By DJ Becker

CHOWCHILLA - The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has transferred fire staging operations from the Madera Fairgrounds to the Chowchilla Fairgrounds. The move is to rotate local support staff and crews, and accommodate the preparations underway for the Madera District Fair, scheduled for September 4 to 7.
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By The Madera Tribune

Madera Police detectives and members of the Madera County Gang Task Force arrested a 17-year-old Madera resident Tuesday night for the murder of Victor Raqueno on July 19.

The suspect is a known gang member, according to Det. Sgt. Robert Salas of the Madera Police Department. Not so with the murder victim.
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By Leon Emo

A dinner and dance sponsored by the Madera Historical Firefighters Association will highlight a weekend of firefighter games and activity during the Annual Fireman's Muster at the Madera District Fairgrounds from Friday through Sunday.

The dinner will be at Women's World and catered by the Madera Method Wagon Train with music by the Remnants. The social hour and dinner is from 6 to 7:30 p.m. with dancing beginning at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15.
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By Paul Stanford

Madera High athletic director Shane Riddle was recently inducted into the Lubbock Christian University Hall of Honor in recognition of his tremendous baseball career for the Chapparals.

Following an all-state high career at Kerrville-Tivy High School in Texas, Riddle accepted a baseball scholarship to LCU as a very versatile player who could catch and pitch. Most game weekends would find Riddle behind the plate for nine innings and then taking the mound to pitch the next game.
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By The Associated Press - Tim Dahlberg

The first time I saw Michelle Wie play, she was a 13-year-old with her dad on the bag and her mom just outside the ropes. She was already a 6-footer blasting her drives 300 yards, but like any young teenager she was self-conscious about her braces and ill at ease when it came to talking to adults.

Wie made the cut in her first major LPGA championship that week, then shot a third-round 66 that put her in Sunday's final group of the Kraft Nabisco alongside Annika Sorenstam. She didn't win, but there wasn't one person in the sun-baked gallery in Rancho Mirage, Calif., who wasn't certain they had just seen the future of golf.
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By The Associated Press - Stephan Nasstrom

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Asafa Powell took on the world's fastest man with every intention of beating him to the finish line.

Usain Bolt just couldn't catch up in time.

Powell capitalized on Bolt's weak start and edged the world-record holder by one-hundredth of a second, leading from start to finish in the 100 meters at the DN Galan meet on Tuesday.
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By Cathie Campbell

Party mixes, sweet or savory, are always a big hit for guests of all ages. The other wonderful thing about them is you don't even need a party or guests to enjoy them.

Not long ago, I wondered how come I only made snack mixes around the fall and winter holiday times, when they are just as delicious any time of the year. I realized that a favorite snack mix was an occasion unto itself. Such treats make for casual fare that can be scooped up with the hands.
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By Leon Emo

Time to muster up folks. If you haven't got your tickets for this Saturday's big dinner and dance at the fairgrounds hosted by the Madera Historical Firefighter's Association it's not too late. The delicious "chuck" (dinner) will be provided Doug Sordi, Cheryl Berry and that wonderful Madera Method Wagon Train bunch.

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This literary lackey has had some run ins, and some run on sentences, and has been known to ramble on a bit, but upon hearing the Parks Department is bringing back the NFL sponsored Punt, Pass & Kick contest for kids, sometime in mid-September, it reminded yours truly of his early (okay, wilder) days. A backed into the corner situation forced me to "punt." And I have certainly "passed" up enough golden opportunities, not to mention being "kicked" while I was down by police at a Bay Area protest in the fall of 1967.
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By Special to The Madera Tribune - Chinayera Black-Hardaman

During July, Americans celebrate Independence Day and the birth of our nation. However, many families will also celebrate a birth of a different kind - the arrival of a new baby. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, mothers deliver more babies in July than most any other month.

Families experience an enormous amount of change after the arrival of a new child. Perhaps no one will experience this change more than an older sibling. In fact, many families will face the task of introducing older children to their new siblings as an estimated 60 percent of pregnant women are not first-time moms, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report.
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