Bring your chestnuts



Sheriff, schools react to tragedy




By now, nearly everyone has seen their faces. They have heard their names, and seen the grieving families of 20 children and six adults gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. It is pointless to try to understand what happened. There is no understanding of the unimaginable. However, local school officials and law enforcement are working to ensure student […]

Dahlem gets four more years as counsel and Mosher stays on




Mariposa County Counsel Steve Dahlem will be on the job for at least four more years. On Tuesday, the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors reappointed him to a four-year term commencing Jan. 1, 2013, and gave him a hefty raise. Dahlem was originally appointed to the post in March 2, 2009. Government Code provides that county counsel serve for four […]

CALTRANS REPORT

Tunnel may be planners’ spear for Ferguson


A final fix for the county’s Ferguson Slide is not expected before the latter half of 2016—but project details have emerged from several planning meetings. No official decision has been made, but hints suggest that Caltrans engineers prefer boring a tunnel behind the rockslide instead of a cheaper “rockshed” that would pass through the slide itself. “The tunnel alternative is […]

RESTITUTION ORDERED

Moretti sentenced to 10 years in prison


In Mariposa County Superior Court last Thursday morning, Mary Patricia Moretti, 56, was sentenced to 10 years in state prison. She was previously convicted of embezzling $102,000 from Mariposa County while she was employed in the tax collector’s office, and $31,000 from the Yosemite Summit Conference (an Alcoholics Anonymous confab in Yosemite National Park). The long-time County employee reportedly stole […]

History shows propensity for murder in Midpines




Midpines is a sleepy little community. It is home to many long-time residents and Yosemite employees. Its “Pride of the Sierra” sign welcomes the millions who travel through each year on the way to Yosemite National Park. Midpines has been rocked by another murder–its fifth since 1990. By comparison, in the same time period, there have only been 21 murders […]

Master Gardeners recognized for service



Chamber seeking honor nominations



The Mariposa County Chamber of Commerce is seeking nominations for its annual awards of “man of the year,” “woman of the year,” and business of the year. Executive Director Kathy McCorry said, “Mariposa businesses and their owners are a unique breed of caring and giving small business owners who know the importance of community. We are pleased to have so […]

Sheriff’s Daily Dispatch Log



Dec. 10: A disturbance on Old Highway North ended with one arrest. •Dispatch took a child molestation report from Lake McClure. •A money order scam was reported in Mariposa. •Someone was yelling on Highway 140. Dec. 11: •Possible fiduciary abuse was reported on Ben Hur Road. •Dogs were on Windy Hollow Road. •Grand theft was reported on Guadalupe Creek Road. […]

SCIENCE UPDATE

Global big tree decline includes Yosemite Park

The largest living organisms on the planet, the big, old trees that sustain countless birds and other wildlife, are dying. A report by three of the world’s leading ecologists in the journal Science this month warns of an alarming increase in deathrates among trees 100-300 years old in many of the world’s forests, woodlands, savannahs, farming areas and even in […]