The Jefferson Exchange

Water and timber, timber and water. 

The major environmental issues of our region usually involved one or the other. 

When disputes over timber and water arise, fish are often at the center of concern.

They are sensitive to changes in streams and the forests that give birth to the streams.  Now a pair of environmental groups are taking the the federal government to court over fish. 

Our children are not always born looking or sounding like we expected. 

Andrew Solomon considers that situation, and comes to the conclusion that diversity draws us closer together. 

There's almost TOO MUCH to see and hear in the arts in the month of December. 

But we'll try to get a good sample.

We could not resist the power of the Wienermobile. 

The iconic vehicle that crosses the country in support of Oscar Mayer products is spending a week in the greater Medford area, spreading the mustard and the word on hot dogs and more. 

We visit with the Hotdogger team about life in the wiener.  

Christians claim Jesus as their savior, but it's helpful to remember that Jesus was himself a Jew. 

Ashland rabbi David Zaslow provides a reminder in  his book  Jesus: First-Century Rabbi.

Zaslow says his book is meant to help both Christians and Jews gain greater understanding of the origins of their respective faiths.

From former pear orchards, a bounty of wine. 

Many of the same Southern Oregon agricultural plots that were once home to pear orchards are now home to vineyards growing wine grapes. 

So the growing season is over. 

But that does not mean an end to products from area farms. 

It's hard to believe that there are still people living on the Earth who have little or no knowledge of civilization as we know it. 

But such tribes still exist, particularly in the thick jungles of South America.  And they have friends of a sort in organizations like Survival International. 

Round two of our interviews on the Sen. Ron Wyden proposal to divide up the O & C timber lands in western Oregon… 

Environmental groups already pointed out problems they see with both the land treatments and the legal implications.