MADERA COUNTY – A single vehicle crash on Highway 41 last night has claimed the life of a 27-year-old Fresno man. At about 9:35 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 12, Edgar Farias was southbound on Highway 41 just south of Road 406 in a 2002 Dodge Ram pickup.

MADERA COUNTY – Law enforcement has seen a spike in the number of illegal pot grows in the Valley this year. Blame it on the drought, says Sheriff John Anderson, who believes lack of water may be driving drug cartels out of the forests and into neighborhoods throughout Madera County. “They can’t grow in the mountains, because there’s not enough ...

OAKHURST – A San Diego woman, who is known to spend time in both Wawona and Oakhurst, is behind bars facing assault charges, but not before being assaulted herself. Rebecca Renee Simmons, 46, was taken into custody this morning at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno. She was rescued from inside a structure at a mini storage facility located on ...

MADERA COUNTY – Sheriff John Anderson today announced the swearing-in of five new employees. Three new deputies and two new civilian employees are now part of the Madera County Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Earl O’Neal III, comes to Madera after nine years with the Coalinga Police Department. Prior to signing on with Coalinga, Deputy O’Neal served in the United States Navy.

MADERA COUNTY – The Madera County Sheriff’s Office is holding open enrollment for teens between the ages 14 and 20, who may be interested in signing up for the department’s Explorer Program. The Explorer program teaches its members the basics, which include: Police radio techniques, patrol procedures, domestic calls, vehicle stops, bomb threat response, first emergency responder scenarios, arrest and ...

MARIPOSA COUNTY – The Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office is warning all residence about a telephone scam being perpetrated against residents. Scammers are using scrambling devices to change the phone number shown on the caller ID. In some cases, it is showing the Sheriff’s Office phone number which is 209-966-3615.

FISH CAMP – Passengers on the Logger at the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad were enjoying a brief stop at the half-way point of their trip into the Sierra National Forest near Fish Camp on Saturday, when they were stunned by the sight of an 8-year-old girl wandering out of the woods alone. It was about 1 p.m. and the ...

NORTH FORK – Two Sheriff’s deputies working the French Fire, broke free from their patrol duties this morning to render aid to a woman who had just given birth in a parking lot on Road 200 in North Fork. At around 10:20 a.m on Thursday, July 31, FOX 26 (KMPH, Fresno) contacted the Madera County Sheriff’s Office asking them to ...

MADERA COUNTY – A man who suffered fatal injuries in a solo vehicle wreck near Central Camp on Saturday night has been identified. Steven Joseph Martin, 32, of Fresno, was driving just south of Whisker’s Campground when he crashed through the guard rail on the bridge over Sand Creek.

MADERA COUNTY – First responders were dispatched to the Central Camp area Saturday night after a 911 call about a car in the creek below the bridge near Whiskers Campground. It was reported that a vehicle had crashed through the guard rail and timbers on the bridge, and was lying on it’s top, wedged between two rocks in the granite ...