Red Line (Feb. 12)
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 Due to content some comments may not be published.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 Repeat messages on the same subject adding to the length will not be published. Some weeks, due to the number of comments and space, some may not be published.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 woman responded to a letter published Feb. 4. “I happened to be one of those seniors (at a local buffet) he’s talking about, and I did not appreciate him (the letter writer) going around saying what he did.” The lady explained, “we had a $10 check and we left an additional five dollars at the register.”
“I’m very disappointed with NBC and the Today show,” began a woman who said her name was Mary. “They were supposed to show the Blue Man (Paul Karason), and we here in Madera are very proud of him.” (Note: Due to Super Tuesday elections and the N.Y. Giants victory parade, the interview with Karason was rescheduled for Wednesday morning).
“I have a comment for Bill Coate who does Pieces of the Past and Twist in Time,” said a man. “He has done over 25 pieces on Madera and I read almost every one of them. I haven’t seen any stories about Mexican-Americans who did things for Madera County. I like his stories, but I just wish he would do more stories about Mexicans.”
A man wanted to know, “should a person arrested have an additional charge of assaulting an officer be added, or should that be reserved for someone who actually assaulted an officer?”
A woman said, “I want everybody to know I won’t be able to vote (in the primaries).” She claimed that the county clerk (voter registration) office said “someone tricked me into changing from Republican to Democrat. They know that is not true because I used to volunteer and register voters.”
A lady called “in regards to I want to beautify Madera.” She talked about all the garbage cans and “everyone leaving them in front of their house or on the sides of the house. We need to enforce an ordinance or create one if we don’t have one. It looks trashy.”
“Not enough good things are mentioned in the Red Line,” began a woman’s call. “I worked a polling place on Tuesday,” she continued. “It was very cold and dark and we had to be at the Millview Gym by 6 (a.m.). When I got there a city parks worker, I think his name was Leon, was already there. He greeted me with a tip of his hat and a good morning. A few minutes later his helper showed up and set up the tables and made sure everything was okay. It was still a little cold, but the heater was turned up all the way and we made the best of it. Thanks to Leon and Richard it was okay.”
A man called “in support of (sports editor) Paul Stanford’s article on (Madera High football coach) Randy Blankenship and support in what he had to say. If the coach doesn’t want to be here — I know he’s trying to leave — well maybe we should fire him.”
“Enough is enough,” said a woman about response to the Tribune’s coverage of Krista Pike. “May she rest in peace. Being the kind of person she was I don’t believe she would give (writer) John Rieping and the Tribune the bashing you’re giving. Newspapers print the good and the bad. That’s their job. Now it’s time to let the families try and heal.”
“The lashing out at the Tribune writer of the (Pike) story is uncalled for,” said a lady. “The paper is doing their job and the community needs to wake up and hear that these horrible crimes are happening and we need to stop them.”
A man who read in the paper “the board of supervisors are talking to the taxpayers association,” and wondered, “if they were talking to Jim Cobb about taxes and about what he owed the county. Maybe they should follow up on that.”
A lady who was upset with the county and “was sick and tired of seeing dead dogs all over the road. People need to get their act together.”
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An online reader, “Johnathan Czekstan,” wrote in response to a
Red Line comment published Feb. 5, which itself was reacting to an earlier comment on www.MaderaTribuneRedLine.com by Czekstan. “As far as the caller that stated that ‘How typical. An illegal trying to silence the citizens of Madera,’ it is interesting how you got the idea that I am an illegal immigrant. I am just a person in the city of
Madera that believes everyone has rights, (whether) legal immigrant, born citizen or illegal immigrant. This country guarantees people rights and also people deserve respect and to be treated like human beings.
“I do not think that it is very kind the way I hear many people talking about illegal immigrants almost every day. When you start to say something bad about others, just think about it like someone is saying something bad about you. How would you
feel?”
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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.MaderaTribuneRedLine.com.
They need to find a different place to drop off or pick up South High students instead of the parking lot by the stadium. (I’m) … a parent walking with young kids and the high school kids are standing on the sidewalk and won’t move. Security wont make them stay inside the fence until (the) bus comes and gets them. In the morning or after school we should be able to walk our kids to school without going into (the) road to get there.
Regarding North Fork Mono tribes attempts to acquire a casino in the city of Madera. Even though the city of Madera would be getting some residual money from a casino in Madera there is a big problem. Madera is not the traditional tribal area of the North Fork Mono native people. That area was the home of the Yokut people. Yokuts and Monos are different tribes. The Yokuts were linguistically and culturally different then the Mono people. The Monos were up in the foothills and the Madera County census will verify this. The Madera Indian census is on the Internet and the American Indians in the Madera city area were Yokuts and not Monos. I believe that the Yokut families in the city of Madera during the earliest times are not even in the North Fork Mono tribe. It would appear that the North Fork Monos are claim jumping another tribe’s area for a casino. The North Fork Monos are doing this because if they constructed a casino in their traditional tribal area it would not be profitable to them. So this whole casino deal is not because of tribal pride, but only for casino profits.