OAKHURST — After getting dozens of complaints last week about traffic problems on Highway 41 following the start of a months-long project to replace more than a mile of the town’s main sewer line, District 5 Supervisor Tom Wheeler and members of the County’s public works department met with officials from Caltrans and the project contractor to make some late ...

NORTH FORK — The North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians is applying for a $1.2 million federal grant to construct a 4,050-square-foot emergency services building adjacent to North Fork Fire Station #11. The new facility, which could be operational by 2022, would provide living barracks for the fire station — and dedicated space for personnel from the Madera County Sheriff’s ...

MADERA — Criminal proceedings were temporarily suspended late last week (Jan. 17) in the case of the North Fork man accused of murder in the July 2019 death of prominent Mono tribal elder Gaylen Lee. Robert Eugene Moye, 47, made another appearance in Madera Superior Court Friday morning for a hearing that was expected to be another preliminary step on ...

NORTH FORK — Don’t be too surprised tonight if you see Pablo Picasso chatting up Abraham Lincoln in downtown North Fork. The first official class for North Fork’s new “university” takes place Friday (Jan. 10) — and the two historical luminaries together with some other very famous figures are the stars of NFU’s inaugural, off beat syllabus. Called “Meeting of ...

SAN FRANCISCO — The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will hear oral arguments next month in the appeal currently blocking efforts by the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians to build a casino near Madera. A court date has been set for Tuesday, February 11 at 9:30 a.m. in Courtroom 1 of the James R. Browning ...

BASS LAKE — Mountain area residents in search of a great burger need look no further than their own backyard — at least according to the food critic at the prestigious New Yorker magazine, whose lunch experience at The Forks Resort restaurant in 2015 made her “best-of-the-decade” list. In a story published last week titled “The Best Things I’ve Eaten ...

MONO COUNTY — “The Loop,” a new murder mystery set in Mono County, is garnering stellar reviews for first-time author Nicholas Holloway, who spent his childhood summers at the Silver Lake Resort in the June Lake Loop. Holloway, who grew up in Southern California but now lives in Austin, Texas, received a 4.8 (out of 5) star review for his ...

AHWAHNEE — District 5 Supervisor Tom Wheeler thinks 2020 is going to be “another up year” for eastern Madera County. “The last two or three years have been really good ones for us,” Wheeler said this week from his ranch in Ahwahnee. “Our budget’s been up. Our economy is up. Unemployment is low. We’re among the top ten counties in ...

NORTH FORK – Backers of a plan to build a $15 million biomass plant in North Fork confirmed Tuesday that financing on the project closed escrow in the final hours of 2019 — paving the way for construction to finally begin in April. “We closed just hours before midnight on New Year’s Eve,” said project coordinator Greg Stangl of Phoenix ...

MOUNTAIN AREA — From progress on major new public and commercial projects to prosecution of high-profile criminal cases, 2019 was an eventful year in eastern Madera County. As 2020 dawns, here’s a look back at some of this year’s key stories. North Fork’s new roundabout: After several years of heated debate, Madera County’s first public roundabout was approved by the ...