When a wildfire hits the city of Ashland and surrounding areas, what’s your evacuation plan? An estimated 400 attendees packed the Historic Ashland Armory for a two-hour workshop Wednesday, July 16, to learn more about what to do to prepare should such a natural disaster occur in or near Ashland.
Weary hikers traveling the Pacific Crest Trail can now hitch a ride into Ashland thanks to a new shuttle service from the trailhead.
As layoffs were ordered July 7 for nearly 500 Oregon Department of Transportation workers, effective July 31 with a second round likely by early 2026, local government officials were taking stock of the impacts the loss of state transportation dollars would mean for Southern Oregon.
The crew responsible for picking up litter off Oregon highways lost their jobs after state lawmakers failed to pass a transportation spending package.
Kris Strickler, director of the Oregon Department of Transportation, provided details of layoffs looming at the agency in an all-staff email he sent Monday morning. “Today, 483 current ODOT employees will be notified that they will be laid off as of July 31,” Strickler wrote in the email. Twelve are in Jackson County.
Hundreds who work for the Oregon Department of Transportation got notice that they’re being laid off in what Gov. Tina Kotek called a preventable emergency and the largest round of layoffs in the state government’s history. The 483 Oregon Department of Transportation employees who received layoff notices on Monday will be employed until July 31, according to a news release and FAQ from Kotek’s office.
In the end, Oregon lawmakers did grapple with the biggest questions before them this year. All it took was six months of grinding work weeks. The 2025 legislative session ended Friday evening at 11:15 p.m. after a marathon day packed with more drama and uncertainty than any session in recent memory. With the final gavels, lawmakers bid farewell to a session that included some notable accomplishments — and one dizzying failure.
Oregon Democrats have pulled the plug on a transportation package more than a year in the making, pivoting to a 3-cent increase to the state gas tax that supporters and opponents alike said was nothing more than a Band-Aid.
Rogue Valley Transportation District might eliminate two-thirds of its 15 bus routes and lay off up to 82 employees because of a freeze in federal funds. While no routes have been cut yet, RVTD will be looking at routes with low ridership, such as the relatively new Route 17 in Ashland, which was funded by a grant.
Dozens of people packed a room at the Capitol for the lone public hearing on a new proposal to raise taxes and fees on gas, car sales and payrolls and invest $11.7 billion over the next decade into roads, bridges and public transit. A 155-page amendment to House Bill 2025 advanced from the Joint Committee on Transportation Investment on Thursday afternoon on a 8-4 vote, teeing up a Friday vote in the state House with a do pass recommendation.
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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)
