The Hinds Hospice Thrift Store is always grateful for your donations. We have been at our same location at 721 S. Gateway Drive for more than 11 years now, and everything that has been sold in that store has been donated by individuals living in the community. The store’s whole existence depends on you. That is why we need to express to you periodically how much you are sincerely appreciated.
The money raised through the store has helped Hinds Hospice in Madera County tremendously. It is good to know that one person’s unused items can be so valuable and fill the needs of so many, both by the money raised from the sale of those items and also the need in the community for merchandise sold at a thrift store price.
Thank you for your support of your local Hinds Hospice program through the thrift store and your donations.
Pat Serrato, Carol Breit and our many volunteers, Madera
Feb. 24, it was exactly two years since the varsity baseball field at Madera South High School was named Eddie Chapa Field.
At this time, I would like to thank Madera Unified School District’s former superintendent, Larry Risinger; J. Gary Adams; Carles Beckett; Marty Bitter, athletic director at Madera South High School; John Fernandez, Madera South High Baseball coach; and Ross Thornton, master of ceremonies on that day; and former Madera Merchants baseball players.
I would also like to thank guest speaker Ray Johns for making this dedication possible, and I also would like to give a big thanks to groundskeeper Javier Carranza, and all the baseball coaches and players for getting the field ready after it had rained that Friday night, and after it turned out to be a nice day sunny day.
Thanks also to Madera County Board of Supervisors.
And, a special thanks to former Madera Merchants player Bob Gretz, who flew to Fresno from Haymarket, Va., and picked up his mother and brought her to my dedication; and also to David and Mark Davis, who drove down from Boron, Sammie Carrasco from San Jose, and to all the players from Fresno, Kerman and all surrounding areas that came to my dedication, and to all the fans that attended my dedication.
This last year, 2008, my first grandson, Jonathan Chapa, played at grandpa’s Eddie Chapa Field.
So at this time I would like to invite all the parents of Stallion baseball players and relatives to support Stallion baseball throughout the year.
And believe me, I am so proud to be there together with people that I knew while working for the school district in the athletic department from 1975-1995. This includes people like Mel Parker, Joe L. Flores and Coach LeRoy Zimmerman.
This year, they are going to name the field after him, next to the field house where I worked for 20 years. This will join B.J. Robinson Gym at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Sonny Nishimoto School and Lee DaSilva Field at Memorial Stadium.
So once again thanks to Madera Unified School District, and everybody that made my Eddie Chapa Field possible.
Depending on whose statistics you accept, somewhere between 25 and 30 percent of students never finish high school. President Obama, in addressing how he plans to help American education, referred to dropping out of school as no longer being an option. So, schools should get ready for a raft of new regulations. Soon, they will be looking back on No Child Left Behind, the oft-maligned Bush attempt to improve the nation’s educational performance, as the good old days.
Perhaps we should change our point of view a bit. It could be that having a 70 percent success rate is pretty good when you consider that our one-size-fits-all system of K-12 education just simply doesn’t suit a lot of the children who are subjected to it. High schools are set up to prepare kids for college, but a lot of these have no affinity for college studies. Ask the instructors in universities. More than half of all who matriculate into their classes wind up dropping out. What a waste.
Ask any high school teacher, and she or he will tell you (probably off the record) that half the students in almost any class don’t belong there, that they are unsuited either intellectually or emotionally for the work. These unsuited children waste the teacher’s time and rob the suitable students of their chance to spend more time with the teachers.
That doesn’t mean children who don’t fit into the college prep mode don’t deserve educations. On the contrary. The educations they need are educations to prepare them for vocations. In fact, vocational education would prevent many dropouts and better prepare the students for adult life. Other nations realize that and operate their schools to accommodate those facts.
But we are committed to the myth that all children should be prepared for college, when the facts just don’t bear that out.
Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, was on C-SPAN at about 9 p.m. March 4, speaking to a joint meeting of Congress. It is my hope you were able to see this.
Every governor of every state in the U.S. should have all the people under him see and hear this speech. As a matter of fact every adult person on this planet should hear this speech.
If there was a way of obtaining a written copy of that speech I would like to have it.
He had a speech that was so logical and well thought out about the problems of this world crisis that every newspaper should print some of it so everyone could read it.
Hopefully President Obama was able to see and hear it.
Obama is a good speaker, but I will have to say Gordon Brown outlined what caused the problem and some steps that should be made on the global front because it is all of the countries who are involved.
I am not an educated person, however, I understood every word and every problem he talked about. So many people do not read and some do not have the opportunity to read. He made references to the third world problems as well.
Madera Community Hospital and the Central California Blood Center want valley residents to know that giving life can be a simple as giving blood. The Central California Blood Center has been serving the San Joaquin Valley for over 50 years and is the sole source of blood and blood products for the 31 hospitals in Fresno, Mariposa, Kings, Tulare and Madera counties.
While CCBC serves a population base of over a million and a half people, it must collect between 5,000 to 6,000 units monthly. Moreover, it is estimated that more than 75 percent of Americans who reach the age of 72 will need donated blood at some point in their lifetime. Donated blood is utilized in many instances and performs a vital role in procedures such as, but not limited to: coronary artery bypass surgery, open heart surgery, bleeding ulcers, hip replacements, brain surgery, prostate cancer, auto accidents/traumas, as well as organ and bone marrow transplants.
Generally speaking, adults (17+) in good health and who weigh over 110 lbs. are eligible to donate; there is no upper age limit. If interested in donating the CCBC offers multiple ways to donate that may be convenient for many individuals and/or groups. Those looking to donate may do so at any one of the four donor centers located in Fresno, North Fresno, Visalia, and Porterville. In addition to the aforementioned locations, alternate donation sites may be coordinated by the CCBC through the use of mobile “bloodmobiles,” which visit valley schools and organizations on a regular basis.
The mobile blood donation centers make it possible to keep up with an increasing amount of blood necessary to serve the central valley. CCBC stated that just a few short years ago, 3,000 to 4,000 pints of blood monthly served them well. Unfortunately, their required monthly inventory has increased to 6,000, almost doubling the necessary amount of blood for the Central Valley.
In a recent interview, Tish Shubert, Interim Lab Supervisor at Madera Community Hospital stressed the importance donating blood stating that “the amount of eligible donors is dwindling.” While many hospitals store blood on-site, there is only a limited amount of each blood type at the physical location. When blood is needed for any reason they must call the CCBC who may or may not have the resources to assist them.
While there is currently not a donation center located within Madera, the mobile service is an excellent option.
For any residents who may be interested-Madera Community Hospital will be hosting the CCBC “Bloodmobile” again on March 20 from 2 to 5:30 p.m.. With over 900 employees and the community, MCH hopes to obtain at least 40 pints of blood during the next blood drive. If you or someone you know may be interested in donating blood or hosting the “bloodmobile,” please contact the Central California Blood Center for information, 1-800-404-BLOOD (2566).
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Nicholas Barrett writes on behalf of the Madera Community Hospital.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, through its Farm Service Agency, is sending out $145 million in federal bailout dollars for its Direct Operating Farm Loan Program, and the USDA says some of it will go to those to whom they refer as “socially disadvantaged farmers.”
To me, that means that a good many of the farmers I’ve met are probably about to get checks in the mail, if they haven’t gotten them already.
I’m not sure who the government has in mind as socially disadvantaged farmers, but several of them pop into my head, and I would be happy to send the names along if the USDA needs more farmers to send seed money to.
At the top of that list, I would put myself, although I don’t farm anymore. Mrs. Doud won’t let me. But I could use a handout, if they made the loans retroactive.
When I was a farmer, I raised dairy heifers, and as you might know, little calves basically eat and then leave their deposits all over the barn. I spent a good deal of time shoveling up those deposits and putting them in a compost pile. When the pile got big enough, I would load some of the compost into the back of my pickup and deliver it to local gardeners.
When you have spent a day doing that, you find yourself socially disadvantaged. I noticed, for example, that when the gardeners wrote out checks to for the compost, they always stood upwind of me, and reached way out to hand me the payments.
I also had some sheep, and sometimes when they were giving birth, I would have to give them a little help. “Elbow deep up a sheep,” as the saying went. Anyway, after a day of bringing sweet little lambs into the world, about all I wanted to say was “Bah!” Kind of a social disadvantage.
Get the point? No wonder the socially disadvantaged farmers need loans.
All comments are edited for length and content. Due to content or space limitations, some comments may not be published. Please limit calls to two minutes or less.
A man commented on the newspaper of March 2, “I see we’re giving almost a billion dollars to the people in Gaza so the Palestinians can rearm themselves and fight the Jews. It’s a shame we are giving our money away.”
A woman called concerning the Madera High vs. Madera South “baseball game. It was great. But there was a man going around calling all the Madera South coaches (expletive). Why would you say something like that? What have they done to you? I believe it is the man who took over the late Kenny Taylor’s position.
“No matter, you will never fill Mr. Taylor’s shoes. I never heard a mean word come out of Mr. Taylor’s mouth like you did at this game. Only a man who has no respect for himself or others would be talking like that. And to top it off, it was done at a high school game. These coaches give us their all, some more than others. Look at yourself in the mirror.”
“I’d like to know what’s being done about these kids running around the streets,” asked a woman. “It drives me crazy. I read in the paper, there’s graffiti everywhere. You see these little gang bangers tearing up people’s property. Doesn’t Madera have a gang unit? Are we taking care of this problem? Does the gang task force only come out in good weather? What’s being done?”
Another caller just “wanted to know why The Madera Tribune doesn’t tell us more about the gang activity around Madera?”
“The shooting near Pan-Am Park that killed somebody proves nothing is being done about all the gangs in Madera,” said a man. “It is time we take back our community. If the police, the police chief, or the city council doesn’t do something it is time for a change.”
A woman called with a positive message. “Two things for the Red Line: B.J. Robinson’s letter (Monday) was right on, a hundred percent. The second thing, have you noticed the beautiful daisy yellow flowers filling the fields? Thanks to those responsible. It will lift your spirits and make your day brighter.”
A gentleman, who “remembered the terrific air shows in Madera in the ’80s,” had this to say about the planned air show in May. “I hope it is a success. It will bring money and tax dollars to our city. During the old Gathering of Warbirds show tens of thousands of people would attend the annual event.”
A reader, self-identified as “Alex,” responded online to a column by Thomas Elias on government waste in the state’s prison system. Alex writes, “Not a soul got hurt, huh? Well, if I read the papers and listen to the news since then there’s been plenty of murders and children being molested and etc. But not a soul got hurt.
“Then why is our prison system overcrowded again? The way I figure it is no one in your family got hurt, so that makes O.K. Until it reaches someone in your family, some people won’t understand.”
Another Internet reader, self-identified as “Dave,” responded online to a column by Chuck Doud on why we explore outer space. “You make it sound like all of space has been searched,” Dave writes, “and that we should assume that nothing is left and that we should just let the sun explode in approximately 5 billion years and kill us all … No, life hasn’t been discovered on other planets, but terrestrial planets have been discovered.”
Web reader, “Joe,” writes online, “How come Madera Unified gave their public information officer a raise of over $50,000 in the last three years and the guy makes over $100,000 a year? The district is looking to make cutbacks, I would say keep two teachers (and) help the kids in exchange for a spokesperson.”
Several comments were exchanged online in response to a letter by a driver for Madera’s public transit system. One reader writes, in part, “What Ms. Gonzales has stated is true and is part of the problem why the bus services in Madera are run the way they are. When you have drivers that are in the situation they are in —understaffed, not good enough pay, etc.— then of course stuff like this will happen.”
Another reader, “Transit Driver,” replied to an attack on the letter. Driver writes, in part, “I am so sorry that you think my job is (easy and) tedious and that you think that I only drive around in circles. I am responsible for each and every passenger on my bus and the route that I do now is very dangerous and stressful. I drive to North Fork in the evening and, let me tell you, it isn’t a great way to make money. Its a job. With the economy the way that it is, I am blessed to have a job.”
A third reader, “Quagmire,” disagreed with the original letter and writes, in part, “I am an operator myself with over 15 years of experience in fixed route, paratransit and school bus operations and I know firsthand what is expected … My co-workers and myself are quite informed about the zoo that is Madera Transit.”
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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 by logging on to www.maderatribuneredline.com.
As the economic recovery funds trickle down to the common folk, Madera, it appears, will get a little over $1 million, mainly to repair streets, and therein lies a lesson:
All earmarks aren’t bad.
It will be a good thing for the city to have its streets fixed, just as it will be a good thing for cities nationwide to have their own streets fixed, or police patrols increased or schools helped.
You can’t very well say that it’s throwing away money to take care of local problems and at the same time give the economy a little goose.
But there will be a problem in the future, and that will be paying for the earmarks, because our streets and all the other streets benefitting from earmarks will be fixed with borrowed money.
Borrowing is okay as long as you can pay back the loan. But as we have seen over the past couple of years, borrowing is not okay if you can’t repay. The mortgage crisis, for instance, is the result of people being unable or unwilling to pay what they owed for the houses they bought with borrowed money.
What will happen when the bill for the borrowing that fixed our streets comes due?
The homes that were bought with those unpaid mortgages eventually get repossessed. Will that happen to our streets if the federal government doesn’t repay the money it borrowed to give to us to fix them?
Probably not. Who, besides us, would want them?
But one of two things will happen. Either taxes will be raised to repay the loans, or the government will “print more money” through further borrowing, and use it to make the payments.
Raising taxes could slow the economy again. More borrowing could cause more inflation, which means the next time we fix the streets, it will cost $4 million.
I have to admit that I don’t Twitter. However, I do text, and texting is quite enough without having to Twitter as well.
I understand politicians are spending a lot of time Twittering now, even while Congress and the State Legislature are in session, and it makes me wonder whether we shouldn’t just send them all home until they get texting and Twittering out of their systems.
A Tweet (as Twitter messages are called) is a brief text message that one sends to groups of friends, acquaintences or unfortunate targets, using the Twitter software. These missives must be no more than 140 characters, so it can’t say much, and none of the Tweets I have read say anything other than drivel.
A good example of a Tweet might be, “Well, I just brushed my teeth, so am going to bed.”
If I wrote that, nobody would be interested, with the possible exception of Mrs. Doud, who likes to know I have brushed my teeth before joining her in bed, and my dental hygienist, who keeps giving me toothbrushes and toothpaste in hopes I will use them.
However, if Britney Spears sent that Tweet, her followers (as Tweet targets are called) would be ecstatic. They then would Twitter their followers with the news that “Britney just brushed her teeth and is heading to bed. Wow!”
I have avoided Twittering because my texting career has been a disappointment. I have sent quite a few texts to my children and grandchildren, for example, but hardly any of them reply. They probably just aren’t interested in what I have to say, and I hardly blame them.
Heck, even I’m not interested in what I say.
President Obama texts and Twitters, and so does Sen. John McCain, who ran against Obama in the 2008 election. Maybe we all should send them a text or a Tweet that says, “Hang up and govern!”
It is amazing how we were led by a party that has been a total train wreck for the last eight years and then expect President Obama to change things in one month.
We should have only one governing body leading us. The party system is not working. One party thinks it knows more than the other. They sit across from each other saying what the other party is doing is wrong. Until we come together as one body we will always have people problems. There will always be gunfights at the O.K. Corral. The Word of God tells us that we must learn to come together as one.
It does not take someone with a doctorate to see that the party system is not working. All you need is some common sense. When a man and a woman marry, God’s word says that they shall become as one. Georgia and I have been married 56 years. We are together because of God’s love and working together as one. It is impossible for a man to go to another man and tell him how to manage his wife at home. Obama is a blessing from God to us to help change this mess we are in, where we can stay in our homes, feed our children, and have affordable insurance.
I know that there will be a great number that will not agree with me. We all have to make a change and learn how long to love one another and forget about this race thing that has gone on long enough. We should only see a child of God when we look at someone. The Lord is not going to judge us by race. We are closer to meeting the Lord then we think.
We should fire all of the officials in Washington for getting this nation in such a mess. Some have been there too long. The terms should be the same as a president. Two terms, which is long enough, especially when they forget what the job is all about, that is to be a servant of the people of the United States.
President Obama is going to be a good president, not because of his race, but for the compassion that he has for the citizens of our country. Let us give hime a chance to do his job, with all parties working together to accomplish what is needed for us.
The disasters we have witnessed the pass few years didn’t happen by chance. Some of us are telling God that his word is wrong. When we have men saying that they are spiritual leaders and they are raping and molesting our kids, the news media, movies and TV are glamorizing that it is permissible for men to marry men and women to marry women. There is something very wrong with that picture.
The so called fat cat taking advantage of people and taking their life savings. When we do things that are wrong, the Holy Spirit is not living within us. Only Satan does things that are wrong and go against God’s word, and he is happy with all of the sin that is happening in the world. You are making a big mistake when you live contrary to God’s word. You are living life as though God does not exist. We should always let Jesus Christ lead us. He is a mighty good leader. He is the one that will mark you present in heaven if you accept him. If not he will tell you to depart from him, he does not know you.
We are failing as a nation in Christion education. This is the reason we have so many problems.
We strive to get all types of degrees in education but fail to get an education in God’s word. Matthew, 24th Chapter, 35th Verse, “Heaven and Earth shall pass away but my word shall not pass.” We should attend Sunday school and church services, taking our children with us so they can learn the Word of God. There is a song written by Raymond Rasberry. Only what you do for Christ will last.
You may seek earthy power and fame, the world might be impressed by your great name. But soon the glories of this life will all be past, and only what you do for Christ will last. Only what you do for him will be counted at the end. Only what you do for Christ will last. Our nation has to get the Lord off of the back burner and put him in front where he belongs.
We will continue to lose jobs, homes, and the things we need until we as a nation go to God in prayer. Pray for our president, that the Lord will give him wisdom to lead this country. Let us stop all of the hate and bigotry that we have for each other.
God is Creator, God is Love, God is Good, God is Merciful.
