For this year’s Pacific Rim Bowl, players from coach Charlie Hall’s current Phoenix High School program will team up with those from Ashland High to create a South Valley team that will take on the Japanese all-stars on July 25 at Walter A. Phillips Field in Ashland.
At its March 13 regular board meeting, Ashland School Board members approved a resolution authorizing the district to officially let the community know about plans to pursue a “Full Faith and Credit Loan” of “a maximum principal amount of $10 million” to stabilize its operational budget, according to a district news release issued Wednesday.
Citing plans to move out of the school district area for family reasons in the future, incumbent Ashland School Board member Jill Franko withdrew Friday from the race for her seat in the upcoming special election on May 20. Ann M. Gaffney also withdrew from the race for position No. 3 school board race, but filed the same day for Position 1 — Franko’s current seat — and will face Jordan Rooklyn in the upcoming election.
A broad alliance of Ashland leaders continued their pitch Thursday for a proposed 90-plus unit affordable housing development that could boost enrollment at schools. At the Ashland High Library, across the street from the proposed 4.18-acre project site at the southeast corner of South Mountain Avenue and East Main Street, about 70 people generally voiced support for the concept at what was billed as a listening session hosted by the Sunstone Housing Collaborative.
A crowdfunding effort to fund a spring play at Ashland Middle School has raised more than $1,000 — 20% of its $5,000 goal — to ensure that the show will go on, but there is still $4,000 to raise by the end of the week if fundraisers are to meet their goal. The play’s GoFundMe page had collected $1,050 as of mid-day Wednesday, March 19.
As the deadline nears to apply for Ashland School Board this Thursday, three more individuals have filed for board posts in the upcoming election on May 20, including Ashland parent and former Hollywood actor Alex Sol, who sued the school district and Oregon Department of Education last year to make Ashland Schools structurally safer in the event of an active shooter scenario, as previously reported by Ashland.news.
In an open house with Portland-based developer Edlen & Co. and locally-based Arkitek and Outlier Construction held for school district employees in late February, the real estate investment firm heard a mix of praise, questions and concerns from those in attendance on the proposed project to build a 90-plus unit housing development in conjunction with nonprofit Sunstone Housing Collaborative, established by two members of the Ashland School Board, at the southeast corner of East Main Street and South Mountain Avenue.
The city of Ashland’s deputy city manager Jordan Rooklyn filed with Jackson County Elections Office on Monday to vie for position 1 on Ashland School Board, a post held by incumbent Jill Franko for the past four years.
Theatergoers looking for a fresh take on a timeless, literary adventure — with a whole lot of wit and whimsy to go along with it — should check out Ashland High School Theater’s spring musical production of “Little Women” opening this weekend with performances at 7 p.m. Friday, March 7, and Saturday, March 8, at Mountain Avenue Theatre, with an afternoon matinee at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 9.
Federal threats to stop funding campuses that support diversity programs have sent shock waves through Southern Oregon University and Ashland schools. A majority of students at SOU rely on federal grants to help cover tuition, and roughly two-thirds of the school’s $65 million general fund budget is derived from federal dollars.
The Oregon Legislature is meeting this week to consider some major cuts to current spending levels as a large revenue deficit looms. That’s because the state’s tax code automatically replicates new federal tax cuts, including ones passed by Congressional Republicans this summer that will reduce state revenue
Michael O’Looney: Trump and the Texas Legislature are responsible for a partisan power grab that has unleashed bitterness and partisan vindictiveness, all in an effort to subvert an electoral system for partisan ends.
Councilor Bob Kaplan: While the cost of delivering kilowatt-hours to our homes has risen, Ashland Electric has been able to hold our rates steady with just one increase of 5.1% in 2021. I’m sorry to say we’re due for an increase, but fortunately it’s not likely to match recent increases elsewhere.
An estimate for the cost to abate asbestos found in the shuttered Lincoln School recently should be available as early as sometime this week, according to Steve Mitzel, operations director for Ashland School District. The cost to remove asbestos would be separate from the as yet-unknown cost for structural repair.
“We are still here” was the theme for Saturday’s Native American Heritage Celebration at Southern Oregon University, hosted by the SOU Native American Student Union (NASU) and SOU Native Nations Liaison Kenwanicahee (Kenwani) Kravitz (Madesi Bandi, Pit River Nation Winnemem, Nomtipom and Nomsus Bands Northern Wintu).
As Oregon lawmakers stare down a deficit of at least $373 million over the next two years — and brace for the possibility of a bigger shortfall in the state’s next quarterly revenue — they asked state agencies to create lists of ways to cut 5% of their approved budgets.
(It’s free)
