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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us May 31, 2005 Regional News New species of salamander found After years of checking genetics and morphology, scientists have determined the Scott Bar salamander — Plethodon asupak — represents a newly discovered species. The findings are published in the June edition of Herpetologica, the scientific journal focusing on the crawly creatures. Until now, the population of salamanders in that area were believed to be Siskiyou Mountain salamanders — Plethodon stormi — found in a small area of both the Klamath and Applegate river drainages. Because of its close relationship to the Siskiyou Mountain salamander, the new species will be treated the same when it comes to resource management around its habitat, said Judy McHugh, spokeswoman for the Klamath National Forest. That means any planned land management activities are designed so they don’t jeopardize the existence of the species, McHugh said. Full reservoirs good news for salmon Southern Oregon’s unusually wet spring has left the Rogue Valley’s two main reservoirs full heading into June, providing enough stored water to stave off fears of a major salmon die-off in the Rogue River this summer, biologists say. Despite a snowpack that remains half of average, releases from Lost Creek and Applegate reservoirs into the Rogue should be enough that less than 10 percent of this year’s returning chinook salmon will die from natural warm-water diseases. Prior to the April showers, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife projected a die-off of 26 percent of the spring chinook and 36 percent of the fall chinook from disease. But the National Weather Service is predicting a hotter than normal summer, which could put salmon in jeopardy while they migrate through the Lower Rogue Canyon and into the Rogue Valley. If hot weather persists, the ODFW plans to ask the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to spill an extra 20,000 acre-feet of Lost Creek water to curb an outbreak of the deadly columnaris disease among fall chinook, Satterthwaite said. Miles Field project in compliance Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries has found the city of Medford and a local baseball society are now in compliance with Oregon laws for the Miles Field replacement project. In a letter sent to the city last week, bureau compliance specialist Robert Russell said his investigation determined that the city and the Medford Youth Baseball Society are now functioning legally with a modified contract. He also determined that prevailing wages have been paid. The decision comes six months after a union representative alerted the city that the society did not seek competitive bidding before hiring Batzer Inc. to construct a stadium at the new Medford Sports Park on Highway 99. Ironworkers union representative Tom Rios filed a complaint with BOLI. Site preparation and construction had begun but was halted by the city after the complaint. Monster storm wracks Rogue Valley Lightning bolts tore through the night sky and thunderclaps shook house walls in the wee hours of Saturday morning as an intense electrical storm continued its assault on the region, sending 7,000 lightning strikes, a downpour of rain and dime-sized hail in some areas. The storm brought 7,015 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes from 2 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday in southwestern Oregon and Northern California. Unstable air and perfect timing contributed to the intensity of the storm, Nelaimischkies said. The trouble began with warm, moist air at the surface and an upper low pressure system on the Northern California coast. A band of energy came spinning off the upper low and hit the unstable air, resulting in thunderstorms, he said. Such storms are typical for this time of year, but they’re usually smaller and not so spectacular. Lightning strikes knocked out power brieflyfor more than 15,000 Pacific Power customers. At 7:30 p.m. Friday a high transmission line was hit by lightning and took out several substations, affecting 15,500 customers from Ashland to Dodge Bridge, he said. Coney said the lightning hit caused a surge to the system but no equipment damage, and power was back on in three minutes. Lightning strikes continued hitting power equipment all over the region throughout the night. 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