As It Was: First Southern Oregon elections were in Ashland
As November voters drop their ballots into mailboxes, they are exercising a civic duty dating back to 1853 in Southern Oregon. White settlers first arrived in the Upper Bear Creek Valley in 1851. By...
View ArticleAs It Was: Southern Oregonians favored pro-slavery presidential candidate
Presidential elections in Oregon date back to 1860, when Abraham Lincoln’s victory foreshadowed the Civil War. A year earlier Oregonians had rejected slavery and entered the Union as a free state, but...
View ArticleAs It Was: Plants filled the J'ville Post Office
Imagine a picture of the Jacksonville Post Office in 1903, with varnished and polished woodwork, oil paintings, engravings, deer antlers on the walls, and spotless linoleum floors. Envision many...
View ArticleSouthern Oregon women joined the Navy
On April 16, 1917, the Home Telephone Company in Medford, Ore., printed a notice asking patrons to be patient as “one half of the operating force is gone to Naval Reserve duty at the Puget Sound navy...
View ArticleAs It Was: Willow Springs School went from one room to two
The two-room Willow Springs School, situated a little northwest of Central Point, Oregon, has been the focus of this farming community since 1911, when it replaced the one-room school that had been...
View ArticleAs It Was: Griffin Creek school history
School District 2 in Southern Oregon was established in 1854 in the Griffin Creek area. Its first school was the Van Dorn School, which had 12 students who attended for three months in a log warehouse...
View ArticleEmmitt M. Tucker invents the Sno-Cat tracked vehicle
One of 13 children, Emmitt M.Tucker Sr. was born in 1892 in a log cabin on Jumpoff Joe Creek near Grants Pass, Ore. He spent his early childhood near Trail in a stone house built by his father. As a...
View ArticleAshland Mills celebrates a peaceful Christmas in 1859
When Oregon became a state in 1859, Ashland Mills — today’s Ashland, Ore. — had a lumber mill and a flour mill and only a scattering of homes on donated land claims.There was no church, but the town...
View ArticleJeffrey Gillespie: Wilder at heart
If I were to tell you that Bertolt Brecht, that scion of 20th century epic theater, was a significant contributor to some of the best of Borscht Belt-style slapstick comedy during the latter part of...
View ArticleJeffrey Gillespie: The problem with Saint Teresa
It’s tricky, even in this day and age, to go after a figure so universally revered and wholly worshiped as the newly sainted Mother Teresa of Calcutta.So beatific is she in the eyes of guilty...
View ArticleJeffrey Gillespie: A confederacy of deplorables
As far as gaffes go, Hillary Clinton and her "basket of deplorables" (when read within the context of her full statement) isn't nearly as bad as conservatives might have you think it is. Unfortunately...
View ArticleEnd of life issues not easily solved
You might have recently read about a very difficult situation affecting a person with dementia. She had made her wishes known that she did not want to be fed when the dementia progressed. When the time...
View ArticleAging Happens: Adult Protective Services plays a vital role
(Part 1 of 2)Many years ago, I had gotten a call from Adult Protective Services (APS) regarding an older man who was in really bad shape. His family member was supposedly taking care of him in his own...
View ArticleAging Happens: Making use of Adult Protective Services, Part 2
In my last column (Nov. 9, "Adult Protective Services plays a vital role"), you read about the important role that Adult Protective Services (APS) plays in our community. Here are the remaining set...
View ArticleAging Happens: Examine options while you still have some
This is the perfect time of year to make a resolution to start planning for the future. Whether it’s thinking about the holidays or, in this case, looking at options for where you might consider...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Community can create the future
Editor's note: We are continuing to publish Council Corner columns by the mayor and City Council members while some are campaigning for re-election. We invite challengers to submit columns of their own...
View ArticleUsing meals tax to fix streets is a no-brainer
General election ballots contain fascinating decisions, but the most immediately impactful choice Ashland voters will make this November doesn't involve candidates — it pertains to the future condition...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Poverty simulation illuminates struggle
We all see it. All of us know people that live with it every day, but not all of us have experienced what it is like to be in poverty. Despite that fact, we support programs and give to causes that...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Prejudice takes many forms
This summer Ashland started working on a process to “unpack “ racism. I am glad Ashland is addressing this issue in a proactive way. I hope we continue to look at how we can be a community that truly...
View ArticleCouncil Corner: Voters' concerns have common thread
I have been campaigning to be elected to House District 5 since last December.Over the past 10 months I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with people across the district, perhaps including you.Thanks...
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