Becky Koop from the Friends of Madera Animal Shelter (FMAS) presented Madera Cleaners & Laundry with a heartfelt thank you plaque in recognition of their hard work in supporting the local animal rescue on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Owner, Dan Cappelluti shared that approximately five years ago he had a conversation with an FMAS employee, Diana Frazier, and discovered that the employees were going to a local laundromat to try and keep up with the rescue\u2019s laundry needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe go through so much laundry on a weekly basis,\u201d Becky Koop shared. \u201cWe use sheets to line our kennels, and towels and blankets are used in travel carriers to and from vet appointments and adoption events.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cappelluti graciously offered to let them bring it to his business, and he has personally processed it for them. He shared that he has huge machines that can hold five or more regular washing machine loads. The time and cost that Madera Cleaners & Laundry has saved FMAS is priceless in the employee\u2019s eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
FMAS is already struggling with a skeletal crew of one part-time and two full-time employees, and is constantly looking for ways to keep the local rescue going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The workers tirelessly help local Madera stray and unwanted cats and dogs find forever, loving homes. FMAS also hosts a low-cost vaccine clinic for the Madera community the first Saturday of every month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Madera Cleaners & Laundry is a long- standing local business in Madera that provides garment care, such as standard dry cleaning, laundry and household items. Their generosity and kindness to FMAS is greatly appreciated.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Becky Koop from the Friends of Madera Animal Shelter (FMAS) presented Madera Cleaners & Laundry with a heartfelt thank you plaque in recognition of their hard work in supporting the local animal rescue on Monday. Owner, Dan Cappelluti shared that approximately five years ago he had a conversation with an FMAS employee, Diana Frazier, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":49072,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,19],"tags":[26,46],"class_list":["post-49084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above-the-fold","category-news","tag-business","tag-organizations"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49084"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49085,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49084\/revisions\/49085"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":49082,"date":"2026-08-12T07:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=49082"},"modified":"2026-08-11T14:51:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:51:27","slug":"filing-periods-extended-for-offices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/filing-periods-extended-for-offices\/","title":{"rendered":"Filing periods extended for offices"},"content":{"rendered":"
The filing period for the following offices has been extended to August 12 at 5 p.m. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
School District Offices \u2014 Governing Board Member <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 County Board of Education \u2014 Area 6<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Chawanakee Unified School District \u2014 Area 3<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Bass Lake Joint Union School District \u2014 Area 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Raymond-Knowles Union Elementary School District \u2014 At Large 2 Seats <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Municipal \u2014 Councilmember <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 City of Madera, Councilmember \u2014 District 5<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following are the filing periods associated with becoming a candidate at that election: August 8 to 12 \u2014 Extended Nomination and Declaration of Candidacy Period (Extends only if Incumbent fails to file by deadline. Does not apply to office for which there is no Incumbent) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can visit www.votemadera.com and click on the \u201cSchedule Candidate Filing Appointment\u201d link on the home page or call the Elections Division. Interested candidates must obtain and file the required documentation to run for office from the County Clerk-Recorder, at 200 W 4th St., Madera California. The County Clerk-Recorder will issue and file documents during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, during each of the filing period listed above. For additional information, contact the Elections Division at (559) 675-7720 or toll free at 1-800-435-0509.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The filing period for the following offices has been extended to August 12 at 5 p.m. School District Offices \u2014 Governing Board Member \u2022 County Board of Education \u2014 Area 6 \u2022 Chawanakee Unified School District \u2014 Area 3 \u2022 Bass Lake Joint Union School District \u2014 Area 2 \u2022 Raymond-Knowles Union Elementary School District […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[39,46,50],"class_list":["post-49082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-government","tag-organizations","tag-schools"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49082"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49083,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49082\/revisions\/49083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":49086,"date":"2026-08-12T07:00:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=49086"},"modified":"2026-08-11T14:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:51:10","slug":"rising-star-wins-big-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/rising-star-wins-big-prize\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising star wins big prize"},"content":{"rendered":"
Chowchilla\u2019s Asterisk Talley continues to be a force in golf after her most recent victory at the U.S. Women\u2019s Amateur. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the 125th annual Women\u2019s Amateur in Tennessee, Talley played some of her best golf at The Honors Course on Ooltewah, Tennessee to thoroughly dominate top seed Anna Iwanaga of Japan 8 and 6 (eight holes up with six to play) in match play. The third seeded Talley recorded just one bogey in 36 holes Sunday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talley burst onto the United States Golf Association scene by getting within two strokes of the lead at the 2024 U.S. Women\u2019s Open in 2024. Since then, Talley has been staking her claim as the best amateur golfer in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was the runner up in 2024 at the U.S. Amateur and just missed winning the August Women\u2019s National Amateur. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Already a USGA champion by winning the 2024 U.S. Amateur Four Ball, Talley, with her dad, Jim, on the bag finally got the title she coveted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis pretty much completes my amateur career,\u201d said Talley. \u201cThis is one of the biggest events to ever win, so I think this is going to be the top of my list from now on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talley became the first runner-up to win the U.S. Women\u2019s Amateur since 2008. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In amateur competition, it\u2019s two 18 holes of match play. Basically, it\u2019s mano y mano. After the first round, Talley shot a six-under with seven birdies while Iwanaga was three-under. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a lunch break, Talley extended her lead on the 19th hole, but then a stone came through to halt play for a little more than an hour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talley won two more holes, and then chipped in for a birdie to go 7 up with seven holes to play. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She tapped in to defeat Iwanaga on the 26th hole, the 108th hole of six rounds of match play. That\u2019s tied for the fifth fewest holes needed in championship history, and five off the record. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. I just think it\u2019s a lot of fun,\u201d Talley said of her success in match play. \u201cI think the elements are really good. I mean, when you only have to play against one player and you\u2019re playing the same conditions the whole time you don\u2019t really have to worry about anyone else. I think it\u2019s better to stay in the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the win, Talley receives the JoAnne Carner Medal and custody of the Robert Cox Trophy for a year. She received an exemption to the next 10 U.S. Amateur Championships and an exemption into the 2027 U.S. Open presented by Ally at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. She is also likely to receive another invitation to the 2027 August Women\u2019s National, and likely exemptions into the 2027 Chevron Championship, Amundi Evian Championship and the AIG Women\u2019s Open. Her name will be engraved on the 2026 USGA Champions\u2019 plaque that will be at the Hall of Champions inside the USGA Museum and Library in Liberty Corner, New Jersey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talley entered the playoff rounds in third place after shooting a five-under in two rounds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the first playoff round of match play, She defeated Makayla Grubb 4 and 3 (four holes up with three to play). In the Round of 32, Talley was even better with a 6 and 4 win over Rayee Feng. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Round of 16, Talley defeated 51st seed Rachel Lee 3 and 2. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talley faced No. 43 seed in the quarterfinals, and faced her toughest match. She had to go to the 19th hole to pull out the victory over Maggie Ma. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talley faced 34th seed Lily Peng in the semifinals, and came away with a 6 and 4 victory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the final, Talley went back and forth with Iwanaga until the 12th hole. Back-to-back birdies gave Talley a 2 up lead. She birdied the 17th to lead 3-up before the second round. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She opened the second round with another opening birdie to lead 4 up. She parred fifth and birdied the sixth to lead 6-up. The pair tied the next four holes before Talley birdied the 11th, and closed out the match with a tap-in birdie put on the 12th to win 8 and 6. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After stressing over drives and putts, Talley will get ready to begin her senior year at Chowchilla Union High School this week. But, she will do it with another title to her belt \u2014 U.S. Women\u2019s Amateur Champion.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chowchilla\u2019s Asterisk Talley continues to be a force in golf after her most recent victory at the U.S. Women\u2019s Amateur. At the 125th annual Women\u2019s Amateur in Tennessee, Talley played some of her best golf at The Honors Course on Ooltewah, Tennessee to thoroughly dominate top seed Anna Iwanaga of Japan 8 and 6 (eight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":49070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,23],"tags":[46],"class_list":["post-49086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above-the-fold","category-sports","tag-organizations"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49087,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49086\/revisions\/49087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":49080,"date":"2026-08-12T06:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T13:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=49080"},"modified":"2026-08-11T14:51:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:51:53","slug":"liberty-stunt-sends-seven-to-fresno-pacific-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/liberty-stunt-sends-seven-to-fresno-pacific-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberty stunt sends seven to Fresno Pacific University"},"content":{"rendered":"
When Liberty High School\u2019s Lisa Alvey started the schools competitive sport cheer (stunt) team four years ago, she had thoughts of being able to send more girls to college with scholarships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stunt was a new sport sprouting on college campuses across the nation. Schools in the Central Valley are starting to pick it up, and Liberty was on the forefront of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stunt combines some of the fundamentals in cheer \u2014 pyramids, partner stunts and tumbling \u2014 and combines it with a competitive atmosphere with two teams going head to head doing the same routines. Whoever does it best earns the points. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is a lot more drive to get better than cheer,\u201d Malia Waag said. \u201cYou have a lot of girls on your team. We all push our hardest to get the job done. We all have fun with each other. When it comes to us wanting to beat schools, we all get really competitive. We don\u2019t want to lose and push ourselves as hard as we can to do better. We all know we are trying to get the team better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou think of it like you\u2019re in a pyramid,\u201d said Ashlyn Brown. \u201cIf I am the reason for one bobble, the whole thing can come down. It\u2019s a lot of pressure to make sure you are on top of your game You don\u2019t want to let down your team. Stunt is way more of a team sport than cheer is. You get way closer to those on the stunt team. The bond is like no other. You want everyone to be good. It\u2019s not a self-serving thing. It\u2019s my team. We are going to do this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Liberty has grown from winning just one game four years ago, and not really knowing the rules, to now competing against some of the best teams in the league, namely Madera and Bullard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe were weak our first year and did not do well. After the first year, I wanted to quit. Lisa wouldn\u2019t let me,\u201d Gianna Burgess said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are very grateful because we didn\u2019t think we were going to do this in college,\u201d said Harley Caldon. \u201cGoing to another school for four years, you don\u2019t know people. It brings a lot of friendships from the get-go because we all worked out and know each other. I love the connections we\u2019ve made with the girls. We are all there for the right reason. We all love the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI saw such a big change,\u201d said Bailey Alexander. \u201cI was on the first team, and we started off not knowing rules. Stunt was such a new sport, the rules were so confusing. We didn\u2019t know what we were getting into. From the first year to the third year (because I didn\u2019t do it sophomore year) was a big change. I saw how much better they were. It was crazy growth. To senior year, we know everything about stunt. We are so much cleaner and much sharper motions and technique. We all worked so hard for our tumbling. All of us put in the extra work to put to get where we are now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been on the team since my freshman year,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThe growth in stunt is unfathomable. I have to give a lot of credit to my dad who recorded every single game. I get nostalgic, and re-watch our videos. Sometimes we had no idea what wee were doing. We won one game our freshman year. We were pretty bad. Looking at the growth of freshman year was insane. Our first few practices, we were in a classroom barely able to do lifts with the flyers hitting the ceiling. Now, we are constantly at the school doing insane stunts. Our sophomore year, we picked up so many girls. We got a lot of girls last year. It was a mazing to see the growth, not only skill-wise, but to see the amount of people who wanted to participate in it really opened peoples\u2019 eyes to this sport. The growth from barely knowing what anything was (I knew no stunt terms) and I know so much about stunting. We are able to sit and talk each other to change things up to hit the stunt. It grew in every way, which was big.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Liberty\u2019s most successful season, seven seniors are continuing their stunt career with Fresno Pacific University\u2019s fledgling program. Shaira Castillo-Ponce (base), Bailey Alexander (base and tumbler), Ashlyn Brown (back spot and tumbler), Malia Waag (back spot and base), Gianna Burgess (flyer and tumbler), Gianna Williamson (base and tumbler) and Harley Caldon (base and tumbler) are not only the biggest group of Liberty seniors headed to one university at the same time, but they are also among the biggest group of Liberty seniors playing athletics at a four-year college. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t be more proud of these girls,\u201d said advisor Alvey. \u201cThe whole reason I started this new program at Liberty was to give girls another opportunity to continue to compete in their choice of a sport in college. Watching them work hard, grow, and now take the next step by signing to compete in college is such an incredible honor. They\u2019ve earned every bit of this moment, and I can\u2019t wait to see all they accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe broke a record. It\u2019s amazing that so many people are dedicated to play sports outside of school, and not just for fun,\u201d Caldon said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Madera Tribune sat down with all seven of the seniors, in two different conversations, to talk to them about their historic signings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Madera Tribune:<\/strong> What was your grade point average? What are you going to major in and what are you going to do with that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shaira Castillo-Ponce:<\/strong> 4.41 GPA. Major- pre-health sciences. I want to get my bachelors and go to medical to get my doctorate to get into pediatric medicine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bailey Alexander:<\/strong> 3.5 GPA. Major- business. I have no idea what I\u2019m going to do with it. I know I can do a lot with it. If I find something I like better, I will switch it or get a minor in something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Malia Waag:<\/strong> 3.7 GPA. Major- pre-med to go into the nursing program. I want to become a pediatric trauma nurse or hospital nurse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ashlyn Brown:<\/strong> 4.38 GPA. Major- pre-health to become a certified registered nurse anesthetist. A few of us are taking a lot of health and bio classes. It\u2019s nice we got those classes together because you are going in knowing someone. Because I am going to be comfortable knowing people in the class, it leads to a chance to branch out to people It will be a good, healthy balance of both. But, I will end up talking to these girls the most because I\u2019ll talk to them in class and at stunt practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gianna Williamson:<\/strong> 4.0 GPA. Major- business. I am working at my dad\u2019s company and grow his company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gianna Burgess:<\/strong> 3.9 GPA. Major- business. I\u2019m not really sure what I want to do with it, yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Harley Caldon:<\/strong> 3.9 GPA. Major- business. I want to use my major to go into real estate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MT:<\/strong> Malia, you also had your sister, Bella, coaching you. How was that? <\/p>\n\n\n\n MW:<\/strong> It was definitely butting heads at time. With her being two years older than me, we grew up with her trying to boss me around and getting mad at it. Her going into a coach setting, I had to respect her in that manor. It took a second to adjust. It was nice because we were able to come home and she told me how I did that day. But then, it was not so nice, because I had to come home and hear about it. We had to balance that. There was definitely butting heads, but it got us closer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MT:<\/strong> What other schools were you looking at and was it just for school?<\/p>\n\n\n\n HC:<\/strong> I was considering Fresno State and do cheer. I was convinced during football season I wanted to go there. I thought it would be a good school and go through Bulldog Bound. It would be a good financial option. Stunt season happened. I liked stunt a lot more than I did cheer. Fresno Pacific started stunt, and did pretty good. I wanted to be a part of their journey. I liked FPU as a school because it\u2019s a small school like Liberty and it\u2019s private. I feel like I would make better connections and learn better. Fresno State was my other option. <\/p>\n\n\n\n GB:<\/strong> I didn\u2019t have a second choice. I fell in love with FPU because both of my older sisters went there. It kind of stuck with me. I knew they had a stunt team. I went to a couple of games and really liked it. I knew FPU was for me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n GW:<\/strong> I considered Fresno State for a little bit. I didn\u2019t like the school aspect. I figured I would do better learning with a smaller group of people so I liked Fresno Pacific. I did think about cheering for FPU instead of doing stunt. Ultimately, I decided to do stunt because FPU doesn\u2019t have a football team. I would enjoy stunt more, and it\u2019s more competitive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n AB:<\/strong> I didn\u2019t even know what schools had stunt. FPU has stunt, and it\u2019s right here so I had to do it. We kept going to their clinics, which got us on their radar. They reached out on Instagram. We went to a clinic in the fall semester of our senior year. The coach told us to come to a tryout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MW:<\/strong> I was looking at a couple of different schools before I even thought about doing stunt. My first thought was going to community for three years, and moving on to Fresno State. When FPU got stunt, it was the first school that I thought I would want to go to. I didn\u2019t try to get recruited by other schools, but I know two other schools reached out to me. They were kind of far, and I wanted to stay local. I took tours of FPU, and felt comfortable there. I didn\u2019t even think about doing stunt in college until my junior year because I thought I would miss it too much. I thought about doing it in college. My coach brought FPU up to me, and I tried out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n BA:<\/strong> I was looking at other schools for school. I was looking at Fresno State for cheer. That was what I was mainly focused on. My senior year, I fell in love with stunt more than cheer. Whenever I went to the stunt clinics for FPU, I really liked it. I reached out to the coach. She put me off because she thought I was going to Fresno State. I reached out to her and she said she really wanted me on her team. I went from there. I chose it over Fresno State because of the school aspect. FPU is so small, so I felt like it was a better option schooling-wise and athletic-wise. It was a very hard decision to choose FPU. My senior year, I couldn\u2019t leave stunt behind. I didn\u2019t want to leave cheer behind, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SCP:<\/strong> I was thinking about going to other schools, but I wasn\u2019t planning on doing sports in college. My mom was looking at UC Merced and I was looking at UC Davis or even Fresno State. My senior year, I just loved stunt. With more girls, it was competitive to win your spot. I felt like with a lot of girls, it fun and entertaining. I didn\u2019t even know about FPU until they announced they were having a stunt team. At first, I was worried because I have a very picky mom. She picks on everything and I didn\u2019t think she wouldn\u2019t like the school. We toured it, and she loved it, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MT:<\/strong> You have six other teammates going to FPU. How will that be on the team and in school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SCP:<\/strong> I felt very relaxed to have people I know there. It\u2019s not like I\u2019m going in not knowing what I\u2019m doing and being the only one on the team. It felt very welcoming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n BA:<\/strong> I\u2019m glad. I feel more comfortable and I know people and I can ask them questions. I feel like I would have been lost or know I was doing thing right. I\u2019m glad we all chose FPU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MW:<\/strong> I was really glad we got to do that. Although I\u2019m going to have a lot more teammates, which is also fun and exciting, I\u2019m happy that I always know I have the support of my teammates from high school. We all know what each other is capable of. In stunt, so many people are so different in stunting. You just have to adapt. Knowing how these girls work, it will be really nice because they know how I work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n AB:<\/strong> It makes the transition a lot smoother. I would be way more nervous going into a sport and school where I know no one. I\u2019m someone who has a hard shell to crack at the beginning. I don\u2019t open up very much. Once you get to know me, I\u2019m a completely different person. Going in with people I know, my shell will be way more open than it would have been. It makes it a lot easier for people to know who I am. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MT: <\/strong>Did you ever think you would be a college athlete?<\/p>\n\n\n\n HC:<\/strong> I didn\u2019t think I would take cheer or stunt that far. I knew I liked it, but I didn\u2019t know of the opportunities. I barely knew of FPU as a school my freshman year. I\u2019m glad my junior year, I started taking stunt more serious. I made a social media account just for cheer for colleges to reach out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n GB:<\/strong> When we were little, we went to Fresno State games, so maybe I\u2019ll cheer for them. I knew I wasn\u2019t that good, so I couldn\u2019t. I did not think I would be stunting in college. <\/p>\n\n\n\n GW:<\/strong> Fresno State had high tumbling requirements. I tried to learn more tumbling skills. I couldn\u2019t do it. I couldn\u2019t get past my mental blocks. Stunt wasn\u2019t even in my heard. I\u2019m doing stunt for fun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SCP:<\/strong> It feels really weird. It\u2019s so much different than high school. It\u2019s going to take a while to get used to. It\u2019s definitely a change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n BA:<\/strong> I am really excited because I didn\u2019t know this would be an opportunity. I\u2019m glad I have it. I\u2019m also a little scared because it\u2019s school and a sport, but I\u2019m excited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MW:<\/strong> It\u2019s kind of surreal feeling to me. Growing up, I never found a sport I liked until my sophomore year when I did cheer and stunt. Even then, I never really thought I would become a college athlete. I felt like I was late to the game. To now say I\u2019m going to be a college athlete, it\u2019s really crazy. Freshman year me would not believe that, at all. The first couple of weeks of training will be something. I\u2019m hoping I can adapt quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n AB:<\/strong> If you asked freshman year me if I was going to be a college athlete, I would have laughed in your face. I used to be a competitive gymnast. Now, I\u2019m going to be a college athlete. That excites me because I\u2019m a person that needs to be mentally and physically challenged. If I went into college lacking that challenge physically, I would have plateaued and slumped. It would have not been good for me. It helps me physically and mentally by doing this sport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MT:<\/strong> Burgess and Williamson signed Letters of Intent in November while Caldon followed in December or January. The other four signed as the year went on with Castillo finishing off the seven in May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n AB:<\/strong> I was sent my letter to sign in December, but I didn\u2019t sign until March. Part of it was deciding what to do, but the other part was communicating with FPU about everything to make sure everything was nailed down. It was kind of surreal to sign. I was thinking, this is it, to sign this paper. It almost didn\u2019t feel real. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MW: <\/strong>I signed at the same time as Ashlyn. I didn\u2019t know what it was I signed until after. There was a lot of paperwork I signed. It was really crazy that it really happen and it solidified that I was going to be a college athlete. I was actually going to college and doing this competing against other colleges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n BA:<\/strong> I signed in April. I felt very relieved that I was committed to FPU and knew what I was doing. The decision from Fresno State to FPU lasted until April. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SCP:<\/strong> I signed at the beginning of May. It was stressful. I got the information in December. I was in school when I got the paperwork. I thought it was something normal, but I realized I actually signed my NLI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HC: <\/strong>I felt a lot of adrenaline. This was my final decision, and I finally mad up my mind. I\u2019m not wavering my choice. I\u2019m glad I made the decision. I couldn\u2019t be more ecstatic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n GB:<\/strong> I felt very accomplished. I was proud of myself because I am starting a new journey for myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n GW:<\/strong> I signed and realized this is what I\u2019m doing. This is the next level. I have to make sure I\u2019m ready for it. I was excited, but really intimidated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MT:<\/strong> What are your thoughts about knowing what you will be doing and where you will be going for the next four years?<\/p>\n\n\n\n HC:<\/strong> I feel amazing. The last four years actually meant something. I didn\u2019t just do a sport to stay athletic and have fun with my friends. It meant that I am going to do it at the college level and competing at a higher level. I am very proud of myself and my teammates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n GB:<\/strong> I\u2019m very proud of myself and my friends. I didn\u2019t think I would be doing any of this. I didn\u2019t think I would be going to a four-year college and doing a sport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n GW:<\/strong> I am proud of myself and my teammates. I am excited for a more competitive team, not that our team was competitive. We had two teams we were competitive with. Every game, it\u2019s going to be a tough competition. We\u2019re already starting with weight training. I\u2019m excited to see where that takes us and how far we can progress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MT:<\/strong> How big has the growth been for Liberty stunt from the first year to the fourth?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SCP: <\/strong> My first year, I was being put in stunts and I never did it. Stunt has so much technique in it. After having a lot of practices and going through film, it has helped us a lot. I don\u2019t think we would have competed with Bullard if it wasn\u2019t for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MW:<\/strong> The growth has been kind of crazy. I didn\u2019t do stunt my freshman year. Going in sophomore year, I was nervous because I didn\u2019t know anything. There was so much growth from the first two years. Rules constantly changed in stunt. Even now, it\u2019s hard to adapt. I can\u2019t imagine doing it the first year. Stunt is such a particular sport. Doing stunt the past three years was amazing to see. I\u2019m so excited to see where it goings. We keep getting sharper and cleaner every year. Every year, we realize how important that is. The first two years, we were worried about getting our skills down. This year, we focused on being sharp and clean. Coach Rachel Wheeler and Lisa have really pushed us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HC:<\/strong> I am so proud of the girls. This was our best year, and I\u2019m glad we were able to finish off strong. I\u2019m so proud we beat Madera, who were back-to-back champions. I\u2019m still a little flustered about the Bullard game. We still had an amazing season. I didn\u2019t even think we would get close to Bullard or Madera in our freshman and sophomore seasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n GB:<\/strong> I am really proud of the girls. We started off barely doing halves to looking at a video and hitting it on the first try. We got used to each other. We did really good last year, and that made me happy. We went from losing every game to winning almost every game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n GW:<\/strong> I am proud of the fact that we started the team, and it grew so much. We had about 30 girls this year. That really helped. All of those girls are just starting. I am so excited to see what they will do. I\u2019m excited to go back and watch their games to see their growth. After our freshman year, we realized we didn\u2019t like to lose and knew what the sport was about and what it meant to us. That\u2019s when it kicked off and was something we can enjoy to be good at. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MT:<\/strong> The last game of the year was probably the best stunt games in the four years. Liberty lost a close game to Bullard and these seniors still think about that game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SCP:<\/strong> It was super intense. We went through the season undefeated, and losing to them it was biggest heartbreak of my life. We definitely should have won that game. It was so intense that we sat in school re-watching the game looking all of our mistakes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n AB:<\/strong> I thought we got nervous in the beginning, and we were shaky. Looking back, Bullard was the same way. I was frustrated I thought we blew it. But, it was a close game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n HC:<\/strong> Our last game against Bullard was a good example of a high intensity game. That was the most stressful game we\u2019ve ever had. I think that was the best game we\u2019ve ever done. We had some hiccups. Ultimately, most of the team really tried for that game because they were our biggest competition. This was a good example of a stunt game. The game against Bullard showed we wanted to be there. Our team is full of go-getters. It was a good eye-opener of what college is going to be like. I\u2019m glad we had that to build off of instead of a game against a game that was handed to us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n GB:<\/strong> Our last game with Bullard showed how much we pushed ourselves and did the best we can. <\/p>\n\n\n\n GB: <\/strong>Our last game with Bullard was intense. Both teams wanted it bad. It was a good example of what the sport really is. It\u2019s not just cheerleaders standing on the sideline. Even thought it didn\u2019t turn out how we wanted, it was still a close game against a great team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MT:<\/strong> What are you families\u2019 thoughts of you staying relatively close to home?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SCP:<\/strong> They were all very shocked. They were all proud of me. The love that I\u2019m close to home. They wanted to keep me close. We have so many family traditions throughout the year, I would have been sad to miss those. <\/p>\n\n\n\n BA:<\/strong> They are really happy I got to be close. They were really scared I was going to go far. They would be okay and would support the opportunity to go far and have that adventure. But, they wanted me to stay close. They were super excited it was a private, Christian college. They thought it would be perfect for me because of who I am. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MW:<\/strong> They are happy I am staying close to home. For a while, I talked about wanting to be far enough to venture on my own to enjoy life, but be close enough to where if I wanted to come home, I can. I\u2019m happy I\u2019m sticking closer to home. My family wouldn\u2019t have cared if I would have gone far. We are used to spending time apart. My mom pushes me to do adventure things. She wants me to travel the world. She\u2019s happy I get to stay close to home for this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n AB:<\/strong> My brothers didn\u2019t know what was going on with me and my future. They were getting emotional, but I told them I was staying at home, and commuting. To see their faces light up made me feel happy. It was a good moment to see how happy my brothers were that I was going to stay home with them. My mom told me I had to do a sport to do things. She\u2019s happy that I\u2019m continuing that. Everyone is happy with the decision. It\u2019s nice to see how proud everyone is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n GW:<\/strong> My parents were really happy. My dad was worried about me going out of state. He talked to me about out of state schools. He went to Alabama, and liked it. He was really happy that I am doing stunt. He liked the sport. He\u2019s definitely a stunt dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GB:<\/strong> My parents were really supportive of my choice. Fresno Pacific is right there. My sister is doing stunt, and my teammates are there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n HC:<\/strong> The support system is already at FPU. My family was supportive because it\u2019s a university and that I\u2019m doing stunt. Ten kids signed to do a sport, and that\u2019s amazing.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Liberty High School\u2019s Lisa Alvey started the schools competitive sport cheer (stunt) team four years ago, she had thoughts of being able to send more girls to college with scholarships. Stunt was a new sport sprouting on college campuses across the nation. Schools in the Central Valley are starting to pick it up, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":49073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,23],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-49080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above-the-fold","category-sports","tag-schools"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49080"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49081,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49080\/revisions\/49081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":49078,"date":"2026-08-12T06:57:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T13:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=49078"},"modified":"2026-08-11T14:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:52:08","slug":"letters-re-jim-crow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/letters-re-jim-crow\/","title":{"rendered":"Letters: Re: Jim Crow"},"content":{"rendered":" Are we the only ones?<\/p>\n\n\n\n No. In early times, slavery was the norm. Not just us, (a British Colony), but Spain, Portugal, Netherlands most others, and Africa! That\u2019s where they came from. Slaves at birth and slaves for life. Sold at auction. They came here to North America, not knowing where or what.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not knowing anything. They were forced into the bidding of their owner, who fathered some of their kids. However, they were introduced to a different way of life. It was evolutionary, which takes a long time. Some were taught to read and write. Some were exposed to the Bible and Christianity. Some began to assimilate; some, not all. Some chose to take the path of the oppressed; they were owed. Those ones are still here. LBJ\u2019s \u201cGreat Society\u201d brought programs to cater to them. Not so much to help, but to guarantee their vote. Equal Opportunity was one. Quotas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The government was the greatest user of this program: Create a spot. Regulated business was mandated to follow. Unions embraced these programs. It increased their base. I had new employees that were in the electronics field that did not know positive from negative! Some worked out, some did not; that is life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why are people coming here? Same reason my grandparents came. Opportunity. If the Slaves in the 1700s knew about America and had a choice, would they get on that ship willingly? I say, yes. We don\u2019t owe anyone anything. It is offered \u2014 it\u2019s up to YOU, on what you do. I know high school \u201cgraduates\u201d that do not know what humidity is, how clouds form, who Lewis and Clark were. I ask, \u201cwho is the 45th president?\u201d And they don\u2019t know, and they have a \u201cright\u201d to vote. They use a \u201cvoter guide\u201d they get in the mail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Slavery gone? No, it just has a different tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Democratic party has always been the party of slavery. You have to break the chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Bill Hoffrage,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Madera<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Are we the only ones? No. In early times, slavery was the norm. Not just us, (a British Colony), but Spain, Portugal, Netherlands most others, and Africa! That\u2019s where they came from. Slaves at birth and slaves for life. Sold at auction. They came here to North America, not knowing where or what. Not knowing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[32,39,46],"class_list":["post-49078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-culture","tag-government","tag-organizations"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49078"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49079,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49078\/revisions\/49079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":49076,"date":"2026-08-12T06:56:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T13:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=49076"},"modified":"2026-08-11T14:52:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:52:22","slug":"book-talk-greg-iles-turning-angel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/book-talk-greg-iles-turning-angel\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Talk: Greg Iles, ‘Turning Angel’"},"content":{"rendered":" Here\u2019s a very short excerpt from Page 1, Chapter 1 of Greg Iles\u2019 Turning Angel (2005, 595 pages in softcover format): \u201cA man walks the straight and narrow all his life; then one day he makes a misstep. He crosses a line and sets in motion a chain of events that will take from him everything he has and damn him forever in the eyes of those he loves.\u201d That, in two sentences, is the plot of this Penn Cage thriller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are several key characters in this story, but the protagonist is Penn Cage, a native of Natchez, Mississippi, a former prosecutor for the District Attorney of Houston, Texas, and now a professional writer with a few best-selling novels. In a previous book, he returned to his home town and got embroiled in a court case that fired old animosities between the races. And now he\u2019s faced with the task of helping his lifelong friend Dr. Drew Elliot. Drew is in his early 40s, married, and has a young son Timmy who never makes an appearance in the story. We just know that he exists, and Kate Townsend is his part-time baby-sitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kate is absolutely beautiful, two weeks shy of 18 years of age, class valedictorian at her high school, headed for Harvard in the fall, state champion in two sports (swimming and tennis), and Dr. Drew Elliot\u2019s secret lover. Also, she\u2019s dead. And she was pregnant. Her body is found, strangled before she floated down a creek toward the Mississippi River. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When Drew sits down for a heart-to-heart with his best friend, he tells Penn that he wasn\u2019t just having an affair with Kate. He was in love with her and planned to divorce his wife so that he could marry Kate, 23 years his junior. When Drew finishes talking, Penn begins explaining the list of laws that Drew has broken for which he could serve 40 years in prison. Moreover, if he\u2019s convicted of her murder, he could face the death penalty under Mississippi\u2019s system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Penn Cage, a widower, also has a child, a daughter, Annie, a couple of years younger than Timmy. Annie also has a babysitter, Mia, another beautiful high-school senior, headed for Brown (one of the eight Ivy League colleges), and more worldly wise than can be imagined. Although Mia does not use drugs, she\u2019s knowledgeable about the drug scene, and it seems that too many students as well as adult citizens of Natchez are drug addicts, notably the wife of Dr. Drew Elliot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Penn has obtained an excellent lawyer for Drew, he acts as the lawyer\u2019s investigator. His initial suspicion as to the Kate\u2019s killer is one of the local drug suppliers. Naturally, his best source for information is his daughter\u2019s baby-sitter, Mia. Mia is very willing to help, perhaps because she has a crush on Penn, just as Kate was attracted to Drew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can Penn Cage resist crossing the line? At times, this seems even more important than the question as to the guilt or innocence of Drew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n Puede contactar a Jim Glynn en j_glynn@att.net.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here\u2019s a very short excerpt from Page 1, Chapter 1 of Greg Iles\u2019 Turning Angel (2005, 595 pages in softcover format): \u201cA man walks the straight and narrow all his life; then one day he makes a misstep. He crosses a line and sets in motion a chain of events that will take from him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-49076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-literature"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49077,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49076\/revisions\/49077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":49074,"date":"2026-08-12T06:55:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T13:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=49074"},"modified":"2026-08-11T14:52:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:52:35","slug":"remembering-brooke-wissler-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/remembering-brooke-wissler-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Brooke Wissler"},"content":{"rendered":" Every year in November, my mind is filled with memories of the Mordecai family. This is when the descendants of George Washington Mordecai gather at Refuge, the ranch he founded in 1868.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is impossible to think about them without remembering that day, almost 40 years ago, when I led my sixth grade class down the winding dirt road leading from the highway to the Mordecai Ranch to visit the grave of Mr. Mordecai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were about 30 of us, and as we followed the path that led to the family cemetery, Brooke Wissler and her husband, Admiral John Wissler, were waiting for us by the graveyard gate. She was the granddaughter of G.W. Mordecai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The kids and I spent about half an hour taking notes from the tombstones that morning, and when we returned to class, we went right to work discussing how we would go about researching and writing the life story of Mr. Mordecai, one of Madera County\u2019s founding fathers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It turned out to be an unforgettable adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We mined the local archives; we dug into the state archives, and we traveled to Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia gathering material for our Mordecai project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just as important, however, were my visits with Mrs. Wissler at the ranch. Not only did she loan me family memorabilia for our research, she shared memories that had been passed down to her from her grandfather through her parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of that school year, our class produced a book. We entitled it \u201cRefuge,\u201d which was the name of the Mordecai Ranch. For the students, it was an unparalleled, educational journey; for the teacher, it was the beginning of his own odyssey, one that continues to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Technically, our Mordecai project ended in June 1988, but I found myself unable to let go. I was captivated by this old gentleman from Virginia who had \u201cserved with Lee and Jackson and surrendered at Appomattox,\u201d and I continued to write about him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My visits to Refuge became more and more frequent, as I shared the latest developments in my ongoing research, and Mrs. Wissler responded in kind with more of her memories of life at the ranch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The camaraderie that developed as an outgrowth of my academic interest in Mr. Mordecai framed many of my earlier memories of Brooke Wissler, but in time a new dimension emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I continued to learn more about the Mordecai family history, my understanding went beyond my annotated timeline. I began to sense an adherence to a certain life style within the family that spanned the generations. It included pursuit of education, high moral standards, community respect, and loyalty to the family. For several years, these perceptions simply percolated in my brain. Then I heard about historian Emily Bingham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2003, she wrote a nationally acclaimed book entitled \u201cMordecai: An Early American Family.\u201d It is all about Mrs. Wissler\u2019s ancestors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the precision of a scholar, Bingham brought some of my feelings about the character of the Mordecais into sharp focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bingham wrote that the Mordecai family members early on \u201cdetermined to become\u2026 a little band of love and duty, guided by affection, responsibility, and a deep respect for learning. They pledged to stick by one another through thick and thin, to recognize their God but always tolerate others and to improve themselves and the world around them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the time I read Bingham\u2019s book, I had been privileged to meet many of the grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren of George W. Mordecai. Her characterizations of the Mordecai family in the 18th and 19th centuries actually described the Mordecais of the 20th and 21st centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I thought about her book, Mrs. Wissler and her family came to mind. What Bingham called the Mordecai \u201ccovenant\u201d was what I had sensed at Refuge. I finally understood what George W. Mordecai meant in one of his letters when he wrote of his determination to be a \u201ctrue Mordecai.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brooke Wissler was also a \u201ctrue Mordecai.\u201d She lived a life of responsibility to duty. She pursued excellence in education. She served her country with her husband at dozens of places around the world. She was guided by love for her family and affection for her community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And just as important, she was fun to be around. In 1993, as our Madera Method Wagon Train was pulling into town, she ran to a rolling wagon to hand her grandson, Daniel Sheeter, to me for his promised ride into Courthouse Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2005, with a tear coursing down her cheek, she waved goodbye to Jacob Sheeter, another grandson, as we took off for a trek across West Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I particularly enjoyed speaking to the Monday Club at the ranch a couple of times and relished being invited to the Mordecai family\u2019s annual gathering at Refuge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I plan to visit the family cemetery at the ranch again soon, and when I do, I am going to have another chat with Brooke Wissler. I will like that, because I know she will be listening. She always does.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every year in November, my mind is filled with memories of the Mordecai family. This is when the descendants of George Washington Mordecai gather at Refuge, the ranch he founded in 1868. It is impossible to think about them without remembering that day, almost 40 years ago, when I led my sixth grade class down […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":49071,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,17],"tags":[32],"class_list":["post-49074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above-the-fold","category-history","tag-culture"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49075,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49074\/revisions\/49075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":49062,"date":"2026-08-08T13:41:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=49062"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:41:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:41:17","slug":"obituary-leona-carol-pistoresi-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/obituary-leona-carol-pistoresi-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Obituary: Leona Carol Pistoresi"},"content":{"rendered":" Leona Carol Pistoresi, a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away on July 24, 2026, at the age of 84 following a brief illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Born to Lawrence (Pat) and Juanita (Nellie) Pittz in Merced and raised in Chowchilla, Leona\u2019s creative spirit was evident from an early age. As a child, she loved building forts and playhouses from scraps left over from her father\u2019s construction projects. She also delighted in asking neighbors for cuttings from their gardens, carefully nurturing them into beautiful gardens of her own. That lifelong love of gardening flourished, and as an adult, Leona became known for having one of the most amazing gardens in the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During her years at Chowchilla High School, Leona was well-liked by classmates and elected Student Body President. She was a majorette, played on the tennis team, and was crowned Homecoming Queen. It was there that she met and fell in love with Monte Pistoresi. They married when Leona was 19 and shared 65 wonderful years together, raising four children and building a life centered on church, family, and the many activities of their children. Monte was the love of her life, and she missed him deeply following his passing in April 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lifelong learner, Leona pursued higher education after her children were grown, earning a Bachelor\u2019s degree from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Social Work from California State University, Fresno. Her intellectual curiosity never faded. She explored subjects ranging from religion and nutrition to the power of positive thinking, and at the age of 80, she began taking piano lessons simply for the joy of learning. Leona\u2019s professional career reflected her dedication to education and service. She spent more than 20 years at Chowchilla High School, serving as Registrar, teacher, and ultimately retiring as Career Center Director. She also earned her real estate license and served as an adjunct faculty member at Merced College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Above all, Leona will be remembered for her compassion. She lived with an open heart and had a remarkable gift for welcoming and caring for those who needed encouragement, often \u201cadopting\u201d people who were struggling or alone. Her generosity, kindness, gratitude, and unending desire to learn touched the lives of countless people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leona shared a special bond with each of her seven grandchildren, creating treasured memories that will be carried forward for generations. Family vacations to Pajaro Dunes and later Bass Lake became beloved traditions. Themed Thanksgivings, joyful Christmas celebrations, and attending their sporting events, school plays, recitals, performances, and tea parties were among the many moments that brought the family together and will be fondly remembered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leona was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Monte; her brother, Jack; and her sister, Laurali. She is survived by her brother, Frank; her children, Tim (Jonae), Mike (Celeste), Patti, and Ted (Patty); her seven grandchildren, Katie, Vincent, Stephen, Nick, Sami, Selena, and Thomas; and her seven great-grandchildren, Gianna, Vienna, Ellie, Enzo, Violet, Rory, and Louise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A celebration of life will be held at Jay Chapel in Madera on August 13 at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to one of Leona\u2019s favorite charities, Tunnel to Towers Foundation: dogood.t2t.org.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Leona Carol Pistoresi, a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away on July 24, 2026, at the age of 84 following a brief illness. Born to Lawrence (Pat) and Juanita (Nellie) Pittz in Merced and raised in Chowchilla, Leona\u2019s creative spirit was evident from an early age. As a child, she loved building forts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":49033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-49062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obituary","tag-death"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49062"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49063,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49062\/revisions\/49063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":49060,"date":"2026-08-08T13:39:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=49060"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:39:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:39:06","slug":"obituary-raymond-smiley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/obituary-raymond-smiley\/","title":{"rendered":"Obituary: Raymond Smiley"},"content":{"rendered":" Raymond Smiley, was born to Grady and Lenora Smiley, on July 13, 1951. He started his schooling with Dixie Land Elementary School, and went to Madera High School, where he met the love of his life, Jeannette Smiley. Raymond graduated from Madera High and continued his education with Fresno Community College. Raymond married Jannette Smiley shortly after working at Western Chemical in Fresno, CA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raymond and Jeannette, went on to have three daughters, Shawn Anjeannette Smiley-Santiago, Eva Raye Smiley and Elizabeth Jeannette Smiley. Raymond was the protector, and provider for his young family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Raymond found his way to work at Madera Glass Plant, for 25 years, before retiring. After retiring from Madera Glass Plant, he enjoyed spending time with his family and going to the gym, traveling and helping his mother, as well as spending time with his grandchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raymond lived up to his last name, when you seen him, he usually had a smile on his face.. He always made the most difficult this better. Raymond was a wonderful son, husband and father. He and his beautiful smile and laugher always brighten our days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raymond, you will be missed, but the memory of you will always be on our hearts.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Raymond Smiley, was born to Grady and Lenora Smiley, on July 13, 1951. He started his schooling with Dixie Land Elementary School, and went to Madera High School, where he met the love of his life, Jeannette Smiley. Raymond graduated from Madera High and continued his education with Fresno Community College. Raymond married Jannette Smiley […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":49032,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-49060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obituary","tag-death"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49060"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49061,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49060\/revisions\/49061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":49058,"date":"2026-08-08T13:37:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=49058"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:37:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:37:20","slug":"madera-unified-opens-new-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/madera-unified-opens-new-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Madera Unified opens new school"},"content":{"rendered":" The new King Husein School in the Madera Unified School District officially opened Friday to students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The school will serve from TK to eighth grade students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The school is named after King Husein, the owner of Span Construction and Engineering. He donated the 50 acres of land the school sits on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n King Husein School will have about 1,000 students in its first year in 10 buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the highlights of the school include an outdoor amphitheater and a covered outdoor basketball court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MUSD will host a ribbon cutting ceremony in the near future to highlight the new facility.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The new King Husein School in the Madera Unified School District officially opened Friday to students. The school will serve from TK to eighth grade students. The school is named after King Husein, the owner of Span Construction and Engineering. He donated the 50 acres of land the school sits on. King Husein School will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":49029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,19],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-49058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above-the-fold","category-news","tag-schools"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49058"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49059,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49058\/revisions\/49059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]