The city of Madera has been busy making the Fresno River Trail Beautiful again, and it now has a helping hand in the form of an $832,000 state grant. The funding from the Clean California Grant Program will help bring new improvements to a four-mile stretch of the Fresno...
Appellate Court Sides With Foes of Highway 99 Indian Casino
Just days after a top executive with Las Vegas-based Red Rock Resorts said that construction on the Fresno area’s newest Indian gaming casino would break ground before the end of June, the 5th District Court of Appeal sided with project opponents. In a ruling last month, a three-member panel of...
Madera Ethanol Plant Sold for $28.3 Million
In January, Pacific Ethanol changed its name to Alto Ingredients. Now the company founded by Fresno farmer and politician Bill Jones has sold its Madera production plant to Seaboard Energy California, LLC. Seaboard Energy California paid $19.5 million in cash and assumed $8.8 million in Alito Ingredients' liabilities in exchange...
Central Valley Holocaust Survivor Shares His Story
(Editor's Note: This article was originally published on April 9, 2018.) This Thursday, the world recognizes Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. For Ephraim Hadjis of Madera, it is a time of horror he will never forget. Hadjis was born in Greece. He thinks it was 1943, making him 75 years...
At $480,000 Per Unit, Affordable Housing Coming to Madera
Even with a $25 million price tag, a new housing complex that broke ground this week in Madera is considered affordable housing. The project is situated along Highway 99 near South Madera Avenue will offer 52 units. That averages to more than $480,000 a unit. "Unfortunately, whenever you hear low-income...
9/11 to Be Remembered in Virtual Events with Madera Marine, Fresno Sheriff
Sept. 11, 2001, the day when terrorists hijacked planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, will be remembered Friday with virtual events provided by local colleges and a Fresno high school. Madera native Rick Jimenez, who served in the Marine Corps, will share his...
Camarena Health Starts Construction in Madera on Largest-Ever Expansion
Approximately 30,000 square feet of buildings are going up in Madera as part of Camarena Health's largest expansion project ever. The facilities, dubbed The Almond Campus because they're on Almond Avenue, will cost nearly $17 million and transform the urgent-care facility there into a full-service, five-building campus. Plans call for a 10,000 square-foot...
Big Screen Movies are Back in the Valley. Here’s Where to See Them.
Movies will return to the big screen on Friday in Madera with the reopening of the only remaining local drive-in theater. Madera 2 Drive-In announced on Facebook it will open its gates once again this weekend with new rules in place to ensure social distancing to address COVID-19 concerns. Double...
Madera Brewery Cranks Out 5,000 Gallons of Hand Sanitizer Daily
A hand sanitizer run doesn't sound as thrilling as a beer run, but the COVID-19 pandemic dictates market forces. So Riley's Brewing in Madera is stepping up to meet the demand for hand sanitizer. "It's a matter of how many (bottles) can we get in the hands of people that...
Fresno Unified Will Serve Meals During Spring Break After All
Fresno Unified School District announced Monday that meals will be served at school sites during Spring Break, an about-face from the district's original plan to discontinue meals during the week leading up to Easter Sunday. Community activists had urged the district to keep serving meals so that no children —...