David Sawyer Toews, loving son, brother, grandson, uncle, nephew, cousin, and treasured friend died at home in Oakhurst, CA on January 3, 2020. Born February 13, 1981 to Rhonda and Rick Toews, David leaves behind his mother, Rhonda; his sister, Jana and brother-in-law, Jeremy Heinbach; nieces, Olivia and Camryn; and many close family members. He was preceded in death by ...

NORTH FORK — Project proponents say plans are quickly moving forward and construction of North Fork’s long-anticipated, new 2-megawatt biomass plant should get underway “sometime this spring.” Project coordinator Greg Stangl, CEO of Phoenix Energy, confirmed this week his team is having meetings with “all the major vendors” in the next few weeks. “At the end of next week, I’ll ...

MARIPOSA — Last month, four members of the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors voted to increase their base pay by $30,000 per year — and now a significant number of county residents are expressing their displeasure on social media, and through the referendum process. Despite a number of local residents speaking out against the action, the board passed an ordinance ...

By Gregg Dodderidge OAKHURST — The Badger boys’ basketball program quite simply is on a roll, winning both of its North Sequoia League games last week. On Wednesday (Jan. 29) the Badgers traveled to Sierra and defeated the Chieftains 74-46. It was a strong performance considering winning at Tollhouse is never an easy task. YHS also defeated Sierra 71-61 on ...

By Gregg Dodderidge OAKHURST — The Yosemite High girls’ basketball team went 2-1 last week. On Tuesday (Jan. 28), the Badgers defeated Sierra 65-42 in Tollhouse and on Friday YHS crushed Liberty 60-24 at home. YHS then played Saturday against Sierra Pacific of Hanford. The Golden Bears snapped a 5-game Badger winning streak, defeating YHS 57-47. The Badgers now move ...

MADERA — For the first time in county Academic Decathlon history, the student team from Madera South High captured the championship at the 38th Madera County Academic Decathlon, held Saturday in Madera. With the victory, Madera South, which hosted this year’s event, advances to the state competition March 27-29. Seven schools took part in Saturday’s 10-event competition, answering questions based ...

MADERA — The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) has granted the Madera Community College Center (MCCC) “candidacy,” which brings the Madera campus one step closer to being recognized as a full college. The successful step in MCCC’s evolution to becoming an independent community college was announced late last week. ACCJC accredits community colleges and other associate degree ...

OAKHURST — Yosemite Axe Throwing and the Hamilton family are hosting a fundraiser on Feb. 9 to help save the life of seven-year-old Kalel Hamilton. Kalel, who lives in Ahwahnee, suffers from a terminal muscle wasting disease known as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. His father Rick’s marathon-running efforts to help raise funding for Duchenne MD research was featured in a recent ...

By Kathryn Odgers, student journalist for Minarets Press O’NEALS — After twenty-seven young students began their day by being greeted as they got off the bus by the Minarets’ parking lot, the group was led down to where Key Club had set up their meeting room. The students were excited to come to the high school as many had never ...

By Benjiman McMillan and Haley Carlton, student journalists for Minarets Press O’NEALS — The Minarets High School girls’ JV and varsity basketball teams both had home games on Monday, Jan 27. They played the Parlier Panthers, which is the Mustang’s second game against them. Unfortunately, the first varsity game against them wasn’t so successful and they ended up losing 34-21. ...