Indigenous teens, including an Ashland High School senior, made history by kayaking the entire 300-mile length of the Klamath River for the first time since major dam removals. The 30-day journey is featured in OPB’s documentary “First Descent: Kayaking the Klamath.”
On Valentine’s Day, the historic Holly Theatre will host the world premiere of “Ernie & Emma,” a tender, Oregon-made romantic comedy from cult icon and Ashland resident Bruce Campbell.
In OSF’s 2026 season, Wilensky will play fiddle onstage in “Come From Away,” a prospect she finds energizing. “I love working with the talented and heart-centered actors, directors and crew,” she said.
Amy Bowers Cordalis, an Ashland attorney and key figure in the world’s largest river restoration project, will speak Saturday at the Ashland library about her memoir, “The Water Remembers: My Indigenous Family’s Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life.” The book documents her family’s long legal and cultural struggle to remove four dams from the Klamath River, a fight that culminated in their removal in 2024.
Asante Ashland Community Hospital’s Family Birth Center is closing this spring, but first the staff delivered the hospital system’s first baby of the new year on Thursday, Jan. 1. And not only is she the first New Year’s baby in Southern Oregon, but her mom, Cameron, was the first New Year’s baby girl born on Jan. 1, 2000, to mark the turn of the millennium at Providence Medford Medical Center.
Mt. Ashland has tapped longtime patroller Mark Daly as its new ski patrol director. He brings more than four decades of ski patrol experience to the role, according to Mt. Ashland officials.
As 2025 turns the corner into 2026, the time between three Ashland murder cases and solving the mysteries of who’s responsible keeps getting longer. Will the killing of Matthew “Oostburg” Vandersande in September join those of David Grubbs and Dave Lewis as cold cases?
Peace House in Ashland is honoring its longtime Executive Director Elizabeth Hallett and welcoming Meg Wade as its new leader. After running the local nonprofit for a decade, Hallett reflected on her legacy of peace activism and community service.
Rogue Valley Symphony tuba player Mike Knox is retiring this season after 55 years with the orchestra, a tenure that stretches back to the orchestra’s earliest days.
A fire destroyed a manufacturing facility in Madagascar that partners with an Ashland-based business that is raising funds to help the 400 artisans recover.
Asante stymied unionizing campaigns by both physicians and nurses at Asante Ashland Community Hospital in 2025, according to a hospital employee. Asante announced Dec. 3 the Ashland hospital would close its birth center and other inpatient services in the spring.
The Ashland Tudor Guild will present “Fabric of the Festival: A Shakespearean Costume Fashion Show” Sunday, Jan. 25, at the Bellview Grange. Proceeds will benefit the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The event will feature costumes from OSF productions, live narration, and a VIP wine reception before the show.
Review: “Spotlight on Aretha” is two hours of raw funk, great singing, down and dirty R&B, jazz and genuine soul. The singers seamlessly appear to magically blend with the band and the whole thing is just an amazing retrospective that moves, grooves and takes you to places you may not have been in a long time.
The Ashland Family YMCA pool opened Tuesday, Jan. 20, after being closed since mid-November for repairs.
A divided Ashland City Council approved a new rail crossing on North Mountain Avenue Tuesday after Mayor Tonya Graham cast the deciding vote. Proponents contend the upgrade is necessary before a large repaving project, while opponents are cautious, citing uncertainty about the freight rail line’s future and potential impacts from a proposed civic center nearby.
Denise Krause, a retired health executive and Rogue Valley Transportation District board member, officially announced Tuesday, Jan. 20, that she is running for the Oregon State Senate seat currently held by Democrat Jeff Golden.
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