OAKHURST —  The community got a preview of the new $25 million Oakhurst Community College Center at a public forum this week in Oakhurst. Darin Soukup, Oakhurst Community College Center director, and project architect Paul Halajian were both on hand at the meeting to provide updates and answer questions from community members about progress on the project. Halajian also brought ...

SACRAMENTO — McClatchy Co., the country’s second-largest news company and owner of the Fresno Bee and Sierra Star, announced Thursday it has filed for bankruptcy. The company said Thursday morning its Chapter 11 filing would remove 60 percent of its debt and help direct the organization transition toward a digital future. “While this is obviously a sad milestone after 163 ...

OAKHURST — Expanding on their love of American R&B, The Resolectrics are a rock & soul power trio exploring the vast landscapes of roots music with layered harmonies, multi-tonal guitar tracks and ambitious arrangements. Since releasing their “Booker T. meets The Band” debut record, High Water, guitarist Tate Peterson, drummer John Becher, and bassist Bob Dunham have honed a leaner, ...

MADERA COUNTY – Following are details from the Madera County Sheriff’s Office of reports taken locally from Tuesday, February 4, to Monday, February 10, 2020. Oakhurst -Danger to Self On Tuesday, February 4, at 7:14 a.m., a deputy was dispatched to Road 425B regarding a hold. Report written and case closed. Coarsegold -Warrant Arrest On Tuesday, February 4, at 10:04 ...

OAKHURST — Not to be outdone by its sister community in North Fork, some Oakhurst residents joined together this past week to produce their own video entry for HGTV’s “Hometown Takeover” contest — which is offering to totally remake one small U.S. town. Oakhurst’s video, which includes pictures of older business storefronts as well as nature scenes from Yosemite and ...

COARSEGOLD — A single-vehicle traffic accident on Highway 41 claimed two lives early Sunday morning. The driver of a 2001 Honda Civic, Layna Ronette Marquez, 48, of Coarsegold, died in the incident, which reportedly happened after Marquez over-corrected on a turn and hit a tree. A passenger in the vehicle, Chana-ne Botchon Reid, 25, from Coarsegold, was also killed in ...

SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is reminding customers that sparks – and not just the romantic kind – can fly on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) if improperly secured helium-filled metallic balloons come in contact with power lines. Metallic balloons have a silvery coating, which is a conductor for electricity. PG&E officials said this week that if ...

MADERA – The Madera County Elections Department is issuing new ballots to a limited number of mountain area voters this week. Original ballots were mailed out Monday and election officials noticed that a small number of voters living outside of the Raymond-Knowles Union School District received a ballot with Measures “P” and “Q.” “An inadvertent mistake occurred where some streets ...

MADERA — The Madera County board of supervisors has appointed a full-time health officer, Dr. Simon Paul, who was hired last month and started his new position last Tuesday (Feb. 4). Dr. Paul, who speaks Spanish, has worked in the Central Valley area since 2003, most recently as Professor of Clinical Medicine and Medical Director of the Community Regional Medical ...

OAKHURST — An arrest has been made in a month’s-long commercial burglary investigation centering around the theft of a chainsaw last October from True Value Hardware. On October 9, 2019, a man was captured on surveillance video walking into Bryant’s True Value in Oakhurst during regular business hours and stealing a 36-inch Stihl chainsaw. The chainsaw was worth more than ...