John Cox

1 week ago | fresnobee.com | John Cox

Siding with staff over a Canadian energy-storage developer's timing concerns, a committee of the California Energy Commission agreed this week to extend a set of deadlines related to official review of a compressed-air facility proposed in Rosamond. Tuesday's decision is still expected to result in a final decision by the end of this year on Toronto-based Hydrostor Inc.'s 500-megawatt Willow Rock Energy Storage Center.

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | John Cox

The Canadian company behind a compressed-air energy storage facility proposed in Rosamond warned this week that the project's $1.76 billion federal loan guarantee may be at risk if state officials grant a pair of deadline extensions requested by staff of the California Energy Commission. Toronto-based project developer Hydrostor Inc.

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | John Cox

The local impact of federal budget cutbacks may soon spread as distributors of free food to Kern's neediest families anticipate greater demand following a halt in certain deliveries to the county's largest food bank. At least two nonprofits that weren't directly impacted by the government spending cuts said Wednesday they worry about being unable to make up a supply gap resulting from last month's reduction in food shipments to Community Action Partnership of Kern. "There's only so much we can do.

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | John Cox

Some of the oldest eyesores in urban Bakersfield are being renovated, and in some cases rebuilt, following the acquisition of a 42-property residential portfolio that had been owned by a local landlord accused of neglecting her rentals. Investors led by locally based Mora Partners Inc. spent about $8 million buying up the properties over a period of nine months before selling most of them as-is. More than a dozen are being fixed up, some by Mora, others by more recent owners.

4 weeks ago | yahoo.com | John Cox

For all its beauty, there's something almost unsettling about "Starry Night," the famous painting by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. The masterpiece of post-impressionism teems with emotion as the heavens swirl and stars radiate from the canvas, creating a singular experience for viewers around the world still 135 years after his death by suicide. Van Gogh is believed to have suffered from bipolar disorder, a devastating mental illness now treatable by modern medicine.