Reps. David Valadao and Vince Fong joined four other California congressmen this week in calling on Gov. Gavin ʦappom to rethink anti-oil policies they said put the state's military bases and its economy at risk.
Farmland valuations continued their downward trajectory in Kern County, in some cases dropping as much as 47.6% during the first six months of 2024, according to the second quarter Kern County Ag Land Values report put out by brokerage firm Alliance Ag Services LLC.
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A years-old agricultural controversy returned to its Kern County roots Tuesday as environmental justice advocates attending a state hearing in Shafter called for changes to a public notification system proposed by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.
Workplace violence prevention will be discussed during an hourlong webinar being hosted Wednesday by Cal State ʦapp's Small Business Development Center.
ʦapp home sales took unexpected and, in some cases, confusing turns in June, leading one longtime observer to call the market unstable.
California regulators have come under criticism recently that they looked the other way during one of the biggest business deals in Kern County oil fields in years.
A day after pleading guilty to federal fraud charges, the disgraced cofounders of Fresno-based Bitwise Industries took to social media this week to apologize to their former employees, investors and lenders.
A Kern County judge called California's card-check union authorization law "likely unconstitutional" in a ruling Thursday that nullified the United Farm Workers of America's recent enrollment of more than 600 local employees of ag giant The Wonderful Co.
New shopping centers are moving forward in all four quadrants of ʦapp in the latest sign that job creation and housing development are driving retail investment across the city.
A four-day grand-opening is set to begin July 25 in celebration of a new Tractor Supply Co. location at 333 Gardner Field Road in Taft.
Both founders and co-CEOs of Fresno-based startup Bitwise Industries pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud and a separate count of actual wire fraud in a scheme federal prosecutors say cheated investors and lenders out of $115 million.
State regulators outlined a plan Tuesday to permanently seal 217 additional "orphan" oil and gas wells — more than 40% of them in Kern — as part of the second phase of a taxpayer-funded effort to protect residents and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Bold changes are coming to downtown ʦapp that, though superficial by design, are intended to have a disproportionate benefit on the area.
Recent business activity around Kern — large investments on the one hand, lingering income inequality on the other — have emerged as key measures of progress at what may be a defining time for the local economy.
B3K Prosperity and the ʦapp College Launchpad announced Friday the start of a pilot project intended to connect local minority small business owners with resources to help their enterprises grow.
Shoppers walking into the produce section of almost any grocery store can expect to find a fairly limited selection of table grapes — namely, red, green and black.
Eastern Kern County's aerospace industry stands to receive a substantial boost from a legislative amendment introduced in Congress this week by Rep. Vince Fong.
A federal report out Wednesday raised hopes that Kern's fourth highest-grossing crop may have finally shaken off an oversupply blamed for holding down prices to the point growers were losing money.
A Canadian company proposing a $1.5 billion energy storage project in eastern Kern will get to keep one of its most valuable technological secrets under an administrative decision issued by the California Energy Commission.
The city of ʦapp is working to expand Kern County's supply of affordable housing by pursuing financing for two very different projects — one a fourplex on M Street, the other a 50-unit apartment community on Niles Street.
An hourlong webinar starting at noon Wednesday will take a look at the availability of microloans for local small businesses.
The "gamification of learning" is rolling into Kern County with state investment in a new virtual reality lab on wheels designed to deliver next-generation workforce training to local students in need of career options.
For the first time in years, renting an average ʦapp apartment has become less expensive, though only slightly so, according to a report out this week that also noted vacancies got a little harder to find.
Aera Energy LLC has officially joined Long Beach-based California Resources Corp. in a previously announced deal consolidating CRC's regional lead in carbon management and doubling its petroleum production to make CRC the state's largest oil producer.
Oil permitting hold-ups are being blamed for a projected 25% drop in tax revenue, year over year, from Kern County petroleum properties.
It’s been nearly three years since consignment store owner Dixie Brewer took a giant leap of faith by moving her business from an 8,300-square-foot building on 19th Street to a 29,000-square-foot retail space on F Street.
A ʦapp-based company is about to deepen its already profound involvement in international cancer treatment with its part ownership of a $100 million drug manufacturing facility opening next year in Gujarat, India.
Target plans to add to its portfolio with a store in Delano at The Vineyard, 401 Woollomes Ave., in the same center as Delano Maya Cinemas.
An oil industry trade group switched tactics on the eve of a key deadline this week by announcing it will sue state government instead of using California's voter referendum process to try to overturn a contentious buffer-zone law that could affect 15,000 wells statewide.
Local restaurateurs and large-scale caterers have a few days left to apply for a $5,000 grant from the California Restaurant Foundation.
The troubled refinery conversion project south of Rosedale Highway won a lifeline this week that wipes away some of its legal problems, for a price, while providing much-needed business capital and a new product sales agreement — assuming it can meet a new deadline this fall.
Sun-kissed waters flowing south in the Friant-Kern Canal provided a perfect backdrop on a hot summer morning for a ribbon-cutting celebration that drew more than 100 people, including a who’s-who of local, state and federal water managers.
Chevron has lost its appeal of a $120 million judgment in a lawsuit related to a fatal sinkhole near Taft that shut down more than 100 oil wells for four years starting in 2011.
If it seems like there's a lot of commercial truck traffic in Kern County and throughout the San Joaquin Valley, it's not your imagination.
An 1,800-employee distribution facility proposed on almost 94 acres about a mile south of ʦapp will go before the Kern County Board of Supervisors for final approval Tuesday.
Supply surged, demand slipped and sales concessions spread in May as ʦapp's home market continued to be negatively impacted by higher interest rates that remain the industry's biggest wildcard.
Cal State ʦapp's Small Business Development Center is preparing to host a hybrid event June 28 called the Eastern Sierra Capital Summit.
Cleaner-burning upgrades made recently to a refinery along East Panama Lane are expected to cut its nitrogen oxide emissions as the plant broadens its production of renewable fuels.
A yearslong headache of a project south of Rosedale Highway is coming to a head as the owner of the former Big West oil refinery pushes to finish converting the plant to produce renewable diesel.
An outdoor food and entertainment park is being proposed downtown that would lease unconventional storefronts to startup vendors alongside performance and recreational spaces, all anchored by an extension of west ʦapp's Sonder bar and restaurant.
State oil regulators last month approved the first new drilling permits in Kern County since May 2023, renewing a vigorous debate over the ʦappom administration's approach to petroleum production.
The State Small Business Credit Initiative will be the focus of a locally produced webinar Cal State ʦapp's Small Business Development Center will host from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday.
A dairy in Wasco has applied for permission to bulk up its herd, providing the latest example of an industry expansion trend that worries environmental groups.
An old technology that turns salt, water and electricity into sanitizing agents has arrived in Kern County agriculture just as farmers are having to rethink their approach to fungicides.
State regulators said Friday natural gas along with crude oil contaminated west ʦapp's drinking water this week when one or more valves were left partly open during preparations for a pressure test required by a recent emergency order against a local petroleum producer.
The company suspected of mistakenly allowing crude oil to backflow into ʦapp's municipal water system this week, leading to business closures and prompting an advisory to avoid tap water south of Lake Truxtun, is a local oil producer with a history of regulatory problems.
A solar energy company active in eastern Kern announced Tuesday that advocacy groups in and around the county will receive $1.5 million in grants during the next year as part of a business deal with Microsoft Corp.
Expectations for high temperatures this week prompted Cal/OSHA to issue a notice Monday reminding employers to take state-mandated steps to protect workers from heat illness.
Collaborators from across Kern County put in countless hours of research, brainstorming and discussion before finally agreeing in 2021 on a list of strategies and tactics for creating quality local jobs.
“Fill ’em up, Mr. Sun” may as well be the expression you’re soon to hear when you drive up to the service pumps of the future.
