The 54th annual Talent Harvest Festival — the city’s biggest event of the year — kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday, featuring live music across six stages, family-friendly activities, and a “Wheely Fun Parade.”
Events Sunday in Ashland and Friday in Phoenix mark the International Day of Peace and the closing of a “Week of Peace.” Sunday’s event at the Thalden Pavilion marking the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Ashland Culture of Peace Commission (ACPC) features Southern Oregon University President Rick Bailey as keynote speaker and music by the Ashland Peace Choir, all by the world’s only solar-powered World Peace Flame, a living symbol of unity, hope and environmental stewardship.
The Ashland Community Food Bank doubled its volume in August, reflecting a troubling trend fueled by inflation, job loss and tightening access to food assistance programs. Executive Director Amy Broeker warns the level of need could soon become the norm as food bank faces shortfalls in funding and more competition for scarce local grants. Broeker and other leaders are calling on the community to step in.
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.
As Talent and Phoenix mark five years since the devastating Almeda Fire, Talent Maker City, a local nonprofit, will host several events, including workshops to preserve dozens of murals around Talent and an event on pet preparedness.
Nearly five years after the Almeda Fire, the communities of Phoenix and Talent are steadily rebuilding. From new housing and city infrastructure to maintaining school enrollment, signs of resilience are everywhere. Local leaders say the recovery is ongoing — but progress is undeniable.
Classes aren’t back in session just yet, but there were lessons learned this week at Talent Middle School and Phoenix High School. A training exercise on Monday was months in the making, involving Phoenix, Talent and Ashland police departments and upwards of 100 volunteers, including Phoenix High School football players and students, staff and parent volunteers.
Through a partnership with Jackson Care Connect, Phoenix-Talent School District is hosting its first Healthy Start Block Party at Phoenix High School from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23. The free community fair will offer a wide range of free resources to local students and their families, including from Talent and Ashland.
As the fifth anniversary of the Almeda and South Obenchain fires approaches, Rogue Action Center will host a two-day community story-sharing event for those affected by the 2020 fires from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, and Friday, Aug. 22, at the Talent Community Center.
The Jackson County Animal Shelter announced that the shelter near Talent will offer reduced and waived adoption fees through Aug. 17. Dogs who have been at the shelter for 75 or more days are available with all fees waived. All other dogs are available for 50% off regular adoption rates.
Ashland School District plans to contract with a Eugene-based firm to “shore up” the 1948 wing of the shuttered Lincoln School building, which the city fire marshal ordered shut days before the beginning of the school year in August.
The Rogue Theater Company will bring to life Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” opening Thursday, Oct. 16. The production features a cast of celebrated Oregon Shakespeare Festival actors.
After having to adapt on the fly during the Almeda Fire five years ago, agencies across Jackson County now have a shared wildfire evacuation plan that spells out each group’s duties. Law enforcement leads the way In the event of a citywide wildfire evacuation, while local fire departments and the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) will focus on fighting the fire.
Jim Hatton: There is only one thing that causes unhappiness: attachment. Attachment comes when we hold on to something for fear of losing it because we believe that we can’t be happy without it.
Herbert Rothschild: Is it possible to write columns about torturing people in Guantanamo or eliminating the U.S. Agency for International Development without alienating those who are OK with such actions?
Nearly 600 people packed the Angus Bowmer Theatre in Ashland Monday for a talk by internationally recognized civil rights expert john a. powell and the launch of a new local initiative aimed at fostering collaboration.
(It’s free)
