All calls are edited for length and content. Due to content some calls may not be published. Please limit your calls to two minutes or less. Repeat messages on the same subject adding to the length will not be published. Some weeks, due to the number of calls and space, some may not be published.
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A man who left his phone number and address said, “the apartment complex that I live in has threatened to throw me out in three days if I don’t pay a $600 pet deposit because they saw a stray cat on my outdoor patio.”

A woman “wanted to comment on the man who mentioned the 15 items or less line” in last week’s Red Line. She said a grocery outlet “on Howard Road is one of the biggest offenders.” She stated a personal incident when, in the express lane, a person had many more items and “paid by personal check. When I informed the cashier they said I should see the manager.”

A woman “gave kudos to the city of Madera for opening up the hazardous waste center. That’s the good thing, “ she said. “Now a bad thing.” She is worried about “what’s going to happen to all the traffic. The building (projects) seems to have no rhyme or reason. It would really be good if they try to improve some of the traffic patterns.”

“People of Madera, wake up,” began a male caller. “Our city has become a sanctuary city for illegal aliens. It is very evident in the way the police department; government leaders, the school district and businesses conduct themselves. Illegal aliens involved in a traffic accident are given a citation in which they never appear in court. According to the law, they should be arrested and turned over to the border patrol. Our law enforcement is turning its head and not enforcing laws that we the people enacted.” However, the caller added, “the legal aliens that are here deserve the same right as citizens.” In conclusion he added, “Madera is a sanctuary for illegals. No wonder nobody shops Madera.”

Several phone calls were received again this week concerning the “cutting of benefits and pay for city employees.” A man suggested, “we should elect the city manager, just as we do our city council members. He should be elected to a four-year term and hopefully we would get a better slate of candidates.”

Another female caller said, “a few years ago, the city department I was working in was having a lot of problem with the director. She micro-managed everything. Our best efforts were never recognized and when something good happened she took all the credit. Some people told the current city administrator, Mr. Tooley, about our problem. He came over, made one visit and had us waste over a hundred hours on developing a new mission statement for the department. This was done under the direction of the director we were having a problem with. David Tooley did nothing to solve the problem, and though he promised, it has been years and he has not returned or visited the department or staff since.”

Another male caller mentioned, “morale is at an all time low with city workers thanks to the efforts of the city administrator. He sits in his office, goes to work in his fancy sports car, and ignores the people who do the real work for the people of the city. The ones you see out fixing streets, water mains, mowing in the parks, and creating activities for the people. Yes, people of Madera, there’s your city taxes at work.”

A woman said, “I think there should be an investigation by the Grand Jury into the elections department.” She said, “we, too, were county voters, absentee voters and never received one thing about the recent election. When calling they really had no excuse for it. The Grand Jury needs to look into this. Maybe they don’t want the farmers to vote in the MID election.”

“Congratulations to Bakersfield,” began an all too frequent male caller. He said that city’s council “voted a pittance of money to apply for a state grant to start up the mandatory curbside recycling. Bakersfield,” he claimed “was going to charge $4 dollars, while Madera is charging $5.32. I guess we have more recycling needed. Congratulations Bakersfield,” he concluded. “You made a good decision.”

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A visitor to our online site www.maderatribuneredline.com wrote, “What a shame that you will not be able to read the Tribune online anymore. Being a former resident of Madera, I am always interest in what is going on with my hometown. Now living in Oregon, I won’t be able to read the news unless I pay for it — wow, not surprising for the Tribune to make a change.”

Another visitor wrote, “I’m disappointed that there will soon be a charge for the use of the Trib online site. It was nice to keep up on folks I used to know and to find out how the town I used to live in is doing. … This woman from Pittsburgh, PA will be sad to see my free access to the goings on in Madera end.”

A person wrote, “Hopefully with your new site it will contain everything that the paper has for that day including classifieds. Maybe try reporting or have a section on progress the city is making in regards to the shopping malls, new housing, the casino, and other things that could change our lives when living in Madera. Right now The Madera Tribune is an OK newspaper, but not a great paper. Best of luck.”

One visitor wrote, “How could I get a holocaust survivor to come to speak, how the gangs were when they were in the situation they were in? See most of these children are doing most things they do not understand. They think gangs are cool, but they cannot see what is the worst part about that. … I think this would be very important, maybe to help the children and older teen to understand… maybe even the whole community.”

One Web site visitor commented, “I live in Colorado, but I still like to keep up on the news in the valley since it affects my family in the area. But I will lose that ability once maderatribune.com becomes a pay site. I agree with Jim. I will switch to the (free) Fresno Bee (Web site) once this happens.”

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Thank you for your comments. Remember, the Red Line is open for your messages 24-hours a day by calling 674-4478 or visiting www.madeartribuneredline.com.

In response to recent comments regarding my announcement of the coming change to our main Web site.

Our main Web site (www.maderatribune.com) is intentionally not updated at the moment, but up until the most recent two months it was updated daily. During that time the news was deliberately delayed by a day so as not to compete with the print edition of the newspaper. Occasionally Web site glitches would delay it longer.

The new upcoming Web site is with a professional service that handles subscription news sites for many newspapers. Because it is not a free site it will be published with the same regularity and timeliness as the printed edition of the newspaper. Whether online or not, paid subscribers have a right to expect us to fulfill our obligations to them. We have, and will continue to do so, to the best of our ability regardless of changes in technology along the way.

And yes, features such as the advice columns, horoscopes, daily comics, television schedules, classified advertising and so on will be included in the online newspaper.

Thank you for comments.

All calls are edited for length and content. Due to content some calls may not be published. Please limit your calls to two minutes or less. Repeat messages on the same subject adding to the length will not be published. Some weeks, due to the number of calls and space, some may not be published.
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“The joke of the millennium,” claimed a male caller,” is that global warming is a threat. Any anthropologist knows there are warming cycles every 125 years regarding the western United States.” He compared “leading scientists of today,” predicting global warming with “the leading scientists of the 15th century who said the world is flat.”

A man who was “reading this morning’s paper (Saturday) about the new commons at the fairgrounds,” said it was “understandable when the CEO doesn’t even live in Madera. He lives in Clovis. Why don’t him and the fair board sell off the rest of the fairgrounds and make the whole thing commercial. They’ve already gotten rid of the BMX track. They don’t care about the fair. All they’re thinking about is the almighty dollar.”

A lady “noticed people parking over the drain hole at Madera Hospital. I did the same when I spent the night there and was given a citation with a notice that my car would be towed. Parking over the drain hole does not block anything,” she continued. “If they don’t want people parking there they should mark it, no ‘parking’.”

A woman who “lately has been having to drive at night,” had a concern with “people who do not know how to drive with their low beams on. They drive constantly with their high beams on. You blink your lights at them and they don’t even know what that means. It is awfully annoying.”

A man had a “pet peeve that really bothers him and concerns” about two local chain grocery stores and their express lanes. “When are the stores going to get a backbone and enforce this rule (15 items or less, cash or ATM)? So many of us stand in line while somebody with more than 15 items and the checker never says anything. Three cheers for the checker who said, ‘which 15 items do you want to buy?’ They don’t enforce it. We stand there. It is just plain wrong. If other people feel as I do please call in and support what I am saying. If you’re not going to support it, just tell the stores to take the signs down.”

A male caller said, “there’s no excuse, in these times, for the paper to run a headline, ‘Black Home run king indicted.’ (Note: the headline was intended to be “Home run king indicted;” the word “black” was handwritten beside a printed copy of the page as an instruction to use the “black” Helvetica font rather than the “bold” style. The correction request being misunderstood resulted in the silly headline) I don’t remember anything like that when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s record.”

A gentleman had this to say about “the property located at the 16200 block of north Schnoor, between Avenue 16 and Avenue 17. It is in despicable condition. All that junk, isn’t there a city or county code to have it cleaned up. I am just appalled. It is a reflection on our city. I expect code enforcement to do something about it.”

A woman suggested, “(Gordon) Skeels is on the Tribune’s payroll. Why else should we be subject to his long rambling letters week after week? They are not interesting and serve no purpose other than he wants the attention.” She mentioned others that have written letters and commented, “they write interesting letters. Give us a break, enough is enough.”

A lady who “recently moved into a house on Schnoor Avenue was quite surprised the speed limit has changed. Now it is like 55 to 75 miles per hour.” She called the police department, “but they said the speed limit hadn’t changed. There are no cops giving tickets. It is ridiculous, the speeding that goes down this street. I am sick and tired of the speeding and the Madera cops won’t do anything about it.”

Another caller asked “the cops (to) patrol Yosemite around 7:30 (in the morning). There are many speeders and they need to learn a lesson before they hit a student going to school crossing Yosemite.”

“I thought Madera had a beautification program,” wondered a woman. “The alley between North G and H is a mess and full of trash. It is right down toward the new city hall. If anyone is moving here from Carmel or Beverly Hills they would think it was disgusting.”

A male caller was pleased after he received his flu shot. “Hats off to the Madera County Health Department. I went to the Pan-American Center and got my flu shot. It was well organized, and that R.N., Mrs. Sibley, is an angel. Thank you, Madera.”

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Thank you for your calls. Remember, the Red Line is open for your messages 24-hours a day by calling 674-4478 or visiting www.maderatribuneredline.com.

The main Web site of The Madera Tribune ( www.maderatribune.com ) will be going through a significant change within a few weeks as we shift from our current free online publication to a subscription-only news site. This change is being made, in part, because we realized months ago that it wasn’t cost-effective to keep the main site updated daily for free. However, this Red Line site (www.maderatribuneredline.com) will continue as a free online public forum for the city and county of Madera.

All calls are edited for length and content. Due to content some calls may not be published. Please limit your calls to two minutes or less. Repeat messages on the same subject adding to the length will not be published. Some weeks, due to the number of calls and space, some may not be published.
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A woman called about “the city of Madera water billing.” She wanted “to know why the paying procedure was not updated so you pay the bill online and avoid that long line. In this day of age of computers,” she suggested Madera gets up to date.

“I hope all the citizens of Madera don’t get all burnt out on Christmas,” said a gentleman. “All the stores are painted up and it’s only November. It ruins Christmas when they are put so far in advance.”

A man who “is a homeowner in front of the high school,” called to say he was “getting tired of picking up trash all around his home. Is there any way,” he asked, “if you could get these kids on a weekend to clean up and pickup the trash. I recently saw two girls tearing apart a newspaper and just throwing the pieces on the lawn. I don’t understand. There is a lot of trash all around the high school.”

A gentleman called “about Madera South High being in the football playoffs.” He was “just wondering what happened to all the lessons learned in team sports. How in the world, when a team is 0 and 10, is it even considered for the playoff? What, are we worried about their self-esteem? Lets get serious about this. What does it say to those teams that have worked so hard to get the nice record so they can qualify for the playoffs? Let’s start teaching kids about life’s lessons.”

A man called concerning “the lady who complained about Mr. Emo’s Musings, calling him a draft dodger.” The caller said, “I know Mr. Emo well, and have for many years. I think it is important for the lady to know that when he was called up during the war he did serve. Please quit picking on the man if you don’t know him any better than that.”

Another caller said, “Although I enjoy almost every one of them, Mr. Emo’s column for Veterans Day was the best he has done in a long while. It is too bad that the paper continued the last and best few lines to a hard to find spot on another page.”

A man wanted to “know why it takes the losers so long to take down their political signs. Maybe that is why they’re losers,” he concluded.

A male caller was concerned about traffic “on (Highway) 99, between Fresno to Madera. People drive like idiots. And where are the cops? You never see the Highway Patrol stopping anybody.”

“It was fun,” said a woman concerning “the KMPH 26 early morning show last week. All of the staff interviewed did their own thing and that made it entertaining. Bill Coate,” she said, “should be a standup comedian.”

“The election is over,” said a gentleman and “concerned citizen of Madera County. “It’s amazing how three of the candidates, supported by that one tax payer’s group, failed to take down their campaign signs while the others, you don’t see theirs, and here it is Saturday morning.”

A woman was “very concerned about the (pedestrian) crosswalks from Courthouse Park to the County Government Center,” said a woman. “Sometimes you can’t see people because of the trees planted in the median. I’m afraid someone is going to get hurt or killed. Please remind people that pedestrians have the right of way.”

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Thank you for your calls. Remember, the Red Line is open for your messages 24-hours a day by calling 674-4478.

All calls are edited for length and content. Due to content some calls may not be published. Please limit your calls to two minutes or less. Repeat messages on the same subject adding to the length will not be published. Some weeks, due to the number of calls and space, some may not be published.
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–“I was calling concerning property taxes,” said a gentleman. “With the value of new homes going down all over the county and state, does the (property tax) assessment reflect that downfall? They can up your taxes five-percent. Doesn’t it work in reverse also?” he asked.

–A man called about his garbage cans. “I’ve been trying for six weeks to get a green garbage can replaced because the lid is split right down the middle. They can’t dump it because it would dump stuff right out on the ground.” He said he called the city, “and nobody has come out here yet.” He “got to thinking. Maybe I can put the green lid in the blue can and maybe they can recycle it.”

–A lady said, “I have been taking my kids to the Halloween Parade downtown for five years now.” She explained she had two children and added, “this is a wonderful event and I just wanted to say the Madera Kiwanis and the Parks do a great job.”

–A lady called about (Tribune Columnist Leon) “Emo’s articles on the B-17. After reading his column the week before about his trying to get out of the draft while having his physical I don’t know why you had a draft dodger like him writing that story.”

–On the same subject, a man said, “I enjoyed reading Leon Emo’s stories on the crewman and B-17. The photos were fantastic. They put you right in the plane. The paper is doing a good job. Keep it up.” He then added, “I don’t know Emo’s political stance, and one can only imagine, but his respect and dedication to veterans and our soldiers is obvious in the many articles and columns he has written over the years.”

–“Hey, what’s up with our election board?” asked a woman who said “we have been getting absentee ballots for over 13 years and we never got our ballot for the MID election.” When she called she was told, “the postmaster said it wasn’t deliverable. How could it not be deliverable when we have been in the same location for over 13 years.” She suggested, “someone should check on what’s going on with our Postal service or our election officials.”

–A man, whose son played on the champion Huskies Pee Wee football team said, “you guys didn’t put anything about it, showing any pictures. Instead you put the losing team. I just wanted to find out what is going on. These kids worked hard, you guys really let them down. (Note: a picture and caption showing the Husikies with their championship trophy appeared in the Thursday, Nov. 1, edition of the paper.)

–A lady “was very concerned that the city council approved the building of a Lowe’s. We already have a Home Depot,” she said. “It is just like when Wal-Mart came into Madera, K-Mart left. There’s not enough room for two home improvement centers in Madera. They need to use their heads.”

–“Hi Red Hat ladies,” began a caller addressing her message in reference to last week’s call from a member mentioning a gentleman had bought all of the Red Hat ladies breakfast. “The gentleman that bought your meals was doing something called pay it forward. The way you thank him is for you doing something nice for a person or two or three.”

–A lady responded “to the writer of the letter to the editor to have pit bull owners be required to have insurance.” The caller said, “insurance carriers will no longer insure pit bulls or certain other breeds.” She said, “she was former owner of two loving pit bulls, who were my only protection for a single woman living in the country. They saved me more than once from intruders. I wish I still had them when I came home to my house recently to find it burglarized. Pit Bulls,” she concluded, “like any other breed of dogs, become mean if they are abused or neglected.”

–A lady was “concerned about Madera High (North) and all the schools in the district. Our Madera High Band was chosen to go the competition in Long Beach for four days. The kids brought home their notes and now it (the trip) is not in the budget. They now have to go all the way to Long Beach and then come home (immediately) when they were told it would be for four days with a day at Magic Mountain. These kids get good grades,” said the caller. “They score well in competition.” The caller then continued with, “I guess it’s not in the budget because I drop my son off every morning at school and I’m dodging all the pregnant mommas pushing their babys in strollers dropping them off at day care at a regular school facility.” She said, “that is not right. They should be made to attend a continuation school. I don’t see how my state dollars pay for this.”

–A man called with a complaint about a bar north of town. “Having a one-year-old boy, I finally got a chance and went out with a friend and arrived at the establishment about 9 p.m.” The message, due to some technical problems not the fault of the caller became difficult to understand at this point. However, the caller seemed to be upset that “the owner, sitting at the bar” demanded a quarter to play pool. He said, “the bartender came up and said the owner wants a quarter.” He gave the bartender the quarter and concluded, “I hope they’re happy because me and my friend will never be back there again.”

–A man, listening to a nationally televised network news channel heard “that we are sending $300,000 to Mexico to aid with flood victims. I think we have already given Mexico enough,” he said, “by taking care of their illegals that keep coming into this country. Let them take care of themselves.”

–“Madera Unified (School District) needs to adopt the same set of parameters that Visalia uses,” began a gentleman’s message. “If your football team doesn’t have a .500 record they should not go to the playoffs. Madera High, 3 wins, 7 losses, made the choice not to go. Madera South,” he continued, zero wins, 10 losses, stop wasting the district’s money on a trip to Easton. You’re embarrassing yourself.”

–“As a Korean veteran,” began a man’s call, “I would like to thank Mrs. Garcia for the admiration and respect she had in her letter to the editor. Thank you.”

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Thank you for your calls. Remember, the Red Line is open for your messages 24-hours a day by calling 674-4478.