SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST – The Rough Fire has grown to 85,894 acres with 31 percent containment and remains the largest active fire in California. Heavy concentrations of smoke are expected near the fire today. Smoke will be slow to lift, and light and variable transport winds are expected primarily from the south, with increased impacts expected in San Joaquin Valley ...

Submitted by Lynnette Balsamo Jordan As the one year anniversary of the Courtney Fire approaches, let’s take a walk back in history to the beginning of Bass Lake Heights. It all started at the end of WWII when Chief Warrant Officer Louis Balsamo Sr. visited an old Navy buddy at Hidden Valley Meadows. Dan Johnson had built a cabin retreat ...

COARSEGOLD – The Coarsegold man who died in a single-vehicle accident on Road 415 today has been identified as 78-year-old Richard Marion Moore. Moore lost his life when the vehicle he was driving left the roadway and overturned just east of Road 416 at 12:20 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5. The cause of the accident remains under investigation. Click here ...

COARSEGOLD – A single-vehicle accident on Road 415 has claimed the life of an elderly Coarsegold man. At 12:20 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5, the driver was westbound on Road 415 in a 1995 Suzuki Sidekick, in the winding corners approaching Road 416. For unknown reasons, the driver suddenly steered to the left, crossed over the eastbound lane, left the ...

MARIPOSA – The Mariposa County Arts Council is offering a 2-day jewelry making workshop with local artist, LothLorien Stewart on Sept. 15 and 22 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at The Alley wine and beer bar in downtown Mariposa. Participants will learn how to make a jewelry piece using copper metal clay. The first session will cover the basics of ...

OAKHURST –  An accident involving three vehicles and a trailer blocked Highway 41 over Deadwood for over 30 minutes today. Just before 1:30 p.m., Maxine Crossley, 83, of Ahwahnee, was northbound in an Acura MDX when she crossed several feet over the double yellow line, clipping off the mirror of a rental car, according to CHP. The rented Nissan Pathfinder ...

BASS LAKE – The 2015 Bass Lake Home Tour, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 12, has been postponed until next year, Sept. 10, 2016. “The Bass Lake homeowners who planned to participate feel that with the low lake level and other issues, their homes are not as presentable as they would hope,” says the Bass Lake Lions Club, who want to ...

OAKHURST – A two-vehicle crash on Highway 41 at Bay Leaf Lane caused some short-term congestion on the north end of Oakhurst this afternoon. Just before 3 p.m., Lyndsie Carroll, 22, of Oakhurst, had approached the stop sign on Bay Leaf, and was turning right onto Highway 41 in a 2005 Volkswagen Jetta. According to CHP, she failed to see ...

OAKHURST – A crash that happened near North Fork today led officers to a suspect some 13 miles away in Oakhurst, where he was subsequently arrested. Just before 2 p.m., reports came in to CHP of a vehicle overturned down an embankment on Road 223 just south of Pinchot Drive. A witness reported seeing a man walking away from the ...

SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST -The Rough Fire has grown to 81,549 acres with 25 percent containment, and is currently the largest active fire in California. There are 1,901 personnel currently assigned to the incident. The Incident Command Team for the South Zone will host a virtual camp tour today on Periscope in several segments beginning at 9 a.m. The initial segment ...