Ashland City Council and Parks & Recreation Commissioners concluded a joint study session Wednesday evening another step closer to an ordinance that promises to smooth out cooperation between the two governing bodies.
With two highlighting a need to clarify a nebulous behavioral health component and one trusting the $32,000 survey results indicating narrow voter support, the Jackson County commissioners opted not to move forward with the next steps needed to form a tax district that would fund the construction and operation costs of a new jail.
Four years ago, a fire on Sept. 8, 2020, swept by hot, dry winds of more than 40 miles per hour, left a 9-mile path of destruction from north Ashland to Phoenix, killing three people and destroying nearly 2,400 structures, including 2,300 homes. Displaced families who are still without permanent housing will receive top priority for new affordable housing at New Spirit Village, an 87-unit development in west Medford which celebrated its grand opening Thursday. Gov. Tina Kotek cut the ribbon in the official ceremony.
Around 11:30 a.m. a power outage affecting the entire Southern Oregon and Northern California regions was traced to a transmission line operation by Pacific Power and Electric according to an Everbridge alert. Throughout downtown Ashland, traffic lights failed and traffic automatically operated as if it were a four-way stop.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office is in need of volunteer K-9 handlers and qualified dogs to join its Search and Rescue team. Training and certification take around 18 months to complete, with training sessions twice a week. Dogs and their handlers must be on call most hours of the day.
The Gambrel Gallery on East Main Street in Ashland closed in late June after Jackson County found it in violation of land use regulations. The gallery, which was housed in a large, red barn at 1980 E. Main St., and operated by Emily Santiago and Chris Leishman of Ashland, opened in 2022 to showcase art in an unconventional space and create more community around art and with local artists.
The Ashland Police Department has gained an additional Jackson County Jail bed to reserve for offenders arrested for committing low-level crimes in the city. The new agreement between the county and the city of Ashland calls for up to three beds, at $110 per day per bed, from March 1, 2024, to Feb. 28, 2027.
A dozen urban and rural Oregon counties plan to have new drug addiction treatment programs available in September, when the state’s new misdemeanor penalty for drug possession takes effect. During the last legislative session, Jackson County was among 23 of Oregon’s 36 counties saying they were willing to participate — and be eligible for a portion of state funding to start the programs.
A Tuesday primary election ballot measure to cut Jackson County commissioners salaries to $75,000 received overwhelming support from voters, according to unofficial results at 8 p.m. But two other ballot measures — one that would have made the commissioner position nonpartisan, another increasing the size of the board from three to five — appear to be rejected, according to the first round of ballot results released by the Jackson County Elections Office.
Salaries for Jackson County commissioners have been a political hot potato for almost two decades, and a recently approved salary boost in July would top commissioner pay in the most populous counties in Oregon.
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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)
