The last word from Marsha Smith Kern Valley Sun, Lake Isabella CA, and an anonymous phone call...

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha...

(It appears I will have to post my own comments which were sent to the Kern Valley Sun Website in response to what I call a "threat" and many others who have read it do as well.)

But first, I need to tell everyone that I got a call today, from someone who obviously wants to remain anonymous and sound scary.
This person left a message on my voice mail from telephone number: 0001234. Right, that's not a regular telephone number and was done on a computer.
The voice was synthesized making the person's voice unrecognizable.
The caller said, try to trace this call and get my identity. Then some other garbled gibberish.
At the end of the call we could hear a button pushed on a computer. So, here's the deal, people can find a way to remain hidden and make threatening calls. Watch out for this yourselves, as grifters, (not just people threatening reporters), prey upon people using techniques just like this one. Never give out information over the phone, always ask for a number to call them back.

Now, I ask, did this caller, read the Kern Valley Sun website? Was this person inspired by the statement, "I think somebody should shut her up for good, " on the website in anyway?

These are questions asked in journalism classes as well as law schools all around the nation.

And websites, like the Kern Valley Sun, can choose to keep a veiled threat or any other offensive material up based on their own judgement because of the right to free speech.

Now we see what sort of judgement the Sun uses and likely no other person in this valley will see their name up their like mine.
If you look thru the site posts, you will notice that this type of comment is nowhere else to be found. And certainly, any reasonable person would agree it sounds like a threat.

But what they did on the website which makes things more like a power play, is they would not post any other posts I sent except the three where I give them a taste of their own medicine and copy/pasted the original threat with all three of their names on it to see what they would do. (Cathy Perfect, Marsha Smith, and Susan Barr)

But the Sun has chosen to end the string on their blog with a statement from Marsha Smith, the Publisher of the Kern Valley Sun, in regards to my comedic comeback:

hypocrisy fighter1 wrote on Jul 17, 2009 11:19 AM:
" It seems to me that Susan Barr, perhaps, misconscrewbulated her article on the new CEO's actual report. Therefore...and I think someone should "shut her up for good!" " "

Enigma wrote on Jul 17, 2009 11:16 AM:
" the editor of this article, did not correct the mistakes in spelling or content, Cathy Perfect, so...and I think someone should "shut her up for good!" " "

puerilism 1 wrote on Jul 17, 2009 11:13 AM:
" I think Marsha Smith has done a poor job allowing salamanderisms in the paper... and I think someone should "shut her up for good!" " "

Publisher wrote on Jul 17, 2009 3:25 PM:
" Sorry. Neither Cathy, Susan, nor I can 'shut up for good'. It is our job and commitment to publish a newspaper, doing so requires words. We fully intend to keep our commitment to the community. No one is forced to read or view any media. It's like TV - if you don't like it, change the channel. "

My response never posted:
Well, Marsha, that sounded strange, but I guess the game is to control your website, by leaving out my other explanatory posts. Mine was a joke about all of you. I can't shut up either. Nor will I as long as there is no support for the truth or integrity from your newspaper. You can only control your website and paper. You won't find threats on my blog. Just my schedule of events. But you can't control my blogs. Or the truth. Say hi to Barbara Casas for me. And watch the blog. Newspaper vs. blogger.

Coming up Next: But Marsha makes a point about the media I'm about to take up in two other articles, which should be up soon. She says if you don't like the channel change it.

Welcome to the Kern River Valley where there are only two channels which represent themselves as "news": The Kern Valley Sun Newspaper, and QAB, the only radio station in town.

And I will argue that there is no coverage in Bakersfield or Ridgecrest that could be construed as the news of the valley with the exception of car crashes and weather.

The Kern Valley Sun is welcome to respond to any of these posts, but then they have a whole newspaper and website of their own to use to cover this story. But feel free to write me, just don't make any threats. LOL
The original threat:

The Truth wrote on Jul 15, 2009 12:36 AM:
" Everything seems to be working well at the Healthcare District except one item: Laura Hart spends too much of the District's time re-hashing old news and making libellous remarks at Board Meetings, about Board Members. I think the community is getting tired of her gaining attention for telling lies and making inuendos about people, and I think someone should "shut her up for good!" "

What I would have done in the Sun's place, no matter what my personal issues with the person are, I would have pulled it and turned the name of the person over to the police. The end. And I would be doing my duty to "all of the community," not just the people whom I like or who advertise with me. Laura Hart

422. Any person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, orby means of an electronic communication device, is to be taken as athreat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out,which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made,is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for his or her own safety or for his or her immediate family's safety, shall be punishedby imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison.