Bob Kaplan: Tucked into a narrow canyon, our current drinking water plant is vulnerable to floods, landslides and wildfire, and there’s no space to treat harmful toxins that are more frequent as our summers get warmer and drier.

Sean F. McEnroe: In 2020 during the COVID shutdown, construction fences and flood lighting started going up around Ashland’s neighborhood schools. They never came down. What appeared to be temporary barriers became permanent ones, locking off spaces which had served as de facto public parks for generations.

Gary Shaff: For many local cyclists, the Ashland bicycle scene isn’t great if you don’t head up the trails on your mountain bike, or sport Lycra shorts, or enjoy riding 50 miles and climb to the top of the Greensprings.

Viewpoint: This year, Saturday, Sept. 21, is the 40th anniversary of Peace Day and PTP is again organizing a global celebration originating again from the San Francisco Civic Center Plaza. This is a big program and will be livestreamed globally,

Michael O’Looney: Project 25 intends to deconstruct the federal government, deport undocumented migrants. abolish the Department of Education, prosecute liberal judges, nullify Biden’s orders on climate change and ‘Christianize’ every facet of our government.

Michael O’Looney: And to Biden’s credit, he was able to see that for the good of the country he would have to come to terms with Father Time and settle for being a one-term president.

Conde Cox: These deer also destroy tens of thousands of dollars worth of landscaping in our city every year.

There are no good reasons to remain one of the 3 Oregon cities that elect its recorder; there are plenty of reasons to vote for change By Brian Almquist and

Michael O’Looney: We are all exhausted just thinking about another four years of Trumpian strife and self-glorification or another four years of seeing a faltering though well-intentioned, elderly statesman who simply may no longer have the energy or vision to guide the nation through the perilous times ahead.