An anonymous $890,000 donation to the Ashland Schools Foundation not only helped ease the district’s budget crisis — it sparked a wave of gratitude that caught national attention. The community’s response, especially from students, led to a feature on the Kelly Clarkson Show, set to air on Oct. 16.
Southern Oregon University’s Board of Trustees is set to hold a virtual meeting on Thursday, Sept. 18, to vote on proposed cuts to the university budget.
Greg White isn’t just the new head coach of Ashland High School’s football team — he’s part of the program’s history. A former Grizzly quarterback under longtime coach Jim Nagel, White steps into the top job with a clear message: winning is fun, and it’s time to bring that energy back.
A virtual meeting of the Southern Oregon University Board of Trustees scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 2 has been cancelled and postponed until the upcoming in-person board retreat. The meeting previously planned for 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2 was set to include a trustee vote on a final plan surrounding the outcome of cuts to the current $66 million budget.
Comments from students, faculty and staff poured out Wednesday during a virtual meeting of the Southern Oregon University Board of Trustees in response to an amended provisional plan to cut nearly $10 million over the course of the next few years from the school’s $66 million budget.
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.
Students returned to seven district campuses across the Ashland School District for the first full day of school Tuesday, Aug. 26.
Classes start for all Ashland students on Tuesday, Aug. 26, as the 2025-26 school year kicks off and, with it, some new leadership at Ashland schools, including new interim principals Francisco Lopez Atanes at Ashland High School and Susan Hollandsworth at Helman Elementary School.
Ashland School District officials plan to make arrangements over the weekend to relocate an alternative education program from Lincoln School to Ashland High School following the emergency closure of the nearly 100-year-old building after an annual inspection by the city fire marshal turned up severe structural issues.
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.
In a reversal of fortune, a proposed 6-acre solar installation on Ashland’s northwest side along Highway 99 appears headed for approval after a public hearing Monday, Dec. 1, before a county hearing officer. The proposal had been tentatively denied by staff, then appealed to the hearing officer by the applicant, Medella Bison Ranch.
With growing concerns over major state budget deficits, stagnating population growth, rising unemployment and new data showing Oregon businesses have started looking elsewhere as they expand, Governor Tina Kotek announced her intention to dig the Beaver State’s business cred out of the basement
Asante Ashland Community Hospital’s birthing center and inpatient surgery will close by spring 2026, leaving only the emergency room and outpatient services, according to plans shared with staff Wednesday, Dec. 3, by Asante, the Medford-based health care provider serving Southern Oregon and Northern California.
Obituary: Mary Linda Jackson passed away on Thursday, Nov. 27, after a courageous battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. A Catholic Mass and Memorial Service will be held on Monday, Dec. 22 in Ashland.
Ask Strider: For Christmas, a reader would rather have pizza in her pajamas than Beef Wellington in her dressing up clothes, but family members feel differently. What to do? And another reader makes Strider wag his tail and think of pancakes.
A potentially dire budget cliff prompted the Ashland City Council Monday to look at possible future cuts to police, fire, the City Band and burial services, along with various ideas to increase revenues. The council held a five-hour “retreat” in its council chamber Monday to hash out ways to avoid expected budget shortfalls over the next three bienniums that ranged from just over $1 million in a best-case scenario to more than $23 million in a worst-case scenario.
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