A snowplow clears access from Glacier Point Road to Yosemite’s Badger Pass Ski Area



Home burns in basin




Multiple Mariposa County fire units responded with CALFIRE crews to a structure fire on Harris Cutoff Road in Ponderosa Basin on Tuesday evening. Damage to the threebedroom home was confined to the kitchen and living room areas, Mariposa County Fire Battalion Chief Jim Monty said. The main fire was knocked down in less than 40 minutes, but the blaze smoldered […]

SEQUESTRATION

Federal budget bottleneck may force Park cuts


If forced spending cuts take effect following the March 1 deadline set by Congress, Yosemite National Park will experience some unpleasant belttightening. Precisely how tight was revealed this week when The Coalition of National Park Service Retirees published details on the group’s Web site. Park managers may delay opening the Tioga Road connecting Mariposa County to the eastern Sierra by […]

It’s party time in Hornitos




Community preparations are underway for the big celebration of the 64th annual Hornitos Enchilada Dinner to be held in historic Hornitos on Saturday, March 2 from 3:30 to 8 p.m. at Golden Stag Hall. This year, the Yosemite-Mariposa Tourism Bureau has a role in the historic event, too. A while back, Executive Director Terry Selk thought about a corporate sponsor […]

Local couple and son arrested on pot charges



Merced County authorities paid a visit to Mariposa County on Tuesday, and they weren’t sight-seeing. The Merced County STAR team served search warrants in Mariposa and Merced counties, and went home with three people in custody. According to Merced County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Delray Shelton, Michael Noriega, 51; his wife, Laura Noriega, 46; and the couple’s son, Kenneth […]

Man charged with sex crime on minor girl



A 24-year-old La Grange man is behind bars for having sex with a girl under age 18. Chad Warwick was booked into the Mariposa County Jail on Feb. 25.According to the sheriff’s report, the victim’s grandmother caught her and Warwick in bed together in January. She warned the couple not to see each other again and did not report the […]

County will weigh TOT




Mariposa County has a goose that lays a giant golden egg each year. That goose is the transient occupancy tax (TOT) and the egg weighs in at more than $10 million. Last week, the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors discussed the TOT and its future. Supervisor Janet Bibby placed the item on the agenda. “If you mention TOT, it automatically […]

YOSEMITE PLANNING

Tram tours removed in Mariposa Grove plan


Concessionaire-operated tram tours will be a thing of the past if a redesign for amenities at the Park’s biggest sequoia grove are implemented. The plan was unveiled this week by Yosemite National Park planners. The public has until May 7 to comment on the proposal, which would also remove a parking lot, gift shop, and much of the grove’s existing […]

Suspected meth sales land three people in jail



Three Mariposa residents are behind bars following a bust last week. All three are suspected of selling methamphetamine. According to Mariposa County Sheriff Doug Binnewies, the arrests were made following an investigation. Leonard Hughes, 37, was arrested on Feb. 23 for sales of methamphetamine. He is being held on $30,000 bail. Jerry Richards, 59, was booked on Feb. 21 on […]

Marten-like fisher rebounds in Sierra



After experiencing years of population decline on the West Coast, a recent study examining fisher populations found that—at least in the southern Sierra Nevada— the animal’s numbers appear to be stable. In the spring of 2011, Yosemite National Park scientists documented the first recent Pacific fisher den in the Park— in the area between Fish Camp and the Mariposa Grove. […]