Oregon officials are urging recreational and commercial drone operators to keep their aircraft away from active wildfires, warning that even a single unauthorized drone can force firefighting aircraft to stop flying during critical suppression operations. The Oregon Department of Aviation and Oregon Department of Emergency Management issued the warning as[Read More…]
Outdoors
Crash Highlights Dangers Facing Roadside Workers
A crash that killed a stranded motorist and seriously injured an Oregon Department of Transportation employee is serving as a tragic reminder of the dangers faced by anyone stopped or working alongside Oregon highways. The crash occurred Tuesday, Aug. 11, on Interstate 84 near Arlington. An ODOT employee assigned to[Read More…]
Proposed Repeal Of 2001 Roadless Rule
The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to repeal a 25-year-old rule restricting road construction and timber-related activities across millions of acres of national forest land, including roadless areas in Oregon. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the Forest Service has filed a proposed rule to rescind the 2001 Roadless[Read More…]
Check Out Birdcast As Migration Heats Up
Millions of birds are already taking flight from Canada and winging their way south. The action will heat up in Oregon over the next month or two. Studies have shown that Northern American bird populations have dropped by nearly 30 percent, or about three billion birds, since 1970, and that[Read More…]
Savage Creek Road Property Possible Annexation
Jackson County Fire District Chief Mike Hammond presented a list of 21 properties on Savage Creek Road, three located in Jackson County, the rest in Josephine County, all but one of them within a seven-mile radius of the District 1 fire station at the district’s Board of Directors meeting on[Read More…]
FEMA Approves Federal Assistance For Fielder Mountain Fire
Federal funding has been authorized to help cover the cost of fighting the Fielder Mountain Fire burning in Jackson and Josephine counties. The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved Oregon’s request for assistance through its Fire Management Assistance Grant program Thursday, Aug. 13. The request was approved at 11:34 p.m. by[Read More…]
Sheriff Ends License Plate Reader Program
Josephine County Sheriff’s Office has ended its contract with Flock Safety for the use of automated license plate reader cameras in rural areas of the county following public concerns over privacy and Fourth Amendment rights. The Sheriff’s Office had contracted for 10 Automated License Plate Reader, or ALPR, cameras. The[Read More…]
C-R Zoning Moves On To City Council
After months of discussion, the Rogue River Planning Commission heard nearly no questions or resistance toward unanimously referring the establishment of a Commercial-Residential zone outside of the main downtown corridor in Rogue River, and commercial design standards within the Commercial Zone, to the City Council at the commission’s meeting on[Read More…]
Fielder Mountain Fire Close To Contained
A cargo truck that stopped to tend to its hot brakes and caught vegetation on fire at Milepost 51 on Interstate 5 in the afternoon on Thurs., Aug. 13, was the reported cause of the Fielder Mountain Fire that immediately caused road closures and a Level 3 “Go now” evacuation[Read More…]
Oregon National Guard Trains In Southern Oregon
Oregon Army National Guard soldiers spent four days training at the Salt Creek Training Area from July 30 through Aug. 2, giving some local young adults an opportunity to see firsthand what Army training is like. Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry Regiment conducted weapons training, land navigation and[Read More…]