CENTRAL CAMP – A man died in the flaming wreckage of his pickup truck early Saturday.
    California Highway Patrol says the motorist, a 23-year-old North Fork was driving east at an estimated 55 miles per hour on Malum Ridge Road [274] shortly after midnight when he allowed his vehicle to drift off the road.
    His identity was withheld until the coroner could notify the victim's relatives.
    CHP investigators conclude that the driver apparently turned abruptly to the left, causing him to lose control. His vehicle burst into flames after crashing into a tree.
    The driver received fatal injuries because of extensive burns, CHP Public Affairs Officer Gary Pilcher reports.

    The Bass Lake Teachers Association still has not reached a contract settlement with the Bass Lake School District, says Fred Clevenger, president of the teachers association.
    After four sessions of mediation, a contract mediator, David Ruiz, certified that "fact-finding is the next appropriate step in the search for an agreement, says Mr. Clevenger.
    In "fact-finding, a neutral panel will review the proposals of both parties in the negotiation process and make a report as to which seems to be the most reasonable. Their decision is not binding, says Mr. Clevenger.
    He says that salary remains a major issue in the talks. Both sides have made numerous proposals, none of which includes a cost-of-living increase for 1997-1998.
    "Efforts have been made to meet the teacher recruitment needs of the district, says Mr. Clevenger. The difference in the proposals concern the amounts of money and how the money is distributed on the salary schedule, he adds.
    The association negotiating team has made several offers to the district, says John Dewey, a negotiator for the teachers.

    Mountain Area residents again voiced deep concerns about the direction being taken by the Yosemite Area Regional Transportation Strategy (YARTS) at last Thursday's public meeting at Oakhurst Community Center.
    YARTS officials, along with representatives from Yosemite National Park, were in town to update citizens on progress, and to solicit comments. They certainly received comments – mostly negative.
    The problem seems to be that folks can't separate YARTS from the National Park Service (and Yosemite National Park), even though YARTS is not a NPS program.
    Mountain residents are so negative towards Yosemite's government overseerers that they transfer that attitude to YARTS, literally condemning YARTS because they so dislike the NPS.
    The YARTS representatives again explained in detail the history of the program, and brought the near-full-house up to date on its progress. They underlined that YARTS is the joint effort of the five gateway counties – Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Tuolumne and Mono – with input from the U.S. Forest Service, Caltrans – and the NPS.
    YARTS' objective is to find a way to respond to Yosemite's insistence that automobile traffic into the park must be reduced.