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Community News for October 13, 2011 edition

(Updated: Thursday, October 13, 2011, 4:05 PM)

Harry Baker pre-preliminary postponed

A pre-preliminary hearing scheduled Oct. 5 was postponed for Harry Baker, president of Sierra Telephone. The pre-preliminary hearin is now set for 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30 at the Fresno County Superior Court.

Baker was charged with one count of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor. The incident with the minor allegedly took place in Fresno in May 2007. Baker, 83, was arrested by Fresno police Oct. 5, 2009.

Walk for Children with Apraxia of Speech

The public is invited to participate in the "2011 Fresno, CA Walk for Children with Apraxia of Speech" event at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 at Woodward Park.

The walk is held to help bring awareness to the motor speech disorder as well as raise funds to benefit the nonprofit Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America.

On-site registration and check-in will begin at 7:30 a.m. Anyone interested in participating should contact walk coordinators Matt and Allyson Tapley at tapleypools@gmail.com. More information is available online at apraxia-kids.org/fresnowalk.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a very challenging and complicated neurological speech disorder in children. This little known disorder makes it difficult or impossible for children to accurately produce sounds, syllables and / or words despite having a good understanding of language.

All proceeds from the walk will benefit important funding for apraxia programs and research.

Calling all veterans

Minarets High School social studies teacher Daniel Ching is looking for veterans of foreign wars interested in sharing their stories with students.

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, the Minarets High School history department is hosting a Veterans Day dinner in the Minarets Gym.

Veterans attending the event will receive a free spaghetti dinner prepared by students and staff. Following dinner, students will interview veterans about their experiences. Students will go through workshops in order to prepare for the interviews and the conversations will be recorded using state-of-the-art equipment from the Minarets Media Department to create documentaries.

Veterans are being asked to contact the school so students can start the interviews.

Details: Daniel Ching, (559) 760-5042 or dching@mychawanakee.org.

"Forks Over Knives" movie to be shown

"Forks Over Knives," a film about how heart disease can be prevented and reversed with no need for bypass surgery, will be shown free at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18 at Willow Bridge Books in the Vons shopping center in Oakhurst. Details: (559) 692-2665.

Recycle-Bowl competition

Keep Our Mountains Beautiful, whose mission is to promote responsible stewardship of the land and resources of Eastern Madera County, has announced a nationwide recycling competition sponsored by Keep American Beautiful will begin Oct. 17 for elementary, middle and high-school students.

The competition is open to all U.S. schools and classrooms, with participants tracking and reporting how much recyclable material they collect for a chance to win prizes. The competition will run Oct. 17 to Nov. 12. At its close, the school in each state that collects the most recyclable material per capita will win $1,000. A national champion will be chosen from among the statewide winners and will receive an additional grand prize of $2,500.

Registration and information, including rules and regulations, is available at recycle-bowl.org, Recycle-Bowl's Facebook page, or on the website Earth911.

Rainy weather above 100-year average

A little more than three inches of rain fell in the Mountain Area Oct. 4 through Thursday, Oct. 6, exceeding the area's 100-year average accumulation for October, what's usually about two inches total, said Philip Messerschmitt, information services for the Bass Lake Ranger District, Sierra National Forest.

Last week's weather caused power outages for close to 17,000 Pacific Gas & Electric customers in the Mountain Area, with most outages lasting less than two hours, said Denny Boyles, PG&E external communications representative.

The weather originated off the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, bringing cold rain, hail and snow to the Mountain Area, Messerschmitt said, with snow falling as low as 7,000 feet.

Messerschmitt said snow fell on Peckinpah Ridge outside North Fork, a sign for many residents of what's to come.

"The old timers would say if we get snow on Peckinpah before the end of November, it's going to be a bad winter," Messerschmitt said.

This summer, the weather station in North Fork never recorded a day above 100 degrees.

Master herbalist to speak on stress

Coarsegold resident Wayne Pedranti will give a presentation 2 p.m. Saturday at Willow Bridge Books in the Vons shopping center in Oakhurst on stress and the use of specific herbs to combat its effects.

Short-term stress can be beneficial but chronic, long-term stress has been linked to cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease, depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia, autoimmune disease, schizophrenia and even the development of type-1 diabetes and asthma from stress during childhood.

Pedranti has written a book about the effect of a class of herbs that increase resistance to stress, trauma, anxiety and fatigue -- including Eluethero Root, Rhodiola, Schiswandra, Ginseng and Astragalus. The knowledge of these herbs date back thousands of years to ancient China and India.

Pedranti was an aerospace engineer who enjoyed long-distance cycling. When a dose of heavy-metal toxicity and overtraining affected his cycling performance, Pedranti turned to natural health. He earned his doctorate in naturopathy and is a master herbalist. He is also a licensed coach with USA Cycling and USA Track and Field, and is a sports nutrition adviser.

Chance Gaal fundraiser Nov. 5

The Griswold Mountain Detachment #1121 of the Marine Corps League is holding a fundraiser 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5 in Oakhurst for Toran "Chance" Gaal, 24-year-old marine and former Yosemite High School graduate critically injured in June while serving in Afghanistan, losing both legs from an Improvised Explosive Device.

Volunteers will be in front of Raley's, Vons and True Value in Oakhurst collecting money in the name of Lance Cpl. Toran "Chance" Gaal for the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, a nonprofit that provides immediate financial support for injured and critically ill members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families. The fund has helped Gaal and his family.

Cards can be sent to Gaal at LCPL Toran "Chance" Gaal, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, PRC/CRC/Building 7 Unit D, 3801 Miranda Ave., Palo Alto, CA. 94304.

Details: Mike Perreira, (559) 658-6311.

Marine Corps birthday celebration

The Griswold Mountain Detachment #1121 of the Marine Corps League is inviting the public to attend the Marine Corps' 236th birthday celebration Thursday, Nov. 10 with a dinner and dance at the Oakhurst Elks Lodge.

Details: Lynn Russell at (559) 683-8119 no later than Nov. 3.

County behavioral health board vacancies to fill

There are three vacancies on the Madera County Behavioral Health Board. The county is seeking to fill at least two of these three vacancies with a current or former mental health consumer/family member.

For those interested, applications are on the Madera County Behavioral Health Services webpage on the county's website madera-county, or can be obtained by contacting Judy Comer at (559) 675-7926 or jcomer@madera-county.com. Applications should be dropped off to Judy in the Behavioral Health Services Administration office -- 117 N. "R" Street -- or by mail to Behavioral Health Services, P.O. Box 1288, Madera, 93639.

Wasuma pumpkin patch

Wasuma's Annual Pumpkin Patch at Wasuma Elementary School in Ahwahnee is open 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 12 through Friday Oct. 14, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday Oct. 15.

The event is a fundraiser for the Wasuma Elementary School PTA, who host the pumpkin patch with donations from the community.

Bird researcher to speak tonight

Steve Simmons of Merced, a prolific bird-bander and researcher, will kick off the Yosemite Area Audubon Society's 2011-2012 program season tonight, Thursday Oct. 13, at 7 p.m. at the Mariposa Methodist Church parish hall at Sixth and Bullion streets in Mariposa with a slide presentation about his extensive work with nine different species of cavity-nesting birds.

Described as a "hero" and a "champion" of bird conservation, Simmons has banded more than 40,000 birds in 38 years of research. He also has several record-breaking accomplishments for cavity-nesting birds and will demonstrate some of his innovative ways of catching adult birds for banding. Steve has received several notable awards for his conservation work.

Simmons' free presentation will cover each bird's biology, nest box needs, banding techniques and research findings. The nine species he will feature in his presentation include American kestrels, barn owls, western screech-owls, burrowing owls, wood ducks, western bluebirds, ash-throated flycatchers, house wrens and tree swallows.

Soroptimist Soup & Salad Luncheon

Soroptimist of The Sierras is hosting a Soup & Salad Luncheon fundraiser for the nonprofit organization 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20 at the Oakhurst Community Center. Funds raised at the luncheon will help the group continue to give back to many local groups and schools in the Mountain Area.

Tickets for the homemade soups, salads, rolls, dessert and coffee or ice tea are $10, and are currently available at Mountain Milk & Cream and Oakhurst Giftworks. Take-out will be available.

Details: For tickets or additional information, call (559) 683-7027.

Children exposed to domestic violence workshop

"Supporting Children Exposed to Domestic Violence" workshop will be held from 6-9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19 at the First Baptist Church, 49547 Road 427 in Oakhurst.

Those who should attend include foster families, kin caregiver families, pre-adoptive and adoptive families, those exposed to domestic violence, families who care for those exposed to domestic violence and community members.

The event is funded by Madera County Department of Social Services.

Register for free at (559) 662-1793.

Magic show & dinner

North Fork Elementary School will have a Spaghetti Dinner & Magic Show Friday, Oct. 14 in the school's Kennedy Hall featuring renowned magician Christopher Lopez.

Dinner starts at 5:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. Dinner tickets are $5 each or four for $18. Magic show tickets are $3 each or four for $10.

Details: (559) 877-2215.