MARIPOSA – The Festive Holiday Concert of the Mariposa Symphony Orchestra (MSO) on Saturday, Dec. 21, will honor the memory of Dr. Phillip Smith, founding MSO Principal Tuba player and longtime arranger, composer and dedicated member of the orchestra. The concert will open with Smith’s own composition Elegy and Prayer, which was originally composed to commemorate the anniversary of the ...

MADERA COUNTY – The trial of a Coarsegold couple charged with 31 counts of arson will get underway this week in Madera Superior Court. Kenneth Jackson, 40, and Alice Waterman, 46, both of Yosemite Lakes Park, have been in custody since late June, when they were arrested after a rash of suspicious fires in the Coarsegold/YLP area. Waterman was in ...

Written by Lori Prentice Nine years ago her nine-year-old son was murdered here in my small town. Five years ago, I met her other son. I tried reaching out to him at my church, and no matter how I downplayed my usual style, there was just a sad, empty feeling.

Last Saturday, we set out in search of adventure, well aware of the weather conditions. The night before, Mother Nature had dumped a load on the Mother Lode, and just about every foot of hill between us and our destination was loosely draped in snow. Most people had the good sense to stay in and admire the view – an ...

NORTH FORK – Two mountain area men led sheriff’s deputies and CHP on a nearly hour-long chase through the backroads near North Fork last night, and finally ended up behind bars. Just before 11 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8, Sergeant Mike Pace was patrolling the area of Road 200 when he saw a 1993 green colored Jeep Wrangler that had ...

OAKHURST – How important is it for mountain area residents to have emergency room services readily available? Is Oakhurst in danger of losing the only one in town, namely Urgent Care? That was one of the issues discussed at District 5 Supervisor Tom Wheeler’s Town Hall meeting in November, where Dr. Joel Figatner addressed the crowd about the shortage of ...

YOSEMITE – Mountain Area Ski School (MASS) is looking for ski and snowboard instructors and support people to help out this season, which begins Friday, Jan. 10, 2014. Dating back to 1961, MASS annually serves hundreds of area children in 5th through 8th grades. Certified volunteer instructors teach downhill, cross-country and snowboarding to eligible students who are bussed to Badger ...

MADERA COUNTY – As winter weather approaches, the County of Madera has established the following locations as Warming Centers in the mountain area during times of extreme winter cold. The centers will be open the days and times of the week listed below, while other centers may be opened on an “as need” basis and will be announced through the ...

YOSEMITE – Young film makers are invited to submit their work in the “Youth in Yosemite” Short Film Contest, part of the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Yosemite Grant. This contest is open to anyone 25 years of age or younger who is motivated to create a video about their connection to Yosemite National Park. The deadline to ...

Written by Roger Mitchell, Historian & Librarian at the Fresno Flats Historic Park, Museum, & Research Library This month’s History Mystery is about an arrastra, a primitive type of quartz mill, about a mile east of Highway 41, just off Thornberry Road (Road 420). Here on the top of a ridge which separates the watersheds of Coarsegold Creek on the ...