Local News

A Friendly Wager – Heart of California vs Geographic Center of Massachusetts; Cities’ Wager Friendly Bets on Super Bowl LIII

MADERA - The City of Madera, California, and the City of Rutland, Massachusetts, have announced that they’ve entered into a friendly wager based on the outcome of Super Bowl LIII. Madera City Manager Arnoldo Rodriguez says the challenge came in the form of an unexpected phone call from a voice he did not recognize.

The caller on the other end of the line turned out to be Rutland’s newly installed Town Administrator, and dedicated Patriots fan, Michael Nicholson. “They are the geographic center of Massachusetts and the City of Madera is the heart of California,” said Rodriguez. “Given that both states have teams in the Super Bowl, Michael asked if we’d be interested in entertaining a friendly wager.”

Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Marijuana Cultivation in Wilderness Area in Kern County

FRESNO - Felipe Angeles Valdez-Colima (Valdez), 35, of Mexico, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, Valdez and his co-defendants, Mauricio Vaca-Bucio (Vaca), 31, and Rodolfo Torres-Galvan, 29, (Torres), both of Mexico, were apprehended in the Kiavah Wilderness area of the Sequoia National Forest, a federally designated wilderness area, after a two-month investigation.

Law enforcement officers saw Valdez and Torres emerge from the forest at a drop point that had long been used by marijuana cultivators to access grow sites in that remote area. The men entered a vehicle driven by Vaca and were later stopped in the Kern County town of Weldon.

Bakersfield Trucker Sentenced for Shipping Drugs Sourced from Mexico

FRESNO - Darrell Leon Jennings, 51, of Bakersfield, was sentenced today to five years in prison for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. His sentence follows his guilty plea on November 7, 2018.According to court documents, Jennings, a trucker doing business in Moreno Valley as Jennings Transportation, assisted Mario Alvarez-Muniz, 50, of Taft, in transporting 6 kilograms of heroin and 11 kilograms of cocaine destined for Chicago.

After Alvarez-Muniz arranged for the shipment of the drugs from Mexico to Mira Loma, Jennings picked up the drugs and drove back to Bakersfield where he was stopped by agents. A police dog located the drugs in a customized hidden compartment in Jennings’ truck.

Madera Unified Refuses to Call for New Election in Area 5 Trustee Race, Resulting in County Registrar Certifying Election Based on 1890 Legal Precedent: Lucy Salazar to be Sworn In Tuesday

MADERA – Tuesday evening the Madera Unified School District will finally swear in a newly elected trustee for Area 5 which has been empty since July of last year. Friday afternoon in a press release issued by the Madera County Elections Department, Madera County Registrar Rebecca Martinez has certified the November 6^th election between Lucy Salazar and Steve Duncan that has been held up for nearly three months over “tainted” ballots.

As reported on Big Valley News in November, just prior to Election Day Madera County discovered that a mistake was made by the county’s contracted ballot printer (ProVote Solutions of Porterville), which resulted in just over 400 voters in the Madera area receiving a vote-by-mail ballot that included an additional local contest for which they were not entitled to vote.

11 Arrested During Fresno DUI Saturation Patrol

FRESNO - The Fresno Police Department arrested 11 on suspicion of DUI while conducting a DUI Saturation Patrol on January 26, 2019. In addition, the Fresno Police Department made 119 vehicle enforcement stops and cited 17 drivers for operating a vehicle without a license or on a suspended/revoked license.

In 2017, the Fresno Police Department investigated 360 DUI collisions that killed 15 people and injured 121 others. Drivers caught driving impaired and charged with DUI can expect the impact of a DUI arrest to be approximately $13,500. This includes fines, fees, DUI classes, license suspension and other expenses not to mention possible jail time.