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Bennie Jacobs created Tabitha’s House in 1993. “I have big dreams, I just hope the Lord lets me live to see them all,” she says.

Heart, home always open Ms. Bennie pours her money and empathy into the rehab center she created BY IAN HAMILTON

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alking around the homeless shelter and rehab center she created, Bennie Jacobs takes a call from a man she knows well. He had stormed out of the program a month earlier and Jacobs hadn’t heard from him since. “Are you having a hard time?” she asks.

As the 40-something man begins to sob, Jacobs does what she often does. “You just pack and come back,” she tells him. She hadn’t rented out his room. “I knew he’d be coming back,” Jacobs said. Jacobs, a mother of five, grandmother of 10 and great-grandmother of four, is also a mother figure to hundreds of people who end up in Tabitha’s House, a facility for the mentally or emotionally disturbed, drug-addicted or homeless.

“Most of the time in my mind I call her mommy,” said 44-year-old Tina Ocampo, a recovering meth addict and resident at the sober living facility of Tabitha’s House at the corner of 19th and R streets. “She’s been here for me like a mom.” From ministering to female prisoners in the late 1980s to tirelessly running Tabitha’s since 1993, Jacobs has a 20year legacy of helping people. She has built up a reputation with both those in Please turn to TABITHA’S / B5

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JOHN HARTE / THE CALIFORNIAN

At Tabitha’s House, Bennie Jacobs stops for a visit with resident Kenneth Lucas and his month-old son, Cody.

TABITHA’S: Jacobs has useful experience

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both the sober living facility and homeless shelter. Many of her clients were abused or molested in their youth. She can relate. When Jacobs was 3 years old, she said, her parents left her with her grandmother in Oklahoma. She thought it was because she was ugly. Her grandmother didn’t treat her much better, Jacobs said, beating her because she’d gotten sick and thrown up in her bed. It was “when I found out what rejection is all about. When others are rejected, I can feel their rejection,” she said. But because Jacobs believes God can forgive a person for anything, she doesn’t feel a person’s mistakes can ever permanently condemn them. “I don’t believe anyone on this Earth cannot be helped,” she said. There are lots of regular “Joes” and “Janes” out there doing perfectly extraordinary things with their lives but never make the headlines. Know of anyone like that? Think they’d make a great story? Call us at 395-7384 or email us at [email protected] and say you have a submission for a Real People story.

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At 74, Jacobs — “Ms. Bennie,” as most fondly call her — still moves with vigor and rarely rests. Sleep is her only vacation, her only time off. “And I do sleep good,” Jacobs said. She is typically at Tabitha’s by 7:30 a.m. and returns home around 10:30 p.m., said T.L. Jacobs, her husband of 55 years. “She’s doing it from the kindness of her heart; she’s not making a lot of money off it. She’s a dedicated woman,” he said. “She puts in a tremendous amount of hours.” He does his part by providing transportation for the clients. “Ms. Bennie” sometimes draws up her own paycheck, Garcia said, and then signs it right back over to Tabitha’s House to ensure there is enough money. He sees Jacobs’ contribution as much more than time, money and motherly support, though. She also has the experience to help people in “every imaginable legal situation,” he said. Whether the problem is criminal charges, emotional or mental issues, or a child taken by Child Protective Services, Jacobs has informed advice on how to help. Kids can stay with their parents at

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Continued from B1 need and other social services organizations. She is the one to call when a person needs help. “When there’s a problem, they don’t hesitate to wake her up,” Tabitha’s House administrator Gil Garcia said. “No matter the hour, they know she’ll respond.” An ordained minister, Jacobs was helping women in Lerdo Jail when she saw people repeating crimes and returning to custody every few months. “It hurt my heart so bad,” she said. That’s when Jacobs felt the calling to start a home. She started with short-lived Isaiah’s House, changing the name to Tabitha’s House in 1993 to reflect the focus she puts on helping women and women with children. The name comes from the resurrection of Tabitha in Acts 9:36 of the Bible. “I feel when they’re going through the home, that’s what happens to them,” Jacobs said. Her endeavor has since expanded to include treatment for the whole family. Some people are referred by social services, but anyone can come in for help. The facility mission is to break the generational cycle of substance abuse and turn those in need into self-reliant members of the community. “She’s carrying the burden of this agency on her shoulders,” Garcia said. As of last week, there were 27 active clients for outpatient substance abuse counseling, 59 residents in the homeless shelter and 22 in the sober living facility. She isn’t stopping at that and has plans to include furniture-building and woodworking classes at Tabitha’s House. “I have big dreams, I just hope the Lord lets me live to see them all,” Jacobs said. The primary source of funding for nonprofit Tabitha’s House is rent. Many of the residents at the sober living facility maintain jobs outside the facility and pay $650 a month for their rooms. There is also a federal grant paying for roughly 75 percent to 80 percent of the homeless shelter’s direct services and staff salaries, the remainder coming from the rent and donations.

furry folk. The “Pet Vet to Go into downtown Bake Ohio Monday afternoo of weeks it will be p Kern County Animal South Mount Vernon A put through its paces b of Kern’s first staff Dr. Jennifer McDougle Together the truck

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Kern County firefighters hike up toward Los Padres National Forest where more than 500 acres have been consumed near Scott Russell Road. The fire was sparked by a lighting strike early Sunday afternoon.

Residents ready to run BY IAN HAMILTON Californian staff writer e-mail: ihamilton@bakersfield.com

FRAZIER PARK — Andrea Knutson went to work despite the 600-acre fire burning near her home. She wasn’t taking any chances, however. She spent half of Monday

morning choosing the items to stuff in her car in case the worst happened. Firefighters worked through Monday night on the Scott fire burning north of Frazier Park. It’s named after Scott Russell Road, located near the lightning strike that started the fire on Tecuya Ridge Sunday afternoon.

The fire was listed as No. 2 on the state’s priority list of nine serious fires Monday, behind a 6,600-acre fire in San Diego County, according to Brian Marshall, deputy fire chief with the Kern County Fire Department. While helicopters flew to over

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New hires stir debate over leave BY STACEY SHEPARD Californian staff writer e-mail: sshepard@bakersfield.com

Two new teachers in the Rosedale Union School District will be on maternity leave before they step into the classroom. That makes no sense, said a couple of district board members who unsuccessfully tried to stop the hires Monday. The board of trustees got a recommendation in early July to hire two

against it 2-2. Then an attorney said that could open the district up to a discrimination suit and so on Monday, the board called a special meeting and approved the hires 3-2. Board member Lisa King said the teachers will be worth the wait. “I believe they’re the best people for the jobs,” she said. But board President Ken Mettler said the district should put student concerns first and not hire people who can’t be in the classroom at the start of the school

That’s not the issue,” he said. “The issue is we spend all this time debating the benefits and compliance with state law, but very little time is spent on what’s best for the kids. Is it better for

INSIDE • Read columnist Marylee Shrider’s take on the maternity leave issue on Page B1.

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Robert LaBrash said heat would be listed as a “significant condition” contributing to her death. Meanwhile, state officials were investigating a Stockton nursing home for negligence after a patient

Monday; and Sacramento was at 108. Riverside, southeast of Los Angeles, recorded a high of 103 Monday. The sweltering heat was the

tricity to thousands of customers who lost power in the heat. Pacific Gas & Electric reported about 118,000 customers without power. The San Francisco Bay Area

overloaded transformers. Heat, lightning and wind were blamed for outages Monday affecting some 17,000 SoCal Edison customers.

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Continued from A1 dump water onto the Scott fire, Stan Myers watched television and his grandson played in the yard. Myers lives less than a mile from the “trigger point,” a spot where, if reached by the fire, would spark a voluntary evacuation of Frazier Park and its approximately 800 homes and businesses. While watching TV, Myers also listened to fire crew activity on a scanner. His important documents and meaningful pictures were loaded in the car nearby. “I’m worried a little bit, but not too much,” said Matt Verdon, whose home is in the northwest corner of Frazier Park near the trigger point. “Some people may think three-quarters of a mile is pretty close — but not with these (firefighters).” A fire line was created Monday morning about half a mile north of the trigger point to halt the advance of the blaze any farther south. Wind blew away from the homes and the south end of the fire is now lessthreatening. “The line at the south of the end of the fire is holding, which is one step toward containment,” said Engineer Tony Diffenbaugh with the Kern County Fire Department.

Source: U.S. Forest Service

The north end of the fire has received less attention and there is no word yet on when it is expected to be contained. As of 3 p.m. Monday, fire crews had achieved 15 percent containment. There is less danger to life or structures to the north of the fire, however, with miles of the Los Padres National Forest in that direction. About 280 firefighters have battled the Scott fire, some working more than 24 hours straight, according to Diffenbaugh. There have been no injuries or structural damage. In the past week, the Kern County Fire Department has responded

Lebec Gorman Los Angeles County

138

THE CALIFORNIAN

to several hundred fires caused by lightning strikes. Fire crews performed some sort of suppression on 75 percent of these, Marshall said. Some lightning strikes can be put out by heavy rain and light rain can usually hold one in check. Marshall said the weather responsible for these fires may continue through the weekend. Three other lightning fires are burning in the Los Padres National Forest. Three of the four fires and any additional lightning strike fires in the immediate area will be handled from a command post inside Frazier Mountain High School. Personnel from the county fire

TIM KUPSICK / AP

A Kern County Fire Department helicopter hovers over a fire that has burned more than 500 acres.

department, U.S. Forest Service, Ventura County Fire Department, California Highway Patrol and Kern County Sheriff’s Department were helping.

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Iraq deaths As of Monday, at least 2,567 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 seven military civilians. At least 2,027 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers.

The AP count is seven more than the Defense Department’s tally. The British military has reported 114 deaths; Italy, 32; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 17; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, four; El Salvador, Slovakia, three each; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kaza-

khstan, Latvia, Romania, one death each. The latest deaths reported by the military: • Two soldiers were killed Monday in Anbar province. • A soldier died Monday from smallarms fire south of Baghdad.

The latest identifications reported by the military: • Marine Capt. Christopher T. Pate, 29, Hampstead, N.C.; killed Friday in Anbar province; assigned to 2nd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, Command Element, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

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spend on projects, create 150 jobs BY JAMES BURGER Californian staff writer e-mail: jburger@bakersfield.com

Kern County’s budget has never been bigger. On Thursday county officials released a $1.3 billion spending plan for the 2006-2007 fiscal year that is inflated

by new property taxes, sales taxes and tens of millions in state and federal money. But county budget guru Jeff Frapwell said the county isn’t letting a $159 million increase in cash launch it into a spending spree. “The tight times do make you sensitive — even gun-shy — of spending

So the county is spending one-time property tax money on one-time projects, maintenance and upgrades to county facilities and equipment. And the county is kicking its savings account into overdrive. The county’s budget, which should be approved by supervisors by the end of the month, sets aside $34.8 million to something called “additions to general fund reserves.”

some money for emergencies,” Frapwell said in a summary letter attached to the budget. But the county does plan to spend new money in the coming year. The proposed budget includes 150 new county jobs. Big winners include the Sheriff’s Department, the Probation Department Please turn to BUDGET / A3

Getting hands on fake IDs much easier Simplified process allows document mills to proliferate in Kern, elsewhere BY IAN HAMILTON Californian staff writer e-mail: ihamilton@bakersfield.com

HENRY A. BARRIOS / THE CALIFORNIAN

Michael Toms, resident agent-in-charge of the Bakersfield office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, holds a forged Permanent Resident Card. Like many forged cards, the quality makes the forgery easy to spot — if one knows what to look for.

Making them only takes a computer, scanner and a decent printer. Buying them can cost just $30 or $40. Fake document mills are everywhere, with the number rising in Kern County, and they are making the business of producing and acquiring false identification easier by the day, officials say. Last week, for example, a Lamont man was sentenced to 15 months in prison for possessing and counterfeiting false identification documents. Authorities say he was creating Social Security and permanent resident cards. Court filings show it was a simple operation. “All you need is a computer and you can make a thousand of these things,” said Michael

Toms, resident agent-in-charge for investigations at the Bakersfield branch of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Statistics describing the extent of false ID-making both locally and nationwide are hard to come by because it’s such an underground business, said Virginia Kice, an Orange Countybased spokeswoman for ICE. All she could pass along was that the number of investigations targeting identity and benefit fraud nationwide rose from 2,334 in fiscal year 2004 to 3,591 in fiscal year 2005. The main focus of the inquiries was on mills, not false document holders. “There’s no question this is a pervasive problem,” Kice said. “We know there’s a huge demand for this documentation. People don’t realize the implicaPlease turn to DOCUMENTS / A3

Hezbollah kills 12; Israelis prepare push into Lebanon BY RICHARD A. OPPEL JR. AND STEVEN ERLANGER N.Y. Times News Service

MAALOT-TARSHIHA, Israel — The Lebanese militia Hezbollah killed 12 Israelis — eight civilians and four soldiers — on Thursday, making it Israel’s deadliest day in

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more than three weeks of conflict. As Israeli troops tried to create a narrow buffer zone inside Lebanon and bombed southern Beirut, Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah warned he would send his long-range missiles into Tel Aviv if the Israelis continued

airstrikes. “If you bomb our capital Beirut, we will bomb the capital of your usurping entity,” he said on Lebanese television. “We will bomb Tel Aviv.” But he also offered to halt Hezbollah’s missile barrage into Please turn to MIDEAST / A3

FOR THE RECORD

INDEX Annie’s Mailbox .E6 Classifieds . . . . . .C1 Comics . . . . . . . . .E6 Crossword . . .C3, E6 Funerals . . . . . . . .B2 Horoscope . . . . . .E7 Local news . . . . . .B1 Money . . . . . . . .A17

Movies . . . . . . . . .E2 Eye Street . . . . . . .E1 Opinion . . . . . . . .B6 People . . . . . . . . . .E3 Sports . . . . . . . . . .D1 Stocks . . . . . . . .A18 Television . . . . . . .E3 Weather . . . . . . . .B8

PIER PAOLO CITO / AP

An Israeli army soldier stood on top of an armored vehicle before entering Lebanon from Israel Thursday. Hezbollah rockets pounded northern Israel, killing eight people, officials said.

Robert G. Baldwin, the victim of a homicide on Wednesday, is 61. A story in Thursday’s Local section had an incorrect age.

CALL US Subscriber services: 392-5777 or 1-800-953-5353 To report a news tip: 395-7384 or 1-800-540-0646

FRIDAY, AUGUST 4, 2006

DOCUMENTS: Majority are looking for work or residence Continued from A1 tions of the counterfeit ID market.” The majority of people seeking false identification are probably looking for work or residency in the United States, Toms said. A smaller percentage, he said, want to commit serious crime. Still, it’s that smaller group that most concerns immigration and customs investigators. “The card makers don’t care what they’re making the cards for; they just want to make money,” said Toms. “The majority of it is probably more work-related, but it’s the smaller percentage that you really need to worry about, the ones that really want to create havoc.” The length of investigations range from a couple of “All you need weeks for is a computer s m a l l - s c a l e operations to and you can six months or a year for make a larger ones, thousand of depending on the operathese tion’s comthings.” plexity, Toms said. The Michael Toms, average takes U.S. Immigration six months. and Customs T o m s Enforcement declined to say how many agents are assigned to the task. It used to be that locals had to get their fake documents in Los Angeles, Toms said. But production is so easy, he said, mills are proliferating here. Using regular home computers, Toms said, forgers can create just about any government document, American or otherwise: Permanent Resident Cards, Employment Authorization documents, Social Security cards, California driver’s licenses and identification cards, birth certificates and even Mexican driver’s licenses. Documents range in price up to $200, with the quality of the forgery usually correlated to the price, Toms said. A stack of fake identification cards from a small number of closed cases at the ICE Bakersfield office show a wide range in quality. It includes Social Security cards obviously made with a type-

How to spot a fake ID card

Edges of the photograph are harsh, where it was cut out and pasted onto the card. It should not be felt at all, instead, the photo should be part of the rest of the card. This is true for most identification cards.

Edges of the card should be smooth, not feel like they've been cut out with scissors.

Blue Department of Justice seal does not overlap the photo area.

Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

writer and high-quality driver’s licenses you’d have to compare to real ones to find faults. “Some of the documents are outstanding, some you can tell from a block away,” said Toms. Most of the fake driver’s licenses that Vaughn Cain, an officer with the California Highway Patrol, has seen in his 11 years in Bakersfield have been pretty obvious. He’s only seen three or four false IDs during that time, he said. When asked if that means a lot of good forgeries are slipping by, he wouldn’t speculate. Juana Bribiesca of the San Joaquin Farm Labor Contractors Association said immigrants are willing to do what it takes to feed their families. “If they need an ID or a Social Security card, they know where they can buy them,” Bribiesca said. “When they need work and they need to eat, they use tricks and they get the work.” Some of the telltale signs of poor forgeries, according to Toms, include lines where it is clear an inkjet printer was used to print a photo, or raised surfaces where a photo was pasted on rather than printed with the rest of the card.

Detail in Department of Justice seal should be a clean image; every arrow should be distinguishable, the printing easily readable and the overall look should be crisp. THE CALIFORNIAN

An obvious giveaway that sometimes pops up, he said, is a misspelling in the small print on the back of a card. How new a card looks also can be a tip-off. “You’ve got a 50-year-old man with a brand-new (Social Security card). I’m 30 and mine’s already torn up,” said Nate Odle, a dispatcher with Superior Temporary Service, a temp agency specializing in such things as trucking and construction. He photocopies driver’s licenses and Social Security cards from around 10 applicants a day and has seen only a few fake cards in his three years with the company. Last year, Immigration and Customs along with local law enforcement agencies busted six alleged Kern County document mills on the same day. Court documents in one of the cases, involving Manuel Quintino Perez of Lamont, shed light on how easily these documents are attained. A confidential informant working with investigators approached Perez, 43, in August 2005 seeking to purchase forged documents, the filings say. Perez said a “white” U.S. Per-

manent Resident Card, which is newer and generally harder to fake, was $100. A “pink” or “rosita” card, the older version, was only $50. The informant handed over two photographs and was told the cards would be ready in two days, according to the documents. The informant returned, paid the $100 for the “white” card, and received a U.S. Permanent Resident Card and Social Security card, which are traditionally sold as a set. The informant got two more sets of cards the same way, the filings say. Perez was charged with producing, possessing and transferring false identification documents and selling counterfeit Social Security cards. During the Sept. 29 bust, officials seized computers, media storage devices and counterfeit documents from alleged document mills at six Kern County homes. At Perez’s residence, investigators found a scanner, printer, heat seal, typewriter, cutting implements, stamp pad, printing paper and a Polaroid camera used to create false IDs, court documents say. In a plea deal, Perez was sentenced to 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release. People running document-making rings can get pretty creative. In 1997, a federal program allowed immigrants to get temporary protected status in the United States that could lead to permanent residency. In 2001, immigration agents arrested a man whose Lamont business created a Nicaraguan history for someone who was not from there, according to Bernardo Madrid, interim group supervisor for Bakersfield ICE. The man got delayed birth certificate applications from Nicaragua and filed the paperwork with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service — the real INS — Madrid said. Another man, from Nicaragua, helped out by using a map on his refrigerator to teach people basic facts about the country so they could answer questions from an immigration agent, Madrid said. The two men and 237 others trying to benefit from a false Nicaraguan birth were arrested. Most ended up being deported. From time to time, Madrid said, more people involved in the ploy pop up.

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Damon Davis, foreground, and Veronica Vasquez take a plunge as they tip over their canoe at Gergen Ski Ranch during a camp for children who have lost a family member. The camp, which gives young people an opportunity to have fun and also share their experience with others, is put on by Optimal Hospice Foundation.

Youths have fun, share feelings over lost loved ones at camp BY IAN HAMILTON Californian staff writer e-mail: ihamilton@bakersfield.com

I

t’s Thursday morning and Damon Davis is doing front flips on a water trampoline. Some of his siblings row around in canoes and try to stay afloat as crazy camp counselors try to tip them over. “It’s the first time we’ve done a lot of stuff,” Davis had said before diving in. Davis, 18, and nine of his siblings are

at the Optimal Hospice Foundation Kids Camp this week with 17 other teens who have had a loved one die in the past 18 months. The camp is meant to bring together youngsters who share that unfortunate fact and help them deal with it. Davis’ brother, Wendale, died almost four months ago. The kids aren’t forced to talk about such sad topics — it comes out naturally. “It comes out when they’re in the rooms at night sharing with one anoth-

er,” said Ann Smart, hospice foundation director. “They just bring it up with friends or they share with the staff. It’s very informal the way we handle it and we think that is the best way for this setting.” Camp director Scott Haner organized the week’s activities at Gergen Ski Ranch, north of Hart Park. He has also held traditional summer camps and the activities he picked for these kids weren’t anything out of the ordinary. Please turn to CAMP / B3

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ool’s library, which is still under s opening day.

Franey said, he expects the disrict to exit the state hardship rogram in coming weeks now hat the district’s assessed valuaion has increased. The district also hopes to purhase in coming weeks the two ites where McKee, Crescent and he new middle school will sit — ne near Taft Highway and Highway 99 and the other at Panama Lane and Union Avenue. It’s all a whirlwind of planning nd construction, but on Wednesay, the first day to register chilren for classes at Horizon, econd-grader Marcos Lazo was naware of it all. “It’s going to be nice,” the former Valle Verde student said of is new school while waiting for is mother to complete paperwork. “I’m going to miss my old ne.”

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Kern County farming community.

Burke never married, but her compassion for others led her to an active life of service with the Mercy Hospital Auxiliary. She was also a member of the Wasco Women’s Club, St. John’s Catholic Women’s Society and other organizations.

She was named Woman of the Year in 1980 by the American Association of University Women.

Sing Lum, one of her former students, was quoted in Burke’s obituary published in the newspaper.

“I think she was one of the best teachers on Earth,” Lum said at the time. “She encouraged me to go to high school, which I did. I might not have otherwise.”

Although no study has been done, Wimbish said his “guesstimate” is that it would take about $100 million to replace the minimum security facility and upgrade other facilities at Lerdo. That’s just one reason the sher-

The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says it will run out of beds for prisoners in about a year. The sheriffs said the state is already housing some 30,000 prison inmates in county jails temporarily.

CAMP: Youths open up to others Continued from B1 Each of the more than 50 campers had the opportunity to hike, canoe, golf, shoot a bow and arrow, play dodgeball and basketball and participate in a collection of other typical summer camp activities. “Let’s get back to being a kid, let’s get back to having a good time,” Haner said. While clawing up a rock-climbing wall seemed to be one of the most popular activities, Christina Ramos, 12, made a case for the canoeing. Christina lost her dad about a year ago. “You’ve got to learn how to steer the boat and sometimes you fall in,” which is part of the fun, she said. It didn’t take long for Stephanie Schnitker and her friend, Breana Nolen, both 16, to prove her right. They were floating in the water within minutes of jumping into their canoe, joking about who caused the boat to overturn. Schnitker insists it was Nolen. Similarly, a Davis sibling was rowing by a floating basketball hoop when he got his oar caught in the net. This made their canoe easy prey, giving counselor Megan Holmes time to achieve ramming speed and turn them over. They laughed and grinned while survey-

ing the damage to their boat, which was half-filled with water. The teens arrived Wednesday evening and, as is usually the case, stayed up late even though lights go out around 10 p.m. The kids found themselves up for breakfast before 7 a.m. Thursday and though they were tired, they seemed to be going strong in the afternoon as they laughed, screamed, played, swam, climbed, slid and jumped their way around the ranch. Thursday night, Haner and Smart planned to cook popcorn and show “The Sandlot” to wind the kids down before bed. When they finally get into bed the second night is when they really open up, she said, because they’ve gotten to know each other so well. The event, in its 13th year, is entirely funded by donations to the hospice foundation, so families pay nothing for their kids to participate. The week started on Sunday for the 8- to 12-year-olds and on Wednesday for the teens, each section enjoying two nights at the camp. The teens finish up this afternoon at about 4:30, spending a few more hours swimming in the lake, flying down the waterslide, jumping on “the blob” and canoeing.

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Karaoke, 8 p.m. Tuesdays and ednesdays, Trouts, 805 N. hester Ave. 399-6700. Open Mic Night, with John ells hosting, sign-ups at 7 p.m. uesday, Kosmos, 1623 19th St. 4-4286. Sierra Club Conditioning ikes, three to five miles, 7 p.m. uesdays, meet at corner of ghways 178 and 184. 872-2432 873-8107. Technique Tuesday, Webcracking,” for ages 7 and p, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Color Me ine at the Marketplace, 9000 ing Ave. $20, includes pottery, pplies and instruction. Web te www.bakersfield.colormeme.com or 664-7366. Blues Jam at the Lake, with odfish Blues Band, or take the age and do your own thing, 7 11 p.m. Wednesdays, The ut, 11320 Kernville Road, ernville. 760-376-2314. Celtic Session, open jam, 7 to p.m. Wednesdays, McMurhy’s, 14 Monterey St. 328-0186. Francois & the Question ark, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesays, McGee’s at The Ice House, 01 Chester Ave . 323-8730. Get Out items should be subitted two weeks before the ent. Send information to: Eye reet calendar, The Bakersfield alifornian, P.O. Bin 440, Baksfield, CA 93302; fax to 39519 or e-mail to [email protected].

REVOLUTION

private th legends

to regroup. Dad and I coasted up to the others. “This is the plan,” Willie said. “We separate, then meet up on Sprague Island after dark. According to the chart, there’s a tiny

Team Evolution — from left, Dominic Camacho, 18; George Murr, 15; Bryan Werner, 18; and Aaron Gonzales, 18 — recaps what happened during a game of capture the flag on “Halo” 2 during a LAN party on Thursday. Team Evolution will be competing in a “Halo” tournament held in Anaheim, which will bring gamers from across the country.

TIM KUPSICK / THE CALIFORNIAN

Get your game on Youths compete, socialize at console-based parties BY IAN HAMILTON Californian staff writer e-mail: ihamilton@bakersfield.com

N

nis Joplin

nal demons and an overpowerg lack of self-esteem. When I caught up with Joplin a rehearsal, nothing about her ggested “star.” Minus her tire or an audience to energize er, she seemed weary. Finally, she retreated to her essing room, collapsed onto a fa and reached slowly for a ack of cigarettes. She was tired, e said — tired of fighting with usinessmen and musicians and e writers who wanted to know here the pain in her voice came om. The room felt like a cell. Like e best rock ’n’ roll, Joplin’s usic was mostly about freePlease turn to MUSIC / E5

Herb Benham is on vacation. His column will return Aug. 18.

and I went due north, sticking to the channel. I looked over my shoulder. The silhouette of a fishing boat, less than a mile away, was cutting our way. Please turn to ‘BELLA BELLA’ / E4

apoleon Marquez moves quickly up a set of stairs, keeping his eyes intently fixed on a spot across the battlefield. The enemy is there. He loads a fresh clip into his gun and clears another set of stairs in a single leap. He immediately tosses one, two, then three grenades on either side of the enemy’s location. But he has already moved. Ed Flores, 18, has Marquez, 16, in his crosshairs and wastes no time depositing round after round into his body armor. In less than a second, half of Marquez’s energy is gone. He tries to return fire but is forced to drop behind a wall and regroup. He loads a fresh clip and moves apprehensively forward into a pale gray building.

Competing for bucks, bragging rights The players of Major League Gaming don’t sweat during their competitions, but they feel the skill required to win as a team puts video games on par with other sports. While virtually unknown to the general public, Major League Gaming has found an audience and roster of intense gamers ready to battle it out competitively. “Some gamers dispute that (video games are like other sports) because of the fact that we’re only using our thumbs, but playing games has the ability to be competitive like any other sport,” said 18-year-old Dominic Please turn to GAMERS / E2 Flores is ready. Bam! Another quarter of Marquez’s life is gone. When he peeks out from behind the wall again, a round from Flores ends the fight. Marquez’s screen goes blood red. In a moment, his character returns and they are back at it, throwing comput-

er-generated gunfire as they furiously thumb their game controllers. The firefight between Marquez’s and Flores’ characters was just a practice session, a lull while the other attendees scarfed Please turn to LAN / E2

You’re ugly: Girl gamer takes abuse BY IAN HAMILTON Californian staff writer e-mail: ihamilton@bakersfield.com

She doesn’t mind it when a guy on her headset jokes that she should be cooking or cleaning, or more crudely, says she must be fat or ugly to be playing video games. Rebekah Schmitt just lets them talk and plays. They change their tune when she wins. “Then they just want to be my friend,” she said. “Or they don’t say anything and quit.” Schmitt, a 16-year-old from Bakersfield, is a serious and Please turn to GIRL / E2

Rebekah Schmitt, who loves playing video games, works at the Gamestor in East Hills Mall. CASEY CHRISTIE / THE CALIFORNIAN

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Schmitt’s co-worker Garrett Garcia, who plays online pretty much every day. Being able to tell the person you just decimated what you think of them is part of the fun. When girls like Schmitt play, however, the trash talking takes on a different, cruder, tone. “Once in awhile you get the guys who start wailing on (a girl),” said 26-year-old Julio Castrejon, a manager at Gamestor, of the verbal insults against girls. “You’re going to get that with the age group of guys who are playing on there, which is like 16 to 24, so of course they’re going to be immature.” Schmitt takes it in stride and actually attributes gaming to helping her become more outgoing. “I used to be really shy, but being able to talk to people on Xbox Live has helped me gain confidence and talk to people,” Schmitt said. At only 16, she’s waiting for the results from her high school proficiency exam and will start at Bakersfield College later this month. “I wanted to graduate early, get into BC, and be a little ahead of my friends,” Schmitt said. While unsure about what she wants to do, Schmitt says she would like to play games professionally. “It would be really cool to be part of an all-girls team,” she said.

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 6, 2006

invites. Now the host is pulling out the big guns. If Lieberman comes on before next week’s election, he can expect to be plied with some of his favorites: a bowl of Cocoa Puffs (Lieberman is said to love chocolate) and two tickets to Lieberman’s favorite vacation spot, Boca Raton, Fla.

Continued from E1 down spaghetti at 18-year-old Aaron Gonzales’ “LAN party” in Delano. When the eight gamers at this party get back to it, they will rejoin their four-player teams and battle deep into the night, the sound of gunfire ringing loud enough to hear but low enough to allow Gonzales’ mom to sleep. While computer LAN, or local area network, parties have been around for years, television consoles are gaining in popularity because of greater simplicity and fewer troubleshooting headaches. “With console-based parties, you just plug into the network and play,” said Bryan Tebow, a local network administrator and avid gamer who sets up computerbased LAN parties about once a month. Even with the advent of powerful laptops, some devoted computer gamers still lug high-powered computer towers, keyboards, mice and even bulky monitors to a garage or house somewhere to play all night long. Most Xbox games, such as “Halo 2,” top out at 16 players, but computer games can sometimes support two to three times as many. The drawback, though, is that with a computer per person, space can be an issue as well as the drain on electricity. And there’s a greater need for technical expertise to connect computers with different software and hardware. “Usually the first few hours turn into a PC troubleshooting party,” Tebow said of PC-based parties. Console lanning (gamers use

HOW TO THROW AN XBOX LAN PARTY Games: You need a copy of the same game for every system, for example, “Halo 2.” Check the maximum number of players for the game you want to play, games typically support a maximum of eight to 16 players. “Halo 2” can support up to 16. Systems: You need at least two Xboxes to play. You need to balance how many systems you have access to with how many people you want per screen. Televisions: Eight players and two Xboxes equals four players per TV. Eight players and four Xboxes equals two players per TV. An Xbox per perLAN as a verb) is different. When Reggie Visico, 18, and his friends arrived at Gonzales’ house, they brought in an Xbox and a television from the car to set up on a table in the den. The configuration consisted of one Xbox and two players per screen, all interconnected by one $50 router. Once Visico and his friends were inside, they were ready to go in less than 10 minutes. Playing on the Internet also doesn’t measure up to a LAN party. Gamers with a broadband connection can log on and play against people around the world and voicechatting allows them to communicate with teammates or taunt opponents. But it suffers because people can cheat by altering a character to do something they otherwise couldn’t do — such as walk through a wall. Even worse,

son means everyone gets their own screen. Router: A four-port router will cost around $40 to $60 from Comp USA while an eight-port is around $100 to $120. You need one ethernet cable per system; each should be long enough to connect a system from where you want to play it to the router. Getting going: Allow some time to make sure everything is plugged in correctly and the router is working. Turn on your systems and access the online portion of the game. the network lags. “You see glitches and people doing things that the game doesn’t intend for them to do,” Gonzales said. “With lanning there’s none of that.” The problem with playing online for Marquez is the lack of interaction. “You play for five or six hours, then you have to talk to someone, and I don’t mean online,” Marquez said. Justin McNeillie, 16, has LAN parties with his friends every few weeks in Bakersfield and prefers them to other ways of playing because even the breaks are fun. He gets to eat dinner with friends and hang out. Otherwise, he’s just drinking soda and sitting in front of a screen for hours talking to faceless players over a headset. “We always think of lanning as a

GAMERS: Being a top-tier team is lucrative Continued from E1 Camacho, a player from Delano who has been to several league events. In the three years since its inception, Major League Gaming has grown significantly from its first tournament of fewer than 20 fourplayer teams to 144 teams, at a tournament in Anaheim in late June. The game of choice is “Halo 2,” the most popular game of the Microsoft Xbox and one of two on the Major League Gaming circuit. More than 1,000 players, some on teams, others in one-on-one competitions, battled in “Halo 2” in Anaheim. “We’re already maxing out every event,” said Adam Apicella, vice president of league operations. The event in the Anaheim Convention Center was a gamer’s paradise. There were 12 27-inch flat-screen televisions, 144 20-inch televisions with one Microsoft Xbox per screen, 12 Nintendo Gamecubes and three giant projection screens. It was also a nonstop war zone. Row after row of hard-core gamers sat close to their screens, the bright rainbow of destruction lighting up their faces. Judges paced behind the ongoing games as the continuous and unwavering sound of gunfire and explosions intermittently mixed with the excited cries of victory. Players, exhausted by the nonstop games, found respite wherever they could, sleeping on chairs, couches and even on the floor. Most players agree that playing “Halo 2” as a team is just like any other sport; a single strong player won’t win it. Teamwork is key. That’s why 16-year-old Justin McNeillie from Bakersfield, was up practicing with his team until 1:30

a.m. before the competition in Anaheim. In Delano, 18-year-old Reggie Visico was up until just before midnight practicing with his team against 18-year-old Aaron Gonzales’ crew. In all, at least four local teams attended the event. The entry fee isn’t necessarily cheap for a teenager; it costs $50 per person to enter the team competitions. Sponsorships from companies such as Boost Mobile and GameStop, along with revenue from subscriptions to their online Video-on-Demand, which provides footage of major league matches, helps provide funding for the venues, equipment and prize money. In November the league will have highlights from the 2006 season broadcast on the USA Network for the first time. “Especially this season people are coming to (watch) who aren’t necessarily playing,” Apicella said. The hopes of most local players were dashed relatively early in the June competition — but they kept on playing. Even after the late night before and the grueling stress of the tournament, the players hooked up their own televisions and game systems in their hotel rooms and played for hours on end. While most don’t make anything playing video games, a small num-

ber of gamers are making a living at it. The top 16 league teams get professional status, which gets them free entry and VIP treatment at events. In addition, the better teams get some of their travel expenses paid for by the league and a few get paid contracts. The winning “Halo 2” team at Anaheim, “Final Boss,” got $12,000 in prize money. However, the money is peanuts next to the team’s three-year, $1 million contract with Major League Gaming to do appearances and play at all the tournaments. That’s about $80,000 a year per person. “I really just do this for fun,” said Ken Hoang, a 20-year-old student at CSU Long Beach and toprated player at “Super Smash Bros. Melee,” the other game on the league circuit. “At first (my parents) didn’t like it at all, they thought I was wasting my time and money.” Once his parents realized how much he could make, they changed their minds. He said he makes around $15,000 a year from the

A GREAT MOVIE!”

”

KIDSDAY

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TERRIFIC!

THE SUMMER’S BEST FAMILY MOVIE.

”

Glenn Whipp, LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS

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FROM THE STUDIO THAT BROUGHT YOU

Roger Ebert , Chicago Sun-Times

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social activity. When we’re not playing we’re hanging out just like anybody else would do,” Gonzales said of his parties. Console lanning is even gaining popularity as a sport. Major League Gaming, like its computerbased counterparts, holds huge, highly competitive LAN-based tournaments each year. Thousands of players from teams across the country come, thumbs at the ready, to battle it out. This is what they are preparing for at Gonzales’ house. Once finished with dinner, they resume their focus on the screens; four in one room, four in another. When playing seriously they sit in a tightly packed line on one side of a table and play the game according to the same rules they will see at a Major League Gaming tournament. This time, however, in addition to the sound of gunfire there is also the code. The moment Visico or one of his teammates spots a player from Gonzales’ team they begin yelling “P1 red” or “P2 blue.” The code is a quick and accurate system practiced by both sides to notify teammates of enemy location. But it doesn’t always help. When the code fails and panic sets in, players might start pointing to the enemy on a teammate’s screen out of frustration, in hope that an extended finger is going to help destroy them. It rarely works. “I’m being shot, I’m being shot,” Visico yells before succumbing to his wounds.

MAJOR LEAGUE GAMING Started: In late 2003. Professionals: There are more than 150 signed professional gamers. The top 16 “Halo 2” teams get professional status and free entry to all tournaments. Games: There are two games on the circuit, “Halo 2” and “Super Smash Bros. Melee.” Size: Around 1,000-1,500 amateur gamers attend each tournament. Events: Six circuit events in 2006 plus the invitation-only national championship in Las Vegas. Upcoming: Orlando from Aug. 25 to 27, New York from Oct. 13 to 15 and the Las Vegas National Championships in November. Web site: www.mlgpro.com winnings. “I wouldn’t trust playing video games for a living,” he said, because the prize money comes and goes. — Ian Hamilton, staff writer

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JEBB HARRIS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER MORE PHOTOS http://www.ocregister.com/news/birds-roosters-drive-1769292-miller-palomino Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Roaming roosters to be removed Sure, they're noisy, but are the wild roosters on Palomino Drive a crime? By IAN HAMILTON The Orange County Register YORBA LINDA – Palomino Drive is a bit of an oddity in an otherwise modern residential neighborhood, a dirt road still traveled daily by horseback riders and populated by chickens. Not everyone appreciates such things. A dispute percolating on this road for more than three years illustrates the changing culture of the community. On behalf of newer residents who don't appreciate the predawn ruckus, the city of Yorba Linda last month filed criminal charges against Nancy Miller and William Webster, two long-time residents of Palomino Drive who have allowed roosters to roam free on their property. News: Jail time for roosters | birds, roosters, drive - OCRegister.com http://www.ocregister.com/news/birds-roosters-drive-1769292-miller-... Facing up to six months in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both, Webster agreed to allow the city to come onto his property to remove the roosters. Miller's lawyer said Monday that he was going to sign a similar agreement on her behalf. 1 of 3

10/24/07 2:35 PM

The roosters, as well as the chickens and eggs, are scheduled to be removed this week. What bothers Miller and Webster is that the fowl aren't theirs – there are no cages or coops on Palomino Drive. "I have nothing to do with these birds, they're just wild birds," Miller said. For years, the birds lived on a lot to the east of Palomino Drive in what used to be an equestrian center. Those buildings were torn down by a developer a few years back who, in turn, built La Serena Drive with a number of typical suburban houses. Destroying the old buildings sent dozens of roosters, hens and chicks to peck, roost and, of course, crow on the dirt road Miller and Webster call home. The long-time residents of Palomino Drive don't seem to mind the sound these birds make. Some of the newer residents, like Mike Sheelor of La Serena Drive, can't stand it. He has been complaining, fighting and lobbying to have the roosters removed since he moved to his home in 2003. Backed up to Palomino Drive, Sheelor's home is overlooked by a tree in which the birds roost at night. "We've got to keep the windows shut so you're not woken up at 2 a.m. when the damn things go off," Sheelor said. There are four active complaints about the birds filed by residents on the neighboring streets.

by a tree in which the birds roost at night.

"We've got to keep the windows shut so you're not woken up at 2 a.m. when the damn off,"| birds, Sheelor said. News: Jailthings time for go roosters roosters, drive - OCRegister.com http://www.ocregister.com/news/birds-roosters-drive-1769292-miller-... There are four active complaints about the birds filed by residents on the neighboring streets. "I'd just be really sad and disgusted," Miller said. "It just wouldn't be the same." "I friends come over and say, 'I didn't know much noise,' said Ashave far as their criminal charges, according to cityroosters attorneymake Soniathat Carvalho, those "will be Jack Hanson, another resident of La Serena Drive who has complained about the roosters. dropped on one condition. Around theproperty chickens, with at least five roosters, have County Animal "As long30 asofthe owners are cooperative, we will notsurvived pursue Orange the case," Carvalho Control's previous attempts to remove them. said. Yorba Linda spokesman Mikewriter: Maxfield said the residents on the road are feeding the Contact the city writer: Contact the 714-796-2265 or [email protected] birds and are thus responsible for them staying in the area. They have also been resistant to Animal Control's previous attempts to remove the birds, Maxfield said. That's what led to criminal charges being filed, he said. The charges are based on a 2004 ordinance specifically prohibiting roosters. Now, the city has hired a private trapper to capture the birds and deliver them to animal control so the organization can attempt to adopt them out.

hassle ofroosters, the legal will be gone, Miller will be sad to see the birds taken News: JailWhile time forthe roosters | birds, drivebattle - OCRegister.com http://www.ocregister.com/news/birds-roosters-drive-1769292-miller-... away. "I'd just be really sad and disgusted," Miller said. "It just wouldn't be the same." 2 of 3

As far as their criminal charges, according to city attorney Sonia Carvalho, those will be 10/24/07 2:35 PM dropped on one condition. From the editor: Many of you have expressed concerns about some of the harsh anonymous comments readers. To remedy that, we not are pursue introducing new features. "As long as the propertyfrom owners are cooperative, we will the case," CarvalhoYou can said.create your own blog, publish your news and share your photos with the community. Once you fill out a simple form and leave a verifiable e-mail address, you can set up your profile page. It will display all the of your contributions andorallow you to track issues and easily [email protected] Contact the writer: Contact writer: 714-796-2265 connect with others. We want our site to be a place where people discuss and debate ideas that foster stronger communities. We built this for you. Please take care of it. Tolerate broad thinking, but take action against obscene or hateful material. Make it a credible and safe place worth preserving and sharing.

From the editor: Many of you have expressed concerns about some of the harsh anonymous comments from readers. To remedy that, we are introducing new features. You can create your own blog, publish your news and share your photos with the community. Once you fill out a simple form and leave a verifiable e-mail address, you can set up your profile page. It will display all of your contributions and allow you to track issues and easily connect with others. 3 of 3

10/24/07 2:35 PM

We want our site to be a place where people discuss and debate ideas that foster stronger