The idea of having citizens vote to approve every fee increase is nuts.
City councilors are elected to conduct the business of the city, and this is part of the job. Requiring a public vote on every issue would reduce decision-making to a crawl and create much more conflict with endless debate.
George Kramer is a consistent critic of the city, and his idea would throw a wrench into the works. This is not just a bad idea, it’s a horrible idea.
Karen Smith
Ashland
If snowfall gets heavy, it may take time for the city to plow your street; be prepared to keep your walkways safe and possibly stay in for a few days.
John Marciano: President Donald Trump has ordered the killing of fishermen on the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean with the charge of trafficking drugs, without a shred of evidence and in violation of the Constitution and international law. At the same time, he plans to pardon Juan Orlando Hernández, a former president of Honduras, who helped orchestrate a decades-long trafficking conspiracy that ravaged the Central American country.
Herbert Rothschild: We aren’t appreciably safer now than we were during the Cuban Missile Crisis. What else can we conclude but that nuclear policy simply mustn’t be left in the hands of the warmakers? Either we give peace a chance or we continue to chance self-immolation.
Herbert Rothschild: Unarguably, the worst aspect of the Epstein story is that numerous men, including men with public reputations to protect, were willing to sexually abuse minors or, knowing what Epstein was doing, were unwilling to spurn him, much less turn him in to the law. But a sad second aspect is what it says about the attraction of money. Both before and after his conviction, Epstein’s wealth allowed him to successfully cultivate connections with men of status.
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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