Mariposa– Mariposa County in cooperation with Sierra Foothills Conservancy, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation, and the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians to begin the next step in the Mariposa Creek Parkway Restoration Project. Mariposa County Planning Department will organize a prescribed burn taking place from January 1-31st to coincide with ...

Mariposa – Effective Monday, December 13 at 8 AM the burn permit requirement in Mariposa County will be lifted and residents will be able to resume burning on permissible burn days. Cooler temperatures, higher humidity and winter weather have helped to diminish the threat of wildfire.  Property owners and residents are asked to use caution while conducting debris burns, follow ...

MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES – Earlier this week we talked about the return of Winter weather to our communities but, at the time, the details were still a little bit “foggy.”  Fast forward to this weekend and now we have a really good picture of what to expect over the next few days due to an “atmospheric river” weather pattern that is ...

OAKHURST — On Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, shortly after 6 p.m., the Madera County Sheriff’s Communications Center received a call for service for a reported stabbing in the 40000 block of Meadow Vista Drive in Oakhurst. MCSO Deputies Silva, Graves and Corporal Roth arrived on scene and discovered an adult male victim who had sustained stab wounds to his back. ...

OAKHURST–As chamber administrator for the Oakhurst Area Chamber of Commerce, some of the most common questions I receive are about where to contact Madera County or obtain county services, including building permits and public transportation. Did you know that Madera County’s magic number is 311? If you do, you can probably stop reading right now because you may know all ...

MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES — Finally, after a long dry November, winter weather is returning to our communities.  As you may recall, our last significant storm was near the end of October.  It included a flood watch and winter weather watch we reported here.  Since then, we’ve had unseasonably high temperatures and no precipitation.  According to the National Weather Service and other ...

North Fork – The Sierra National Forest (SNF) will continue prescribed burning within the Bass Lake Ranger District, beginning Friday December 3rd & Saturday December 4th as weather and air quality is optimal to start ignitions. These treatments will consist of understory burning removing fuels created during tree mortality, timber harvest, and is designed to reintroduce fire under controlled conditions ...

NORTH FORK — Sierra National Forest (SNF) High Sierra Ranger District, due to the lack of winter weather and snow conditions, the Huntington Lake road which is normally scheduled to close December 1st, will remain open this year through December 15th. This will be the only extension of the closure for Huntington Lake Road. Regardless of weather and ground conditions, ...

OAKHURST–***UPDATED 12/15/2021*** Holiday festivities abound all over the mountain area. Below is a sampling of what’s available. If you don’t see something that grabs your fancy, keep checking back. This article will be updated as new information comes across the desk. The Grove Presents Community of Lights  Friday, December 10 and Saturday, December 11 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm The ...

FRESNO – The Fresno County Department of Public Health (FCDPH) has been following international headlines related to a new variant of the COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) virus. This variant, known as the Omicron variant, has been classified as a variant of concern due to the potential for increased contagiousness (ability to spread from one person to another) and possibly increased virulence (the ability ...