Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday appointed Manuel Nevarez to replace the departed Frank Bigelow on the Madera County Board of Supervisors.

Nevarez, a Madera resident, will face re-election in June 2014. That is when Bigelow's current term expires.

Bigelow, of O'Neals, won a seat last November in the state Assembly.

Nevarez has been an account executive at PMAC Lending Services Inc. since 2010 and owner of ACN Inc. since 2008. He is registered as "no party preference," which used to be known as "decline to state."

But between 2007 and last September, he was registered as a Republican. Through the early part of last decade, he was registered as decline to state.

Bigelow is a Republican, and the district -- which covers places such as Madera Ranchos and Yosemite Lakes Park -- leans GOP.

In addition to his work in the financial sector, Nevarez is a member of the Madera Community Action Network and chairman of the Madera Unified School District Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee.

The position, which does not require state Senate confirmation, pays $71,515 per year.

-- John Ellis

Nicole Parra goes global

In telling The Bakersfield Californian this week that she's not a candidate for the state Senate seat vacated last month by Michael Rubio, former Assembly Member Nicole Parra revealed her next career move.

Parra said she is taking a job as senior vice president for public affairs for Global Regenesis, a new company "centered on environmental stewardship and alternative energy based on biowaste fuel streams."

It will be located in the San Joaquin Valley and is the U.S. arm of a London-based operation, Parra told The Californian. Parra said she will be working in Sacramento, Washington, D.C., and London.

-- Bee staff