Live Concert: “The Rainbow Connection” by Jason Mraz

All comments are edited for length and content. Due to content or space limitations some comments may not be published. More than one comment from the same person during the same week will normally not be published.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, self-identified as “a Vietnam veteran, under fire in Vietnam,” said, “I love America,” and wanted “to comment on the two ladies that were complaining they should be allowed to put billboards up in Spanish. America was founded on English. It (English) always has been and always will be (used here), and if people who want to come to this country — and there’s a lot of opportunities here, and we welcome all — (they) should learn English. Let’s join America and use English.”

“Billboards in Spanish only are offensive,” said a lady. “The official language of America is English. My descendants had to learn English. I, as an English-only-speaking American, take offense at billboards printed in Spanish only.”

A woman asked, “What happened to the plans for the big shopping center north of town? I’ve been told to shop Madera, but where? Come on, city hall. New stores would mean more jobs and more money for the city of Madera. I hate having to drive to Fresno to go shopping.” (Editor’s note: Work on the Madera Town Center was delayed because part of the site was declared a wetland by the federal government, and the center had to be redesigned. The developer hopes to begin construction within the next few months.)

“The Red Line works,” said a gentleman who “went to Walmart recently. Shockingly, it’s the first time I’ve been there for months because I refused to go there because it was such a filthy mess. But the place was perfectly spotless, even the toy section. They’ve opened up some of the aisles and made them wider. I actually had a pleasant experience at the Madera Walmart, believe it or not. Apparently, all the complaints through the Red Line have done some good. Again, appreciate the Red Line.”

Many more calls were received about last week’s comment on the county laying off more than 100 workers than rehiring recent retirees as consultants. “That is really sound reasoning,” said one caller. “It is simply the good old boys protecting themselves.”

Another called “about the county laying off all kinds of workers and bringing back administrators that have already retired or resigned. What about the (Madera Unified) School District? They’re doing the same thing. They are bringing in consultants to train new hires. They should bring in people that are qualified and don’t have to be trained.”

A man wanted “to praise the animal control and graffiti control people for an outstanding job. But the flags (banners) that are hanging on the telephone poles at Cleveland and Toronado that they have banging in the wind for days. My wife and I are both disabled and we can’t sleep at night. We’ve made calls to the city and nobody wants to do anything about it. I don’t know what to do. Please tell someone to fix it or take it down.”

A man said, “On behalf of the local gangs and their drug suppliers, I would like to thank the county board of supervisors, the sheriff, the reverend … for doing something we couldn’t do. You eliminated our competition (medical marijuana outlets) and probably gave us some new customers too. We (the gangs and drug dealers) appreciate it and will be forever grateful.”

A “gravely ill, elderly woman” voiced a similar opinion. “For quite some time now I have had a medical marijuana prescription for excruciating and disabling pain. Thanks to the ruling by the uncaring supervisors, I will now have to buy my medical marijuana off some drug dealer on the street not knowing the quality or strength of what I get. Because of my pain I do not have the capability to travel out of county to fill my prescription. Thanks for all the pain and suffering, board of supervisors. With every excruciating spasm I will be thinking of you.”

An online reader, “Rick Farinelli,” writes, “How do you market Madera County? With a dedicated group like the Yosemite Sierra Visitor Bureau. This group has done more for Madera County tourism in one year than we have had for over 20 years. Thank you, (county supervisors) Tom Wheeler and Max Rodriguez, for having the vision for marketing Madera County through the Visitor Bureau.”

Another Internet visitor, “Concerned,” writes, “Howard Elementary/Middle School has had dirty water for over a year now. People were told the water contains DPCB and it may harm the reproductive system … So around September 2009 they put some water coolers outside. There seems to be a very unhealthy situation over there that the school and school district have been overlooking.”

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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 maderatribuneredline.com.

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Music Video: “Give it Time” by Molly Jensen

This entry was posted on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 2:18 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.