Volume 4, Issue 14 // July 6 - July 19, 2017 FOOD pg 22 Mod Pizza Sizzles OUTDOORS pg 26 Keeping Jetboats Local FILM pg 27 An Eastern Oregon Documentary Protect our rivers Interview With The Rogue Riverkeeper 2 / WWW.ROGUEVALLEYMESSENGER.COM SUMMER EXHIBITIONS Tofer Chin: 8 Amir H. Fallah: Unknown Voyage Ryan Schneider: Mojave Masks Liz Shepherd: East-West: Two Streams Merging Wednesday, June 14 through Saturday, September 9, 2017 The Summer exhibitions are funded in part by a generous donation from Judy Shih and Joel Axelrod. MUSEUM EVENTS Tuesday Tours: IMAGES (LEFT TO RIGHT, TOP TO BOTTOM, DETAILS): Tofer Chin, Overlap No. 3, 2016, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 34” Free Docent-led Tours of the Exhibitions Amir H. Fallah, Unknown Voyage, 2015, Acrylic, colored pencil and collage on paper mounted on canvas, 48 x 36” Ryan Schneider, Many Headed Owl, 2016, Oil on canvas, 60 x 48” Liz Shepherd, Mount Shasta at Dawn, 2012, Watercolor on riches paper, 19.5 x 27.5” Tuesdays at 12:30 pm MUSEUM HOURS: MONDAY – SATURDAY, 10 AM TO 4 PM • FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC mailing: 1250 Siskiyou Boulevard • gps: 555 Indiana Street Ashland, Oregon 97520 541-552-6245 • email: [email protected] web: sma.sou.edu • social: @schneidermoa PARKING: From Indiana Street, turn left into the metered lot between Frances Lane and Indiana St. There is also limited parking behind the Museum. JULY 6 – JULY 19, 2017 / THE ROGUE VALLEY MESSENGER / 3 The Rogue Valley Messenger PO Box 8069 | Medford, OR 97501 CONTENTS 541-708-5688 page page roguevalleymessenger.com FEATURE FOOD [email protected] Rivers are the lifeblood Mod Pizza is a THE BUSINESS END OF THINGS that flows throughout Seattle-based chain. 22 8 BUSINESS MANAGER Blake Helmken Southern Oregon, from Now it arrives in SALES REPS Tuula Rebhahn replenshing our vineyards Medford and our food WEB MASTER Tammy Wilder to toss-and-turning reviewer Jordan Marie SOCIAL MEDIA WIZ Alex Sophia us on its whitewater. Martinez takes a bite OUR FINANANCIAL WIZARD Sara Louton, Advanced Books Managing Editor Sara Jane out of a slice, and DISTRIBUTION Alex Sophia, Olivia Doty OUR WORDSMITHS Wiltermood talks with gives us her greasy local river expert, Director notebook report. PUBLISHER & EDITOR Phil Busse of Rogue Riverkeeper ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sara Jane Wiltermood Robyn Janssen, to weigh MUSIC EDITOR Josh Gross PRODUCTION MANAGER Katie Ball in on what threatens our CALENDAR EDITOR Jordon Lindsey beloved Rogue River. ROAMING REPORTERS Hannah Jones page pagepage ART CRITIC Jordan Marie Martinez SOUND SCREEN OUTDOOR EXPERTS Jeanine Moy, Mike Dickenson Music Editor Josh Gross Shooting a documentary in COLUMNISTS Rob Brezsny, Shannon Wheeler, wonders where all the 20 Eastern Oregon in June, Mark 27 Deborah Gordon, Dan Smith x guitar heroes have Unger, shot films throughout FREELANCERS Tyrell Trimble, Tuula Rebhahn, Melissa Haskin, Julie Gillis, Charles Fischman, Anna gone, and in the process the state, capturing breath- Diem, Josh Davis, Christopher Lucas, Jacob Scheppler discovers Grants Pass taking views from aerial and Catherine Kelley drones. “When I mentioned GET IN TOUCH electronic artist, Accent Aigu, who is “tripping the idea of filming this to my EMAIL [email protected] the synth fantastic” with dad three years ago he said MUSIC [email protected] a slightly-retro, early he remembers me as a kid EVENTS [email protected] ‘90s MTV Amp-era feel. wishing I was superman so I ADVERTISE [email protected] could fly over the area to see everything,” he says. SALES DEADLINE: 5 pm Thurs EDITORIAL DEADLINE: 5 pm Thurs Don’t Shoot the Messenger 4 Food & Drink 22 CALENDAR DEADLINE: 12 pm Thurs Culture 24 CLASSIFIED DEADLINE: 4 pm Thurs Letters 5 Deadlines may shift for special/holiday issues. News 7 Sports & Outdoors 26 Feature 9 Screen 27 ON THE COVER: Our Picks 11 Wellness 28 Graves Creek Rapid, Live Music and Nightlife 12 Free Will Astrology 29 Wild & Scenic Rogue River Weed Garden 30 Events 16 Photo Courtesy of: Robyn Janssen Rec Room 31 Sound 20 SolarSolar mademade easy.easy. Sunshine,Sunshine, savings, savings, andand incentives. incentives. 800.947.1187 $6,000$6,000 800.947.1187 OregonOregon Tax Tax Credit Credit truesouthsolar.nettruesouthsolar.net SetSet to to Expire Expire in in 2017! 2017! 4 / WWW.ROGUEVALLEYMESSENGER.COM DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER Who’s To Blame? In last issue’s Publisher Note, we wrote about the recent con by which Southern Oregon Univer- sity was scammed of $1.9 million when someone or persons apparently requested funds wired to a bank account as partial payment for construction of the school’s new gym. In the column, we raised ques- tions about the leadership from the university’s president, who is completing her first year at the campus. We based those questions and assessments on talking with students who voiced their frustration that they felt as if they were not fully or completely informed about the “situation,” and also from talking with several faculty members who voiced a lack of faith with the new president. Apparently, the editorial did not sit well with some members of the administra- tion at SOU. A few days after the publication of the article, we received lengthy email from Joe Mosley, SOU’s Director of Community and Media Relations, saying that we were wrong in our assessment, if not our facts (and our grammar). In a separate and more formal letter to the editor, Mosely laid out a few of the guiding principles for the administration, in the context of this incident. He wrote: “The ‘Profiles of Leadership’ column published in the Messenger’s most recent issue included some factual inaccuracies. I appreciate the opportunity to correct them. • Southern Oregon University did not publicly disclose the crime when it was ini- tially discovered to avoid compromising the initial phase of the FBI’s investigation and SOU’s own efforts to recover a portion of the diverted money. • Transparency is a key value of the university, and has been a goal in this case from the onset. After the investigation’s initial phase, SOU leaders including the president made it a priority to meet with student leaders to personally address the issue and answer all questions they could at that time. After that meeting, other campus constituencies and the general public were informed of the incident. • SOU is cooperating fully with the FBI investigation and is continuing to pursue its own inquiry as to how and why this particular crime occurred. To date, about a third of the amount stolen in the computer fraud incident has been returned to SOU, and the university is working through multiple channels to recover or be reimbursed for the remainder. • SOU’s tuition increase was necessitated by increasing costs and flat state fund- ing, and was approved by the Board of Trustees before the fraud occurred. Tuition rates, academic and student support programs, and the positions of faculty and staff will be unaffected if the fraud case results in a loss of money. The university will share more information about the case – and about our review – as facts emerge and the investigation develops. Joe Mosley Director of Community and Media Relations Southern Oregon University We do hope to continue to learn more about how and who perpetrated the scam against SOU. For example, Mosley says that one-third of the funds have been re- covered. Does that mean the identity of the thieves is known? How were the funds recovered? Moreover, to back up the claim that the scam was sophisticated (and, hence, the administration less at fault), we have been told that the FBI says there have been similar scams at 60 other universities. However, we still do not have an answer to the question: How many of those university administrations “fell” for the scam? Ultimately, being able to pinpoint the fault or non-fault of the administration is not just an academic question. The answer to that question helps answer an impor- tant question about our current lifestyles, in that it helps show how vulnerable we all are—our institutions and individually—to cyber scams and attacks. And, that is a tricky question to answer: If the administration did blunder this incident, that means there should be concern about the leadership at SOU. However, if the univer- sity administration is completely blameless because the scam was sophisticated, that means the internet is a more dangerous and trustless place. There seems to be no good answer to that question. JULY 6 – JULY 19, 2017 / THE ROGUE VALLEY MESSENGER / 5 LETTERS HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY? Send your thoughts to: [email protected] Who’s To Letters must be received by noon Friday before next print date for inclusion in the following Blame? week’s paper. Please limit letters to 250 words. Submission does not guarantee publication. RE.: PETER COURTNEY RE.: TRUMP Is Peter Courtney, Senate President of the Oregon legislature, paying attention? Since inauguration Donald Trump has been consistently incompetent and reck- Does he realize he represents all Oregonians in his leadership position? There is less while subverting democracy and the rule of law; he’s sought to use race and a subject about which I would like him to stop dilly-dallying around and assume religion to divide Americans against one another; he’s trying to deprive deserv- leadership. ing Americans of health care; he would deny Americans the right to control their We are aware that Oregon is lagging in achieving the climate pollution reduc- own bodies; he’s bombing indiscriminately and promoting suffering around the tion goals established in 2007 and that our state is no longer a leader in the cli- world; he’s promoting the destruction of our planet while pushing policies that mate arena.