Last week’s extended stretch of snowy weather tested Ashland’s capacity to offer the unhoused shelter out of the storm. With just 14 sleeping spots available at the city’s shelter, other organizations opened additional spaces, and the city temporarily raised its capacity due to emergency conditions.
Two weeks after its first February meeting was canceled due to unsafe road conditions due to snow, the Ashland City Council takes up business Tuesday, Feb. 17, it had expected to handle on Feb. 4. Its Feb. 3 study session, however, which was also canceled, is still pending as Monday, Feb. 17, was Presidents Day.
Carrie Dahle: Here in Ashland, the real estate market remains strong, but affordability remains a central challenge…. While we haven’t seen a dramatic shift toward smaller homes yet, buyers are increasingly prioritizing homes that offer efficient layouts, updated features and lower maintenance costs.
The severe weather shelter at 2200 Ashland St. is restricted to a capacity of 28 — a number those involved with the shelter say is routinely insufficient to the level of need.
Oregon’s cities will push the state Legislature to give them more money for roads, water and sewers, more power to remove homeless camps and more flexibility to spend hotel tax revenue on basic services. City officials from around Oregon laid out those goals during their biannual City Day at the Capitol earlier this week.
Two advocacy groups and five homeless people sued Grants Pass on Thursday in a bid to force the Southern Oregon city to change its restrictions on homeless camping that put people with disabilities and others in peril.
The Oregon state courts system has sealed about 47,000 evictions from Oregonians’ records, the Oregon Judicial Department said. The department sealed the residential evictions from people’s records by mid-December to comply with House Bill 2001, a 2023 law the Legislature passed.
As part of an ongoing commitment to addressing homelessness in Jackson County, individuals are invited to volunteer for the annual “Point in Time” (PIT) Count, which will take place throughout the last week of January, beginning Monday, Jan. 27.
Following a nearly two-year-long campaign led in part by Ashland High School students, the Ashland City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the first reading of an ordinance imposing fees to discourage installation of gas appliances in new residential construction.
At its first meeting of the new year Tuesday, the Ashland City Council is expected to sew up loose threads from last year with votes to approve the 2200 Ashland St. Master Plan, formally create an Ashland Parks & Recreation Department and the first reading of an ordinance to mitigate carbon pollution for new residential structures, according to meeting materials.
As of Nov. 3, Ashland Community Food Bank has a new director at the reins. Catie Mahoney will serve in the role with guidance from outgoing director Amey Broeker, who will officially retire on Dec. 31 after serving in the food bank role since 2022.
The Ashland City Council will review a proposal from a potential provider to oversee its extreme weather shelter during its regular business meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 18.
The Ashland Independent Film Festival has added a second screening showcasing Indigenous filmmakers on Sunday, Nov. 23.
Three and a half years into the war with Russia, Ashland violinist and longtime music teacher Faina Podolnaya is still finding ways to help Ukrainian refugees.
Herbert Rothschild: As the number of ads in The New Yorker has shrunk, it seems as if the wealth of its readership has concentrated, just as one might concentrate the flavor of a sauce by reducing it on the stovetop.
Local artist MaryAnn Shank will share the thoughts behind her newest novel “Sor Juana, My Beloved” at Bloomsbury Books Jan. 26. Shank is a finalist of The Isabel Allende Most Inspirational Book of the Year 2025 award, awarded by the International Latino Book Association.
(It’s free)
