TUOLUMNE COUNTY – With full containment of the Rim Fire in sight, and fire activity waning, crews and resources are being demobilized every day. As the firefighters head home, another team moves in to start the next phase of the process.

OAKHURST — Lately there have been nearly innumerable reasons to give thanks and praise to our area’s first responders, and now organizers have planned a new event to do so, side by side, over dinner. All mountain area residents are invited to the first annual Mountain Area Safety Services Awards Dinner at the Oakhurst Elks Lodge on Saturday, Oct. 26. ...

YOSEMITE LAKES PARK – An allegedly impaired driver crashed into a power pole in Yosemite Lakes Park last night, breaking off the pole and knocking out power to homes in the Lilley Mountain Drive area. Allison Starkey says she and her husband Nick heard a loud noise at about 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 18, and looked out to see ...

MADERA COUNTY – Two mother bears have been hit by cars in the past few days, one near Ahwahnee and one just outside North Fork. According to Dan Fidler, Fresno Unit Biologist for Fish & Wildlife, a mother with cubs was struck by a car near Ahwahnee earlier this week. She had two cubs, one of which was subsequently hit ...

MADERA COUNTY – Sheriff John Anderson has issued a county-wide fraud alert after Madera County Sheriff’s deputies responded to what Anderson describes as a terrifying twist to a sweepstakes scam targeting senior citizens. Those behind sweepstakes scams have graduated from convincing victims to wire money in order to collect a prize, to an even bigger enticement.

MADERA COUNTY – The Madera County Sheriff’s Office will file a criminal complaint against Richard James Sesulka, 49, of Garden Grove, CA., according to Erica Stuart, Public Information Officer. Sesulka is the tour coach driver for Screamline Investment Corp accused of emptying the waste tank of his tour bus in a parking lot outside the U.S. Post Office in Oakhurst ...

CHOWCHILLA — The Third Annual Fossil Day at the Fossil Discovery Center is Saturday, Oct. 19 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. It’s a great time to stop by and explore the Center during this special celebration. The day will include tours of the museum including some new exhibits, visits with exotic animals from the Fresno Zoo, a free Mock ...

OAKHURST – Smoke could be seen rising into the sunset this evening just north of Oakhurst as a fire took off near Miami Creek. Just after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17, firefighters from the Sierra National Forest (SNF) responded to a fire that was estimated by those first on scene to be about an acre.

NORTH FORK – A mother bear was apparently hit by a car on Road 223 just east of Thornberry Road tonight. At 8:07 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17, a report came in of a bear dead in the road near Teaford Saddle. The reporting party told dispatch that a cub was running into the road to check on the mother ...

MARIPOSA – On Monday, Sept. 16 at about 10:30 a.m., deputies and detectives from the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office served concurrent search and arrest warrants at two different residences located in Mariposa County for marijuana cultivation, marijuana sales and conspiracy crimes. The warrants were the result of a lengthy investigation.