Shafter News

Local air officials are crafting a rule to coax more employees of large companies out of their cars and into buses, carpools and other commuting alternatives -- or their bosses will face penalties.

Thursday, the Valley Air District's governing board is slated to vote on the first comprehensive set of policy guidelines to reduce greenhouse gases.

A Valley state senator was thwarted this week in his effort to raise vehicle registration fees to pay for anti-pollution programs -- a defeat that air officials say could hurt efforts to clean the region's notoriously dirty air.

Underused community prisons in Coalinga, Delano, Shafter and elsewhere should be filled with state inmates to save California taxpayers money, the Fresno County grand jury says.

The Fresno County Grand Jury issued a new report on Thursday about several privately owned Valley prisons, and its conclusions are eye-opening. Contrary to recent reports about prison over-crowding in California, the Grand Jury says privately owned prisons in Coalinga, Delano, Shafter and elsewhere don't have enough inmates.

Under-used private prisons in Coalinga, Delano, Shafter and elsewhere should be filled with inmates to save California taxpayers money, the Fresno County grand jury has found.

Fresno The Governor's pick for Lieutenant Governor came to the Central Valley, visiting with elected officials, and helping put food boxes together at the Community Food Bank, where students from Hoover High School were volunteering.

A head-on crash in south Bakersfield claimed the life of a Bakersfield woman. Rosa Maria Ozuna, 49, was hit by a semi truck on Panama Road near Cottonwood Road Monday night, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Dismal sales tax estimates from the state have squeezed local coffers for a fourth consecutive quarter, with reduced payments for the first time hitting the city of Bakersfield and county of Kern.

At Vintage Dairies just south of Fresno, a huge plastic tarp stretches across a five-acre lagoon where cow manure is mixed with water and decomposes.

The Bugseum grand opening is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday at 132 S. Beech St. in Shafter.

The California Public Utilities Commission says it will conduct independent testing of PG&E's Smart Meters.

Gina McClellan Rodriguez is the only name in the 2010 Democratic race to represent the heavily Republican 32nd Assembly District.

Listed with New Light Realty for $150,000 on October 12, according to the MLS the sale of 1358 Shafter closed escrow on November 19 with a reported contract price of $165,000. Today, ita s back on the market with Prudential California Realty and asking $269,950 . It doesn't appear as though any work was done on the property inbetween, but at the ...

For real? The Reddest Kitchen at 1358 Shafter has updated its listing, and if we're not mistaken, the $150K asking price has actually gone up by more than $100K, to $269,950 . What's more, the 4-bedroom horror house's listing now has even more gory images of redrum throughout.

Shafter Sen. Dean Florez marked the completion of the railroad crossing at Merced Avenue and Highway 43 Monday by presenting commemorative rail spikes to the agencies that worked to make the improvements possible.

Got this fun tidbit from a friend Tuesday: Rival political powers found themselves sharing the comforts of Dagny's Coffee Co.

THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN The water package approved by the California Legislature in the wee hours of Wednesday could be both bad and good for Kern County.

On Friday we showed you a picture of a half dozen horses with their hooves in the air behind a south Bakersfield business.

A Porterville man was killed Tuesday night in a head-on crash on Highway 65 east of Shafter, in Kern County The 55-year-old man, whose name was not released pending notification of relatives, was driving a 2002 Chrysler Town and Country van north on Highway 65 near Merced Avenue at 11:05 p.m., when he crossed into the southbound lanes and was ...