MOUNTAIN AREA – Time to get those little pumpkins all dressed up, revved up and sugared up, because the spookiest of times is coming this weekend on Halloween. Here’s what’s going on locally for Saturday, Oct. 31: Everyone in the family will have something fun to do at the Bass Lake Craft Fair and Trick-or-Treat, happening from 10 a.m. to ...

BASS LAKE – More than 1,600 runners flocked to the mountain area last weekend for the first-ever Yosemite Half-Marathon around Bass Lake, bringing in about $1.5 million tourist dollars for local communities, according to early estimates. That makes the Yosemite Half-Marathon, starting 10 miles up Beasore Road and coming down through The Pines Resort and around Bass Lake to Rec ...

BASS LAKE – The Pines Resort recently marked five years under their current ownership with Kyusun and Sunwha Choe, and now they’re celebrating that milestone and the season of fall with deals and special events locals and visitors will appreciate. The Choes purchased the hotel and both restaurants in 2010 from Greenlaw Partners and now oversee operation of the Conference ...

BASS LAKE – The local chapter of nonprofit organization Helping One Woman (HOW) will meet at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 21, upstairs at Ducey’s on the Lake in support of Megan O’Cana. Tera Greathouse and Jodi Mikesell are the sponsors for Megan’s HOW dinner. “Megan is a mother of four children ages two to ten,” say organizers. “Megan’s daughter ...

Written by Lisa Clark – NORTH FORK – Low drum roll in the distance — Friends, we have contacted the North Fork Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary and they have embraced this special Fall Festival day planned for Sunday, Nov. 1, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., at the former Putney Ranch Camp located off Road 274 in North Fork. This ...

MADERA COUNTY – A preliminary hearing was held today at Bass Lake Superior Court for Michael Lee Lapschies, 40, who was previously charged with eight felony counts of arson and one felony count of terrorist threats, according to the District Attorney’s office. Lapschies was arraigned Thursday, Oct. 8 on an additional complaint filed for a violation of Penal Code section ...

BASS LAKE – Get ready for a busy weekend in the mountain area as thousands of runners take on the inaugural Yosemite Half Marathon around Bass Lake on Saturday, Oct. 10. from 7 – 10:30 a.m. The event is produced by Vacation Races, bringing enthusiastic athletes for a weekend full of running, dining, and exploring the gateway communities. 30% of ...

MADERA COUNTY – Following are details from the Madera County Sheriff’s Office of reports taken locally during the week of Monday, Sept. 28 through Sunday, Oct. 4, 2015. Coarsegold family disturbance On Monday, Sept. 28 at 2:21 a.m. deputies responded to the 4700 block of Veater Ranch Road for a report of a family disturbance. One of the subjects involved ...

MOUNTAIN AREA – You go for a walk in the forest hoping for a peaceful sojourn through tall trees, with picturesque pine-needle paths leading to a cedar-scented paradise where you contemplate the treasures of nature. Instead, you’re tripping over old tires, making your way through broken-down refrigerators, busted air conditioners, televisions, and “just about anything you can think of.” You’ve ...

MADERA COUNTY – At 1:30 p.m today in Department 21 of the Madera County Superior Court, Michael Lee Lapschies was arraigned on eight felony counts of arson and one felony count of making criminal threats. Lapschies was arrested on Wednesday, Sept. 30, after a series of eight fires in the Bass Lake area. The first was reported just before 3 ...