Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-09
One of the joys of journalism, particularly in covering the arts scene, is the satisfaction of sitting down to chat with creative subjects. Those people abound in the movie business, and in 2017, I had the pleasure of interviewing a range of folks on both sides of the camera who had a wide spectrum of age and experience between them. Flipping through my notes from those sessions, I picked out seven voices that had either the most interesting or the oddest things to say about their work or themse
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
Simultaneous high-profile murder investigations and tensions between two police agencies may have sparked the meltdown of the state-of-the art, multi-agency Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force, court documents suggest.  The task force was founded in 2007 by Josh Moulin, an ambitious lieutenant at the Central Point Police Department who in three years expanded the lab’s reach into nine Southern Oregon counties and oversaw hundreds of digital investigations, many of them child
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
A relationship can sometimes grow and mature, go off track and collapse, or never begin at all based on luck and the most tenuous of circumstances. "Constellations," by British playwright Nick Payne, uses the concept of parallel universes to explore the different paths one relationship could take. The Ashland New Plays Festival is presenting a one-night-only dramatic reading of the two-person play at 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 8, at the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship center, 87 Fourth
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
The Rogue Valley's caffeinated culture has long been perked by its ubiquitous array of coffee kiosks, shops and drive-thrus. From corporate coffee king Starbuck's to the avant-garde Dutch Bros., laid-back Good Bean locations and one-off Limestone Coffee Co., there's a coffee drink for every palate. With so much competition, it can be hard to stand out. By one recent measure, however, the Human Bean Drive Thru has carved out a growing space in the coffee universe. Entrepreneur magazine ranked Hum
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
A year after the wine press and judges gave regional tourism a major boost, yet another shot in the arm is on the horizon. With Country Crossings headed for The Expo July 27-30, thousands of folks will converge on Central Point, spending money throughout the Rogue Valley. "Just watching the scope of and preparation for that event, and the social media buzz, I think it's going to be a very successful program," said Brad Niva, Travel Southern Oregon's executive director. "When you compare it to a
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
The U.S. Army on Monday limited the number, location and type of tattoos it will allow on its troops, but that hasn't slowed the steady stream of soldiers seeking ink. The new regulations are part of a drive to "project a more professional image" in the Army after the Iraq War, a period when services needed recruits and had looser standards around tattoos, said Air Force Staff Sgt. Daniel Haymore, a Medford recruiter. The Air Force in 2011 updated its standards to prohibit "excessive" tattoos, o
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
Lee Ragsdale, who succeeded the legendary Bill Bowerman and preceded the equally prominent Fred Spiegelberg as head football coach at Medford High School, died March 4 in a Medford retirement home. He was 91. Ragsdale coached just four seasons for the Black Tornado ' 1948 through 1951 ' before becoming an administrator for the rest of his career as an educator. Nonetheless, Ragsdale, a tall, reserved and eloquent man, left his mark on Black Tornado football. He posted a 26-9-2 record and guided
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
Oregon Conservatory of Performing Arts is serving up a trio of plays featuring young actors from around the Rogue Valley. This is the organization's ninth summer of "Magic of Summer" theater camps for young actors ages 6 to 19. Last week the group staged Shakespeare's "As You Like It." Directed by Oregon Stage Festival's Tyrone Wilson, the play featured 13 young performers ages 12 to 19. This was Wilson's sixth year of teaching for OCPA. Up next is "Treasure Island: The Musical," an adaptation o
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
What are the laws about marijuana consumption around children now that using recreational marijuana is legal in Oregon? — No name given Putting aside moral questions about using drugs around children, from a strictly legal perspective people using marijuana with children present should be cautious to avoid running into legal trouble. Law enforcement officers, the Jackson County District Attorney's Office, the courts and child welfare investigators could get involved under certain conditio
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-01
By any measure, it's been an unusual season at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. But the Ashland theater showcase received some good news Saturday with the announcement of a Tuesday, Aug. 2, re-opening for the damaged Bowmer Theatre. In a press release to festival members and posted on its website, OSF Executive Director Paul Nicholson said the Bowmer — closed since June 18 after the discovery of a fractured main support beam — would be operational earlier than anticipated. "We had no
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
A nonprofit founded by a Medford High School graduate that’s bought then abolished millions of dollars worth of unpaid medical debt is now looking to help Rogue Valley residents. At any given moment, more than $1 million worth of Southern Oregonians’ medical debt is placed on the market for debt buyers, who purchase it in portfolios and sell the debt to collection agencies, according to Jerry Ashton, founder and executive vice president of the New York-based nonprofit RIP Medical Debt . In four
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
Gary Bossingham of Medford has little left to his name after the years-long abuse he endured from a woman who was neither friend nor family. But as he laughs and flexes a muscle with the son his convicted abuser once told him had died, Bossingham now lives a life surrounded by love. On March 10, 2017, Bossingham weighed 115 pounds and was barely cognizant when Karin Franziska Boldt, 58, rolled him into Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center “a day and a half away from death,” says his son, Bryan B
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
It is the opening week of “UniSon” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a world premiere performance based on August Wilson’s poetry. What a perfect time to open this play: April was National Poetry Month and April 27 was Wilson’s birthday. Not just poetry, or rap, or hip hop, though all of these add texture to the story, “UniSon” is a play about words, a public expression of a private landscape. “UniSon,” by OSF’s repertory ensemble,
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
With Oregon Wine Experience activity rippling through the next few weeks, August has become a pivotal month for the Rogue Valley wine industry. “Oregon Wine Experience is the linchpin-event in our cycle, culminating the year, and then we transition into harvest,” said Barbara Steele, co-owner and winemaker at Cowhorn Vineyard & Garden. Four Masters of Wine and two nationally renowned wine writers will assess close to 350 wines from nearly 100 Oregon wineries during OWE judging this weekend at th
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
A Medford man who stole a vehicle, instigated a high-speed car chase and caused a crash resulting in serious injuries has been sentenced to 14 years in prison. Michael Ray Provencio, 36, was sentenced Thursday by Jackson County Circuit Judge Lorenzo Mejia after being convicted of second-degree assault, third-degree assault, unauthorized use of a vehicle and attempting to elude the police, according to a release from the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors say Provencio stole a
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
Britt Orchestra The orchestra, conducted by Teddy Abrams, will present New York City composer Gabriel Kahane’s “ emergency shelter intake form, ” a new piece co-commissioned by Britt Festivals and the Oregon Symphony, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 27, at North Medford High School, 1900 N. Keene Way Drive. Also, soprano Measha Brueggergosman will perform the solo in Respighi’s “Pines of Rome.” Tickets are $45 for premium reserved seating, $25 for general reserved seating, $20 for lawn seating, $10 fo
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
The Medford School Board appointed a newcomer to fill the vacancy left by former board vice-chair Michael Campbell at a special meeting Wednesday evening. Tod Hunt, a Realtor, former member of the Medford Planning Commission and parent of two South Medford High School students, will finish out the term of Campbell’s seat, which will expire June 30, 2019. Hunt’s appointment comes as the final of several recent shifts on the School Board. As Campbell vacated both his seat and the vice-chair positi
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-02
When incoming sophomore Brayden Preskenis arrives at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, this weekend, in addition to taking the usual books, clothes and a computer, he’ll be bringing along something most other students won’t: his own house. That he built himself. This tiny house is more than just a home on wheels. The five-year process of raising money for and building the 128-square-foot house (with a 3-foot porch) has been long and arduous. But it also has taught Brayden a great deal
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-02
Our host leads us to our table — set for two-and-a-half — at Alchemy Restaurant and Bar . The area is partially partitioned from the main dining room by a pony wall and column, perhaps the perfect place to seat a tired couple and their potentially fussy 9-month-old baby. The waiter greets us cordially with a brand-new highchair. This is Alchemy’s only highchair, as if to send a message to other restaurant goers that one baby is enough. He gives our son, Niko, the same respect he would grant a di
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-03
A peek at a rehearsal of Teen Musical Theater of Oregon’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” promises a fast-paced, colorful visual and musical treat for kids and adults alike. The cast features 37 teens who attend more than a half-dozen public and private schools, as well as several who are home-schooled, six TMTO alums and recent graduates, and local actor Collin Goldman. With lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” is the