OAKHURST – A local business was hit with a burglary on Saturday, June 13, as a brazen thief smashed the glass entrance and quickly swiped nearly $2000 worth of goods at Oakhurst Computers. Owner Scott Cockerham has the entire incident recorded on tape from one of eight cameras in a ten camera security system he uses to monitor the location ...

COARSEGOLD – A single vehicle accident on Highway 41 has claimed the life of a 66-year-old Coarsegold man. Just before 2 p.m. on Monday, June 15, the driver was northbound in a Ford F-150 pickup at an unknown rate of speed near Mecca Lane south of Coarsegold, when he traveled off the right hand shoulder and up an embankment. The ...

NORTH FORK – District 5 Supervisor Tom Wheeler will host the next in his series of Town Hall meetings on Thursday, June 18, at the North Fork Rancheria Community Center from 6 to 8 p.m. The meeting will include presentations from Cal Fire Battalion Chief Chris Christopherson, Madera County Firewise Coordinator Roger Maybee, and Emadco Recycling Operations Manager Ashley Smith. ...

MARIPOSA – Due to the extreme menace of destruction by fire to life, improved property, or natural resources caused by critical fire weather, and the acute dryness of vegetation along with fire suppression forces being heavily committed to control fires, Cal Fire Unit Chief Nancy Koerperich has suspended the privileges of burning by permit and any other uses of open ...

COUNTY – With summer temperatures kicking in, the County of Madera has established the following locations as Cooling Centers during times of extreme summer heat. The Centers will be open the days and times of the week as indicated on the list below. Other Centers may be opened on an “as need” basis and will be announced through the Madera ...

MADERA COUNTY – A day of training for Search & Rescue personnel and dog teams turned into the real thing Saturday afternoon when a 12-year-old autistic boy went missing in the Sierra National Forest just south of Shuteye Peak. A group of amateur radio operators were spending the day on a geocaching project about 15 miles north of North Fork ...

YOSEMITE – Recent thunderstorms over the Sierra Nevada mountains and Yosemite National Park has sparked several fires that are active and are being monitored for multiple objectives. Precipitation associated with the recent lightning-caused fires has put some of them out. The National Weather Service is predicting continued thunderstorm activity through this weekend at the Sierra crest. All the fires are ...

BASS LAKE – One young driver escaped serious injury this evening when the car she was driving ended up down an embankment after hitting a tree near Bass Lake Heights. Hailey Green, 19, of Oakhurst, was eastbound on Road 426 at about 5:55 p.m., approaching the Forks Turnoff at Road 222.

MADERA COUNTY – While Problem Oriented Policing (POP) has been around for quite some time, the program is new to the Madera County Sheriff’s Office. In mid-May, Sgt. Larry Rich, mountain area deputy and life-long resident, was tasked with getting the new program off the ground and starting out as a team of one. “The intention is to be an ...

MARIPOSA COUNTY – Cal Fire has determined that the Fox Fire, that burned 25 acres on Sunday, June 7, and prompted the evacuation of 28 homes in the Ben Hur Road area south of Mariposa, was caused by someone laying a weed eater in the dry vegetation just after weedeating. The heat from the weed eater ignited the dry vegetation ...