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A woman who saw the fireworks show at Madera Municipal Golf Course “just wanted to give a big thank you to Dave Berry and all the city employees for putting on such a wonderful Fourth of July and the fireworks were better than ever. They have been enjoyed by four generations of my family.”

Another woman, self-identified as “M. Campbell,” said she and her family would not watch the fireworks at the golf course because she was upset with a park rule. She writes, “Last year, I was pregnant and not allowed to bring bottled water with me. About 7:30 that night all the vendors ran out of water and only had soda left. Many people cannot have sodas and it is absolutely ridiculous that water is not allowed to be brought in, especially if it is not guaranteed that they will have enough for people when it is almost 100 degrees outside.”

“Do we or do we not have a code enforcement for dead weeds and grass growing around the house and in the alley?” asked a lady. “The rental next door has such tall weeds and broken plastic furniture next to my fence in the renter’s property. Do they have to have all night parties where one of them might flip a lighted cigarette in the grass? … I’ve made three calls to code enforcement since May. Either the girl answering the phone doesn’t report it to the proper person, or it is a well-known name that is the owner of the rental.”

A woman responded to last week’s caller who said, “downtown looks like a little Tijuana.” This week’s caller agreed and also mentioned “the signs. We are still in the United States. All signs should be in English.”

A guest to the Red Line site, “Concerned,” writes, “To the commenter that made the ‘Tijuana Row’ comment… What is wrong with the buildings — outside of being old and poorly maintained? I’d imagine your problems are because of the occupants more than the color of the buildings, and that’s sad.”

An online visitor, self-identified as “Darlene,” writes, “They should build a … (deep-discount franchise) store on this side and a… (hamburger franchise restaurant) should be put into the old Pizza Hut building. We need things on this side of town too just like on the other side of the town.”

A woman called “about the boat drags I went to last Saturday (at Berenda Reservoir near Chowchilla). It is bad enough you have to pay $5 for parking, and then they want to charge $1 for a one-way ride on a golf cart. Then they charge you $30 to get in. I think that’s a little too much.”

A lady wanted “to leave a comment about the (woman’s name given) story. I would just advise her to get some good witnesses and get yourself a good lawyer for discrimination.”

A woman said, “I brought my three children to go swimming Thursday (June 3) at the pool at the park and it was closed. A man said it had been vandalized by a gang and wouldn’t be able to be open that day. I’m sure my kids were not the only ones that didn’t get to go swimming that day because of those cowards in gangs. Are the police going to start doing something or are we going to have to start getting rid of the gangs in our own way?”

A guest of our Web site, “fewclothes,” commented on a new state law restricting cellular phone use while driving. The person writes, “How many times have you seen someone sitting at a red light and talking on the phone and when the light changes to green he continues to sit there? It’s because his brain was on the conversation and not his driving. We don’t need a hands-free law as much as we need a brains-free law. Maybe it’s just me but I can’t concentrate on my driving if I’m engaged in a conversation…”

A woman wanted to know “if anyone saw Lou Weibe this (Friday) morning performing on Channel 26. He was playing the guitar and singing and if you missed it, he was great.”

A woman said, “my little girl just completed swim lessons at the city pool. She really enjoyed the lessons and the instructors were very patient and very good to her. Thanks to the lifeguards, she will never be afraid of the water again. I just wanted to thank them for a good job.”

A man read an article in Monday’s Tribune (“Charities rip-off taxpayers”) “about all the charities that were taking all the money.” He mentioned, “it was too bad you didn’t list those charities.”

An Internet reader, “Madera girl,” writes, “I was wondering where is the news in the Trib? Things are happening everywhere … a man drove through the front of a building here in town. And yet, our front page highlights are a 700-pound man’s birthday or a series actually promoting teenage pregnancies. It is absolutely ridiculous.”

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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 www.maderatribuneredline.com.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 2:07 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.