OAKHURST — Not to be outdone by its sister community in North Fork, some Oakhurst residents joined together this past week to produce their own video entry for HGTV’s “Hometown Takeover” contest — which is offering to totally remake one small U.S. town. Oakhurst’s video, which includes pictures of older business storefronts as well as nature scenes from Yosemite and ...

COARSEGOLD — A single-vehicle traffic accident on Highway 41 claimed two lives early Sunday morning. The driver of a 2001 Honda Civic, Layna Ronette Marquez, 48, of Coarsegold, died in the incident, which reportedly happened after Marquez over-corrected on a turn and hit a tree. A passenger in the vehicle, Chana-ne Botchon Reid, 25, from Coarsegold, was also killed in ...

If you don’t have time for a trip up to Yosemite or the Federal lands near us and still want to get out and enjoy nature, you don’t have to go far to get your fix in our own backyard at Ahwahnee Hills Regional Park off of Hwy 49 adjacent to Wasuma Elementary School in Ahwahnee. Although I walked a ...

NORTH FORK — After more than three years, work is wrapping up on a project to reforest thousands of acres scorched by 2014’s French Fire. “The French Fire reforestation project ends but the work continues,” according to officials at the Yosemite Sequoia Resource Conservation and Development Council, which has guided the reforestation effort. The nonprofit organization, which serves Fresno, Madera, ...

By Karen Morris (with thanks to Don Grove) This building has been home to many families since its service as a way station. Our records begin with the McGinity family. They lived here beginning in 1904. We are not sure how long they stayed. The Hanningan Family moved in about 1942 and stayed until 1947. Hazel Kennedy and her family ...

NORTH FORK — Project proponents say plans are quickly moving forward and construction of North Fork’s long-anticipated, new 2-megawatt biomass plant should get underway “sometime this spring.” Project coordinator Greg Stangl, CEO of Phoenix Energy, confirmed this week his team is having meetings with “all the major vendors” in the next few weeks. “At the end of next week, I’ll ...

MARIPOSA — Last month, four members of the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors voted to increase their base pay by $30,000 per year — and now a significant number of county residents are expressing their displeasure on social media, and through the referendum process. Despite a number of local residents speaking out against the action, the board passed an ordinance ...

OAKHURST — Two local burglary suspects were apprehended late last week with the aid of an alert home owner — and their home surveillance system. The incident, according to the Madera County Sheriff’s Office, began Thursday (Jan. 30) shortly before 9 a.m. when the Sheriff’s Communication Center received a call for service for an in-progress residential burglary in the 48000 ...

A good workout hike was what I needed and the trail out of Sky Harbor fit that bill. The valley’s patchy fog was lifting as I hiked, casting beautiful reflections in Millerton Lake as I dodged the cowpies on the trail. Where: Millerton Lake State Recreation Area, San Joaquin River Gorge Special Management Area, Bureau of Land Management Distance: 9.05 ...

COARSEGOLD — An antique water pump stolen a week ago from outside the Coarsegold Historic Museum has been recovered, according to an update issued today by the Madera County Sheriff’s Office. The suspect in the theft also has been identified as Robert Hagen of Fresno. As of Saturday afternoon, Hagen remained at-large. Surveillance footage from outside the museum as well ...