Charmaine Cleveland

Haggard’s mother Flossie, and McDonald’s mother were well acquainted in the mid-1960s, when their Oildale homes faced each other on Yosemite Drive. McDonald, much younger than Haggard, moved to Los Angeles with his parents in 1965. But after a brief, and what he calls “unpleasant” stint in the area, he returned to Bakersfield to live with Bonnie Owens, former wife of Buck Owens, her sons, and her new husband Merle.

Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader from Bakersfield, took a turn at the podium Tuesday in Cleveland, addressing the Republican National Convention as an unabashed supporter of the newly minted nominee, Donald J. Trump. David Valadao, McCarthy’s congressional neighbor to the immediate north, did not. In fact, Valadao, R-Hanford, wasn’t even in Cleveland, despite the fact that, as a congressman, he probably could have scored a pretty good seat. So, where was the Kings County farmer? Busy.

With doleful eyes and a docile grin, a fawn colored Pekingese glanced curiously around the studio during Friday’s “First Look with Scott Cox.” The 12-year-old dog was brought in by Julie Johnson, executive director of Bakersfield’s Animal Care Center, to be featured during TBC Media’s “Pet of the Week” segment, part of a daily simulcast with NEWSTALK 1180 Kern, featuring a weekly adoptable pet.