AB 340 to address growing retiree health care costs, which are a ticking time bomb and are currently underfunded by $74 billion according to the State Controller.

Finally, the measure did not amend California’s Constitution, which means even these pension changes can be undone by a future Legislature after the November elections.

That is why I am asking you to join me in my continued fight to ensure that AB 340 is not the end of pension reform. This is only the beginning. Failure to act will ultimately place the retirement benefits of our public employees in jeopardy.

We must start today, committed to work together to achieve meaningful pension reform.

September 14 - 20, 2012

TAFT INDEPENDENT

Black Gold

Cafe & Deli The Only Mortuary On The West Side Where All Arrangements And Funerals Are Personally Directed By

Double Gold Medal Winner and Best Cabernet Sauvignon of Show at the San Francisco International Wine Competition

Wine Tasting and Lunch Sat. & Sun. 11:30 to 5:00 pm. www.sagebrushannies.com

Licensed Funeral Directors

501 Lucard St., Taft • 765-4111

Now Celebrating Our 23rd Year

8 miles south of HWY 166 on HWY 33 in Ventucopa, Cuyama Valley, 4211 HWY 33. (661) 766-2319

MARICOPA QUILT COMPANY

Ice Blended Mocha Fat Free and Sugar Free Available in Most Flavors

FABRIC • NOTIONS • GIFTS

Open 7 Days - 765-6556 508 Center Street • Taft

Check Out Our Website Maricopaquiltcompany.com And Facebook Page

TAFT UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

WED.-FRI. 10:00-5:30 SAT. 10:00-2:00

370 CALIFORNIA • 769-8580

ROGER MILLER INSURANCE a division of DiBuduo & DeFendis Insurance Group

Rich Miller • Jordan Miller Kathy Devine • Shelly Hamilton

License # 0707137 • (661) 765-7131 531 Kern Street - P.O. Box 985 (661) 765-4798 FAX Taft, CA 93268 • (661) 203-6694 Cell E-Mail: Richrmia@bak.rr.com Your Hometown Insurance Store

Yates’ Detailing 600 Center Street Taft, California

630 North St. 765-5557

“Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors”

Pastor Cindy Brettschneider Sunday Morning Worship 10:00 AM Adult Bible Study and Sunday School 11 AM Adult Bible Study Monday 6:00 PM Wednesday Night Service 6:00 PM Praise Team meets on Thursday at 6:00 PM

St. Mary’s Church 110 E Woodrow Street • Taft 661 765-4292

Mass Schedule

Tuesday-Friday 8:00 A.M. Sunday 8:30A.M. English 11:00A.M. Spanish

Wash, Wax, Shampoo, Buffing and Window Tinting.

Call for Appointment Today!

Monday - Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Community Christian Fellowship

604 Main Street • P.O. Box 578 Maricopa, CA 93252 • (661)769-9599

Sunday Morning Worship 9:45 Sunday Evening Worship 5:00 Monday Evening Mens Prayer 7:00 Wednesday Evening Worship 6:30 For a ride: Call Dorine Horn 427-9722 Pastors Charle (Tommy) and Mary A. McWhorter

New Hope Temple “Connecting Lives” 308 Harrison Street 765-4572 Sunday Morning Worship Service 10 a.m.

Sunday Evening Worship Service 6 p.m Bible Classes All Ages Wednesday 7 p.m.

631 North Street Sunday School 9:30 a.m.

Morning Worship 10:30 a.m.

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

Sunday Service - 10 a.m.

Rev. Linda Huggard

703 5th Street - Taft (661) 765-2378

NEW LIFE COMMUNITY CHURCH Sunday Services 10am 1000 6th St. Weekly Classes Mon - Thurs Please call 765-7472 for info For a ride to church call 765-7472 before 9am on Sunday

Pastors Shannon N. and Shannon L. Kelley

Trinity Southern Baptist Church 400 Finley Drive We invite you to join us each week as we worship

Sunday Bible Study 9:45 am Sunday Morning Worship 11:00 am Sunday Evening Worship 6:00 pm Wednesday Prayer & Bible Study 6:00 pm

www.nlctaft.org or nlctaft@bak.rr.com

Peace Lutheran Church- LCMS Sunday School for all ages at 9:00 a.m.

Advertise With The Taft

Visit Us Online taftindependent.com

Gateway Temple

Taft- A caring community under Christ We welcome you to worship with us at peace lutheran church, 26 Emmons Park Drive (across from the College). Worship service begins at 10:00 a.m.

Communion will be offered 1st and 3rd Sundays

(661) 623-0827 (661) 765-1171

All your detailing needs!

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Independent

Call Today!

The Pregnancy crisis center is now open and available for support and assistance.

For information, call 763-4791 If you have a prayer request please call (661)765-2488.

Leave a message if the pastor or secretary is not available

WANTED: BULKY WASTE PICKUP

Ford City Tuesday

South Taft & Taft Heights Friday

City of Taft Wednesday

• REFRIGERATORS • MATTRESSES • WATER HEATERS • STOVES • WASHERS & DRYERS • SOFAS If Missed… Call Office at 7635135

All green waste must be bagged.

Tree Limbs cut in 6’ length, and bundled.

ITEMS NOT ACCEPTED Construction/Demolition Waste/Used Oil/ Hazardous Waste/Tires Westside Waste Management Co., Inc.

10 TAFT INDEPENDENT

Classifieds

Classified Adsare are$3.00 $2.00per perissue line. for Phone, fax, maillines, or drop off Classified Ads up to three $5 per issue ad for to upthe to Taft 5 lines, and $7 per issue for up to 10 lines. Yard your Independent.

Sale ads are free. Phone, fax, mail or drop off your ad to the Taft your Independent.

Ad photograph for $5. Ad your company logo for $5.

Boxed ads are $5 additional. E-mail us (or bring to our Boxed\outlined\bolded classified ads start at $12.00 for 8 office) a for photo of your home, car, truck motorcycle and lines, $16 12 lines, $20 for 15 lines, $25 for 20orlines. we’ll do the rest.

Photo Ads. Car, truck or house for sale ads are $5 per week, Yard Sale ads are $2 for 3 lines, lines $2 each. or $10 with a photo.

Email us (oradditional bring to our office) a photo of your home, car, truck or motorcycle and we’ll do the rest.

Classified ad deadline is Wednesday at 12 p.m. (noon) Classified ads deadline is now Wednesdays at 2 p.m.

Phone: 765-6550 Phone: 765-6550

For Rent

Business Services

426 Shattuck

2 bed 1 bath Cottage $550 Paul Joyce 805-218-1686 Joyce Properties 661-765-6300

Rite Away Carpet Cleaning Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning\General Cleaning Owner Operated Visa\Master Card 765-4191

Get It Rented!

Preserving for the Future

Fax:765-6556 765-6556 Fax: E-mail: Taftindypublisher@bak.rr.com Email: Taftindypublisher@bak.rr.com Payment can made by cash, check, or card. credit card.

Payment can bebe made by cash, check, or credit Taft Independent 6thCenter St., Taft,St., CA Taft, 93268.

Taft Independent210 508 CA 93268

Community

HELP WANTED

HOMES FOR RENT

YARD SALES

CHILD CARE SERVICES

West Valley Real Estate (661) 763-1500.

Advertise your yard sale ad. 3 lines for $2, additional lines after that $2 each. Fax your ad to 765-6556 or call and leave message at 765-6550 by 12 p.m.

Wednesday.

Wanted

WANTED

For Sale FOR SALE

5 person jaccuzzi for sale. $2,000 obo. (661) 617-0967

AUTOMOBILES

Yard Sale. 306 Eastern.

Lot’s of junk inside house.

Yard Sale. 507 5th Ave. 2 families. Sat. 9-15.

7-4 Lots of stuff. Lots of clothes.

707 Buchanan St. 7am ? Sat. 9-15.

400 South 6th Street.

8am - ? Sat. 9-15.

ANNOUNCEMENTS Grief Support Group, offered as a community service by Optimal Hospice Care. Meetings held Thursdays 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. At Chevron Valley Credit Union, Community Room, 1092 W. Kern St., Taft. Enter by outside entrance – Albertson’s Shopping Center. Free and open to the public. Info call 716-4000.

Alzheimer’s Disease Association Of Kern County is offering Respite Care here in Taft. Call-Cathy Perkins at 760-3790848 for RESPITE CARE info. Respite Care is available every Thursday At the First Baptist Church located at 220 North St. from 9:00am—3:00pm.

Business Services YARD SERVICES

COOLER SERVICES Cooler Service: Motors, pumps, pads, cleaning, installations. New & Old Scott 661-900-0917.

FOUND ITEMS

Found Ipod. Found near 400 Block of Center Street on Saturday.

763-4424.

FOUND PETS LOST PETS

Real Estate PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

Taft Property Management 1,2,3 and 4 Bedrooms now available in good areas.

CRIME FREE HOUSING Brokers Licence 01417057 661-577-7136

BUSINESS FOR SALE HOMES FOR SALE

Real Estate eBroker Inc.

By Appointment Karri Christensen LIC# 01522411 & #01333971 661-332-6597 www.BuyTaft.com Real Estate Sales & Purchase Can’t make payments call me!! I can help direct you to a loan modification or assist you in your short sale!

Wondering how buying a house works? Set an appointment with Karri to watch a FREE video on the process.

Call 661-332-6597 for a current list.

MOBILE HOMES

Lic # 01525550 FOR RENT West Valley Real Estate (661) 763-1500 Lic # 01525550

FOR RENT 402 Philippine 2/1 $650 205 W Ash #C 2/1.5 $700 307 Philippine 1/1 $750 218 Shattuck 3/1 $800 528 D St 2/1 $850 535 B Street 3/1 $850 224 B St 3/1 $900

Upstair 1 bd Apt. with small computer room.

All utilities paid. Kitchen range, refrig, wash and dryer, furnished. No pets. $750 plus sec. dep. 765-4786. 9-28 1 bd. Apt. all util paid.

Kitch range, refrig., wash and dryer, furnished. No pets. $650. plus dep. 765-4786.

9-28.

2 bdrm 1 & 1/2 ba. RV Parking, corrals available for your horse, quit rural area near Ventucopa (35 miles west of Taft) $800 mo plus dep.

(805) 647-1952 or (805) 642-9574. 9-28.

Lrg. 2 bd. 1 ba. Large fenced in yards. $875. mo. plus dep. (661) 9727807. 9-14.

3bd. 2 ba. 2 living rooms, fireplace. 1 acre propep. Dunstin Acres.

Contact Cody (661) 770-7020.

201 and 203 Lucard St. 3bd $775. mo. plus dep. 2bd avail. 1 mo. or more. $765-4644. 7-14.

2 Bed, possibly 3rd, 1 bath. Updated, fenced yard. $750. mo. Dep. $800. 763-1086. 9-28.

116 Pierce St. 1bd. 1 Ba. $550 mo plus dep.

661 343-0507.

116 1/2 Pierce. 1 bd. 1 ba. $430 mo. plus dep.

661 343-0507.

707 Fillmore. 2bd with office. $725. mo plus dep. 661 343-0507.

September 14 - 20, 2012

Ken Shugarts

Air Conditioning & Heating

Plumbing • Septic • Rooter Framing • Electrical • Concrete We Do All Phases of Construction Kitchen and Bathroom Specialists Ken Shugarts (661) 343-0507 30 Plus Years in Construction License No. 927634

Creekside Apartments.

1 BD and 2 BD. Pool, AC & Appl. 661.7657674. 420 Finley Dr.

310 Kern St. 3 bd. 1 ba. $850 plus dep. 661 343-0507.

Imperial Gardens. 1 bd. $525. 2bd $625. plus dep. Pool, Stove and dishwasher. 661 7654299. 9-14.

APART. FOR RENT

ROGER MILLER INSURANCE a division of DiBuduo & DeFendis Insurance Group

Rich Miller • Jordan Miller Kathy Devine • Shelly Hamilton

License # 0707137 • (661) 765-7131 531 Kern Street - P.O. Box 985 (661) 765-4798 FAX Taft, CA 93268 • (661) 203-6694 Cell E-Mail: Richrmia@bak.rr.com Your Hometown Insurance Store

Real Estate Services and Property Management Listings – Sales - Property Management Local Service You Can Depend On

322 Kern Street Taft, CA 93268 (661) 765-5000

Real Estate eBroker Inc.

By Appointment

Karri Christensen

LIC# 01522411 & #01333971

661-332-6597

www.BuyTaft.com Real Estate Sales & Purchase

Yates’ Detailing 600 Center Street Taft, California

(661) 623-0827 (661) 765-1171

All your detailing needs!

Wash, Wax, Shampoo, Buffing and Window Tinting.

Call for Appointment Today!

Monday - Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

FOR SALE

Positive Cash Flow!

Special Effects Salon & Day Spa

FOR SALE

Positive Cash Flow!

Are you a beauty professional who’d like to own your own salon? Consider Special Effects with a positive cash flow making the payments for you and a monthly repayment schedule that’s less than a lease! Short on cash? Forming a cooperative or creating a partnership might be a good path to salon ownership.

With “right of first refusal,” you can insure that you will end up owning the whole salon. Understand this salon is cash positive, so your mortgage payments will be “free” and the owner is willing to carry paper. Opportunity knocks!

Let’s talk specifics.

Call 623-0532 or 496-1799 11 styling stations Facial room 5 manicure stations Massage room Reduced $30,000 2 tanning rooms Spray-tanning room to $318,500 4 lots on busy corner 3,486 sq. ft. building

California Electoral Reforms Shake UpStatus Quo—But Have Yet to Change It SAN FRANCISCO, September 12, 2012—The debut of two California electoral reforms resulted in more open seats and more competition in races for the state legislature and Congress.

But with most candidates endorsed by the major parties and all incumbents advancing to the fall election, the reforms have yet to significantly shift the status quo, according to a study released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).

The study looks at the impact of the reforms that took effect this year. In the first reform, the state used new legislative and congressional districts drawn by an independent citizens’ commission, rather than by the state legislature. The second reform, a “top-two” primary system, allows voters to cast ballots for any legislative or congressional candidate, regardless of party. The top two candidates—again regardless of party—face off in the November general election. Sacramento Every incumbent advanced to the fall election, as did virtually every non-incumbent candidate endorsed by a major party—101 out of 113. The study also points out that—contrary to predictions of both supporters and opponents of reform—the flow of campaign money for the primary did not increase dramatically in races for the state Senate and Assembly, though there was a notable increase in races for the U.S. House. And money flowed disproportionately to establishment candidates.

“The primary results were broadly in line with what might have been expected under the old system,” says Eric McGhee, PPIC policy fellow and co-author of the report with Daniel Krimm, PPIC policy associate. “So far, the first step on the road of electoral reform has been a small one. Time will tell whether the reforms will produce bigger changes.”

The study, Test-driving California’s Election Reforms, finds that the reforms produced five changes:

- Redistricting helped move many incumbents out of their comfort zones, leading to a large number of open seats: 35 out of 80 available in the state Assembly, 9 out of 20 in the state Senate, and 9 out of 53 in Congress. The average incumbent ran for a seat where 45 percent of constituents lived in territory that was not part of the incumbent’s old district.

- Redistricting helped increase the number of seats likely to be competitive between the two major parties in the fall election—but the tendency for Republicans and Democrats to live in different parts of California prevented bigger changes. In the Assembly, 10 seats are competitive in terms of party registration statistics, compared to 9 in 2010.

In the state Senate there are 6—there were none in 2010. There are 10 in the House of Representatives, compared to 4 in 2010.

- Incumbents in uncompetitive seats were much more likely to face an intra-party challenge because of the top-two primary. These challenges helped produce closer outcomes. This year, 42 percent of incumbents faced a challenge from a candidate in their own party, compared to an average of 19 percent from 2002-2010. And winning incumbents led their top opponents—whether from the same party or not—by a much smaller margin than in previous primaries.

As a result of the top-two primary, there are 28 fall contests between candidates of the same party: 18 for the Assembly, 2 for the state Senate, and 8 for the House. All but one—Congressional District 31, near San Bernardino—likely would not have been competitive in the fall otherwise.

The top-two primary produced another significant change: Minor parties are nearly absent from the fall ballot. Only three races feature such candidates, and in each, the minor party candidate was a write-in against an otherwise uncontested incumbent. Five races feature an independent or “no party preference” candidate.

12 TAFT INDEPENDENT

Andy’s Septic Tank & Sewer

UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP

HARRISON STREET AUTOMOTIVE

209 Harrison Street • Taft (661)765-2505 or (661)763-1887 fax

September 14 - 20, 2012

Used to be Paul’s Bike Shop

BMX

Bikes Are Here!

Diagnostic Specialists Service & Repairs • Smog Repairs Air Conditioning • Tune Up • Front End Brakes • Fuel Injection

(661)765-5000 or (661)343-0507

$15.00 OFF with mention of this ad* *1996 Vehicle or newer

Qik Smog & Tune

Black Gold Cafe and Deli

745-4919

608 Center St.

Devon’s Body Shop

(661)763-4445

508 Center Street 765-6556

No Appointment Needed for Smog Check!

General Automotive Repairs

• 661-763-4445 • 500 S. 10th Street

408 Main Street • (661)765-4337

Randy’s Trucking Cart-Away Concrete Mix Trailer • Hydraulic Rotation and Tilt for Mixing and Dumping • Mixes Concrete While Traveling • • Large Internal Blades • • Rear Operator Control Panel •

western shop & PET Wash

Behlen Country Livestock Equipment

Water Tanks

Galvanized and Poly All Sizes

Stock Gates

Utility Six Bar and Wire Filled

10 x 10 x 6 ft. Dog Kennel

(661) 763-4773 1050 Wood Street

$399.00

Full Grooming Salon

HAVE YOUR DOG FLEA DIPPED or MEDICATED BATH AND CONDITIONER FOR ONLY

• Small Dog $11.00

• Medium Dog $15.00

• Large Dog $20.00

Customer can provide medicated shampoo or add $4.00 for our Zymox itch relief therapy shampoo.

Service does not include nails, blow drying, brushing or clipping. Shaw’s recommends using a follow up flea treatment spot-on after dip.

www.shawswesternshop.com

Monday-Friday 9-5:30, Saturday 9-3

419 Harrison St. Taft, CA 93268 (661) 765-2987

The Tumbleweed Bar and Restaurant

Located in the Heart of Oil Country On the Petroleum Highway We Cater Your Place or Ours Full Bar Available For Your Special Event

Open 7 Days a Week

FULL BAR

Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner - Full Bar - Catering - RV Parking Available 24870 Highway 33 in Derby Acres • (661) 768-4655

Owner Orchel Krier Welcomes You and Your Family - Dinner Reservations