Nisqually Valley News (NVN) Publisher/Editor Keven Graves wrote an Op-Ed last Thursday about a call he made to me on Nov. 19th that omitted so many things, I am responding here publicly, as I “will not be his punching bag.”

1. Why did Steve Klein not call Mr. Graves to let him know of the Supreme Court accepting JZ Knight’s case against the city?

– The information was sent from the WA. Supreme Court to Yelm’s City Hall, because of the city’s status as a plaintiff in the appeal of the case.
– The Nisqually Valley News is the City of Yelm’s designated newspaper of record & should be informed of all news items of public record.
WHY did the city not inform the newspaper of this case?
And why did Mr. Graves not report in his Op-Ed what his city contacts told him upon questioning them on omitting him from the Court’s decision?

– JZ Knight & Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment issued no press release on this topic, so the newspaper received nothing from the School, however this news was posted on the WA. Supreme Court website, JZ Knight’s website & the Yelm Community Blog.

– I asked Mr. Graves about finding the Supreme Court case story on the Yelm Community Blog or JZ Knight’s website.
He stated he does not read them.
Yet, all of those links were on search engine alerts within minutes of posting.

2. I then asked Graves why he did see this story on search engines for Yelm.
He said he does not subscribe to that service, saying most of the links there would be from his newspaper.
I told him over the span of a week, a low percentage are from his paper, except on Friday’s when his online edition is published.
He said he gets tips from the community.

I thought – a local newspaper not getting search engine Alerts about Yelm, Rainier & Roy?
Hmmm! Wow, are his readers missing alot there every week.

3. I also mentioned to Mr. Graves that his city contacts let him down this time, those who always feed his paper when issues are on the city’s side, yet not when the city is not viewed so positively.
THAT should be noted, as the city’s actions speak volumes.

[For example: JZ Knight & Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment issued no press release on the Charles Napper case, where this man attempted to burglarize Ms. Knight, yet that was front page, top-of-fold news in Graves’ NVN.]
Further, Graves also asked me to change the Nov. 19th Blog entry to be fair to his newspaper, saying the paper did not know of the ruling. I did add an update at the bottom of that report to that affect.

4. Graves asked me to agree to call him when the School has news items.
I declined, telling him the School issues official Press Releases through a publicist in Los Angeles & he will continue to receive those.

– The Yelm Community Blog & this Blog host have been derided & held with utter disdain by Mr. Graves in public Op-Eds for 5 1/2 years. Graves will not even mention the Yelm Community Blog by name in his newspaper, using other adjectives to describe the site.

As for me supplying the NVN with news tips, why should I?
I have written Mr. Graves twice over the years asking if he would be willing to have a conversation about the NVN & Blog joining forces, like they do in so many other cities. That request enlisted a cold shoulder each time.
However, that offer still stands to this day.
And, Yelm.com is changing soon & many will want to get aboard.

BOTTOM LINE:
And last, at the end of our talk, I asked Mr. Graves if our conversation would end up in his newspaper or remain private.
He assured me the contents of the call he describes where he “flipped my lid” was private.
Well, so much for that, which I knew in advance from experience, as demonstrated by his similar, past actions – where he tells me our interactions are private & then turns-around and prints them.

Mr Graves cannot have it both ways –
treating me with contempt on the one hand,
& yet wanting me to call or e-mail him news-tips on the other.