Five years after the devastating 2020 Almeda Fire, sunflowers once again lined the streets of Phoenix to honor the loss from the Labor Day blaze, celebrate recovery, and bring a touch of brightness to what for many in the region is a heavy week.
The 2020 Almeda Fire destroyed 144 homes at the Mountain View Estates. Five years later, the manufactured home park for people over 55 has rebuilt 90 “firewise” homes and last year was recognized nationally as the area’s first firewise community.
The art of fermentation takes center stage again Sept. 20-21 as Fermentopia, Harvest Edition, serves up a second helping in Phoenix — a weekend celebrating flavor, culture and connection.
About 30 friends, coworkers and neighbors came together on Monday, Sept. 8, to remember Matthew Mark Vandersande — a man they described as joyful, kind and inspiring. Meantime, police continue to ask for information that could lead to the arrest of Vandersande’s killer.
Mary Martin was one of about 20 people who gathered on the lawn of the 1st Phoenix Presbyterian Church in Phoenix on Monday morning to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Almeda Fire, which burned more than 2,600 households out of their homes in Phoenix, Talent and south Medford on Sept. 8, 2020.
The Ashland Independent Film Festival is moving forward on two fronts this fall: keeping audiences engaged with a lively monthly screening series and welcoming longtime programmer Aura Johnson as its new director of programming.
Volunteers from Phoenix and Talent lined the streets of Talent with over 100 vases of sunflowers and brightly colored flowers, continuing a tradition born out of grief and hope in the aftermath of the Almeda Fire. First started in 2020 with anonymous buckets labeled, “from fire to flowers,” the gesture has grown in the five years since the devastating blaze, symbolizing the town’s “hope and resilience.”
An Ashland man is dead after being shot multiple times in his vehicle near A and North Second Streets, a little after 3:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 7.
Ryan Pfeil: On my eldest daughter’s first day of kindergarten, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020, the day after Labor Day, a column of smoke that seems to reach 10,000 feet high dances on the horizon with an imprecise cruelty. I watch it as I shovel clothes and important documents — whatever the hell you’re supposed to grab first if a fire is bearing down on your home — into my truck.
A red flag warning is in effect until 11 p.m. this evening as “abundant lightning on dry fuels is expected along with winds up to 35 mph.
Ask Strider: A worried older brother asks our advice columnist’s advice. And a dog’s guardian wants to know if there is any hope getting their hat-hating dog to calm down. As always, Strider tries to give words that help!
This year’s Ashland Mystery Festival is scheduled to run Oct. 16 through 19, and will be headquartered at the Historic Ashland Armory.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office is warning people about a phishing scam involving fake emails that appear to come from the official Jackson Alerts system.
Throughout October, 12 female professionals from across the country and Australia — organized by Ashland-based nonprofit Keeping All Women Safe (KAWS) — will offer “valuable information” to help women and men cultivate safer, healthier and more empowering lives and relationships.
The Oregon Senate on Monday passed the long-awaited transportation bill to update the state’s funding sources for road maintenance and operations. The bill would raise taxes and fees, including a gas tax increase from $0.40 to $0.46, effective Jan. 1, 2026.
Once a vibrant hub for local produce and community gathering, the Ashland Growers Market is now, some say, struggling with shrinking sales and dwindling attendance. Longtime vendors report drops of up to two-thirds in revenue, while people voice frustrations over pricing, location and atmosphere.
(It’s free)
