Document text
37 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, March 11, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend December 31, 2003 Erlene Thomson of Trail holds her sign on Vogel Plaza in support of President Bush and her soldier grandson. Looking back: The top stories of 2003 Staff reports War, Wal-Mart and budget woes head the Mail Tribune’s list of top stories for 2003. Here’s a recap of the local stories that made the biggest headlines: 1. Warring opinions . The war in Iraq came home to the Rogue Valley as local residents hotly debated its pros and cons. One anti-war activist burned an American flag in Ashland, causing war supporters to see red. A group known as the Women in Black demonstrated its support for peace with silent vigils in Medford and Ashland. War supporters, dubbing themselves People in White, followed suit, although they were boisterous. Six young people from Jackson and Josephine counties have been wounded in the war so far. Advertisement Some 125 local Oregon Army National Guard members were deployed in November to Fort Hood, Texas, to train for duty in Iraq. They are expected to arrive in Iraq this spring. 2. Closed doors. Local school districts were forced to cut days last spring when the defeat of Measure 28 caused $95 million in reductions to K-12 education in Oregon. Medford, Rogue River, Eagle Point and Phoenix-Talent each cut 10 days, Ashland, eight, and Central Point, five. Budget woes and declining enrollment also forced Ashland to close its 53-year-old Briscoe Elementary School in June. Students were reassigned to Walker and Helman schools. 3. Supersized stores. Wal-Mart’s announcement last summer that it planned to build two Supercenters in the Rogue Valley drew both outrage and elation from local residents. Planned at more than 200,000 square feet each, the megastores also drew concern from traffic planners about their effect on the Hamrick Road/East Pine Street intersection in Central Point and the south interchange in Medford. The supersized controversy was especially heated in Central Point, where the announcement spawned a new citizens group, a mailer campaign by Wal-Mart, a meeting that drew more than 200, and three traffic studies. 4. Record-setting session. Sen. Lenn Hannon, a 30-year veteran of the Legislature from Ashland, announced his resignation this month to take an appointment to the state Board of Parole. Hannon’s announcement came after the longest legislative session in Oregon’s history. Lawmakers struggled for 227 days to hammer out a compromise plan to plug a gaping hole in the budget. That plan, to raise $800 million through an income tax surcharge, was challenged by anti-tax groups who gathered enough signatures to put the matter to a vote in February. Hannon’s departure will create a potential power struggle in a Senate that is evenly divided among Republicans and Democrats. 5. Defeated initiative. A controversial measure that would have required a public vote on road projects was rejected 3 to 1 by Medford residents in November. Measure 15-49, supported by the Eastside Neighborhood Association, would have required voter approval for any city road project involving the state or federal government. Proponents said they were left out of the public input process on the south Medford interchange project as well as other city/state projects. Opponents said the amendment was written too broadly and would have resulted in project delays because of elections, thereby causing missed deadlines and loss of funds. 6. Problem roads. There was good news and bad news when it came to Jackson County’s infrastructure in 2003. The good news: The state Legislature in July approved a $2.5 billion package that will replace 20 of Jackson County’s 53 Interstate 5 bridges, among other projects; it also passed a $1.3 billion package in November in which Jackson County will receive $97 million for interchange and Medford city projects. The bad news: The reconstruction of Siskiyou Boulevard inconvenienced Ashlanders all summer, and two Medford bridges over Bear Creek were closed to heavy loads because of cracks. 7. Fully funded Greenway. After 30 years of scrounging for nickels and dimes, Bear Creek Greenway supporters received two windfalls within one week. On Nov. 12, the Oregon Lottery announced a $1.5 million grant to build the last uncompleted sections of the 18-mile bike-and-pedestrian path along Bear Creek. Three days later, federal officials announced the Greenway had qualified for $2 million in federal transportation funds. The bike path, which first surfaced as a concept in the 1890s, will be finished in conjunction with Medford’s south interchange on Interstate 5. 8. Toll-free calling. Rogue River in May received a toll-free calling zone all the way to Medford, thanks to the efforts of an angry Qwest customer named Shayne Maxwell. But she didn’t stop there. Maxwell is continuing her mission to connect the entire Rogue Valley into one local calling zone. All four phone companies servicing Jackson and Josephine counties and Glendale in Douglas County have submitted their proposed rates for the new calling zone. The 17 separate regions within the new zone are reviewing the costs. A decision on final rates is expected in May, with toll-free calling set for October. 9. Scrutinized domiciliary. The Department of Veterans Affairs announced in July that it is considering closing in-patient services at the former domiciliary in White City. A public hearing in October drew some 900 people in opposition to the proposed change at what is now known as the Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics. The facility houses slightly more than 500 inpatients while serving more than 8,000 outpatients. The VA, which is also looking at the potential to expand outpatient services at SORCC, won’t make a decision on the proposal until early next year. 10. Funded historical society. Ending a two-year legal battle, the Southern Oregon Historical Society and Jackson County resolved an ongoing dispute over funding. The county agreed to give the society enough money through 2007 to give it a chance to develop other funding sources. The county wanted to be able to end funding in 2007 because federal timber subsidy money totaling $19 million could dry up. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times