Mountain Enterprise
Encyclopedia
The Mountain Enterprise is a weekly newspaper circulating in the Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass in the Tehachapi Mountains
region of California
, midway between Los Angeles
and Bakersfield
. Its sister publication is The New Mountain Pioneer, published monthly.
In April of 2011, The Mountain Enterprise won the California Newspaper Publishers Association (CNPA) 2010 First Place award for Best Website and First Place for Online Coverage.
2010
In April of 2010, The Mountain Enterprise won the California Newspaper Publishers Association (CNPA) First Place award for Best Website and First Place in Public Service for its 2009 ongoing coverage of a remote community's struggle to obtain firefighter-paramedic service.
2009
The newspaper won awards from the National Newspaper Association on July 10 for (1) a series of investigative reports on the starvation of horses in Lockwood Valley
(second place), (2) reporting on the struggle by Pine Mountain Club
residents to secure Kern County's first firefighter-paramedic program (third place), (3) editorial writing about the newspaper's public-service responsibility in "The Stinkin' Public and Our School District's Brain Drain," by Patric Hedlund (honorable mention), and (4) an environmental story headed "Secret Negotiation between Tejon
Developers and 'Big Green' Groups Sprouts Deal" (third place).
2007
On July 14, the newspaper was given three awards for excellence by the California Newspaper Publishers Association
, including first place for environmental reporting, first place for a newspaper website, and second place for public-service reporting.
for its coverage of a controversy regarding the destruction of heritage oak trees during the construction of a new Frazier Park county library. A jury committee said a "lack of communication" was responsible for the controversy and blamed that circumstance on "the people of the area and their newspaper, " adding that the Enterprise news articles "appear to be inaccurate and/or inadequately researched." In an editorial, Meyer and Hedlund wrote that the jury made no attempt to contact them before issuing the report, which, they said, "attacks the citizens and the newspaper . . . with statements that are shocking in their shallowness.
Tehachapi Mountains
The Tehachapi Mountains , regionally also called The Tehachapis, are a mountain range in the Transverse Ranges system of California in the Western United States...
region of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, midway between Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and Bakersfield
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....
. Its sister publication is The New Mountain Pioneer, published monthly.
History
The Enterprise was founded in 1966 by Nedra Hawley Cooper, whose first editions were produced on a blue Royal typewriter. In November 2006 the ownership was taken over by Patric Hedlund, Gary Meyer, and Pam Sturdevant under the name of Hometown Publishing, LLC. It is today published in a tabloid format of about 36 pages weekly.Awards
2011In April of 2011, The Mountain Enterprise won the California Newspaper Publishers Association (CNPA) 2010 First Place award for Best Website and First Place for Online Coverage.
2010
In April of 2010, The Mountain Enterprise won the California Newspaper Publishers Association (CNPA) First Place award for Best Website and First Place in Public Service for its 2009 ongoing coverage of a remote community's struggle to obtain firefighter-paramedic service.
2009
The newspaper won awards from the National Newspaper Association on July 10 for (1) a series of investigative reports on the starvation of horses in Lockwood Valley
Lockwood Valley, California
Lockwood Valley is an unincorporated community in Ventura County, California, and part of the Mountain Communities. It lies at an elevation of 4,839 feet .....
(second place), (2) reporting on the struggle by Pine Mountain Club
Pine Mountain Club, California
Pine Mountain Club is an unincorporated private community and census-designated place in Kern County, California, northwest of the San Fernando Valley and west of Gorman. It is one of the mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass, and sits in a deep valley on the San Andreas fault, in the same area...
residents to secure Kern County's first firefighter-paramedic program (third place), (3) editorial writing about the newspaper's public-service responsibility in "The Stinkin' Public and Our School District's Brain Drain," by Patric Hedlund (honorable mention), and (4) an environmental story headed "Secret Negotiation between Tejon
Tejon Ranch
The Tejon Ranch Company , based in Lebec, California, is one of the largest private landowners in California. [The federally-gifted lands still held by the Catellus Corporation, a successor to the Southern Pacific Land Company, are much more extensive.] It was incorporated in 1936 to organise the...
Developers and 'Big Green' Groups Sprouts Deal" (third place).
2007
On July 14, the newspaper was given three awards for excellence by the California Newspaper Publishers Association
California Newspaper Publishers Association
The California Newspaper Publishers Association is a nonprofit trade association founded in 1888 that represents the daily and weekly newspapers of California. Its diverse membership consists of over 500 newspapers that elect 35 individuals to its governing board of directors...
, including first place for environmental reporting, first place for a newspaper website, and second place for public-service reporting.
Controversy
In December 2010 the newspaper was the target of criticism by the Kern County Grand JuryGrand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
for its coverage of a controversy regarding the destruction of heritage oak trees during the construction of a new Frazier Park county library. A jury committee said a "lack of communication" was responsible for the controversy and blamed that circumstance on "the people of the area and their newspaper, " adding that the Enterprise news articles "appear to be inaccurate and/or inadequately researched." In an editorial, Meyer and Hedlund wrote that the jury made no attempt to contact them before issuing the report, which, they said, "attacks the citizens and the newspaper . . . with statements that are shocking in their shallowness.