MOUNTAIN AREA — A trade group representing California restaurants has drafted a plan to allow the industry to reopen for sit-down dining. The new proposal would include a number of safeguards for diners and staff while avoiding possible requirements imposed in other states that customers have their temperature taken or the number of tables in the restaurant be dramatically limited, ...

MARIPOSA — UCCE Mariposa is offering a free online webinar series focusing on the use of prescribed burns as a vegetation and fire fuel management tool. The five-part series, which starts today (May 6), is free but requires registration. The webinars will be held online every Wednesday in May and the first Wednesday in June from 10 a.m. to 11:30 ...

MADERA — At their regular board meeting this week, Madera County supervisors authorized Madera County Sheriff Jay Varney to send a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom requesting more leeway be given to individual counties like Madera in terms of how quickly businesses are allowed to reopen. The sheriff, in his letter, reportedly argues that more rural counties, including Madera, should ...

Update: After Madera County Community Development Director Matthew Treber told supervisors Tuesday morning that County officials and the private landowner were still negotiating and hoped to able to reach an agreement soon, the Madera County Board of Supervisors postponed for one week (until May 12 regular meeting) any further action on the proposed eminent domain proceeding detailed in the story ...

OAKHURST — Mountain area home sales remained relatively robust during the first four months of 2020, according to Ed Bailey, of Ed Bailey Realty in Oakhurst. “Our mountain area home sales were better during the first trimester — January through April — of this year than last year,” Bailey reported this week. During the first four months of the year, ...

OAKHURST — Two people entered Denny’s restaurant in Oakhurst early Monday morning but they weren’t there for the Grand Slam breakfast. According to a report from the Madera County Sheriff’s Department, the burglars apparently had some help getting inside the closed eatery when they entered at 6:22 a.m.“It appears to be an inside job, as the door to gain access ...

OAKHURST — Adapting to changing times spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, many mountain community churches are offering creative alternatives to conventional prayer services. For Christ Church Anglican in Oakhurst, that has meant live-streaming “virtual” services on their Facebook followed by “drive-thru” communion. Madera County eased certain social distancing restrictions last week to accommodate the faith community. Christ Church has been ...

SACRAMENTO — The latest –and final — seasonal state snow pack survey confirmed that California had a drier-than-normal winter. The snow measured just one-and-a-half inches deep at Phillips Station in the Sierra east of Sacramento, and the water content was equivalent to just a half-inch, which is 3 percent of the May average for the location, state Department of Water ...

MADERA — Madera County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) has received its first order of testing cartridges for its GeneXpert molecular testing system, which will allow for more rapid COVID-19 testing beginning today. Rapid tests will now provide results “within one hour,” according to MCDPH officials.MCDPH Director Sara Bosse has been advocating aggressively for Cepheid, the producer of the cartridges since ...

By Brooke Smith, Visit Yosemite | Madera County BASS LAKE — Across the world, families are looking for educational moments and entertainment for young and old alike. With the humans hibernating and staying home, it seemed like a great time to share a little part of what makes this region unique. So, Visit Yosemite | Madera County is taking the ...