The Jefferson Exchange

While much of the focus on illegal drug abuse went to meth and heroin, prescription drugs came along and became a huge problem. 

The opioids--Oxycontin and the like--are responsible for much of the illegal drug trade. 

And medical professionals have teamed up to curb the trade, through groups like the Opioid Prescribers Group in the Rogue Valley. 

"Gordon Ramsay Checks Into a Hotel Run By Hippies," reads the promo headline for Fox TV's "Hotel Hell" airing tonight (August 4).  

Who are they calling hippies? 

The owners of the Applegate River Lodge west of Medford, it turns out. 

The title of Neal Hall's book alone will make some people flinch: "Nigger For Life." 

But the book of poetry lays out Dr. Hall's feelings about his hard work to get into and through medical school, and his feelings about how society rewarded him--or not--for his work. 

His perception: de facto slavery still exists in America.

A new production of "Godspell" opening at Medford's Randall Theatre is among the highlights of this month's First Friday Arts segment on The Exchange.

The first Friday of any month has become a day to celebrate the arts around our region. 

Several communities hold First Friday art walks, and some hold similar observances on other weekend days. 

Ashland's daily newspaper is getting a new boss and a new look.

Incoming editor Bert Etling revealed on The Jefferson Exchange that the Daily Tidings will switch from a broadsheet to a tabloid format on Tuesday, August 12.

It's one of several changes coming to the small-town daily, including the hiring of Etling.

The paper has not had its own editor for most of the last decade. 

It shared Bob Hunter with its sister paper, the Mail Tribune of Medford. 

Maybe writing letters is becoming a lost art, but it's still an art. 

And we can appreciate the masterpieces, both contemporary and historical. 

Shaun Usher certainly does. 

He compiles letters from near and far, from people famous and not, on his blog site Letters of Note. 

A recap of Gordon Ramsay's visit to Southern Oregon  for his "Hotel Hell" series is among the offerings  of The Jefferson Exchange during the week of August 8th.

You'll also hear about getting cigarettes off Oregon's public beaches, and can help us pick one of the VENTSday topics for Wednesday morning (vote with a post at our Facebook page).

It's another big week... here, minus all the window dressing, is the list so far:

It's still a struggle for state universities to get the money to run all their programs. 

Getting money for construction is another matter. 

Southern Oregon University just embarked on another round of renovation, thanks to the Oregon Legislature. 

As we move further into the age of health insurance reform, the arguments just keep coming. 

One concerns individual health insurance rates: will they go up? Down? Stay the same? 

Excellent question. 

Oregon insurers propose a variety of new rates for 2015, and they're all over the map. 

The euphemism "D word" went out of favor early in this calendar year. 

Public officials and water managers just came right out and said "drought" when it became clear the winter would not deliver the usual amount of snow and rain. 

California's governor made his drought declaration before the end of January, and efforts to conserve water have been widespread. 

The City of Ashland is one of several jurisdictions making special moves to encourage conservation.