The Jefferson Exchange

Short answer: Most of us.  Gas and electricity both cost more this year, and winter could be colder.

The real arrival of winter is weeks away, but most of us have already entered the heating season. 

When outdoor cooking season arrives, we get the standard warnings about barbecue safety.

Now that the weather has most of us cooking indoors again, we'll hear about the things to keep in mind as we heat food under the roof. 

"Into each life, a little rain must fall."

A simple statement, but a powerful and true one. 

The Oregon University System (OUS) is starting to look very different.  On organizational charts, anyway.

Last summer's legislative session produced a law allowing the big three schools, Oregon, Oregon State, and Portland State, to form their own governing boards.

You've heard of iPods and iPads and the like. 

Now consider the iGrant, the shortened form of "Inspiration Grant." 

It can't really be called "the last great train robbery," because it was a failure as a robbery. 

But the DeAutremont brothers (Ray, Roy and Hugh) made history when they stopped a Southern Pacific passenger train in the Siskiyou Mountains and killed four crews members back in 1923. 

There are many ways to help heal families that have shared a trauma. 

The Healthy Food, Healthy Families program of the Medford-based Family Nurturing Center works to heal body and soul at the same time, but teaching struggling families how to grow and cook vegetables. 

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. 

A recent series of stories in The Oregonian pointed out that Oregon is falling behind the rest of the states in keep track of its registered sex offenders, in fact is among the worst of states in this category.

We'll explore the existing sex offender registration laws with people who implement them... and with people who think the laws need to be changed.  

It's been quite a year for what was called Ashland Community Hospital. 

The small hospital needed to find a merger partner, had one, then watched as the merger fell through. 

The task force appointed to examine Klamath Basin water issues is nearly finished with its work.

But the nature of the work does not please the elected county leaders in Klamath and Siskiyou Counties, who want a future for the Klamath Basin to at least consider keeping the four dams targeted for removal. 

Klamath County Commissioner Tom Mallams explains what led to the parallel move, and what happens now.  

Don't smoke, eat well, stay active, and maintain a healthy weight. 

Four simple actions can greatly reduce your risk of chronic disease. 

The criminal justice system in California is still trying to find its bearings in the post-"realignment" world.

AB109, the "realignment" law, took some pressure off the overcrowded state prisons by shifting some prisoners convicted of lesser crimes to county jails. 

The terminology has changed a bit, and so have some of the approaches. 

The people once called "illegal aliens" are now generally called "undocumented immigrants," and laws are being written to accommodate the ones who came to the United States as children. 

Think of it as "Friday Night Lights" with stage lighting. 

A high school theater in economically depressed Levittown, Pennsylvania cranked out highly polished hits, and careers in theater for some of its participants, under the direction of Lou Volpe. 

It's the first Friday of another month, time for our First Friday Arts Segment…

we run down a list of events in the performing and visual arts and invite you to add to the list, or add details to items you've heard. 

Former Ashlander Fred Stockwell made his living taking high-quality photographs that dazzled the eyes. 

But he could scarcely believe h is own eyes when he saw refugees living in garbage dumps in Myanmar (Burma). 

When the precious metals in the streams around Jacksonville (Oregon) began to play out in the mid-19th century, many of the white miners abandoned the search for riches.

And that just created opportunities for Chinese miners, their friends, and other workers. 

Voices and views from around the world fill the screen at Ashland's Varsity Theater this week, as the theater and Ashland Independent Film Festival team up for the annual Varsity World Film Week. 

We visit with the festival programmer and the director of The Forgotten Kingdom, a film from Lesotho and South Africa.

Some people see empty buildings in town and see decay and decline. 

And some people see opportunity--for rebirth, renewal, or at least remodeling.