My vote is no for the proposed casino on state Route 99.

Gambling is not a sin if it is not compulsive; like eating is not a sin if it does not turn into gluttony. From time to time my husband and I enjoy the privilege of playing for fun and the hope of bringing home more money than we budgeted to play with.

As I mature in my walk with God, the most important goal for all humans to pursue, I see my responsibility to help protect people without discipline and spiritual insight. We already have Table Mountain and Chukchansi close enough for gambling entertainment.

Addictions are a reality and too prevalent. Society has crossed the line of common sense and caring for one another. Having another gambling establishment will be too convenient for those struggling with gambling temptation or outright addiction.

Are there no other ways to generate jobs and revenue for taxes? How about a big shopping mall on that location to include restaurants? How about factories for “made in America” products in our county?

Katherine Atilano,
Madera, CA

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 Due to content some comments may not be published.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 Repeat messages on the same subject adding to the length will not be published. Some weeks, due to the number of comments and space, some may not be published.

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“Why are they closing Eastin-Arcola?” asked a lady. “There is nothing wrong with the school. The (MUSD) superintendent needs to take a cut in his pay and give it to the teachers. They’re the ones teaching the kids, not him.”

A woman responded to “the caller (last week) who couldn’t believe all the people walking around Madera with plastic bags are not citizens of the U.S. He should be happy they are spending their money in Madera and not going elsewhere.”

On a similar subject, a man asked, “Who are these people to judge anybody?” He said he was a Mexican-American and said, “I’m not going out there in those fields and pick grapes, pick this, or pick that. In the first place how does he know they’re illegals? A lot of these people are very good people.”

Another woman responded to the “caller last week that complained about the Madtown Indoor Soccer League.” She suggested, “if he is so concerned (about) the business not having a scoreboard he should donate some of his money.” The caller emphasized “that couple spent all their money to open up the indoor soccer arena so Madera could have an extracurricular activity for the kids and adults.”

“We are going to get a casino,” said a man. “The advertising paid for by the mountain casino only got people who were for it to attend the meeting at Hatfield Hall. The sooner it is built the better this community will be when it starts getting funds to help with roads and schools.”

“Isn’t the crime in Madera bad enough without gambling?” asked a woman. “The new casino will be nothing but a trouble spot with police having to spend time there when they should be patrolling our streets.”

While attending “the casino meeting at the fairgrounds,” a woman said, “I saw your columnist and reporter, Leon Emo, at the meeting. I cannot believe you let him get away with wearing shorts at an important community event such as this. A 50-year old man with such an important job should not be seen in such attire.” (Note: Emo was not working and attended the meeting as a citizen.)

A lady “found a cute male poodle, cream color, near Snow White (Lake and Yosemite). If he is your dog please call,” and she gave a phone number. (Unfortunately, the Red Line cannot give out telephone numbers.)

A woman called about “conditions on south Lake Street.” She mentioned vandalized mailboxes and “skateboarders ruining lawns and fences.” She asked, “would you please look into it. The police don’t care about this side of town.”

“I don’t know if the people realize,” began a man’s call, “but our (county) supervisor, Frank Bigelow, seems to have his picture always in the paper. Now we have a contest going because all of a sudden (Madera) Mayor Sally Bomprezzi is having her picture in the paper all the time.” He believes “the two of them are having a contest.”

“Your extended warranty coverage is currently receiving its final notice,” began a male computerized voice, “and your vehicle will be removed from our system.” The voice offered an “extended warranty at discounted rates.”

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An online reader, “Carolyn,” writes, “Why do you have rules and regulations about watering if you do nothing about the people who don’t fix their sprinklers and water longer than necessary and let the water fill up the gutters.”

“Progress” writes, “Sure, the casino may cause gambling problems but the benefits outweigh the few negatives. If you want Madera to be a city that no one wants to go to or stay in, sure, keep opposing new things. But if you want Madera to expand and get new things, keeping money in the city and creating new jobs along with many other things then just leave it alone. We need progress not the opposite.”

Online visitor “J. Gonzalez” clarifies a comment of his published earlier, “I was writing about the head baseball coach, not the basketball coach … We all have lost a lot of respect for him, which we didnt have much to begin with.”

“D.E. Bruno” writes, “I live one mile from the site and am in complete support for this casino. I know the other two casinos give their money to Fresno County. Now we are aware they are buying and moving elected officials, as well as people that never stepped foot in Madera to oppose this project? We want a nice resort, not another Wal-Mart. After reading the Tribune’s one-sided view opposing this project, it makes me fully aware why I don’t subscribe to it.” (Note: The Madera Tribune does not oppose or support the proposed casino resort.)

A female reader writes, “I just moved to Madera and I cannot believe how few restaurants there are here … This is a pathetic excuse for a town. I have seen exactly one franchise restaurant here. If my fiance hadn’t just gotten transferred here I’d run as fast as I could to the nearest real town with normal colored buildings. It really makes a terrible first impression.”

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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 visiting www.MaderaTribuneRedLine.com.

I attended the meeting Wednesday (March 12th) at Hatfield Hall involving the BIA and Madera’s citizens (and others). The reason I am writing is to express dismay over the poor attitude and disrespect displayed by the supporters of the casino project toward those who spoke against the project or merely objected that the environmental impact statement did not consider the impact on neighboring counties/cities.

These rude individuals booed, hissed and jeered those with whom they disagreed.

I thought that we lived in a society where differences of opinion were respected, and in our society freedom of expression without fear of reprisal or hostility was guaranteed, and people of different opinions were treated with civility

Apparently these rude buffoons would fit better into an Iran or even more so into the caveman mentality.

I was embarrassed that the BIA officials, who had cautioned against such outbursts, saw this type of behavior despite their attempts to ensure a civil atmosphere.

Shame on these social slobs whose behavior will undoubtedly carry over into their soiries into the casino.

Rodney A. Reindl,
Madera

By John Rieping
MaderaTribuneRedLine.com

The Red Line is now available by RSS (Really Simple Syndication), which is a way to skim the latest Red Line articles as soon as they appear on this Web site.

To receive RSS updates, you’ll just need a web browser that allows you to create RSS bookmarks, such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox (both free). Or you can just use a free “feed reader” or “aggregator” like FeedReader (Windows), SharpReader (Windows), Straw (Linux), or NetNewsWire (Mac OS X).

To use our RSS “feed,” just CLICK HERE by pressing the right mouse button (single-button mouse users on a Mac will want to hold the Option key down when they click), select the “Copy Link” option and then paste the link into your feed reader or into a new web browser bookmark. After doing so you can easily skim the daily headlines of The Madera Tribune Red Line via your new RSS feed. If any of them interest you, just click on them to read the full article.

For a deeper explanation of RSS, visit the RSS article available at the free online encyclopedia, Wikipedia.org.

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 man said he went to a “Madera Indoor Soccer game” and “the ref was very one-sided.” He was also concerned that the “business did not have a scoreboard. After the tie game the ref was confronted and he trashed his small piece of paper where he kept score and gave the game to the other team.” The caller “was concerned that they were given a business license without the proper equipment and leaving paying customers unsatisfied.”

A gentleman, who said he was a “former Coyote baseball player and knows Coyote baseball,” called about last week’s caller “who wanted to make sure” that a pitcher for “Coyote baseball” was mentioned in the article covering the game.

“People should not complain or point fingers at kids making errors or coach’s decisions. Just be happy your kid’s pitching (Varsity), because once league starts he might be going to some JV (Junior Varsity) games.”

A regular caller began, “congratulations on your fine article of March 5 in the commentary section about the real estate police with the Redevelopment Agency.” Unfortunately, most of his further comments could not be published.

Another regular caller “and native Maderan” said, “today being Wednesday and the flea market in full swing at the fairgrounds and with all the Mexicans people I see in this community it would lead me to believe that Madera has fast become a sanctuary city for illegals.”

The caller “could not believe that all the people you see on the streets of Madera carrying their plastic bags, walking around are legal citizens of the United States.”

“I’m calling with an important announcement about your credit card account,” began a computer call with a lady’s voice. “This is our third attempt at reaching you. Our records indicate you’ve been over-paying interest. Right now we have you qualified to reduce your interest payment.” (Note: The Red Line neither possesses any credit cards nor owes any payments or interest.)

“Mr. Doud, change,” began a woman’s call concerning a recent “Editor’s Corner.” “Daylight Savings Time will give us one more our ‘in the afternoon’ to go out to the golf links.”

A lady touted the Madera High stage production and encouraged “everyone to go to the play at the high school. It is beautiful and really a great show. Everyone should help support the school and the drama class.” She asked, “when entering please be generous with your donation.”

A gentleman encouraged and “hoped a lot of people come to that meeting concerning the casino on Wednesday night (at the fairgrounds). I’m in favor of it and I’m going.”

Another woman expressed similar feelings. “I’m tired of hearing those commercials running down the proposed casino. I think it’s a great thing that will help support services, schools, police and fire.”

A woman spoke of a “marriage ceremony in Madera” on a certain date and said she “had some very important information you might want to hear about.” She left her email address and said it “was extremely important.”

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A visitor to MaderaTribuneRedLine.com, “Rita Savala,” commented on the future job losses in the Madera Unified School District, “The school board and all those men in ties at district office should each take a 20 percent cut to give back all the money they’ve gotten in the last few years that the teachers didn’t. We need our teachers. We don’t need them.”

An online reader, “J. Gonzalez,” questioned the ethics of the recruiting practices of “the head baseball coach” at Madera South High School and claimed “most parents have no respect for him.”

A Madera native, “JP,” expressed amazement at the city’s willingness “to ‘settle’ for a downtown that is so run down.” He urged readers to visit Merced, where he now lives, and writes, “Our downtown still has a theater, has both Subway and Quizno’s, a Starbucks, several shops, plenty of shaded areas to sit and enjoy the day, nice sit-down restaurants, a water fountain, horse-drawn carriage rides, a Farmer’s Market (seasonal), music stores, et cetera…

“I was born and raised in Madera. I spent 19 years of my life there. In that 19 years, Madera’s downtown has gone from halfway decent to just plain sad. But then again, this is just a symptom of the apathy that pervades every aspect of the management of the city. … If you are tired of settling for second best, the time is now to make yourselves heard, read and seen.”

A friend of the late Krista-Rae Pike, “Emily,” writes, “Well I love the poem that he wrote for Krista but all I can say is one day soon I will be with my best friend again and won’t we all be happy again. And for the reason why I want to be with her now is because I miss her pigging sound (that) she always did when someone was sad, just didn’t look good at the time or even when someone didn’t have a smile on their face. I just have to say I love her so much and I can’t want to see her soon but not too soon.”

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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 visiting www.MaderaTribuneRedLine.com.

The North Fork Mono Tribe recently released an advertisement in the Madera Tribune (3-8-08) that stated their desire to set the record straight regarding the misguided and greedy intentions of other competing tribes as they criticized the plans of the proposed North Fork Casino in the Madera city limits.

I admire the Mono Tribe (for) seeking truth as that is a noble goal. I therefore will help them with their quest for truth by reminding them that the City of Madera has never endorsed the proposed North Fork casino, contrary to their ad listing the city as an endorser. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that they signed with the City of Madera during the Fall of 2006 did not include the language of endorsement and the tribe is simply wrong if they believe the MOU even implies an endorsement. At best, the MOU mitigates issues presented by the possible existence of the casino.

I am also hoping that many of the citizens of Madera have taken time to read the Environmental Impact Statement that will discussed and commented on in a Public Hearing to be conducted this Wednesday, March 12th, beginning at 6 p.m. at Hatfield Hall on the Madera Fairgrounds. I was particularly interested in the section of the report that projected permanent jobs for Madera County residents, direct and indirect, that the proposed casino would create.

Of the 2,319 jobs that would be created, 1,581 of these jobs will be held by Madera County residents. However, the report estimates that there will be 705 problem gamblers created by the proposed casino, of which 15 percent will seek treatment for their problem. If my math is correct, that means there will be approximately two problem gamblers emerging for every five jobs created for Madera County residents.

I would like to reiterate that I am not using hyperbole reporting this information. Read it for yourself. This information alone is enough for me to oppose the North Fork Casino. Support for the project knowing this data would reflect a callous disregard for the welfare of our citizens susceptible to gambling addiction.

There is no doubt that The North Fork Tribe, their media team, and The Stations Casino has done an excellent job in their campaign of spin and diversion to move their project forward. While their media presentations have completely focused on casino contributions to the community, we must keep in mind what the only real reason for their interest in creating a casino is creating profits for the Tribe and Stations Casino.

Although I encourage and support business and personal profitability, doing so while creating human carnage in the hundreds and other collateral damage when one considers the families of problem gamblers is reprehensible. I encourage you to attend the public hearing this Wednesday and voice your concern for the future of not only yourselves but your neighbors. Let’s not lower the bar any further. We can do better.

Robert Poythress
Madera City Councilman

Mr. Boren’s article, Sunday Fresno Bee, March 9th, brings up some very interesting points. He mentions that various governmental entities in Madera County will receive approximately $118 million over 20 years. The City of Madera will immediately receive enough money to hire five additional police officers and a supervisor. Madera County will also immediately receive funds to hire five additional sheriff deputies and a sergeant.

That’s all fine and good, but where is the money to offset the increased cost in services that the state will have to provide? The local Madera CHP office is dangerously understaffed for the area; with no increase in assigned officers as the valley traffic has grown. I was assigned to the Madera CHP office for almost 20 years. In that time I watched the traffic, calls to help disabled motorists, collisions, drunk drivers and calls to back-up allied agencies grow with that increase.

Our Madera County CHP officers — both in the Madera office and the Oakhurst office — are doing much more with much less. Demand for traffic services are ever-increasing and staffing levels remain the same. With the current state fiscal crisis, there is no hope for improvement.

I am now retired but spent the last few years of my career working in the Oakhurst area. When a collision, a stolen car or a drunk driver occurs on “sovereign Indian land,” the CHP is called and handles the investigation. It will be the same no matter where this casino is placed. The County Sheriff’s office might be called, but they in turn will call the CHP to handle the problem. The Madera City Police Department is not going to respond or handle an incident that does not occur in their city limits.

What about the increased traffic and demand that will be placed on the freeway, the overpasses and the off/on ramps? Is Cal-Trans going to receive money to rebuild or upgrade the state roadways? Yes, there is money in this compact for county road improvement, but Cal-Trans is not a county government entity.

I’ve read the Environmental Impact Report and cannot locate (amongst the thousands of pages in this report) any mitigation for these increased costs to the state. The compact, if signed by the Governor, will bring gambling profits to the State’s general fund. But traffic services on the highways of the state, including Madera County are not paid from that fund. The entire CHP budget comes from your vehicle registration fees. The general fund will not pay for the increased, and immediate, impact that this burden of traffic, etc. will have on the California Highway Patrol and the citizens of Madera County.

Whether the property is developed into a casino, or even the less discussed option of a multi-acre retail space, there will be an increased demand placed on all the governmental services: state, county and city. There must be a fair payment provided for these increased services by any tribe who desires to build a casino. Although we are talking about a casino in Madera County, the same situation exists throughout our state and in every county with Native Indian Nation neighbors.

Thank you,

R.L. McEdward,
Madera

The free version of The Madera Tribune online (www.MaderaTribune.com) appears to be unreachable at the moment. As the webmaster, I am trying to contact the company that hosts our site to find out what is wrong.

For those who are trying to view the subscription version of the newspaper, just click here to do so.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Webmaster’s note: As of Tuesday, March 11th, the free version of the Tribune online is once again accessible and functioning. Thank you for your patience.

The most interesting pages of the Tribune are the last. C-4 today, March 3.

On the right side of the page is an article on the strawberry growers in L.A. County. It talks about their battles with rules which restrict their use of fumigants, and their difficulty with being able to sustain their business against the EPA and the clean air idiots.

On the left side of the page (hummm, left) is a gardening article on how to control clover and oxalis in your yard. Even though it says use herbicides last, it says spray the s— out of it. I guess if you have a “golf course” you can multiply those recommendations by four.

Where are we? I just got a letter from the county fire department about weeds and their control for fire abatement. I use herbicides to control weeds because they use water that my crops could use. I spray the edge of the roads to control weeds, and also to protect the road from being destroyed by such weeds as Bermuda and nutgrass. I don’t disc along the road because the dust blown up by trucks hauling your produce to market can cause mites in my crop, which would result in a pesticide use.

Last week we had an article on eating insects and bugs in Indonesia. It was on the left. on the right was an advertisement for a fundraiser. A Chinese dinner?

Those of you that believe … I feel sorry for you.

Bill Hoffrage,
Madera

I am writing to express my appreciation and admiration of your longtime columnist, Leon Emo.

The news business has been my calling for quite a while and never have I encountered a more caring and compassionate writer. It seems that we “broadcast types” and you “print types” are often adversaries (at least in larger cities) for whatever reason, but throw all that away with Leon. What a wonderful person.

I have never read a single word of Leon’s writings, but one can just tell that he writes from the heart. Too many of us get caught up in what we “should” write, but my intuition tells me that Leon draws on his personal experiences and passion for life and writes what he believes.

It is my belief that the Today show would not have had the privilege of meeting Blue Man Paul Karason without Leon’s assistance. Leon promised nothing more than that he would try to se up a meeting with Paul, and he produced. From returning my calls as promised or acting as a go-between for Paul, Leon more than delivered on his word. Unfortunately that is all too rare in this day, even among colleagues.

(By the way, I hope Leon’s writings allow Paul to be accepted and appreciated. I think they will. Having come to know Paul through Leon, I can say that he is an intelligent and thoughtful man with much to offer I hope Maderans accept him; no one should be judged by the color of their skin.)

Finally, not only is Leon a colleague but I now consider him a friend. His “60’s lifestyle” and my 70’s upbringing don’t always mesh but we more than meshed on personal and journalistic values. He is a pleasure to spend time with and The (Madera) Tribune is truly fortunate to have a writer of Leon’s caliber and integrity on it’s staff.

Please let Leon know how much NBC appreciates him and what an asset he is to your staff and community.

Alan Cohen