Local News

Pike Murder Trial Postponed by DA Delays

MADERA - Madera County District Attorney Michael R. Keitz announced that the jury trial of Dustin Gran, scheduled in April 2012 to begin on September 25, 2012, has been postponed by the Stanislaus County Superior Court.

However the truth is the delays have been caused by the Madera County District Attorney's office not being ready to try the case. Keitz's office has tried to force new evidence into the trial without discovery and has been dragging their feet through-out the pre-trial phase of the case. The DA's office has been admonished by the Stanislaus County courts for allowing previous delays.

Parents and Doctors Sue Clovis School District Over Sex Education

CLOVIS – Parents and physicians filed suit against the Clovis Unified School District over its high school abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education. The lawsuit charges that the district is violating California law and putting teens’ health at risk by teaching students misinformation and denying them critical instruction about condoms and contraception.

MUSD's Porterfield Resigns: Accepts Position with Central

MADERA - The exodus continues at the Madera Unified School District as Associate Superintendent Kelly Porterfield has announced his resignation. He has accepted a position with the Central Unified School District as Assistant Superintendent of Business.

Porterfield said he was recruited by Central Unified after a phone call from the districts superintendent, Mike Berg. Berg was conducting a salary survey of neighboring districts and one thing led to another. He said it was a hard decision for him because his heart is at Madera Unified but this was a good move for himself and his family.

Escaped Inmate Arrested After Nearly 30 Years

AZUSA, CA. - Special agents from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) arrested an inmate Thursday who escaped from custody nearly 30 years ago.

Special agents from the Rancho Cucamonga Special Service Unit arrested Carlos Campo, 50, at his residence in Azusa. Campo, who was convicted of second-degree burglary in Los Angeles County, escaped from a work-furlough re-entry program on August 26, 1983.

Fifth District Appellate Court Upholds Decision on Attorneys’ Fees to be Paid by MUSD in Voting Rights Lawsuit

Decision brings a conclusion to a case which started in 2008

MADERA – A state appellate court has upheld a Madera County Superior Court judge’s decision regarding the amount of attorneys’ fees to be paid by the Madera Unified School District as part of a 2008 lawsuit which challenged the school district’s method of electing its governing board members.

In a ruling dated Feb. 28, 2012, the Fifth District Court of Appeals upheld Madera County Superior Court Judge James E. Oakley’s ruling from August 2010, which stated MUSD was responsible to pay only $162,500 in attorneys’ fees to the San Francisco-based Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, the law firm of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher and Seattle University assistant law school professor Joaquin Avila. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Madera residents Maria Esther Rey, Carlos Uranga and Jesse Lopez Jr.