What’s your first memory of Smokey Bear? Smokey Bear has been one of the most effective characters for a continuing ad campaign — ever. He’s been in print, television and radio public service announcements (PSAs) and is recognized by 95 percent of adults and 77 percent of children in the U.S., according to the Ad Council. Smokey’s likeness has been ...

By Virginia Eaton I hate being manipulated. The only other thing that gets my blood pressure up faster is being bullied, and the current state of food marketing and labeling employs both tactics with a vicious force that has destroyed our health and endangered the health of our children, grandchildren and beyond. Do I sound angry? Good, because the more ...

By Virginia Eaton A friend once said to me that men tend to have a linear career path while women, for various reasons, have a more winding, tumbling, curvaceous career path. I have held on to that observation over the years as I have woven together an eclectic knowledge and skill set in the fitness and wellness industry that got ...

EARTH – You know that phrase, “once in a blue moon,” that people say when something comes around infrequently? Well, do whatever it is you’ve been putting off, because that blue moon — the second full moon in a single month — is happening on Friday, July  31 at 3:44 a.m. PST. That’s basically tonight, or tomorrow morning, depending on ...

By Kellie Flanagan – MOUNTAIN AREA – More than half of California is mountain lion habitat. Sometimes, more than others, we’re reminded of that. It happened this month, and wasn’t reported right away. Dan Fidler got a call stating that a mountain lion had killed livestock on Jose Basin Road in Fresno County in a nocturnal attack that left residents ...

Ann Elias has discovered a new technique to add to the garden,…’hose-craft!’ Ann says, “When your hose is too worn to properly deliver water, turn it into a no-slip rug to place near your potting bench.”  Hose-craft is taking useless old hoses, considering them ‘art supplies,’ and re-purposing them in the garden. Here is the step by step “How-To” Finding ...

YOSEMITE – Yosemite National Park is restoring the federally endangered Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog to alpine lakes within the park. The yellow-legged frog was once the most common frog in mountain lakes throughout the Sierra Nevada, but introduced predators and diseases caused their population to decline by over 95 percent. Park experts are encouraged by the results of initial restoration ...

Submitted by Karen Morris, Coarsegold Historical Society/Museum – The picture of these two little women is painted on paper with a fabric backing. It was donated to the Coarsegold Historical Society and now hangs in the Adobe building on the museum grounds. Do you recognize who these two young girls are? We are asking for help in identifying the girls ...

By Monica McClanahan OAKHURST – The Oakhurst Library will host a presentation by Jack and Kay Good along with local author, Marcia Freedman, on Saturday, July 25, from 10:30am to noon. Jack and Kay Good will be talking about the Coarsegold Historical Society and Historic Museum. Coarsegold is located at the southern end of the Gold Chain where the town ...

OAKHURST – Poke your head under the sink, check your garage and peek into your storage shed. If you see empty cans of paint, old oil filters, solvents, needles or any of a host of hazardous materials and want to get rid of them, you’re in luck. You can shed much of your excess household toxic waste on Saturday, July ...