News

Chowchilla Man Convicted on 10 Counts of Rape, Incest and Aggravated Sexual Assault

MADERA – Madera County District Attorney, David A. Linn, announced that yesterday, Mark Garner, of Chowchilla, was found guilty on all counts, following a four week trial in Department 21 of the Madera Superior Court, before Judge, Joseph Soldani.

Garner was found guilty of one count of rape, and one count of incest, which occurred between October 2003 and 2004. Mr. Garner was also found guilty of eight counts of aggravated sexual assault upon a child under the age of fourteen, occurring between November 1995 and November 1997.

Madera Unified Superintendent FIRED In Unanimous Vote

MADERA - As reported by Big Valley News last week, the Madera Unified School District Board of Trustees has fired Superintendent Ed Gonzales without cause. At their closed session meeting last night the board decided to terminate their contract with the superintendent with a unanimous vote.

It was standing room only for supports of the embattled superintendent with many forced to watched the evenings proceedings from a make-shift "Drive-in" theater in the parking lot. Supporters wore hand-written signs on their chests calling Gonzales "Super Ed".

Ed Gonzales FIRED at Next Meeting: Buy Out Could Cost MUSD $350K

MADERA - Last Friday Madera Unified School District Superintendent Ed Gonzales was given the word that at the February 15th meeting the board of trustee's would vote to terminate his contract WITHOUT cause. This afternoon the superintendent met with the district staff in the board room and made the announcement that he was about to be fired.

We have no confirmed information as to why this is happening at this time. However we have heard a very credible rumor of a riff between MUSD Visual and Performing Arts Director Marcheta Williams and MUSD Assistant Superintendent Victor Villar.

International Agri-Center Prepares For 50th Anniversary of World Ag Expo

TULARE - The largest annual agricultural exposition of its kind, World Ag Expo boasts more than 1,500 exhibitors displaying cutting-edge agricultural technology and equipment on 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space. A record-setting 106,349 people came from 47 states and 79 countries to attend 2016 World Ag Expo.

The World Ag Expo Arena will once again offer daily Equipment Showcases, where exhibitors will perform live demonstrations of their latest products. Seminars will be offered in a variety of categories, including dairy, irrigation, international trade, business and farm management, marketing and media, and general agriculture. These seminars are presented by professionals in the industry and provide attendees with valuable information to improve their operations.

Bridge Store to Close after 89 Years of Service to Madera

MADERA - After 89 years of serving the Madera Community the Bridge Store will soon close its doors. The Nishimoto Family has been a proud member of the Madera Business community since 1928. Once Kameyo Nishimoto, the Matriarch of the family, first opened the doors the Nishimoto Family became dedicated members of the Madera Community.

Kameyo and Tamaichi Nishimoto opened the business in May of 1928. Then the store was a single room corner store with wooden floors. The entire Nishimoto Family including Mildred Nishimoto, Keith and Mickey Nishimoto, Sunny and Dorothy Nishimoto, Mary Nishimoto and Patty Nishimoto, have worked tirelessly in the store. In 1965 the current building was built by Keith and Sunny Nishimoto.

A New Mayor for Madera with a Familiar Name

MADERA - Last November the voters of the city of Madera selected just their second elected mayor in the city's history and the last name of the new mayor is a familiar one.

Mayor Andy Medellin, who ran unopposed for the city's top seat, is the son of former Madera mayor and city councilperson Margaret Medellin. When he raised his right hand to be sworn in to office Wednesday night, it was his mother that officiated the oath of office. “If you folks are hearing a boom, boom, boom,” Margaret Medellin said to the audience, “it’s nothing dangerous. It’s my heart.”

Accidental Shooting Claims Life of Fresno County Deputy

FRESNO - Monday afternoon an accidental shooting incident occurred inside a Sheriff’s Office building near the Fresno Airport. Occupying the building at the time were about a dozen Fresno County Sheriff’s Office employees. There are several rooms in the building and the employees were in various locations throughout the building.

There were four people in the office where the incident occurred, including the deceased Deputy Sergeant Rod Lucas. Sgt. Lucas and one of the detectives were discussing their equipment, specifically their backup weapons and how they carried them. The detective had his weapon out and during this discussion the detective’s weapon discharged one round.