For The Madera Tribune Chief Encouragement Officer Carles Beckett. When Carles Beckett graduated from Fresno State in 1967 and began his career in education, he could look back on his first 22 years and recognize that his life had been a series of miracles. Born in Piggott, Arkansas, he spent his first nine years living in a tent in a Buckeye, Arizona cotton camp and in a chicken coop on a chicken ranch in Petaluma, California. In 1954, his father was killed in a car crash,

In a time when many have forgotten the threat of infectious diseases like polio, I feel a duty as a Rotary member to remind the public that polio anywhere is a threat everywhere. I have a personal story about polio that happened to my oldest brother and another man who was my roommate in college. My brother’s case was only a mild one that left one leg slightly shorter than the other. My college roommate was paralyzed from the waist down. Both cases were before the vaccine was

Our country is in political turmoil and at least some economic distress. Tentacles from the war with Iran are reaching out and touching families, many of which are struggling to make their paychecks stretch. Probably some people are also dealing with a moral crisis, wondering if the lives lost in the war are worth some hypothetical gain. Two years ago, I consulted the World Happiness Report, published annually by the World Population Review. Data for the report is gathered on

Is the State’s required calculation method costing your water system thousands of dollars? For many small and rural drinking water systems, the answer may be yes — and it comes down to how “average” is calculated. The State Division of Drinking Water requires a simple average to determine long-term arsenic levels as well as other contaminants. Madera County simply follows the state method. While straightforward, this method can produce misleading results — sometimes overstati

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Local dignitaries, officials and construction partners gather for a ground-breaking ceremony for Madera County Crisis Stabilization & Sobering Center at 14277 Road 28 on Friday. Madera County took another powerful step forward in improving lives and public safety with the groundbreaking of the new state-of-the-art Crisis Stabilization and Sobering Center Friday morning. The Center will support thousands of residents battling mental health a

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Local dignitaries and city officials gather with community members for a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly paved and improved walking trail in Lions Town and Country Park on Saturday. Dignitaries and guests converged to the newly refurbished Town and Country Trails for a 5K run/walk to highlight the completion of the trails at the park. The ribbon was cut Saturday morning and hundreds of people walked or ran through the parks for the 5

CHOWCILLA — MED-Project has announced a new unwanted medication drop box has been recently installed at Alpha Care Pharmacy in Chowchilla, California. Secure and convenient medication disposal sites are an important aspect of community safety. MED-Project is committed to supporting rural communities with easy-to-use solutions for removing unwanted or expired medications from the home. MED-Project’s drop boxes can be found at select pharmacies and law enforcement agencies thro