The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Friday to overturn nearly 50 years of abortion rights protections sparked an outpouring of condemnation in Oregon where reproductive rights are protected by law and Democrats hold the majority of state offices. A rally is planned for 7 p.m. Friday on the Ashland Plaza.
Many drivers passing by Ashland Plaza on Saturday honked in support of individuals wielding signs with sayings like, “Enough is enough” and “Protect kids, not guns,” part of a nationwide day of demonstrations led by the “March for Our Lives” organization. Participants called for action on gun legislation in the wake of the deaths of 21 people at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, the worst school shooting since 26 were slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, in 2012.
Ashland City Councilor Stefani Seffinger will not seek a third term on the council, she announced Saturday, a week after successful surgery to remove a melanoma. She intends “to continue to serve the last months of my term with dedication,” she said in a statement circulated to city staff members and posted on her Facebook page.
With the hope of stabilizing Ashland Parks & Recreation Commission funding and reducing pressure on the of the city of Ashland’s budget, a “group of community members” will seek to put a funding initiative on the November ballot this fall, APRC Chair Rick Landt announced in a letter sent Sunday night sent a letter to Mayor Julie Akins and councilmembers, and copied to City Manager Joe Lessard and City Recorder Melissa Huhtala.
Walkovers ruled in Southern Oregon’s primary balloting, with Ashland’s incumbent state representative and senator hovering around 99 percent approval from their party’s voters. Primary races in the two county commissioner seats were similarly one-sided in three of the four contests, with no candidate on the ballot on the fourth.
Oregon appears headed toward a low turnout by its nearly 3 million voters – and potentially a new historical low in a midterm election. The final count won’t be known until next Tuesday. The Legislature last year extended the timeline for mail-in ballots. Those postmarked by 8 p.m. on Election Day will be counted, provided they arrive within a week. As of Tuesday at 8 p.m., the Secretary of State’s Office showed that nearly 28% of the state’s 2.9 million registered voters had turned in their ballots.
A march is set to start from the Ashland Public Library at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 14, and head north for four blocks up East Main Street sidewalks to the Ashland Plaza for a “Bans Off Our Bodies” rally decrying a draft Supreme Court decision leaked last week that, if finalized, would overturn the 1970 court decision that recognized a pregnant woman’s right to make a choice whether to have an abortion.
With a final flurry of votes and speeches, Oregon legislators ended their 2022 session just before noon on Friday. On Friday, the House and Senate approved $1.4 billion in new spending on housing, child care, rural infrastructure and summer school. An unexpected windfall in tax revenue cleared the way for more spending.
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.”
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