Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-17
I’m trying to think of the best pop culture analogy to describe the relationship (if that’s truly the right word) between the former reality show star turned president and the former reality show star turned presidential aide turned tell-all author who’s waging a war of words with her five-time former boss. Thus far, the best comparison I can come up with is Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist. Ennis and Jack — for those who don’t have instant recall of character names (I had to look it up) — were the
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-17
For a superlative musician, Portland blues guitarist Terry Robb has flown under the radar during his long career. Fans may recall guitar slinger from his live shows in the late ‘80s at Jazmin’s (shuttered in ‘90) and the lounge in the Marc Antony Hotel (now Ashland Springs Hotel) in Ashland. “I used to have an electric blues band back then,” he says from his hotel room in Vancouver, British Columbia. “I had a trio and a quartet. Me, bass and drums. We were pretty intense. I’m still pretty intens
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-17
Felony arrests Money Laundering — Erin Elizabeth Abel, 24, of Calverton, New York. The Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement task force arrested Abel Wednesday on a felony charge of laundering a monetary instrument. She was booked in the Jackson County Jail Wednesday and released Thursday after posting bail. Money Laundering — Blake Gonzalez, 21, of Bell Port, New York. The Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement task force arrested Gonzalez Wednesday on a felony charge of laundering a monetary
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-17
The Oregon Department of Human Services and child welfare workers are being sued for up to $15.3 million over allegations they knowingly allowed two little girls to live in a White City mobile home with a registered sex offender and their half-brother, who both allegedly physically and sexually abused the girls. Lawyers for both sides said the case in Jackson County Circuit Court is still in its early stages, with no trial date set. Jill Schneider, attorney for the state, a child welfare worker
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-17
Oregon's two Democratic U.S. senators Wednesday pushed back against the still-unreleased Trump administration report recommending downsizing of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, citing inaccuracies and lack of transparency in its development. In a Wednesday letter to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said the Trump administration has yet to share the August report with them. They've seen only a leaked version that included mistakes, they said. Among
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-17
WASHINGTON — Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, is a big poker player, traveling to Indian casinos in Oklahoma several times a year to try his hand — don't say "luck," since the lawmaker insists that it's a game of skill. So he wants all lovers of the game to be able to play anytime, and that means online. "Poker is the all-American game. I learned to play poker, believe it or not, in the Boy Scouts," Barton said Tuesday at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing. "If you learned som
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-26
NEW YORK (AP) — Playwright Neil Simon, a master of comedy whose laugh-filled hits such as “The Odd Couple,” ‘’Barefoot in the Park” and his “Brighton Beach” trilogy dominated Broadway for decades, has died. He was 91. Simon died early Sunday of complications from pneumonia while surrounded by family at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, said Bill Evans, his longtime friend and the Shubert Organization director of media relations. In the second half of the 20th century, Simon was the Am
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-21
JACKSONVILLE — Oregon Wine Experience preparation is no mean feat. At first glance, one might suspect Rube Goldberg was in charge of the organizational flow chart for the Tuesday through Sunday celebration of the state’s wine industry. But the logistical details for the multiple-event party on the Bigham Knoll campus runs closer to clockwork than meets the eye. “What we’ve learned over the years, is that we’ve gotten good with working with a lot of different vendors and a lots of different peopl
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-21
If you want to get away from the wildfire smoke over the next few days, you likely have quite the trek ahead of you. The HRRR (high resolution rapid refresh) smoke model map, utilized by the National Weather Service, shows a massive wallop of smoke from numerous fires in Washington, Montana and Idaho — Canada, too — inbound to Oregon. That new dose of sooty haze is expected to loiter for at least a couple of days, with a chance of some clearing possible by late Wednesday, weather officials said.
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-20
Pacific Power has dropped a $137 opt-out fee for Oregonians who don’t want a smart meter installed at their residence, a company representative said Wednesday. Oregon’s Public Utility Commission Tuesday in Salem approved the utility’s request to drop the opt-out fee, Christina Kruger, regional business manager, told the Talent City Council, but a $36 monthly meter-reading fee remains. Talent was among the communities that raised concerns about the smart meters and opt-out fees, with the council
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-20
Drought, hot summer weather and continued draw-down for irrigation needs have Emigrant, Hyatt and Howard Prairie lakes headed toward their lowest levels since 2014, leading to recreation closures and threatening to inflict future water headaches. Emigrant and Hyatt lakes — which like Howard Prairie are actually reservoirs — are forecast to drop below 10 percent of capacity by the time the Talent Irrigation District halts its irrigation season in mid September. That’s at least two weeks earlier t
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-21
Felony arrests Contraband Conspiracy — Michael Jonathan Barrett, 43, no known address. Jackson County sheriff’s deputies arrested Barrett Friday on additional felony charges of conspiring to supply contraband and conspiring to deliver heroin. Talent police originally arrested Barrett July 27 on misdemeanor charges of second-degree criminal mischief and third-degree theft, and on warrants for failing to appear in court on previous charges of delivering and possessing heroin, delivering and posses
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-21
Citing more than two years of secret bathroom recordings of juvenile victims, federal prosecutors argue that a former Medford youth pastor should be sentenced as a “repeat and dangerous sex offender.” Prosecutors are seeking 188 months — more than 15 years in prison — for Donald Courtney Biggs, 40. Biggs, a former Mtn. Church youth pastor, pleaded guilty to a felony count of transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, admitting he transported a 14-year-old girl to Sou
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-21
Jackson County residents can help cut the local mosquito population by dropping off old tires this week. The Jackson County Vector Control District, located at 555 Mosquito Lane in Central Point, is hosting a free-drop off event from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. The event is for automobile tires only that are off the rim and not larger than 34 inches. People dropping off tires need to bring identification or a utility bill statement showing their home address in order to verify th
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-21
Longtime Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Walden now has a Democratic opponent, retired lawyer Jim Crary, 63, a resident of the Greensprings southeast of Ashland and an ardent supporter of campaign finance reform, climate change action and Bernie Sanders for president. Crary acknowledges that the opponent of the incumbent in the heavily red Second District, which mostly covers eastern Oregon, is something of a “sacrificial lamb,” but, at minimum, “I want to talk about a lot of
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-21
Medford resident Margie Prevatt knew pouring chemicals into the storm-water system was illegal, but it never occurred to her that washing her blue Dodge Dynasty also could be a violation if any of the sudsy water ran into a storm drain. "I hadn't thought about soap because it's biodegradable," said Prevatt, who vacuumed her automobile at a car wash on Riverside Avenue, "but you can see I haven't washed it in a while." A Medford city ordinance forbids pouring, draining or allowing runoff of any s
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-17
Opponents of a proposed natural gas pipeline and export facility rallied in Medford Thursday to urge the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to deny state permits for the project. Canadian energy company Pembina wants to build a 229-mile, 3-foot-diameter underground pipeline that would cut through several southwest Oregon counties on its way to a proposed export facility near Coos Bay. The Pacific Connector pipeline project and the accompanying Jordan Cove export facility are under review
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-17
The southern edge of the Klondike fire, burning only a few miles from Selma, has kept firefighters hopping since flames spotted across the river Saturday night and quickly became established about five miles up the Wild and Scenic Illinois River Corridor. The blaze has edged farther south, threatening vital communication towers on Eight Dollar Mountain, where a tongue of fire started climbing uphill. Fire managers had hoped to contain the Klondike north of Illinois River Road — a good defensive
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-17
Late Friday afternoon, Aug. 5, the Bureau of Land Management announced a Record of Decision for their Resource Management Plan, adopting their Final Environmental Impact Statement. Late Friday announcements are great media timing when you don’t want the issue to get much attention. But by the time the weekend was over a great number of Oregonians were preparing for battle. In fact, the American Forest Resource Council, a timber industry group, and Earth Justice, an environmental group, fi
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-17
David Calahan is hiking on a forested ridge above the Applegate Valley when he suddenly charges off the trail through dense buckbrush to a secret vista. Below us, the Applegate River and Highway 238 bisect a patchwork of farmland, and in the distance, ridge after forested ridge offer varying shades of green. On the horizon, Dutchman Peak rises the highest. "Four-fifths of this wild area we're in is brush and manzanita, but it has some of the last remaining low-elevation, old-growth forest in Sou