BASS LAKE – It’s that time of year again – the Madera County Sheriff’s Office Boat Patrol is back on the water at beautiful Bass Lake. As the weather warms up and lake activity increases, deputies will be providing proactive enforcement to all boating and safety violations, including boating under the influence. The Sheriff’s Office warns that any and all ...

By Bob Labozetta —  Whether you sowed seeds in late February/early March or you purchase plants from a nursery or the Mariposa Master Gardeners Annual Plant Sale, make sure your transplants are young, stocky seedlings instead of larger plants. They will establish more quickly and suffer less transplant shock, soon catching up in growth to larger plants. “Harden off” your ...

OAKHURST — The nonprofit Caring Veterans of America, Inc. invites all veterans and their families to a two-day stand down event at the Oakhurst Community Center on Friday, April 26 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Saturday, April 27 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The upbeat days offer friendship, free food, military gear, haircuts and entertainment. Organizers ...

A great workout with beautiful flowers and a ton of history! This hike was right up my alley on a cooler day between raindrops. Where: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Merced River Recreation Management Area Distance: About 9 miles roundtrip to the gate but you can go shorter or longer Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous Elevation Range: 1,138′ – 2,835′ Date: ...

O’NEALS — Minarets High School senior Aaron Hall is once again working on a project to honor current and former military members, through the 4th Annual Military Appreciation Baseball Game. The son of Col. David Hall and Christina Lowry Hall, the Mustang senior has been a force behind this veterans baseball event since 2016, when his father was deployed to ...

NORTH FORK — More than a dozen artists gathered in a local native garden this week, tools of their respective trades in hand, poised to capture the magic as a soft breeze blew and the Sierra sunlight gently dappled the grounds around them. When we heard that members of Yosemite Western Artists would convene for a plein air day at ...

Puppies and poppies, both being an entirely worthwhile addiction, we loaded the former in the car and set off to see the latter. We had been told that the bloom was like nothing we’d ever seen before. But there were billions of things we’d never seen before and so we couldn’t help but wonder which one it would turn out ...

MOUNTAIN AREA — They are fast, tough, smart, sweet, sneaky, showy, social and definitely loud — they are Visit Yosemite | Madera County’s official Welcoming Committee, and they’re about to take Madera County, Bass Lake and Yosemite National Park by storm with a campaign starting Monday, April 1. “The Welcoming Committee campaign was designed to showcase attractions in Madera County, ...

MADERA – Six Madera County residents were honored today by the Board of Supervisors and the Sheriff’s Office for heroism in going above and beyond to save the lives of fellow citizens. Today at the weekly board of supervisors meeting, Justin Krucki, Shawn Anthill, Ryan Hansen, Scott Hamilton, Justin Hamilton and Ryan Ellis were recognized for their life-saving efforts during ...

O’NEALS — Like our local first responders, Minarets annual all-school lip dub has gone above and beyond. First things first. A ‘lip dub’ is a type of creative expression that combines lip sync and audio dubbing to make a music video, and on Thursday, April 11 the entire Minarets student body and staff did just that. The lip dub is ...