News

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Assemblymember Dr. Jasmeet Bains is seeking answers from the state Attorney General’s Office on why former Kern County supervisor Zack Scrivner isn’t facing child sexual abuse charges.

In a news release on Wednesday, Bains (D-Delano) noted a lengthy investigation determined Scrivner got into bed with and inappropriately touched a child — but wasn’t charged with a crime reflecting those findings.

Kern County lawmakers are crossing party lines to come together and urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to keep a convicted child murderer in jail.

Asm. Jasmeet Bains (D–Delano), Asm. Stan Ellis (R–Bakersfield) and Sen. Shannon Grove (R–Bakersfield) penned a joint letter asking Newsom to overturn a decision from the California Board of Parole Hearings to grant parole to convicted murderer Josue Herrera.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A proposed bill that aims to protect California schools from defunding caused by low attendance rates amid the recent immigration raids passed out of the Assembly Education Committee on Wednesday.

California uses a school district’s Average Daily Attendance to determine its funding. The ADA is calculated by taking the total number of days of student attendance and dividing it by the total number of school days.

While the administration has pledged not to cut Medicare or Social Security, local and state officials say uncertainty surrounding the federal budget is forcing them to operate cautiously.

"I really worry about the lives that are going to be lost because of these cuts," said Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains, D-Delano, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Assemblywoman Dr. Jasmeet Bains is looking to increase the minimum sentencing for child torture offenders from seven to 20 years to life.

• Upon learning that the minimum sentence for child torture was so short, Bains knew that change was necessary.
• In response, Bains introduced Assembly Bill 1094, which seeks to increase the minimum sentence for child torture from seven years to 20.

A handful of residents shared how a “dream home” in either Castaic or Val Verde had become a nightmare – thanks to the ongoing pollution problems at Chiquita Canyon Landfill – at a news conference Friday inside Castaic Community AME Church. 

As Castaic resident Darcy Stinson, a disabled veteran, talked about the “horror story” his neighborhood had become and described his battle with cancer, a 13-year-old boy who lives near the landfill started getting a nosebleed. 

SHAFTER, Calif. (KERO) — Funding secured by Assemblymember Dr. Jasmeet Bains is being used by the Shafter Police Department to combat fentanyl use through education and intervention, using tools like drones and e-bikes.

Five detoxification beds are now available to Medi-Cal patients thanks to a pilot program between Kern County and Good Samaritan Hospital and funded by the state. 

The Kern County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $2 million pilot program for Good Samaritan to provide the detox beds for a year, expanding the range of treatment options available to low-income patients.