Written by Dave Hubbard — The Yosemite Granite Icon represents such a dominating presence within Yosemite Valley that it is likely that the first adventurous human being to set eyes on it thought about climbing it… But no one succeeded until 1875, over 25 years after the first white man entered the valley.   Climb Half Dome…It was in the ...

YOSEMITE – A place that’s already great and big just got bigger and better. Yosemite National Park has grown in size with the addition of 400 acres of critical wetlands and meadow habitat on the park’s western boundary. The landmark addition is known as Ackerson Meadow. It was donated to the park through a cooperative effort between The Trust for Public Land, Yosemite ...

OAKHURST – Sierra Tel invites area residents to Yosemite High School’s football stadium this year to commemorate Patriot Day 2016, with Keynote Speaker Michael A. Vane, Lieutenant General, US Army Retired. LTG Vane was most recently the Deputy Commanding General at the US Army Draining and Doctrine (TRADOC) Futures Center. The 2-star general lives at Shaver Lake. The ceremonies begins at 9 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 12. YHS Principal Randy ...

Submitted by Dave Smith — NORTH FORK — Mid-May found members of North Fork Troop 357 traveling to the Johnson Meadow area above Mammoth Pool for a weekend camping trip. The Scouts spent the weekend practicing their camping and cooking skills as well as just enjoying outdoor activities. The last week of June, three Troop 357 Scouts participated in the ...

MARIPOSA COUNTY — The public is invited to honor all veterans on Sunday, Sept. 11, beginning at 2 p.m. at the Mariposa County Art Park. Before the ceremony at the park, everyone is invited to join with veterans and “22 Too Many,” a veteran’s health support group, at the Mariposa VFW at 1 p.m. to walk from the VFW to ...

Submitted by Susan Rappaport — CENTRAL SIERRA — Intertwined within the larger tapestry of our Sierra foothill communities is the small strand of the Mountain Jewish Community. We are a community made up of individuals who come from diverse Jewish backgrounds with different levels of observance Although we are scattered throughout the towns of Mariposa, Ahwahnee, Oakhurst, Coarsegold, North Fork, ...

OAKHURST — Two juveniles were taken into custody after allegedly hitting an employee with a car in an Oakhurst restaurant parking lot while attempting to get away without paying their bill. Just before 3 a.m., on Monday, Sept. 5, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office received a call that three male subjects were refusing to pay their check at Denny’s. The ...

MADERA COUNTY — Sheriff Jay Varney and the Madera County Sheriffs Office welcomed seven new Citizens on Patrol (COP) volunteers to the force on Wednesday, Aug. 31. Sheriff Varney administered the Oath of Office to Janice Guthrie, Lloyd Green, Jarrett Dean, Hal Parks, Chris Reese and John Arredondo during a graduation ceremony held at the Sheriff’s Office in Madera. Jon ...

SACRAMENTO – In the past two months, California has experienced a rash of large and damaging wildfires and in almost every single case, the fire was preventable. It’s true — 95 percent of all wildfires are caused by the activity of people! Cal Fire is asking, especially with the holiday weekend, that all Californians do their part now to help ...

CALIFORNIA — Over 12,300 firefighters are battling 10 large wildfires in California. Despite mild temperatures yesterday, dry and gusty conditions allowed for two new fires to spread quickly and force evacuations in Butte and Kern counties. This weekend the weather is expected to remain relatively mild as it has over the past week. Dry conditions will continue in many areas ...