SACRAMENTO – California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Director and State Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith announced that the department has been notified of a presumptive positive case of plague contracted by a recent visitor to California from Georgia. Testing is being conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to confirm if this is indeed plague. Prior ...

BASS LAKE – As the main source of water for the residents of Bass Lake stops flowing, residents are being urged to conserve or face dire consequences. Water storage within the Bass Lake Water Company service area has now dropped to critically low levels. As of Tuesday morning, Aug. 18, the available storage is just 33 percent of normal conditions ...

MADERA – The juvenile who allegedly started the Willow Fire that burned over 5,700 acres near North Fork, appeared in Madera Superior Court this morning, and was ordered detained in the Madera County Juvenile Detention Facility while awaiting his next court appearance, scheduled for Aug. 28. The boy is accused of starting the fire on Saturday, July 25, by playing ...

YOSEMITE – Public health officials and Yosemite National Park staff successfully dusted rodent burrows in the Tuolumne Meadows Campground yesterday with the insecticide deltamethrin (DeltaDust), say park officials, after a case of human plague was identified last month. The California Department of Public Health began investigating a case of human plague after a child from Los Angeles County became ill ...

YOSEMITE – The two juveniles killed in Yosemite when they were struck by a tree limb on Aug. 14, have been identified as Justin Lee, 14, of Irvine, Calif., and Dragon Kim, 14, of Tustin, Calif. The accident occurred at approximately 5 a.m. when a limb fell from an oak tree in Upper Pines Campground in Yosemite Valley, striking a tent ...

OAKHURST – A full wildland dispatch was called up for another vegetation fire today near the top of Deadwood, about one-half mile down Road 425B. A call came in just before 4 p.m. about a fire burning approximately 100-yards downslope from the scene of a fire that burned last Thursday. The first engine on scene reported the fire at 100 ...

MADERA – The minor who started the John West fires last year near Oakhurst appeared in Madera Superior Court today in response to a petition filed, alleging that he had violated the order issued by Superior Court Judge James Oakley, spelling out the terms of his probation. His violations involved inappropriate activities, such as taking pictures and being in close ...

SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST – Mountain area residents continue to experience smoke from the Rough Fire, burning southeast of Madera County about 50 miles, near Hume Lake off Highway 180. The Rough Fire grew 4,048 acres on Sunday, and is now estimated at nearly 21,000 acres with 0 percent containment. The fire was lightning-caused. It was reported on July 31, and ...

NORTH FORK – At 1:15 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15, firefighters were called out to the Pizza Factory in North Fork for reports of a structure fire. The report came after power went out in the Pizza Factory, and owner Greg Kissee went downstairs to investigate. He discovered smoke billowing out of the room where the electrical breakers are located ...

MADERA COUNTY – Todd Spangler, prosecutor in the Bass Lake Department of the Superior Court, has been promoted to Supervising Deputy District Attorney for Madera County. Spangler, a graduate of California State University, Fresno, and the University of San Diego School of Law, brings 21 years of experience as a prosecutor to the position. For the past 14 years, Mr. ...