Red Line (April 8)
All comments are edited for length and content. Due to content some comments may not be published.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 Repeat messages on the same subject adding to the length will not be published. Some weeks, due to the number of comments and space, some may not be published.
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A gentleman “just wanted to comment on Joe Urena’s letter to the editor, Monday, March 31. I think it’s a very good letter. But I wanted to point out … according to the latest news the Iraqi war is not costing one billion (dollars) a month, but nine billion per month. And with incidentals such as veteran’s hospitals, equipment repair, etc. it is running about $25 billion per month. This came from CNN and their Reuters affiliation.”
A man called about the lady last week complaining “about the free (food) handouts and not getting enough now.” This week’s caller surmised, “the next thing we will need to do is to deliver that food to their doorstep. You give them food, then they want more.”
A woman also called “about the lady upset with surplus commodities. She (last week’s caller) said they used to give out more. Well, they gave it out every three months. She’s getting it once a month now.” She suggested, “the lady save up her boxes for three months and it will equal what she was getting before. She ought to be thankful for it.”
Dennis Darnell, executive director of the Madera County Food Bank, also called to set things correctly. “We are the ones that took over the commodity program from the Action Agency… We are still giving away the food that was ordered by the Action Agency. You are getting the exact same amount of food as before. If anything, they are getting more because we are adding to it. The problem is that they got it every other month and we give it away every month. It is more food than they ever got.”
A woman gave her first name, and replied to last week’s mother “who had a 7-year old boy in the Social Security Office” and said “they were rude.” She wanted to know if the child “was under medication,” and also said the staff at “Social Security should be a little more understanding.”
“Madalyn Brenson,” a visitor to our Web site, responded to an earlier defense of colorful Madera buildings. “The buildings in Cancun are colorful, but they are well taken care of as well, and part of the attraction for tourists,” she wrote.
“Clean up the all of the buildings downtown and then paint them bright pink for all I care, but having every other building on Yosemite painted nice and bright while the one next to it is run down and falling apart is ridiculous looking.”
A regular online visitor, “J.P.,” responded at length to www.MaderaTribuneRedLine.com comments on graffiti, Leon Emo and the proposed casino. He urged Neighborhood Watch involvement to fight graffiti, praised Jon Barsotti’s casino letter, and wrote, “If Leon Emo wants to wear shorts, then more power to him!”
He ended by listing nearby casinos. “Come on people! That’s seven casinos, all within comfortable driving distance, and all of them away from the (state Route) 99, which already needs significant maintenance and upgrading before we even think about creating more traffic issues by building another casino right in the middle of the issue!”
An Internet reader, “D.W.,” replied to a complaint about Madera’s lack of diverse sit-down restaurants. “Hey, a Rub Tuesday’s would be good too, even another Denny’s not by a truck stop. Also some real shopping centers. I am burnt out on ‘Just Wally-mart.’ I’ve lived here 40 years and downtown just gets more blighted, tagging is really bad too.
“Also, the fairgrounds and race track should be moved out by the new casino and airport. Perhaps we could even get a water park or children’s museum too. Something positive that proves Madera still isn’t a backwoods place to live. Get with it civic leaders!”
A lady “was so happy to read (in a local paper) a story about the big orange (Mammoth Orange) at Fairmead being saved and moved into the city of Chowchilla. My niece remembers it from over 50 years ago when the family would come up here and they always wanted to stop there, but never had time. Finally, last year, we went up there and she was quite intrigued by it.” The caller “hoped that the Tribune does a story on it.”
A man called concerning the article “regarding the taxes we are short of, how a lot of sales tax is not there anymore. Until the state and city’s government change the way (they) let people run businesses in their town — having illegal businesses with no sales tax, no invoices, no information requirements, just (cash) money in their pocket — we will continue to have this deficit.
“Just go down E Street,” the caller suggested, “and I guarantee half those businesses are illegal. Everyone should play on the same level. Until that happens we will continue to face tax shortages.”
“I’m calling about that awful racetrack that is starting up on every Saturday,” began a woman. “I wish they would take that racetrack and move it out to maybe where the casino is going to be. That racetrack is nothing but a pain in the neck. My children try to go to sleep and we can still hear the noise constantly.”
A lady who “received a ticket in Madera County” said she “went to court on it and walked up to the window,” and was told “the DA has yet to file charges. Check back in 4 to 6 weeks. Couldn’t pay for it. Couldn’t even take care of it. What’s happening with Madera County?”
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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.
NCLB The Sequel — Get ready for it
A few months back I read a letter in our local newspaper’s opinion column. It was by a teacher that wanted another bureaucrat to know that teaching was not a business.
I agree testing is not teaching.
So with a heavy heart I sat the paper aside. I myself had had always wanted to teach, and upon hard work, huge hurdles, and countless student loans that I cannot dream of paying back I became a teacher with a Masters degree and NCLB qualifications.
However, after becoming a teacher, I found through NCLB that teaching is no longer the vocation I took to heart.
Due to NCLB, my passion is now a business. One that is leaving many a child that enters this fill in the bubble world to becoming a generation at risk. With NCLB students have learned not to think for themselves, and teachers have learned how to teach test taking only.
Like Kimberly Meigs, Heather Mildon and Stephanee Jordan, I have seen sweeping changes in the education system that seems to only benefit the standardized test makers.
Gone is P.E., Music, Art, Social Studies, Science; the very thing so many of our students need in order to make it in the real world.
As a teacher, being told you can only teach Math and Language Arts, has insulted not only my intelligence, but thousands of other educators, parents, and students. Take for example one of my past school years.
A few years ago I had roughly 300 students in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade, (give or take), that I saw for 3 1⁄2 hours a day. It was a position created to give teachers 1 hour of class prep time in a year roud school. So the time was designated for science. I taught science. I had everyone from special education to ESL and ELL students. It was truly a mixture that was a challenge not only in sheer volume of students and paperwork; but one of joy. The school had their first science fair. The positive response by parents, and the community, was overwhelming. The students were so proud of their hard work. When money was cut
at the end of the year, so was my job.
I was replaced by benchmarks and those that seem to know best. I still have students come up to me asking about why there is no science at their school any more, and why I left them. Others have thanked me. Some have said you were a tough teacher. And me? Well somewhere… there has to be a need for a highly qualified, middle-aged teacher that believes in students taking notes, challenging themselves to complete a project, discover and learn through hands-on experiences, that believes students should read a whole book, not just a chunk of a story, and showing all of their math work. Somewhere there has to be a place where students learn that they are more than a number generated from a test. If so…I’d really like to have a job.
Millview Elementary
Hi! My name Is Leana and I go to Fresno State. I am currently doing some community service hours at Millview Elementary for my Comm 1 and Comm 101 class. I am working in the resource center and have noticed that help is needed. Just on the days that I am there I have noticed that there is a lot of work that needs to be done. If there is anyone that has some extra time to volunteer that would be great. ,=) Thank you for your time.