By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

A year ago, after President Obama was elected president, liberals were almost giddy with anticipation. Suddenly, they thought, everything was going to change for the better. The overseas wars would end. Foreign countries would hail America. The economy would improve overnight. People would start spaying and neutering their pets.

Now, a year later, those liberals are highly disappointed, and they are starting to look around for a post-Obama liberator who actually will turn things around.

But a lesson should be learned from their predicament. It is this: Almost nothing works the way it is advertised.

A couple of years ago, for example, I bought an address book from a catalog that looked like the answer to keeping track of names, addresses, phone numbers without having to scratch out names, addresses and phone numbers whenever anybody changed residences.

This particular “address book system,” as it was called, came with a looseleaf binder and a couple of packages of address sheets that were supposed to fit in the looseleaf. What could have been simpler? (A word of caution. Never buy anything that is sold as a “system.” I bought a tooth-brushing system once, and it turned out to be a toothbrush — not much of one — and some toothpaste)

Well, right from the git-go, the address book system was a mess. The looseleaf binder wouldn’t close properly. The pages for it weren’t quite cut to fit it. You had to force each page on the binder, which meant you ruined a lot of pages.

You probably are thinking, “Why doesn’t the idiot just use the database software that comes with his computer? The answer was that when I got a new computer, the old software wouldn’t run on it. In other words, like the address book, it didn’t work as advertised. Disappointment reigned.

The smartest thing to do when you vote for somebody is to prepare to be disappointed. Then, you can sleep at nights.

Searching for a church is a personal quest. It is something that satisfies your needs. I have attended several churches, and always come up short.

I was raised in the Christian religion, and my search was in looking for the old Rev. Langy and Pastor Schlecty that I grew up with. One day I was returning from George’s Auto on Sunday morning and I passed the Methodist Church on Sunset (Avenue). Their sign said “Conventional Service at 10:30 a.m.” It was 10:30 now. I went past but turned around. I went in and listened to their service.

I went occasionally for a while but wasn’t that taken. Besides I was now flying on Sundays and most weekends I didn’t have the time. My wife, Gloria, mentioned that she wanted to find a church. Again we went to several and just weren’t that taken. Gloria was raised in West Virginia … That “Ol’ Time Religion.” I mentioned the Methodist Church and she went while I was flying. She said she liked that church and we began to go.

They sing the old songs that we grew up with, and with Pastor Goto … not a Pastor Schlecty, but a good message presenter, we enjoyed the service. Twice now I have received Communion. Most churches deny you unless you are a member and a practicing whatever. Pastor Goto said “This table is not the table of the Methodist Church. It is the table of the Lord.”

This is my feeling exactly. No one should be denied the Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They use grape juice instead of wine, which I personally don’t think is right. Jesus did use wine. Today, however I noticed that the children were offered Communion. Taking both the bread and “juice.” This, I think is good.

If you feel the need for Holy Communion and are not a practicing member of a church, then consider the Methodist Church like Gloria and I. It is good for your soul.

Bill Hoffrage,
Madera

All comments are edited for length and content. Because of content or space limitations, some comments may not be published. More than one comment from the same person during the same week will normally not be published. Please limit calls to two minutes or less.

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A caller to the Red Line said, “I hope those who really care about our future and the kids of Madera attend the next school board meeting (Jan. 26), because what they did in terminating employees or giving them furloughs and then giving the superintendent and other higher-ups a raise was really wrong.

“Remember all of them who are running for re-election. If it says incumbent after their name, vote them out. The kids, teachers and employees deserve better.”

Another caller had “heard that (school district) department supervisors also received substantial raises. All this while teachers and workers are being laid off. How come the pay raise for the superintendent and supervisors was suddenly decided to be voted on in closed session? These raises and salaries are public record.

“Come on, Tribune, do the story, or is the Fresno Bee going to beat you to it? Time to let the people know the real truth the school district and the trustees are hiding.” (For a news article on this subject, see Page A1 of the Jan. 19th issue.)

“When is the Tribune going to do an expose on that (Madera Unified School District) superintendent’s contract?” asked a lady. “It’s a gift of public funds. You guys (the Tribune) are just chicken. You don’t want to do anything controversial because you might make people unhappy. Well, check into it. It is a gift of public funds and illegal.”

Another lady suggested, that “Madera County should audit the Madera Unified School District.” She also repeated several hearsay statements “she heard” from other sources about the school district.

A man responded to last week’s message that said, “Avenue 12 was a death trap.” This week’s caller said, “with all due respect” and spoke of several accidents. “Yes, a lot of people have died on Avenue 12, but it’s not the road, it’s not the (California) Highway Patrol, who patrol it regularly, it’s the knuckleheads and idiots we have driving it. If we would all drive safely and follow the rules of the road, we wouldn’t have these issues.”

A woman wanted to know “why the Tribune is moving way out by the airport after many, many years it’s been right downtown. I won’t be able to be going out there that much now.” (Editor’s note: The new building is fairly easy to reach. We will be publishing maps for the public.)

“I’m calling about downtown Madera,” said a lady, “Yosemite Avenue and all this talk for years and years. It could be cleaned up in a couple of weeks. Wash all the windows and clean all the junk out, paint some of the signs and a few other things. Just do it.”

A woman “wanted to warn people about driving east on Avenue 15. The road has been repaved and raised up. Now there are steep drop offs on both sides of the road. There is no shoulder and no way to get off the road if you needed to. I’m afraid someone is going to be killed out there because it is very dangerous.”

A man responded to the letter to the editor “on Monday, Jan. 18, by Mike Sparks. One of the things that is shocking he points out is how much all these government people are making.”

The caller said, “Mr. Sparks is way off base.” The man said he has “relatives and a wife who work for government. People who work for government are far underpaid. Many are on public assistance because they can’t feed their families. Their unions are not very helpful. Maybe he (Sparks) was talking about the school system, but generally speaking government employees do not get any breaks and work very, very hard.”

Two visitors to the Red Line online left comments on the two-year anniversary of the death of Krista Pike.

An Italian man self-identified as “Steve” wrote to Krista, “I’m not a relative, I’m not a friend and I don’t really know you. I just hope that you like to know that somebody around the world is thinking to you today and I hope that this is good to know also for all the people that love you.”

A woman self-identified as “Tanya” wrote, “To the family and friends of Krista Pike, I want to say I’m truly truly sorry for your loss. I know it’s been two years now and I want you to know that you all are in my prayers and thoughts.

“I didn’t get the chance to know Krista but after hearing about her story (in the newspaper) my heart goes out to you all. Just from what I’ve heard people say about her I know she was a beautiful angel with an amazing heart … I hope justice is served soon and they finally put those who are responsible for this away for good.
“R.I.P. and God bless you, Krista, and God bless all her family and friends who love her dearly.”

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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 visiting the Red Line online at www.maderatribuneredline.com.

We retired and moved to Madera from the Sacramento area in May 2009. We bought a foreclosed house out in the county and knew it was going to need some work.

Our experience with contractors in the Sacramento area was mostly negative. Expecting the same here, we have been pleasantly surprised, and feel as if we live in New Hampshire again where a handshake and a man’s good word is of value.

Prior to moving in, we needed a fence around our property. We called Central Valley Fencing to install it. We were a little apprehensive about having the work done while we were not here, but they did an excellent job at a good price and the employees were great.

Glad to be done with that and encouraged by the honest service, we decided to remodel the kitchen and hoped we would get lucky again. We contacted John Ogle of Ogle’s Custom Cabinets to come over and take a look. This turned out to be one of the best calls we have made. Not only was his advice and work excellent, but he was able to direct us to Patterson Painting, and Richard Cervantez Jr. Construction.

Thinking we had gotten very lucky employing these people and were pretty much finished with the house for now, we discovered we needed a new roof. Here we go again, our luck has probably run out. Much to our surprise, once again, Steve Alvarado Roofing did another fantastic job putting on the new roof. Every one of these companies, without exception, did excellent work, very reasonable prices, courteous employees that respected us and our property, and didn’t stop until we were 100 percent satisfied.

These are all local Madera businesses that the community can trust and be proud of. We are still newcomers here, but if this is any indication of this area, we’re darn glad we moved here.

Jeff and Pam Shaw,
Madera

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

As a people, we have a relatively short attention span, and as a result, the earthquakes in Haiti are gradually moving off the front pages of newspapers and are being seen less as big lead items on television news shows.

That doesn’t mean the Haitians’ plight still isn’t in the news, but it does mean that slowly it will move out of the way for other, fresher events.

That always happens. At first, news of big disasters is so riveting, people can’t seem to get enough. Then, slowly they do get enough, and gradually, except for those directly affected, interest wanes. That is even though the Haitian quake may have been one of the most deadly and destructive on record.

Here are some others:

Hurricane Katrina — Aug. 29, 2005; 1,836 people died as a result of the storm. Property damage in excess of $100 billion, mainly from winds and flooding. Eighty percent of New Orleans was flooded.

Hurricane Mitch — Oct. 9, 1998; Some 9,000 people died in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador, and 56 died in the U.S.

Rwandan Genocide — April through July 1994; Estimates of death toll range between 500,000 and 1 million. Hutu tribe killed off members of Tutsi tribe, along with moderate Hutus who didn’t agree with the Hutu power ideology. UN stayed out of the fight because it was considered an internal affair.

Indian Ocean Tsunami — Dec. 26, 2004; 230,000 people killed in 14 countries. Second-largest earthquake on record.

The Tunguska Event — June 30, 1908; this enormous explosion, likely the result of a meteorite exploding over the Tunguska area of Siberia. It flattened trees over an area of 830 square miles. The area was sparsely populated, and as a result few casualties were recorded. It was the biggest explosion ever detected.

I applaud Dale Drozen’s article regarding the closing of the Ahwahnee and Raymond fire stations and the total lack of common sense by our Board of Supervisors.

The three supervisors who voted to close those stations all reside in the valley and none of their area will be affected by these closures.

The travesty of their decision will affect every person in eastern Madera County if they have an emergency and I, for one, will pursue the necessary action to hold every board member accountable for their inept decision if I am in need of emergency assistance.

We all know that the nation, state and counties are in deep trouble, financially, and deep cuts need to be made to balance their budgets, but eliminating our first responders should be at the bottom of the list, especially when there are alternative actions that can be taken without effecting the response levels during an emergency.

With the tea parties continuing throughout our wonderful country, maybe it is time to band together and vote out every incumbent, from top to bottom, including our Madera County supervisors and start with a clean slate of officials who will deal with good common sense and move us in the right direction.

Closing fire stations is not the right direction, period.

Dale Miller,
Ahwahnee

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

Some very smart scientists have decided that it finally is time to bring a mammoth back to life. The mammoth in question is a baby, which was found intact in Siberia, frozen solid.

These scientists have taken tissue from the little mammoth and believe they can use that tissue to clone a mammoth baby.

Accomplishing this is much harder than it sounds. But these geneticists are anxious to get going and bring mammoths back to the earth’s biosphere.

I admire their ambition, but I also wonder why they would want to do this. We know mammoths once lived around here, and they were big animals. If they were to come back, we couldn’t let them run around unsupervised. We would have to put them in zoos or parks.

Mammoths were bigger than present-day elephants. They had long, curled tusks. They had few natural enemies. Yet, they disappeared.

Some believe humans may have hunted them into extinction. That might not have been easy for humans to do.

Buffalo hunters in the 1800s almost hunted bison into extinction, but they had repeating rifles, and the buffalo were easy pickings.

People who coexisted with mammoths didn’t have rifles. They had spears and bows and arrows, but mammoths were big and tough. It would have been pretty scary to hunt mammoth with such weaponry.

It would have been scary to hunt saber-tooth tigers or short-faced bears, too.

The paleontology site at Fairmead has yielded no evidence that people lived with these big animals when they roamed around here. But you can bet that if these animals came back, once the novelty wore off, we couldn’t wait to get rid of them.

The mammoths would eat the leaves off everything in sight; the saber-tooth tigers and short-faced bears would make quick work of cattle herds and sheep flocks.

Maybe the mammoth-lovers should rethink their project — or at least buy some very good liability insurance.

Music Video: “Opie’s Funeral Song” by Sufjan Stevens

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Today, Tuesday, Jan. 5, as I am writing this letter, I remember this good friend Ken Taylor who passed away a year ago, Jan. 7, and I have good memories of him.

The first is when my brother Oscar and I used to coach Rotary in Madera Babe Ruth League and Ken used to coach Lions, and boy, we used to have good games against his team throughout the years. Ken was a good coach. I always would see him at the JV diamond, practicing with his team.

Another good memory is when he coached the 13-year-old Babe Ruth All Stars, and defeated Tulare in back-to-back games in 15 innings to clinch the Central California Babe Ruth State Championship for the first time in the 57-year history of the Babe Ruth Organization.

I also remember that when Ken didn’t have a game in Babe Ruth he would be at Little League games, looking over players for the following year.

Two years ago, John Young, was the president of Babe Ruth League, and moved to Montana, and all the teams in Babe Ruth elected Ken Taylor as president of Babe Ruth.

Ken was not only the president of Babe Ruth and coached his team, the Lions, when he didn’t have a game, he would run the snack bar and also would turn the lights on and turn them off after the game. He was always the last one to leave Mel Parker Field.

My last good memory of him is when I used to see him at the 6:45 a.m. Mass at St. Joachim Church, we both used to sit in the same section. That was when I used to work part time at U Save Liquor Store.

After attending church, he would always come by the liquor store to buy the Chronicle, to read his sports section. My brother Oscar told me he saw Ken in church on Sunday before he passed away.

These are my good memories of a great friend and coach, and hoping that one of these days they will build a cement block announcing booth at Mel Parker Field, just like the one they built at Little League Field in honor of Richard Cardy Farias, in Ken Taylor’s honor.

Eddie Chapa,
Madera

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

When I was a lad, Mom used to say, “Clean your plate, or you can’t get up from the table.” As a result of that sage but firm advice, I have about 10 too many pounds around my middle, and still feel guilty when anything is left after I am through eating.

I was thinking of that while reading about the people in Haiti starving in the wake of the earthquake that struck there a week ago. They are finding themselves without food, and in many cases without water. Their plight has turned from a frightening inconvenience to seven days later being in real danger of dying of hunger and thirst.

Death from starvation is relatively rare in the world nowadays, although demographers tell us that of the world’s 7 billion people, more than 1 billion suffer from hunger some of the time, and some suffer from it all of the time.
Sixty years ago, we were being told Planet Earth would experience great famines if the population ever got as big as it is now, but that didn’t happen.

Because along came Norman Borlaug, the Iowa scientist who died last year at 95. He was the principal researcher who helped bring on the Green Revolution, which more than doubled the world’s food supply, even as the population more than doubled.

In Port-au-Prince, those who are hungry are swinging machetes at those who have food. I think that tragic circumstance is a microcosm for what would have happened in much of the world if Borlaug and his fellow scientists had not taught the world’s farmers how to grow more food.

The world’s population is continuing to increase, and the time won’t be far off before we will need another Green Revolution.

We in Madera County are very lucky to live where almost any food can be grown, but most are not so fortunate. Hunger hasn’t disappeared, it merely lies in wait.

Had the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians initiated, constructed and operated a casino on their aboriginal homeland in North Fork when the opportunity was first available, the direct positive economic impact by now would surely be tens of millions of dollars of income to the tribe, with great beneficial impact to local communities.

California voters have never supported off-reservation gaming, which the North Fork Rancheria and its partner Station Casinos is proposing for Highway 99 in Madera, nearly 50 miles from their tribal lands. Rather, voters enacted Proposition 1A exactly to allow casinos on aboriginal tribal lands like North Fork.

Without growth and development, this community cannot sustain itself and will surely continue to stagnate and ultimately fail. A North Fork casino on its aboriginal land in North Fork would be a wonderful positive stimulus to our local economy and help relieve current desperate economic conditions, high unemployment and local business closures.

To say that North Fork is not suited for commercial development is counter to majority opinion. For example, there is a group of citizens promoting economic development on the former mill site. This is contrary to those few self-interested souls claiming North Fork is not suited for commercial development.

Look around: Two main transportation routes (Highway 41 and Road 200 from the South, and Highway 49 and Road 274 from the North. The tribe’s homeland, which is situated in the most scenic area of California — if not the world— with nearby Yosemite, Bass Lake, scenic byway and surrounding Sierra mountain lands already attracting millions of visitors.

The positive impact resulting from the introduction of Indian gaming to the North Fork-Bass Lake Area of Eastern Madera County would be refreshing and stimulating for the tribe and our local economy.

North Fork has wasted seven years and millions of dollars pursuing an off-reservation casino that the community, local officials, state legislators and businesses all oppose. It’s time they return their attention to their tribal lands and build a project that will benefit their members and their neighbors.

Roger Schneider, business owner,
Eastern Madera County