UPDATE: The Lincoln School in Ashland was closed on Thursday by the city’s Fire Marshal following a fire inspection. The closure impacts two educational programs housed at Lincoln. The district is working to contact families about where their children will attend classes on Monday.
Classes aren’t back in session just yet, but there were lessons learned this week at Talent Middle School and Phoenix High School. A training exercise on Monday was months in the making, involving Phoenix, Talent and Ashland police departments and upwards of 100 volunteers, including Phoenix High School football players and students, staff and parent volunteers.
Through a partnership with Jackson Care Connect, Phoenix-Talent School District is hosting its first Healthy Start Block Party at Phoenix High School from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23. The free community fair will offer a wide range of free resources to local students and their families, including from Talent and Ashland.
“The Teenage Brain: Impacts on Despair, Homelessness & Substance Abuse” is a free public program at the Ashland Public Library on Sept. 2 to discuss the wide array of challenges that teens face before their brains are fully developed.
State Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland recapped the 2025 legislative for constituents during a Sunday, Aug. 3 town hall and ice cream social in Talent.
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.
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.
In the face of looming $6 million cuts to the $66.7 million university budget and nearly 10% drop in fall freshman enrollment, Southern Oregon University President Rick Bailey is preparing to cut his annual salary by 20%.
The Japan All-Star Team shut out the South Valley Wolfpack — an Ashland and Phoenix team — in the 18th Pacific Rim Bowl, a historic cultural exchange between Ashland High School and Japan’s All-Stars that started in 1988.
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)
