Liberty prepares to celebrate Class of ’26
Liberty High School is preparing to honor the Class of 2026 during its annual graduation ceremony on Wednesday. This year’s ceremony will look a little different as the event will be held in the Liberty High School quad due to ongoing renovations at the school stadium. Despite the venue change, Liberty High School staff and […]
Interests lead to success for LHS grad
For Liberty High School graduate Tory Green, all she was trying to do was to take classes that interested her. After four years, those interests have come to fruition. Her classes have earned her a 4.32 grade point average, good for No. 2 in the class ranking. “I was just taking classes that interested me. […]
Statewide Direct Primary Unofficial results (as of June 2)
Voter turnout: 23.08% Ballots cast: 19,027 Madera County Offices Superintendent of School Tricia Protzman 99.65% 12,551 Supervisor, District 1 Jordan Wamhoff 86.13% 3,396 Benjamin Martin 13.85% 546 Supervisor, District 2 David Rogers 64.57% 1,928 John Chavez 35.43% 1,058 Supervisor, District 5 Frank Bigelow 46.91% 3,265 Melanie Barker 24.94% 1,736 Assesor Brett Frazier 99.78% 14,539 Auditor-Controller […]
‘Donuts’ lead to arrest
Madera Police Department Officer Gaige Bonderer was on patrol when he observed a vehicle performing “donuts” and driving recklessly in the area of Merced Street and Kennedy Street. The driver was arrested Monday night for reckless driving, and booked into the Madera County Jail. The vehicle was impounded for 30 days. Reckless driving creates a […]
Commentary: California’s energy reality — we shut down refineries, now we pay the price
California families are paying some of the highest gasoline prices in America, and politicians continue acting like this happened by accident. It did not. This crisis was created through years of shutting down refineries, reducing in-state oil production, and making California more dependent on foreign crude oil imports from unstable regions of the world. Today, […]
Opinion: Bullet train’s new strategy
It’s been a year since I revisited my old standby topic for this column: California’s High Speed Rail Authority (CAHSRA). That’s because nothing much has happened. Oh sure, if you drive up and down the valley, you can probably see people working on various projects every day. They have jobs to do, and they are […]
Historia
When I was in high school, I liked math and English, and that is where I excelled. I thought history was boring. In fact, I disliked history so much that I had to repeat American History in the eleventh grade. I signed up and took it again in summer school, and that teacher made it […]
The glory of ‘Cottonwood Creek’
This is the beginning of the story of how Cottonwood Creek became the magnet that drew Madera County’s founding father to California. It also tells how changing the name of “Cesar Chavez” school to “Cottonwood Creek” school was a serendipitous decision. It all began in 1868 when a group of Southern planters decided to abandon […]
Lost pet reunited with owner
Chiquita, Vicki Pratt’s beloved cat went missing in October 2025. Vicki searched for Chiquita, but after several weeks, assumed the worst. Chiquita is five years old and Vicki rescued her as a six-week-old kitten. Vicki missed Chiquita terribly and her older cat, Cuddles, was very lonely without her buddy. On Wednesday, April 8, Vicki received […]
Mountain Oaks High School students graduate
Hats off to the Mountain Oaks High School graduating class of 2026. These exceptional students have officially reached the finish line of their high school careers, marked by years of hard work, resilience, and outstanding achievements in academics, and the culinary arts. Throughout their time at Mountain Oaks, this graduating class has demonstrated incredible dedication, […]