MARIPOSA – The Mariposa Symphony Orchestra will open its 12th Season on Saturday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m., in the Fiester Auditorium of Mariposa County High School with a special world premiere event. Founding Music Director and Conductor Les Marsden has composed a 20-minute symphonic poem titled Wilderness – Our Necessary Refuge as part of Mariposa County’s participation in four ...

MADERA COUNTY – The preliminary hearing for Kenneth Jackson and Allison Waterman on charges of arson and conspiracy, which has continued in fits and starts in Madera Superior Court, finally got some traction today. With jury trials that had been scheduled for the next two weeks in Department 2 having been settled outside of court, the arson hearing will now ...

Sally and I had headed over to the east side of the Sierras for a few days, spending some of that at Rock Creek, experiencing fall with chilly temperatures, some rain and those leaves were turning color. And we caught some fish!

MADERA COUNTY – As if to prove the old adage that the wheels of justice grind slowly, the preliminary hearing for a Coarsegold couple accused of arson, scheduled for today in Madera County Superior Court, was continued once again.

WASHINGTON, DC – The Restoring Healthy Forests Act, HR 1526, was approved today by the House of Representatives by a vote of 244-173. The measure includes an amendment by California 4th District Congressman Tom McClintock, to allow the burned timber from the 2013 fire areas to be salvaged in an expedited manner. McClintock’s amendment was adopted by a vote of ...

TUOLUMNE COUNTY – With full containment of the Rim Fire in sight, and fire activity waning, crews and resources are being demobilized every day. As the firefighters head home, another team moves in to start the next phase of the process.

YOSEMITE – The Rim Fire has now burned 255,858 acres – over 400 square miles – and is now 81% contained. As of today, Sept. 15, 11 residences have been lost and 3 commercial properties destroyed, along with 98 outbuildings. There are 323 structures still listed as threatened.

MADERA COUNTY – Kenneth Jackson and Allison Waterman were back in court on Thursday, Sept. 12, as their preliminary hearing picked up where it left off on Monday. The husband and wife are charged with numerous counts of arson and conspiracy in connection with a string of fires throughout May and June of this year in the Coarsegold/Yosemite Lakes Park ...

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK – The first half of our day at the Rim Fire led us through areas that had already been burnt out or bypassed by the flames. Now we were headed into the more active fire area – Hetch Hetchy in Yosemite, and things were about to get interesting. The gates to the Park were closed and locked ...

TUOLUMNE COUNTY – With the Rim Fire now 80% contained, and the demobilization of over 2,000 personnel, I decided it was time to take a trip up to the area to see what the nearly 256,000 acre blaze had done to the landscape. Enlisting my husband as my driver so I could take photos out the window along the way, ...