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 Because of content or space limitations, some comments may not be published. More than one comment from the same person during the same week will normally not be published.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 man said he “enjoyed the feature article on B1 of Saturday’s Tribune. The writer recalls her high school days standing on smoker’s corner at west Seventh and North K Streets. After living in that area for 40 years I still can’t find that intersection.” (Note: West Seventh and South, not North, K streets do intersect one block east of Madera High School.)

A man saw an article about housing “for four Hispanic families. I doubt seriously if Smith, Jones, Johnson or Williams families would have had that type of front page coverage. I also noticed in the paper there is more and more Spanish advertising. I guess if I am going to continue subscribing I’m going to have to learn Spanish. Fat chance of that.”

A woman “wondered what was going on with the people in control of our city. They are going to increase the speed limit all around the city. I cannot believe it. Isn’t there enough traffic accidents with people getting hurt and killed already? Don’t they know speed kills?”

But another woman said, “I was delighted to see the list of streets that are going to have their speed limits raised. But one was sadly lacking. Sunset (Avenue) up to Schnoor (Avenue), that is still 25 miles per hour. With all the stop signs on that street you could never go very fast, but 25 is ridiculous.

A man “had an idea. Instead of the city blowing our money putting in these (state-mandated) water meters, which they probably won’t work right and have to hire somebody, why don’t we hire more police officers and get rid of these gangs like Fresno is doing.”

A man referenced the “July 12 paper. Page A2 shows about two men crashing over the weekend that resulted in a DUI. I don’t care what anybody says, I would bet a thousand dollars they are all illegal aliens and should be deported. Why don’t we wake up and follow the lead of Arizona?”

A man replied to “the Red Line of July 13. The illegals do not cost the state or federal government as much as people think. Documentation says they pay millions in IRS taxes (and) Social Security, which they cannot collect. I’m not sure they can connect any of this.”

He had another comment about “the lady who said the Ellis overstreet crossing was a waste of money. Have you ever been at the Cleveland-Gateway intersection at a busy time?”

A man wanted “to know what happened to Rambling Rec on Monday. I always read it to keep up on the sports and upcoming events.” (Editor’s note: No column was submitted for July 12, but one was in this Monday’s issue.)

A woman had a similar comment. “Did I miss the Ramblin’ Rec on Monday? I like to read about the good things that are happening in Madera. I hope it comes back. I don’t care for the jumbled city Web site. Why didn’t the city have a professional Web page designer do it? It’s awful.”

“There’s a job opening for Family First 5,” said a man. “I was wondering why they have to be bilingual. We need to speak English. You can’t get a job because you have to be bilingual.”

A woman explained the road repair on Howard Road that Red Line callers complained about. “They should understand that the ground has to settle (where the water line broke) and once it settles they can go back in and fix it where it is a lot smoother.”

A male caller commended sports editor Paul Stanford. “I know you’ve been catching a lot of heat in the Red Line, but I think you’re doing a great job with the limited resources at your disposal. Your coverage of the Little League Championships and playoffs were top notch.”

A lady called with two short messages. “First of all, I love the Tribune and I love Leon. He’s such a positive person. Second,” she said, “I am just appalled with all the abuse to the animals. First, a Dalmatian, then we find animal control found a dog near the golf course that was almost dead. I gave my donation for the care of both animals. But this has got to stop. Animal abuse can lead to other abuses. I hope you print this, and thank you very much.”

A man gave his name and said he wanted to speak about the high-speed rail. “We don’t need it. Not at all. They have to have a little common sense. This is madness.” Despite his comment, he gave several ideas on what should be done when planning and constructing. He then advised, “Remember the San Andreas Fault.”

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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 visiting maderatribuneredline.com on the Internet.

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Satirical Music: “Old Time Recession” by Merle Hazzard

This entry was posted on Monday, July 26th, 2010 at 2:29 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.