Ed Finklea: So we are off to our nation’s capital to pay our respects to a person who had a profound impact on my life by posing for a picture and everyone’s life by being himself. Rest in Peace James Earl Carter Junior.
Jackson County needs a new animal shelter, one for both dogs and cats and run by a nonprofit organization, not the county, says Denise Krause, an Ashland resident who serves on the Rogue Valley Transit District board and is known to many as a candidate for county commissioner.
Amid the struggles of poverty in the Rogue Valley, there is an organization offering a unique lifeline — not to people, but to their pets. With spay-neuter programs and vital support services, Rogue Valley Street Dogs is transforming lives, one paw at a time.
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.
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.
Oregon Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland, has secured a leadership role for the 2025 legislative session that is already racking up a long list of pressing issues. Marsh will be sworn in to her fifth term on Jan. 13 and has been appointed as one of the three assistant majority leaders. She is the only representative selected for a leadership role in the House who lives south of Eugene.
Curtain Call: Abigail Mace is the artistic director and conductor of Jefferson Baroque Orchestra, a position she assumed last March. Jefferson Baroque’s upcoming concerts will be December performances of Handel’s “Messiah,” a beloved holiday tradition.
Cancer patients may soon see safer, more effective treatments thanks to groundbreaking research by a team that included Dr. Dawn Lemanne of Oregon Integrative Oncology in Ashland. Her team won first prize and a $50,000 grant at an international mathematical oncology competition in early November at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.
Ashland-based Two Sisters Writing & Publishing has published two new books addressing how to live your best life and ways to overcome harms from religious and other life experiences. “Joyously Free” provides “stories and tips to live your truth as LGBTQ+ people, parents and allies,” and “Healing Religious Hurts” offers “stories and tips to find love and peace.”
Obituary: Over her career teaching in Ashland, Rita Katherine Mahoney taught in four different elementary schools and spent a year at SOSTIC. She loved teaching and possessed a kindness and empathy for children, especially those with special needs.
One of Southern Oregon University’s most elite programs – its Honors College – is on its way out as part of $10 million in cost cuts detailed in the Resiliency Plan approved by the Board of Trustees in September.
Trisha Vigil: While closing the government may seem a national rather than a local issue, to Rogue Valley residents, it is clearly a local issue.
A proposed ballot initiative to eliminate Oregon’s estate tax is moving forward, even as the state braces for a massive loss in federal funding due to cuts related to Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. The estate tax generated $423 million for Oregon in 2024-25, a critical revenue stream as the state faces an estimated $15.1 billion in federal cuts, primarily from two programs that benefit low-income Oregonians: Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The art exhibition of a renowned American artist living in Ashland has opened at the Langford Art Gallery in Phoenix. The exhibition “Beneath the Surface” features dozens of paintings by artist Abby Lazerow. The artist describes her work as “the search for human connection.”
Ashland’s 15th annual SOPride Festival brought together students, educators, activists and dozens of local groups on Saturday, Oct. 4 for the event’s parade in downtown Ashland.
(It’s free)
