MADERA COUNTY – Academic Decathletes from throughout California will attend Madera County Office of Education’s Academic Decathlon Lecture Day on Thursday, Oct. 23. Valley experts will lecture on six subject areas to more than 450 students from throughout the state.

COARSEGOLD – Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino employees have been advised they can pick up personal belongings left behind when the Casino abruptly shut down on Oct. 9, following an armed conflict between rival factions of the tribe. A notice appeared on the Casino’s social media today, captioned, “Attention Chukchansi Gold Team Members.” Employees were notified that they can pick ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration urges owners of certain Toyota, Honda, Mazda, BMW, Nissan, and General Motors vehicles to act immediately on recall notices to replace defective Takata-manufactured airbags. One death in California has been linked to defective air bags, according to an attorney for the man who died in September, 2013.

OAKHURST – CHP is searching for a Jeep CJ-7 stolen from the McDonald’s parking lot in Oakhurst this morning around 9 a.m. The owner reportedly left his keys in the vehicle to run into a business, when someone jumped into the Jeep and drove away. The vehicle is described as a brown 1981 Jeep CJ-7, personalized license plate number CAEQUN1, ...

SAN JOSE – Firefighters will gather together to pay their respects to Airtanker Pilot Geoffrey “Craig” Hunt, who paid the ultimate sacrifice with his life while fighting the Dog Rock Fire near El Portal, Calif. A celebration of Craig’s life, with full Line of Duty Death fire service honors, will take place Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 10 a.m. On Oct. ...

MADERA COUNTY – Two overdue hunters have been located by Madera County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue Team. They are reportedly in OK condition and are heading home. Earlier today, the Sheriff’s Office mobilized a search for the pair, reportedly missing in the area of Muglers Meadow, located in the Sierra National Forest. Muglers Meadow is located off Beasore Road near ...

Submitted by Robert Jeffers of Supervisor Rick Farinelli’s Office MADERA – Riders from American Legion Post 11 led an escort of over 75 motorcycles through the streets of Madera early Thursday morning as the Moving Wall arrived in the center of the city. The Madera Police Department provided their own motorcycle escort, helping control traffic. Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) ...

MADERA COUNTY – Sheriff John Anderson is warning newspaper subscribers about a new scam targeting Central California readers. Those affected so far, include customers of the LA Times and the Fresno Bee. In the case of the fake LA Times renewal, residents in Madera County have received mailings from an outfit calling itself “Publishers Distribution Services,” or “Readers Payment Service,” ...

MADERA COUNTY – After serving as District Attorney for over five years, Michael Keitz is running for reelection and says there are clear and convincing reasons why he remains the man for the job. Citing his years of experience in law enforcement, and his decades of experience working within the structure of civil service rules, Keitz says challenger David Linn ...

MADERA COUNTY – Oakhurst attorney David Linn has never been one to shy away from a challenge, and he brings that same bravado to the race for District Attorney. “Quite frankly, I believe I’m the best candidate to ever run for the office of District Attorney in Madera County,” says Linn.