By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

California, more than any other state, is pushing the use of electric cars. This is a good thing for those who want to drive them, and for those who believe the electric cars will help save the planet.

However, electric car drivers may come up against a few disappointments.

First, although the state has plans to put in some 5,000 plug-in recharging stations, electromotorists should not expect recharging to be the same as refueling. Pull into a typical gas station, and you will be able to refuel in 10 minutes or less. Pull into a recharging station, and under the best of circumstances, you will be in for a wait of two to four hours. What fun. Not many of us would want to hang around a filling station for two to four hours, even for an oil change or a tire change.

According to The Wall Street Journal, some forward-thinking retailers plan to set up charging stations in shopping center parking lots so motorists can plug in for free while they shop, or have lunch or make sales calls.

That might be a good idea, but it could wind up being pricey in more ways than one.

First, electricity and the charging-station infrastructure won’t be free, even though retail landlords may start out by not charging. The electricity that goes into a charge costs the same as electricity that goes into an air-conditioner. During peak load periods, such as hot-weather days, recharging may be banned if it becomes a choice between a shopping center’s offering either air-conditioning or juice for electric cars.

Charging overnight in one’s garage might be an attractive alternative; but again, the electricity won’t be free.

Neither will be the cost of all the taxpayer-funded incentives for electric cars. The state is subsidizing the installation of charging stations, and is expected to subsidize the purchases of the autos.

Meanwhile, hybrid and gasoline-powered vehicles are becoming more efficient than ever — without subsidies.

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

The best route for the state’s planned high-speed railroad might be along the Interstate-5 corridor.

The rail project, which is guaranteed to carry people from Los Angeles to the Bay Area in two hours and 40 minutes, reportedly will need about 90 million riders annually to break even. The vast majority of these riders will be from those two population centers.

If you carry 90 million people in a year, averaging, say, 400 people on a train, you will have to run a lot of trains. About 225,000 trains annually. With just 8,760 hours in a year, the rail system would have to run 26 trains an hour to meet that goal.

That is based on the present planned route. Starting from the south, the route meanders east from Sylmar (north of Los Angeles) to Palmdale, then north to stops in Bakersfield and Fresno. It then would roar through Madera County, and at about Highway 152, it would fork north and west. Then, depending on where the train was headed, you would go to Sacramento or San Francisco.

If you went along I-5, however, you would have to cover fewer miles, you would disrupt fewer farms and cities. And you would have a faster arrival. This likely would attract more passengers who appreciate speed from the big metro areas.

This may sound like heresy to some, but the Central Valley really doesn’t need high-speed rail. The high-speed rail promotors put the Central Valley in the mix on the ballot measure, to get yes votes.

LA and San Francisco already have rail and other public transportation, which could provide good access to high-speed trains. In comparison, public transportation in the valley is almost non-existent. Once the high-speed rail is operating, it will suck up transportation money. There would be little left for local or area transit improvements.

What we do need in the valley are better roads, and in the future, better Amtrak service between Bakersfield and Sacramento.

I know Fresno, Bakersfield and Merced all are looking forward to high-speed rail passenger stations. Some, including Madera County, are looking forward to having a heavy maintenance garage sited in their midst.

But is any of that worth the bother of 26 trains an hour roaring through our valley?

The present budget problems of the school district remind me of a time when we went through all of that before, specifically 1970. A tax override had failed (tougher to pass in those days), and the board had said that if that happened, high school activities would be canceled, including all athletics, FFA, band, and student transportation.

As athletic director (really part-time in those days as I still taught four English classes, but was provided a student aide in order to keep an office open for an hour) I was told to call all our opponents and cancel all contests for the 70-71 school year. Dos Palos would not cancel because they could not imagine Madera without a football team. Chowchilla and Memorial did cancel, and then rescheduled some other team.

Principal Bob Warner contacted members of our league, the NYL, and convinced them to delay any action. However, we did lose a position in the basketball Holiday Tournament and never recovered.

Community members came before the board to see if anything could be done to save activities. Spokesman Willard Pitman said his group, called the Citizens Fund Group, had raised nearly $10,000, with more committed, but Warner said we needed a minimum of $32,000 for even a bare-bones program. Pitman said that if the board could come up with $15,000, he was sure that the community could come up with the rest.

With a 6-1 vote the board agreed. If I remember, the board consisted of President Paul Martin, Kenneth Gill, Dr. Ed Grootendorst, the Rev. Naaman Haynes, Dr. Gustaveson, Art Freeman and Morgan Johnson. The superintendent was Duane Furman.

Immediately, fund-raisers were the order of the day. The Boosters scheduled a dinner-dance, and vice-principal Dino Petrucci provided the dinner. Art Brandon set up a football scrimmage and sold tickets. Money began to flow in from the community, and elsewhere, including the Hoover High Letterman’s Club, the Roosevelt High Pep Club, and Clovis High, which also shared transportation with our cross-country teams.

In short, we survived. Times were tough, but our community had a great feeling of togetherness. I made many calls around the state trying to fill our football schedule, but it was late, although we did manage to get a game with San Luis Obispo.

Looking back (something I’ve learned from Bill Coate) I can see that it was a very rough time for the trustees then, just as it is for our board today.

Les Lyon,
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 woman “found today’s snapshots of the candidates in today’s paper very informative.” Her “only wish was that it could have been published earlier for those of us who voted absentee.”

A man responded to last week’s “gentleman who called about the water rights. He’s close, but he’s not right… if you have a $25 water bill now, in 10 years that water bill will be $75. Check your math.”

A woman “thought it was very sad that The Madera Tribune has two sports writers and all year long none of the Madera Little League has gotten any write ups, or any pictures. I just wanted to say that my son is on one of the National League teams and nothing was written up, just a picture. Two sports writers and no coverage. I know I’m upset, and there are other parents who are upset.” She “hoped that there would be coverage of the championships, or we are going to cancel our subscription.” (Note: The Tribune covered the championships)

A man said, “This is directed to the Madera National League Board of Directors.” He then congratulated each championship team “and for representing Madera National Little League in the city championship. The board of directors should be embarrassed for the decision not to provide trophies for the three league champions. Their rewards were a T-shirt. The Madera American Little League provided trophies for the city championship plus all three division champions. They received all their trophies in front of the Madera National Little League players. Then, the National Little League called each player of the team with the most wins (not the champion team) to the field and presented them with trophies. Talk about lost vision. The board of directors should all submit their resignation. Parents, stand up now.”

A man had “a suggestion for the city of Madera as to the trucks that park around town. They should do like the city of Atwater and designate areas around the industrial park for the trucks to park. The only thing is they would have to have a permit to park here. The city sells the trucker a permit so he is legal to park here on those designated streets. It would be a way for the city to generate revenue and keep them in selected areas instead of all around town.”

“There are still several campaign signs up around town and Avenue 12,” said a man. “Despite the 10-day rule for removing signs after the election I would bet that loser Richard Pombo will have the last sign standing.”

“I congratulate Jeff Denham for his win in the Republican Primary (for Congress),” said a woman. “As for his (Democrat) opponent Loraine Goodwin, excuse me Dr. Loraine Goodwin. Anyone who has seen how she got on the school board, and what she has done since, should have no problem voting for Jeff Denham in November.”

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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 by accessing www.maderatribuneredline.com on the Internet.

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

Congress is engaged in a game of dog-pile with the executives of British Petroleum, and it was to be expected. As soon as TV time was all but guaranteed to any member of Congress or the Senate who hurled angry questions at BP’s Tony Hayward, they were lined up six deep.

In yesterday’s hearings, Hayward apologized for the spill and promised BP would pay for its mitigation. The day before, he had promised President Obama $20 billion for a mitigation trust fund.

But that counted for nothing.

Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., whose constituents haven’t been touched by the oil spill (it hasn’t made its way to Lake Michigan, Lake Huron or Lake Erie, as far as we know) blasted Hayward as only a soon-to-be unemployed Congressman could (he has announced his retirement at the end of this year). In other words, he won’t need any donations from BP.

Now, you would not be surprised to see a member of Congress from Louisiana, or any of the other Gulf Coast states, letting Hayward have it. But only three people on the subcommittee — Rep. Gene Green and Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, and Rep. Parker Griffin of Alabama — represent states affected, or possibly affected by the spill. One of the members is our own Rep. George Radanovich.

Barton, of Texas, who should have been concerned even though none of the oil has crept onto Lone Star State, actually apologized to Hayward for having to undergo the “shakedown” Obama submitted him to the day before. Then, the dog-pilers turned momentarily on Barton.

In the end, the oil was still flowing into the gulf, despite the congressional venting, proving once again that hot air is no match for spilled oil.

Meanwhile, out by the errant oil well, people who actually could do something were working as hard as they could, day and night, to stop the spill.

Thursday, June 10, was a historic day in the annals of Madera’s educational community. Mountain Vista High School, which opened in the 1996/97 school year, closed its doors forever.

I was blessed to be a teacher there during those 14 exciting years. At this time I feel a need to thank all of those who helped to make Mountain Vista High School a successful place of learning for so many of our young men and women for whom the traditional school setting was not the one in which they could be successful.

The Madera Tribune, the Madera Substation of the California Highway Patrol (for drivers’ ed. training), the mayor of Madera and Madera’s City Council, the Madera Police Department, the Sheriff’s Department of Madera County, the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Madera Branch No. 1084, Madera Rescue Mission, Millview Elementary School, the California Army National Guard of Madera, Mr. Mathew Farmer, manager of Madera’s Office Depot, Mrs. Sarah Arthurs and Mr. Joe Trevino of Teach One To Lead One, and many, many more community businesses and good folks like Christina Herrera and Tim Farell of The Madera Anti-Graffiti Program, thank you. Thank you for your contributions, donations, ideas, time, and energy.

Special thanks to Chuck Doud, editor and publisher of The Madera Tribune for donating classroom sets of newspapers to our students. Special thanks to Mr. Leon Emo, who not only “lived” right next to our school site, but visited Mountain Vista High School so many times to keep us informed and to learn what was happening at our exciting and ‘never dull” center of learning. God bless you all.

This was a grueling time for our staff. Somehow, a certain sadness and disappointment are almost unavoidable when a school closes down. The school symbolizes and represents so many wonderful and positive moments, and small and large personal triumphs in the lives of so many students and staff members.

I want to thank Madera Unified Superintendent Mr. John Stafford and the entire school board for all they have done for Mountain Vista High School.

My students asked me, “Hey, Mr. O’Donovan! When are you going to start to cry?” My response to them was that I have, as all my fellow staff members, thoroughly enjoyed the challenges and the experiences that I have known over the past 14 years.

I am looking forward to renewing the challenges next year along with the teaching staff of the former Ripperdan High School at Eastin Arcola High School. It is a truly beautiful setting and I invite everyone to visit our new school and play a part in what we are doing for our young people — helping them to prepare for the future that awaits them.

Hey! Guess what? Now I think I am going to cry.

Have a wonderful summer everyone, and be safe. I want my former students and future students in their homes by 10 o’clock every night. Is that clear? Okay. See you in August.

Brian Donald O’Donovan,
future teacher at Eastin Arcola High School

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

I don’t know whether you have noticed this, but a new manager-speak phrase is starting to catch on. Manager-speak, or bureau-speak, is language that seems to mean something but doesn’t.

A good example of manager-speak is “think outside the box.” That phrase has been going around so long, it has become trite. My old English teacher, Dr. Pendleton, used to write “tr” in the margins of my essays when I would use trite phrases. There were a lot of “tr”s on my essays, and if he were looking at this piece, he probably would get out his pen and write a few more.

But I digress (tr).

The phrase that is beginning to irk me is “going forward” or “moving forward.” The other day I heard it used at a public meeting, when the speaker said, “these figures will be good moving forward.” What she really meant to say was, “these figures will be good in the future.” Or maybe, “these figures will be good until tomorrow night.”

I always thought moving forward was how you described what happened when you moved forward. As opposed to moving backward.

I think the speaker used that phrase because she wanted to imply that the figures weren’t just a bunch of numbers. She had worked hard on them. She didn’t want to have to throw them out in a couple of weeks. So, instead of saying “These figures will be good for at least a couple of weeks,” she said “moving forward” instead. That’s thinking a little too far out of the box (tr).

When President Obama gave his speech on Tuesday, he said he wanted to be “perfectly clear.” I am getting a little tired of hearing him say “perfectly clear.” I give him a (tr) for it. It is a little unclear what he actually meant. “Perfectly clear” is a rhetorical device designed to make the speaker anything but clear. It’s the same as saying, “I’m not lying, honest. Really!”

William Federer of The American Minute radio and Internet program has given us a glimpse into our history in regard to the motto “One Nation Under God” which is a part of our Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. This motto is under continuous attach by progressives, atheists and other humanists who want to deny us our real American heritage in God Almighty. Consider what he wrote in his daily Internet commentary, www.AmericanMinute.com:

June 14 — Thirteen Stars and Thirteen Stripes. It was on June 14, 1777, that the Second Continental Congress selected the Flag of the United States. In 1916, Woodrow Wilson signed the Proclamation making June 14 “National Flag Day.”
On Flag Day, 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt stated: “The belief in man, created free, in the image of God, is the crucial difference between ourselves and the enemies we face … God of the free … grant us victory over the tyrants who would enslave all free men.”

On June 14, 1954, Dwight Eisenhower signed Joint Resolution (Public Law 396) adding the phrase “One Nation Under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Eisenhower stated: “From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty. To anyone who truly loves America, nothing could be more inspiring than … this rededication of our youth, on each school morning, to our country’s true meaning.” President Eisenhower ended: “In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource, in peace or in war.”

We thank William Federer for standing for the truth and setting the facts of our American Heritage before the people of America. May we join him in defending our religious liberties in the United States of America, as these liberties are under continuous assault by those who want to displace God with man, even revising our history books in their futile attempts to do so.

Check out the American Minute with William Federer as well as Wall Builders with David Barton to read the true history of America as penned by our original founders and historians.

“One Nation Under God” depicts our great American heritage, and it will be this truth on which we stand if we are to remain a nation that is a light unto the world. May “Old Glory” fly over the land of free and the home of the brave, which is one nation under God.

Pastor Randy Brannon,
Grace Community Church of Madera

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

I have friends who are baseball fans, friends who are football fans, friends who are basketball fans and friends who are bowling fans. I only know one person, however, who is a soccer fan.

He is enough of a fan of that game to make up for all the other people who aren’t soccer fans. He believes that soccer is a metaphor for life. His favorite book, a few months ago, anyway, was “How Soccer Explains the World,” by Franklin Foer. For him, it is indeed the beautiful game.

About 30 years ago, I read about what are called soccer hooligans. These are people who go to games just to beat up on the fans of the opposing team. They are interested in the game, but even more interested in the fight that follows.

People have been killed in these fights. Sometimes the dead are the hooligans. Sometimes they are people who just happened to go to the game and got hit by a chair.

Many Maderans, especially the American-Mexicans, love to play soccer. You will see them on weekends, running up and down the fields at Mill-view, kicking the ball. Once in a while, I will drop by to watch, but I soon lose interest. I just don’t understand what’s going on.

People who aren’t soccer fans describe the game as the sports equivalent of waiting for rain in July. Yes, it has been known to rain in July, and yes, teams have been known to score points in soccer, but at about the same frequency.

For example, the highly anticipated U.S. vs. England match at the World Cup in South Africa ended in a 1-1 draw. If you watched even part of the game, you probably had to turn the sound down, as I did. Masses of fans were blowing their vuvuzelas. Those are plastic trumpets tuned to about the same decibel level as fire engine horns, but not nearly as pleasant to listen to. The din was awful.

In regard to the Cardy Farias Award presentation Saturday at the Little League field and the man behind the award:

Cardy is a very good family friend for over 50 years and dear to our hearts.
My family grew up on a farm in Dixieland near Cardy’s family. My grandfather Cecil Cox, Cardy, and another good friend, Chip Rogers, were very involved in hunting pheasant near Dixieland.

Cardy and my grandfather were both World War II veterans and were very involved in Veterans of Foreign Wars here in Madera. They attended and organized several events within the club. Cardy was a B17 tailgunner in Europe during World War II.

Cardy started coaching Little League in or around 1956; my grandfather in 1958. They became the best of family friends through Little League, VFW and hunting.

My grandfather, Cardy Farias, Ray Cargill, Jim Veach and a few others built field 2 and made numerous improvements to field 1. 

Cardy coached Ford’s Welding for many years while my grandfather coached Elks. Among the two of them, many city championships were won. Back then, whoever won the City Championship coached the All-Star team. Whomever won that particular year would pick the other as the assistant coach. They had a bond like no other.

When Cardy and my grandfather first started coaching, there were only four Major League teams in the American League and four Major League teams in the National League. If a kid wasn’t talented enough to make the league team, he was turned away due to a limited amount of teams. 

My grandfather and Cardy were very instrumental in organizing the minor leagues so all kids would have an opportunity to play. They then started to build several more fields for the minor leagues.

When my grandfather passed away in 1973, Cardy was very instrumental in having a perpetual trophy made in memory of my grandfather. It was the original trophy given to the City Championship winner.

Cardy would always make a point of calling my grandmother to let her know when the game would be played so the three boys could hand out their father’s trophy. When my grandmother passed away in 2002, Cardy would always call my family to keep his legacy going. It was very important to Cardy that my grandfather was properly represented every year. Should one of us not be available he would always hand out the championship trophy.

To sum it all up, Cardy is simply an icon to this community. He has touched thousands of lives over the years and has absolutely loved every minute of it. Cardy is such an inspiration to many coaches and community volunteers in this community. Madera should be so thankful to have such a great mentor for their youth.

Jeff Cox,
Madera