The Southern Oregon University Board of Trustees is expected to vote Tuesday, Sept. 2, on an amended provisional plan to cut nearly $10 million from the university’s budget as presented Wednesday by SOU President Rick Bailey during a special virtual session of the board.
A sharply divided Ashland City Council approved pay raises for most city workers Tuesday night, but left Mayor Tonya Graham to cast the tie-breaking vote over management salaries.
Southern Oregon University President Rick Bailey unveiled a provisional plan of action Friday to respond to a structural deficit at the higher education institution, declaring exigency on the campus, with draft plans to cut $10.5 million over the next three to three and half years; reduce staff by 64 positions, approximately half of which are considered layoffs.
The Ashland City Council will review tentative agreements that would give city employees an average raise of about 5% raise this fiscal year and then another 2% each of the following two years at a total cost of under $700,000 this year and about $335,000 each of the next two years, for an aggregate total of a little under $1.4 million total over three years.
Southern Oregon University President Rick Bailey’s 20% pay cut approved by SOU’s Board of Trustees on Wednesday follows on the heels of a 50% pay cut request for all SOU administrators by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 503 President Sage TeBeest on behalf of SOU’s classified union membership to “preserve as many positions as possible” amid $6 million in looming cuts to the university.
Starting on Friday, Aug. 1, and per his own request to the Southern Oregon University Board of Trustees, SOU’s President Rick Bailey will take a 20% or $53,000 reduction to his $290,000 salary over the remainder of the fiscal year, following a unanimous virtual vote by SOU Trustees Wednesday afternoon.
A 30% increase to the Oregon labor bureau’s budget will help the agency hire 50 investigators to help reduce a backlog of wage theft and discrimination cases.
Ashland officials and a labor union representing more than 40 city employees reached a tentative agreement that would give workers a 4% pay raise.
Expect steep declines in bus service in the Rogue Valley come Sept. 2. That’s what the city of Ashland’s Transportation Advisory Committee was told at its monthly meeting Thursday where they received updates from Rogue Valley Transportation District Associate Planner Edem Gomez about the funding situation at RVTD and what it will mean for changes to bus routes in Ashland and the Rogue Valley.
Southern Oregon Public Broadcasting is on the brink of losing nearly $1 million in federal funding if the U.S. Senate votes to strip previously approved public media funding. Jefferson Public Radio stands to lose more than $500,000.
A local artist who arrived in Ashland three years ago is having his first solo art show at the White Rabbit gallery in downtown Ashland. Micah Blacklight has been waiting for the chance to show the personal perspective of an injustice he has witnessed over decades.
This year marks the 10th annual Thanksgiving Community Peace Meal and the First Presbyterian Church of Ashland has offered to share their space with the community. SOJWJ is lining up volunteers and cooks, as well as those who can give financial support. They are expecting to feed more than 300 people.
Ashland has been approved for a federal loan of up to $73 million to replace its 76-year-old water treatment plant, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday. The low-interest financing will allow the city to draw funds as construction progresses.
Flying monkeys, ruby red slippers, and a wicked witch – Oh my! The casts of Ashland High School Theatre are about to take you to see the “Wizard – The Wizard of Oz!” Shows continue with performances at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, after opening Thursday, Nov. 19.
What does community service mean to you? When Ashland Middle School Black Student Union Advisor Sessceal Reynolds asked her student club this question, the answer was “giving back” to the community by starting “where they were,” in the spirit of the famed Arthur Ashe quote: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
The opening of the Ashland Rotary Centennial Ice Rink has been put on hold due to unexpected permitting complications tied to the canopy that covers the outdoor rink across Winburn Way from Lithia Park.
(It’s free)
