Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune File Photo Volunteers for the Madera Artist Friends group make paper out of recycled material with attendees during last year’s Arts Fest hosted by Madera County Schools Foundation and Madera County Superintendent of Schools and sponsored by EECU. Families are invited to attend the 13th annual Madera County ArtsFest on May 2 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. This free community event celebrates art and creativity in Madera County with a fun, carnival-lik

The Madera Irrigation District’s (MID or District) water season will begin May 4, depending on location. At a meeting on April 21, the rate was set to $110 per acre foot for Original District landowners, and $220 per acre foot for Subordinate landowners. These rates may be reviewed and adjusted as conditions change throughout the year. With a current allocation of 100 percent Class 1 water, MID expects a full water season, hopefully continuing into the beginning of August.

CHOWCHILLA — The Chowchilla Madera County Fair and Spring Festival are proud to announce an exciting new partnership as the community prepares to celebrate an incredible milestone: 80 years of Family, Fun, and Farming. This year’s celebration promises to be bigger and better than ever, with a special focus on expanding participation in the beloved deep pit barbecue. Organizers are setting ambitious goals to make 2026 a record-breaking year for BBQ ticket sales, inviting the c

For The Madera Tribune Duane Furman, shown here, was MUSD superintendent during the racial unrest of 1974. In the summer of 1974, racial trouble erupted in Madera. A 16 year-old male student at the high school threw a young coed, fully clothed, into the school swimming pool. Two female high school teachers, Rose Harper and Sharon Weldon, tried unsuccessfully to question the perpetrator. Madera High Vice Principal Perry Harper and Learning Director Barry Crow intervened, and b

For The Madera Tribune Coarsegold, home of the Magnet mine. William McNaughton was foreman of the Magnet gold mines near O’Neals at the turn of the 20th century. Apparently the community did not hold him in very high repute, especially when it came to paying his debts. Such was McNaughton’s reputation that when one of his prospective miners learned the kind of fellow for whom he was going to work, he quit before he started. Strangely enough, when the man didn’t show up for wo

For The Madera Tribune Tung Lin Leong, a young resident of Madera’s Chinatown is shown here in this 1903 photograph taken in Madera. The Chinese were among the first settlers in Madera. Most of them came here from the little town of Borden, four miles to the south. By the late 19th century a bustling Chinatown thrived in the area that had been set aside for them by the founding fathers, who fought to keep the Chinese on the west side of the railroad tracks. There they operate

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune A section of Yosemite Avenue is detoured at E Street as construction crews from Rolfe Construction continue working on replacing the water mains. People driving through downtown may have to maneuver around traffic cones or suffer delays, but it’s all for the better in the long run. The City of Madera is working diligently to replace the water main underneath Yosemite Avenue, some of which have not been replaced in more than 75 years. All o

Madera County is teaming with the community to help create a comprehensive action plan to make it safer and easier for students and families to walk, bike, and roll to and from school. County supervisors are partnering with Caltrans, Madera Unified School District, law enforcement, the City of Madera and community leaders for a call to action in a new public service announcement to develop a Safe Routes to School Plan. The PSA encourages the community to get involved, and why