O’NEALS — As a volleyball, soccer and softball player, Bethany Morgan has always known one of the most important rules of life is to stay hydrated! Hydration is a key point to a healthy lifestyle according to Beth. As a result, she decided to make the mission of her Senior Legacy Experience (SLE) project to replace the water fountains around ...

By Sydney Meyers & Natalie Zawolkow — O’NEALS — On Tuesday, May 1, Minarets High School senior Ellery Meade held her Senior Legacy Experience (SLE) on the lawn outside of the Minarets Gym. The event was from 1 – 5 p.m., dedicated to the St. Baldricks Foundation, an organization devoted to finding cures for childhood cancer and offering wigs to ...

SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST – Did you know that not only can you obtain your campfire permit at any Forest Service Office, but you can also get a permit online? Campfire Permits are required for open fires, such as campfire, barbecues and portable stoves on federally controlled lands and private lands that are the property of another person. On private lands, ...

NORTH FORK – Crews are on scene of a vegetation fire in Cascadel Woods, dealing with high winds and steep terrain. At about 9 p.m., reports came in of a tree into a house on Cascadel Drive, hitting a power line. As engines were responding to that scene, they saw a fire burning along Cascadel Road, the dirt road that ...

OAKHURST – Sierra National Forest (SNF) officials continue their spring prescribed burning program within the Bass Lake Ranger District. Using the advantage of favorable weather conditions, extra fire personnel and equipment will be committed to the project until the treatments are extinguished, as burn days permit. Projects will include understory burning in the months of May and early June. According ...

O’NEALS — Firefighters are on scene of a vegetation fire in the O’Neals area east of Road 211. Just before 2:30 p.m., crews were dispatched to reports of a fire on 3 Gate Road off Hildreth Road near High Water Road. The first unit at scene reported the fire at about two acres, burning at a slow rate of spread ...

NORTH FORK – The Sierra Mono Museum (SMM) is starting the first major renovation and expansion of its over five-decade history, made possible by a $605,000 federal grant awarded to the Museum’s fiscal sponsor/partner, the North Fork Rancheria. The Museum closed its main North Fork facility’s doors in mid-April for approximately one year for construction. An Open House scheduled for ...

OAKHURST – Visit Yosemite Madera County reports that tourism was instrumental to the County’s success in 2017, with visitor spending reaching $283.7 million in Madera County. According to the Dean Runyan Associates report released today by Visit California. The tourism industry supported 4,040 jobs and generated $25.8 million in local and state tax revenue last year. Statewide, visitors spent a ...

Written by Jenny Pearson – NORTH FORK – On Saturday, May 26, the North Fork Visitors Center will be hosting an open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., to celebrate a major milestone. Five years ago, with help from Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau in Oakhurst, a small store front on main street North Fork opened its doors to its ...

SACRAMENTO — California’s wet winter created a sizable crop of new growth grass, but don’t let the wet weather fool you as the abundant grass dries into fuel-ripe tinder. Now is the time to act to prevent wildfires. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. declared May 6-12 “Wildfire Awareness Week” to urge homeowners that Fire Defense is Self Defense, Get Ready ...