This week’s crossword: selected course titles from OLLI’s Winter 2025 catalog. Solve it directly in the article or download a PDF to print. Next week’s crossword: “Camelot 2025 #01.” More crosswords under the Culture menu.
Obituary: Charlton Ray Embry was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Nov. 29, 1941. The former Ashland resident, aged 82, who taught at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), passed away peacefully on March 11.
The Southern Oregon Homelessness Summit is an opportunity to learn how services work and what is being done to address homelessness throughout the region, said Cass Sinclair, executive director of Opportunities for Housing, Resources & Assistance. Curious community members can attend for $25 — a cost that includes a “nice lunch” — from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, at Ashland Hills Hotel.
Community adults who would like to pass on knowledge and skills to others for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute’s spring term are invited to submit course proposals by Friday, Dec. 15.
‘OLLI Abroad’ is a hit. The original musical comedy sold out and made a fundraising haul for OLLI at SOU.
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute will hold an open house from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday, July 28, at the Southern Oregon Stevenson Union building, 1118 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, organizers have announced.
Here’s a tip: if you’re ever doing a crossword puzzle and you get an 10-letter answer with the clue “Ashland cruciverbalist,” the answer is Steve Weyer.
Marc Ratner, a popular instructor who taught more classes and more students in more than 20 years with Ashland’s OLLI at SOU program, died at home in Ashland on April 22 at the age of 97.
Have special interests, skills, or knowledge you think others might like to know? You don’t need to have a background in education to share it. Starting Monday, a three-class primer entitled “Introduction to Teaching at OLLI” meets over three weeks to give you the tools on how to effectively communicate what you know. Enrollees can choose to attend in person or online.
Training is available for those interested in helping others prepare tax returns, a free service offered by the AARP Foundation Tax Aide service currently offering help on Wednesdays and Fridays at The Grove in Ashland.
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)
