SACRAMENTO – As motorcycle fatalities and injuries have increased in California, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) have stepped up their efforts to promote safety and education, highlighted by Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month in May. In 2013, motorcycle collisions resulted in 475 fatalities and 13,143 injured victims. In 2012, 467 people were killed and 12,617 ...

OAKHURST – The community and all interested stakeholders are invited to a public meeting on the bark beetle infestation in our forests and foothills, on Saturday May 30, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Oakhurst Elementary School Auditorium. This meeting is hosted in partnership with Cal Fire and District 5 Supervisor Tom Wheeler’s office.

AHWANHEE – Just as firefighters were mopping up an escaped burn fire in the North Fork area, another one got away just north of Ahwahnee. The Ahwahnee incident was located on Crooks Mountain Road, and though it was stopped at one-eighth of an acre, it serves as yet another crucial reminder of the dangerous fire conditions in the mountain area, ...

NORTH FORK – An escaped burn pile off Road 224 (Bonnie B Road) quickly spread through the dry grass, bolstered by breezy conditions, and destroyed one structure before firefighters got it under control. Just after 1 p.m. on Monday, May 4, dispatch received a report of a vegetation fire, but when firefighters arrived they found one outbuilding fully involved.

CALIFORNIA – As drought conditions continue to significantly elevate California’s fire danger, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. has declared May 3-9, 2015 as “Wildfire Awareness Week”. During Wildfire Awareness Week, CAL FIRE is reminding all Californians of the role they play in preparing for and preventing wildfires. “With a record dry and warm winter Californian’s fire activity has been nearly ...

MADERA COUNTY – The defendants in the Chukchansi takeover case were back in Madera Superior Court today as most of them accepted plea deals in the charges against them. Tex McDonald agreed to plead guilty to the felony charge of false imprisonment, and accepted a sentence of 16 months. He will be sentenced on July 2, and with time credit, ...

SACRAMENTO – KCRA in Sacramento is reporting that federal authorities have moved to dismiss the charges against the man accused of starting the devastating Rim Fire because two if the key witnesses in the case have died. Keith Matthew Emerald, 33, of Columbia was charged with igniting the massive fire in that destroyed nearly 257,000 acres near Yosemite National Park ...

YOSEMITE – The Tioga Road in Yosemite National Park will open for the season on Monday, May 4, at 8 a.m. for all vehicular traffic, but services are limited. Due to a light snowpack this past winter, the pass was cleared of snow early into the season. Bounded on both sides by State Highway 120, the Tioga Road is the ...

COARSEGOLD – A young man from Coarsegold has died as a result of a motorcycle accident on Highway 41. On Thursday, Apr. 30, just after 7:30 p.m., the 19-year-old was northbound on Highway 41 just south of Coyote Hollow Lane on a 1999 Kawasaki motorcycle, according to CHP. As he approached Coyote Hollow Lane, he attempted to make a left ...

Would you rather pay a huge increase in your homeowner’s insurance, or a half-cent sales tax that would build out fire department services in Madera County? That is the conversation taking place at the Board of Supervisors. With homeowners across the area experiencing huge bumps in their insurance rates due to Insurance Services Office (ISO) ratings, Madera County is exploring ...