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THE GREATEST RISK – A Kristen Ashley Review & Chapter Reveal
It's passionate and powerful; suspenseful and seductive. Kristen Ashley's finale of the Honey series is an endless list of beautiful adjectives that add up to an explosive 5 star read. Sixx, a renowned Domme in the Honey Club, has had her eyes on Stellan for years. Ever the ice queen, Sixx has never approached or dared to risk anything more than a furtive glance. Her main concern? He's a Dom; and two dominant personalities combined with her dangerous past could never work. So she watches and waits as Stellan seems to move about life without her.
Stellan's eyed the beautifully intriguing Sixx for longer than she could imagine. After waiting years for her to make a move he decides that only another Dom is willing to crack the shell of this mysterious femma fatale. What Stellan hadn't planned on was not only culling the dominatrix but releasing the submissive inside. Our surprising little Sixx is a Switch; a rarity in the BDSM world. Now Stellan has to love the woman in control and woman who craves it. But is Sixx willing to take the greatest Risk?
In KA's distinctive voice, I found a new hero within Sixx. Much like past heroes in her romances, Sixx has the attitude of a hero who doesn't shy from what must be done yet doesn't find themselves worthy of happiness or true love. Sixx is a persona created by our heroine to handle the harsh reality of the world and to shield herself from that which cold break her heart. But KA's genius doesn't allow for Sixx to be unnecessary or a skin that must be shed to find the true woman underneath. No, both the woman and the warrior are parts of Sixx that Stellan (and Sixx and readers alike) has to learn to love. There's a beauty to her fragmented idea of self. Sixx doesn't need to be fixed, she needs to be discovered, by others and herself.
In addition to our final Honey couple, KA dives into more worlds of the exotic and risque. With a wondrous gift from Stellan we get privilege to a warrior's pit. And it Sixx's dangerous world we dive deeper into the other clubs of BDSM and meet one of the hottest trios to ever grace romance pages (Seriously it was some of the hottest scenes I've ever read…EVER). The raw emotion throughout the entire novel is the number one reason why this is an instant addition to my top reads. Grab a glass of wine and some tissues because its about to get messy at the Honey Club.
A woman unable to connect, struggling to hide another part of her.
A man burning to learn her truth, and make her whole.
Through explosive passion and deep exploration, they are about to take the greatest risk of all.
But will they be able to take that leap, and come out on the other side together?
In this next passionate novel in the Honey series, New York Times bestselling author Kristen Ashley delivers a stunningly romantic and intensely sexy novel that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.
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Present day …
Sixx wandered the halls of the Bee's Honey for absolutely no purpose except to make the boys in the booth watching the cameras that monitored the action in the club think she was taking in the scene.
Instead, she was biding time to go into the Dom Lounge to get what she'd stashed in her locker.
She was over it.
Over the scene.
Over the wait.
The Honey had now become a place she could hang and have a drink, connect with some friends if she was in the mood, get some of her kink by watching, and torture herself being around Stellan.
It was also where she stashed something if she had it to stash. This was because the Honey had surveillance and security that rivaled that of the White House. If a person wasn't supposed to be there, they didn't get in there. The end.
She'd been back in Phoenix now for a while.
Months.
And although she'd put on a variety of shows, bided her time, put herself out there, made herself available, Stellan hadn't thrown down the gauntlet.
She sure as hell wasn't making the first move.
Thus that first move wasn't going to be made.
So be it.
She hadn't expected much and she sure got that.
And she had to admit, part of her was relieved (a large part).
Because if he took a shot, what then?
Could she protect him from all that was her?
Doubtful.
More like impossible.
She never had with anyone who mattered, not that she'd had many in her life who mattered.
And Stellan absolutely did not deserve to have to deal with all that could befall anyone who got close to Sixx.
Tonight was different, though.
Tonight, she wanted done with the extracurricular activity she was engaged in.
Also tonight she roamed the halls knowing Stellan was there, he'd taken a room, and he'd gone off his normal modus operandi.
He'd selected a female sub.
He'd also selected a male.
If in a mood, though that mood was always rare, he'd pick more than one sub.
But they were always females.
Sixx had a feeling she knew why he'd done this. She had Google alerts set up, and she'd seen it.
That it being that it was announced to the media that day that the two-and-a-half-month marriage of Andreas Lange and his pretty-much-child bride Priscilla was done. Although the press was asked to leave the couple alone in this trying time, it was nevertheless reported that Andreas might often think with his dick and had apparent self-esteem issues that drove him to having a pretty young thing dripping off his arm, but when it counted, he used his other head. The one with an actual brain in it.
In other words, he had a reported ironclad prenuptial agreement, and the soon-to-be-again Ms. Newton would walk away with the engagement ring he gave her, any gifts she'd acquired during their relationship and nothing else.
Not even a settlement.
She was young, and Sixx knew that young didn't make you stupid, it just made you young, naïve, and perhaps with the beauty that girl had, overconfident. Thus she probably thought her golden looks mingled with a twenty-two-year-old pussy would buy her a lot more time to get a lot more gifts.
Sadly, she'd been wrong.
Sixx could not know how this news affected Stellan. Although they had exchanged a variety of words since she'd been home, they'd both been at a few get-togethers where he didn't avoid her, but he didn't pursue her, they'd caught each other's eyes on a number of occasions; and she'd noted him watching her work with her submissives, as he'd noted her doing the same with his, they had not even resurrected the loose but friendly relationship they'd had before she'd left.
She put it down to him still smarting from Leigh's falling in love with another man.
That said, even if Leigh had, it appeared that not much had changed between Stellan and Amélie. Although chilly between them when Sixx got back, that had thawed, and they were as sociable and close as they ever had been. And it was clear Stellan liked Olly, Amélie's enormous, gorgeous stallion.
Then again, everyone liked Olly. It was impossible not to like the guy. He was just that guy who had it all and not simply the fact he was so easy to look at.
He adored Leigh, for one. Utterly. And he did not hide it in the slightest.
But he was outgoing, funny, solid. If you were moving house and you needed an extra pair of hands, he was there. If you had a nephew (or niece) who wanted to be a firefighter (which Olly was), he'd take the kid through his station and introduce him to all the guys. If you were at a cookout with him and running low on your drink, you found your glass slid out of your hand and another one put in it without even having to ask.
Even Stellan, wanting Amélie for as long as he did, couldn't dislike the guy.
So they'd become friends.
And Sixx had watched.
That was one of the two things she'd done since being back.
In a halfhearted attempt to get his attention (and keep Aryas off her back), she played.
And she watched.
Which was what she was on a mission to do now before she hit the Dom Lounge to prepare to complete her other mission.
As she wandered, Sixx didn't spend time watching Mira and Trey in their room.
It was tough watching Mira work now that she had a sub and they were together together. In other words, in love. Mira was good at what she did, and Trey liked what his Mistress gave him, but that look of adoration on her face while she was doing it …
Sixx just couldn't deal with it.
This was also why she avoided Leigh and Olly when they were at play (and more recently, also when they weren't because the connection they had between them just didn't stop).
Right then they weren't in a playroom. They were still in the bar, holding court, The Stallion Alpha Sub King and his Dominatrix Queen, as usual reigning supreme over the club and enjoying it before they moved to a room to enjoy each other.
They were actually worse to watch than Trey and Mira, they were so beautiful together. They were like watching dancers, so perfectly in sync, expressive, at one with each other and their own bodies. The sequence practiced, even if it was always different, it was so graceful it was sublime.
Putting this out of her mind, Sixx moved on her black platform pumps to the back hall full of playrooms, noting, and not surprised, that Aryas's red room was shuttered away from view. The blackout blinds to that room were scarlet, not black like all the others, thus its name.
It was his own personal playroom if he was in town. And he was. And he had one of his babies in there, working her.
Sixx didn't need to watch that, although she would have. She'd not only seen Aryas at play, he'd worked her because he'd trained her. He showed her how to be who she was. He introduced her to other Dommes to teach her the things he could not. And he'd played with her in his sessions in which she was required to sub so she could understand the headspace her own subs had to get in to serve her.
She had been surprised she'd liked it.
She'd been freaked she'd liked it so much.
Too much.
Aryas had handled that too for her—amazingly. Which meant he'd helped her handle it.
And then she'd locked it away.
However as she bypassed his room, she felt her lips thin that he was back there with one of his babies and not with the woman he should be with.
At first when Sixx arrived back in Phoenix, he'd let things lie.
Now that months had passed, he was getting up in her face about making a move on Stellan.
Fortunately, she was able to fight back since he wouldn't make a move on Mistress Talia.
Which was where Sixx went and where she stopped to watch, also not surprised that Talia was working a sub mostly because those two circled each other just this way. If Talia took a sub and he caught it, Aryas wasn't too far from taking his own. If Aryas took one and Talia caught it, she hustled a sub into a playroom.
Retaliation.
As Sixx watched Talia work a sub named Bryan, definitely a favored and oft-used toy of hers, she got worried.
In a heartbeat, Bryan would take things further with his tall, slender, lithe, beautiful, mocha-skinned, tawny-fro'ed Mistress, and not just because he seriously got off on the way she worked him.
She wasn't just beautiful and had a serious style going on in and out of a playroom. She was funny, quick-witted, smart-mouthed, loyal and very sweet. And Sixx had witnessed her aftercare of Bryan when she got down to serious business with him, and even knowing Talia's heart was with Aryas, her head and attention was with Bryan in a way he could mistake the fact that he didn't have a place in that particular vital organ.
Sixx considered having a word with the Mistress.
She did that, and then she decided instead to have a word with Leigh so Leigh would have a word. Amélie was probably already thinking of doing it. She wasn't Queen Bee just because she rocked a playroom, and she took her unofficial role seriously.
But if Sixx had a word, she might light a fire, and perhaps if they double-teamed Aryas and Talia, they could get something going.
Before hitting the Dom Lounge, she found her feet taking her one last place.
At first, she positioned herself carefully in order to be able to process what she might see and at the same time be out of his line of sight because he always broke scene to catch her eyes if he saw her at the windows. And the possibility of seeing him working a male sub was something she wanted without him breaking scene.
This eye contact, at first, she'd found terrifying, because it was encouraging. It was rare a Dom working would do that unless he was working directly with another Dom.
When months passed and nothing came of it, Sixx stopped finding it terrifying or encouraging and just found it weird.
There was no invitation in his gaze. No challenge issued. No warmth or comradeship or humor or anything.
He'd just catch her gaze and hold it for as long as it took for her to break it. Even if he was physically inside one of his subs, he'd thrust while simply looking at Sixx, remote and disengaged, from her and his sub, until Sixx herself broke the contact and his attention went back to his sub.
But if he was working a male, especially inside one, this she'd want to see. Man-on-man was a thing of hers, and since she'd returned to Phoenix, she'd indulged in that, always taking multiple submissives, they were always male, and she'd call the shots to get that fix.
Seeing Stellan engaged in something like this would probably make her orgasm right there in the hall. Hell, just thinking about it got her wet.
Then again, although this would be an extraordinary sight to see, Sixx didn't figure it would take much to do that. In all her play since she'd come back, she had not once let a single sub touch her, she'd rarely touched them, and she hadn't had that first orgasm, not in play, not with some random partner she picked up out in the vanilla world (because she hadn't picked anyone up), not even at her own hand.
But as she hesitated at the edge of one of the rooms Stellan favored, the silhouette and blackout blinds up like he normally played it, she didn't even see Stellan.
The female was working the male, and that work was inspired, but there was no Stellan.
Sixx took one step along the hall.
Another.
And there he was, still in his trousers and dress shirt, but the suit jacket was thrown over the back of the leather club chair he was sitting in. He had his long legs crossed, and he was slanted to the side, elbow on the arm of the chair, head propped up in his hand where it held his square jaw at his knuckles with his forefinger extended along his chiseled cheek.
She drew in a breath at the bored expression on his arrestingly beautiful face, that expression running deep into his dark blue eyes.
He did not look annoyed, upset, or distracted, as news of his father acquiring then disposing of another wife in a matter of months might make him.
He didn't look anything, certainly not like he was in a room where sweet and dirty sex acts were being performed at his command by the slaves he'd chosen for the evening.
He looked like he was in a meeting that he couldn't wait to get out of.
Then suddenly, his gaze came to her.
He didn't move, didn't lift his head, just swept his eyes straight to her, not like he'd noticed her standing there, like he'd sensed she was there.
His expression didn't change. Neither did his position.
He stared her right in the eyes, pinning her to the spot, giving her nothing except his regard.
She wanted to scream, Why? Why do you look at me like that? Why can't you give me something? Anything?
She didn't do that.
She accepted the only challenge he gave her and stared straight at him in return for as long as she could stand it.
And Sixx could stand a lot, so this lasted a long time, perhaps full minutes, before, as ever (and as ever wanting to kick her own ass), she broke the contact and walked slowly, and as casually as she could fake it, away.
Once out of sight of Stellan, she didn't mess around going to the Dom Lounge.
There were cameras in there too, but she'd given herself a reason to return there after she had a drink in the hunting ground. This being so she could collect what she'd put there a week ago and be done with the job she was on so she could then collect the paycheck.
She did just this, going directly to her locker and grabbing the small, boxy, black python Alexander McQueen clutch with its four finger loops topped with various skulls or roses. A clutch she'd placed there after she'd arrived rather than giving it to reception, which was what most of the Dommes did.
Inside was a slim, business-card-sized wallet with her credit card, ID and a few banknotes, her phone, another phone that was hers-but-also-not, her lip liner and lipstick, her fabulous vintage compact with mother-of-pearl inlaid in black depicting cranes flying across a yellow moon, her Cayenne keyfob and nothing else.
With her back to the camera, she grabbed a random vibrator she had in her locker, twisted off the bottom where you'd put batteries, upended the flash drive she'd hidden there, and slid it in the lining of the clutch that she'd jimmied so she could open it, hide things behind it, and then press it back in place where it held.
She then went to the mirror.
At first, she didn't look at herself, but instead used it to take in the plush surroundings of the Dominants' Lounge.
Deep-seated, purple-velvet banquettes spanned the walls. They were covered in red-and silver-velvet toss pillows. The patterned silver wallpaper behind them was bottom-lit with soft light.
There were attractive steel tables with scented candles glowing on top of them.
The lockers were made of the same steel as the tables and looked like a bank of cabinets with a variety of digital locks, not lockers.
The gleaming black basins had no faucets, just wide, lush waterfalls that activated by motion. There were no paper towels, instead thick, soft, purple, red or silver hand towels and washcloths.
There were showers around the side, as well as a Jacuzzi tub, a steam room and a sauna.
Available for use was anything you could need. Disposable razors (for men and women) and shaving cream, aftershave, a variety of colognes and perfumes, hairspray, lotions, oils, deodorants, tampons, condoms, face moisturizer, bath soap and scrub, shampoo and conditioner.
Submissives were specifically disallowed there. The lounge was for downtime and Dom time outside any scene. If a sub needed to be cared for or it was part of the scene, you requested a room that had those amenities, and the Dom took care of that.
And Sixx longed to stretch out on those banquettes and close her eyes to the D. L. & Co. candles that smelled like vanilla, balsam and pepper, soothing and spicy, so very Aryas. So very the Honey.
God, she loved it there. It was like her home. It was the only place, outside being on a job, where she could be …
Not herself. She played a role there. No one knew who she was. Not really. (Except Aryas, or at least he knew more than everyone else.) Not even people she called friends.
So why did she love it there so much?
And why was her heart hurting that she wasn't getting out of it what she needed anymore?
She looked at herself in the mirror.
"Because it's safe," she whispered to her reflection.
And now it no longer felt as safe.
Because Stellan was there, and wanting him and not having him—but more, knowing she should never expose him to what it would mean to have her … hurt.
That didn't make sense either. She'd wanted a lot in life.
And never got it.
But Stellan was different.
Stellan was …
Sixx shook off her thoughts and took herself in through the mirror.
She couldn't see the black pumps or her long legs she'd sleeked not only by giving them a close shave all the way up to her pubis but also with a subtle oil that made them shine.
What she could see was the black leather micro-mini that sat tight on her hips, cupped her ass and had a wide black belt with a bold silver buckle.
Up top she wore a white leather modified camisole that had a deep plunging neckline that went to her midriff and spread wide at the sides, showing the inside curves of her smallish breasts. The straps were very thin. There was a tight band across her ribs. It was cropped but not by much, showing only a hint of flesh at her belly between camisole and skirt, depending on how she moved.
Her hair was short, clipped in a graduated bob at the nape of her neck, the champagne highlights in her dark cinnamon hair looking (she thought) great in the sweeping, long bangs that fell well past her eye, the sides of her hair hanging below her jaw, all the ends in messy flips.
She had to style it, which was a minus. But it was short so it didn't take long, and it had a sex-bomb vibe, so that was a definite plus.
She looked into her wide, brown eyes and wondered, What next?
A weighty question because it wasn't about what was next for her at the Honey.
But what was next for her with everything.
At Aryas's appeal (which meant repeated demands), she'd given up "the job."
Ostensibly.
As far as he knew, Sixx had gone legit, working as the internal investigator for a large local law firm.
However, directly due to Aryas's interference in some of his other friend's lives, a need had arisen in Phoenix when Branch Dillinger stopped doing what he did out there and became the operations manager for all of the Bee's Honeys.
Nature abhorred a vacuum.
Cue Sixx stepping in because first, her pay at the law firm was good, if you weren't used to making a lot more doing a lot more dangerous shit for a lot more dangerous people. And second, if you were used to doing a lot more dangerous shit for a lot more dangerous people, as well as used to the adrenaline rush that got you, it wasn't an easy habit to break.
So she had a proper job, not a normal one, but one that included a 401K and a bi-weekly paycheck that gave her insurance benefits.
And on occasion, she moonlit on the side.
Aryas didn't know.
No one knew (except her friend and sometimes partner, Sylvie Creed, and her husband, Tucker, who she and Sylvie sometimes had to call in to help. But Sylvie wasn't in the life Sixx pretended to lead through her play and relationships at the Honey).
Even if Sixx got off on it, and the cash she accumulated doing it, not to mention the freedom that offered, she knew she couldn't do it forever. She had the scars to prove that particular story you told yourself to stay on the job was a lie.
But what would she have if she stopped?
The kink was getting boring. There were only so many orders you could give that led—perhaps in a lengthy way, but nonetheless the end was always the same—to someone else's orgasm.
It had lost its appeal.
Because she wasn't connecting.
She used to connect.
She used to stay mostly silent, watch, listen, open herself to being acutely aware of every expression or even twitch of the skin to sense what her sub wanted … then she'd find some elaborate or creative but always hard-earned way to give it to him.
Now she didn't even have that.
Anyone could give their own self an orgasm. It was her job as a Dominatrix, regardless if the emotion wasn't there, the attention and the respect and the motivation and the deliberation had to be there to connect. Somehow. Some way.
That was gone.
So what was the point?
To yank herself out of thoughts that were going nowhere, even though her long-lasting lipstick was doing its job, she still opened her clutch, pulled out the liner and lipstick, refreshed the ruby red, ended it with a nice coat of clear gloss, and dropped the stuff back in her bag.
She then grabbed her phone—not her actual phone, the other one—before she clicked the clutch closed and made her way out of the lounge, deciding to have a drink while she dealt with the details of finishing up her final mission of the evening.
She wandered the halls, doing it avoiding having to walk past Stellan's room, and hit the hunting ground.
The back corner booth was open, so she went there, flipped open the burner phone in her hand, set it to silent and then used her thumb in the onerous task of hitting the numbers on the pad repeatedly to get to the letters she needed to send the short text.
Really, smartphones were a gift from God.
The drop happens tonight.
She tucked the phone by her thigh when a server came, and she decided cool-but-luxe Sixx, Mistress with the Mostest, was fucking dead.
It was over.
No rep to uphold.
No bullshit to convey.
She was over that too.
She wasn't going to sip from a glass of wine, withholding any personality, any hint of what made her, what defined her, that she might convey through the simple matter of ordering her preferred drink.
"Gordon's cup. Hendrick's," she ordered.
"Gotcha," the server said then moved away.
She looked to the hunting ground and saw subs avoiding her eyes but still preening in view, hoping she was there to make a selection.
God, she was dried up. Not even a tingle.
The only time she'd felt anything in—Lord, it had been days—was when Stellan's eyes met hers earlier through the windows to his playroom.
And those days had been the days since she was last at the Honey and Stellan had turned his attention to her.
She looked down to her thigh, flipping open the phone to see no return text, and muttered under her breath, "I'm a fucking mess."
"Sorry, didn't catch that."
Her head snapped up just in time to watch Stellan, back in his suit jacket and definitely out of his playroom, slide in the booth across from her.
God, he was gorgeous.
But …
"You were saying?" he prompted.
She flipped the phone shut and tucked it against her thigh so she'd feel it vibrate when the text came in.
"I have something on my mind," she shared, not knowing what to make of this, him in the booth opposite her, making an approach, sitting there looking magnificent but still inaccessible, speaking directly to her with only her there to speak to.
"And that would be?" he asked.
"It's work," she told him.
"Ah," he murmured, glancing to the side and looking up when the server set her drink in front of her. An action he oddly watched with what appeared to be rather avid fascination as the old-fashioned glass came to rest on the burgundy cocktail napkin. "Scotch, please," he ordered before the guy could ask.
"On it," the server said and moved away.
Stellan didn't watch him go and it took a good deal, Sixx didn't look away when Stellan's attention came back to her.
"Not in the mood tonight?" he queried.
She shook her head, lifted her drink, and took a sip.
When she put it down, she verbalized that same response. "No."
"Hmm," he murmured, and there it was.
There it was.
That "hmm" was almost like a purr, and that purr snaked right up her pussy, an area that instantly got wet.
"You're finished early," she noted.
He gave a one shoulder shrug that managed to be masculine and elegant at the same time, something only Stellan could pull off.
"I thought I'd try something new."
"And?" she asked.
"It wasn't as successful as I'd hoped."
"Too bad," she murmured, taking another sip of her drink.
"Is it?" he returned, and her gaze lifted to his, because he'd asked a question but mostly because that question was strange.
"For you, and them, of course it is," she replied.
"They got a good deal out of it, I assume, unless she faked it, which is doubtful. He, however, couldn't fake it as the evidence he left was physical."
Perhaps she shouldn't have left so soon. It would undoubtedly have been interesting to watch Stellan orchestrate something like that.
"Unusual for you to choose a male," she remarked.
He turned his head to the hunting ground and remarked, "An experiment I'm unlikely to repeat."
She gave it some time, and this was mostly because she was arrested in the act of taking in the beauty of his profile. The cut line of his strong jaw. The angle of his cheekbone. The shadowed hollow under it. The fine lines that fanned from the corner of his eye. The straight slope of his nose. And, Lord God … that remarkable swell of his lower lip.
When she realized another second and she'd start squirming in the booth, she spoke.
"It might be more enjoyable if you went hands on," she suggested.
He looked back to her and more wet surged between her legs at the expression on his face and what was emanating from his eyes.
"If I fancy ass, it comes with breasts and a vagina or not at all."
Sixx would take him up her ass, deep, hard, fast, soft, slow, gentle, any way he liked it.
She'd beg him for that.
On that thought, her salivary glands went into overdrive, and she lifted her drink, tipping it to him in salute, before she brought it to her mouth but didn't take a drink.
"Too bad," she murmured.
Then she sipped.
His lips, including that luscious bottom one, curled up slightly at the ends.
"Mistress Sixx," he said softly. "If she had it her way, they'd be lined up by the score and fucked raw, climaxing at her command at the tip of her whip."
She stared at him, her stomach feeling like it was cramping, but her voice sounded even when she asked, "You say that like there's something wrong with it."
"Of course there isn't," he drawled, totally and openly lying.
I'd make you like it, she said in her head. I'd make you beg for it. I'd break my back, sell my soul, do anything I'd need to do to make you come harder than you've ever come before, tying you to me, connecting you to me, making you never want to leave.
He held her gaze, his face arrogant and knowing.
Or I'd give it to you, her mind whispered. Anything you wanted, anything you'd want to do to me to give you what you needed in a way that need could never be eased and you'd always come back for more.
He kept holding her gaze, but in the dim light of the bar of the Bee's Honey, she could swear she saw something in his expression grow soft, like he could read her thoughts.
Before she could get a lock on it, or better, turn from him so he couldn't read anything further, for once he looked away first, but only because the server was there, placing his lowball of Scotch over ice in front of him.
Sixx picked up her drink, looked to the hunting ground, and took a healthy sip.
"Are you staying?"
Stellan's question brought her attention again to him.
She put her drink down and asked, "Pardon?"
"In Phoenix," he explained. "I know you travel for work and it takes you away for long periods of time. But this time, you've been back for a while, so it seems like you're staying."
She had been intending to stay.
Now she didn't know.
"For a while," she replied.
He nodded, sipping his drink, and then stated, "I've been meaning to invite you, simply haven't had the chance. But I'm having a party next weekend. We've hit June, and the weather hasn't yet started baking. I'm taking advantage. We'll start with a pool party, then everyone can change and we'll move in for dinner. I'd be delighted if you'd come."
She hid her reaction to that by throwing back more gin.
"Leigh and Olly will be there," Stellan went on, back to his gaze set unwavering on her. "Mira and Trey. Felicia's bringing a couple of her toys. Penn and Shane will be there. Victor has a new slave he's enjoying so he's bringing her. In other words, it's a play party, just to make that clear. Though, depending on how it goes, we'll make things more sociable and less structured for dinner. That will be up to the Dom."
When he hesitated, she nodded, indicating she'd heard and taken this in, and he kept speaking.
"Belle's bringing Tiffany. Talia is bringing Bryan. Aryas will be out of town, as will Evangeline's partner, but Evangeline will be there in her usual capacity. Observation only."
It was an unwritten rule when referring to the Honey's Domme Evangeline's "partner"—who was really her boyfriend who was essentially living with her—at least in the confines of the walls of the club, people did not use his name.
But he was Branch Dillinger. Her partner. Her boyfriend. Her sub. But he was also the Honey's new top guy, since Aryas had taken a step back from operations in order to focus on opening his new club in Tahoe, and he needed someone he could trust to pick up the reins.
And if Branch played it that way, wishing things to be private, he got it that way, and would even if the man couldn't probably snap your neck with his bare hands then walk away and not give that kill a second thought.
It was just the life and everyone obeyed that rule.
Though the threat of having your neck snapped worked too.
Sixx was just relieved Evangeline was back, not to mention ecstatic she had a man in her life like Branch. Especially after what was done to her to make her take a prolonged break, all of this happening when Sixx was away.
It was good it happened when she was away. If she was close, retaliation would have been much different than what Aryas had ordered, and even much different than the vastly more thorough way in which Branch had handled it.
But it was handled. So at Aryas's firm request, she'd let it be.
She was relieved and ecstatic for Leenie … and also jealous.
Jealous because she wondered what it would feel like to have a miracle happen after the world as you knew it turned to complete shit and then one day … you might not be healed, but you were again whole.
"And if you like, I'll have a couple of male slaves available for your use. Fresh meat. I know a few who'd volunteer that I'm sure you'd like," Stellan continued.
And that stomach cramp got worse.
He'd provide her "a few volunteers."
Thoughtful.
And damned disappointing.
She wondered who he'd have there.
And how many.
"I'll think about it," she told him.
"Please do," he said before taking another sip of his Scotch.
She followed suit with her gin, practically willing her phone to vibrate against her leg to give her a reason to get away from him.
Stellan spoke again.
"So you're not in the mood, will you allow me to offer you something that might strike a different mood? One I'd wager you'd enjoy a great deal."
At this proposal that came out of nowhere, Sixx almost choked on her gin.
But of course she didn't, and again her voice was clear and cool when she asked, "What's that?"
He shook his head. "I'm afraid it has to be a surprise. But I will say it will be a surprise you'll like. I also have to say, you shouldn't wait to make your decision or things will culminate and we'll miss our chance."
Things will culminate?
Oh no.
She was intrigued.
Damn it!
"Can you give me a hint?" she pressed.
He made a tsking noise that she felt tap against her clit, and as was his usual, he didn't lose contact with her gaze.
But he wasn't looking aloof anymore.
This was both an invitation and a challenge.
She just didn't know to what.
And with Stellan—this sudden Stellan who was vastly different than the Stellan she'd been getting (or not, as the case was) for the last too-many-months—she wasn't sure how to handle it.
"Don't disappoint me, Sixx," he said quietly. "The Honey's Ice Princess, cool and composed in every situation, shying away from an adventure?"
"I simply need to know how long it would take," she lied. "I have something I need to do tonight," she didn't lie.
"As soon as you need to go, I'll bring you back."
He'd bring her back?
He was going to take her somewhere?
"What's it going to be, Sixx?" he pushed. "In truth, I should have asked you the minute I joined you in this booth. We risk missing the grand finale the longer we wait."
"Stellan—" she started, wondering how to get out of it at the same time how not to appear like she was jumping on it by accepting too quickly.
She needed time to assess this change, plan, strategize, prepare, fashion a brand-new Sixx. One who could deal with the likes of Stellan Lange and come out the other side of whatever became of whatever was happening unscathed.
And more importantly, make certain he did.
Or time to find a place to hide. Or escape, her mind taunted. Coward.
"I've bought you a present," he shocked her by announcing. "I did this some time ago. I've been wishing to give it to you but haven't had the opportunity. Now's the opportunity." The movement was almost not there, but yet it was when he leaned slightly her way and warned in a low voice, "Don't waste it."
Again, eye contact, unrelenting.
Challenge.
Invitation.
And a gift?
She lifted her drink, took another healthy swallow, put it on the table and then dropped her hand to her thigh to curl her fingers around the phone there while grabbing her clutch off the table with her other hand.
She looked back to him and said, "Let's go."
When she did, all vestiges of her stomach cramps disappeared.
Because when she said that, Stellan Lange smiled a wicked, roguish, beautiful smile.
Right at her.
Copyright © 2018 by Kristen Ashley in The Greatest Risk and reprinted with permission from St. Martin's Griffin.
Kristen Ashley is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over fifty novels, including Mystery Man, The Gamble, and Own the Wind. She grew up in Indiana, but has lived in Colorado and the West Country of England.
Twitter – @KristenAshley68
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Effort to persuade feds to pay for Whittier…
Effort to persuade feds to pay for Whittier Narrows Dam repairs begins
Representative Grace Napolitano, center, points to a map inside the Whittier Narrows Dam as she and other representatives from the House Committee on Natural Resources' Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment take a tour of the dam in Montebello, on Friday, March 6, 2020. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released plans to spend $393.2 million on the Whittier Narrows Dam as part of its Dam Safety and Seepage program. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
By Mike Sprague | msprague@scng.com | Whittier Daily News
PUBLISHED: March 7, 2020 at 6:06 a.m. | UPDATED: March 10, 2020 at 10:03 a.m.
U.S. Rep. Grace Napolitano has convinced the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to spend $393.2 million to fix the Whittier Narrows Dam, but she still has to persuade Congress to appropriate the money.
With other congressional members at her side on Friday, Napolitano, D-El Monte, began her effort with a tour of the dam near Lincoln Avenue in Montebello.
Representatives from the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment took a tour of the Whittier Narrows Dam in Montebello, on Friday, March 6, 2020. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released plans to spend $393.2 million on the Whittier Narrows Dam as part of its Dam Safety and Seepage program. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Representatives from the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment took a tour of the Whittier Narrows Dam in Montebello, on Friday, March 6, 2020. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released plans to spend $393.2 million on the Whittier Narrows Dam as part of its Dam Safety and Seepage program. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Lieutenant Colonel Malia Pearson, Program Manger for Los Angeles county drainage area, speaks to representatives from the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment as they take tour of the Whittier Narrows Dam in Montebello, on Friday, March 6, 2020. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released plans to spend $393.2 million on the Whittier Narrows Dam as part of its Dam Safety and Seepage program. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
John Desimone, dam operator for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, speaks to representative from the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment as they tour the Whittier Narrows Dam in Montebello, on Friday, March 6, 2020. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released plans to spend $393.2 million on the Whittier Narrows Dam as part of its Dam Safety and Seepage program. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Colonel Aaron Barta, center right, Commander and District Engineer with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , speaks to representatives from the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment as they take a tour of the Whittier Narrows Dam in Montebello, on Friday, March 6, 2020. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released plans to spend $393.2 million on the Whittier Narrows Dam as part of its Dam Safety and Seepage program. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Lieutenant Colonel Malia Pearson, Program Manger for Los Angeles county drainage area, points out Whittier Narrows Dam on a map as representatives from the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment took a tour of the dam in Montebello, on Friday, March 6, 2020. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released plans to spend $393.2 million on the Whittier Narrows Dam as part of its Dam Safety and Seepage program. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Representative Grace Napolitano, center, points to a map inside the Whittier Narrows Dam as she and other representatives take a tour of the dam in Montebello, on Friday, March 6, 2020. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released plans to spend $393.2 million on the Whittier Narrows Dam as part of its Dam Safety and Seepage program. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
"I want to get the members to understand the necessity of dealing with California's issue with water," she said, referring to members of the House of Representatives House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment that she chairs.
"We're getting more money, so we can take care of the dam," she said.
Napolitano said she believes the tour impressed at least some, including U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, who is chairwoman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. That's the subcommittee that will determine the fate of the proposal to spend the nearly $400 million.
"She understands it better," Napolitano said.
Napolitano is now drafting a letter to Kaptur, requesting the money, Napolitano spokesman Jerry O'Donnell said after the tour.
The proposal to fix the dam comes after a 2016 decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reclassify the dam to "very high urgency" because if something does go drastically wrong during a major storm, the water would spill downstream into homes at a rate of three Olympic-sized swimming pools every second.
A re-inspection revealed a greater threat of erosion and breach.
Col. Aaron C. Barta, commander and district engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers, said the change was made not based on the problems with the dam but rather the potential consequences of a flood.
"This is a safe dam, but downstream are millions of people, so consequences of failure are very high," Barta said.
Feds to spend nearly $400 million to fix Whittier Narrows Dam
Politicos ask for $100.4 million to help rebuild Whittier Narrows Dam before a breach endangers 23 cities
LA County officials think they can do a better job than feds managing LA, San Gabriel rivers
Feds rush Whittier Narrows Dam fix to prevent breach that would flood 1M residents from Pico Rivera to Long Beach
The flood risk from the Whittier Narrows Dam was just raised. Should you be worried?
If a storm were to bring the reservoir to its capacity, then the water would overflow the concrete spillway and send up to 276,000 cubic feet per second of water downstream, overflowing the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo river banks and affecting the communities of: Artesia, Bell Gardens, Bellflower, Carson, Cerritos, Commerce, Compton, Cypress, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, La Palma, Lakewood, Long Beach, Lynwood, Montebello, Norwalk, Paramount, Pico Rivera, Rossmoor, Santa Fe Springs, Seal Beach, South Gate and Whittier.
Since then, Napolitano, along with other nearby congressional representatives, including Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park, and Linda Sanchez, D-Norwalk, have been pushing the Army Corps of Engineers to make the Whittier Narrows Dam a priority. Both were also present Friday.
Others who took the tour included R.D. James, assistant secretary of the U.S. Army, and U.S. Reps. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, and Bruce Westerman, R-Arkansas.
This story was edited to change the name of House committee to Transportation and Infrastructure.
Mike Sprague | Reporter
Mike Sprague has worked in the newspaper field since July 1977, beginning with the Huntington Park Daily Signal, and later moving to Southern California Publishing Co. where he was sport editor and editor of the Pico Rivera News. Mike began at the Whittier Daily News in April 1984. Since then, he has covered every city in the Whittier Daily News circulation area, as well as political and water issues. He has a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in political science, both from Cal State Fullerton.
msprague@scng.com
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An audience with Jimmy Savile
An Audience with Jimmy Savile, a new play about the double-life of the DJ, presenter, charity fundraiser and serial child abuser, opens at Park Theatre, London, on 10 June 2015. It is written by journalist and author, Jonathan Maitland and stars Alistair McGowan.
The play is set in 1991 and follows one woman's quest to be believed about the abuse she suffered at the hands of the recently-knighted Savile, who has been called 'the most trusted man in Britain'.
Drawing on transcripts of interviews, witness statements and official reports, the play aims to show how Savile used fame, intimidation and manipulation to fool the very institutions we trust and how one brave woman fought back.
Unsurprisingly, the production of An Audience with Jimmy Savile has been criticised in some areas.
Peter Saunders, CEO of The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC), doubts that many survivors of child abuse would consider the play to be in "good taste". He also believes that the producers are "cashing in on pain". Referring to abuse survivors, Saunders has said that Savile's face "is a face they don't want to see again".
This is a view echoed by Matthew Ellison, whose petition on the website argues that "Jimmy Savile is a stain on the British consciousness that needs to be erased for good." Ellison calls for the play to be "banned in its entirety and for all actors and supporting theatres to withdraw and issue a full and frank apology."
The petition has attracted 215 signatures as at the date of writing.
Support for the play
Contrary to the accusation that the play is exploitative, Maitland believes that, far from being exploitative, this play gives the survivors of Savile's abuse a voice. "The victims were exploited by not being listened to and this play is giving them a voice."
Despite being a journalist for 30 years, Maitland also believes that drama can sometimes be more effective in telling the true story than current affairs television
Maitland also assures us that the play is not about "making jokes". While the inclusion of comedy impressionist Alistair McGowan may not immediately support this assertion, Maitland has reportedly spoken to some of Savile's victims about the play and how it intends to address the issues. It has been widely reported that the reaction from victims has been favourable.
The Savile Effect
Following his death in October 2011, Savile was found to have abused dozens of children and young women in hospitals and schools throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
The courage of Savile's victims to break their silence and speak out about the abuse sparked a huge investigation by Scotland Yard into the allegations of abuse by Savile and others. With the increased interest from the media, the authorities and the public that followed the scandal, there has been a massive proliferation in reports of child abuse. In turn, more and more survivors of abuse continue to come forward.
The revelations about the predatory deeds of Savile and other high profile figures from the world of TV, radio and politics (amongst others) has led to the establishment of enquiries such as The Goddard Enquiry and The Dame Janet Smith Review.
The public and political landscape for the survivors of child abuse has now changed and the revelations about Savile were the catalyst.
Bolt Burdon Kemp experience
For many abuse survivors, the spotlight on child abuse has given them the strength they need to break their own silence and tell their stories.
We hear from many of our clients that they found the courage to come forward as a result of the increased public interest and awareness of child abuse following Savile's unmasking as a predatory paedophile. This may be because they now know there is support out there for them or because the increased media interest has given them the courage to address their own pasts. Whatever the reason, many have recognized this as one of the first steps to being able to deal with the abuse they have suffered.
Returning to An Audience with Jimmy Savile…
I think we have to appreciate that a story about Savile's abuse was somewhat inevitable; it was going to be told by someone at some point: it was only a matter of 'when', 'who' and 'in what format'. The fact that this play aims to focus on the perspective of the survivors of that abuse must surely be a positive thing.
It was also inevitable that the first play, film or TV drama about Savile was likely to create a lot of media interest, whether good or bad. The closer the story is in time to the actual events, the more likely it is to create media interest and debate.
Despite Matthew Ellison's petition, I think we can assume that, with the abandonment of theatre censorship in Britain on 26th September 1968, An Audience with Jimmy Savile will almost certainly not be banned. The arts have always been a conduit through which difficult issues have been explored. For the benefit of society, this must be allowed to continue, provided – in this case – we are sensitive to the suffering of Savile's victims and we are not trivializing Savile's actions purely for entertainment purposes.
Clearly, Jimmy Savile is a stain on the British consciousness, but should we erase the memory of what he did (and is this even possible)? Or should we learn from it and put measures in place to ensure it does not happen again?
The study of history allows us to analyse events that took place in the past, how they evolved and the consequences of those events. From this, we can learn valuable lesson to try to ensure that these events do not happen in the present or in the future. For example, if the world had erased the memory of Adolf Hitler, how could we possibly learn the crucial lessons about racism, genocide and democracy that the study of Hitler, the Final Solution or the Second World War raises?
Savile's victims will want to move on with their lives, but they would probably be the first to accept that they will never forget about the abuse they suffered. Also, as can be seen from their apparent support of An Audience, moving on with their lives does not necessarily mean they wish to brush the abuse under the carpet.
For society as a whole, it is important that we never forget what Savile and people like him have done and we must never again brush it under the carpet. We must learn how these people were allowed to operate so that we can stop this happening in the future; we must continue to explore the issues surrounding child abuse that are raised by the story of Savile's victims; and we must continue to push for justice for the survivors of abuse.
I am a Solicitor at Bolt Burdon Kemp specialising in Child Abuse claims. If you think you may have a claim, contact me free of charge and in confidence on 020 7288 4865 or at tomwest@boltburdonkemp.co.uk for specialist legal advice. Alternatively, you can complete this form and one of the solicitors in the Child Abuse team will contact you. You can find out more about the team here.


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Gang Member Arrested After Molesting Child as Part of Initiation: Cops
11:26 AM PDT, April 11, 2017 - Inside Edition
An alleged Atlanta-area gang member was arrested last week after police say he molested a boy as part of a sick initiation ritual.
Antonio Banks, 25, has been charged with child molestation and kidnapping stemming from a 2016 incident in which he allegedly attempted to perform oral sex on a child under 16.
Read: Boy, 14, Arrested for Alleged Role in Gang Rape Streamed on Facebook Live: Cops
"[Banks] and another juvenile held [the victim] against his will after [he] tried to run from them while being initiated into the gang," according to arrest warrants. "[The victim] may have been a willing participant until oral sex became a part of it."
Police believe it may have been a sort of sexual "beating in" to Gangster Disciples, of which Banks is an alleged member, according to DeKalb County police spokesman Maj. Stephen Fore.
"It has been seen before where members are sexed into a gang," Fore told AJC.com.
Officials have not made it clear why Banks was only just arrested and charged last week, nearly a year after the crime.
Read: Authorities Find Body of 6-Year-Old Girl Who Went Missing 5 Years Ago, No Suspects Named
Police allege the assault occurred between May and August 2016 inside an abandoned home.
Banks is also accused of burning the boy's thigh with a cigarette.
Watch: Judge: Man Must Refrain From Sex Until Marriage for Rape of 14-Year-Old Girl
Judge: Man Must Refrain From Sex Until Marriage For Rape Of 14-Year-Old Girl


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Tag Archives: Laura Liera
A community together
Uncategorized June 4, 2016 Comments: 5
A calla lily for you
Good evening Bakersfield. It is Saturday, June 4, 2016…the day the community came together at St. Francis to celebrate the life of Tharrell Ming, a diehard driller and a Renegade. The church was packed by the time I got there at 10:53 a.m. for the 11:00 a.m. mass and they had already run out off the stack of booklets. I spotted Coach Jeff Chudy, Trustee Kay Meek at the service and noticed that Carl Bowser's name led the list of honorary pall bearers followed by Don James, TH Lockard, Bob Millinich, Bob Morton, Richard Russell, Sid Thompson, Gene Toschi, Rick Twisselman.
Bakersfield is a great community and as I am writing this blog, unusually at the end of the day instead of the beginning, I see the burst of flowers in the backyard and the burst of yellow from the calla lily. So here is a calla lily for you, my community, for all that you do on a daily basis to support each other and support the students at BC.
Now, back to Tharrell Ming…..Monsignor Craig Harrison was his usual remarkable self, funny, warm, comforting and efficient with the mass. We are blessed to have Father Craig (as he is warmly referred to) in our community. The music was minimal and powerful and here are two songs that I listened to throughout the rest of the day. And whatever your religious leanings or non-religious leanings for that matter, I am sure these two songs will move your spirit and soul as it did mine sitting with hundreds of community members this morning at St. Francis.
Shephard me O God with acoustic guitar on youtube.com
I googled the musical composition of Psalm 23 and learned from the United Methodist Church website that Marty Haugen had composed the haunting melody for the lyrics. For more on Marty Haugen, check out:
http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-shepherd-me-o-god
How Great Thou Art. Maybe this is a non-traditional approach to have the Elvis version here in my blog. But here I go…..
Here's to a great Renegade, Tharrell Ming.
I started my day early today preparing for a morning meeting with the two Vice Presidents, Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg and Zav Dadabhoy, of Bakersfield College at Starbucks. There were a few things that came up that required this early morning meeting on a Saturday during summer. I know…. crazy…. but that's what faculty and staff do at BC! The talent, commitment and dedication of faculty, staff and administrators at the college is just remarkable. We are…BC! It is a good time to be at BC!
Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg, Sonya Christian, Zav Dadabhoy
Here are a few highlights from the week:
Beebe, Koeth, Christian, Pluta, Siqueiros
BC wins an award for transfer degrees.
Earlier this month we received an email from the President of the Campaign for College Opportunity, Michele Siqueiros, that Bakersfield College was one of 13 community colleges in the state being recognized for the growth in the number of transfer degrees. The event was held in Sacramento in June 2nd, Thursday, and the BC team that headed north to receive the award included: Trustee Dennis Beebe, Dean of Instruction Kate Pluta and Faculty member David Koeth.
Beebe, Chavez, Koeth, Huerta, Christian, Pluta
The Campaign for College Opportunity is a group dedicated to advancing the educational attainment levels in California by impacting policy at the state level. The staff are great. A special thank you to Michele Siqueiros, President; Audrey Dow, Vice President, External Affairs and Operations; Linda Vasquez, Regional Affairs Director. For more check out their website at http://collegecampaign.org/.
Here is a picture with the group from Bakersfield that included Dolores Huerta who received a lifetime achievement award and her daughter Camilla Chavez. Congratulations Dolores!
We also connected with Connie Conway, a wonderful member of the Board of Governors for California Community Colleges and now a member of the Board of Directors of the Campaign for College Opportunity. Also, the fabulous Dean Florez, who is an advocate for education and in particular Bakersfield College.
Dean Florez, Connie Conway, Dennis Beebe
Thank you Trustee Beebe for making this long trip to support BC receiving the award. It is always wonderful to have our Board members celebrating with us.
In the Bakersfield Californian:
The piece on Corny Rodriguez which was in the Bakersfield Magazine was published in the June 2nd issue of the Californian along with Odella Johnson's piece on BC's promising professionals.
I loved the opening by Laura Liera about Corny
On his 10th birthday, Cornelio Rodriguez was picking strawberries in Artesia during the early hours of the morning instead of making a birthday wish. He spent summers picking okra in Indio and Coachella and was even driving his dad's gardening truck by the age of 12.
Here is another excerpt from the article:
But after a conversation with his dad, a visit to the career center led to the applications of Cerritos College, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach, UCLA and USC.
It was a Tuesday when the first college acceptance letter came in. Rodriguez was accepted to USC.
"I got scared because we were so poor and I couldn't afford to go," Rodriguez remembered. "I was panicking because I thought I had gotten my family into trouble."
The next day, the UCLA acceptance letter arrived.
"I said, 'Dear Lord, now I have to go to TWO colleges?'" Rodriguez said.
Check out the Californian: http://tinyurl.com/ztwbxva
Promising Professionals:
This is a must-read piece written by Odella Johnson. Johnson writes about the Promising Professionals and highlights the story of two students — Tamika Narvaez and Linda Esquivel. She writes about Tamika
Students like Tamika Narvaez, a mother of eight who survived abuse and arrived on campus to complete the requirements to transfer, demonstrates how BC delivers student initiatives that allow them to take critical next steps, which result in positive academic outcomes.
and Linda:
Linda Esquivel, a local graduate of South High School and a first- generation college student, left the community to attend San Francisco State University in fall 2013 and, after a semester, left to attend Bakersfield College for financial reasons. Believing that she would not fit in, she felt frustrated and uncertain about the next steps in her journey; however, when she became a student ambassador/ Promising Professional, she admitted that "BC made my future possible," so with a renewed spirit, Esquivel's next steps include attending a predoctoral program at the University of Michigan and Penn State this summer.
Johnson ends the article with:
Narvaez and Esquivel's diversity as students is our strength and we recognize their potential. They embody the spirit of Promising Professionals – students who have passion and purpose.
For more: http://tinyurl.com/h74g7np
On June 2nd, Kristen Barnes, CEO of Kern Community Foundation and a great partner of BC wrote a wonderful Community Voices piece–Philanthropy Matters: Growing Scholarships, Growing Futures. Here is an excerpt:
Scholarships close the funding gap students experience. They are one way to provide critical financial support for students – to help make higher education a reality. In many cases, the financial assistance provided by scholarships is a key factor. Gifts for scholarships help students to invest their energies more fully in their course work and pursue internships and leadership opportunities that enrich their personal development and career preparation.
For more, check out http://tinyurl.com/jg47rwq
Misono and Christian
At Rotary West
On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to visit the Bakersfield West Rotary Club. The club went all out with BC colors for the table decorations and traditional "flying saucer" cookies that have been a staple on BC's campus for decades.
Local CPA and BC alum Fred Misono hosted the meeting in West Rotary President Roger Griess' absence, keeping the event light and funny.
I was able to give a brief history of the College and recount some of our recent accomplishments. Jay Rosenlieb shared the podium as a member of BC's Blue Ribbon Committee that is working on a facilities initiative for the college — A Better BC 2016…2066. This initiative, if approved by the KCCD Board of Trustees in July, could becomes a bond measure on the November 2016 election. Thank you Jay for taking the time to co-present with me. Check out the the website at http://www.abetterbc.com/
I must say that this is a fun club. There is a lot of teasing back and forth and great camaraderie and fellowship. At the end of the presentation, all about Bakersfield College, President Misono presents me with a Taft College T-shirt 🙂 I attempt to get away but he was too quick for me.
Acting President Misono made the day very special for Bakersfield College. He then followed up with the photos and wonderfully warm and fun emails after the meeting. Thank you Russell Johnson, John Pryor, John Fallgatter and others at Bakersfield West for your support. Rick Kreiser, thank you for that great introduction and your service to the Bakersfield College Foundation for so many years. You are the best! and thank you Tom Gelder, for getting BC on the agenda.
Rick Kreiser, Sonya Christian, Tom Gelder
Honoring Our Veterans on Memorial Day:
Last weekend, I hope you had a chance to stop by and walk around Riverwalk Park or at least drive by to catch a glimpse of the incredible view. Memorial Day is regularly celebrated on the last Monday of May thanks to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, but did you know its roots go back to 1868 when the day was originally known as Decoration Day? "On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery" (History.com).
It's always humbling to reflect on the sacrifice that so many men and women have made and continue to make for the United States and her people. The Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary Club (BBRC) is a group of local community members who through their leadership and friendship, get things done in our community and for the past few years, they have lead a project of planting one thousand flags at Riverwalk Park over Memorial Day weekend.
Volunteers, sponsors, and the BBRC make this annual event, including activities and formal ceremonies at the park possible. What a great way to be reminded of our freedom, liberty, and justice thanks to our courageous service men and women. Liz Rozell, Mary Jo Pasek, Marlene, Heise, Cheryl Scott and others at BBRC, you did a fantastic job!
I would also like to share an email I received from Paul Beckworth, our veterans faculty lead at Bakersfield College. He sent this last Monday – Memorial Day:
Paul Beckworth
Memorial Day Message 2016
The warrior-poet, King David, wrote, "Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight." This quote may sound familiar to any fan of the Tom Hanks, World War II epic, Saving Private Ryan. It is quoted in earnest by the in-residence sniper, Pvt. Jackson, during a pivotal scene in the film. Inevitably, most of the cast is killed off, as was our popcorn. However, we know life is not a movie and memories of comrades lost do not go away when the lights go on.
So, what of Memorial Day? What of those men and women whose hands were taught to war and fingers to fight, who lie still in the ground on this warm May evening? This is not about the history of Memorial Day. You can go look that up on Wikipedia. But, what of those who we remember and honor today? Today, we see the aged World War II and Korean War veterans, canes in hand, gait a bit unsteady, but minds sharp when recalling battlefields of another time. Today, they see the friends they lost on those battlefields. Today, we see 28 year-old OIF/OEF veterans with physical and emotional scars of Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, they see their lost friends buried at Arlington or the Bakersfield National Cemetery. Today, we see tatted up, motorcycle riding, leather vest, patch wearing, Vietnam veterans who speak of Tet, and of Khe Sanh. Today, they see lost buddies who did not get the due deserved them thanks to a divided nation and a callous youth population who called them baby killers.
Today is not about the bullet that barely missed its mark. Today is about the person whose bullet that found its' mark. Today is about the forever young sailor who drowned on the USS Indianapolis, or was killed on the destroyer escort USS Samuel B. Roberts, while fighting toe to toe with Japanese battleships in what became known as the "Last stand of the tin can sailors." Today is about the Rangers killed taking Point du Hoc on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and the airborne paratrooper of the 101st or 82nd who never made it out of his chute alive. Today is about the 1,170 corpsman killed during World War II, often cut down while responding to the blood curdling cry of "Corpsman up!" Today is about the Marine who never left Guadalcanal, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, or Okinawa. Today is about the pilots who never returned to the airfield, or the submariners who are now on "eternal patrol." Today is about the young Coastie who maneuvered his landing craft on to the battered shores of Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio only to stay ashore forever.
Today we remember. We memorialize the "Frozen Chosin" dead who were carefully carried out by the living rather than being left behind in the rugged mountains of North Korea. Today is about those killed on countless hills in Korea, so numerous to count they were simply numbered by height. Today is about those who fell defending the Pusan Perimeter, and those who never left the beaches of Inchon.
Today is about those that this country dishonored in so many ways that it is a stain on the honor of this nation. Today is about those nearly 60,000 Americans killed in Vietnam. Today is about those who did not evade the draft, but answered to the nation's call, despite often not understanding what that call was all about. Today is about those were cut down in the hot, steamy, jungles and in the highlands, in Hueys and in huts. Today is not about those who were cursed at when they returned home but about those who were cursed at, despite never making it home.
Today is about Cold War warriors who died doing special operations and of Gulf War warriors, whose deaths were few, yet nonetheless paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Today is about Fallujah Marines who are now at Arlington or other national cemeteries. Today is about those who never left the Triangle of Death. Today is about the Helmand Province men who are finally still.
The warrior-poet wrote King David wrote, "A thousand fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee." Today is about the thousand who fell at the left side and the ten thousand who fell at the right hand. So, today, let us, the living, be comforted and know that those whose hands were taught to fight are at rest. Today, let us, the living, be comforted and know that today and for eternity, those who fingers were made to war are finally at peace.
Let us remember.
It is the best of times
Uncategorized May 28, 2016 Comments: 2
Good morning Bakersfield. It is Saturday, May 28th, the start of the long Memorial Day weekend. On May 30th, the last Monday of May in 2016, our nation will pause, as is our tradition, to remember those who have fallen.
Talking about wars and those who lost their lives, here is one of my favorite poems, In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae, that transports us out of the day-to-day vibrations of routine life to a place where we can experience the preciousness of life with all it has to offer.
Source of the image:
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9677477
Browsing the website I came across Moina Michael's 1918 response to McCrae's Flanders Fields with her own We Shall Keep the Faith.
Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet – to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.
We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/moina-michael-we-shall-keep-faith.htm
Moina Michael "kept the faith" symbolically by wearing a red poppy. In 1948 the last of the 3c stamps had Moina Michael with the image of a poppy with the whole stamp branded red.
Source: http://www.usmemorialday.org/?page_id=2
When you donate to the Veteran's of Foreign Wars outside of Vons you receive a small red poppy to wear.
This week President Obama visited Hiroshima, the first sitting US President to do so. I tweeted the text of his speech which you can find at http://tinyurl.com/zssxm3x.
Here is an excerpt:
My own nation's story began with simple words: All men are created equal, and endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Realizing that ideal has never been easy, even within our own borders, even among our own citizens. But staying true to that story is worth the effort. It is an ideal to be strived for, an ideal that extends across continents and across oceans. The irreducible worth of every person, the insistence that every life is precious, the radical and necessary notion that we are part of a single family – that is the story that we all must tell.
I would like to take this Memorial Day opportunity to also recognize our veterans. Here are some links to previous posts:
Nov 11, 2015 post titled Veterans Day, Vet Fest and Remembering America's Best at http://tinyurl.com/gpsrsx7. Thank you Trustee Kay Meek for your support. And thank you Paul Beckworth for your beautiful words.
Nov 11, 2014 titled Student Veterans and BC's 2nd annual Vet Fest at http://tinyurl.com/ztfsz5z
August 24, 2014 welcome email from Paul Beckworth to our Student Vets. http://tinyurl.com/hpkzapg
June 5, 2013. My first blog as president on our Student Vets from the Singapore Airport. http://tinyurl.com/zz2w5uq
Today's Bakersfield Life Magazine:
Woke up today to the Bakersfield Life insert in The Bakersfield Californian which featured BC not once but twice. How cool is that! The June issue is not yet available in the archives ( http://www.bakersfield.com/Bakersfield-Life-Archive ) but you can access it online as a subscriber to the Californian.
Dean Corny Rodriguez was featured by Laura Liera on page 76 under the People and Community Section.
BC's Promising Professionals Program by Odella Johnson was featured on page 103 in the Last Word section. Thank you Tamika Payne for getting this picture which I treasure very much.
Sonya Christian with the Promising Professionals at Bakersfield College
ACBO Conference
Holmes, Christian, Culpepper
Have you seen our Renegade Scorecard? It's a collection of information about our students and our work at Bakersfield College. It includes not only data about our student demographics and student success, but an entire section on institutional effectiveness – including operational data.
This week, I had the opportunity to travel to Monterey to present at the ACBO spring conference along with Steven Holmes, Academic Senate President, and Dr. Anthony Culpepper, VP of Finance and Administrative Services. ACBO is the Association of Chief Business Officers.
Here is the title and description of our presentation:
Revisiting Fiscal Leadership through the Lens of Transparency and Participatory Governance.
The advantages of using a distributed leadership model is the focus of this panel as they discuss the process of changing a campus culture by removing silos through the leveraging of key participatory governance committees. The panel will explain how the positioning of fiscal leadership as a catalyst to galvanize the academic, administrative, and classified leadership can result in a shared vision of student success. Find out how transparency and full disclosure of budget resources can lead to stronger commitment to a college's mission and vision.
Shannon has uploaded the presentation on the website https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/president/communications under "Presentations".
Here is the direct link http://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/download/16301.
It was great seeing friends from my days in Oregon at the presentation–Jeff DeFranco and David Keebler. Also our colleagues from across the district came to support our us — Tom Burke, CFO of KCCD; Arlitha Williams-Harmon from Porterville College and Gayle Lebsock from Cerro Coso. Thank you!
I am so proud of all the work from our budget committee to make sure that we are spending our money thoughtfully and strategically, to really support our students and the work of the college.
I want to especially thank Steven Holmes and Anthony Culpepper, who are co-chairs on that committee. They have done astounding work!
Past BC SGA Presidents Shine:
Christian, Dominguez
Fowler, Christian
Clayton Fowler (Prez: 2015-2016) blogs https://claytonjfowler.wordpress.com/
Alex Domiguez (Prez: 2014-2015) named CSUB Student Association president for 2016-2017.
BC Presenting at the Kern County Black Chamber of Commerce
Keith Wolaridge, Sarah Baron, Michael Bowers
BC Public Health faculty, Sarah Baron, together with community members Michael Bowers and Keith Wolaridge presented to the Kern County Black Chamber of Commerce this week. The KCBCC and their President/CEO, Tomeka Powell are fantastic partners of BC through their support for education, personal development, and prosperity for the local African American community.
According to The State of Higher Education in California, "California is home to the nation's fifth largest Black population, and though Black students today are more likely to graduate from high school and college than they were a decade ago, persistent opportunity gaps exist in college access and success and completion outcomes are still too low."
For future generations and for A Better BC, it's imperative that we work together, to engage, inspire, and reach out to our African American community – Together, we can identify existing barriers and strengthen our campus and support along the pathway to success.
Recognizing a Community Partner — Chevron!
Adam and Tiffani Alvidrez
We recognized Chevron earlier this spring as our Corporate Philanthropist of the Year. Chevron was our first recipient and epitomizes what every charity wants in a donor.
Chevron has been strategic in where it directs its support. It's been focused by giving sufficient amounts towards its goals so that they can be achieved.
It has been consistent in its support so that plans can be made and implemented without fear of losing funding before they come to fruition. And Chevron has listened to what BC has needed and has worked to meld their goals with ours.
A key to that collaboration has been Adam Alvidrez, Chevron's Policy, Government & Public Affairs Representative and Community Engagement Specialist. All of us at BC who work with Adam appreciate his ability to listen, to suggest and to figure out a way to make every situation a win-win for all involved.
Chevron is more than a community partner. It is made up of people like Adam who want to do what's right for our community and to help us make a better BC.
BC Students Compete in Solar Regatta
The Bakersfield College Engineers' Club and Women in Science and Engineering Club participated in the 5th annual Northern California Solar Regatta held at the Rancho Seco Recreational Area in Herald, California, on May 14th.
BC students at the event included Eddie Berdon, Amanda Jones, Zeke Kennedy, Rey Fernandez, Frederick Mayer, Luiz Hernandez, Summer Estes, and Danae Berhow.
In addition to taking part in three races (slalom, endurance, and sprint), the team gave a presentation on the design and structure of the Renegade Solar-Powered Boat. The judges said the BC team had a very impressive first-time entry.
I'm so proud of our students' ingenuity and coordination in planning, constructing, testing, launching, and racing a solar boat! Our STEM programs are just the best!
Classified School Employee Week
The California School Employees Association (CSEA) treated our BC staff members to a luncheon of tacos and agua fresca on May 19 in celebration of Classified School Employee Week.
BC's CSEA chapter E-Board did an awesome job organizing the event.
CSEA also coordinated the appreciation grams, which were sent out to staff thanking them for their dedication and service to BC.
And congratulations to this year's BC CSEA Member of the Year Award, Anna Meyer, a payroll technician at the district office.
Ramon Puga:
Sonya Christian, Ramon Puga
In my previous blogs I recognized individuals like Bill Parker and Dennis Spencer who are dedicated to BC and work behind the scenes. Today let me spotlight Ramon Puga our manager for Custodial Services. Ramon puts in long hours and you'll see him around campus quietly working away. Friday morning I walked up to the bookstore to get some BC T-shirts for a group that I was presenting to at 10:00 a.m. And there I saw Ramon in the distance, working away. I paused watching him and thinking how lucky we are at BC to have so much dedication of service. Let's toast Ramon today!
Kern continues great work through collaboration:
Rob Arias invited me to present to a group of educators from across Kern County on Friday, May 27th. I so enjoyed seeing approximately 30 individuals gathered around a table focusing on getting our organizations aligned to help students move efficiently and effectively through their educational pathways from high school to college. My presentation was titled Kern on the Move to recognize the significant work that was accomplished in 2015-2016. Here is a link to the powerpoint www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/download/16302
When there is great movement, innovation, and scaling of design usually there is a great deal of exhaustion and frustration when a piece needs to be fine tuned. So what better way to capture this "good yet difficult" phenomenon than to bring in Dickens with
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
Well…I attempted to get us to focus on the left hand side of the descriptors than the right. That is…
It was the best of times
it was the age of wisdom
it was the epoch of belief
it was the season of Light
it was the spring of hope
we had everything before us
We had leadership from Delano, Wasco, Taft, Kern High, ROC, KCSOS, KCCDC etc… all engaged in this work.
A big thank you to all these individuals for taking the time to be there. Please note this is not a comprehensive list.
Rich McCrow – Bakersfield College
Laura Hickel – grant writer
Kim Behrens – Porterville College
Sam Aunai – Porterville College
Martin Lonza – Wasco
Robb Cobb – Wasco
Rob Arias – KCSOS
Terri Nuckols – DJUHSD
Blanca Cavazos – Taft HS
Bonita Steele – KCCD
Garrett Thomas – Porterville College
John Means – KCCD
Diane Baeza – KCCD
Letti Garza – KCCD
Brian Miller – KHSD
Valerie Garcia – McFarland
Whitney Soldati – McFarland
Justin Derrick – McFarland
Cindy Collier – BC
Liz Rozell – BC
Lisa Stephens – Cerro Coso
Bob Hawkes – KCCD
Mark Williams – Taft College
Susan Clipperton – Mohave HS
Sarah Baron – BC
Pam Dobrenen – KCSOS
any many more…..
It is indeed the best of time!
It is indeed a good time to be in Kern County!
Is is indeed a good time to be at BC!
We are….BC!


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Home Moorestown News Building car confidence
Building car confidence
InTown Auto Care recently hosted a troop of Girl Scouts to teach them a little about car care and maintenance, helping them earn their Car Care badge.
STEPHEN FINN
Suzanne Dunn with InTown Auto Care gives Shamong Girl Scout Troop 24701, from left, Ella Sawdy , Erin Meale, Amanda Welsh and Payton Lawless a look under the hood of a car to break down how an engine works.
Suzanne Dunn is something of an anomaly in her field. When you form a picture in your mind of someone who works in an auto repair shop, she is probably not the first image to pop in your head. She and her husband Mike have owned InTown Auto Care in Moorestown for the last six years, and although she is not a technician, Suzanne has spent enough time at the shop to know a thing or two about the cars they service.
Suzanne is interested in changing perceptions of women when it comes to vehicular knowledge and care, and what better way to do that than to give some young women a firsthand look under the hood?
She recently hosted Girl Scout Troop 24701 from Shamong at the shop to help the girls, most of whom will be behind the wheel within the next year, earn their car care badge, and hopefully inspire them to learn more about taking care of their own cars in the future.
This isn't the first time InTown Auto Care has turned itself into a classroom of sorts. It is are fond of educating any of its clientele who will listen, but Suzanne was particularly enthusiastic about this opportunity to speak with this particular group.
"I was excited to do this with the girls because girls aren't in this industry, and they certainly can be," said Suzanne. "I think with women you're still looked at like, 'oh, you're a girl what do you know?' Well, you can know, and you can ask educated questions."
"Exposing these girls to what we do educates them, and you never know, it might set off a spark," said Mike.
Having only around an hour of time with the Scouts, the crash course in car care stuck mostly to the basics of maintenance and upkeep. The girls were introduced to oil changes, car batteries, putting air in the tires, the basic layout of everything under the hood and changing a tire.
"They're going to be in a car soon and out on the road by themselves, so if a light comes on or the car breaks down, they'll need to know some basic things to look at," said Suzanne.
Suzanne Dunn with InTown Auto Care shows girl scout Erin Meale how to check a vehicle's tire pressure using a pressure gauge.
According to Scout Leader Bridget Sawdy, the car care badge incorporates what the girls learn in drivers ed about safety and the rules of the road as well as learning basic care and maintenance of a vehicle, which is what brought them to the shop.
"It's all stuff to make them feel comfortable when they go out on the road," said Sawdy.
She felt that everything the troop learned at the shop fit in perfectly with the mission of the Girl Scouts, which aims to build courage and confidence in young women.
Lifelong Scout Erin Meale, 16, earned her drivers permit just last month. She says she was excited about earning this badge because it represented a topic she was unfamiliar with, but was eager to learn about.
"I feel like I learned a lot, especially about where things are under the hood of the car," said Meale.
Sixteen-year-old Ella Sawdy, daughter of Scout Leader Bridgett, is another lifelong Scout who will be on the road in the near future.
"I didn't really know that much about cars, so now, doing this, I feel much more confident in driving and being able to handle stuff by myself and not having to call my dad," said Ella. "It's important because guys always assume you don't know how to do it. I think it's good for us to be able to do stuff by ourselves without having to rely on guys or other people."
girl-scouts
InTown Auto Care
MHS senior crosses international boundaries through sports
Mayor's Message: Looking at the year ahead in Moorestown
Code Blue in effect in Burlington County through Thursday morning
Email us: news@moorestownsun.com


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