Whatever happened to "quality" news stories?

I found the pictures very offensive.

-- Beverly French

Jenner: The editor who chose to run that story and photo on an inside page thought the story was interesting and offbeat.

The photo of four teenage boys passed muster because it was shot from an angle that did not show inappropriate parts of their bodies.

The picture that ran on the front page was actually a smaller, "cropped" version of the photo that ran inside. We didn't need to run it there, too.

I'm sorry you were offended.

Reader: I'm very upset that when I open the Sports section and read high school scores and information they're always placed on the same page with the adult clubs and lap dances and things like that. I just think it's inappropriate.

My kids are grown and out of the home but I still like to look and see how high schools are doing and I know that other kids do. When we lived in San Diego we didn't have this problem. High schoolers can open the newspaper and read their scores and there's adult material on the same page. I'm not a prude. I'm not anything like that. I just think kids should be kids as long as possible. I just think it's depressing that the newspaper would have the insensitivity, even possibly the ignorance, to have something like that on the same page as high school scores.

-- Kathy McCrobie

Jenner: We moved the adult club advertising off of the entertainment / movies page to Sports many years ago after parents said they did not want it on the movies page that their kids read.

These ads have been on the Sports page for close to 10 years with almost no complaints. Whether you approve of this type of business, they have the right to advertise -- and wouldn't be advertising if there wasn't a viable business model for them here in Bakersfield.

We'll look at the possibility of putting the ads on Sports pages that don't contain high school sports stories, although on days when the section is small, that may not be possible.

Reader: There was an inaccurate statement in the Aug. 30 article "Supervisors approve $1.3 billion budget." The article reads: "She (B.J. Mitchell) was backed by a legion of orchestra musicians, quilters, museum fans and fiddlers from the mountain town."

Here is the actual list of organizations that sent representatives in support of the Tehachapi Performing Arts and Museum Center:

Mayor Ed Grimes of the City Council; The Kawaiisu Tribal Elder, Harold Williams; Greater Tehachapi Area Economic Development Council; The Lions Club; Tehachapi Community Orchestra Board; Tehachapi Junior Orchestra; American Association of University Women; Summit Singers; Tehachapi Mountain Quilters; TAPA Dance Studios; Carden School; BVS Cultural Arts Association; California Old-Time Fiddlers Association; Tomo Kahni Chapter of the DAR; Optimist Club; Tehachapi Area Association of Realtors; Greater Tehachapi Area Chamber of Commerce; Tehachapi Arts Coalition; Kern County Wind Energy Association; Smart Growth-Tehachapi Valleys; Property Owners of BVS and Stallion Springs; Kiwanis Club; Office of the Superintendent of the Tehachapi Unified School District.

I would hardly call this a "legion of orchestra musicians, quilters, museum fans and fiddlers," but actually a collection of people representing a broad range of community interests.

This misrepresentation is regrettable because it gives the impression that only a small group of arts enthusiasts are supporting this Community Center -- and, by implication, that the center is not worthy of county funding.

Tehachapi is not just a small, sleepy mountain village. It is a growing city with an interesting, talented, and diverse population, which has been historically underserved by funding authorities.

-- Betty (B.J.) Mitchell

Jenner: I agree that the support for your efforts appears to be broad.

But I disagree with your suggestion that James Burger's story took a condescending view of Tehachapi or your effort.

You say the story made it seem as though "only a small group of arts enthusiasts are supporting this Community Center."

Burger says he wrote a "legion" of those people showed up to support the idea -- stating, contrary to your concerns, that a "vast host or multitude of people" showed up to support the community arts center.

I recognize that you are sensitive about the way Tehachapi is being portrayed in the media, but I believe you are reading into this story your assumption that Bakersfield residents think of Tehachapi as a small, insignificant town.

The story calls the city a "mountain town," which it is -- not a dinky mountain village, which it is not.

I thought your final quote in Burger's story is telling:

"Always something for Bakersfield. Never anything for Tehachapi,' she said."

Reader: I am writing because I wanted everyone to know that Kenneth Moses was not like the way he was portrayed. I think it would be nice for people to know that he was a good person. He was a wonderful man who would do anything to help someone else out, a loving father and he did not deserve what happened to him.

I was so happy when Jimmy Robinson was found guilty and I thought everyone would have reported something good about Kenneth Moses, but I was fooled.

I would just appreciate a little more consideration for his family and some thought in how the things that people say are related. I can say that pretty much everything that was printed was only bits and pieces of things that were said or were not true at all.

Thank you,

-- Candyce Apple

Fiancee of Kenneth Moses

Jenner: Kenneth Moses was stabbed to death at Valley Plaza in February. Jimmy Robinson was convicted of first-degree murder in the stabbing on Aug. 23.

The only things I'm aware of in our coverage that possibly could be construed as "negative" about Moses came during Robinson's trial, which we covered.

In reporting on the trial, we included arguments from the defense, which argued the slaying occurred in self-defense. All those statements were attributed to Robinson's defense attorney.

Ignoring the defense arguments -- even if they painted the victim in a less-than-positive light -- would have made our story unfair and incomplete.