With the current legislative session wrapping up, the final pennies and dimes need to be lined up in the state budget—and it doesn’t look good. With a billion-dollar plus shortfall in necessary funding, in particular there are questions about how to fund schools, and there are questions about where money

When I first saw The Lion King Broadway show in my 20s, I was transported back to third grade when I first saw the original animated Disney version in the movie theater. The talking safari animals were mesmerizing, the music was catchy, and all my friends were there watching it

Spring and summer are about shedding off winter coats and getting back outdoors. Warmer seasons are also about cold brew coffee. Brewed at room temperature or cold water for several hours, typically overnight, cold brew ranges from nutty to earthy flavors depending on the roast. In other words, cold brew

You are not likely to stop at Cafe Ruch. Part of the Ryan’s Outpost complex at entrance to the Applegate Valley—farm and garden store, dentist, hardware—It is not on any “Rogue Valley Cafe Trail,” nor is it an über-trendy, farm-to-table hangout for Californians. The sign outside promises wine and beer,

If “every dog must have his day,” it is very likely that those dog-days are outside on a trail, in the water, or a grassy field somewhere. There may be no other vicarious joy such as watching your sweet canine friend bounding through the forest. If you both can’t get

Since TV shows like “The Office” and movies like Best in Show, mockumentaries have become an overwhelmingly popular genre in comedy. YouTube web series created and directed by Mig Windows and Sean Marc Nipper, How to Marry a Vampire is a mockumentary reminiscent of “The Bachelorette.” In fact, the show

The luminescent cavern of Nevada’s Basin and Range National Monument viewed from the precipice. A vivid and vibrant creek that is part of the vast Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Northern California. The snow dusted and silent mountains of our very own Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. These breathtaking images and

Dear Dawn and Mary, I had the very fortunate opportunity to see the respective plays you directed, The Merry Wives of Windsor and The Odyssey at OSF’s Allen Elizabethan Theater on opening night. In short, the shows delivered an excellent evening’s entertainment. You both faced serious challenges in the material

Open to interpretation and simply worthy of the public’s admiration, George Shively’s art displayed at Cafe 116 is experimental and telling of his lifelong maturation process in art. Until the end of this month, Shively’s colorful and abstract artwork, titled “Of Creation,” will hang on the walls of the quaint

Last month I was chatting about the value of exposure to a wide variety of bacteria: from your first journey down the birth canal, to childhood proximity to animals—family pet or time on a farm, to some good adult exposure to dirt: gardening? Soccer? We also of course need exposure

Touring bands passing through Southern Oregon between the Bay Area and Portland usually try to make a stop somewhere in the Rogue Valley. Medford, being the largest city in Southern Oregon, seems like the obvious destination. Ashland, being the cultural hub of the region also seems like a contender. But