YOSEMITE – Highway 140 in Yosemite National Park near the El Portal entrance reopened at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 23, to all traffic in both directions. Intermittent traffic delays may be possible for continued road clearing work in the coming days. Yosemite National Park road crews and law enforcement rangers worked extended shifts to get the road open as ...

Written by Crystal Pike – NORTH FORK – The North Fork Library hosts an “open mic” and “open arts” night twice a month on Saturday evenings, from 7 to 9 p.m. This event gives our local talent a time to shine and share with other community members. You can bring yourself, your words, music or art to display. We have ...

MARIPOSA – Auditions for Bernard Pomerance’s Tony Award winning play “The Elephant Man” will be held at the Mariposa Park Amphitheater on Monday, Aug. 3, and Wednesday, Aug. 5, at 6 p.m. The play is being presented as a Community Service Class through Merced College in conjunction with Mariposa Theatre Alliance, the newest program of the Mariposa County Arts Council. ...

MARIPOSA –  The Mariposa County Arts Council Inc. (MCACI) has been announced as the recipient of a $33,341 California Arts Council (CAC) grant. The “Creative California Communities” grant was awarded to the Mariposa Symphony Orchestra (MSO), a program of MCACI. The orchestra’s “American Anniversaries” project won the award, helping enable the MSO to present live concerts in Yosemite National Park’s ...

EASTERN MADERA COUNTY – A powerful storm is moving through the area, bringing down power lines and trees, and prompting reports of fires. Cal Fire and CHP are currently responding to reports of a tree bringing down a power line on Road 426 near Robin Crest, a tree across the roadway on Highway 41 at Serpa Canyon north of Oakhurst, ...

 CENTRAL SIERRA – The National Weather Service in Hanford has issued a flash flood warning for north central Madera County and east central Mariposa County until 8:45 p.m. Doppler radar and automated rain gauges indicated a thunderstorm producing heavy rain across the warned area. Up to one inch of rain has already fallen, and flash flooding is expected. Some locations ...

OAKHURST – The Oakhurst Office of the California Highway Patrol invites the community to be part of “National Night Out,” an annual event meant to bring together law enforcement officers, first responders, and the communities they serve in an informal setting. The festivities will take place in the parking lot of the old Blockbuster store in the Old Mill Shopping ...

MADERA COUNTY – The Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino could open by the end of 2015 as part of a $35 million deal, according to a statement from the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians. The Business Journal is reporting that the Chukchansi Economic Development Authority (CEDA) expects to finalize an agreement with the National Indian Gaming Commission soon and has ...

AUBERRY – The Kerkhoff Fire, burning just north of Auberry on Powerhouse Road, is now 80 percent contained at a re-estimated size of 60 acres. The closure of Powerhouse Road between the San Joaquin River bridge and Wish-I-Ah was lifted at 6 p.m. last night. The fire was reported just before 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 18.

Written by Ronnie Sweeting – Producer/Mariposa Evenings MARIPOSA – Cousin Jack’s Mariposa Evenings – the summer concert series brought to you by the Mariposa County Arts Council and it’s many fine sponsors – enters the halfway point of the 2015 season, presenting The Mountain Men on Friday, July 24, and The Horse’s Mac on Saturday, July 25, at the Mariposa ...