Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
Mail Tribune photographer Jamie Lusch snapped his reel spool tight to send his plug lure diving down in front of the driftboat when almost instantly a 10-pound summer steelhead leaped skyward with that shiny plug in its mouth. After several long runs, three more jumps provided jpeg moments that will make memories for Rogue anglers such as Lusch, and leave Portland anglers longing for their steelhead season that wasn't. The Columbia River Basin and other Oregon coastal rivers are mired in terribl
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
Sport anglers will not see an expansion of the season for keeping wild Rogue River spring chinook salmon after state fish-policy managers opted against adding a month to the harvest season on the lower and middle Rogue. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission denied a petition Dec. 8 by two Curry County sport-angling groups to start the season for keeping wild spring chinook May 1 instead of June 1 on the lower and middle Rogue and conduct a five-year study on the impacts. Instead, the possibili
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
Recreational crabbers got the green light to return to the Southern Oregon coast and estuaries late Thursday after a marine toxin outbreak that has kept crab pots and rings dry since October was finally lifted. The commercial fleet will follow suit Sunday when deckhands can start setting their pots from Cape Blanco near Port Orford to the California border in preparation for Wednesday's official commercial opener here, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture. The sport fishery has been
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
OCEAN OUTLOOK COASTWIDE: Forecasts call for some good August summer fishing days this weekend, with conditions getting slightly worse as the weekend progresses. Forecasts call for 5- to 10-knot winds and 2-foot wind waves today, 5- to 15-knot winds and 3-foot swells Saturday and 10-knot winds with 6-foot swells Sunday, with winds up to 25 knots by evening. Very good to excellent lingcod and black rockfish catches have occurred out of Brookings when the weather has allowed. Blue rockfish catches
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
OCEAN OUTLOOK COASTWIDE: Forecasts call for scattered showers Friday and winds up to 15 knots with swells up to 6 feet, followed Saturday by 5-knot winds, showers and swells up to 6 feet. Sunday sees winds up to 10 knots and a 5-foot swell with some wind waves around 2 feet. The marine aggregate rockfish daily limit for bottomfishers is five fish. Anglers are allowed to fish for midwater rockfish species outside 40 fathoms using 30-foot leaders and floats to stay off the bottom. The midwater spe
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
OCEAN OUTLOOK COASTWIDE: Today and Saturday will bring 5-knot winds and 5-foot swells to the coast, followed Sunday by winds up to 30 knots and wind waves up to 10 feet. Halibut fishing is closed off the South Coast. That leaves only ocean bottomfishing outside the 40-fathom line. Thirty-foot leaders and floats are required to keep baits off the bottom and focused on midwater rockfish species. No lingcod, cabezon or other bottomfish can be targeted, even from jetties. Also open is fishing for sa
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
OCEAN OUTLOOK COASTWIDE: Forecasts call for wind and choppy seas on the coast, but conditions are still doable for rockfish and halibut. Today's forecast calls for winds between 5 and 15 knots, with 4-foot wind waves. Saturday calls for winds up to 20 knots and 5-foot wind waves. Sunday calls for winds up to 25 knots and 6-foot wind waves. Very good to excellent lingcod and black rockfish catches have occurred recently out of Brookings when the weather has allowed. Blue rockfish catches have bee
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
OCEAN OUTLOOK COASTWIDE: Today's forecast calls for 5-knot winds and swells up to 12 feet during the day, but petering down to 7 feet by evening. Saturday winds will kick up to 15 knots with swells to 9 feet, with similar conditions expected Sunday. Bottomfishers are back in business coast-wide with the new five-fish marine aggregate rockfish daily limit. Lingcod fishing is also in full swing, with some good early catches this week amid very calm seas. Anglers can fish all depths through March,
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
OCEAN OUTLOOK COASTWIDE: Forecasts today call for 5-knot winds and 7-foot swells, a residual effect from yesterday's gale warning. Saturday calls for much of the same, but the swells will drop to 4 feet. Sunday calls for winds up to 15 knots and swells to 6 feet. The marine aggregate rockfish daily limit for bottomfishers is five fish. Anglers are allowed to fish for midwater rockfish species outside 40 fathoms using 30-foot leaders and floats to stay off the bottom. The midwater species limit i
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
PORTLAND — A strangely calm and windless morning transforms the top of the Willamette River into a flat, glassy canvas that reflects the Rose City’s Sellwood Bridge just as high-slack tide stills the current. It’s one of those rare Portland mornings when winter takes a backseat to solemn sun for the five men in John Shmilenko’s powerboat, their fishing lines slicing through the surface uninterrupted by spring chinook salmon over the past four hours. “Patience,
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
Sport anglers are asking state fish biologists to add a month to the window time when they can keep wild Rogue River spring chinook salmon as part of a study to gauge whether angler pressure is a major factor in why the wild run here is depressed. Two Curry County sport-angling groups have petitioned the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission for a five-year experimental fishery that would allow anglers to keep wild spring chinook beginning May 1 instead of June 1 on the lower and middle Rogue. The
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
Recreational anglers in Southern Oregon will enjoy a 100-day ocean fishing season this year that targets fall chinook salmon bound for the Rogue River under season frameworks adopted Tuesday by federal fish managers. One year after a crash in Klamath River salmon returns triggered a full-scale closure to sport and commercial fishing off Southern Oregon and Northern California, coastal anglers will get an uninterrupted chinook season from May 19 through Aug. 26. The season framework, which includ
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
Republican Dennis Richardson of Central Point was holding onto a 67,000-vote lead late Tuesday night in the race for secretary of state, appearing likely to score a rare victory for a down-state Republican against a Willamette Valley Democrat in a statewide election. Richardson, a former state representative and gubernatorial candidate, was leading Democrat Brad Avakian, the state labor commissioner, by 4 percentage points. By phone from Salem, Richardson said he couldn't have won without the su
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
The feds say they want to take a look at what's making Cover Oregon sick. The U.S. Government Accountability Office announced Wednesday it will probe Oregon's failure to fully launch its federally funded health insurance exchange. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, demanded the GAO audit last month to account for the $304 million in federal money invested in Cover Oregon. "The investigation will help taxpayers get answers about what happened at Cover Oregon and the over $300 million that has been a
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
ROSEBURG — South Medford didn’t have to rely on its dynamic offense against Roseburg in Southwest Conference football Friday night. It was the Panthers’ defense that came up with the big plays en route to a 51-0 victory over the Indians at Finlay Field. The defense had a hand in three of the four first-half touchdowns by South Medford (6-1, 4-0 SWC). Trent Snyder blocked a Roseburg (2-5, 1-4) first-quarter field-goal attempt and Evan Dallas returned it about 70 yards to set
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
ROSEBURG — Vincente Borja’s kickoff return for a touchdown changed the momentum and North Medford came from behind to defeat Roseburg, 30-27 in overtime, in Southwest Conference play Friday at Finlay Field. After rallying to tie the game 24-all on a fourth-down scoring throw with about 20 seconds left in regulation, the Black Tornado (2-4, 2-2 SWC) won the game in overtime on quarterback Josh Robbins’ fourth touchdown pass of the night. The Black Tornado trailed 24-6 after S
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
BEAUREGARD, Ala. (AP) — Rescue crews using dogs and drones searched for victims amid splintered lumber and twisted metal Monday after the deadliest U.S. tornado in nearly six years ripped through a rural Alabama community. At least 23 people were killed, some of them children. Dozens were missing in Lee County nearly a day after the twister struck, according to the sheriff, who said that crews had combed the hardest-hit areas but that other places had yet to be searched. The winds Sunday a
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
SALEM — Cylvia Hayes, the girlfriend of former Gov. John Kitzhaber, used her official position for personal gain, an investigator with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission concluded in a report released Wednesday. Hayes was seeking backing, including salary and travel expenses, from private benefactors in order to develop clean energy and protect the ocean through her consulting firms. The report said she used her official capacity as an unpaid policy adviser in the governor's office a
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-05
If it hadn't been for construction workers who were leaving a job site near the Greensprings Monday evening, a young Klamath Falls man might not be alive today. Scott Richardson and Jim McWaters, who both live in Roseburg and work for Bureau of Reclamation contractor Suulutaaq, were headed home from work on the Hyatt Lake Dam when they saw a 2005 Subaru sedan losing control and heading for trees. By the time Richardson pulled over, the sedan had crashed between two trees and had caught fire. The
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2019-03-04
SALEM -- As the 2019 Legislature steams ahead, an army of 1,000 lobbyists is at work to gain political favors from the state's 90 legislators. Two years ago, special interests reported to the state that they spent $39 million on that effort. The most expensive lobbying effort in 2017 was staged by the Oregon Association of Realtors, followed by Western States Petroleum Association and the Oregon Nurses Association, according to spending reports required by the state. Oregon law requires those wh