MADERA COUNTY MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES – The 39th Madera County Academic Decathlon and the first virtual competition had 7 schools competing on February 6, 2021 in the 10 event competition answering questions based on the topic “The Cold War.” Madera High South High School was the overall winner with our own Glacier High School Charter coming in second only 51.7 points behind ...

Submitted by Jolene Anderson, student journalist for Minarets Press O’NEALS – In January of 2020, three student musicians met together for the first time, forming the band Sunroom. Starting in an actual sunroom, Jayci Coons, Evan Bethel, and Austin Bethel started rehearsing covers of songs such as “Blitzkrieg Bop” by The Ramones and “White Wedding” by Billy Idol. From there, ...

Submitted by Caden Shows and Trever Jobinger, student journalists with Minarets Press O’NEALS – Both old and young alike have or had aspirations of being a rockstar. Although this is not realistic for most, Minarets varsity baseball assistant coach Bob Siebenberg actually was one. Not known to many, Siebenberg was a drummer for the very popular 70s rock band, Supertramp. ...

Submitted by Marshall Newton, student journalist with Minarets Press O’NEALS – Chawanakee Unified School District has a new Interim-Superintendent: Dr. Stephen Foster. While he may seem new to some, he is actually the former Chawanakee Superintendent and, as explained by principal Daniel Ching, “He was instrumental in the building and design of Minarets.” Dr. Foster will be acting superintendent until ...

NORTH FORK – District 5 Supervisor Tom Wheeler will be hosting a Town Hall Meeting via Zoom to discuss, Emergency Services, “what to expect in an emergency.” Joining supervisor Wheeler will be a host of Madera County Emergency Services Representatives including, Sheriff Pogue, Fire Chief Beery, Katrina Poitras from Red Cross and many others. Everybody should zoom in to learn and ...

O’NEALS – Teachers in California were asked to submit their innovative teaching ideas the week of January 11 for an opportunity to win State Farm ® Teacher Assist grants. Two hundred submissions were accepted and reviewed. Forty California teachers were selected based on the programs they described and will each receive a $2,500 grant to implement or support their classroom ...

Submitted by Ed Bailey Realty  MADERA COUNTY MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES – A look at mountain area home Sales in 2020 compared with 2019, (including Oakhurst, Bass Lake, North Fork, Wawona, Yosemite West, Ahwahnee, Coarsegold, Raymond, O Neals, and Wishon)* 710 mountain area homes were sold in 2020, compared to 589 in 2019, an increase of 21 percent. The median price was ...

MADERA COUNTY MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES – Our mountain community was warned the Mono Winds would begin around 7 p.m. on Monday evening the 18th of January as PG&E planned PSPS in the areas that held the greatest risk. The night sky was clear, stars sparkled as the winds began to blow through the mountain slopes and canyons with a fierce rage ...

Submitted by Donovan Enriam, Student Journalist for Minarets Press “Am I just eating because I’m bored?” — The Grinch. I think lately many of us can relate to this, but in the spirit of Christmas and boredom, why not make some grinchy brownies? These fudgy chocolate brownies, coated in minty green ganache and sprinkled with crunchy mint oreos and tiny ...

Submitted by Jolene Anderson, student journalist for Minarets Press COVID-19 has affected millions of people around the world, but recent reports say that animals can contract the virus as well. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this only occurs when the animal contracts the virus from humans and from there, transmits it to another animal, but ...