Reader: Outstanding article! I want
you to know how very much I appreciated
the first-person article on officerinvolved
shootings that ran last Sunday
and Monday.
Felix Doligosa did an excellent job of
portraying his personal experiences. He
apparently tried very hard to place himself
into the role and capture what a
person feels and experiences.
I would say from my own experiences
that it is impossible to describe the
range of emotions that an individual
goes through after these events. It is an
amazing rush of adrenaline and always
a life changing experience, not unlike
what is experienced by military combat
troops.
I don’t know anyone who has shed the
blood of another human that isn’t
impacted. My first shooting was more
than 38 years ago. Not a detail has left
my mind — the date, the time, the
address, the suspect’s name, the victim’s
name — it is burned into my brain forever.
I really appreciated this effort.
Thanks.

— Riley Parker, CPI, CFS,
Parker & Associates Professional
Investigations

■ ■ ■
Reader: This is in response to columnist
Lois Henry’s Sept. 18 comments
regarding Assemblywoman Nicole
Parra.
Henry wrote: The most memorable
piece of legislation Nicole championed,
extending Megan’s Law, “was handed to
you by the Democratic leadership in
order to make you look ‘tough on crime’
so you could fend off challenges to your
seat.”
During my four-year term as sheriff of
Kern County, Nicole Parra always made
time to hear the concerns and needs of
law enforcement. In May of each year,
all 58 elected sheriffs of California traveled
to Sacramento to meet with legislators
and the governor concerning the
needs of law enforcement in California.
During the time we were attempting to
extend Megan’s Law and pass Jessica’s
Law. Assemblywoman Parra left a meeting
more than once to hear our concerns.
I remember when she took several
of the sheriffs back into a hearing
with her to make sure she got it right
when she pushed for a vote. In my opinion,
no other legislator did more than
Nicole to assist law enforcement. She
always returned calls.
She put herself on the line and went
beyond the call of duty many times to
assist law enforcement and the communities
they serve. Because of her
efforts the California State Sheriffs’
Association voted her Legislator of The
Year. Her work with law enforcement
around the state went unnoticed by
most and she never publicized the fact
that she worked so hard behind the
scenes to make a safe environment for
the citizens of California. The elected
sheriffs of California will not forget.

— Mack Wimbish

■ ■ ■
Reader: I really like what you do with
Sound Off.
Unfortunately, sometimes the inputs
from your readers don’t seem to belong
there. Case in point — last Sunday
(Sept. 21) a reader expressed herself at
some length mostly about gay marriage.
One may agree or disagree with her
views but it seems to me that her comments
belong in Letters to the Editor or
Community Voices rather than Sound
Off, where I expect “criticisms and compliments
or ... questions about news
overage.” Maybe I misunderstand the
intent of this feature.

— Gino LaMarca

Jenner: This column is intended to
deal with comments and criticism
regarding coverage.
The letter you refer to ran in Sound
Off because it was written in response
to a letter published here. But you’re
right; the second letter probably was
more appropriate for the letters to the
editor section.

■ ■ ■
Reader: I noticed the disclaimer at
the bottom of Marylee Shrider’s excellent
column exposing the Harvey Milk
Day fiasco. Does The Californian support
the bill, AB 2567, to require schools
to set aside a day to recognize gays and
lesbians? If so, cancel my subscription.
Thank you very much,

— Paul B. Homer

Jenner: No, The Californian hasn’t
taken a position supporting that bill.
The disclaimer at the bottom of
Marylee’s column appears with the work
of every Californian columnist. We
began running them simply to help
remind readers that the
columnists aren’t
speaking for the editorial
board or the
paper. That doesn’t
necessarily mean the position of the
columnist differs from the ed board’s.

■ ■ ■
Reader: I’m calling about a letter that
was in the Opinion section Sept. 20.
There’s profanity in that letter. I have no
idea why you’re printing profanity in a
public newsletter unless this is something
that society has degenerated to. I
strongly hope that this is not true of
your newspaper. I sincerely hope that
it’s been overlooked and I do not want
to see it in my newspaper again.
Thank you.

— Hal Williams

Editorial Page Editor Dianne Hardisty
responds: “Your complaint caused me
to rush back to Saturday’s Opinion section.
Oh my, what did we let slip
through? Hal wasn’t specific about the
word that so offended him. Was it ‘oil’ or
‘scam’ in the headline of the first letter
complaining about gas prices? Certainly
some have characterized the situation
as ‘obscene.’ It couldn’t be the nice note
of thanks; nothing profane about that.
Maybe you was talking about Lloyd
Lagace’s light-hearted letter in which he
observed that he loved ‘being an old
fart.’ If ‘fart’ is the ‘profane’ word that so
upset you, then I beg to differ with your
definition. ‘Fart’ is an embarrassing
escape of gas — a loud noise and bad
smell. But it’s hardly profane.”

■ ■ ■
Reader: I just wanted to say in regard
to the person a week or so ago who was
writing in about the Weather report
being printed the length of the page. I
agree with that person. It’s much easier
to read when it goes crossways across
the page. The eye doesn’t seem to want
to go down the page when the letters are
quite small.
Also, back to the crime report, which I
complained about the new setup. It
seems like if you could make the map a
little bit bigger, then perhaps you could
show more street names on there. What
I liked before was how you pinpointed
on the map where the event occurred.
I know you do put the names of the
streets, but that doesn’t help unless you
know the names of the streets in that
area, which I don’t. Also, like I said, it
was great on the old system where you
pinpointed on the map where the crime
happened. If you could show some
street names up in the area of Beat 14
that would be really helpful.
Thank you.
 

Jenner: We changed the orientation
of the Weather page from a horizontal
half-page to a vertical half-page simply
because that allowed us to use the space
more efficiently and we could fit more
data into the package.
Likewise, the new crime map presentation
is more efficient, but I do understand
the interest in more street names.
I’ll ask our graphics experts to see what
we can do.

■ ■ ■
Reader: I recently completed a onemonth
work assignment in Kern County
installing new electric meters for
PG&E. During this time I read your
paper almost every day and found it to
be far superior to my hometown publication,
the Contra Costa Times.
Your in-depth coverage of local news
and issues were outstanding. If more
newspapers were run like yours, there
wouldn’t be a declining readership
problem. Keep up the good work.

— Mike Walko

Jenner: Thanks for the nice note. Ever
thought about relocating?

■ ■ ■
Reader: As a faithful reader of The
Californian and frequent traveler, I was
disappointed with the recent change in
the world weather chart. In reducing its
size, you eliminated notable cities like
Johannesburg. My analysis indicates
the chart now includes 12 European
cities, seven from Asia, five from Mexico,
four from South America, three from
Canada, three from the Middle East,
one from Australia, and one from
Northern Africa (Cairo). Basically, you
have ignored an important continent
that is of interest to some of us who
travel overseas.
I doubt that you intentionally slighted
this politically important part of the
world, but how about a bit more balance?

— John E. Corson

Jenner: No, it wasn’t intentional. And
we can reconsider the spread of world
cities, but any additions we make to
Africa will reduce the number allotted
to the rest of the world.

■ ■ ■
Reader: A huge thank you to all of you
at The Californian for Tails of Bakersfield.
Not only was it very entertaining,
it also helped all of the organizations
supporting homeless animals in Kern
County. We appreciate your support
and hope you will do this feature again
sometime in the future.
Thank you all again,

— Vicki Eick, Friends of The Kern County
Animal Shelters Foundation