The Fresno Bee from Fresno, California • SA1

THURSDAY A1 OAKHURST-STAROAKHURST STAR 1 Logical Page is 19:39 6 58015 93644 1 Vol 57, No. 49 Oakhurst Thursday, October 02, 2014 75 cents Juvenile arrested for 13 arson firesINSIDE BY DEBBIE SEBASTIAN Community Correspondent Two young artists, CJ (Corey) Carlson and his sister, Hannah, will be showing theirart this weekend during the 12th annual Sierra Art Trails. These student artists arejust two of the six sponsored, mentored students participating in this event Friday through Sunday. CJ has been studying with jewelry artist and metal smith, Merylyn Whited. The main tools he has been using to create his jewelry pieces are a saw and a drill, and many have been crafted from reclaimed items.

is the easiest to work CJ said. A bolo tie featuring a horse head in copper and aluminum is one of the pieces he will be showing. try to conserve as much metal as we possibly CJ explained. look through scrap metal to see if something we can A used, braided belt was repurposed into part of a bracelet. See TRAILS A6 INSPIRED ART Chukchansi grant requests total $4.1 million Mountain Area schools apply for nearly $400,000 in grants BY BRIAN WILKINSON Cal Fire investigators arrested a 15-year-old Yosemite High School student for allegedly in- tentionally starting 13 fires in the Oakhurst area over the past several months.

The juvenile was arrested last Friday. Prior to his arrest, three Cal Fire law enforce- ment officials served a warrant at the juve- home. Fire investigators had installed video cameras on John West Road and Jean Road West during the investigation, and had the home under surveillance for a num- ber of days prior to his arrest. The 13 fires were all suppressed relatively quickly and no structures were destroyed or damaged by any of the fires, although the fires had residents in the area on edge. Norm Hill and his wife Robbie live on Jean West Road where they experienced six nearby fires between July and September.

God this person has been Norm said. thank Cal Fire enought. They have been totally professional through this whole Due to his age, the name of the suspect was not released. The Madera County Public De- office is representing the juvenile. Cause of Courtney Fire The accidental cause of the Sept.

14 Court- ney Fire that destroyed 30 Bass Lake Heights homes was an area resident setting fire to burn deer remains when the fire quickly spread to nearby dry vegetation. Cal Fire investigators and the Madera Coun- ty Department have not released the name of the individual. The fire burned 320 acres as it quickly trav- elled north and up a ridge to Crane Valley Road (426), jumped the road into the Bass Lake Heights subdivision and continued north- west, burning to the edge of Bass Lake. The cost of suppressing the fire and the loss of homes and 28 garages and storage sheds (and contents), 17 vehicles, and damage to other homes has been estimated at well over $12 million. According to Cal Fire, 650 firefighters and 100 fire engines from throughout the state, along with six helicopters, four bulldozers, and 13 water tenders fought the blaze that took five days to bring to full containment.

Road the main artery between Oakhurst and North Fork, was closed to public traffic for five days. EMC SPCA Animal Faire Page A5 Smokey Bear Mountain Life, Page A7 BY BRIAN WILKINSON Sixty-nine Chukchansi Community Grant requests totaling $4.1 million have been submitted by Madera County schools, clubs and organizations. This is the eighth year of a 10-year grant program that pro- vides $1 million in community grants from the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, owners of the Chukchansi Gold Resort Casino in Coarsegold. More than half of the requests, 37, to- taling $2.29 million are from Eastern Mad- era County. The $4.1 million in requests is less than half the amount ($8.4 million from 116 requests) requested in 2011.

Last year, the requests totalled $7.3 million. The Yosemite Lakes Volunteer Fire- fighters submitted three grant requests to- taling $670,000 of the requests made and of the $1 million available. The three grants are for two fire engines, a fire rescue crew cab and a fire breathing support unit. Rivergold Elementary School submit- ted two requests for a combined for Chukchansi Park and a technology upgrade. Other Mountain Area schools seeking funds include Minarets High School ($60,000 for athletic facilities), North Fork Elementary School ($54,000) for Ipads for first graders, a fitness program, and a Native American plant garden, and Yosemite High School ($41,300) for a ro- botics program.

Over the first seven years of the grants, Yosemite Unified School District has re- ceived $571,537, followed by Madera Uni- fied with $408,100, and Chowchilla Ele- mentary School District with $246,000. Other sizable grant requests have been submitted by the Economic Development Corporation of Madera County ($160,000 for an Eastern Madera County convention bureau), Coarsegold Community Center ($150,000 for repairs and improvements), Indian Lakes Estates Property Owners As- sociation ($135,643 for fire safety and playground improvements), Camarena Health ($114,776 for Oakhurst dental ser- vices), City of Madera Parks Community Services ($105,200 for soccer field light- ing), and the Oakhurst Area Chamber of Commerce ($101,207 for safety and secu- See GRANTS A6 PABLO LOPEZ The Fresno Bee The law finally caught up with Harry Baker. The former Madera County su- pervisor was tossed into jail Wednesday for missing two court hearings in his long-run- ning felony child molestation case. A disheveled Baker, 86, ap- peared confused when Judge Jonathan Conklin ordered him held in the Fresno County Jail without bail. To settle his nerves, Baker was told to take deep breaths by his lawyer, Roger Nuttall.

Conklin issued a warrant for arrest on Monday after Baker skipped his second straight court hearing. In issuing the warrant, Con- klin said Baker was testing the credibility because he had willfully missed a court hearing on the morning of Sept. 11. When Baker showed up in the after- noon, Conklin warned him to be on time at the next hearing or he would go to jail. Conklin also was upset with Baker because he failed to see two court-ordered doctors.

Con- klin had ordered the doctor ap- pointments to determine wheth- er Baker was competent to stand trial and assist in his defense on a charge of lewd acts with a 13-year-old girl in a Fresno motel room in 2007. Baker was a fugitive for three days before Nuttall arranged for him to appear in front of Conklin with hopes of keeping his client out of jail. Baker showed up to court Wednesday afternoon in a wheel- chair and wearing a rumpled coat and a baseball cap. When a bailiff told him to take the cap off, he did and said he was sorry. Nuttall told Conklin that Baker, while on the lam, had seen Fresno psychologist Dr.

Allan Hedberg. Nuttall said the goal was to get Baker into an inpatient mental hospital. According to re- port, Baker can remember things See BAKER A2 Fresno Judge sends Harry Baker to jail Badgers score three TDs Sports, Page B1 Calendar A10 Churches B11 Community News A2 Bill Atwood A12 Cathie Campbell A9 J.R. Froelich A12 KidsScoop B4 Mountain Life A7 Opinion A12 Obituaries B12 Peter Cavanaugh A12 Real Estate B3 Sports B1 SIERRA ART TRAILS DEBBIE TO SIERRA STAR ABOVE: Student Hannah Carlson will be showing her watercolors and pastels at this weekend's 12th Annual Art Trails. BELOW: One of CJ Carlson's featured pieces in the Art Trails, a bolo tie with a horse head in copper and aluminum..