Jim Burke’s ‘virtual test drive’ to benefit Give Big Kern

Jim Burke Ford Lincoln is raising money today to support the Kern Community Foundation’s Give Big Kern 2021 event.

According to a news release, the community is invited by the car dealership to register for an online “virtual test drive” in an effort to raise funds for Give Big Kern.

There will be two opportunities to do a virtual vehicle tour today of top-of-the-line Lincoln models. The Aviator and Navigator will be up at 1 p.m. and the Corsair and Nautilus are scheduled for 5 p.m.

Up to 150 guests can register for each virtual tour, the news release states. Afterward, each participant will be asked to complete a post-tour survey and for every survey received, Lincoln Motor Company will donate $25 to Kern Community Foundation. The money will be used to benefit Kern County nonprofits participating in next year’s Give Big Kern.

Visit https://dtg.events/9DJDD4 to register.

The annual Kern County Energy Summit is going forward under a very different format this year but with its traditionally robust mix of speakers from across the county’s diverse energy industry.

Instead of the regular five-hour event attended by hundreds of business people every year, the Kern Economic Development Corp.’s event is to be broadcast on local television Saturday night.

The lineup includes top people in California oil, natural gas, solar, renewables and water.

Geopolitical analyst Peter Zeihan will return this year to deliver the keynote. His analysis in recent years has favored Kern County as a strategically important energy production center in the decades ahead.

There is to be a presentation by Martin Keller, laboratory director at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Also representing the renewables industry will be Ryan Galeria, vice president of solar development at sPower.

From the oil industry, there will be comments from California’s former top oil regulator Mark Nechodom, now vice president of upstream strategy at the Western States Petroleum Association trade group. Also on the itinerary is Ken Haney, head of carbon capture and sequestration and enhanced oil recovery at local oil producer California Resources Corp.

A presentation by Scott Drury, CEO at Southern California Gas, is on the agenda, as is one by Helle Petersen, manager of the Water, Energy and Technology Center at Fresno State.

The summit is being broadcast and streamed from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday by KGET-17.

A Diesel Mafia Toy Drive will be held this evening at Chuy’s on Rosedale Highway.

The event starts at 7 p.m. and is in support of Toys for Tots.

Organizers ask that participants bring an unwrapped gift to 8660 Rosedale Highway.

A flier for the event also says that Santa will be present for photos with kids.

The superintendent of Rio Bravo-Greeley Union School District announced in a letter to parents that the district is pausing in-person instruction because of staffing restraints related to COVID-19 exposures.

Superintendent Jennifer Hedge wrote in a letter sent home to parents on Thursday that one individual in the school community tested positive, and that anyone on campus who had been in contact with that person would be notified.

“Please note, this pause is not related to a COVID-19 outbreak within our district community,” Hedge wrote.

All classes, including special education classes, would likely return to distance learning immediately through the end of Winter Break, Monday, Jan. 4. Hedge wrote that the district would confirm return dates for the district’s school sites.