MOUNTAIN AREA – After three years and more than 13 million page views, Sierra News Online (SNO) has gotten a makeover. The new template aptly reflects the changes SNO has gone through, from its early inception as a kitchen-table startup to its current incarnation as the go-to place for news in the Yosemite gateway communities and beyond. After much debate ...

NORTH FORK – As residents in the Cascadel Woods and Douglas Ranger Station areas move out following this morning’s mandatory evacuation notice, firefighters have been rolling in. Their job is to go to each home and prepare it to be defended in the event that the Willow Fire does come through. Firefighters are moving flammable debris away from homes including ...

MOUNTAIN AREA – The local chapter affiliate of Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) team is up and running and participated in their first disasters beginning on June 18, during the Sky Fire in Oakhurst and the Corrine Fire in North Fork, aiding the evacuees in two shelter locations in Oakhurst. The Calvin Crest camp counselors came out with only ...

MARIPOSA – Auditions for Bernard Pomerance’s Tony Award winning play “The Elephant Man” will be held at the Mariposa Park Amphitheater on Monday, Aug. 3, and Wednesday, Aug. 5, at 6 p.m. The play is being presented as a Community Service Class through Merced College in conjunction with Mariposa Theatre Alliance, the newest program of the Mariposa County Arts Council. ...

NORTH FORK – JoAnn Griffin, a former teacher at North Fork School, is ready to give up her home of 50 years on Wild Rose Lane. She is moving to The Wyndham Retirement Home in Fresno, where she will be closer to to two of her four offspring. To give friends and former students a chance to say goodbye, family ...

SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST – As of today, June 30, fires of any kind are banned on the Sierra National Forest, except as listed below. With thousand hour fuel moisture at less than 14 percent and a drying trend predicted, Forest Supervisor Dean Gould has declared these prohibitions effective immediately. The Order reads as follows: Pursuant to 16 USC 551 and ...

OAKHURST – Kellen Rescue is sponsoring Rattlesnake Avoidance Training for your dogs on Saturday, July 11, in Oakhurst. Although rattlesnakes are out and about, they rarely bite unless they feel threatened or provoked. Our dogs can be naturally curious with rattlesnakes, resulting in disastrous and costly consequences but there is training available to your dog that help them avoid rattlesnakes. ...

NORTH FORK – A hiker who went missing on Friday, June 26, near Clover Meadow was located by Search & Rescue teams after spending the night alone in the forest. Searchers were called out on Friday afternoon after the man failed to return to where he was camping with a friend. The 62-year-old man from Wood Acre, Calif., was reportedly ...

BASS LAKE – A 13-year-old has died and his 16-year-old aunt suffered traumatic injuries after the two were struck by a wave runner on Bass Lake today. Late this afternoon, a family from Fresno was enjoying a day on the lake, pulling the kids on a tube behind a pontoon boat, when the accident happened.

MADERA COUNTY – While Problem Oriented Policing (POP) has been around for quite some time, the program is new to the Madera County Sheriff’s Office. In mid-May, Sgt. Larry Rich, mountain area deputy and life-long resident, was tasked with getting the new program off the ground and starting out as a team of one. “The intention is to be an ...