Services scheduled

Betty G. Fraser, 86, Bakersfield, April 18. Memorial service 10 a.m. May 2, Doughty-Calhoun-O'Meara Funeral Directors Chapel. Doughty-Calhoun-O'Meara Funeral Directors.

Services scheduled

Flossie Mae Crabtree, 84, Bakersfield, April 22. Service 2 p.m. April 29, Hillcrest Memorial Park. Hillcrest Memorial Park & Mortuary.

Services pending

Jean Duhart, 77, Bakersfield, April 27. Greenlawn Southwest Mortuary.

Services scheduled

Wanda Jean King, 83, Manhattan, Mont., April 21 in Manhattan, Mont. Graveside service 11 a.m. May 3, Hillcrest Memorial Park in Bakersfield. Hillcrest Memorial Park & Mortuary.

Services scheduled

Haley A. Hardin, 31, Bakersfield, April 18. Memorial service 10 a.m. April 29, Greenlawn Southwest Celebration of Life Center. Greenlawn Funeral Home Southwest.

Services scheduled

David Lee Moore, 78, Bakersfield, April 22. Rosary 9:30 a.m. with Mass at 10 a.m. April 28, St. Francis of Assisi Church. Doughty-Calhoun-O'Meara Funeral Directors.

Services scheduled

David Mitchell Brown, 53, Bakersfield, April 22. Visitation 5 to 8 p.m. April 25, Basham Funeral Care Chapel; chapel service 10 a.m. April 26, Basham Funeral Care Chapel; interment at Greenlawn Funeral Home. Basham Funeral Care.

Permitting delays related to California's new hydraulic fracturing law are taking a toll on Kern County oil field employment.

Oil services giant Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday it is laying off or reassigning 110 workers in Bakersfield, Shafter and the Los Angeles Basin -- a modest but significant share of its California workforce, a company manager said -- because of delays its customers face in getting approval to "frack" wells under Senate Bill 4.

Environmental groups released a report Thursday intended to return public attention to earthquake risks associated with underground injection activity in oilfields near Bakersfield and other California population centers.

Without pointing to any seismic activity caused by hydraulic fracturing, acidization or wastewater disposal in the state, the report sounds an alarm that these operations pose special dangers in California because they often take place near earthquake faults.

Almost every year a politician in Sacramento proposes a new tax on California oil production. And every time -- so far -- it goes down in defeat.

State Sen. Noreen Evans believes this year is going to be different.

A geologist with experience overseeing underground injection work in Bakersfield oilfields has been appointed Kern County's top oil regulator.

When he reports to work May 1, Dan Wermiel, 61, will become the third man since 2011 to lead the district that produces more than 70 percent of the state's oil. His salary will be $9,806 per month.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. would have a freer hand to develop its substantial Kern County assets under plans announced Friday to spin off the company’s California operations.

The move set for completion by early next year addresses analysts’ concerns that Oxy has been spending too much money on its California operations and not getting enough return on that investment.