This week, Jeff announced his grand plan to form a trivia team, because why not? He’s looking for a four-person squad filled with experts in pop culture, sports, and history—Bill Lever immediately volunteered to be the head trivial person.

In the “Exciting News” department, CALM won four categories in Bakersfield Californian's 'Best of' awards, including best museum and best place to impress out-of-towners. Who knew we had such a gem in our midst? 

Meanwhile, the Rotary Club continues to gear up for the mythical margarita party and auction, calling for items like Richard Bean’s vintage frying pan that fetched $2,500 at a past event. 

I have a bunch of dinged up pans from the Emeril Lagasse Collection I am donating. Most of the Teflon has peeled off. Be prepared for a bidding war.

Good News:

Sarah celebrated her daughter’s high school graduation (cue the confetti!), while Sheryl Barbich drummed up excitement for the upcoming neon-themed museum event, 'Get Lit,' featuring 40 neon signs and, of course, margaritas.

Program: 

The highlight of the meeting was Bill Kaiser from the Central California Intelligence Center (CCIC), who delivered a speedy 30-minute talk pulled from a four-hour slide deck. Bill broke down the CCIC teams; from the ‘Facebook perusal team’ (now TikTok-ing around) to the Training Team prepping folks for active shooter scenarios, and the Physical Security Team checking your computers for vulnerabilities.

He also dropped some sobering stats: California law requires reporting any data breaches affecting 500+ residents, and in 2026, there were 170 major breaches—61 in healthcare. It’s a jungle out there, with 74% of breaches resulting from human error—so try not to click on suspicious links!

Bill also highlighted the latest scams, like fake FastTrak fines sent via text to folks in counties with no such system. The scammers are getting creative! He wrapped up with some solid recommendations, like conducting annual vulnerability assessments and keeping your systems patched—because no organization is too small to be a target. And their services are free… well, paid for by our taxes through DHS grants.

In the Q&A, Bill jokingly admitted he juggles an Android for personal use and an iPhone for work—classic tech confusion! He stressed that in cybersecurity, defenders have to be perfect 100% of the time, while attackers only need to get it right once—a sobering thought.

Before we closed, Bill encouraged everyone to reach out with questions and shared his contact info, emphasizing that vigilance and collaboration are the keys to cybersecurity resilience.