Chris Honoré: The Endangered Species Act turned 50. Honeybees are reportedly making a comeback after three pesticides were banned. May Earth’s other struggling species follow.
Chris Honoré: Trump has now shown us who he is and I believe him. He has unambiguously defined in recent speeches, rallies, and interviews the meaning of the acronym MAGA, while sharing unabashedly that he will “weaponize” the Department of Justice and … prosecute those who he believes have been disloyal.
Chris Honoré: The 2024 election will not be about issues, such as they are, but ultimately about whether our democracy, this extraordinary form of self-governance, will survive should he be elected.
Chris Honoré: For Israel, this is judged to be an existential moment, and as a people they are reminded of the Holocaust. And they are aware that it is Hamas that has called for the absolute destruction of Israel in lieu of any attempt to peacefully co-exist or discuss any plan for a two-state solution.
Chris Honoré: In the coming election we will choose between a government by and for the people or a man who would be king.
Chris Honoré: What brought this to mind was Donald Trump’s social media post, “If you go after me, I’m coming after you.” Is this protected political speech? Or is it a veiled threat meant for those who are even remotely involved in a political or governmental pushback?
Chris Honoré: Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election took us within a whisper of losing our democracy.
Chris Honoré: Massacres of schoolchildren by gunmen don’t move Congress to stem the bloodshed. Instead, we continue to live under the tyranny of the gun.
Chris Honoré: Now that he has been indicted, the thought that Donald Trump may gain politically from his record of malfeasance is chilling.
Chris Honoré: “During his first two years in office, Biden signed a blizzard of bills, and he has arguably been the most accomplished president since Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s.”
Ask Strider: A reader asks whatever happened to Woody the Puppy Intern? Strider has news! Woody has landed on all four paws with a new gig. And Steve, the Ashland.news crossword editor, has a new canine crossword up for solving. The excitement is pupable!
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).
(It’s free)
