MADERA COUNTY – A head-on collision on Highway 41 just north of Road 207 near Blackhawk Lodge closed Highway 41 for nearly two hours during the evening commute on Monday, Jan. 6. Just after 6 p.m., Tuohan Yin, 26, of Fullerton, CA, was southbound on SR-41, when he drifted off the right shoulder of the road and struck a large ...

SACRAMENTO – With the New Year just around the corner, the California Highway Patrol is reminding motorists of several new laws or changes to existing law that go into effect in 2014. The following are summaries of some transportation-related laws that, unless otherwise stated, go into effect on January 1, 2014.

MADERA COUNTY – After 30 years of service to the California Highway Patrol, Sergeant Ed Greene is retiring to do, as he puts it, “anything I feel like.” Dec. 30 will be the last day on duty for the 52-year-old veteran officer in the Oakhurst division, where he has served since transferring from Mariposa in 2009.

MADERA COUNTY – Two young men who were arrested on Monday, Dec. 16, in connection with the death of a 17-year-old Simi Valley girl, were in Madera Superior Court this morning for a bail review and pre-preliminary hearing. Scott Jacob Mason, 20, of Simi Valley and Jacob Patrick Banaga, 18, of Visalia, were taken into custody after the body of ...

MADERA COUNTY – As the investigation continues into the death of a 17-year-old Simi Valley girl who died at Rock Creek Campground, Sheriff John Anderson is asking for the public’s help. The Madera County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone who may have seen 20-year-old Scott Jacob Mason, 18-year-old Jacob Patrick Banaga or the victim, 17-year-old Tara Maguire, between Saturday Dec. ...

COARSEGOLD – A day of fishing and drinking came to an abrupt end when said fisherman headed for home and smashed his pickup into a rock outcropping on Highway 41, snarling traffic during the evening commute. Leonard Cox, 75, of Clovis, had spent the day snagging trout and catfish in one of the private ponds near Indian Lakes.

MADERA COUNTY – A Search & Rescue mission launched Monday at noon took a tragic turn just before midnight that night, when SAR volunteers located the body of a 17-year-old Simi Valley girl. Her two male companions are now behind bars facing felony charges. Scott Jacob Mason, 20, of Simi Valley, and Jacob Patrick Banaga, 18, of Visalia, were booked ...

MADERA COUNTY – The Madera County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in tracking down a woman caught on tape swiping a UPS parcel in broad daylight. The crime occurred on Blanca Avenue, near Highway 145 and Road 36 in the Bonadelle Ranchos.

MADERA COUNTY – The trial of a Coarsegold couple charged with 31 counts of arson will get underway this week in Madera Superior Court. Kenneth Jackson, 40, and Alice Waterman, 46, both of Yosemite Lakes Park, have been in custody since late June, when they were arrested after a rash of suspicious fires in the Coarsegold/YLP area. Waterman was in ...

NORTH FORK – First responders were busy in the North Fork area this afternoon as two separate rollover crashes blocked traffic on Roads 222 and 200. At 3:19 p.m. the report came in to 911 of a Dodge Durango on its roof just south of La Cabana on Road 222 in North Fork. It was the same corner and the ...