MADERA COUNTY — Candice Ooley, the Clovis woman who pleaded guilty in October to gross vehicular manslaughter and DUI causing injury after a fatal crash on Highway 41 in May, was sentenced today in Madera Superior Court to 11 years in prison. Ooley was 23 years old and pregnant at the time she caused the crash that took the life ...

OAKHURST — The Madera County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue (MADSAR) Rope Rescue Team, under the direction of Deputy Jack Williamson, spent the morning training in the hills overlooking Oakhurst. This team was successfully deployed several times over the summer for a variety of falls and high-angle rescues, and is made up primarily of volunteers. They are a key part of ...

MADERA COUNTY – Following are details from the Madera County Sheriff’s Office of reports taken locally from Monday, Nov. 28 to Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016: Oakhurst danger to self On Monday, Nov. 28 at 1:45 a.m. deputies were dispatched to assist Cal Fire in the 43000 block of Country Club Drive West. Upon arrival Cal Fire advised they were out ...

COARSEGOLD — A local man was fatally injured in an industrial accident while removing hazard trees in the Coulterville-Greeley Hill area of Mariposa County, according to Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office PIO Kristie Mitchell. At approximately noon on Thursday, Dec. 1, Coarsegold resident Nash Mayer, 40, was working as part of the ground crew felling a hazard tree on Sugar Pine Drive, says ...

Submitted by the North Fork History Group — Let’s go back in time for a few moments… REMEMBER in 1995, Huell Howser of the TV show “California’s Gold” visited North Fork to ask the question – is North Fork the exact center of California? Thanks to Fresno State University and the GPS equipment, the Cal Center, located on National Forest ...

NORTH FORK — A bronze plaque that marks the exact center of California was stolen by unknown suspects sometime between Nov. 20 and Nov. 28. The plaque was inlaid in a large piece of granite that sits just east of Italian Bar Road (Road 225) between North Fork and Redinger Lake. Unknown suspects used a prying tool to remove the ...

MADERA COUNTY — The former Director of Sierra Senior Center in Oakhurst, accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from a 90-year-old man afflicted with dementia, was sentenced in Madera Superior Court on Monday, Nov. 28. Pursuant to a plea agreement, wherein the original charge was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor count of financial elder abuse, Kathryn (Katie) Davis, 54, was was ...

MADERA COUNTY – Following are details from the Madera County Sheriff’s Office of reports taken locally from Monday, Nov. 21 to Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016: Oakhurst burglary On Monday, Nov. 21 at 5:52 a.m. a deputy was dispatched to the 40000 Block of SR-41 in Oakhurst regarding an alarm, that was determined to be a burglary. Report taken, evidence obtained and ...

SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST — What began as an exciting post-holiday trip to the mountains turned into quite an ordeal, and ultimately required the services of teams of rescuers this weekend. On Sunday, Nov. 27, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office received a call from some campers requesting assistance. According to the Sheriff’s Office, these campers had neglected to check the weather report ...

NORTH FORK – A woman was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence after she crashed into the flagpole in front of the North Fork Post Office, then crashed again while trying to leave the scene. Just after 4 p.m. this afternoon, a witness in the Pizza Factory says a woman later identified by CHP as Christa Cortez, 62, ...