At the moment, there are evidently a number of Amador Unified School District administrators and faculty members who are angry with me for doing investigative work on hate crimes at Amador High School. They're also upset at Ledger Dispatch publisher Jack Mitchell for supporting my right to do so.

These individuals have every right to their opinions. Some teachers and students are concerned that the stories are giving the entire school a bad name. To this I say go back and read the articles. Nothing of the sort was ever implied. Any reader who comes to the conclusion that the actions of a few students might reflect the personalities of forty teachers and 900 kids who go to Amador High, has reached that idea through such a fantastic way of thinking that it doesn't even merit a comment, much less a defense, from the Ledger Dispatch.   

Most of the criticism I've personally heard has come from a small circle of friends who are employed at the highest levels of ACUSD and all live in the same neighborhood in Sutter Creek. Given that these same people adamantly refused to do a real investigation of their own into the hate crimes, despite all the evidence in front of them, their criticism of the newspaper is hardly surprising. 

However, when a respected teacher like Christopher Tootle suggests our coverage is "one-sided," and when ACUSD athletic director Kevin Neville suggests that there are issues with "the facts" of our coverage, and when his wife and current ACUSD Personnel Director Nina Neville claims the stories are flat-out "inaccurate" and haven't allowed the district to tell "it's side of the story," then I think these educators need a refresher course on the definition of what a fact is. A fact, according to Webster's, is "a statement of verified information about something that is the case or has happened."

For example, it is a fact that an anti-Semitic message was put on Justin Zysman's football locker in the fall of 2007. There are pictures of it. It is also a fact that Amador High School's principal Alan Van Velzen admitted in an interview with the Ledger Dispatch that his staff allowed this message to remain on the locker for "a long period of time." It is also a fact that on the day of that interview, Van Velzen had photographs of other swastikas and anti-Jewish slurs that had been spray painted around Amador's campus (a janitor was present in his office when he showed them to me). It's a fact that the principal's regret and concern about this vandalism was clearly stated in both Ledger Dispatch articles. It's also a fact that Amador High School bought Justin Zysman a new set of gym clothes after someone urinated on the clothes in his locker.  

How about some more of those inconvenient facts? It's a fact that I personally met with ACUSD Superintendent Dick Glock on three occasions about the Zysman investigation before anything was written. I hand-delivered a transcript of my interview with the Zysman family to Glock and Mary Walser a full two weeks before the story ran, so they would have proper time to speak with their staff and investigate what the family was saying. Claims by Glock, Walser and company that the district didn't get to tell its side of the story are beyond disingenuous. It's a fact that on June 29, 2009, deputies from the Amador County Sheriff's Offices responded to Payless Market in Pioneer after being alerted that two juveniles were confronting Justin Zysman and his mother - reportedly yelling anti-Semitic slurs and doing the Hitler salute. It's a fact that deputies filed an incident report that compelled the Amador County District Attorney's Office and Amador County Probation Department to get involved. 

 It's a fact that the school district hired an independent investigator named Winston Pingrey to investigate Glock for comments he allegedly made about Justin Zysman and his entire family. I have a copy of a letter from an ACUSD attorney that references this investigation. Now, I'll take a break and interject an opinion. Tax payers who think Pingrey's investigation must have somehow exonerated Glock in that matter, because no action was taken against him by the school board, should probably keep in mind that the district had refused to release a copy of Pingrey's report to the public. And they should also keep in mind that Pingrey himself is a school board member in a neighboring small county.   

Now, back to the facts. It's a fact that as recently as Nov. 3 a swastika, as well as the word "Jew," was discovered etched into Justin Zysman's desk. Again, there are photographs. It's also a fact that Sutter Creek Police Chief Rob Duke said publicly that he was launching an investigation into the matter. For those tracking media involvement, it's a fact that CBS affiliate KOVR 13 News in Sacramento has aired two stories on Justin Zysman. Channel 31's "Good Day Sacramento" has also aired a story. The Sacramento Bee has indicated it may be covering the Zysman story soon. The claim that the Ledger Dispatch is the only news organization interested in covering hate crimes at Amador High is patently false. It just happens to be the one that spent the money, time and resources breaking the story before any other agencies. 

There are dozens of allegations, opinions and rumors surrounding the Zysman case. An incident this week, when an Amador High School teacher reportedly allowed students to discuss Zyman's pending lawsuit in class - right in front of Zysman - allegedly sparked a confrontation between the teenager and faculty members that will add even more rumors and opinions on both sides of the controversy. Stated above are the known facts of the case. They are indisputable. The Ledger Dispatch will let its readers decide what they mean.