At 6 p.m. Friday, the 21st annual Rotary/Netherton Relays will be held at Lee DaSilva Field in Madera High School’s Memorial Stadium. The highly popular track event will draw students and their families and friends from most of Madera Unified’s schools. However, many of those attending won’t remember the man who initiated those races.

The Rotary/Netherton Relays actually began in the late 1960s, but they had a different name. Back then they were called the Madison Relays and they were the brainchild of an Oklahoma transplant named Jack Netherton, who decided to put his love for track and field to the test in Madera. At the time he was the principal of Madison School.

The Madison Relays continued under that name until 1993, when the Madera Rotary Club agreed to sponsor the relays, and it was the Rotarians who named it the Rotary/Netherton Relays.

Although Jack Netherton died in 1996, memories of this much-revered Madera educator come to the surface each year during the relays...

A brief ceremony midday Wednesday at Courthouse Park paid tribute to the eight members of law enforcement who lost their lives in service to Madera County from 1919 to 1973.

Sheriff John Anderson, who is retiring at the end of the year, said he was pleased at the large turn out of residents and law enforcement to remember the fallen, in spite of near record heat. “I am glad we do this (to remember them), but it’s too bad we have to. I have been in this business a long time, several decades and I have worked with (fallen) officers who are on the memorial in Sacramento,” Anderson said.

Madera District California Highway Patrol Lt. Commander Craig Kunzler acknowledged and read aloud the 10 names of on-duty law enforcement officers killed last year in California.

Family members Margot Sciacqua, daughter of Matron Lucille Helm (1914-1959), and Mike Shannon, son of Madera police officer Denny D. Shannon (1920-1954), helped lay a wreath of flowers at the memorial. Helm was the first woman in California to die in the line of duty...

It had to happen eventually … as though the attractive nuisance of campaign sign litter isn’t enough?

I’m talking about the invasion of your personal space and domestic tranquility by computer generated Robo-Calls for candidates running for office.

For the most part these are from state or county-wide campaign committees. You know, the “Big Dogs” with the fat war chests and shotgun approach.

There it was on our home answering machine when we walked in the door after a wonderful day at the Golden Valley Chamber’s Flatlanders Day Parade.

A personal and skillfully composed digital voice message from our governor’s own appointed interim District 1 supervisor extolling the virtues of his hand-picked replacement.

The interim supervisor’s pledge of candidate support was reminiscent in its sincerity of another pledge he took upon his appointment regarding his sincere and unwavering support of the High Speed Rail scam.

He says in his message that he has chosen to not run for the elected office of Madera County Supervisor. Really?

Ray Krause, candidate
Supervisor, District 1

Hello dog owners and dog lovers: Did you know Madera has a dog park where you can bring your dog for frolic and fun? It is located at Rotary Park on the corner of Cleveland and Gateway Avenues in Madera. Come out and let your dog have fun.

I am letting you know that our group, Friends of The Dog Park at Rotary Park, will host a dog show Saturday, May 17, at Rotary Park. It is the Central Cali Kennel Club bi-annual show. Registration is 9 to 11a.m. Regular show starts at 11 a.m. Entry fee is $25 for early registration and $45 the day of the show. Fee includes show fees and dog registration.

Please contact Michelle Swengel at 559-871-4641 or e-mail her at runamuk at yahoo.com. All breeds are welcome, even toy breeds and spayed/neutered pets.

The Friends of The Dog Park at Rotary Park is also having a show for the cutest, ugliest and most looks like owner contests. The suggested fee is a $5 donation to help keep the park running.

Kathi Stokes, chair
Friends of the Dog Park at Rotary Park

As director of Madera County Animal Services and one of the Friends of the Madera County Animal Shelter board members, it was an incredible honor to receive the gift of $1.5 million dollars for free spay and neuter services for Madera County dogs and cats.

FMAS already has distributed over 10,200 vouchers to Madera County residents to help them sterilize their pets. FMAS has spent over $500,000 on spay and neuter surgeries to stop the pet overpopulation crisis. It has been estimated that for every dollar spent on spay and neuter, it saves taxpayers $18 in animal control costs.

Therefore, Madera County taxpayers have already saved $9 million in related animal control costs. With every animal spayed or neutered we decrease the suffering of thousands of homeless and unwanted animals.

Other recipients of Red and Nancy Arnold funds were also at the Madera County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, and expressed their appreciation for the incredible gifts provided. Each recipient was surprised and even overwhelmed by the generosity and the specific request by Red and Nancy Arnold, to keep the funds in Madera to help Madera County residents.

The ripple effect of almost $10 million dollars injected into the Madera County economy will benefit everyone in Madera exponentially.

The second component of their gift was to instill a sense of pride in our community and encourage others to give back to their community as well.

I encourage everyone on May 18 to remember Red and Nancy Arnold. Celebrate by hugging your family, hugging your spayed/neutered pets, by signing up as a volunteer for a worthy cause, by donating to your favorite charity, or doing something for someone else. Don’t pass up on the opportunity to make yourself feel better, make your family feel better, make your community better, and to appreciate the gifts provided in life. Cheers to Red and Nancy and the legacy they left for the residents of Madera.

Kirsten Gross, director,
Madera County Animal Services

Fun all over. With this warm, bordering on hot, weather lately the parks have been full of picnickers and even some nitpickers. On Saturday morning one can hear the sound of bat against ball as nearly 600 little T-ballers learn the basics of baseball on the playing fields of all nine baseball and softball diamonds at Lions Town and Country Park.

Meanwhile, or soon, at the other end of town there will be even more kids kicking a soccer ball. The only difference I have seen between the two is with the former it is all smiles from the kids to parents and grandparents. In the latter, more competitive, the kids are enjoying themselves. It’s the parents who are yelling and screaming, usually at the refs. Not all parents, but many. And I won’t even get into the antics of Little League parents.

+ + +

It could have been here. After yet another doctor’s appointment in Fresburg my gal and I stopped at the new Target store on Herndon just east of Highway 99. Clean and new and with good service we were soon on our way home with a new toaster. It took only 15 minutes from the store to the front door of our home. Quick, you say. Yes, but it would have been half that time if the store would have been built on Avenue 17. Just like the casino, maybe someday.

+ + +

Waste of time and our money or thinking ahead. According to Mail Online and Foreign Policy magazine, the Pentagon has a contingency plan for a zombie attack to “preserve the sanctity of life for all non-zombie humans.” It is a detailed plan for fighting all sorts of zombies. This includes something called CZs. That’s Pentagonese for chicken zombies. My gal would probably be a VZ — Vegetarian Zombie. Yours truly would probably end up a DZ — Desert Zombie — and undoubtedly starve...

The Thomas Jefferson Middle School seventh and eighth grade baseball teams recorded dominant playoff victories Wednesday and will now play for the Central Valley Athletic League championship Monday.

The eighth grade team hosted Rio Vista-Fresno and scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning on a two-run double by Christian Chavira, scoring Antonio Noriega and Brian Hefner.

Michael Berra was solid on the mound through six innings and struck out four. However, he lost the lead in the top of the third when Rio Vista scored three runs.

With two outs in the bottom of the third, Alonzo Tovar helped his pitcher with a two-run double to key a three-run rally for a 6-3 lead...

This season, the Madera Coyote softball team entered its first-round Div. I playoff game batting .346 with runners in scoring position and that has led to 25 wins, the most since 2008 when Madera last advanced to the Div. I championship game.

Madera’s batting average with runners in scoring position was even better than their overall batting average (.339).

Unfortunately, the sixth-seeded Coyotes only scored one runner from scoring position and couldn’t prevent a two-out, run-scoring single in the fifth for a 2-1 loss Wednesday at Zimmerman Field to the Stockdale-Bakersfield Mustangs, seeded 11th.

“We didn’t come out with the energy we usually come out with,” head coach Judy Shaubach said. “We were a little flat and let too many good pitches go by. We had our opportunities, but couldn’t capitalize on them.” ...

After a record-breaking season that led to the North Sequoia League’s Most Valuable Player award, Liberty Hawks boys soccer player Travis Ratzlaff still had some doubts on what he would do next season.

He wasn’t sure what was out there and figured on going to a community college and then Fresno State University.

Then, Simpson University came along, swooped in and signed Ratzlaff to an athletic scholarship to play forward next season for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics school in the California-Pacific Conference.

“We had a connection that someone my dad went to school with,” Ratzlaff said. “His son played there and he got me in touch with the coach. I emailed the coach and he saw my berecruited.com video and then saw my stats and more film.” ...

The local chapter of the Association of Mexican American Educators awarded scholarships to nine Madera students.

Winners attend Madera High School, Madera South High School, Madera Adult School and Madera Community College.

A dinner and ceremony, organized by AMAE on Wednesday, included the recipients and their families, chapter members and Madera Unified School District Superintendent Edward Gonzalez.

“I think it was great,” said Alex Garcia, AMAE president. “A lot of people came. Some of them didn’t know what it would be like. The students said they liked the people they were sitting with, they really got to talk about AMAE.” ...

More than 20 guns and an ounce of methamphetamine were seized from a Madera County home this week, police announced Thursday, after investigation into a separate crime led them to a home that housed two drug labs and a weapons workshop with possible gang ties.

Steven Smith, 36, was arrested Wednesday at the home near Avenue 18 and Road 19 on several charges including manufacturing of illegal weapons and drug-related crimes, said Sgt. Gino Chiaramonte of the Madera Police Special Investigations Unit (SIU).

“You don’t see an arrest like this very often,” Chiaramonte said. “I mean houses like this are out there, but you don’t see law enforcement find them all the time … typically having two labs and all these firearms, that’s a big deal in a criminal sense.”

Chiaramonte said after SIU officers arrested Billy Childers — one of the county’s most-wanted fugitives — on suspicion of robbery and assault with a firearm last week, investigations led them to Smith’s home where Childers allegedly fired a high-powered weapon at a car on the property...

According to a Grand Jury report of 2010-2011, complaints against incumbent District Attorney Michael Keitz’s management style, characterized as “stiff” and “black and white,” began to surface within months of his 2009 appointment. An investigation was conducted four months after he took office, at a cost of $3,000. The Grand Jury requested access to the investigation’s results, but was denied by then-County Counsel David Prentice on grounds of attorney-client privilege. That report has never been made public.

In January of 2010, because of further numerous complaints about Keitz to the county’s human resources department, then-director Lonn Boyer hired Fresno attorney Dan Rowley to again investigate the office. The so-called “Rowley Report” was complete in May of that year at a cost of $26,698. After a request by The Madera Tribune in 2012, County Counsel Doug Nelson refused to provide a copy, citing attorney-client privilege.

After another request by The Madera Tribune, the Board of Supervisors ordered Nelson to turn over a copy, but Keitz sued before the report was released, once more citing attorney-client privilege even though Rowley was hired by the human resources department. In court, during a hearing over whether a permanent injunction should be issued against releasing the report, Keitz’s attorney claimed the report’s release would cause “irreparable harm to my client’s reputation.”

After a costly five-month legal battle, Madera Superior Court Judge James Oakley agreed with Keitz’s lawyers and issued a permanent injunction of the report unless Keitz agrees to release it. To date, it has never been seen by the public...

They say he was responsible for dissension in the district attorney’s office

Past employees of the Madera County District Attorney’s office say they are outraged at being blamed by their former boss for morale problems in his office.

They say the problems were incumbent DA Michael Keitz’s fault, and they say they resent implications made by Keitz that they were lazy and “bad apples.”

The accusations against his former staffers were leveled by Keitz during a candidate forum April 17 in Oakhurst. He was responding to charges by his two opponents for the district attorney’s job, to which he is seeking re-election.

After opponents David Linn and Miranda Neal harshly criticized him for what they said was an atmosphere of intimidation, high turnover rates, and lack of an open-door policy in his office, Keitz responded with his version of conditions in the DA’s workplace...

Here's the latest news for Friday, May 16: Clashes erupt in Turkey after devastating mine disaster; Wildfires rage on in California; Two blasts rock Nairobi; President Obama and Vice President Biden enjoy lunch outside of the White House.

MARIPOSA (AP) — Three firefighters have been injured in a Central California wildfire that has burned through more than 2 square miles in two days, officials said Tuesday.

State fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said that one of the three is an inmate firefighter who was cut by a chain saw. Berlant describes the injury as moderate. He said the other two firefighters suffered minor injuries.

The Hunters Fire started Monday and quickly spread to the dry brush in the steep foothills of Mariposa County east of Lake McClure.

The fire was 20 percent contained, and Berlant said more than 500 firefighters are battling the blaze on the ground. Air tankers and helicopters are being used to attack the flames from above.

Officials on Tuesday began urging about 50 residents in the area to evacuate from their homes.

The fire, fueled by dry brush, was burning in steep terrain that crews were having difficulty reaching. Temperatures also rose into the 90s with winds up to 20 mph, adding to the challenge.

"This fire is burning like it would in summer with the dry conditions we've been experiencing," Berlant said.

One home was destroyed by fire Monday, Berlant said, adding that the cause remains under investigation.

Up to 100 homes are potentially threatened, but the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office notified about 50 residents in immediate danger, urging them to evacuate. First, residents were called by phone and then deputies knocked on doors in person, said Kristie Mitchell, a department spokeswoman.

Mitchell said she didn't know how many left their homes. "If they want to leave or not, that is up to them," she said.

Meanwhile, a fire burning in and around Oak Creek Canyon in northern Arizona continued to grow in size even though firefighters have established a containment line around all of it.

The so-called Slide Fire between Flagstaff and Sedona increased in size to 32 square miles Tuesday and continued to grow.

Firefighters spotted a small and possibly historic cabin while conducting a burnout operation on a steep side in the area of Oak Creek Canyon. The crew removed debris from around the cabin and placed a layer of protective fabric around it.

Investigators who are trying to determine what sparked the human-caused fire on May 20 said they have received about 80 tips, but it could take months to pinpoint exactly how it began.

Agenda to focus on the Knights of Round Table

Organizers of an annual Cub Scout day camp are planning activities to feature the theme of the mythological story of the Knights of the Round Table, in which King Arthur congregated with his knights around a round table, symbolizing equal status.

The Boy Scouts of America Thunderbird District Day Camp is set for June 16-­19, with a family night planned for June 20.

Sign-ups will be accepted on the morning of June 16, but early registration is also encouraged. Boys in grades first through fifth may be registered at Back to Camp Knight on Tuesday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2112 Sunset Ave. Cost of camp is $65 for the week. Participants will receive their first camp T-shirt and may enjoy a craft or jump in a bounce house while parents fill out medical paperwork, said Sandy Ebersole, the program director.

The camp is organized by the Boy Scouts of America at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but is not a church event, she said...

One suspect is in custody, while another is on the lamb

One suspect has been arrested and another is on the run for a “brutal” assault that eventually cost a Madera man his life, Madera Police Department Det. Sgt. Robert Salas announced Tuesday, as he asked for the public’s help in tracking down the alleged murderer.

Benjamin Martinez, 37, was one of three victims allegedly assaulted by Carlos Palomares, 30, and Diego Dorame, 18, behind a gas station on Cleveland Avenue and Lake Street shortly after 10 p.m. on May 16, Salas said.

Palomares was arrested last week and charged with several crimes including murder and robbery with gang enhancements.

Dorame, described as approximately 5-foot-9-inches tall and around 160 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes, was being sought Tuesday for similar charges with a $1.2 million warrant issued for his arrest, Salas said...

Tom Cruise's impossible mission, Armed guard at Watson's graduation; 'X-men' dominates box office.

Here's the latest news for Wednesday, May 28, 2014: California lawmakers consider tighter gun control in wake of Santa Barbara Shooting; Tea party scores victories in Texas; Hidden cash being found around San Francisco.

A nonprofit employment, training and social service agency has awarded a total of $27,000 in scholarships to high school seniors in Madera, Merced and Stanislaus counties, including $9,000 to those in Madera, Madera Ranchos, Chowchilla and Oakhurst.

Local area winners were Crystal Maciel and Guadalupe Navarro of Madera High School, Gloria Zarate of Liberty High School, Alejandra Granados and Kyle Dwayne Hansen of Chowchilla Union High School, and Stephanie Marie Pardue of Yosemite High School.

Each received a $1,500 scholarship from Central Valley Opportunity Center (CVOC).

“CVOC scholarship applications were provided to counselors for those high schools in CVOC’s tri-county service area,” said scholarship coordinator Alica Chavez of CVOC. “Applicant’s GPA, family income and other criteria were considered.” ...