YOSEMITE – It’s time to hit the slopes! Badger Pass opens its downhill operations for the season on Friday, Dec. 21. The tubing hill and terrain parks will not open until they get more snow, which may come as early as Friday. Badger Pass Ski Area is located inside Yosemite National Park on Glacier Point Road. Click for a map.

Oakhurst — Two mountain area residents are behind bars following a parole search in Oakhurst last night. William Shannon Reed, 43, and Morgan Jean Brannan, 20, both of Oakhurst, were taken into custody on Wednesday, Dec. 12, at a residence located on Road 422.

OAKHURST – Oakhurst Cleaners has moved to a new location and is now located at 40034 Highway 49. “We moved on December 1,” confirms owner Mike Demeusy. “We’re in the Vons shopping center, right next to Sierra Tel Networks, in the lower level, below Roundtable Pizza.” Oakhurst Cleaners is now near Oakhurst Computers and First American Title, facing Highway 41. ...

OAKHURST – The effort to save the Met Cinemas rolls on as Met Heroes took to the streets again last week to help raise awareness. Heroes gathered in the lobby at the Met last Friday afternoon to don costumes and take up signs, then headed out to the intersection at Highways 41 & 49. The push to enroll 3,000 subscribers ...

MADERA COUNTY – What would happen if the County were to sell your water district to a private company? Madera County has been exploring all the options to help improve service and upgrade systems in the County’s special water districts. To assist in developing a plan for the best course of action, the Board of Supervisors appointed a special committee ...

MADERA – Highway 99 is closed between Avenue 7 and Avenue 12 due to a gas line break, according to reports from the CHP. Traffic in the Madera area is snarled due to the incident, and motorists are being advise to please avoid this area.

MADERA – Kidnapper Frederick Woods will not be getting out of prison any time soon. Madera County District Attorney Michael R. Keitz has announced that the Board of Parole Hearings has denied Woods parole for the next 3 years.

NORTH FORK – A single vehicle accident last night on Douglas Ranger Station Road has taken the life of 26-year-old North Fork resident Allison Demers. The accident happened at about 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 27. The Ford Explorer in which Demers was a passenger was traveling south on Douglas Ranger Station Road just north of Trails End at approximately ...

FISH CAMP – The sounds of train whistles have fallen silent at the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad now that the season has ended, and have been replaced with sounds that haven’t been heard here in nearly a century. Logging operations have commenced at the railroad, which is surrounded by Sierra National Forest land. It is the first time the ...

NORTH FORK – The Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts from Troop 357 have been busy havesting fresh red fir trees, otherwise known as silver tip, for their annual Christmas Tree Sale at the North Fork Library. The trees will be available starting Saturday, Dec. 1, at the North Fork Library parking lot, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends, ...