The below comment has also been edited to better conform with the Red Line rules, which do not allow personal defamation or the promotion of other Web sites.

Why is JP so against the casino should be the better question! … (Your Web site is) not making any money, (and) that’s why you come to (The) Madera Tribune and question people’s right to have an opinion about something.

Listen, you have your own Web site that sucks. Go and yell at the world over there. (I’m) tired of reading your opinion about every single little thing. People have a right to want a casino here. Have you been to the welfare office? Lots of people in line over there …

Oh yeah, one more thing. I could care less if a casino comes here, but so many people are out of work, why not help that out? I wonder why people aren’t advertising on your Web site? Oh that’s right, it’s just your own personal blog. Learn to report, and not put your own thought into everything …

JM…

However, this past week I can say someone listened! My end of town Howard & Yosemite, looks a whole lot better.

It seems everyone hates it and why shouldn’t we? Maybe if PARENTS would ask their children who, where, what and why questions, maybe they would find out who their children are “Tagging with”, where they are tagging (like 1/2 of the buildings in Madera), what in the sam hill do they think they are doing tagging other people’s fences and community walkways, and mostly what gives them the right to be so stupid as to think tagging is a cheap fun thing to do.

If no one reports them, no one makes them pay for their poor choices tagging will just continue.
Too bad we can’t tag the taggers and make them clean up their own mess, as well as have Mom & Dad work right along side of them and foot the bill to boot.

Sure I would go for cleaning up this tagging crap, but why don’t we have a general meeting to get everyone on the same page to work together? (Like we could run all of the gangs and dope dealers out on a rail at the same time; wouldn’t be great? ).

Last I heard we hired homeless people to help clean it up and we have a city grafitti truck that has workers too, paid by tax payers.

So who will lose a job if we just jump in?
Why are not our city leaders doing more to address this issue?

Webmaster’s note: Jeffrey Singer’s comment that was previously above this one has been removed when I noticed it was exactly identical to a comment he posted days earlier elsewhere on the Red Line. Such repetition is considered ’spamming’ and violates the Red Line rules.

(”The people spoke loud and clear in support of the Casino at the meeting.”) I’m sure there were also sufficient voices of dissention.

(”The Casino will NOT create more pollution”) Oh yes it will, and here are the sources; Large amounts of consumer waste going into OUR landfill, and increased traffic along the 99 corridor generating more exhaust.

(”There are back roads right near the Casino, that go long distances, so many would not even take hwy 99 anyway.”) Mr. Singer, do you think for one minute that those coming in to the casino from Merced, Modesto, Fresno, Madera, Clovis, Chowchilla, etceteras are going to take a circuitous route over county roads just to get there? We are NOT ignorant. Most California drivers are aware of the immutable fact that the shortest distance between two points, is a straight line. This means that Fresnans are going to climb on the 99 north, as far north as Herndon Avenue, and travel right up to the Avenue 17 offramp. Those north of Madera will climb on southbound, gumming up the already problematic stretch between Chowchilla and Avenue 17.

Mr. Singer’s assertions are based on flawed logic, and a lack of understanding just how traffic flows from city to city. Evidently, he misses the entire point of the Eisenhower Freeway System. Now, he IS right about one thing, this area needs jobs. As the economy tanks, new home construction decreases, fuel, food and living costs increase and more people find themselves unemployed, I would definitely agree that SOMETHING needs to be done to alleviate the problem, but another new casino is NOT the answer. In fact, the more the economy tanks, the less people will (or should) go to the casinos to squander hard-earned wages on games of chance.

I’m reminded of another casino right off of the 99, one that was supposed to create new jobs and stimulate area economy. You know what I’m referring to, it was at Manning Avenue. Well, it FAILED, and the building is now a church…

Like I stated before, there are plenty of casinos operating in the area already. If someone absolutely feels the need to gamble, they have available;
>Table Mountain
>Chuckchansi Gold
>Mono Winds
>The Palace
>Black Oak Casino
>Jackson Rancheria
>Eagle Mountain

Come on people! That’s SEVEN casinos, all within comfortable driving distance, and all of them away from the 99, which already needs significant maintenance and upgrading BEFORE we even THINK about creating more traffic issues by building another casino right in the middle of the issue!

First of all, to the woman who complains about the grafitti on the Fresno River trail between Granada and Schnoor. “We are taxpayers, and we see this ugly grafitti”. Well ma’am, you are also a member of the community, and can DO something about it, rather than taking the easy route and leaning on the local PD to address it. My suggestion; GET INVOLVED! Join or form a Neighborhood Watch in the area, have a neighborhood “clean up” day where grafitti is painted over and / or erased. Keep that up, and eventually the little cretins will get the message, and take their shenanigans somewhere else.

As for the casino, don’t you think that we have ENOUGH casinos in the area already, or are there THAT many people that are SO addicted to gambling, that they don’t want to have to make the drive to Table Mountain, Chuckchansi or Black Oak Casino to satiate their lust for pulling that lever, tossing those dice or watching a small ball roll around a wheel? COME ON people! This is NOT Las Vegas, another casino is NOT what this area needs. What this area desperately needs is more places and activities for it’s YOUTH, the ones that are otherwise relegated to spraying grafitti over on the Fresno River trail!

“I will say it once again. This is a city, not a town”. Well, if the “powers-that-be” would BEHAVE like Madera was a city and not a town, THEN we’d be getting somewhere, wouldn’t we?

If Leon Emo wants to wear shorts, then more power to him! The next complaint in THAT hit parade will be the color of the shorts he was wearing….GET A LIFE.

Ah, the casino again. This seems to be a major sticking point for many in the town. (Yes, I called it a T O W N!) “I am so tired of reading about all these negative comments about the casino,” began a woman’s call. “Why are people opposing everything in Madera that is going to be a good thing for us? Eventually, if you keep opposing and opposing we are going to become a ghost town.” Okay. Not having yet another new casino is NOT going to turn Madera into a “ghost town”. Casinos are not the basis of Madera’s economy, it’s AGRICULTURE! Can you say…..sour grapes? If you’re so tired of reading the negative comments, then I suggest you STOP READING altogether. YOU need to accept the unavoidable fact that there are TWO sides to every coin, and multiple sides to every discussion topic!

Finally, there was a nice write-up about the city fathers not being engaged in the discussions on the casino. This is not surprising. Parental absenteeism seems to be the modus operandi when it comes to the “city fathers” and major bones of contention in Madera. (Preemptive strike here!) If you disagree with my assessment on this one, prove me wrong, please!

Hopefully, these angstful musings will provoke action, motivate some discussion, and enlighten the dark corners of ignorance and complacency. Peace.