By Bob Labozetta, UC Master Gardener, Mariposa MARIPOSA — So you’ve started your seeds in pots or trays and they have sprouted. Now what? When it’s too early to transplant seedlings out into the garden, but they’re too big to remain in their first containers (or your seedlings are crowding each other), you need to transplant them into bigger pots ...

MADERA — Madera County Department of Public Health Officer Dr. Simon Paul has extended until May 31 the County’s Health Order to “monitor, test and treat” febrile respiratory illness — coronavirus — for health care providers, county employers and county residents. Dr. Paul issued the initial Order on March 19 and extended that Order on Thursday. The directive includes guidelines ...

OAKHURST — Adapting to changing times spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, many mountain community churches are offering creative alternatives to conventional prayer services. For Christ Church Anglican in Oakhurst, that has meant live-streaming “virtual” services on their Facebook followed by “drive-thru” communion. Madera County eased certain social distancing restrictions last week to accommodate the faith community. Christ Church has been ...

MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES — After a temporary halt prompted by COVID-19, the Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Region is “moving forward with prescribed fire operations as conditions and resources permit,” according to a press release issued Friday by the agency.Previously, the region had postponed prescribed fires to reduce potential smoke impacts to communities while public health officials considered the interactions of smoke ...

OAKHURST — Throughout May — National Bicycle Safety Month — the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and the Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) are joining forces to remind everyone to share the road “safely and courteously.” Since the “stay-at-home” directive brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, many people in California have taken to their bicycles for exercise and a change of scenery. ...

OAKHURST — The Yosemite High School cross country team is hosting a virtual run/walk that participants can do at home — or anywhere in the world — any time they like until May 24. To participate, just sign up here and then give proof of your best run or walk between May 3 and May 24. Proceeds from the virtual ...

Editor’s Note: Brenda Cordes passed away in March. Those of you who knew her, and many did, will not be surprised to learn that she wrote her own obituary. Here is what she wrote: “If I Should Die Before I Wake, I Pray the Lord my Soul to Take Brenda lived her life her way…giving of loving kindness, being with ...

SACRAMENTO — The latest –and final — seasonal state snow pack survey confirmed that California had a drier-than-normal winter. The snow measured just one-and-a-half inches deep at Phillips Station in the Sierra east of Sacramento, and the water content was equivalent to just a half-inch, which is 3 percent of the May average for the location, state Department of Water ...

MARIPOSA– Mariposa County health officials reported a “cluster” of a dozen new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county on Thursday.The first two cases were reported in the morning and involved a man and a woman, both 57 years old, who contracted the virus through person-to-person transmission. The cases are “directly related” to Mariposa County’s first confirmed case of coronavirus reported ...

MARIPOSA — Mariposa County officials issued this update late Thursday afternoon following their report earlier in the day of two more confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Mariposa County: As Mariposa County continues to follow the State Health Officer Order, our Department, other County Offices and the Board of Supervisors, continue to advocate to the State to allow a regional approach ...