Bakersfield cyclist rides 100 miles every day to encourage community
Frank Torres discovered cycling at a low point in his life and soon developed a strong passion for the sport that helped him stay sober. As 23ABC's Corey O'Leary shows for the month of July Frank has set a cycling goal that he hopes inspires others to follow their dreams.
Transcript
00:00 stranger to the heat here at home. 103 right now at Bakersfield, which is
00:04 actually a couple degrees cooler than expected. Today, we only increased a
00:07 small amount, running only about two degrees warmer than we were at this
00:10 time yesterday. So the big increase in temperatures that we were expecting has
00:14 not happened yet. I do still think it's going to happen tomorrow, though, and I
00:17 believe the National Weather Service is on board with that because they have
00:20 issued excessive heat warning for the entirety of Kern County tomorrow. We're
00:24 gonna take a look at the very hot weekend forecast coming up later in the
00:27 show.
00:28 Yeah, Brandon, thank you very much. An investigation is ongoing following a
00:33 deadly crash overnight in southwest Bakersfield. Police say they were
00:36 called just after midnight to the intersection of Pacheco and Akers
00:40 roads for a crash involving two vehicles. Authorities say a man driving
00:44 one of the vehicles collided with another car, resulting in both himself
00:48 and his passenger being ejected. The man died at the scene while his
00:52 passenger is recovering in the hospital. Police say the other driver
00:55 involved was not hurt, but her passenger was hospitalized. If you
00:59 have any information, you're urged to call BPD at 3 to 7 71 11
01:04 today. Governor Gavin Newsom announcing he signed a bill into law introduced
01:10 by local Assembly member Dr Jasmeet Bains. The law allows for people to
01:14 administer an opioid antidote, such as Narcan to a person experiencing an
01:19 overdose without potentially facing a civil damages lawsuit for intervening.
01:24 The law states the antidote must be approved by the U. S. Food and Drug
01:28 Administration for the treatment of an opioid overdose.
01:32 Now on to the looming possible third indictment of Donald Trump. Special
01:37 Counsel Jack Smith's office, informing the former president that he's the
01:41 target of an investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
01:45 All while a federal judge in Florida sets a trial date on charges he
01:49 mishandled classified documents. ABC's Ike Ajaci is in Washington with more
01:54 on the latest in the case.
01:55 Prosecutors with special counsel Jack Smith's office seen arriving at the
01:59 federal courthouse in Washington, D. C. Thursday as the grand jury
02:03 investigating former President Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election
02:07 continues its work. The grand jury heard testimony from William Russell, a
02:12 former White House aide who now works for Trump's presidential campaign. On
02:16 Sunday, Special Counsel Jack Smith informing Trump by letter that he's a
02:20 target in his investigation, writing that an indictment could be imminent.
02:24 He was given until Friday to testify before the grand jury, which he did not
02:28 do. The grand jury not meeting Friday, sources tell ABC News that the target
02:33 letter mentioned three federal crimes Trump could be charged with conspiracy
02:37 to commit an offense against or to defraud the United States, obstruction
02:42 of an official proceeding and conspiracy to deprive people of rights.
02:46 All this is a Florida federal judge thwarts Trump's efforts to indefinitely
02:50 delays classified documents trial. Judge Eileen Cannon scheduling this trial
02:54 for May 20th, a compromise date later than prosecutors had sought, but sooner
02:59 than Trump wanted, Judge Cannon says the prosecution's request for a
03:03 December trial was too soon, given the complexity of the case and the massive
03:07 amount of evidence. Analysts say now the focus turns to jury selection. This is
03:12 in the state of Florida, which is pretty heavily Republican leaning. It's
03:15 really important, probably for the prosecution not to have someone who
03:19 just believes in Donald Trump period, regardless of the facts, because the
03:23 facts, at least as we know publicly, are pretty strong for the government.
03:27 Trump's campaign called the trial date a setback for the D O. J. Single will
03:31 give Trump's legal team time to fight. In the meantime, Trump prepares for two
03:36 other unrelated trials through next year. I could jockey. ABC News,
03:40 Washington.
03:41 The unemployment rate has increased in Kern County, according to the
03:46 Employment Development Department. The unemployment rate in June was at 8.8%,
03:51 which translates into just over 34,000 people. The rate is up from May, which
03:56 was at 8.6%. The county with the highest unemployment in the state is
04:01 Imperial County, with 16.9%. However, the county with the highest number of
04:06 jobless is Los Angeles County, with over 265,000 people. Overall, in
04:12 California, the number of unemployed stands at just over 943,000, which is a
04:17 rate of 4.9%.
04:20 Now, if you're let go from a job and are looking to apply for unemployment
04:25 benefits, here's an in depth look at the eligibility requirements. According
04:29 to the E. D. D. Website, when applying for unemployment, you must be totally
04:33 or partially unemployed. You must also be unemployed through no fault of your
04:39 own. Be physically able to work. You must also be available for work and be
04:44 ready and willing to accept work immediately.
04:47 We turn now to a comeback story involving a Bakersfield man. Frank
04:53 Torres discovered cycling at a low point is in his life and soon developed
04:58 a strong passion for the sport that helped him stay sober. 23 ABC's Corio
05:03 Leary shows us for the month of July, Frank has set a cycling goal that he
05:07 hopes inspires others to follow their dreams.
05:10 It's almost six a.m. Here at Beach Park. Most of Bakersfield is just waking up,
05:17 but Frankie Torres has been awake since two a.m. Why? It's part of his
05:21 mission to ride 100 miles every day in July. He's not just crazy. He's doing
05:25 this to prove a point not just to himself, but to others. He's gonna be
05:29 here soon. I'm gonna join him for the next leg of his journey.
05:31 We'll see.
05:36 The first year I failed for sure I wasn't able to do, uh, consistently.
05:42 Torres told me three years ago he challenged himself to see how much he
05:45 could ride in a month, but wasn't able to achieve what he hoped. But that
05:49 didn't deter him from trying again. The next phone here was like, Okay, what
05:53 can I do here? Can I do 100? You know, I failed, but I can come back. I know
05:59 I can come back. Let's come back bigger and come back. He did last year. He
06:03 was able to ride a century on his bike every single day in the month of July.
06:07 I got Covid day 13. I got Covid and that was rough. I didn't quit. I kept
06:13 on pushing through. Torres is no stranger to comebacks. He told me he
06:16 struggled with addiction to both drugs and alcohol in the past. Since I stopped
06:21 doing drugs and alcohol, I tend to give a new addiction. And so what I did is
06:26 I knew that I sacrificed a lot to do drugs and alcohol. Why couldn't I do it
06:31 with cycling?
06:32 Morning gentlemen.
06:33 When he first started cycling, he was given encouragement by a local bike
06:39 owner named Fernando Gonzalez. He handed me this bike and he told me in three
06:44 months from now, everybody is gonna know who you are. Soon, the cyclists around
06:49 him crowned him a new title. That's Frankie. That's Frankie. They gave me
06:52 the name. That's the name they gave me. Now he wants to give others
06:55 encouragement and inspiration to achieve their goals. You want to win?
07:00 You gotta go. You gotta go. I think people would probably think Frank's
07:04 crazy. But if you get to know Frankie's, you know that his mentality is such
07:08 that he would just knock it out. And once he puts his mind to it,