Review: In “Devils Island,” Midge Raymond and John Yunker bring together exotic locales, environmentalism, and murder in a whodunit with a sharp psychological edge. The devils on Devils Island ostensibly refer to the Tasmanian Devils, large carnivorous marsupials who are in danger of extinction due to a facial tumor disease. Could they kill a human? Would they?
Catty Corner: Following up on Part 1 about feeding your felines, today we cover fussy cats, multi-cat households, free-feeding and treats.
Poetry Corner: It’s that time of the year for organizing end-of-year tasks and thinking about turning the calendar page to a new year. If you have a poem for any holiday that celebrates with light, even if not at this time of the year — Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Diwali, Lantern Festival, Lunar New Year, New Year’s, or any other festivity where light plays a significant role — please, consider submitting to the Poetry Corner.
A woman’s in the hospital and a man is in jail on charges of attempted murder following a shooting Monday evening in Ashland, according to an Ashland Police Department news release issued Tuesday afternoon. Cory A. Davison, 49, of Ashland is being held without bail at Jackson County Jail on charges of attempted murder in the second degree, domestic violence assault in the second degree, and unlawful use of weapon in connection with an incidence of domestic violence.
A rash of break-ins over the past few days resulted in about $5,000 damage at two Ashland low-income houses under construction by Rogue Valley Habitat for Humanity. No suspects have been arrested. Food and drinks for volunteers who were building the house near North Mountain Avenue in the Beach Creek subdivision were eaten.
Obituary: Donald Richard Montgomery passed peacefully on Nov. 27, 2024, aged 94, at his home in Ashland, Oregon. He became Director of Ocean Services at NOAA, and he authored several articles and co-authored a book about the Surveyor spacecraft. His work took him around the world, from Kenya, Australia and the South Pacific, to the arctic regions of Iceland, Greenland and Norway.
The Ashland Daily Tidings — established as a newspaper in 1876 — ceased operations in 2021 (its parent company, Rosebud Media, held on until 2023), but if you were a local reader, you may not have known. Almost as soon as it closed, a website for the Tidings reemerged, supposedly boasting a team of eight reporters who cranked out densely reported stories every few days. The reality was that none of the people allegedly working for the Ashland Daily Tidings existed, or at least were who they claimed to be. The bylines listed on Daily Tidings articles were put there by scammers using artificial intelligence, and in some cases stolen identities, to dupe local readers.
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