Bakersfield

Call it the accidental road trip. Looking for a less monotonous route home from Northern California last summer, my family and I took California 99 south from Sacramento to Bakersfield and picked up Interstate 5 from there. It took a little longer, but the four-lane road's calming landscape and quirky attractions left us pleasantly surprised and prolonged our vacation buzz. California 99 is easy to overlook as a route to San Francisco and points north. It's not as scenic as the coastal highway or as fast as Interstate 5, and it has more than its share of cows and dirt pastures.

Re "City is largely silent on beating," May 20 While I find the beating death of Bakersfield resident David Sal Silva by police and the subsequent seizure of potential witnesses' cellphones deeply disturbing and feel that a vigorous FBI investigation is warranted, I must protest the thrust and tone of this article. The Times cites several other controversial killings by Kern County sheriff's deputies, including the fatal shooting of former NFL player David Turner. The article states that he was shot because "Turner had raised a bag of beers and was about to swing them at an officer," and that the deputies were found to have acted within department policy because "the beers were deemed a lethal weapon.

BAKERSFIELD - This mid-size city has become the surprise star of the Central Valley. The state's economic recovery has largely been concentrated on the coast, leaving behind much of the hard-hit San Joaquin Valley. But Bakersfield, perhaps best known for oil, agriculture and country music, has reclaimed an old title: boomtown. Bakersfield has been adding population and jobs at a brisk pace and is a few thousand jobs from matching its peak employment level of five years ago. A price-fueled energy bonanza, low corporate operating costs and an advantageous location are contributing to the area's good fortune.

BAKERSFIELD - After the last twisting drop of the Grapevine pass, the road stretches flat out past fields, fast-food restaurants and tractor lots to this Central Valley city that likes to emphasize that it's different from the rest of California. It's only 100 miles north of Los Angeles and less than three hours from the coast, yet many people here say, "Well, that's how we do it in Kern County. " This distinctive insularity has perhaps never been more evident than now. Across the state, public outcry is growing over sheriff's deputies who beat David Sal Silva, an unarmed man who died less than an hour after his screams for help fell silent.

My wife and I very much enjoyed Gold's article. So much so that we spent last weekend there, trying to stay cool, hunting for antiques and enjoying our first taste of Basque cuisine. Our thanks for clueing us in to what Bakersfield has to offer. BRIAN SCHOTTLAENDER Los Angeles

BAKERSFIELD -- In many ways it was a quiet, private mourning, much like any other at Greenlawn Cemetery. In front of the chapel, David Sal Silva's brother gently joked with visitors and welcomed them. His father, Sal Silva, stood stock still, dark sunglasses shielding his eyes. Earlier in the day, he had written to David on a Web-based obituary guest book: "My beloved son I remember looking at your beautiful face when you were born the joy I felt was indescribable. I wondered what you would be when you grew up, had so many dreams, hopes and love.

You hear it while dining at the Seven Oaks Country Club, then from the mouths of the well-heeled as they ogle showcase homes, and again at nighttime patio parties when the summer heat finally loosens its grip. "It's like you're not in Bakersfield," they'll say, with awe. B eginnings Ever since novelist John Steinbeck immortalized the southern San Joaquin Valley in "The Grapes of Wrath," Bakersfield has struggled to overcome its reputation as a dusty and desperate way station to someplace better.

The Hahn Co., San Diego, has announced plans to build the East Hills Mall in Bakersfield and has selected Millard Archuleta, Los Angeles, to design the new retail complex. The regional center will be a 313,000-square-foot, enclosed, one-level mall with two major department stores of 75,000 square feet each. The mall will be on a 37-acre site and bounded by Highway 178 on the north, Oswell Street on the east and Bernard Street on the south.

BAKERSFIELD - After the last twisting drop of the Grapevine pass, the road stretches flat out past fields, fast-food restaurants and tractor lots to this Central Valley city that likes to emphasize that it's different from the rest of California. It's only 100 miles north of Los Angeles and less than three hours from the coast, yet many people here say, "Well, that's how we do it in Kern County. " This distinctive insularity has perhaps never been more evident than now. Across the state, public outcry is growing over sheriff's deputies who beat David Sal Silva, an unarmed man who died less than an hour after his screams for help fell silent.

Like lovers in Paris, San Joaquin kit foxes will always have Bakersfield. The rare little foxes come out mostly at night. They find fabulous food everywhere: chunks of cheeseburger from dumpsters, shreds of taco on windblown wrappers. And the accommodations: What can beat a cozy den in the student quarter — specifically, beneath portable classrooms in the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District? The 17,000-student district isn't crazy about the foxes, especially when about one-third of its 23 elementary and junior high schools have to deal with them on a regular basis.

BAKERSFIELD -- In many ways it was a quiet, private mourning, much like any other at Greenlawn Cemetery. In front of the chapel, David Sal Silva's brother gently joked with visitors and welcomed them. His father, Sal Silva, stood stock still, dark sunglasses shielding his eyes. Earlier in the day, he had written to David on a Web-based obituary guest book: "My beloved son I remember looking at your beautiful face when you were born the joy I felt was indescribable. I wondered what you would be when you grew up, had so many dreams, hopes and love.

BAKERSFIELD - About a dozen people gathered in front of the Kern County Superior Court building Thursday to protest the death of David Sal Silva, the man who died less than hour after he was beaten by Kern County sheriff's deputies last week. Standing near Kern County's replica Liberty Bell, some protesters wore masks and others held signs as their ranks slowly grew. Chris Silva said he should be home with his family - his brother's funeral was later in the day. But he felt he needed to be at the vigil.

More analysis will determine if footage might be missing from a second cellphone that Kern County authorities seized from witnesses who shot video of sheriff's deputies beating a Bakersfield man who later died, one of the witnesses said Wednesday. Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood called in the FBI earlier this week after discovering that another phone that witnesses said contained video of the David Silva beating had no footage. Youngblood said the second phone did have some video of the incident.

The sharp cracks echoing from the East Bakersfield street were loud enough to jolt Ruben Ceballos from a midnight slumber. Then he heard screams. The 19-year-old jumped from his living room sofa and hurried to the kitchen door, which offered a view of the violent scene outside - Kern County sheriff's deputies repeatedly striking a man in the head with batons as he lay on the pavement. "I saw two sheriff's deputies on top of this guy, just beating him," Ceballos said in an interview Monday.

BAKERSFIELD - Fernando Jara is something of a star in Kern County - and a mystery. From humble beginnings, Jara founded a program to rehabilitate drug addicts and felons on a five-acre farm. He is completing a master's degree at Claremont School of Theology and will soon begin work on a doctorate and a law degree. The energetic 37-year-old and his wife, a Kern County supervisor and rising political star, attended President Obama's inauguration in January at the invitation of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Bakersfield fire dispatcher Tracey Halvorson pleaded with the woman on the other end of the line to start CPR on an elderly woman who was barely breathing. "It's a human being," Halvorson said, speaking quickly. "Is there anybody that's willing to help this lady and not let her die?" The woman paused. "Um, not at this time. " According to a 911 tape released by the Bakersfield Fire Department, the woman told Halvorson that she was a nurse at Glenwood Gardens, a senior living facility in Bakersfield.

An earthquake estimated at 4.0 on the Richter scale struck the Bakersfield area this morning, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Scientists at both Caltech in Pasadena and University of California, Berkeley registered the earthquake at 4.0. The quake was centered 13 miles east of Bakersfield and was recorded at 10:23 a.m., said Amy Branch of Caltech. Law enforcement personnel in Bakersfield received numerous calls, but many said they did not feel the quake themselves.

Two UCLA players were among the Top 20 picks in Major League Soccer's two-round SuperDraft on Thursday: Bruin midfielder Fernando Monge is going to the Montreal Impact with the second-to-last pick of the first round, while midfielder Ryan Hollingshead went to FC Dallas with the first pick of the second round. Cal State Bakersfield defender Kory Kindle was the 25th player taken overall, going to the Colorado Rapids. Monge, an all-conference selection from Seattle, was second on the team in minutes played this season, starting all 19 of UCLA's games, scoring five times and adding an assist.

TAFT, Calif. - A 16-year-old was in critical condition Thursday night after a fellow student interrupted a first-period class at Taft Union High School southwest of Bakersfield, confronted him by name and fired a round from a 12-gauge shotgun into his upper body. The assailant, also 16, tried to shoot a second student and missed before a science teacher was able to talk him down, apparently taking the shotgun as the other students fled from the classroom through a door. Police officers arrived after the teacher had disarmed the assailant and took the teenager into custody.