Reader: I was surprised to find that, once
again, Planned Parenthood was omitted
from the list of health and wellness organi-
zations named in the Annual Edition of the
Kern Life Magazine.
For a magazine that claims to inform
Kern County residents of available servic-
es in their community, I find omitting
Planned Parenthood to be a huge disserv-
ice to those seeking a comprehensive list of
options. Perhaps if editors were aware that
the Bakersfield Planned Parenthood clinic
gets more than 33,000 visits a year, they
would not continue their huge mistake of
neglecting to mention this organization
committed to the health and wellness of
Kern County citizens. Or maybe the edi-
tors don’t know that Planned Parenthood is
active in providing a variety of services for
both men and women, ranging from STD
testing and treatment to breast exams.
While I doubt this consistent omission
has occurred by accident, I hope it has.
Otherwise I will no longer have confidence
in a newspaper and its associated maga-
zines, which claim to be the source of accu-
rate and complete information for their
readers.
—Amanda Whitney

Jenner: I can assure you the omission of
Planned Parenthood from the 2008 print
edition of Kern Life was not an intentional
slight or the result of political bias.
The fact that this has happened more
than once is embarrassing, but the omis-
sion was not intentional.
The organization is listed under Health
and Wellness Organizations on the Kern
Life Web site, www.kernlife.com, and will
be included in future editions.

Reader: I am very upset about the pref-
ace to the homeschooling section in Kern
needs to know that homeschooling IS legal
in California.
Yes, we are awaiting the results of a
court case; however, the Governor, Dis-
trict Attorney, and the State Superinten-
dent of Schools all support the right to
homeschool. In fact, all of them filed briefs
for the case in question, urging the court to
uphold the law as it stands. Furthermore,
the governor has stated that if the courts
do not protect the right to homeschool, the
legislature will.
According to Kern Life, you should “con-
tact the school district/Valley Oaks Char-
ter school to determine if your
homeschooling program is legal.” The
truth is, you do not need to do this. There is
no law that says so. The public schools
want to entice you to enroll your child into
their programs, so that they will receive
state funds. 
There are other legal ways for non-cre-
dentialed parents to homeschool. Parents
can file a simple form online, or they can
enroll their children in a private school’s
satellite program, which provides over-
sight, support, testing, activities and more.
If you want more information about
homeschooling, Christian homeschool sup-
port groups, or preschool at home, contact
me, at mentormom@bak.rr.com. Don’t be
scared away from homeschooling by the
legal mumbo-jumbo. Homeschooling is
legal for non-credentialed parents.
— Susan Lemons

Jenner: The last sentence of the home-
schooling section mentioned the court rul-
ing that said the right to homeschool was
not guaranteed by the constitution. Kern
Life Editor Jennifer Baldwin "agrees that
while it’s an accurate statement, if taken
out of context the sentence could give
potential homeschoolers the wrong
impression. She’s deleted it from the Web
 illegal immigrants. It is commonly under-
stood in our society that the typical illegal
immigrant is a poor and downtrodden per-
son from Mexico or Central America. Con-
sider the fact that the vast majority of this
“demographic”is legal.
This particular article appears to be
openly biased, it was not thoroughly
researched, and it seems to manipulate
the two leaders’ opinions. With this partic-
ular type of article, the only major news-
paper in the southern San Joaquin Valley
appears to be influencing the public to
wrongly believe that illegal immigrants
cause Kern County to be a dump and
hopeless. Please, consider that illegal
immigration has complex causes and
effects. Illegal immigrants are a fabric of
our society. They are exploited. They take
advantage of what they can; no different
from others.
The consequence of this kind of journal-
ism is the promotion of negative attitudes,
including blaming, division, ill-will, all of
which can lead to hate and hurtful actions
at individual and community levels.
The people of Kern County, both legal
and illegal, need people like you to help us
all to be problem solvers and creative
thinkers of good will. Illegal immigrants
are not thecounty’s problem; they are one
part of the many serious problems we face.
All of us, every single human being who
lives and works in Kern County, are the
problem as well as the solution. Let us be
part of the solution, and not part of the
problem.
— Armando Apraicio

Jenner: I do agree that we have a
responsibility to look for solutions to help
our community. But we also have a respon-
sibility to identify the problems.
It’s neither divisive nor biased to look at
Kern’s demographics to try to understand
“I understand this is also an emotional
issue for many people and that seems to be
the case with this letter writer. But I was
looking at it from a purely economical
point of view.
“I do believe the vast majority of illegal
immigrants are here to work and that they
don’t come here to live on welfare. But the
truth is, they are also poor, uneducated and
have a more difficult time climbing the
economic ladder, leading to a permanent
underclass.
“Ignoring illegal immigration’s impact
on poverty or deeming it too politically
sensitive to study will do nothing to help us
find solutions.”

Reader: Your Monday, July 28, 2008
article “DA’s control of crime lab raises
questions,” included a sidebar that “Crime
labs around the country have had trouble.”
This letter is to correct a misimpression
created in the final bullet point in that side-
bar. That bullet reads, “In 2002, a San Jose
Police Department detective described the
use of ruse crime lab reports ‘standard
procedure.’ The crime lab is a division of
the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s
office.”
The ruse crime lab report was created and
utilized by a San Jose Police Department
detective unbeknownst and unauthorized by
anyone at the Santa Clara County District
Attorney’s Office or the crime lab. To the
extent the use of phony crime lab reports
was a “standard procedure,” it was a prac-
tice that was not and never has been author-
ized by the Santa Clara County District
Attorney’s Office or its Crime Laboratory.
It should also be noted that the mistakes
made by the investigator, who failed to
mark the report as a ruse, and our prosecu-
tor, who failed to recognize this, would
have carried no more or less significance
 the country. In this case since it was the
San Jose Police Department that wrote a
phony crime lab report and the crime lab
did nothing wrong, the listing shouldn’t
have been included.

Reader: While there is much to cause
one misery in reading/viewing/hearing
both the local, national, and worldwide
news (especially with our own Kern Coun-
ty special brand of demagogues/looney
tunes), just viewing the photographs on
your “Tails” page(s) in the paper gives one
Happy Thoughts. 
Please continue to publish the “Tails”
pictures and make them one complete
page every day and two pages on Sunday.
Whoever on your staff thought of this idea
deserves congratulations, a huge bonus
and a huge raise!
—Janette McFarland

Jenner: The space we devote depends on
the volume of pet photos submitted, but the
feature’s longevity depends on how long it
remains popular with pet owners and with
readers like you. Thanks for the kind note.
Reader: I just had to send a quick review
of the recipe for “Slowcooker pulled pork
sandwiches” from Wednesday’s paper. I
made this dish for dinner tonight and it
was amazing. My only comments were that
even on “low” it seemed that the meat was
drying out so I mixed the sauce again,
minus the cider vinegar and added it about
half way through.
The red pepper flakes made the dish a
bit hot for this wimp, so I put mayo and
sliced avocado on my toasted bun to cut the
heat. If there had been any room left in my
stomach I might have had seconds — like
my hubby did. Great meal!