THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2008
COM
CINCO DE MAYO FESTIVITIES AWAIT YOU, E10
WAR ON TERROR
Al-Qaida back
on the attack
Al-Qaida has rebuilt some of its pre-Sept. 11
capabilities from remote hiding places in
Pakistan, leading to a major spike in attacks
last year in that country and neighboring
Afghanistan, the Bush administration said
Wednesday. Attacks in Pakistan more than
doubled from 375 to 887 between 2006 and
2007, and in Afghanistan, the number of
attacks rose 16 percent, to 1,127 incidents
last year, according to the State
Department’s annual terrorism report.
Terrorists killed more than 22,000 people
around the world in 2007, 8 percent more
than in 2006.
EDUCATION
College tuition
up, grads down
Students are a growing source of revenue
for colleges, but little of that money is going
into classroom instruction even as tuition
increases continue to outpace inflation,
according to a study released today. Despite
spending more per student than any other
industrialized nation, the United States
ranks at the bottom in degree completion at
54 percent, a sign that spending priorities
aren’t helping colleges create more
graduates. The report found that research,
public service and financial aid were the
fastest-growing expenses.
GAS PRICES
No more SUVs
for lawmakers
The use of a car — maintenance, insurance,
registration and gasoline included — is one
of the lesser-known benefits of being a
member of the House of Representatives.
But many of the 125 members who enjoy
the perk will soon have to give up gas-
hungry SUVs and luxury sedans for more
eco-correct vehicles. An amendment to
last year’s energy bill requires House
members who lease vehicles through their
office budgets to drive cars that emit low
levels of greenhouse gases.
A PIECE OF COUNTRY HISTORY LOST
In the spotlight one last time. Homer Joy, who wrote “Streets of Bakersfield,” stands in Buck Owens’ old
recording studio Wednesday on North Chester. The studio is closing its doors for good.
‘Buck was there’: Legendary Oildale studio
closes with little fanfare but many memories
BY SHELLIE BRANCO
Californian staff writer
e-mail: sbranco@bakersfield.com
I
n the half-lit studio, Rick Davis
sits in a folding chair among
mic stands, glossy red and yel-
low electric guitars, a xylo-
phone and a low, dusty black
couch better left to a frat house.
It’s Wednesday morning, and
the man who took over Buck
Owens’ old studio on North
Chester Avenue is shutting it
down. He sent an e-mail to cancel
his insurance. He’s ready to sell
the equipment.
“It’s a logical, orderly progres-
sion in closing a business,” he
says.
Surrounded by walls covered in
sea foam green sound panels,
underneath a ceiling lined with
’60s space-age white globe and
cylindrical metal light fixtures,
Davis talks Buck, Don Rich and
the Buckaroos, Merle Haggard,
Glen Campbell, Big House, and
his own son, Korn frontman
Air regulators approve cleanup plan
Measure targets diesel trucks and industrial plants
and could double Kern’s no-burn days this winter
BY STACEY SHEPARD
Californian staff writer
email: sshepard@bakersfield.com
S
an Joaquin Valley air regulators
Wednesday approved a plan to
clean up tiny specks of dust, soot
INDEX
Annie’s Mailbox .E16
Bridge . . . . . . . . .E16
Classifieds . . . . . .C1
Comics . . . . . . . .E18
Crossword . .E16, C3
Eye Street . . . . . . .E1
Funerals . . . . . . . .B2
Horoscope . . . . .E17
Local news . . . . . .B1
Money . . . . . . . .A12
Opinion . . . . . . . .B4
Sports . . . . . . . . . .D1
Sudoku . . . . . . . .E17
Television . . . . . .E14
WWW.BAKERSFIELD.
LOCALLY OWNED SINCE 1897 50 CENTS
DRIVER DRAMA AT SPEEDWAY, D1
SAY IT ISN’T SO, VINNY! D1
Beer fest incident
Suspect
‘sorry it
happened’
Day after man dies, details of
alleged assault remain cloudy
BY STEVE E. SWENSON
Californian staff writer
e-mail: sswenson@bakersfield.com
A
ssault suspect
Matthew Reed
says the Festival
FELIX ADAMO / THE CALIFORNIAN
of Beers incident that
has left Kevin Johnson
brain dead “should
never have happened.”
“Kevin was a really
good friend of mine,”
Reed, 33, said in a tele-
Reed
phone conversation. “I
have a lot of love for
him. I’m really sorry it
happened.”
says quietly.
Reed said he is talk-
Behind the whitewashed exteri-
ing to an attorney so he
or of the old River Theater lived
can’t say a lot about
four decades of music history.
what happened on Sat-
Homer Joy, who famously wrote
urday at Stramler Park,
the hit song “Streets of Bakers-
but he denied coming
field” in anger after the studio
up to Johnson, 29, from
brushed him off, stops by Wednes- Johnson
behind and punching
day with warm feelings for the
his neck.
Please turn to STUDIO / A3 “I did not come up from behind,” Reed said.
“I love that dude. I never wanted him to be
hurt like that.”
Bakersfield.com Reed said there was an argument first.
Bakersfield police initially reported an argu-
See video of Homer Joy reminisc-
ment between the two men came before the
ing about recording “Streets of punch, but then said Reed hit Johnson from
Bakersfield” in the studio.
behind.
Jonathan Davis, musicians who “It was not during a fight,” Sgt. Greg Terry
filled this room in Oildale with said Wednesday. Johnson was hit on the side of
twang and thrash. The sole the neck, toward the back, Terry said.
Owens-era piece of equipment Reed said the whole incident “was beefed up
left in the building is a reel-to- by two girls” — both ex-girlfriends of his and
reel mastering machine one of whom is Johnson’s current girlfriend.
shoved into a corner.
Something passes over his
face and he forgets he’s a busi-
He declined to name the women or elaborate
on the advice of his attorney. He also denied
that the incident stemmed from a dispute over
nessman. a guitar.
“It’ll hit me later,” Davis Please turn to REED / A3
hibited.
Kern County could see up to 30 no- Inside
burn days during winter months com- BAD NEWS: Bakersfield still high on list
pared to about 12 this season under the
current rule.
of nation’s smoggy cities, Page B1
and chemicals that create fine particu- The plan will bring the valley into Councilman Henry Perea and Fresno
lates, a form of air pollution considered compliance with a federal pollution physician John Telles opposed the plan.
most damaging to human health. standard by 2014. It was approved in an Clean air advocates who spoke dur-
Its cleanup measures largely target 8-3 vote by the San Joaquin Valley Air ing a public hearing before the vote
diesel trucks and industrial plants but Pollution Control District Governing criticized the air district for not includ-
could also increase the number of days Board. Board members Raji Brar, an ing stricter measures in the cleanup
when residential wood burning is pro- Arvin councilwoman, Fresno City Please turn to AIR / A3
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THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2008 THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN A3

REED: Assault suspect says

he recently gave his life to God
Continued from A1
He said he has no plans to leave
town, and pointed out that he
turned himself in on Monday on a
felony battery charge. He bailed
out of jail Monday evening.
Reed said he just gave his “life to
God” on Easter at Valley Bible
Church in a ceremony that includ-
ed his friends from Set Free Min-
istries.
He said he did that because “I’m
done with all the drama in my life. I
just want to live free and peaceful-
ly.”
In reaction to Reed’s story,
Bryan Brown, Johnson’s brother-
in-law, said that was Reed’s side of
things.
A friend of Reed’s, Stephanie
Oswald, 26, stuck up for her former
neighbor.
“He doesn’t provoke fights,” she
said. “I’ve seen him walk away
from fights.”
She said Reed has intervened to
keep a man from abusing her.
The Kern County coroner’s staff
reported Tuesday afternoon that
Johnson died from his injuries.
Supervising Deputy Coroner
John Van Rensselaer said a possi-
ble scenario for the cause of death
is a blow that causes the brain to
swell.
An autopsy will have to be done
to confirm what happened, he said.
But by late Wednesday morning,
Johnson was still on a respirator at
San Joaquin Hospital, so his organs
could be donated, Brown said.
Both Johnson and Reed have
criminal records, according to the
Kern County Superior Court Web
site.
Johnson has been convicted of
both felony and misdemeanor
spousal abuse, and misdemeanor
possession of marijuana since 2000.
Reed has been convicted in the
last seven years of misdemeanor
counts of vandalism, drunken driv-
ing, public drunkenness and two
counts of assault with a deadly
weapon.

AIR: Many speaking against

plan were from Arvin, Lamont
FELIX ADAMO / THE CALIFORNIAN
Rick Davis, who operated Fat Tracks Recording Studio (the old Buck Owens recording studio) from 1993-2005, cues up “Streets of Bakersfield”
as the song’s writer, Homer Joy, stands to the right.

Continued from A1 PM 2.5 occurs in the valley in

STUDIO: Owens family in no big rush to sell off property
Continued from A1
place. He hasn’t stepped inside
the building since 1974, two years
after he penned the rebellious
Bakersfield anthem.
“I had blisters in my boots by
the time I got back to the motel
room, and I sat down with ‘Streets
of Bakersfield,’” says the 63-year-
old, recalling the walk from the
studio that inspired the song.
The motel on Garces Circle is
long gone. A strip club took its
place.
Joy and Davis circle the studio.
Joy points out a section of wall
that once contained the vocal
booth. Inside, he and Buck’s musi-
cians used to act goofy, “flip each
other off and blow each other kiss-
es.”
“It was like it is now, but it’s
kinda like all that evaporated for
me,” Joy says later by phone. “I
could see the piano sitting there. I
could see the drum deal with a
picnic umbrella over the drums.”
“For a little while today, I was
25 years old,” Joy adds, his voice
full of emotion. “I saw, felt all the
old guys in there. Don ... Don was
there. Buck was there.”
Bakersfield metal blues artist
Marc Jones was the last to record
in Pig Studio, on Sunday night. To
avoid a conflict of interest, Rick
Davis subleased to Pig Studio
owner Nick Forcilo in 2005 when
he became executive director of
the Kern County Board of Trade.
Pig Studio stopped taking new
clients April 1 and finished exist-
ing projects by the end of the
month.
Davis moved his Fat Tracks stu-
dio into Owens’ building in 1992.
The building is still run by the
Owens family.
It’s hard to run a studio of this
size, Davis says. The demand isn’t
there, not when young musicians
can lay down tracks at home with
Pro Tools software.
“I was just honored to have the
chance to be caretaker, in a sense,
to be here to help it close with dig-
nity,” he says.
Davis invited his son and Merle
Haggard to walk around the stu-
dio one last time, but Jonathan
was busy and Haggard had a com-
mitment in Sacramento.
Buckaroo Jim Shaw says the
Owens family is in no rush to sell.
They still have a tenant, a medical
equipment repair shop. If some-
one has a good offer down the line,
they’ll consider it.
“We said goodbye 18 years ago
when we moved out and the TV
station (KUZZ) took it over,” he
says. “ ... I’ve been here 38 years
and it’s hard not to say that it’s
totally without emotion, but the
building’s still there,
the room is still
there, the equip-
ment will be moved
out one more time.
Things are different
than they were when
I started in 1970.”
He doubts the stu-
dio will make a come-
back.
“I don’t think you
could get enough busi-
ness or Rick would
have done it,” he says.
When he moved out the grand
piano a few months ago, Davis had
to sit down and play one more
time.
But Homer Joy’s duet with
Owens, “John Law,” is the final
song to bounce around Wednes-
day morning. That’s subject to
change.
“I’ll probably come back tonight
and sit out in the studio and sing a
few choruses of ‘Streets of Bakers-
field,’” Davis says.
plan. They raised the same con-
cerns a year ago when the air dis-
trict board voted on a controversial
smog cleanup plan.
Many of those speaking against
the plan were community organiz-
ers in Arvin and Lamont who said
neighborhood committees consis-
tently rank air pollution as their
biggest concern. Arvin has experi-
enced some of the highest levels of
air pollution in the nation in recent
years.
Air District Executive Director
Seyed Sadredin said scientific stud-
ies by the air district showed the
advocates’ suggestions for further
reducing PM 2.5 wouldn’t work.
Sadredin said the current plan is
one of the toughest in the nation.
“This plan has every control you
can imagine,” he said.
wintertime and is considered the
most harmful air pollutant. In addi-
tion to triggering asthma attacks
and lung ailments, the tiny parti-
cles can pass through the lungs and
into the bloodstream, where they
can clog arteries.
Doctors have documented trends
that show an increase in deaths
from lung diseases, heart attacks
and strokes on days when fine par-
ticle pollution is high.
A 2006 Cal State Fullerton study
estimated particle pollution costs
valley residents $3.2 billion annual-
ly in doctor’s visits, lost productivi-
ty and early death.
Heavy-duty diesel trucks are the
largest source of PM 2.5. Other
major contributors include burning
of forests, orchards and agricultur-
al fields and industrial machinery
burning liquid fuel and natural gas.

Homer Joy and Buck Owens in Scottsdale, Ariz., in 1997.

FILE PHOTO

Garces explored Kern spots Soldiers from B Company, 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment
patrol in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq. The U.S. mili-
tary death toll hit a seven-month high of 50 for the month of April, nearly
half in attacks in Baghdad where Americans face running street battles
AP

Spanish missionary crossed river 232 years ago, The natives received him with
joy and he rewarded them with
Share your story against Shiite fighters in the Sadr City district.

recorded geographical, cultural details of area gifts of glass beads and tobacco.
The villagers gave a feast and per-
This story was written by a reader
like you. To submit stories or photos

BY GEORGE GILBERT LYNCH guides, he traveled by foot, lead-

Contributing writer
On this day 232 years ago,
Father Garces crossed the Kern
River for the first time. Francisco
Hermenegildo Tomas Garces was
a great missionary explorer of the
late 1700s. Born in Spain, he was
ordained at age 25 and attended
college in Mexico where he pre-
pared for missionary work.
The Franciscan missionary
explored, on mule or foot, much of
the Southwest and Baja Califor-
nia. His detailed diaries made him
an important explorer of early
North America and his writings
gave us a virtual picture of the
geology, geography, wildlife and
Indian culture of the era.
The king of Spain requested the
Franciscan order to find a shorter
route from Mexico to their mis-
sions in Monterey and San Fran-
cisco. Father Garces set out on the
quest. With two Mojave Indian
ing a mule with his provisions
from the Colorado River at Yuma
and across the Mojave Desert. He
then headed north through the
San Fernando Valley, ascended
the Tehachapi Mountains and
entered the San Joaquin Valley.
On May 1, 1776, Father Garces
and a local guide arrived at the
Kern River, about two miles west
of the Kern River Canyon. The
river was high with spring runoff
and Father Garces said, “It was a
large river making much noise,
the beautiful crystalline waters
were bountiful and good to drink.”
The current was too strong to
cross so they walked downstream
to a quieter area. From another
rancheria on the north bank came
Indians to assist the padre across
because he could not swim. He
named the river “Rio de San
Felipe.” A monument depicting
this event is east of Bakersfield on
Highway 178 near Rancheria
Road.
formed ritual dances in his honor.
The next rancheria they
encountered was at Poso Creek,
which Garces named “Rio de San-
tiago.” Indians in this village wel-
comed them and gave them a feast
as well.
The next morning, Garces pro-
ceeded north until they arrived at
a rancheria on White River which
he named “Rio de la Santa Cruz.”
The natives welcomed the padre
and a grieving mother and father
asked him if he could minister to
their ill son who was about to die.
The padre gave the infant the first
recorded Christian baptism per-
formed in the San Joaquin Valley.
A monument marks this location
on Highway 155, eight miles east
from Highway 65.
Garces returned south to the
Kern River and was directed to an
area downstream with a bridge.
He found a village where the riv-
er forked. This would probably
have been near Columbus Street
west of Chester Avenue. The
padre saw the bluffs and said,
to The Bakersfield Californian or
Bakersfield.com, visit
Bakersfield.com/yourwords. Ques-
tions? Contact Contributions Editor
Jennifer Baldwin at 395-7568 or
jbaldwin@bakersfield.com.
“This area has beautiful hills, safe
from any flooding, that will be ide-
al for building a mission. I name
this place San Miguel de los
Noches.”
No mission was built, but on that
very hill a school named Garces
Memorial High School was even-
tually built.
Garces headed back to Yuma.
In 1781, he was among the many
killed at the Mission San Pedro y
San Pablo de Bicuner in an Indian
uprising. Two statues to his mem-
ory are in Bakersfield, at the
Garces Traffic Circle and at
Garces Memorial High School.
George Gilbert Lynch is a mem-
ber of the Kern County Historical
Society and writes about local his-
tory.
Iraq deaths
As of Wednesday, at least 4,063 members of the U.S. military have died since the
beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,307 died as a result of hos-
tile action, according to the military.
The AP count is five more than the Defense Department’s tally, which was last up-
dated Wednesday.
The latest deaths
reported by the military
A soldier was killed Wednesday by an explosive in northern Baghdad.
Two soldiers were killed Wednesday by an explosive in southern Baghdad.
A soldier was killed Wednesday by an explosion in Ninevah province.
The latest identifications reported by the military
Army Pfc. William T. Dix, 32, Culver City, Calif.; died Sunday at Camp Buehring,
Kuwait, of injuries suffered in a non-combat incident; assigned to the 14th Engi-
neer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade, I Corps, Fort Lewis, Wash.
Three Army soldiers died Monday in Baghdad of wounds from indirect fire.
Killed were Pfc. Adam L. Marion, 26, Mount Airy, N.C.; Sgt. Marcus C. Math-
es, 26, Zephyrhills, Fla.; and Sgt. Mark A. Stone, 22, Buchanan Dam, Texas.
Marion was assigned to the 171st Engineer Company, North Carolina Army Na-
tional Guard, Saint Pauls, N.C. Mathes and Stone were assigned to the 94th
Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division
(Light Infantry), Fort Polk, La.

Dead sailor enlisted in Bakersfield

Audit: Prisons getting better, but still need work
The Bakersfield Californian
Improvements have been made
to the state prison system since the
2005 death of an inmate held local-
ly, but more needs to be done, says
an Inspector General audit.
In 2005, Wasco State Prison
inmate Daniel Provencio died after
a guard shot him in the head with a
40mm foam bullet during a fight in
a prison day room. Provencio, who
was drunk at the time, had been
yelling and walking toward a guard
when he was hit.
Past audits have led to the Cali-
fornia Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation improving the
process of identifying maximum
security inmates who shouldn’t be
placed in the general prison popu-
lation. They have also improved
weapons training, the report states.
But the prisons still need to train
officers to fire at moving targets and
to fire from elevated positions, the
latest audit says. Both of those fac-
tors may have contributed to
Provencio getting struck in the head,
the Inspector General’s office said.
In response, California Depart-
ment of Corrections and Rehabili-
tation Secretary James E. Tilton
sent a letter to the Inspector Gener-
al’s office saying that the depart-
ment “does not have the ability to
fire the 40mm rifle at moving tar-
gets” and that an extensive test
showed that shooting from an ele-
vated position doesn’t have a signif-
icant change in the point of aim and
point of impact. The Basic Correc-
tional Officer Academy, however,
does train cadets in shooting the
40mm from an elevated platform,
his letter stated. The Inspector
General’s office performs annual
accountability audits to follow up
on previously identified problems.
A U.S. Navy sailor who died April 20 in Bahrain claimed Bakersfield was
her hometown because that was where she enlisted, a Navy spokeswoman
said.
Petty Officer 1st Class Cherie L. Morton was found dead in her home in
Galali, Muharraq, Bahrain, according to published reports. Morton, 40,
was assigned to Naval Security Force, Naval Support Activity Bahrain.
Morton was born in Rockford, Ill., and graduated from high school
there, according to Millie Slamin, spokeswoman for Naval Support Activi-
ty Bahrain. Several reports said Morton was from Bakersfield.
She enlisted and later re-enlisted in the Navy in Bakersfield, according
to Slamin.
Morton’s funeral is scheduled for May 3 in Rockford, Ill.
The cause of her death has not yet been determined.