Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

Unexpected storm dampens hay harvest

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback) · snapshot 2018-09-17

Just when conditions looked good for cutting hay, a thunderstorm passed through the Rogue Valley Monday evening. Hay growers found themselves scrambling to "get 'er done" or wait a few days for things to dry out. The never-ending hay-farmer-versus-nature routine is typically played out in two stanzas — late spring and fall — with irrigated alfalfa pastures sometimes rendering a third cut. Southern Oregon's long winter and wet spring deceptively lulled some into thinking the pattern

North students have a blast building rockets

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback) · snapshot 2019-01-26

If you’re ever in North Medford High School and suddenly find yourself in a place that looks like NASA’s engineering division, don’t worry; you didn’t take a wrong turn. It’s just astronomy teacher Robert Black’s classroom. The computer models and rocket parts being built, analyzed and fine-tuned by a group of high school-aged engineers aren’t anything that can make it into the stratosphere and beyond. Actually, the rockets at the heart of the senior pro

Love that dirty water

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback) · snapshot 2019-01-29

A few days after a rainstorm, while his fellow steelheaders are home tying egg-loop hooks or shortening their honey-do lists, Buzz Ramsey knows where he needs to be. "I've had some of the best fishing days of my career when the water was too high or dirtier than what other people think is fishable," says Ramsey, a Washington angler who is brand manager for Yakima Bait Co. "You have plenty of fish around, lots of moving fish and no competition," he says. But you don't need to be one of the Pacifi

Measles outbreak grows

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback) · snapshot 2019-01-27

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — The number of confirmed measles cases near Portland grew to 31 on Friday — an outbreak boosted by lower-than-normal vaccination rates in what has been called an anti-vaccination U.S. "hot spot." Public health officials in southwest Washington, just across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon, said people may have been exposed to the dangerous disease at more than three dozen locations , including Portland International Airport

Public asked to pipe up on $3.1M project

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback) · snapshot 2019-01-29

The public is invited to a community meeting Thursday about a planned $3-plus million project to put 2 miles of an existing open canal carrying irrigation and supplemental drinking water supply into a new pipe. The first portion of the event is dedicated to an update on the project, including evaluations conducted over the past year on impacts on vegetation, wildlife and an E. coli bacteria analysis. Staff will also present a draft of piping options. The second part will be a question and answer

New trail map tool updates backcountry conditions

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback) · snapshot 2019-01-26

A new online mapping tool will allow outdoor enthusiasts to get accurate and updated information on the condition of 300 miles of backcountry trials maintained by the Siskiyou Mountain Club. The Siskiyou Trail Finder will be launched at a release party from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30, at Rogue Valley Runners, 161 E. Main St., in Ashland. Ryan Ghelfi, creator of the tool, will give a presentation about how it works. SMC Deputy Director Karly White said the web link will be available at the ev

From warriors to guardians

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback) · snapshot 2019-01-26

Sheriff Corey Falls sees a culture shift as an important way to improve public trust in law enforcement.  Falls points to national signs that the country is growing more skeptical of police actions. He sees the race-focused protests in headlines across the country, he hears the public support for body cameras to ensure outside scrutiny, and he knows not all who've worn a uniform have lived up the expected standard. In Jackson County, Falls wants his department to adapt before the public dem

Controlled burns back in Ashland Watershed

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback) · snapshot 2019-01-26

ASHLAND — The U.S. Forest Service has resumed controlled burns to reduce wildfire hazards in the Ashland Watershed despite the federal government shutdown after three “burn bosses” were taken off furloughs this week. Contract crews working on the Ashland Forest Resiliency Project, known as AFR, touched off stacked burn piles today on about 30 acres in the Horned Gap area, a key battleground to stave off a future wildfire moving from the Wagner Creek watershed toward Ashland. Th

When the going is good, get out and go

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback) · snapshot 2019-01-26

Sometimes it’s best to not think too much. With this winter’s fickle weather, rapidly changing conditions and fluctuating temperatures, the time to get out and enjoy the snow is whenever opportunity knocks. That’s why when Niel Barrett suggested heading up to the mountains for a next-day cross-country ski, six of us quickly enlisted. A snowstorm had blanketed higher-elevation areas in the Lake of the Woods-Sky Lakes Wilderness Area last week, and rain was predicted for the week

Rogue rodeo cow prefers home on the range

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback) · snapshot 2019-01-21

It was Father’s Day weekend last year when Betsy disappeared. Amid the bustle of Anchorage’s annual rodeo, the 3-year-old cow slipped out of her pen. Soon enough, she was headed for Far North Bicentennial Park, a 4,000-acre expanse of rugged forest at the outskirts of the city. The real-life cowboys at the rodeo saddled up their horses and headed for the park, but it was too late: Betsy was gone. And six months later, she’s still on the run, having successfully evaded local law