A proposal to improve safety along Lithia Park’s received a tepid response from the Ashland Parks & Recreation Commission on Wednesday, Nov. 5. Although commissioners supported adding disability parking near the Japanese Garden and created a designated pedestrian walkway, many questioned whether the cost would lead to meaningful safety improvements.
The Ashland City Council first approved building the Grand Terrace apartment complex in 2021. They approved it again in 2023. They approved it again Tuesday night, by a unanimous vote. This time it appears the approval will stick.
Ashland’s Oak Knoll Course is closed due to “extensive damage” from a wind storm Tuesday evening.
A divided Ashland City Council narrowly decided against asking voters to weigh in on utility fee increases, with Mayor Tonya Graham casting the tie-breaking vote. The split decision followed a tense debate over fee hikes, budget pressures, and a potential 3.9% electric rate increase, which would result in a $2.99 increase on an average bill.
Ashlanders can now recieve larger rebates for installing electric heating systems, heat pumps, water heaters or upgraded electrical panels. The expanded incentives, approved on Oct. 23 by the Ashland City Council, aim to help advance the city’s goal of cutting 100% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The Ashland City Council will again consider approval of the 210-unit Grand Terrace apartment complex off Highway 99 at the northwest city limit during its Tuesday, Nov. 4, business meeting. The council will also continue a discussion about a potential ballot measure that would require voter approval for new city taxes and fees during its Monday, Nov. 3, study session.
With winter coming soon, Ashland’s “night lawn,” the city’s designated location for the unhoused to sent up a tent, is regularly at or over capacity.
A debate among Ashland City Councilors is already heating up over a prospective ballot measure that might ask voters to approve a permanent food and beverage tax. The existing 5% food and beverage tax, originally approved by voters in 1993 but renewed several times, provides about $3 million a year in revenue and will sunset in 2030.
A looming fiscal cliff was top of mind at a joint meeting of the Ashland City Council and Ashland Parks & Recreation Commission Tuesday night. Councilors pressed the Parks Department to come up with plans to cut costs before a temporary parks fee sunsets in less than two years.
The Ashland City Council on Monday discussed whether to send a proposed charter amendment directly to voters or require supporters to gather signatures.
Barbara Shor: I first met Jane Goodall in 1987 at a lecture she gave at the Sacramento Zoo, where I was working as veterinarian as part of my residency program in non-domestic animal medicine at UC Davis.
Ashland, long celebrated for its Shakespearean drama, is about to trade soliloquies for sarcasm. From Dec. 5 to 7, the city will host the inaugural Ashland Sarcasm Festival (ASF!), a comedy takeover designed to fill theaters, bars and restaurants with sharp wit, satire and laughter.
Tickets are selling fast for “Mass for the Endangered,” described as a multi-sensory film experience of music and animated artwork being presented Sunday at the ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum in Ashland.
Ashland Scout Troop 112 will honor local veterans with a free Veterans Day breakfast on Tuesday, Nov. 11, from 7 to 11:30 a.m., or until food runs out, at Elks Lodge No. 944. Scouts will take orders, serve meals and visit with veterans as part of the local troop’s tradition of showing gratitude to those who served.
A proposal to improve safety along Lithia Park’s received a tepid response from the Ashland Parks & Recreation Commission on Wednesday, Nov. 5. Although commissioners supported adding disability parking near the Japanese Garden and created a designated pedestrian walkway, many questioned whether the cost would lead to meaningful safety improvements.
Medford voters appear to have approved a 2% increase to the city’s transient lodging tax, which will help partially pay for the construction of a downtown conference center and minor-league ballpark.
(It’s free)
