MADERA COUNTY – Following are details from the Madera County Sheriff’s Office of reports taken locally from Monday, Aug. 14, to Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. Ahwahnee residential burglary On Monday, Aug. 14, at 6:38 p.m., a deputy was dispatched to the 59000 block of Road 601 regarding a residential burglary. Due to the lack of investigative leads, witnesses, and suspect(s) ...

MADERA COUNTY — One man is dead and two others are in custody following a reported carjacking that ended with a chase through the orchards in the Madera Ranchos area this afternoon. Just before 2 p.m., CHP officers and Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports that three Hispanic males had held a motorist at gunpoint near Avenue 15 at Highway 41, ...

EASTERN MADERA COUNTY — Those planning a night out this Saturday need to be certain they have designated a sober driver, as should always be the case. The Oakhurst Area of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) will conduct a driving under the influence (DUI) and driver license safety checkpoint on Saturday, Aug. 19, somewhere within the unincorporated area of northeastern ...

MADERA COUNTY — Those who travel through the city of Madera area should be advised that several on- and off-ramps will be closed for the next month during the overnight hours. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) announces that closures will be in effect for the next four to six weeks on State Route 99 as construction crews work to ...

MADERA COUNTY  — Firefighters have been kept scrambling this afternoon and evening as a series of lightning fires were sparked across the valley floor and into the foothills. At this time, it appears that the forward progress of all of the nearly dozen fires has been stopped. At about 4:30 p.m., the first reports began coming in of multiple fires, ...

To the Editor: Recently, California passed Proposition 57, the Public Safety and Rehabilitation act of 2016. Prop 57 was supposed to get nonviolent offenders out of prison and get them the rehabilitation programs they needed to get back on their feet. By definition legally, any crime not expressly defined as “violent” in section 1192.7(c) of the penal code is considered ...

MADERA COUNTY – Rebecca Martinez, Madera County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters, is seeking citizens interested in serving in a volunteer capacity on a Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee and/or a Language Accessibility Advisory Committee in Madera County. All interested parties are encouraged to attend a formation meeting on Wednesday morning, Aug. 9, at the County Government Center. “Elections in Madera ...

MADERA COUNTY — Bass Lake Joint Union Elementary, Chawanakee, Raymond-Knowles Union Elementary and Yosemite Unified School Districts announce their policy to serve nutritious meals every school day under the applicable National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, and/or Afterschool Snack Programs. Effective July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018, children are eligible for free or reduced-price meals if the household ...

MADERA COUNTY – Following a successful tax-defaulted property sale in May 2017, Madera County is hosting a re-offer sale on Bid4Assets to return even more distressed properties to the tax rolls. The sale will open July 29 with bids starting as low as $5,766. In the May sale, 57 properties were either redeemed by the owners or sold at auction. ...

MADERA COUNTY — When you buy a piece of property and plan to build a home, you may want to first put up a shop or storage building. Until now, that has been illegal in Madera County. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 to amend Ordinance 18.04.015 to allow for the construction of one accessory structure on a ...