Ashland has a new Goodwill Retail Store that doubles the previous store’s sales space and includes a Job Connection, a center that helps people in the community develop and upgrade their work skills. A throng of shoppers lined up for the store’s opening Thursday at 777 E. Jefferson Ave., less than a mile from the old store on Tolman Creek Road. The old store is now closed.
When you are not ready to adopt a dog but you miss dogginess, fostering is the perfect solution. And for folks who might want to take a smaller step than fostering, there is the Field Trip program: Take a foster dog for the day, or maybe just a hike.
Ashland’s largest social services hub has announced the hire of Dan Cano as its new executive director, according to a news release from nonprofit Opportunities for Housing, Resources & Assistance. Cano served most recently as Vocational Services Director at Transitions-Mental Health Association in San Luis Obispo, California.
Break out the downhill and snowboards. It’s almost time to go skiing and riding. Abundant snowfall means the Mt. Ashland Ski Area will open early for the 2024/25 winter season on Friday, Dec. 6, with Season Passholder Appreciation Day. The area will open to all on Saturday, Dec. 7. Both days the Sonnet, Comer, and Windsor chairlifts will operate from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
More than 200 people turned out Thursday for the ninth Community Peace Meal and Thanksgiving Celebration at the First Presbyterian Church of Ashland, according to organizers Jason and Vanessa Houk of Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice, which does the Peace Meal every Thursday and Friday in Lithia Park near the bandshell at 3:30 p.m., rain or shine.
Last March the Ashland Community Food Bank saw a 140% spike in demand. SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, benefits were reduced and many COVID protection programs such as eviction protection ended. Now, it takes about 60,000 pounds of food every month to feed those directly “shopping” at the food bank, but also to restock little satellite pantries around Ashland, such as at the library and at the Ashland Senior Center.
Ashland residents in need will have a few places to look for the festive food and companionship that defines the Thanksgiving holiday. Those who want to offer their help can volunteer or donate in a few places.
Solar power plays a key role in Ashland’s plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions by the year 2050 — but right now, it generates just 5% of Ashland’s electricity. The local nonprofit Ashland Solar Cooperative aims to increase access to this renewable energy source by installing community solar projects.
Most everyone thinks that homelessness is a problem that must be solved, but there is little agreement as to what actions should be taken. The Jefferson Center discussion on Sunday will consider how government, nonprofit organizations and citizen volunteers might help.
In a circle of chairs at the Rogue Valley Metaphysical Library, volunteers for Ashland’s severe weather shelter were gathered for a training in how to offer trauma-informed care to shelter guests. Trauma can make people feel unsafe, not accepted, or lead to challenges in school, work and relationships.
Three guinea pigs had been left in Lithia Park, Ashland Community Service Officer Denise Aguilera was told when she was called to respond. The guinea pigs were left in a carrier “with a sign indicating ‘Free for the taking,’” Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara said in an email Wednesday.
Herbert Rothschild: Some Lenten sustenance: Currently, nearly 3.5 million Afghan children are suffering acute malnutrition. And on March 1, Netanyahu sentenced the Gazans to starvation.
More than 12 million Americans who took out loans from the U.S. Department of Education to attend college are now stuck in limbo about whether or not they’ll get to participate in income-driven repayment plans that have served millions of Americans before them.
Ashland artist Rachel Hallett Ralston will host a gallery party Saturday, March 15, at Langford Gallery in Phoenix. Ralston will address the group in a talk on the creative process she has experienced in her work and showcase a variety of different art works on exhibit.
In an open house with Portland-based developer Edlen & Co. and locally-based Arkitek and Outlier Construction held for school district employees in late February, the real estate investment firm heard a mix of praise, questions and concerns from those in attendance on the proposed project to build a 90-plus unit housing development in conjunction with nonprofit Sunstone Housing Collaborative, established by two members of the Ashland School Board, at the southeast corner of East Main Street and South Mountain Avenue.
An application for a single-family home planned for the slopes above Granite Street by Bryan and Stephanie DeBoer was neither approved nor denied Tuesday by the Ashland Planning Commission after a member of the public invoked an Oregon statute which requires the commission to keep the public record open for an additional period. It now closes March 18.
(It’s free)
