SACRAMENTO – Nearly 12,000 firefighters are battling nearly two dozen major fires and complexes across California. Overnight firefighters continued to make progress despite extreme weather conditions. Since the lightning siege started on Saturday, August 15, 2020 there have been nearly 12,000 lightning strikes. During this time-period, there have been more than 560 new wildfires, most of which have been contained ...

SACRAMENTO – California has experienced an unprecedented lightening siege that has resulted in approximately 11,000 lightning strikes up and down the state resulting in more than 370 new fires. There are approximately 10,000 firefighters who are aggressively fighting these fires currently and Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a statewide emergency, calling for additional equipment and personal to fight the fires ...

MADERA COUNTY MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES – The Madera County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) Search and Rescue (SAR) has been very busy! On Saturday, Aug. 15, they performed three back-to-back rescues in the Madera County mountain communities. Search and rescue is strenuous even under the best of circumstances and working in extreme conditions (especially with the recent heat wave) creates even more pressure ...

NORTH FORK – The North Fork Community Development Council (NFCDC), the organization responsible for developing the land on Rd. 225 (Former Mill Site) to help the communities in and around North Fork is seeking resident input. The NFCDC has reserved Lot 11 for local non-profit use to provide as a community resource. Lot 11 is approximately 3 acres and is ...

FOLSOM — The California Independent System Operator (ISO) issued a statewide Flex Alert, a call for voluntary electricity conservation, beginning today and extending through Wednesday. The Flex Alerts are in effect from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. each day. A persistent, record-breaking heat wave in California and the western states is causing a strain on supplies, and consumers should be ...

NORTH FORK – The Madera County Sheriff Department received multiple calls of a shooting on Aug. 15 around 7:30 pm. Officers responding found a 20 year old male deceased in the yard of a residence near Church St. and Willow Creek Dr. Identity pending notification of family. The suspects, Jacob Raymond Fonseica, 30 from Fresno and Serena Christine Sanchez, 24 ...

A comfortable chair was all that I needed to watch the thunderheads build while taking it easy next to beautiful Tenaya Lake. No hiking, no peak bagging, no fishing, just cloud watching on this adventure. Where: Yosemite National ParkDistance: A few feet Difficulty: Easy Elevation Range: 8,150′Date: August 11, 2020Dog Hike? Probably Not My friend Chris planted an idea in ...

MADERA – Madera County now has a total of 2,759 reported cases of Covid 19 according to the Madera County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) dashboard. There are 746 active cases with 29 Madera County residents hospitalized in Madera County. MCDPH is reporting 44 deaths as of Aug. 12, 2020. Reporting area D which includes the following zip codes, 93601, ...

MADERA — Robert Moye, the North Fork man charged with the murder of Mono tribal elder Gaylen Lee in July of 2019, will be sentenced on Aug. 20, 2020. Moye entered a plea of no contest on July 27, 2020, to voluntary manslaughter. Voluntary manslaughter is defined by Penal Code section 192, (a) as when a person unlawfully kills another ...

As distance learning and home schooling resume, online activities for students can include exploration of spectacular natural environments such as Yosemite National Park.  The Virtual Yosemite in-depth online tour can help facilitate this. In the high country just a couple of miles off the Tioga Road is one of Yosemite’s well-known High Sierra Loop camps (May Lake).  At a switchback near ...