Document text
Medford: no-fly zone Photo by Jim Craven A pedestrian darts across Eighth Street through fog that shrouded Medford Thursday night. Fog is expected to last until Saturday. Fog shuts down airport Passengers sit calmly, or else take the bus By PAUL FATTIG Fern Davidson, an elderly piano teacher from southern Idaho, had just about had it. While she had enjoyed visiting her brother, Ed Nolte, in Ashland this past week, Davidson wanted to get back to Idaho for the holidays. "I'll hitchhike if I have to," she vowed Thursday as she waited with her brother at the fogged-in Medford airport. "This is very frustrating." But she was fogbound, like some 30 others hoping to catch a flight. Photo by Bob Pennell Jason Sangosuosso, standing in foreground, waits in line at the Horizon Air counter at the Medford airport Thursday as friend Jeffrey Garrovilo makes himself comfortable on the floor. Sangosuosso, a Southern Oregon University student, hoped to get home to Columbus, Ohio. "I guess there isn't much that can be done about it," she added. Indeed, not even Rudolph could have flown after Mother Nature poured fog as thick as eggnog into the Rogue Valley. No commercial flights were allowed in or out of the airport Thursday. Although a couple of flights took off during a brief window in the fog Wednesday afternoon, aircraft have been largely grounded for two days. When one flight from San Francisco bound for Medford was diverted to Eugene Thursday afternoon, passengers hopped aboard a bus to get to Medford. Three buses also left the Medford airport to take passengers north, courtesy of the airlines. "We usually lose a flight or two on some mornings, but we usually don't have this," said Craig Baldwin, the airport's administrative manager who has worked at the facility for 3 1/2 years. Fog seeding could not be done because the temperature above the fog must be freezing or below, Baldwin said. Sunshine above the fog has kept that temperature above freezing. "We're asking people to have patience," he said. "This does happen this time of year." He also urges travelers to keep in touch with airlines by telephone, using the airlines' toll-free numbers, and watch the weather reports. Although more fog was forecast for today, the National Weather Service office at the Medford airport called for patchy fog Saturday morning, followed by partial clearing and a light wind. Most of the passengers waiting at the airport Thursday were taking it in stride. "It hasn't been bad yet," said Jason Sangosuosso, a senior at Southern Oregon University who was trying to get home to Columbus, Ohio, to spend Christmas with his family. "But some of these people have been here since yesterday. I hope I'm not here that long." Eagle Point resident Rick Lemke, who owns a construction firm, was hoping to catch a flight to San Diego to visit his ill mother. "If it doesn't lift soon, I'll just wait and catch another flight, maybe after Christmas," he said. Portland-area teacher Lynn Scott had arrived in the Rogue Valley Tuesday night to attend a meeting Wednesday. She was scheduled to fly out Wednesday evening, but that was before the airport became shrouded in fog. "My parents live here -- I'm really lucky in that respect," said the 1981 graduate of Crater High School. But she was intent on returning to her home and family Thursday by taking a bus to Portland. "The people have been really nice here, but I have to get back to work," she said before getting back to nursing a large cup of coffee and reading a novel. Douglas Lodb, of Lafayette, La., vice president of technology for an Internet firm who was in Ashland on business, intended to make the best of the bad weather. He had spent some time working on a laptop computer as he waited. "If I can't fly out today? Then I'll stay through the weekend and go snowboarding," he said. But Carolyn Rogalla of Southern California and Mike Baker of Lodi, Calif., who had been in Medford on a business trip and were originally bound for Seattle and Portland meetings respectively, rented a car to head south together. They canceled their meetings up north. "But everyone has been really, really cool," said Baker, who was spending his time at the airport reading a book called "Strategic Selling." "If this had been Burbank or LAX, people would have gone nuts," he added. "Everyone here has been laid back about the whole thing." "This doesn't happen very often," Rogalla added. "It's just one of the things that happen sometimes when you travel." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA