Brad Carrier: “Who knows what residents have to offer or what they might think? Who knows who is selling what where? A single, comprehensive gathering place, an online town square and bulletin board, like Ashland.news, could reacquaint us with us.”
Mayor Julie Akins: “An audit might tell us more, especially one that goes back five years. The more we know, the better off we are in righting our financial ship. It’s a reasonable idea. I don’t see why anyone would be offended.”
Peter Gibb: “Here’s my simple, free idea. Let’s learn and practice talking to each other differently. Learn to listen, rather than jumping to debate and argument. Set conversational intentions on understanding rather than winning.”
Les Zaitz: “For Oregon and for journalism, I remain an optimist. I trust in the basic good nature and good sense of people. History shows that swings in political and social views can be wide, but the pendulum of political opinion eventually seems to move back to a more centrist — and representative — view.”
Kathy Conway: “In a letter to customers, Avista makes the offer that “…you now have a new option to add renewable natural gas and lower your carbon footprint.” But how generous is this offer and what does it do for our climate?”
Matt Witt: “Affordable housing, getting small businesses back on their feet after the Almeda fire, and fire prevention and emergency preparedness are the public’s three top priorities for Talent’s urban renewal plan. Talent’s mayor and city councilors, who also serve as the TURA board, meet Wednesday to consider an urban renewal proposal based on those priorities after months of public input. If approved, that will trigger a period for additional comment from the public and other agencies before the board adopts a final plan later this summer.”
Rick Landt: “Let’s hope that a fresh look occurs and that the city manager is directed by City Council to identify real future budget deficits and stop wasting time and raising havoc with 11th-hour budget cuts based on what appear to be made-up problems that are not backed by an attorney’s opinion.”
Alan Journet: “If global warming and its climate change consequences continue unchecked, they are likely to destroy our natural ecosystem (forests, woodlands, grasslands, deserts, etc.) by the end of the century, along with our agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. It’s difficult to imagine how the economic impact of this could be overestimated or ignored.”
Alan DeBoer: “We have become a very intolerant society with a terrible message to our youth. Let’s turn that into an inclusive one that enables discussion, differences of opinions, and friendship. Our leaders need to work on the big problems and simple, practical solutions while sending a positive message that there is always hope and your future is bright.”
John Williams: “Rather than try to erase the name of America’s most famous conservationist from a school with a series of ill-informed, revisionist presumptions about whether or not he should be labeled a racist, perhaps the Ashland School District could recognize that historical figures such as Muir were flawed and worthy of discussion.”
Don Bieghler, beloved Ashland City Band Director for 25 years, leads his last performance this Thursday night in Lithia Park. He’s been with the band for a total of 60 years.
Southern Oregon University President Rick Bailey presented SOU’s highest honor on Monday in Guanajuato to two prominent supporters of the university exchange program between SOU and the University of Guanajuato. An SOU delegation and about 200 guests representing wide segments of the Guanajuato community looked on as the awards were presented to Juan Carlos Romero Hicks, holder of two master’s degrees earned at SOU before he embarked on a distinguished political career in Mexico, and his wife, Francis “Faffie” Romero Siekman, a prime mover behind a scholarship program supporting student exchanges.
Ashland Fire & Rescue has warned of more intense fire seasons in years to come as local impacts of climate change become more apparent. Division Chief Chris Chambers told the City Council Tuesday, Aug. 2, that coming fire seasons could see an increase in acres burned of between 200 and 400 percent.
Birds’-Eye View: Ashland-based nonprofit Klamath Bird Observatory keeps on eye on bird life in the Klamath-Siskiyou Bioregion of southern Oregon and northern California. Since birds are a key indicator species and migratory paths from much of the Western Hemisphere pass through this area, KBO data helps inform natural resource management on a broad scale.
The 77th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, was marked in Ashland for the 38th year on Saturday. A capacity crowd gathered at Thalden Pavilion, site of an eternal World Peace Flame, to hear remarks and celebrate the planting of a gingko tree sprouted from seeds from a tree that survived the Hiroshima inferno.
Alan Journet: “Today’s Republicans have jettisoned the traditional conservative adherence to democratic principles and have committed themselves to thwarting the will of the voters if they don’t like it.”
(It’s free)
