MADERA COUNTY – County officials and law enforcement from several different agencies gathered at the new Madera County Sheriff’s Office facility on Falcon Drive this morning for the official ribbon cutting. The new 27,000-square-foot headquarters building was made possible through a public-private partnership with Spencer Enterprises, Inc.The state-of-the-art facility allows for the consolidation of all Sheriff’s Office functions under one ...

COUNTY – The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for the higher elevations around Yosemite starting late Wednesday. Hanford Weather Forecast Office confirms another cold storm system is coming in late on Wednesday, May 13 and continuing through late Thursday, May 14. As a result, snow is expected to impact the high country on Thursday and Friday.

Submitted by Julie Fullmer, Director of Sales & Operations, Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau MADERA COUNTY – Coming to Madera County, the E.L.K. (Everybody Loves Kids) Charity Challenge is truly a one-of-a-kind event that brings charity, motorsports, and history to life in an interactive entertainment series adventure; pitting philanthropic vehicle enthusiasts against one another in a seven-day journey. Their goal, to ...

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.

COUNTY – Temperatures are expected to drop later this week as a cold storm system moves into the area, bringing winter-like weather to the higher elevations and the welcome possibility of rain to the foothills. According to the U.S. National Weather Service in Hanford, the weather will turn on Thursday and Friday, May 7 – 8, especially affecting elevations above ...

MOUNTAIN AREA – The Coarsegold-based motorcycle club Sierra Shadow Casters (SSC) is hosting a “poker run” for critically injured Capt. Pete Dern of the Fresno Fire Department on Saturday, June 6. The 75-mile Sierra Moonshine Poker Run is expected to garner hundreds of riders from the Valley and Mountain Area. Riders will leave the Woodward area in North Fresno and ...

MADERA – The Madera County Tax Collector-Treasurer, Tracy Kennedy Desmond, has announced that her office will be conducting an online tax defaulted property auction using the company Bid4Assets. Starting on Saturday, May 16, Bid4Assets will officially open an online tax defaulted sale for the County of Madera, which will span four days with bidding available 24 hours per day. Potential ...

COUNTY – Great news moving forward in Exchequer Mountain Bike Park’s quest for a $100,000 grant from Bell Helmets to build an extreme downhill mountain bike trail: out of three contenders in their division, Exchequer is officially the West Coast Finalist and will now compete nationally for the grand prize award.

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, ...