For The Madera Tribune Educators attend a session during the 2025 Central Valley Literacy Conference. The 20th Annual Central Valley Literacy Conference will bring together educators from across the Central Valley to celebrate two decades of literacy leadership and innovation on February 3 at Madera County Superintendent of Schools’ Conference Center. This year’s conference is themed “Chapters of Change: Celebrating 20 Years of Literacy Leadership,” and will feature keynote p

For The Madera Tribune Hard work by Madera firefighters saved lives when the Alta Hotel burned in 1931. As Maderans neared the end of the 1920s, they were full of optimism. Prospects of oil wells on the outskirts of town danced in the heads of some local capitalists, while others dreamed of raising the funds to build a brand new, four-story hotel on Yosemite Avenue. In the end, however, both schemes failed, and the town entered the 1930s rather tentatively as the nation’s eco

For The Madera Tribune Duane Furman, shown here in 1966, was chosen as the first superintendent of MUSD. The California gold rush was still in its infancy when Californians sat down to write their state constitution in 1849, and even in those rough and tumble frontier days, public education was at the fore of everyone’s mind. What followed in the wake of the subsequent population explosions in the Golden State was the proliferation of tiny, one-room schools, each forming a se

Madera Irrigation District is beginning water releases to alleviate flood potential, provide surface water delivery to District landowners, and commence groundwater recharge efforts.  The MID Board of Directors at the January 6, Special Board Meeting made the decision to allow operations to begin immediately.  The Board of Directors is providing this water at a reduced cost to promote use and recharge, benefiting District growers while supplementing the groundwater aquifer.

Madera has launched a $1.9 million upgrade to one of its most heavily used wastewater facilities, a project city officials say is part of a long-term effort to modernize core infrastructure and maintain dependable service for residents and businesses. The Fairgrounds Lift Station, south of Cleveland Avenue near the Madera Fairgrounds, moves about 30 percent of the city’s sewer flows. Much of the existing equipment dates back several decades, and the planned improvements will

Congratulations go out to Chuck Wieland for his recent letter conveying his thoughts on the state of the economy in the good old USA. There are a few things that I do agree with him on. One is the fact that the extension of the 2017 tax cuts do help the rich, however he did fail to mention that the tax cuts helped a huge majority of the taxpayers and they definitely helped the middle class. Perhaps the ones it didn’t help are the nearly 40 percent of the people who pay little

COARSEGOLD — The California Court of Appeal has ruled in favor of the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, finding that the Governor’s approval for the proposed North Fork casino project in Madera County was invalid from the beginning. In its decision, the court concluded that the Governor’s 2012 concurrence for the project never had legal effect because California voters rejected it through Proposition 48 in 2014. The court rejected arguments that the issue was tech

For The Madera Tribune Former Madera South and Fresno State baseball standout prepares for a workout as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization this summer. Gray is getting himself ready for his first full professional baseball season, which will begin in February. Madera South standout and Fresno State Bulldog Murf Gray heard his name announced in the third round of last July’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Since then, it h