Matt Witt: “No one knows what kind of outlet (or outlets) will fill the void, but we can use this moment to think about what we want from any alternatives that emerge.”
Herbert Rothschild: “What strikes me as an insurmountable obstacle to internet communities is that the participants aren’t bringing their personal histories to the connections, mostly just their current interests.”
Many parents are speaking out against a plan by the Ashland School District to redraw the boundaries for local grade schools in an effort to equalize enrollment after large changes in student attendance. Opponents of the plan say moving students arbitrarily, especially after disasters like the COVID-19 pandemic and Almeda Fire, places an unnecessary emotional burden on young children who need to feel safe at school.
The Ashland Police Department is seeking the public’s help after an alleged gas thief stole hundreds of gallons of fuel and caused a fire at a local gas station last weekend. Saturday at around 2:40 a.m., APD and Ashland Fire & Rescue responded to a commercial fueling station at 60 Shamrock Lane after reports of a fire.
With major budget cuts looming, a full slate of Board of Trustee committee meetings are planned Thursday and Friday at Southern Oregon University in Ashland. The board will hold a public listening session from 3:45 to 4:45 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 19, at the SOU campus, with an opportunity for anyone to speak, share comments, or ask questions about the university’s “realignment” process.
A day after the Mail Tribune ended its reign as Southern Oregon’s largest newspaper, the Rogue Valley Messenger also called it quits. The free news and entertainment tabloid announced it had closed on Saturday, Jan. 14, though the publication largely ceased operations last fall.
A severe weather emergency shelter will be open Thursday through Sunday nights at the Ashland Public Library, the city of Ashland has announced. The shelter in the Gresham Room, downstairs at the library, 410 Siskiyou Blvd., opens at 6 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, then closes at 9 a.m. Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day was celebrated at the Ashland Plaza Monday afternoon before an enthusiastic crowd. An array of speakers, many of whom knew Dr. King, told their personal stories.
For Ashland acupuncturist Ben Stott, the war in Ukraine is a conflict where the heroes include a cadre of volunteers aiding and comforting civilians whose lives have been devastated. Stott will speak about his time there and present photos and video of his work from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, at Havurah Shir Hadash, 185 N. Mountain Ave., Ashland.
The Oregon Legislature began its 2023 work in earnest on Tuesday, Jan. 17, with just more than five months to pass a budget and tackle pressing issues including homelessness, addiction and a public defender shortage that has left hundreds of people without their constitutionally guaranteed right to an attorney.
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Ask Strider: A worried older brother asks our advice columnist’s advice. And a dog’s guardian wants to know if there is any hope getting their hat-hating dog to calm down. As always, Strider tries to give words that help!
After a successful production of “The Vagina Monologues” and raising more than $2,000 for Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon, Ashland actor and director Lia Dugal intends for “The Climate Monologues” to premiere in Oregon in late 2025 or early 2026 at the Bellview Grange in Ashland.
It’s complicated.
Herbert Rothschild: Whether visualization and intention by themselves can effect broad social change is impossible to determine, but the question merits sustained consideration.
(It’s free)
