Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-08
A winery outside Jacksonville hopes to host a variety of events that include food — without running afoul of a state law that blocks wineries from running restaurants on land zoned for exclusive farm use. Jackson County planning staff issued a preliminary denial of Rellik Winery’s plans, saying those plans may have morphed beyond what has been approved for the property. Jackson County Hearings Officer Roger Pearce heard from residents who largely are supportive of Rellik Winery during a public h
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-07
The animated musical adventure “Moana” is the cherry on top of a sweet year for Disney that also includes “Zootopia” and “The Jungle Book.” It’s also no coincidence that “Moana” gets the same Thanksgiving-week release that the juggernaut “Frozen” did in 2013. Those Disney execs are no fools. They are hoping lightning strikes twice. Will “Moana” reach “Frozen” heights? It could. The songs 
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-07
If you’re asking $350,000 or less for your Jackson County home, chances a buyer will snap it up by the official end of summer in late September. If your residence is priced north of a million dollars, however, chances are it will still be your home for the holidays in 2019. It boils down to supply and demand. “We have a two-month supply of homes for sale below $350,000,” said Terry Rasmussen, an agent with John L. Scott Real Estate in Medford. “It’s still a seller’s market if you’re below $350,0
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-08
An inversion layer that has trapped smoke in the valley over the past few days has aided firefighters as they create backburns to forge containment lines on both the Taylor Creek and Klondike fires. But all that intentional burning has helped funnel more smoke into the Medford area, lowering air quality to unhealthy levels. “Conditions are quite favorable with the inversion for strategic firing,” said Jennifer Berger, public information officer for Pacific Northwest Team 2. “But it adds to the s
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-08
State wildlife managers will spend the next year working up new proposed rules for protecting the rare Humboldt marten from trapping in Western Oregon while they study whether to pursue threatened or endangered status for the animals on the state level. On a 3-2 vote, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission bucked its own staff’s recommendation and accepted a petition from conservation groups to ban all marten trapping west of Interstate 5, ban “tree traps” in that same region, and ban all trapp
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-07
Today's First Thing podcast touches on these top stories: Smoke expected to persist in the valley. Full story here . Wildfire price tag hits $135 million in S. Oregon. Full story here . Recreation, theater hit hard by cancellations due to smoke. Full story here . Listen to other Mail Tribune podcasts at www.mailtribune.com/podcasts . Reach web editor Ryan Pfeil at [email protected] or at 541-776-4468. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ryanpfeil .
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-09
If you’re a gamer, and you’ve played and been a fan of the Lara Croft series over the past couple of decades, the odds are that you’re going to like this reboot of what was hoped to be a film franchise starring Angelina Jolie as the action-loving, risk-taking, always-in-peril adventuress. Only two films were made — in 2001 and 2003 — neither of which earned positive reviews or massive box office. Still, the game itself remained popular, and had its own reboot i
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-09
Before making “Ready Player One,” Steven Spielberg had directed 30 feature films. There were ticket-selling triumphs (“Jaws”) and box office bombs (“The BFG”). There were somber studies of social issues (“The Color Purple”), haunting historical dramas (“Schindler’s List”), and science fiction flights of fancy (“A.I. Artificial Intelligence”). But it’s been a long time since Spielberg successfully la
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-09
Tarantino and the Coens have little to fear from Julius and Alston Ramsay, but the brothers’ imitation of those avant-garde vanguards is meant as the sincerest form of flattery in their attention-grabbing debut “Midnighters.” What they lack in originality is compensated by a determination to entertain the pants off of you with an engaging creation best described as horror noir. With a little imagination, you can interpret “Midnighters” as an allegorical represe
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-09
“Paddington 2,” the charming and funny follow-up to the charming and funny and money-making 2014 “Paddington,” opens with a surprise: A back story for the fuzzy, little, good-natured, oh-so-polite young bear who, in the first film, made his way from the peaceful jungles of Peru to the bustle of London, and a whole new way of life as part of the Brown family. It quickly jumps to the present, where Paddington (voice of Ben Wishaw) has settled in with slightly stuffy but
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-09
I see a lot of movies. In 2017, I saw 164 1/2 new ones (I walked out halfway through “The Ballad of Lefty Brown”), and a couple of days ago, made a list of every one of them. The verdict: It was a pretty darn good year to be a film critic. Looking over that list, a few were stinkers, a bunch were good but not great, and a handful were gems. The criteria for those that I consider the best of the best isn’t that they were the best; they were the ones that I would watch again w
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-09
It was inevitable that my predilection for the Marvel superhero movies made over the past decade — starting with “Iron Man” — would one day hit a snag. There was no film that gave me more fun last year than “Thor: Ragnarok.” So, it’s with much disappointment that I’ve got to call “Black Panther” a good try, but a misfire. Full disclosure: I knew nothing of the character beyond what was revealed of him — which wasnȁ
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-09
MOLLY’S GAME Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin With Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Jeremy Strong, Kevin Costner Rated R   Aaron Sorkin is a man of many words. Prizewinning words that have won Oscars and Emmys: for his adaptation of “The Social Network” and for his long run as the head writer on “The West Wing.” Through two-and-a-half decades he’s been coming up with words for actors to say. Now, taking the director’s seat for the first time
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-09
Matt Damon may be a well-known, high-paid movie star, but he’s just a regular guy. He’s normal looking, he’s of average height (average height for an American male is 5-foot-10, Damon’s exact height). But in the new science fiction comedy-drama “Downsizing,” Damon plays regular, normal, average, happily married Paul Safranek, an occupational therapist who recognizes that he and his wife are having financial difficulties, and looks into a method of dealin
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-09
Gary Oldman had been in a couple of movies and had done some British TV work before he landed his first starring role in the 1986 biopic “Sid and Nancy.” But it was that ferocious portrayal of Sex Pistols bass player Sid Vicious that really got him noticed, that set him on the road of landing, then nailing, the parts of bad guys in countless films. He was Lee Harvey Oswald in “JFK,” Dracula in “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” Dr. Smith in “Lost in
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-08
Are you a student who scrutinizes a piece of literature to its very depths and in every innuendo? Are you an individual who reads for personal pleasure and fulfillment? Whichever path you choose, certain literary terms may make the travels easier and more rewarding. Some general terms apply to nearly any piece of literature. A work’s atmosphere speaks of its feeling, emotion or mood. If this atmosphere is poignant, it has a strong effect on the emotions or senses, especially smell. A farcical pi
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-08
“If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.” That familiar refrain occurs in a song-story I use with my grandchildren. We sing loudly and clap a lot. After a while, we move to head bobbing and feet stomping. All sorts of foolish merriment follows, and we usually end up giggling. If you’re giggling, you are definitely happy. So, are you happy? I am on a mission to help you feel that way by the end of this column. Research has identified characteristics that correlate with happiness, includ
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-08
I’m trying to work up some sympathy for Alex Jones, who has been bumped from YouTube, Facebook, Spotify and Apple for his hateful lies. But not very hard. OK, that’s not true. I’m not trying at all. I don’t even have sympathy for the social-media platforms that dropped him, because it took them far too long. For those few readers who may be unfamiliar with Mr. Jones and his infamous Infowars website and syndicated radio show, he’s made quite a name for himself by spewing despicable conspiracy th
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-08
Increased restrictions on power mowing, chainsaw use and a handful of other activities that can throw sparks into fire-primed brush go into effect Saturday. The Oregon Department of Forestry reported fire danger will make the leap to "high" on the 1.8 million acres of lands in Jackson and Josephine counties they protect. ODF spokesman Brian Ballou said a recent uptick in equipment-sparked fires — set in the midst of crews already scrambling to put out dozens of other lightning starts 
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)
· snapshot 2018-08-08
Felony arrests Coercion — Peter John Donahue, 53, of the 2000 block of Hyatt Prairie Road, Ashland. Jackson County sheriff’s deputies arrested Donahue Monday on a felony warrant charging him with coercion. He was booked in the Jackson County Jail and released Monday after posting bail. Contraband — Ashley Dawn Smith, 29, of the 2600 block of Falcon Street, White City. Medford police arrested Smith Tuesday on a felony charge of supplying contraband, a misdemeanor charge of possessing methamphetam