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 Due to content some comments may not be published.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 Repeat messages on the same subject adding to the length will not be published. Some weeks, due to the number of comments and space, some may not be published.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 Unfortunately, most of his further comments could not be published.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

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 13th, 2008 at 1:40 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.