BASS LAKE – Cal Fire Battalion Chief Troy Cheek wasn’t sugar-coating the situation when he told the crowd in Bass Lake last week that the Madera County Fire Department is at a serious crossroads. At a Town Hall meeting on Thursday, Aug. 27, Cheek addressed the nation-wide problem of lack of volunteers to staff local fire departments, and laid out ...

MADERA COUNTY – Firefighters have been busy today with fires along Highway 41 near Road 200. Just before 4 p.m. today, crews responded to a travel trailer on fire on Veater Road south of Coarsegold. First engine on scene reported that the trailer was fully involved, and had spread into the vegetation. The fire was called controlled at 6:48 p.m. ...

Agnes was the oldest living member of the Sunnyside Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Fresno, Calif. While still worshipping with Sunnyside Church, she delighted in having five generations fill several family pews. Her lifelong love of music portrayed her Celtic background of Glasgow, Scotland. Her “living memorial” is the organ she donated to her Sunnyside Church in Fresno. As a pioneer ...

Written by Elizabeth Gabriel MARIPOSA – According to various reliable websites, Mariposa’s average rainfall over the last 30 years has been 31 to 33 inches, depending on the source. That’s a lot of water you could be capturing (current lingo prefers “harvesting”). Why should you do it? The answer is obvious. We all want save as much water as possible, ...

OAKHURST – The much-anticipated Cedar Valley Fire Department Deep-Pit BBQ and Raffle is set for Saturday, Sept. 5, from 4:30-7:30 p.m.. This is an important fundraiser for Cedar Valley’s Station 18. While their local area covers north to Yosemite, and south to Oakhurst, these firefighters and their equipment can be seen on incidents all over the mountains, wherever they are ...

YOSEMITE – Yosemite National Park invites all fourth grade students to visit the park and receive free entrance as part of the White House’s new Every Kid in a Park program. The program provides a free annual pass for fourth grade students and their families to visit more than 2,000 federal recreation areas, including national parks. Beginning today, fourth grade ...

CLOVIS – If you would like to have a say in how federal dollars are spent on lands in Madera and Fresno Counties, you may be interested in becoming a member of the committee that has input in those decisions. The Fresno County and Madera County Resource Advisory Committees (RAC) are seeking applications from interested citizens who would like to ...

MARIPOSA – The community is invited to join Sheriff Doug Binnewies for a lunchtime 15-minute 9-11 remembrance ceremony at the Mariposa County 9-11 Memorial Site at the Arts Park, on Friday, Sept. 11. The event will start at 12:15 p.m. with a welcome from Sheriff Binnewies, followed by an Invocation delivered by the Sheriff Chaplain. The Honor Guard will  then ...

SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST – The Rough Fire has grown to 77,287 acres and is currently the largest active fire in California. About 47,907 acres are on the Sierra National Forest, 29,110 acres on the Sequoia National Forest, 207 acres on Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park and 62 acres of state responsibility. There are 2,040 personnel currently assigned to the ...

Love what you’re seeing? Please make a contribution or join the SNO Club to keep Sierra News Online…online! SNO Club Member options Monthly Club Membership : $5.00 USD – monthlyAnnual Club Membership : $50.00 USD – yearlyMonthly Club Supporter : $10.00 USD – monthlyMonthly Club Super Supporter : $15.00 USD – monthlyMonthly Club Partner : $25.00 USD – monthlyMonthly Club ...