Oregon State Parks will hire more than 200 seasonal Rangers and Ranger Assistants for positions across the state for the 2025 season. Hiring starts as soon as this month and runs through about June with new positions listed on a rolling basis.
Forest restoration and wildfire mitigation projects have been halted and employees laid off as freezes of federal funds impact Lomakatsi Restoration Project, an Ashland-based nonprofit organization. Nearly two of every three dollars — 65% — of the nonprofit’s budget for 2025 came from the Inflation Reduction Act or the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — two pots of money affected by broad freezes of federal funds by the Trump administration.
Oregon’s Democratic U.S. House members — and other Democrats in the House — warned last week that firing firefighters and employees at agencies that manage federal land could have drastic consequences for the upcoming fire season.
A full house gathered Monday night at Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship to better understand current changes to federal immigration policy and to hear how they might support immigrants in the local community.
Latino leaders joined Congressional Hispanic Caucus Democrats Wednesday to criticize the Trump administration for conducting high-profile immigration enforcement raids that have spread fear in their communities, rather than tackling economic issues important to Latinos.
After 46 days on strike, nurses at Providence hospitals across Oregon have approved a deal that will see them return to work. The strike, which is one of the largest health care worker labor actions in state history, included thousands of nurses at all eight Providence hospitals in the state, including Medford.
Nurses would be paid more and receive compensation for missing breaks under a tentative agreement reached by Providence Health & Services and the Oregon Nurses Association that could end a six-week-long strike.
The Ashland Sunrise Project is hosting an opportunity for community members to learn about current immigration issues and how to be in solidarity with those potentially impacted by the changing political climate on immigration. The event, titled “How To Do No Harm and Be a Good Neighbor,” is set for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, at Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (RVUUF), 87 4th St., Ashland.
Providence Medford Medical Center said Friday that 43 percent of its striking nurses have come back to work amid an historic statewide strike. The nurses union, however, calls the number “unsubstantiated.” About 380 nurses at Providence Medford went on strike Jan. 10 along with nurses at eight other hospitals around the state. In total, nearly 5,000 Oregon Nurses Association-represented nurses remain on strike.
Oregon could have far fewer firefighters ready to battle blazes on federal lands next fire season — and may do less advance work aimed at mitigating the risk of large fires — due to the Trump administration’s hiring freeze and funding cuts, according to U.S. lawmakers.
Hundreds turned out for Ashland’s first wildfire evacuation drill. The exercise tested how quickly cars, cyclists and those on foot could reach safety using the emergency on-ramp at North Mountain Avenue.
Ashland School District plans to contract with a Eugene-based firm to “shore up” the 1948 wing of the shuttered Lincoln School building, which the city fire marshal ordered shut days before the beginning of the school year in August.
The Rogue Theater Company will bring to life Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” opening Thursday, Oct. 16. The production features a cast of celebrated Oregon Shakespeare Festival actors.
After having to adapt on the fly during the Almeda Fire five years ago, agencies across Jackson County now have a shared wildfire evacuation plan that spells out each group’s duties. Law enforcement leads the way In the event of a citywide wildfire evacuation, while local fire departments and the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) will focus on fighting the fire.
Jim Hatton: There is only one thing that causes unhappiness: attachment. Attachment comes when we hold on to something for fear of losing it because we believe that we can’t be happy without it.
Herbert Rothschild: Is it possible to write columns about torturing people in Guantanamo or eliminating the U.S. Agency for International Development without alienating those who are OK with such actions?
(It’s free)
