SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – A veteran Sacramento Bee sports reporter was fired because he hid the fact that he did not file a story about a San Francisco Giants’ game from the ballpark where the team was playing, his editor said Wednesday.

Sports Editor Armando Acuna also said that reporter Jim Van Vliet included old, unattributed quotes from other news outlets in his story about the Giants’ Aug. 6 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Pacific Bell Park.

Van Vliet watched the game on television from another location, Acuna said in an announcement that was printed on the front page of Wednesday’s sports section.

“We took this action because we value our credibility and integrity,” he said.

“The story violated basic journalistic values and ethics as practiced by The Bee,” the statement said.

It said the paper “regrets the situation and apologizes to its readers.”

Acuna said Van Vliet worked at the paper for 34 years, starting as a high school correspondent.

Van Vliet said he was “disappointed, obviously” but couldn’t comment further. “I hope you understand that I am not at liberty to say all the things I would like to say,” he said.

AP-ES-08-20-03 2006EDT