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 Because of content or space limitations, some comments may not be published. More than one comment from the same person during the same week will normally not be published.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.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 2:46 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.