Friday’s Games

Bandon and Powers will both have the spotlight with Saturday football games this week, the Tigers in their traditional Cranberry Bowl and the Cruisers in the emerging 8-Man Classic at North Bend.

Today

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Western monarch butterflies migrating between the Southern Oregon coast and the south Cascades will soon get fresh patches of strategically placed milkweed and other nectar-bearing plants to create needed habitat on this leg of their storied journey through here.

A group of public and private entities, led by the Ashland-based Lomakatsi Restoration Project, have landed a $193,000 foundation grant to restore and enhance 300 acres of western monarch habitat stretched across six sites along key migration paths through Southern Oregon.

Monarchs that winter along the California coast migrate along this route and the projects are strategically placed like stepping stones along that pathway.

“This is the epicenter of the migratory route,” says botanist Clint Emerson from the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, which is one of the participants in this habitat collaborative. “That makes this compelling.”

The plants will be grown at the federal government’s J. Herbert Stone Nursery in Central Point that will be planted along with milkweed seeds on public and private lands, including several plots already cleared and prepped for other restoration projects, Lomaktsi Executive Director Marko Bey says.

The plants include three locally native species of milkweed and 26 other plants such as coyote mint, winecup clarkia and harvest brodiaea, Emerson says.

While all the plants help butterflies, bees and other pollinators, the milkweed is tied closely to western monarchs’ life cycles.

Adult females lay their eggs in milkweed, and the ensuing caterpillars dine solely on milkweed before forming a chrysalis, from which they emerge as the royal-looking orange- and black-winged butterfly.

Monarchs produce four generations annually, each one making a portion of the migration between Washington and Idaho through Oregon and down to California and Mexico.

In recent years, private groups like the Southern Oregon Monarch Advocates have cultivated small milkweed patches for butterflies called way stations, “but this is a large-scale restoration effort,” says Robert Coffan of SOMA, which joins Lomakatsi, the forest and four other public and private entities in this project.

Restoration sites include 60 acres of Rogue River-Siskiyou forest land along the coast, 60 more acres of Forest Service land on the western slopes of the Cascades near Mount McLoughlin, another 60 acres at Table Rocks and 120 acres of public and private lands in the Ashland-Colestin area.

Some of those lands already have been cleared and prepped as part of other Lomakatsi projects, including the Ashland Forest All-Lands Restoration Project in the Ashland watershed known as AFAR.

That was important because the foundation grant did not cover site-preparation work, Bey says.

“It was a real plus that we’re laying this over other habitat projects,” Bey says.

Most of the work will be done in early 2017, Bey says.

Emerson says the multi-species plantings are different than milkweed way stations because they will create ecosystem-based landscapes instead of gardened plots of a single species.

The grant was one of several totaling $3 million doled out by the foundation’s Monarch Conservation Fund and the only one targeting western monarch habitat. The lion’s share went to the eastern monarchs and their famously arduous migration journeys.

Coffan says western monarchs generally get stiffed in the funding world.

“But we raised the flag a little bit and somebody saw the flag,” Coffan says. “I’m happy with it.”

For the second year in a row, grower Charlie Ruddell of Bandon is claiming the earliest delivery of cranberries in North America.

BANDON -- On Monday, Sept. 12, following the Cranberry Festival, expect to welcome 2,000 or more Cycle Oregon riders for a one-night stay in Bandon.

For the past several years Wild Rivers Coast Alliance has been title sponsor for the Bandon Cranberry Festival.

For the second year in a row, grower Charlie Ruddell of Bandon is claiming the earliest delivery of cranberries in North America.

BANDON -- On Monday, Sept. 12, following the Cranberry Festival, expect to welcome 2,000 or more Cycle Oregon riders for a one-night stay in Bandon.

Since this coming weekend is the 70th annual Cranberry Festival, I thought this might be a good time to share a cute picture of the Cranberry Cadets, taken in August of 1958 with Mark O. Hatfield in front of the…

Organic Valley, the nation’s largest organic dairy cooperative, announced it will buy and renovate the Farmers Creamery Cooperative in McMinnville, Ore.

The pending sale is the latest turn for FCC. Earlier this year, members accepted an agreement that allowed dairy farmers to apply for membership in the much larger Northwest Dairy Association of Seattle, which includes Darigold. The McMinnville plant was not included in the agreement.

The McMinnville creamery will close and be renovated “to align with Organic Valley’s operations,” the company said in a news release. The work will include a “significant investment in new equipment and state-of-the art technology.” The facility will reopen in late winter or early spring of 2017, according to the news release. Additional details of the sale were not immediately available.

Organic Valley, based in Wisconsin, represents more than 1,800 farmers in 36 states and describes saving family farms as its “founding mission.” Organic Valley produces organic milk, cheese, butter, eggs, soy and other products.

In a news release, the company said its “regional model” means milk is produced, bottled and distributed locally “to ensure fewer miles from farm to table and to support our local economies.” Organic Valley has 72 co-op members in Oregon and Washington.

BANDON -- The ninth-annual Bandon Feeds the Hungry variety show and silent auction is set for 7 p.m. Saturday Oct. 1, at the Sprague Community Theater, 1202 11th St. SW in City Park.

BANDON -- The ninth-annual Bandon Feeds the Hungry variety show and silent auction is set for 7 p.m. Saturday Oct. 1, at the Sprague Community Theater, 1202 11th St. SW in City Park.

Oregon’s 2015 wine grape harvest set a tonnage record as newer vineyards matured into production and yields increased, according to the annual Oregon Vineyard and Winery Census Report.

The census, produced by the Southern Oregon University Research Center in Ashland, showed a record harvest of 84,949 tons. More planted acreage and higher than average yields were primarily responsible, especially in the South Willamette Valley and Umpqua Valley, according to the report. Yield increased 8 percent statewide in 2015 over the previous year.

The state’s 2015 production value, a product of tonnage multiplied by price, was $171 million, up from $168 million in 2014. The average price per ton, which varies significantly among the more than 15 varieties grown in Oregon, was $1,958. The 2014 average price per ton was $2,136.

One thing about Oregon’s wine sector didn’t deviate: Pinot noir is still the state’s signature wine, and that isn’t likely to change any time soon.

The state makes renowned Pinot and it commands a high price. Pinot noir made up 62 percent of planted acreage and 67 percent of vineyard production in 2015.

It’s made throughout the state but the North Willamette Valley south and southwest of Portland, particularly in Yamhill County, produces most of the state’s Pinot noir. Chardonnay and Pinot gris plantings are a distant second and third.

Oregon’s wine production is tiny compared to California, which produces 90 percent of U.S. wine. Oregon ranks fourth, behind California, Washington and New York, but the number of vineyards and wineries grew rapidly over the years as the industry spread outside the Willamette Valley. The Columbia River Gorge and Southern Oregon areas have come into their own as wine-producing regions.

The industry census, however, shows the rapid growth slowed somewhat in 2015. The number of Oregon vineyards increased 2 percent, to 1,052. The number of wineries increased to 702, up from 676 in 2014.

Michelle Kaufmann, communications manager for the Oregon Wine Board, which commissioned the annual census, said the slowing is more likely a pause before another surge of vineyard growth, especially in Eastern Oregon.

“I don’t think we reached a peak in terms of planted acreage,” she said.

The number of 12-bottle cases sold in the U.S., excluding Oregon, rose to 1.6 million in 2015, about 100,000 cases more than the previous year. International case sales jumped from 62,241 in 2014 to 70,608 in 2015. Canada is the biggest buyer, with 44 percent of Oregon wine exports going there.

Bee rustlers are driving up the cost of one of nature's sweetest enterprises: Honeybee hives valued at over $350 apiece are disappearing in large numbers.

Bee rustlers are driving up the cost of one of nature's sweetest enterprises: Honeybee hives valued at over $350 apiece are disappearing in large numbers.

As this year's grand marshals of the Bandon Cranberry Festival parade, Pete and Joan Goodbrod bring a wealth of history to the 70 years of celebrations.

Bee rustlers are driving up the cost of one of nature's sweetest enterprises: Honeybee hives valued at over $350 apiece are disappearing in large numbers.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Trials are scheduled to begin this week for the armed ranchers who took over a national bird sanctuary in rural Oregon to oppose federal management of public lands.

Jury selection starts Wednesday in the case against Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy and others who helped seize Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Jan. 2. They are charged with conspiring to prevent federal employees from doing their jobs. Several others were indicted, and many have pleaded guilty.

Most key figures were arrested during a Jan. 26 traffic stop that ended with police fatally shooting Arizona rancher Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, a spokesman for the occupation. Others left after Finicum’s death, but four holdouts extended the standoff to 41 days.

Here’s a recap of the takeover and a look at what to expect at trial:

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WHO ARE THE DEFENDANTS?

Occupation leaders and brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy; two of the last holdouts, David Fry and Jeff Banta; as well as Shawna Cox, Kenneth Medenbach and Neil Wampler. All are charged with conspiring to impede U.S. Interior Department employees at the refuge through intimidation, threats or force.

On Tuesday, prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the conspiracy charge against another defendant, Pete Santilli, an independent broadcaster who was present at the standoff. His attorney had argued his actions were protected under the First Amendment.

Cox, Fry, Banta and the Bundys also are charged with possessing a firearm at a federal facility. Cox, Medenbach and Ryan Bundy are acting as their own lawyers.

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WHY WERE THEY AT THE REFUGE?

It started as a protest against the imprisonment of two Oregon ranchers convicted of setting fires and grew into demands for the U.S. government to turn public lands over to local control.

The father-and-son ranchers distanced themselves from the occupiers, reporting to prison two days after the standoff began. Ammon Bundy and others contend that the Constitution limits federal power to acquire and own property within a state’s borders, revealing the larger dispute over the government’s control of vast expanses of Western range.

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HOW DID THE OCCUPATION END?

The Bundys and other leaders were driving to a community forum when police stopped and arrested them. Finicum fled and crashed his truck into a snowbank to avoid a police roadblock. Authorities say he was reaching for a weapon when he exited the vehicle and that’s when Oregon State Police officers opened fire.

The four occupiers who remained after Finicum’s death finally surrendered on Feb. 11 after protracted negotiations with federal authorities who surrounded the refuge.

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HOW MANY PEOPLE FACE CHARGES?

A total of 26 people were charged with conspiracy. Eleven have pleaded guilty, including several from Bundy’s inner circle. Seven defendants sought and received a delay in their trial, now scheduled for February.

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WHAT’S THE GOVERNMENT’S EVIDENCE?

The takeover received extensive media coverage, Ammon Bundy gave daily news conferences and the group used social media in a mostly unsuccessful effort to get others to join them. In short, there’s no question the group occupied the refuge. Prosecutors have said the evidence includes seized weapons, thousands of photographs, thousands of hours of video and reams of information gleaned from social media.

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WHAT’S THEIR DEFENSE?

They claim they used their First Amendment rights to engage in a peaceful protest and that those with guns were exercising their Second Amendment rights. The occupiers contend that nobody was threatened, no workers were impeded from performing their duties and the government fired the only shots. Moreover, they say those shots, which killed Finicum, showed why they needed guns for protection.

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IS THE TRIAL GOING TO LAST LONGER THAN THE OCCUPATION?

It looks that way. U.S. District Judge Anna Brown has set aside three days for jury selection, and opening statements are tentatively scheduled to start Sept. 13. The trial is expected to take two or three months.

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AREN’T THE BUNDYS ALSO FACING TRIAL IN NEVADA?

They and five others from the Oregon case have been charged in a 2014 armed standoff with federal agents near their father Cliven’s cattle ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada. The three Bundys are scheduled for a February trial in Las Vegas.

The elder Bundy drew national attention after his sympathizers pointed weapons at agents rounding up his cattle on public land. The U.S. government says he racked up more than $1.1 million in unpaid grazing fees and penalties over two decades, while Cliven Bundy claims it has no authority over the land.

Several people took part in both standoffs. Federal officials were widely viewed as having backed down from the elder Bundy, possibly emboldening the Oregon occupation.

Cliven Bundy was arrested at Portland International Airport in February when he arrived to visit his sons.

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — The longtime home of the Oregon State University College of Forestry is being demolished to make way for a new classroom and laboratory building.

The Gazette-Times reports Peavy Hall is a campus landmark, and some members of the OSU community have questioned the decision to rebuild rather than renovate.

An OSU spokesman says renovation was considered, but would have resulted in a less functional building than the new Peavy Hall. At 80,000 square feet, the three-story structure will be slightly smaller than the old building.

The demolition work began earlier this summer. Workers have been dismantling it piece by piece rather than just bash it with a wrecking ball. The college plans to reuse 20 percent of the material in the new structure and recycle 65 percent.