Red Line (March 24)
All comments are edited for length and content. Due to content or space limitations some comments may not be published. More than one message from the same person during the same week will normally not be published. Please limit telephone calls to two minutes or less.
A man expressed “a comment on the bicycle (and pedestrian) path under-crossings at the bridges on D and Lake streets. There’s a lot of drug activity going on down there. We need to get rid of the people that are just hanging out down there and let the public use that area. I don’t even want to go down there because of that fact.”
“I can’t understand why politicians don’t legalize marijuana,” began a man’s call. “Either that or have people vote on it. They’ve spent millions of dollars trying to stop it, but it’s getting worse. It would save a lot of money if they legalize and pay taxes on it, like they do on tobacco, and make money.”
“I was downtown Tijuana, oh, I’m sorry, downtown Madera,” a man said by telephone. He “noticed that a building on the corner of Yosemite and C Streets had been painted a pinkish color. Which is right next door to the burnt orange building.” He was “just wondering, are Hispanic people color blind?”
A woman wanted to say how much she “enjoyed the color pictures on the weather page. They are really great.” She mentioned a couple of pictures that she really liked including “one a week or so ago that had a hill and a small tree on the right hand side and dark clouds in the background. It was really awesome.”
“It is such a small piece,” said a lady, “but with a lot of information. I don’t know who writes the Ramblin’ Rec that is in the paper on Monday, but since moving my family to Madera a couple of years ago I have relied on finding out about programs for my kids. I got them into after school programs and sports that I learned about in the paper.”
A man was “concerned about gangs and guns in Madera. I know sometimes they don’t get the publicity because a lot of it is undercover, but I hope the police department and gang task force is doing all they can. After what happened in Oakland (4 officers killed) this weekend, I hope it can’t happen here.”
A gentleman “just wanted to comment on the story of the moron that hung that little dog up in that tree. First of all, he can’t be a human being. But he will get paid back for that, somewhere along the line.”
A visitor to the Red Line Web site, self-identified as “Alex,” commented on two letters to the editor. Regarding a letter entitled “Cheers to police, they nabbed creep,” the visitor writes, “Why didn’t you have your daughter’s phone number changed when this guy first got her number?” Regarding a letter entitled “Cheers for naming a ball field,” he writes, “I would like to know when there is going to be a field named after Ken Taylor. Ken did a lot for baseball in Little League, Babe Ruth and the high schools.”
Another Internet guest, self-identified as “Donald,” writes, “Is anyone able to inform me as to why the City of Madera keeps approving plans for new shopping centers when the current ones we have are largely not filled with tenants? This includes all of the new ones as well as the older shopping centers.”
A third Internet reader took offense with a Tribune sports commentary entitled “A word with Obama and March Madness.” The person writes, “So a throwaway segment on ESPN that took all of three minutes on film is just too much to bear, right? I mean, come on, is he supposed to be completely cut off from anything of leisure since he’s elected?
“Let’s be realistic. Times are changing, and the president does need to be around, and what better way to be around than to do some things that encourage a view of the man as exactly that: a man. Let titles be titles, and acknowledge that a person can deal with presidential issues, have a March Madness bracket, and appear on talk shows. It’s called existing in the real world.”
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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 logging on to www.maderatribuneredline.com.
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PHATDIPPIN’ RAP
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