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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1956)
Sunday, January 1,1358 MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNEFIVE Rehabilitation Job Said 'Significant'; Other Choices Listed Jhe destructive flood of Christmas week was voted top news story of 1955 in the Mail Tribune's annual poll of its newroom staff. The approval, and start cf work, on the rehabilitation of the water distribution systems of the Medford and Rogue River Valley Irrigation districts was voted the "most significant" story of the year. The visit of a group of youngsters from Forks of Salmon, Calif., to the "big city" of Medford was chosen as the best human inter est story of 1955. Other Choices of Stories Listed The flood story received five of the eight votes cast for the biggest story; the plans for annexation of large areas to the city of Medford, and their rejection at a July election, received two votes, and the Labor day week forest fires received one vote. Five votes were cast for the rehabilitation story as most signifi cant, and one each were cast for the story of plans and fund drive for a new hospital, the fact that 1955 employment was the highest in the history of the county, and the growth of industrial installa tions at White City. Six3 votes were cast for the Forks of Salmon story as best in human interest, and two for the story of little Joe Willie Haynes, who was injured and hospitalized here for nearly a month. Here, arranged month-by-month, are local news stories which made Page 1 headlines in the Mail Tribune during 19f)5: JANUARY Robert Duff named Medford's first city manager by unanimous vote of ghe city council . . . Diamond L. Flynn relinquishes mayoralty to Earl Miller . . . 1,200 Christmas trees burned to open March of Dimes drive . . . Medford's building permit valu ation up 52 per cent over 1953 . . . John Snider elected presi dent of the city council . . . Couri ity population said up 10.6 per cent . . . Southern Pacific says Portland-Ashland passenger ser vice will not be discontinued . . . Marion Franklin Piening in dicted on manslaughter charge, pleads guilty . . . Talent project omitted from Federal budget . . . New First National Bank build ing opens . . . Tax refunds mailed out&to residents of nine school districts . . . Construction of Fir Ply mill at Camp White begins . . . Home of Mrs. Robert Remil lard, 305 South Riverside ave., destroyed by fire . . . Talent pro ject funds in doubt . . . Contin ental Lumber company mill in Central Point destroyed by fire . . . Otto A. Ewaldsen wins Jun ior Chamber of Commerce dis tinguished service award . . . Sgt. Clifton Lacy named lieuten ant on Medford police force . . . Piening sentenced to 15 years in prison for death of Mrs. Margaret Ann Cornell . . . Phoenix woman pleads guilty to charge of polyg amy . . . Neuberger endorses Ed ward C. Kelly for federal judge ship . . . Fifteen young people arrested at Central Point follow ing a Sunday beer party . . . Fire damages Eads Transfer company building . . . Neuberger charges Republican betrayal of Talent project . . . County welfare de partment short of funds . . . Mosquito eradication program planned by county . . . Architects chosen to plan new Memorial hospital . . . Partisan fight de veloping over Talent irrigation project . . . Sharp increase in juvenille cases reported in coun ty .. . Remodelling of United States National bank building begins. FEBRUARY County taxes totaling $3,826, 313 collected over a six months MEDFORD FURNITURE STORE BURNS period . . . Oregon Veneer com pany announced plans for a Med ford plant . . . County employ ment above normal . . . Senator Lowry outlines tax problems . . . Henry H. Mayberry dies . . . Fire men rescue Dixon Saltsgaver, Central Point, from a collapsed silo . . . Auto, chased by police, crashed into Jackson hotel, driv er shot in leg by police as he tries to escape . . . Phoenix city council suspends Jim Perry as chief of police . . . Radar traffic control demonstrated . - - Jim Perry resigns as Phoenix chief of police . . . Safety council of fers funds for radar traffic con trol . . . City commission ap proves ' a proposal to rename Front st. D'Anjou st. . . . Syn chronized traffic signals for Pa cific Highway 99 approved by city council . . . Local man given a five year suspended sentence ROBERT DUFF Named First City Manager in connection with the hunting death of a 12-year-old boy . . . James C. Miller Jr. named head of the Jackson county stockman's association . . . County receives $815,047 share of O&C receipts . . . 20 acre site for new hospital obtained on Barnett rd. . . . Med ford High school students re ceive Freedoms Foundations award for city government par ticipation . . . Forty teenagers warned of curfew violation in police roundup . . . Students take over city government for a day . . . Medford man, age 91, who gave a transient shelter for the night, robbed of money he was saving for his funeral . . . City receives permit to use water from the Rogue River . . . Polio vaccination program outlined for county . . . Rogue River Valley Irrigation district announces plans for a dam on Dry Creek. MARCH Eugene Raymond Birk dies as result of injuries received in a fight in a sawmill, grand jury studies murder indictment of Bernice H. White, indicts White on first degree murder charge . . . Camp White man killed when struck by car . . . Phoenix police department is investigated; E. J. Perry's resignation received . . . Meteor seen over Medford . . . Disaster car planned by city fire men ... Mrs. Sarah Blevins Wing, Ashland, celebrates 102 birthday . . . Irrigation water supply far below normal . . Ernest and Jeanette Jones win Easter basket contest . . . Cloud seeding to increase rain under way . . . Twenty-seven people take citizenship oath in county . . . Cit council approves study of annexation plans for area equal to the present size of Med ford . . . 423 Future Farmers of America delegates attend con vention . . . Donn Johnson named state FA leader . . . White re indicted on first degree murder charge . . . Harold Skinner killed when his light plane hits a pow er line at Emigrant lake ... 34 NEW E. H. boy scouts and two adult lead ers go to Lake of the Woods for "Operation Icicle" . . . Mail Tribjine has 50th birthday . . . Secretary Douglas McKay visits Medford . . . Talent reservoir less than one third full . . . Prof. Norman Kennedy, parking ex pert, arrives to discuss city park ing problem . . . Many parents consenting to vaccination of children with Salk vaccine. APRIL Dial telephone service to Cen tral Point begins . . . Outlook bad for supplies of irrigation water . . . Southern Oregon Music Educator's contest and music festival held . . . Kids hunt Easter eggs in Hawthorne park . . . Ten uranium claims filed in Trail area . . . Mercy Flights plane makes trip to Sin aloa, Mexico, to bring home Dr. Raymond Smith . . . County schools receive $685,859 of O&C funds . . . Russel W.' DeForest resigns as deputy district attor ney . . . Congressional investiga tion seen in Al Sarena mine case . . . City council hears $600. 000 plan for off-street parking plan . . . 7,305 names struck from county voting lists because of failure to cast ballots . . . Marilyn Denning, 5, elected Pear Festival queen, estimated 10,000 people see Festival parade . . . Rogue Valley Memorial selected as name for new hospital . . . Nearly 850 persons attend As semblies of God convention . . . State Tax Commissioner Sam uel Stewart gets verbal lambast ing at public hearing on assess ment of orchard property. MAY Bernice Hampton White pleads innocent to first degree murder charge . . . The 60-year-old Pro volt post office closes . . . City council approves annexation of Vista Heights, Wilson Park and Douglas . . . Apricots and cher ries hit by frost ... First Jack son county polio vaccine shots scheduled as government halts approval of vaccine manufacture . . . County budget is $3,622, 003.20 . . . County polio vaccin ation clinic postponed . . . Wom en's wrestling match called off because of new law . . . Council plans city election for approval of increased taxes . . . Eagle Point voters approve bond issue to raise funds for school con struction . . . State police in vestigate a report that a Foots Creek family had been threat ened and ordered to leave . . . Two Burmese exchange students arrive for stay in valley . . . Phoenix' first sewage system given strong approval of voters . . . City attorney reports that tax election can not legally be held . . . Eight youngsters from the forks of the Salmon river, California, on their first visit to a big city, given royal treat ment by Medford . . . Brown's cafe and Lounge receives "bomb ing threat" . . . Medford school district budget approved seven to one . . . Maj. Gen. Hafley speaks at airport on Armed Forces Day . . . First polio shots given in county . . . Elderly couple receive bombing threat . . . Sen. Wayne Morse appeals for Talent Project funds . . . Memorial day ceremonies honor veterans. JUNE Welfare medical payments curtailed . . . Central Point ru ral fire tax defeated in elec tion . . . 210 seniors graduate from Medford High school . . . 1,600 Elks register for Ashland convention . . . Shady Cove girl helped from her car just before it plunged over an embankment . . . At least 20 Tucker Sno-cats slated for Antarctic expeditions . . . Medford has 96 degree tem perature . . . Woman and young ster save man from drowning in Rogue River . . . Orchardists meet in courthouse to discuss assessment of trees . . .County officials state that it is impos sible to assess trees within time limit . . . Temperature hits 101 degrees . . . Medford armory bids exceed estimate; new plan requested . . . Trial date for Bernice White set July 11 . . . National Guard companies leave for two weeks training at Fort Lewis ... A half million dol lars for planning and construc tion on Talent Project approved by house appropriations com mittee . . . Ex-Camp White pris oner of war, now a German newsman, re-visits Medford . . . Six new traffic lights erected on Central and Riverside aves HEDRICK JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL . . . Four teenage boys admit 30 to 40 crimes, including bur glaries, thefts, shoplifting . . . Budget committee signs $3,622, 000 budget . . . Florence Bain wins Rose show sweepstakes . . . 4,524 people attend annual cat fish derby at TouVelle state park . . . County assessed valuation estimated at $80,000,000 . . . Bill Barker elected to Medford school board ... Mosquito con trol program well underway . . . Talent project funds increased to $600,000 by appropriations committee . . . Fifty people at tend public hearing on proposed dog racing track near Ashland . . . County equalization board discusses possible ways to as sess orchard trees before Aug. 15 deadline . . . Dog racing track denied approval by county LABOR DAY FOREST court . Group exploring for oil in Sams Valley, announces leases have been signed . . . Group meets 'to oppose annex ation of Southeast Medford area. JULY Senate appropriations commit tee asks $500,000 for start of Talent project . . . Paul K. Bowker, Central Point, accepted as a member of Antarctic ex pedition . . . Annexation of 3, 000 acres southeast of Medford, and city budget increases $66, 510 over 6 per cent limitation overwhelmingly defeated by voters . . . Nudist convention held in county . . . Southern Pa cific passenger service to end in August ... Medford wins award for pedestrian safety in 1954 . . . City budget trimmed . . . Talent project funds cut to LEONARD MAYFIELD New School Superintendent $154,000 ... 50 acre fire on Blackwell hill controlled . . . Medford furniture store dam aged in excess of $100,000 by fire ... 12 year old Eagle Point girl writes Sir Winston Church chill . . . Parents warned of in fection danger from letting chil dren wade in Bear Creek . . . First degree murder trial of Ber nice Hampton White opens . . . State Sen. Philip B. Lowry de mands a PUC hearing on pro posed abandonment of South ern Pacific passenger service Employees of Medford furniture company confesses fire started accidentally . . . Equalization board orders county assessor to place appraised value of orchard trees on tax roll ... Voters in two irrigation districts approve repayment contract for rehabil itation work at Four Mile and Fish lakes ... Explosion dam ages Rogue Rive Valley Irri- m FINISHED, NAMED FOR EX - gation district flume . . Mason Ehrman and company ware house safe blown open . . . Ber nice Hampton White found guil ty of second degree murder . . . Railroad brotherhood protests discontinuance of passenger ser vice . . .White sentenced to life imprisonment . . . PUC delays ending of SP passenger service . . . Huge ball of fire, believed to be a meteor, seen over county . . . Assessed valuation of orch ard trees set at $679,520 . . . Manlie Brosio, Italian ambas sador to the ;United States, vis its Medford . . Oregon State Federation of Labor convention here attended by 400; Governor Patterson speaks . . . Rogue River Roundup begins . . .May or vetoes bill for paving Ken wood ave. FIRES TAKE TOLL AUGUST Crow brothers, held in county jail, admit taking part in 140 safe cracking jobs and bur glaries; were captured while '"blowing" Mason Ehrman and Company safe . . . E. H. Hedrick retires as school superintendent . . . 20th Shakespearean Festival opens before a near capacity crowd . . . Barn fire at Central Point causes $12,000 damages County Assessor R. G., Fowler taken to hospital, apparently with a heart attack . . . Crow brothers sentenced to 25 years in prison ... Connie Caton named queen of the Jacksonville Jubilee . . . New mail service by truck begins between Ashland and Portland . . . Mr. and Mrs Glenn Johnson burned seriously when oil drum explodes;' two others injured fighting the blaze . . . Fire conditions critical; tem perature reaches 102 degrees . . Southern Pacific "night-crawler" makes last run; passenger serv- ice ends . . . Lightning strikes Soda mountain lookout Load ed log truck breaks through bridge over Evans Creek . . Irrigation water supply drops to near critical level . , . Chamber of Commerce requests President Eisenhower to call special ses sion of congress to enact a road program . . . Ruby's Kitchen de stroyed by fire . . . One way- street system in Ashland approv ed .. . 4-H, FFA fair gets under way .... County court approves construction of a new highway from Medford to Klamath Falls . . . City council authorizes a contract for use of sewage facili ties with South Bear Creek Sani tary district . . . Mercy Flights, Inc., acquires two large twin engined planes . . . Medford man learns of $10,000 inheritance while on trip to New York . . . Sen. Philip Lowry requests fed eral action against Southern Pa cific for discontinuance of pas senger service ... 40 acre for est fire in Prospect area under control . . . 300 men out of work at Ross lumber company due to box-car shortage . . . County tax millage rate down 13.3 . . . Medford's new junior high high schools named for E. H. Hedrick and Dr. John McLough lih . . . Record audience attends Shakespearean Festival . . . Evans Valley residents vote down a $50,000 school bond pro posal . . . "Tag Day" sale, spon sored by Red Cross to help flood victims in northeastern sections of the U. S., gets under way here . . . SEPTEMBER Pear harvest in full swing , . . jjji ''' SUPERINTENDENT Driest agricultural year on rec ord ends . , . A 20 acre fire near Gold Hill brought under control . Seattle man held in county jail on a charge of being drunk oh a public highway after the plane he was piloting crashed near Talent . . . Medford's 102 degree temperature near record high . . . Forest fires in county go out of control; 11,000 acres burned; five homes destroyed by Tolo fire; other fires in Sykes creek; Timber mountain; Nug get butte; Sterling mountain; 45 fires in the Rogue River nation al forest . . . Local employment at high level . '. . Fire destroys upper Applegate Grange hall . : . Eleven people receive citizenship papers here . . . Residents of Tal ent asked to stop using water for municipal irrigation . . . Seven people injured in county auto accidents . . . Rain' eases fire threat and aids irrigation out look . . . Letter to Santa arrives from Korea asking aid for chil dren . . . Donald Lee Knoebel killed, 16 injured in a car-bus collision at Camp White . . . Drive for United Medford Cru sade funds gets under way .-. . Mayor Earl Miller gives a re port on possible city freeway routes . . . Medford elementary and junior high school enroll ment up 13.3 per cent . . . More than 1,000 people attend dedica tion ceremonies at Hedrick Jun ior High school ... State Tax Commission declares tree assess ments to be void . . . Reseedins of burned over timber areas to get under way . . . All fish ex terminated in Lake of the Woods; to be re-stocked with Rainbow trout . . . Five city schools named to the national Safety Honor roll . . . Alan B. Holmes named sec ond deputy district attorney . . . Three additional U. S. Army Re serve units to be activated here . . . Boxcar shortage hits area ... . James A. Callan appointed con struction engineer for rehabilita tion work in this area ... Ore gon state board of health 'en gineers measure air pollution in Medford . . . Elk City water district voters approve $187,000 bond issue . . . Boxcar shortage acute; forces several sawmills to close ... OCTOBER County " Treasurer Ralph E. Sweeney resigns because of bad health . . . Public hearings on orchard tree assessments by tax commission members begins . . . 417th Engineer aviation brigade activated here ... Mercy Flights places new planes in use . . . Karl Janouch appointed new county treasurer ... Employ ment in county highest in three years . . . Heavy rain cuts fire danger. . . Senator Wayne Morse arrives in Medford . . . Knights of Pythias convention ends . . . Plans announced for a multi-million dollar Rogue Val ley Retirement manor . . . Ralph E. Sweeney, former county treas urer dies . . . Medford Planning commission approves annexation of large area southeast of Med ford . . . Senator Morse speaks at Democratic dinner meeting . . . Hearings on orchard tree tax valuations end; 225 appeals con sidered . . . More sawmills close due to box car shortage . . . Eagle Point man to sail on Ant arctic expedition . . . Local man pulled into a car, taken to coun try, robbed and beaten . . . Maj. Gen. William Dean speaks at ac tivation ceremonies for reserve units . . . Joe Willie Haynes in jured seriously when struck by car . . . Spectacular lightning storm disrupts electric service in Medford area . . . County court approves plans for financ ing new Medford Klamath Falls highway via Lake of the Woods . . . County orchardists ask Su- P SHAKY WATERWORKS TO BE REPLACED IN REHABILITATION PROGRAM preme Court for writ of man-1 damus forcing orchard tree as sessments from tax rolls . . . National Labor Relations Board opens hearings on chalrges against Red Blanket Lumber company . . . Congressman Har ris Ellsworth arrives in Med ford . . . Medford family at Junc tion City terrorized by Eugene jail escapee, Martin Reyes . . . Oregon Supreme Court orders county assessors to make or chard tree assessment correc tions in tax rolls and turn them over to the Sheriff's office for collection or show reason for not doing so . . . County assessor elects to file an answer to the writ of mandamus . . . Pear har vest completed . . . Congressman Harris Ellsworth speaks at Ki wanis club meeting . . . Jackson county court announces plans for seven parks along Rogue river . . . Jay F. Grant named to suc ceed M. L. Tedrow as Rogue River National forest staff offi cer . . ., Temporary restraining order issued to enjoin the Talent Irrigation district from granting concession rights to R. M. Kent. NOVEMBER Halloween vandalism light . . . Talent Irrigation district direc tors drop plans to grant con- OTTO EWALDSEN C of C Head, Award Winner cession rights at Hyatt lake . . . Oregon Supreme Court calls for additional pleadings in proceed ings against county assessor . . . Contract awarded for construc tion of new elementary schools in Central Point and Gold Hill . . . Judge Pro-Tern Warren Les sig rules that a jury trial isn't re quired in city drunk driving cases . . . Man killed when struck by an auto at the Camp White intersection; third similar fatal ity this year . . . Klamath coupty court turns down plans for fi nancing the proposed Medford Klamath Falls highway . . . Five Medford boys injured in an auto accident south of Roseburg . . . DECEMBER FLOODS CREATE WIDE DESTRUCTION Record November snowfall blan kets the Rogue valley . . . Re construction of Hansen building, fire-destroyed home of Medford Furniture company, begins . . . Congressional hearing on timber practices held here . . . Welfare fraud alleged by district attor ney . . . Pacific Telephone and Telegraph announces plans to ex tend toll-free dialing throughout the valley . . . Five cases of bur glary cleared by arrests . . . Courteous driver program gets under way . . . School census shows 6,038 people between ages 4 and 19 in district 49 . . . Five year old Central Point boy flown to Eugene hospital with polio. DECEMBER Crowd of 6500 watches Christ- mas parade Five-year-ojL Central Point boy dies of polio in Eugene . . No auto accidents reported in Medford on Safe Driving day . . . Survey starts to determine feasibility of con structing an irrigation dam on Dry Creek . . . Bond issues ap proved by voters in South Bear Creek sanitary d i s t r i:c t and Grand View water district . . . Medford city council calls for Jan. 16 annexation elections in two districts; southeast of Med ford and Siskiyou heights . . . Irrigation outlook for 1956 termed good . . . County's 1955 pear crop largest in the history of the industry . . . United Med ford Crusade exceeds goal . . Dismantling of Merrick Ball room starts . . . Medford hospi tals given $60,500 by Ford grant . . . Bureau of Land Management announces plans for 30 per cent timber sales increase in 1956 . . . First in a series of storms fore cast brings .46 inches of rain . . . Evergreen bus company cancels holiday service to Ashland . . . County School Superintendent Alf B. Mekvold injured in auto accident . . . County planning commission appointed by county court . . . Medford man spends a night in the woods after be coming lost while hunting for Christmas tree . . . Wet Christ mas, rising streams forecast . . . Fund established for distribut ing Salk vaccine . . . City coun cil schedules hearing on off street parking program ... Rain, melting snow, cause floods in valley; famili3s evacu ated; bridges destroyed . . . Med ford isolated by flood waters for a short time ... Flood water highest since 1890's . . . Barney Governor rescued from roof near Gold Hill after being stranded 12 hours by flood . . . Mail Tri bune delivered by airplane to Table Rock residents . . . Mercy Flights plane makes trip to iso lated Gold Beach to remove sick girl . . . 400 families left home less by the flood ... Rehabilita tion aid to flooded families be gins . . . Flood damage in Jack son county estimated at $800,000 . . . Plans for a Medford profes-. sional baseball team called off . . . Bird counters spot 50 species in the county ... Fred Hale,' Grants Pass, rescued from where his small plane crashed in the lower Rogue River country . . J Medford woman believed victim of Yuba City flood . . . Dismissal sought of five remaining indict ments against Hugh D'Autre mont . . . President Eisenhower designates flood stricken sec tions of -southwest Oregon as a major disaster area . . . First steps taken by joint soil conser vation flood control committee to develop a flood control program . . . City police offer free rides 1 i home for New Year's eve cele brants who feel they shouldn't drive. Mohawk Indian Trail Preservation Urged Williamstown, Mass. (U.R) A distinguished educator hopes to have the state of Massachusetts preserve the 200-year-old Mo hawk Indian Trail near here. Dr. Philip Marshall Brown, professor-emeritus of Princeton University, recently re-explored the trail for the first time in 35 years. While some of the trail was overgrown, Brown reported that much of it wae still clearly defined and worthy of preservation.
