BASS LAKE — To honor Memorial Day weekend while celebrating the onset of the summer season, a special event is happening in the Bass Lake Water Sports marina at the Pines Resort on Friday morning, May 27. The sound of the National Anthem will resonate out over the glassy lake, as the Yosemite High School Color Guard kicks off a ...

CHOWCHILLA – For those who love a good ol’ country fair, it’s not too long a trip to the valley for “Country Nights and Carnival Lights,” the theme for the 2016 Chowchilla Madera County Fair. The excitement begins Thursday, May 19, and will run through Sunday, May 22. This year’s action packed entertainment will include bull riding, mutton busting, pro ...

MADERA COUNTY — Madera County residents can now welcome more than two dozen new volunteers to the ranks of those who are ready, willing and very able to respond to Search & Rescue missions. Twenty-nine individuals completed the arduous four-month training to become Madera County Search & Rescue (MADSAR) team members, and proved their mettle on Saturday in a mock ...

COARSEGOLD — A bust at a marijuana grow in the Coarsegold area on Wednesday resulted in the arrest of one individual and the seizure of thousands of plants. Just before 7 a.m. on Wednesday, May 4, law enforcement officers from Madera County Sheriff’s Office, the D.E.A. and the Madera County District Attorney’s Office raided a pot grow near the 37000 ...

Shannon Cole for Real American Cowboy Magazine — Coarsegold, California has had its name changed a half-dozen times since 1849 when gold was first discovered there – first declared “Texas Flat,” over the years giving way to five more name changes, it eventually became Coarsegold. But, there has only been one name for its rodeo… the Coarsegold Rodeo. One of ...

My mom had a big birthday coming up and had a special request. She wanted me, my sister and her to go on a hot air balloon ride. My sister and I had never done this, didn’t know anything about this and had some work to do but we pulled it off! Where: Rancho Murieta Distance: About 10 miles Difficulty: ...

My name is Gina Clugston, and I am the owner, publisher, editor, reporter, photographer, community liason, business manager and chief worrier at Sierra News Online (SNO). I started this little project sitting at my kitchen table in 2012, and have devoted every waking hour, and half my sleeping hours (just ask my husband) to the care and feeding of SNO. ...

We headed north to Hetch Hetchy to see what those waterfalls were looking like. We kept a lookout for rattlesnakes and bears along the trail and had a surprising encounter with one of these. Where: Yosemite National Park Distance: 11.25 Miles Difficulty: Moderate Elevation Range: 3,695′ to 4,459′ Date: April 5, 2016 Maps: Ackerson Mountain and Hetch Hetchy Reservoir Topographic Quads We ...

MADERA COUNTY — The Madera County Economic Development Commission (MCEDC) held their annual State of the County Luncheon on Mar. 31. A record crowd of over 220 people listened to commentaries on Eastern Madera County, the City of Chowchilla, the City of Madera and the County of Madera. Darin Soukup and Joelle Leder representing the Eastern Madera County Chamber Alliance ...

OAKHURST — Teams made up of members from the Madera County Sheriff’s Office, Madera County SWAT, California Highway Patrol, Fresno Police Department and Yosemite High School alumni will participate in a “pitched battle” this weekend, all for a good cause. The action takes place on the YHS diamonds during the third annual Guns & Hoses Slow Pitch Softball Tournament on Saturday, Apr. 16. Last year’s ...