Pat O’Scannell, Founder and Director, Musica Matrix A relatively new nonprofit, Musica Matrix “brings history to life”; namely, the instruments and music of the Renaissance and Medieval era. The Messenger caught up with long-time musician Pat O’Scannell to talk about her new organization. Rogue Valley Messenger: Your background is with

The day after the 2016 presidential election, many people felt let down by their fellow citizens. For women and members of other historically marginalized groups, discouragement gave way to fear as they considered the ways the new administration would/could affect their lives. While dropping her daughter off at school in

Normally, this space, our Public Profile column, is reserved for profiles of civic leaders. But for our Give Guide, we are excited to examine an ambitious idea by a local organization, Peace Production, to open a bustling center for education and support. Mayana Kingery talks about the plans for EverLand.

A recent graduate from Southern Oregon University, Sarah Westover is putting her Political Science degree into immediate use: This November, she was elected to city council in Phoenix. An organizer with Oregon Student Association, Westover also has worked on the No on LNG Campaign—and now takes her activism into elected

In movie-watching these days, the theater is often empty before the credits even start rolling, but it takes a lot more people than the few on screen to make films happen. We caught up with Southern Oregon Film and Media Executive Director Ginny Auer to learn about the facets of

Water is, of course, essential to the process of growing grapes—and making the Rogue Valley one of the country’s best wine regions. We caught up with the region’s Watermaster to get the lowdown on what a Watermaster is, and the state of water in southern Oregon.   Rogue Valley Messenger:

Phoenix-Talent School District spans three cities with five schools—Phoenix High School, Talent Middle School, Orchard Hill Elementary in Medford, and elementary schools in Phoenix and Talent. That’s 2700 students. Superintendent Teresa Sayre is retiring next year after 30 years in education; 18 at this particular district. Sayre is known in

When Sarah Red-Laird was a little girl she could be found collecting honeycombs from her aunt’s farm and holding bees on the playground to impress the other kids. Since then her love for earth’s pollinators and their honey has grown along with her knowledge of how to preserve and protect

Jason Couch is a Native American, a veteran, chaplain at the Phoenix Grange, and a 55-year resident of the Phoenix area. He’s also a blacksmith, a jeweler, and a documentary film-maker. He’s helped earn Phoenix a designation as a “Bee City,” keeps an eye on important issues around town, and

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Nope wait it’s definitely a bird. For this issue’s Public Profile we sat down with former Board member and current columnist for Rogue Valley Audubon Society, Jeff Tufts. We discussed the bird population in the valley, threats to their ecosystem, and the costs of