Nearly 5,000 Providence Health & Systems nurses and other professionals walked off their jobs Friday in the largest strike by health workers in state history — and the first involving unionized doctors.
Bundled up and bearing bright-green signs, dozens of nurses gathered outside Providence Medford Medical Center Friday morning to begin their open-ended strike advocating for better pay, safe staffing and more adequate health insurance benefits.
The Oregon Nurses Association issued a 10-day strike notice Monday, setting the stage for what would be the largest healthcare worker and physicians strike in Oregon history. The notice followed a five-day cooling off period and additional mediated discussions that included nurses at Providence Medford Medical Center, as well as ONA members at Providence hospitals across the state. The strike is scheduled to begin Jan. 10.
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.
A budget crisis didn’t stop Ashland schools Superintendent Joseph Hattrick Monday night from vowing to turn a fiscal corner within a few years with the community’s help. He spoke Monday night before an audience of about 50 parents and school staff at Ashland High School’s Mountain Avenue Theatre during the first of four public outreach sessions this week.
After nearing what they call their “bottom line,” Providence Medford nurses say “nothing is off the table” after a Tuesday bargaining session failed to end in a new contract with hospital administration. A strike authorization vote date is pending for Medford registered nurses represented by the Oregon Nurses Association.
After years of increasing staffing even as enrollment declined, Ashland School District needs to reduce its 2024-2025 fiscal year budget by more than $2.2 million by mid-2025, according to a review by a statewide education official. Superintendent Joseph Hattrick is asking staff and the public to weigh in on a district plan on how to move forward with cuts.
A lightning bolt left Stephen Sklarew in pain for six months in 1996, igniting an interest in artificial intelligence (AI) systems as a way to help heal the natural world. His journey from entomologist to AI leader riveted the attendees at the Ashland RegenAI Summit on Sept. 13-15, an event that showcased how various issues that confront local communities can be aided by artificial intelligence.
Qualified applicants to become judge of the city of Ashland’s municipal court are asked to send a letter of interest and a resume to the city recorder by the new, extended deadline of Oct. 1, City Manager Sabrina Cotta said in a news release Wednesday.
Southern Oregon University was recently named a top 30 film school for its digital cinema program in the U.S. and Canada by MovieMaker Magazine, a widely read independent film magazine. Alongside big-name schools such as the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles, SOU was chosen for its hands-on education and networking opportunities.
Editor’s note: Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne covers city government, including its ongoing efforts to find ways to shape policies around homelessness. For better insight into the issue, Rothborne spent a night in early December in the shelter when it was operated by Jobs with Justice in Calvin Hall at First Presbyterian Church of Ashland.
An Ashland man was arrested after an ongoing investigation “into child exploitation and internet crimes against children” led to execution of a search warrant on Alida Street early Tuesday, according to a news release from the Ashland Police Department.
Reader Photo: Mary Piper took this photo of Emigrant Lake recently. As of Jan. 12, the lake was 39% full, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.
A Community Resource Center will be coming to Talent after the city received notice of approval for a $1.5 million federal grant from Business Oregon in late December. The center would house nonprofit agencies that work for the benefit of Talent citizens.
Poetry Corner: Celebrate the New Year with poetry inspired by the Oregon Caves National Monument, one of Southern Oregon’s natural treasures.
Curtain Call: Popular orchestra conductor Martin Majkut has added another gig to his already busy schedule. Majkut, the music director of the Rogue Valley Symphony and the Queens Symphony Orchestra in New York, has been appointed the new music director of the Oregon Coast Music Association’s festival orchestra.
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