Big Valley News & Radio

Big Valley News & Radio You've found it here at Big Valley News & Radio. In 1989 Jack Porter opened a small bulletin board system (BBS) in Madera called Zen Den Systems. Ms. Mr.

Imagine a website that covered news from Modesto to Tulare, a website that welcomed the community to share its voices, and a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week radio station with seven decades of classic rock. The one line BBS ran on the commercial Wildcat software, while many of the other boards in the area used a free software called Opus. ZDS was a part of the FIDO-Net system at the time and there was contr

oversy with the Fresno boards because of it. For the next five years the bulletin board grew and was named the 11th most popular board in North America by Boardwatch Magazine in 1991. As the Internet grew in popularity, bulletin boards faded away. ZDS, however, Mr. Porter found a home on the Internet with a new name: The California County Connection. The country music website followed the entertainment scene around Northern California as it related to country music. Nearly every country star to make an appearance in the Valley was on the California Country Connection. It was when an artist named Garth Brooks sat down with us for an interview the site's founder got the idea for a local Internet portal called Madera Online. Madera Online began as an Internet portal on August 4, 1997 with community information about the city of Madera. We would run press releases from service clubs and provide information about local events. Then we got a call from a local business that changed everything. He was facing an unfair situation at the hands of one of Madera's city council members and asked us for help. On August 29, 1997 we became a newspaper. MJ Nabors, who ran the Madera County Action Agency, had a skateboard park in Berry Construction industrial complex off of Pine Street in Madera. In the complex was a skateboard shop that was being provided free rental space at the skate park. The Madera business owner was also in the skateboard business and wanted to see the agreements between the shop and the Action Agency. Nabors fought public access to any of her agency's records claiming the Madera County Action Agency was not a public entity despite the fact that she was a county employee. Porter received threatening letters from the agency's attorney Russ Ryan who also claimed the agency had no obligation to turn over any records. The agency's board members were told not to talk to us and it seemed like we hit a wall with our story. After a month long investigation by Madera Online the Madera County District Attorney finally ordered Nabors to turn over the agency's public records. After this experience with Madera's local government, Jack Porter and Madera Online was in the news business. For the last fifteen years we have broke many of the biggest stories in Madera County. When a police officer shot a man in the back of a squad car, we were there. We were the first to write about the district attorney's extortion complaint and the lawsuits against the county because of it. After a while there were two types of readers on Madera Online: the ones that loved us for our truthful stories and the ones that hated us because of our truthful stories. In 2005 we acquired several new domains with the Big Valley theme but never did anything with them until late 2009. At that point we teamed up with a web designer and built the website you are on today. We are quite proud of what we have built. With the change in the sites name to Big Valley News (BVN) we intend to cover more of the Central Valley. Expect to see stories about Fresno and Clovis, as well as Madera. In time we hope to expand to the north into Merced County. Only time will tell where we will go from here. We have come along way from the small little one line bulletin board and we have a lot further to go. Keep an eye on BigValleyNews.com.

10/20/2025

A chunk of the internet has been taken offline.

This Shocked Me. RIP it Out you Rock Soldier. God Bless the Spaceman.
10/16/2025

This Shocked Me. RIP it Out you Rock Soldier. God Bless the Spaceman.

The cause of death wasn't immediately released. Frehley fell in his studio in September and had recently canceled his 2025 tour dates.

This place was great. I'm glad it's back. Check it out for yourself.
10/15/2025

This place was great. I'm glad it's back. Check it out for yourself.

10/13/2025

Our final crop of Sweet Corn is ready today. Picking Saturday 10/11- Sunday & Monday - get it now

RIP
10/13/2025

RIP

She brought an unconventional personality to scores of roles on television and in movies ranging from zany comedies like “Sleeper” to piercing dramas like “The Godfather.”

10/07/2025
10/07/2025

Fresno County Reads
October 1 - November 30

A Fresno County Public Library program that encourages our county residents to come together to read the same book and participate in enjoyable activities related to its themes. The program creates an opportunity to promote literacy and foster a sense of community.

This year's selection is the uplifting biographical memoir Finding Gobi by Dion Leonard: "The New York Times bestselling true story of an Australian ultramarathon runner and a little dog who formed an unbreakable bond in the middle of the Gobi Desert." ~ Publisher Thomas Nelson.

Finding Gobi books are available for Adults, Young adults, and Children.

Please click below to see our program listings for an exciting opportunity to meet Mr. Leonard and his dog Gobi at a Fresno County Public Library event!

bit.ly/fresnocountyreads2025

10/07/2025

We will be hosting a candlelight vigil here for our Officer Raymond Barrantes at the Chowchilla Police Department, this Thursday at 8pm.

We also have a memorial set up inside the departments public entrance. If you would like to leave a message in one of the message books inside for his family or leave flowers or whatever you feel compelled to do, this area is set up for that.

I have a friend from Hanford who, along with his wife, sold their house and has been traveling the world for the last ye...
10/07/2025

I have a friend from Hanford who, along with his wife, sold their house and has been traveling the world for the last year, creating YouTube videos. Their channel is about to hit its first thousand subscribers, and I wanted to share this with my readers.

Take a look at the page and see if this is something you'd like to subscribe to. I want to travel the country in a camper van. They are on all the world's biggest cruise ships, planes, and even trains.

If you want to learn some great travel hacks to make your trips more affordable, check it out.

Come taste life with us as we travel the world full time as nomads experiencing cultures, wine, craft beer, food, nature and wildlife. We crave new places and new experiences and can't wait to share them with you, including tips on how you can explore as well, using travel hacks to afford living lif...

10/06/2025

It's the First Monday in October. Hopefully they do what is best for America.

10/06/2025

The Central Valley's Most Popular Independent News Website & Online Radio. News happens more than two days a week. Log on now when your news can't wait until Wednesday or Saturday morning. News, Weather, Sports, Entertainment and Photos for Fresno, Madera, Merced, Clovis and the Cenral Valley. Click...

Address

Madera, CA
93637

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 3pm
Friday 9am - 3pm

Telephone

+15594926354

Website

https://www.BVNRadio.com/

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