Geoffrey Riley

The most contentious portion of the debate over forest management concerns old-growth timber. 

Can the timber industry be healthy without cutting down ancient trees? 

Scientists, including Dominick DellaSala at Ashland's Geos Institute, say yes. 

Geos and other organizations just teamed up on a study showing that old-growth logging could be phased out in Alaska's Tongass National Forest in just six years. 

A study focused on ending old growth logging, World Population Day, and reactions to the Hobby Lobby case are among the highlights of the week on the Jefferson Exchange, July 7-11, 2014.

What follows is the list--still a-building--just before the Independence Day weekend.

Guests and segments can change with little notice; we'll add pretty pictures and links the day prior to air.

The Exchange staff declares independence from work on the Fourth of July. 

We'll take the day off, but air a pair of interviews from previous programs. 

Ashland gets another community theater group, and Camelot Theatre takes on Les Miserables.

Those are the highlights of this month's First Friday Arts segment. 

And then there's the BIG highlight that needs to be mentioned: since the First Friday this month is the Fourth of July, First Friday moves to the first THURSDAY of the month. 

If only the Declaration of Independence had been signed in March. 

Then we'd have fireworks in the part of the year when it's not so hot and dry. 

Alas, we celebrate independence on July 4th. 

Even in towns where consumer fireworks are illegal--like Ashland--firefighters keep a sharp eye out for sparks around the holiday. 

Your dinner plan was perfect… good foods, a good mix of flavors, and all healthy to boot. 

But then it just didn't turn out right. 

The food was either over- or under-done. 

It took longer than its supporters envisioned, but Opportunity Village Eugene finally got off the ground, and has a track record now. 

The village is a place for homeless people to stay while they look for permanent housing. 

It's a constant challenge for Eugene's large homeless population. 

The wisdom of consumer fireworks in a dry region and the recent rulings of the Supreme Court are the topics for this week's VENTSday segment.

We do not schedule guests for Wednesday at 8:30, because that's the time for VENTSday, your chance to vent (politely, please) on a pair of topics in the news.  

We bring the topics, you bring the opinions. 

Who needs Hollywood when you have the Rogue Valley?  Not Gary Lundgren. 

The director of "Calvin Marshall" and "Redwood Highway" and his producer/wife Anne Lundgren enjoy making films in Southern Oregon, and they are using Kickstarter to raise the funds for another movie. 

"Black Road" is envisioned as a thriller set in the future, in the "lawless State of Jefferson." 

What a difference a single letter can make.  Take "R" for example. 

Oregon is loaded with county fairs, but add the R in there, and there's only one Oregon COUNTRY Fair. 

And it is coming back to the woods near Veneta for the 45th time, the weekend of July 11th.