Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune The Matilda Torres Toros boys cross country team celebrates with the plaque and sign after a fourth straight Central Section championship, this year in Div. II, Thursday at Woodward Park. FRESNO — Three Madera-area schools will be sending teams to this week’s CIF State Cross Country Championships at Woodward Park.  The Matilda Torres boys team easily won the Div. II Central Section title for its fourth straight championship at Thursday’s Cen

For The Madera Tribune Kaelei Kajitani. After playing baseball at Madera South, and winning a Central Section Championship, female baseball pioneer Kaelei Kajitani continued her baseball playing career by getting drafted in the fifth round by San Francisco of the new Women’s Professional Baseball League.  Kajitani was drafted No. 1 in the fifth round and was the 21st pick of San Francisco.  From the WPBL draft: “Kajitani grew up in a baseball family so seeped in the game that

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Matilda Torres’ Nate Gray puts back an offensive rebound during Thursday’s victory over Livingston. Gray finished with a double-double in his first game of the season (14 points, 13 rebounds). The Matilda Torres Toros closed out the game by outscoring the Livingston Wolves 26-19 in the fourth quarter for a 68-65 victory in the season opener Thursday.  Champ Pichardo put back a miss with 1:12 to go to tie the game at 65. Then, David Casas mad

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera’s Ryan Atherton rises up for a rebound during Wednesday’s loss to the Roosevelt Rough Riders. Atherton scored 11 points with three 3-pointers. The Madera Coyotes suffered though two 0-for-10 shooting droughts in the second half of Tuesday’s battle with the Roosevelt Rough Riders, and it hurt them in a 70-58 loss in Joe Flores Gym.  In the second half, the Coyotes shot just 19 percent (6-of-30) from the field and made just 3-of-19 (16

First, you may think that Lisa Scottoline has written a YA book. She has not. This book is written from several POVs, and the first fourteen chapters (99 pages) are from 15-year-old teens (Allie, Sasha, David, Julian, and Kyle). Because it’s written in their voice, it’s an easy mistake. The rest of the book is a mix of the teens and their parents (Linda Garvey, Allie’s mother; Daphne Barrow, Sasha’s mother; Bill Hybrinski, David’s father; Scot Browne, Julian’s father and the

For The Madera Tribune George Washington Mordecai. 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 the winding dirt road leading from the highway to the Mordecai Ranch to visit the grave of Mr. Mordecai. There were abou

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Pine Street is closed at Howard Road on November 14 due to flooding from recent rains. Pumps were used to drain the water. While Thursday’s storm dropped some moisture onto the Madera floor, last week’s storm put down about three-and-a-half inches of rain, and was a benefit to Madera’s agriculture community.  “It was a perfect rain,” said Jay Mahil, President of Creekside Farming. “Everyone was done with harvest. The farmers were doing their

For The Madera Tribune Cal Fire captains Bryant Camarena, center left, and Craig Waag, center right, hold certificates they received Tuesday from the Madera County Board of Supervisors, honoring their retirement after 34 years of service. From left are Supervisors Bobby Macauley, David Rogers, Chairwoman Leticia Gonzalez, Camarena, Waag, Madera County Assistant Fire Chief Larry Pendarvis, Supervisors Robert Poythress and Jordan Wamhoff and Madera County Fire Chief Justin Maco