A host of new events and activities will be introduced at Mountain Heritage Days to be held at Fresno Flats Historical Park on Saturday and Sunday, September 16 and 17.
    The Saturday-morning parade will feature some special entries from out of town.
    Coming from the Valley will be the Madera Method Wagon Train, manned by a group of elementary students who will demonstrate how they learn first-hand California’s history by living it.
    The two covered wagons will be escorted by a group of outriders, all under the leadership of Wagonmaster Steve King.
    A rather different wagon train making its inaugural appearance is the Mountain Bear Club’s Teddy Bear wagons.
    The Shrine clowns and related units will be on hand as will the Springville Rodeo Flag Team. The former are cycle-riding clowns, and the latter a 12-member team of young ladies who perform a special flag drill on horseback.
    Led by Darcy Dimmitt of Lindsay, the riders serve as special ambassadors to the Springville Rodeo held each April.
    The Madera High School marching band will perform during the parade, as will the local Wild Wonderful Women Kazoo Band and Precision Drill Team, both first-time entries in the parade.

    COARSEGOLD — “General Plan for the Community of Coarsegold” was the title of a 1968 document discovered by accident at the Madera County Library by Mark Steinberg.
    Mr. Steinberg, a board member of Coarsegold Area Plan Association, turned the discovery over to CAPA moderator Ken Archer. (CAPA is busy developing a new Area Plan for Coarsegold — an area plan being a general guideline on how a community ought to grow.)
    With the discovery in hand, the searcher began to learn more about it, who helped create the plan, whatever happened to it, and why was it totally ignored in the creation of the present, outdated 1980 Area Plan.
    Leonard Garoupa, county planning director, says he was aware of the plan, and in fact he had two complete “record copies” in the county Planning Department’s possession. Mr. Garoupa furnished a copy of the 1968 plan to CAPA.

    MADERA — To what extent is a full-service and full-time court needed at the Bass Lake Government Center?
    Officials of the Madera County courts are reviewing the judiciary needs of the Mountain Area now to help answer that question.
    The bench at the center has been without a full-time judge since Mountain Area Judge Thomas B. Fletcher was suspended and subsequently removed from office (story in the Sierra Star of July 21).
    With Governor Davis expected to appoint a judge to fill the judiciary vacancy in the near future, many EMC residents are concerned about what the appointment will mean to the Bass Lake bench (story in the Sierra Star of September 1).
    Charles Wieland is the assistant presiding judge of the Madera County Courts. Judge Wieland’s comments were not received in time for inclusion in the story of September 1.

    A pursuit by Madera County sheriff’s deputies Tuesday resulted in a captured suspect, a wrecked car, and a second suspect who escaped.
    A report of two belligerent adult men challenging others to fight them brought deputies to the Old Mill Village at about 1:40 p.m.
    As the deputies arrived at the scene, the two men fled on foot toward the bridge where Highway 41 crosses the Fresno River.
    In the chase that followed, a detective in an unmarked car crashed headfirst into a ditch along the roadway. The officer was not injured.
    Deputies caught one of the men — Keith Shoshone, 36, of Coarsegold.
    Mr. Shoshone was arrested for public intoxication and for fighting in a public place.
    The suspect who escaped is described as approximately 19 years old, tall and thin, with dark, short hair, wearing a white T-shirt and dark pants.