Bundled up and bearing bright-green signs, dozens of nurses gathered outside Providence Medford Medical Center Friday morning to begin their open-ended strike advocating for better pay, safe staffing and more adequate health insurance benefits.
Talent-based eatery Pump House 2.0 will close next week, bidding farewell to the community after some starts and stops at a busy downtown corner. Announced Jan. 2, Pump House 2.0 will be open for its final day Saturday, Jan. 18.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek on Thursday continued the homelessness state of emergency she declared on her first day in office for a third year as the state continues to grapple with the crisis of thousands of people living outside.
“You can’t make an electric truck work in Oregon yet. The technology isn’t there. I have been trying to get DEQ and the governor’s office to understand the implications of this, but I’m not making progress.” — CEO of the Oregon Trucking Associations
Local residents discussed a new paradigm for local news at the Ashland Public Library Tuesday in an age when journalism has withered in the face of social media and the rise of the internet. A full room of about 90 people showed up for “The Current State of Local/Regional Journalism,” part of the “Big Ideas” series presented by the Association of University Women and Jackson County Library Services.
Ashland’s Christmas trees gain a second life as mulch throughout the city’s parks and trails through a decades-old tradition of multiple organizations coordinating across generational lines. Saturday, Jan. 11, the scouts of Troop 112 will spend the morning ferrying trees from curbs around town to the area of Hunter Park where Ashland Parks & Recreation Commission staff will be waiting with a woodchipper.
Oregon fire experts have finalized their redo of state maps of wildfire hazard areas, showing about 106,000 properties in high-risk spots that could be subject to new building and landscape codes.
Several Rogue Valley firefighting agencies are sending reinforcements to Southern California to help battle catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires driven by devilish Santa Ana winds. The contingent includes engines from Illinois Valley, Medford Fire, Ashland Fire & Rescue, Jackson County Fire District 3 and Chiloquin Fire and Rescue.
Jackson County District Attorney Beth Heckert marked the final day of her third and last term in office on Monday. Former Chief Deputy DA Patrick Green was sworn in as the county’s new top prosecutor Monday.
A U.S. district judge has denied a motion by regional tribes that would block federal officials from greenlighting a Coquille Indian Tribe casino in Medford.
A bright blue book locker outside the Ashland Family YMCA provides a new, more convenient way to check out materials from the library. The book locker can be accessed 24/7. Books are placed on hold through the library services website, which also has a video showing the book locker installation.
John Marciano and Leslie Dwyer: While hedge funds and rich corporate interests are buying up hospitals across the country and cutting services and staff to increase their profits, the well-being of hospital staff and patients is undermined.
KS Wild Side: With the help of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program, the state of Oregon will see its first wildlife overpass built in Ashland’s backyard. The proposed wildlife overpass is located roughly at mile marker 1.7 on Interstate 5, just north of the California border.
Editor’s note: Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne covers city government, including its ongoing efforts to find ways to shape policies around homelessness. For better insight into the issue, Rothborne spent a night in early December in the shelter when it was operated by Jobs with Justice in Calvin Hall at First Presbyterian Church of Ashland.
An Ashland man was arrested after an ongoing investigation “into child exploitation and internet crimes against children” led to execution of a search warrant on Alida Street early Tuesday, according to a news release from the Ashland Police Department.
Reader Photo: Mary Piper took this photo of Emigrant Lake recently. As of Jan. 12, the lake was 39% full, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.
(It’s free)
