2026 JAN/FEB Jefferson Journal

January/February 2026

Ranchers In Southeast Oregon Helped Keep Sage Grouse Off the Endangered List

Now, Lithium Mining Could Pose a New Threat The Members’ Magazine of Jefferson Public Radio

rdrd 43 ANNUAL 43 43rdANNUAL ANNUAL

Wine Tasting WineTasting Tasting AACelebration Celebration of Celebrationof of Wine, Food, and Wine, Wine,Food, Food,and and Community.

Community.

Community.

SPONSORED BY

www.ijpr.org/winetasting www.ijpr.org/winetasting www.ijpr.org/winetasting

FRIDAY, FRIDAY,FEBRUARY FEBRUARY6| 6|6-9 6-9PM PM FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6| 6-9 PM

ASHLAND ASHLANDHILLS HILLSHOTEL HOTEL&& &SUITES SUITES ASHLAND HILLS HOTEL SUITES

g

SS

JEFFERSON

JPR Foundation Officers Liz Shelby – Medford Vice President Cynthia Harelson – Medford/Grants Pass Treasurer

Dave Jackson Music Director/Open Air Host Danielle Kelly Open Air Host Soleil Mycko Business Manager

Andrea Pedley – Eureka Secretary

Natalie Golay Jefferson Exchange Senior Producer

Ex-Officio Rick Bailey President, SOU

Calena Reeves Marketing & Administration Manager

Paul Westhelle Executive Director, JPR

Heather Holben Audience Services Coordinator

Directors

Vanessa Finney Reporter/Host

Ken Silverman – Ashland Ron Metzger – North Bend Rosalind Sumner – Montague Dan Mullin – Eugene Margaret Redmon – Redding Karen Doolen – Medford

JPR Staff Paul Westhelle Executive Director Darin Ransom Director of Engineering Sue Jaffe Membership Coordinator Valerie Ing Classical Music Director / Host Abigail Kraft Business Support Manager/ Jefferson Journal Editor AJ McCalla Host Mike Green Assistant Producer/ Jefferson Exchange Host

January/February 2026

JOURNAL

FEATURED

6 Ranchers In Southeast Oregon Helped Keep Sage Grouse Off the Endangered List. Now, Lithium Mining Could Pose a New Threat

By Cassandra Profita A decade of conservation work has kept the greater sage grouse off the endangered species list. But now, in the heart of a sage grouse stronghold in southeast Oregon, there’s a new threat looming from mining companies that want to drill for lithium, a valuable metal in batteries.

Roman Battaglia Regional Reporter Justin Higginbottom Regional Reporter Jane Vaughan Regional Reporter Milt Radford Morning Edition Host Dave Young Operations Manager Liam Moriarty Digital Editor Maria Carter News Director Andrew Crackel Jefferson Exchange Assistant Producer Maddie Peterson Jefferson Exchange Assistant Producer Marley Johnsen Weekend Announcer

JPR News Contributors Juliet Grable

Programming Volunteers Jack Barthell Ed Hyde Noah Brann-Linsday Alan Journet Derral Campbell Alex Krach Cindy DeGroft Taurie Michelle Craig Faulkner Frances Oyung Eric Houghton Raymond Scully

Shanna Simmons Lars Svendsgaard Traci Svendsgaard Robin Terranova Richard Van Hoose Tom Werner

JEFFERSON JOURNAL (ISSN 1079-2015), January/ February 2026, volume 50 number 1. Published bi-monthly (six times a year) by JPR Foundation, Inc., 1250 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Periodical postage paid at Ashland, OR and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to The Jefferson Journal, 1250 Siskiyou Blvd.

Ashland, OR. 97520

5 Tuned In | Paul Westhelle 12 JPR News Focus: Education | Jane Vaughan 13 Inside the Box | Scott Dewing 15 Down to Earth | Jes Burns 17 JPR News Focus: Transportation | Monica Samayoa 19 JPR News Focus: Education | Jane Vaughan 21 JPR News Focus: Politics & Government | Shaanth Nanguneri 24 JPR Radio Stations & Programs 26 News Briefs 30 JPR News Focus: Poverty & Homelessness | Jane Vaughan 31 JPR News Focus: Politics & Government | April Ehrlich 35 JPR News Focus: Education | Roman Battaglia 37 JPR News Focus: Culture | Crystal Ligori 39 Recordings | Dave Jackson 41 Underground History | Chelsea Rose 44 Superabundant | Heather Arndt Anderson 46 Poetry | Perri Owen and Lois Schlegel

Jefferson Journal Credits: Editor: Abigail Kraft Managing Editor: Paul Westhelle Poetry Editor: Amy Miller Design/Production: Impact Publications Printing: Oregon Web Press

Jefferson Public Radio is a community service of Southern Oregon University.

The JPR Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports JPR’s public service mission.

Jefferson Public Radio welcomes your comments: 1250 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520-5025 541-552-6301 | 1-800-782-6191 530-243-8000 (Shasta County) | www.ijpr.org jprinfo@sou.edu

We Protect This.

For People. For Nature. Forever.

Southern Oregon Land Conservancy conserves and protects this region’s forests, oak woodlands, grasslands, farms, ranches, and waterways – now and forever. Join us on the land and find out how you can support the future of conservation.

www.landconserve.org

Cobra-lily Springs Preserve

JAN. 13 Doors at 7 PM Film at 8 PM

Season Sponsor

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20 DOORS 7PM · CONCERT 8PM

MARCH 12 DOORS 7PM CONCERT 8PM

Media Sponsor For Tickets and upcoming events visit

HollyTheatre.org

TUNED IN PAUL WESTHELLE

The Long Road Ahead

I

n early December, a conservative nonprofit law firm filed comments at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging the FCC to investigate and potentially revoke the broadcast licenses of NPR and PBS stations across the country. In its filing, the Center for American Rights (CAR) wrote: “In the wake of the wind-down of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the end of federal funding for NPR and PBS, the Center respectfully suggests that the Commission open an inquiry that looks at the future of ‘public’ broadcasting in that new environment.”

Funding for independently licensed public radio and teleSome media observers have vision stations through the Corporation for Public Broadcastspeculated that defunding ing (CPB) was eliminated in July following a vote by Congress to approve President Trump’s request to rescind all funding. public broadcasting was With no funding to distribute, CPB announced plans to cease merely a first step by the its operations.

CAR’s FCC filing further states: “If PBS and NPR cannot Trump Administration toward prove a viable long-term business model as national netthe real long-term goal works—and if their individual affiliates cannot show long-term business models in each market—then this Commission needs of dismantling the entire to consider whether those channels (i.e., that spectrum) will institution. become available in the near future for other potential licensees or uses.”

While the FCC has never considered long-term financial viability to be an element of its criteria for renewing broadcast station licenses, it’s conceivable that it could in the future. That said, most public stations across the country have made a strong recovery from the loss of federal support, buoyed by the generous support of local listeners and viewers. Here at JPR, listener support is up an amazing 127% through November and we have now successfully replaced the federal support we lost during our current fiscal year.

As a singular datapoint, the CAR filing is just one comment among thousands the FCC receives about a wide range of topics. But, considered in context with other conservative media-related policy positions, like the call to revoke the noncommercial status of NPR and PBS affiliated stations contained in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, it’s a warning sign that should not be ignored.

Some media observers have speculated that defunding public broadcasting was merely a first step by the Trump Administration toward the real long-term goal of dismantling the entire institution. These observers suggest that after defunding CPB, threats to station licenses and perhaps even their non-profit status could be next.

As we look ahead to the challenges and opportunities of a new year, it’s becoming clear that our work to preserve independent public broadcasting stations, along with NPR and PBS, as vital institutions of our democracy and our culture has only just begun.

Paul Westhelle is JPR’s Executive Director.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 5

above: Male sage grouse strut on a mating site known as a lek on Roaring Springs Ranch in southeast Oregon’s Harney County on April 2, 2025.

Exploratory lithium mining project and a federal push for energy dominance could hurt sage grouse conservation efforts.

B

iologist Jack Hansen started up an ATV and drove through a dark sea of sagebrush just before dawn on a snowy morning in early April.

This is what he does every spring morning to monitor about a dozen sage grouse mating sites scattered across more than 250,000 acres of Roaring Springs Ranch near Frenchglen in southeast Oregon.

As a low, gray light slowly filled the sky, he stopped the rig.

“The blinds are out there about 200 yards,” he whispered.

“So we’ll walk out there, get our chairs set up, and hope we can see some birds.”

6 | JEFFERSON JOURNAL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

By CASSANDRA PROFITA

Hansen works as a full-time wildlife biologist for the ranch, an unusual job that grew out of an unprecedented agreement to protect the greater sage grouse.

Monitoring sage grouse mating sites is one of many ways Roaring Springs Ranch works to help these birds in exchange for the promise of legal protection should they ever be listed under the Endangered Species Act. Over the last 10 years, nearly 1,500 private landowners across 11 Western states have been working to minimize their impacts on sage grouse and improve the birds’ habitat.

So far, they’ve managed to avoid an endangered species listing. But now, in the heart of a sage grouse stronghold in southeast Oregon, there’s a new threat looming from mining companies that want to drill for lithium, a valuable metal in batteries for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage.

COURTESY U.S. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

CAMERON NIELSEN, CAMERON NIELSEN / OPB

Ranchers In Southeast Oregon Helped Keep Sage Grouse Off the Endangered List.

Now, Lithium Mining Could Pose a New Threat

CASSANDRA PROFITA / OPB

COURTESY U.S. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

CAMERON NIELSEN, CAMERON NIELSEN / OPB

About a decade ago, the rapid decline of these birds across the West threatened to make them the spotted owl of the high desert—an imperiled and politicized species at the center of contentious fights over public lands.

A male greater sage grouse struts its stuff on Bureau of Land Management land in this file photo. Sage grouse depend on sagebrush for food and cover, and their numbers have declined 78% over the past 55 years as development has reduced their habitat across the West.

A barbed wire fence blocks access to one of the roads built by Jindalee Resources, an Australia-based mining company that has applied to do exploratory drilling for lithium in the McDermitt Caldera in southeast Oregon near the Nevada state line. Photograph taken April 4, 2025.

On Monday, a mining company got federal approval to do exploratory drilling for lithium on federal land southeast of Roaring Springs Ranch. The work could eventually lead to a lithium mine in some of the best remaining sage grouse habitat in southeast Oregon.

As the Trump administration pushes for U.S. energy dominance, similar threats to sage grouse habitat are multiplying on federal land across the West and could upset the delicate balance ranchers have worked hard to strike with their sage grouse neighbors.

Hansen’s job as a ranch biologist is part of that balance.

Through a scope on that chilly April morning, he spotted about two dozen ground-dwelling sage grouse at a mating site—known as a lek—and added them to his ongoing population count, which he shares with Oregon wildlife officials.

The male sage grouse look like small turkeys with big chests and pointy tail feathers that fan out behind them. During mating season in spring, they do what they’re famous for: To attract females, they puff out a pair of yellow air sacs on their chest and make a distinctive popping sound.

“Basically, they strut for the females,” Hansen said. “They show off.”

About a decade ago, the rapid decline of these birds across the West threatened to make them the spotted owl of the high desert—an imperiled and politicized species at the center of contentious fights over public lands.

“They were potentially going to get listed on the endangered species list because of how poorly the populations were looking around the West,” Hansen said.

Then, in 2015, ranchers, environmentalists and government agencies agreed to work together to keep these birds off the endangered species list.

A decade of voluntary conservation Sage grouse once roamed 13 states in the West, feeding off sagebrush leaves and dancing their elaborate courtship strut, but they now only occupy about half of their historic range.

Roaring Springs Ranch Manager Stacey Davies was one of many ranchers in southeast Oregon who signed conservation agreements to protect sage grouse on private land in the hopes of keeping the struggling species off the endangered list.

“I would much rather focus on money going to healthy environments than regulation,” Davies said. “A species that is listed makes life miserable, honestly.”

An endangered species listing for sage grouse would add new restrictions on where ranchers can graze their cows and could even put them out of business.

But by 2015, sage grouse populations clearly needed help.

Their numbers had declined by about 80% since the 1960s as development claimed more and more of their habitat across the West. The coordinated plan to recover the species without Endangered Species Act protections was deemed the largest landscape-level conservation effort in U.S. history.

The conservation agreement for Roaring Springs Ranch required the ranch to monitor sage grouse and improve the birds’ habitat, and to make sure that work was done right, Davies said, the ranch hired a professional biologist.

Among the many actions the ranch has taken to help sage JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 7

CASSANDRA PROFITA / OPB

Wilkinson says that an exploratory drilling operation alone could put his ranch out of business. He had hoped to pass it on to his son and grandson, who represent the fifth and sixth generations of his family’s ranch.

Toxic tailings from an old mercury mine still loom large on the landscape in southeast Oregon near the Nevada state line on April 4, 2025. A different mining company plans to do exploratory drilling for lithium in the surrounding McDermitt Caldera.

grouse are adding reflectors to its barbed wire fencing to prevent sage grouse from flying into them, building water reservoirs that are fenced off from cows and cutting down juniper trees that give sage grouse predators a place to perch and compete with the native plants sage grouse depend on.

The ranch has also fought to control invasive cheatgrass that is known for fueling wildfires—one of the biggest threats to sage grouse habitat.

All of this work appears to be paying off for the sage grouse on the ranch. Hansen said he documented a 13% increase in the population two years ago and a 4% increase last year.

According to Davies, the cows and the ranching business are doing well, too.

“As we managed for ecosystem health, things that were good for fish are good for sage grouse are good for songbirds, good for mule deer, but they’re also good for the economics of the ranch,” Davies said. “We actually became more profitable while benefiting the environment. It just took change, and it took the willingness to look at it differently.”

According to Skyler Vold, sage grouse coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, while other ranches 8 | JEFFERSON JOURNAL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

across southeast Oregon might not have hired their own wildlife biologists, they have taken similar actions to boost sage grouse numbers. And many of those actions also improve rangeland health for cattle.

“Really, what’s good for the herd is generally good for the birds,” Vold said.

Vold helped document a 63% increase in Oregon’s sage grouse populations last year, though he noted the state’s population is still down 33% from what it was historically.

Mining threat highlights environmental trade-offs Sage grouse evolved in a vast sagebrush sea, Vold said, and they need big, uninterrupted landscapes to thrive. Anything that breaks up their habitat can threaten the bird’s survival, whether that’s wildfire, renewable energy development or mining operations.

“So we’re pretty concerned about that down in the McDermitt Caldera,” Vold said.

For years, Australia-based mining company Jindalee Resources Ltd. has been exploring the idea of developing a lith-

CASSANDRA PROFITA / OPB

ium mine in the McDermitt Caldera in southeast Oregon near the Nevada state line.

The caldera is an ancient supervolcano that hosts one of the largest known lithium deposits in the U.S. Lithium Americas has already started developing the Thacker Pass lithium mine on the southern end of the caldera in Nevada.

This week, the Bureau of Land Management approved a permit for the company’s subsidiary HiTech Minerals Inc. to do exploratory drilling for lithium across 7,200 acres of federal land. It’s the first step toward developing a full-scale mine on the Oregon side of the caldera.

Lithium plays a key role in the current push to move away from fossil fuels that contribute to climate change. It’s used in batteries for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage.

But extracting it from the earth is disruptive to existing ecosystems, creating a kind of environmental paradox.

Vold said the problem he sees with Jindalee’s proposal is that the project area is also a verified sage grouse hotspot with no existing development around it. In its record of decision, the BLM noted that there are four occupied sage grouse mating leks within Jindalee’s exploratory drilling project area and another 25 leks within 3 miles.

“It’s just a really intact sagebrush sea,” Vold said, “and if a giant open pit mine were to go in here, it would not be good for these populations of sage grouse, let alone any other species in the caldera.”

In its environmental review, the BLM found the project will result in “temporary loss of habitat” and “fragmentation” for sage grouse and that the noise, human activity and vehicle traffic may displace wildlife in the project area.

CAMERON NIELSEN / OPB

CASSANDRA PROFITA / OPB

Fourth-generation rancher Nick Wilkinson moves a herd of cows from one grazing area to another in southeast Oregon near the Nevada state line on April 4, 2025.

A road snakes through Roaring Springs Ranch near Steens Mountain in southeast Oregon on April 2, 2025.

But the agency concluded that working in phases, restricting driving speeds and a seasonal shutdown from December through June will limit the impacts to the birds.

The BLM received approximately 2,300 public comments on the exploratory drilling proposal that have not been released to the public, public affairs officer Jeanne Panfely said in an email.

‘We’ve been protecting that caldera’ Over the past 30 years, fourth-generation rancher Nick Wilkinson has rearranged his entire ranching operation to protect threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout and declining sage grouse. Keeping the cows from damaging their habitat meant cutting his herd in half and leasing more grazing land near his ranch, which straddles the Oregon-Nevada state line.

“If somebody five years ago would have come to me and said, ‘I’ll bet you a million dollars they open up a lithium mine in the caldera,’ I’d have bet on my ranch they wouldn’t because of the stuff that I’ve been through with the fish and the sage grouse.”

Now, to protect wildlife habitat while keeping his cows fed, Wilkinson needs to move his cows around quite a bit. And in JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 9

APPLEGATE VALLEY OREGON “Aside from thethe excellent Applegate wines I’ve had from “But Aside from excellent Applegate wines I’ve had from Willamette producers, the wines of one producer, Troon Vineyard, made such an impression on me over the last few years that I drove seven hours from the Mendocino Coast in July to pay a visit Valley. While I admire the way Troon farms and its to Applegate Valley, empirical attitude, the proof is in the wines, which are expressive.” invariably fresh, lively and expressive,” Asimov, The New York Times —Eric Asimov

One of only four farms globally to be Regenerative Organic Gold Certified® Oregon’s only Demeter Biodynamic® and Regenerative Organic Certified™ Winery

troonvineyard.com | Social: @TroonWines 541-846-9900 Winery: 1475 Kubli Rd., Grants Pass, OR | McMinnville: 620 NE Third St., McMinnville, OR

CASSANDRA PROFITA / OPB

McDermitt Creek runs through Disaster Peak Ranch in the McDermitt Caldera, that straddles the Oregon-Nevada state line. The area is home to threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout and hosts many sage grouse breeding sites in an expansive sagebrush sea.

the springtime, he said, the federal land where Jindalee wants to explore for lithium is the only place he has to graze his cattle.

The mining company is now cleared to build about 22 miles of roads and drill up to 168 holes in the land he leases from the Bureau of Land Management.

Wilkinson says that an exploratory drilling operation alone could put his ranch out of business. He had hoped to pass it on to his son and grandson, who represent the fifth and sixth generations of his family’s ranch.

“If that project goes in, I just don’t see how we can coexist,” he said. “It’s the only place we can turn these cattle loose this time of year.”

Jindalee’s mining claim is one of many surrounding Wilkinson’s ranch, and the family has seen the damage left by old mines that still pollute the landscape. But Wilkinson said he knows the government land he’s leasing is fair game for mining operations.

“I realize we need clean energy,” he said. “I’m not going to argue. … It’s government ground. It belongs to the public. But I want there to be some mitigation. If you want to take away my operation and my grazing, then buy my ranch.”

Jindalee CEO Ian Rodger said his company’s project is still in the early exploratory stages at this point and won’t put any ranches out of business. A lithium mine is still a long way off and would require a lot more permitting.

“Ultimately, if we’re successful, you know, that’s the way we would look to go,” he said. “But at the moment we’re actually only looking to do exploration to basically prove up our future plans.”

He said the lithium deposit in the McDermitt is globally significant.

“It’s recognized by industry professionals,” he said. “Its scale is immense.”

And the modern world increasingly needs this metal for all kinds of batteries, he noted, including everyone’s personal electronic devices, electricity storage for the grid, artificial intelligence and military drones.

“The average soldier has 20 pounds of lithium-ion batteries,” he said. “It’s a very important critical element.”

The large lithium deposits in the McDermitt Caldera can provide “meaningful supply over generations,” he said.

Rodger said the company is doing preliminary work to design its project “to have the smallest footprint possible” and has committed to avoiding critical sage grouse habitat—especially during mating season.

But Wilkinson still sees a threat both to his ranch and to the sage grouse he’s been trying to help.

“We’ve been protecting that caldera … we’re just going to destroy it?” he said. “If you let this happen, don’t you dare ever open your mouth about listing that bird.”

Cassandra Profita is a reporter, producer and editor for OPB’s Science & Environment unit. Her reporting comes to JPR through the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 11

JPR NEWS FOCUS

EDUCATION

JANE VAUGHAN

“Nothing has been hidden, nothing has been thrown away, nothing has been ignored.”

— Angela Cardas

Turmoil At Bandon School District Leads to Resignations, Parental Concern Division has pervaded the small district, with some accusing the superintendent of misconduct.

R

ebecca Farrell’s kids began struggling in math after their teacher resigned midyear.

The resignation came late in January 2025, and Farrell said the substitute who replaced him was not equipped to help.

“She was basically a warm body in the classroom,” she said.

“My kids were flailing.”

For Farrell, this was the first sign that something was off at the Bandon School District.

Caleb Kruse, the math teacher who resigned, said he left after district administrators falsely accused him of having an affair with another employee. The district said it doesn’t comment on personnel matters.

The resignation was one of several in the Bandon School District, where a labor dispute, staff transfers and complaints about district leadership from teachers, staff and parents have divided the coastal community.

‘Hijacking somebody’s career’ In the spring, the district and the Bandon Education Association, a union representing teachers, began contract negotiations.

Union president Jen Ells said the union asked for a 15% raise, expecting to negotiate down.

But she said the district wouldn’t work with them.

“We were in a bargaining session, and the superintendent handed everybody sitting there the list of all the teachers in the district and their hire date and said, ‘The union needs to pick 10 to fire,’” she said.

Negotiations broke down, and a mediator helped the two sides reach an agreement: a 7% raise in the 2024-2025 school year, followed by a 5% raise in each of the next two years.

But teachers in union leadership said they were then involuntarily transferred to different schools or roles in retaliation.

Under the union contract, teachers are supposed to meet with the principal before a transfer, be told about vacancies and have some say in where they are reassigned.

But teachers said this didn’t happen.

“It was very clear that the district does not care about my thoughts, opinions or my expertise,” teacher Ashley Pearson said at an October school board meeting. “The proper procedures were not followed.”

Ells said the district didn’t give details about why the changes were needed.

“Any of the conversations felt very cryptic and very much 12 | JEFFERSON JOURNAL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

like, ‘This had to be done. You might not understand, but this had to be done,’” she said. “That doesn’t satisfy when you’re completely hijacking somebody’s career.”

The district claims it followed standard procedures, noting that teachers were notified of schedule changes by email in May, months before the transfers took effect in August. The district said meetings with principals occurred during that time.

District officials also said the changes weren’t targeted. At a school board meeting, Superintendent Shauna Schmerer said 37 of the district’s 40 teachers saw schedule adjustments this year.

In a written statement, the school board said the reassignments were made “to better match student enrollment, financial limitations, and course offerings.”

Still, multiple teachers resigned.

Those who left included Pearson, an English teacher and speech and debate coach at the district for eight years; a middle school English teacher who had been there for five years; a math teacher with three years in the district; and a school social studies teacher with more than 15 years of experience.

“I have worked in other districts, and this is not normal,” Jen Shipp, one of the teachers who resigned, wrote in a letter to the board. “Districts do not operate this way. Turnover does not occur at this rate.”

Students organized a protest in June in response to the transfers.

According to Farrell, who also has a son working in the district, morale has suffered.

“The atmosphere at the district feels like fear,” she said.

“There’s this undercurrent at the school where teachers are walking on eggshells. Students are confused, scared, worried that their favorite teacher may be gone next week.”

‘Crisis of leadership’ Some parents, teachers and former employees said the problem is the school board and Superintendent Schmerer.

“The buck stops with her. We’re losing teachers,” said parent Amber Burg, who has called for a change in leadership. “We’re bleeding teachers because of her directly and because of her behavior and because of the way she treats people.”

Union members submitted a formal complaint to the board, citing a “clear loss of confidence” in Schmerer.

Since Schmerer’s arrival in 2021, several administrators have resigned, including the district’s director of operations and two business managers. They cited a hostile work environment, as well as alleged misconduct and intimidation from the Continued on page 33 superintendent.

INSIDE THE BOX SCOTT DEWING

According to a recent report by Bloomberg News, today’s wholesale electricity costs 267 percent more than it did five years ago for customers who live near data centers.

The Future of Data Centers Is Out of This World roliferating AI is overloading our already overloaded power grids that are now buckling beneath skyrocketing computational demands to process all those bits and bytes so that we can have AI-generated pictures of Donald Trump hugging a kitten or riding astride a majestic lion as well as entirely AI-generated short films with thoughtful titles like Broccoligeddon and Drinking Gasoline.

The rise of AI-everything—from chatbots to generativeAI tools that can create images and video, produce writing, computer code, and music—has resulted in the rapid growth of sprawling data centers all over the globe that are exponentially consuming energy.

There are currently more than 4,000 data centers in the U.S. alone. In 2024, those data centers collectively consumed 183 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, which was 4 percent of the country’s total electricity consumption. That may not sound like a staggering amount, but to add some perspective, a single AI-focused data center annually consumes as much electricity as 100,000 households. What is staggering, is that overall data center power consumption is projected to grow by 133 percent to 426 TWh by 2030, which, by the way, is only 4 years away.

Whether or not you directly use AI tools in your daily life, the AI revolution is going to impact you financially with soaring electricity costs. In fact, it’s already happening for people who live nearby those power-hungry data centers. According to a recent report by Bloomberg News, today’s wholesale electricity costs 267 percent more than it did five years ago for customers who live near data centers.

Our current trajectory of AI growth and the accompanying power demands is not sustainable. But despair not my fellow humans—Elon Musk plans to launch data centers into space in order to save the planet and all of humanity from this mounting “AI power bottleneck”.

“My estimate is that the cost of electricity and the cost-effectiveness of AI and space will be overwhelmingly better than AI on the ground so far, long before you exhaust potential energy sources on Earth,” said Musk at the U.S.-Saudi investment forum.

“Simply scaling up Starlink V3 satellites, which have high speed laser links would work,” Musk said. “SpaceX will be doing this.”

Starlink, which is a subsidiary of Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX, provides global Internet connectivity via an orbiting fleet of more than 8,000 of its V2 satellites. Starlink’s larger V3 satellites will provide gigabit Internet speeds, but can only be launched using SpaceX’s new Starship rocket, which is still in testing. Dozens of V3 satellites, however, are expected to be launched with each Starship beginning this year in 2026.

IMAGE COURTESY OF GOOGLE EARTH

P

QTS Data Centers in Hillsboro, Oregon, contribute to the massive energy demand driven by AI, with data centers consuming a huge chunk of Oregon’s power.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 13

Inside the Box Continued from previous page

Musk isn’t alone in his vision of putting data centers in space to orbit the Earth. Google recently announced its “Project Suncatcher,” which aims to launch prototype servers into orbit by 2027.

According to a posting on the Google Research blog, “our new research moonshot, Project Suncatcher, envisions compact constellations of solar-powered satellites, carrying Google TPUs and connected by free-space optical links. This approach would have tremendous potential for scale, and also minimizes impact on terrestrial resources.”

TPU refers to Google’s Tensor Processing Unit, which is specifically designed for optimizing AI compute workloads.

“The sun is the ultimate energy source in our solar system, emitting more power than 100 trillion times humanity’s total electricity production,” wrote Travis Beals, Senior Director at Google’s Paradigm of Intelligence research unit. “In the right orbit, a solar panel can be up to 8 times more productive than on Earth, and produce power nearly continuously, reducing the need for batteries. In the future, space may be the best place to scale AI compute.”

Startup Aetherflux, a space-based solar technology company hoping to beam power down to Earth, has also entered the AI space race with the announcement of its “Galactic Brain”

project, which aims to launch a constellation of solar-powered AI compute satellites as early as 2027.

All of these herculean and expensive efforts to solve the “AI power bottleneck” by launching data centers into space appear to be premised on the assumption that AI should continue to expand and that we have an obligation to meet its growing power demands.

Or maybe we don’t really have a choice but to keep expanding our technology, for better or for worse, because that’s just what we do as a species. We invent. We build. We expand. And we’ll destroy anything that impedes our progress.

Let’s hope that if and when AI finally becomes conscious and sentient while whirling in orbit around the Earth that it’s not just like us.

cott Dewing is a technologist and S a human writer who hasn’t (yet) been replaced by AI.

DOWN TO EARTH JES BURNS

Now, with a year of post-dam data, scientists are seeing river temperatures more naturally fluctuating as the weather changes—getting colder when it matters most.

Klamath River Temperatures Changed Dramatically After Dam Removal. That’s Helping Salmon Swim Farther Upstream

I

rector for California Trout, said at a press conference this month.

And then the river’s restoration reached a huge milestone in mid-October: Monitoring crews with the Klamath Tribes and the State of Oregon found a group of fall Chinook swam all the way up into the Williamson and Sprague rivers above Upper Klamath Lake for the first time in more than a century.

“It’s mixed feelings for many tribal members, both rejoicing and a blessing. But also, a certain amount of remorse,” said Klamath Tribal Chair William Ray, Jr. “All those elders and all those generations that didn’t get to see this happen. … They did not get an opportunity to see their victories, because this is a victory for the Klamath Tribes, to essentially make it right again for us.”

One of the biggest changes observed on the Klamath River has been water temperature. For returning salmon, the temperatures in the fall are particularly important.

BRANDON SWANSON / OPB

t’s been a little more than a year since four dams on the Klamath River came down—the biggest river restoration project in U.S. history. In that time, tribal, state, nonprofit and federal scientists have been closely monitoring the changes happening on the river.

What they’ve found has shown the profound impact dam removal can have on water quality and the wildlife that depends on it.

Water temperatures below the former dam sites are more natural. Dissolved oxygen—what fish and other creatures need to breathe—has stabilized. Toxic cyanobacteria, which often clogged the dam reservoirs during the late summer, have nearly disappeared.

“The river seemed to come alive almost instantly after dam removal,” Damon Goodman, Mount Shasta-Klamath regional di-

After Iron Gate Dam was removed, salmon were able to swim past the former dam site in Northern California for the first time in more than 60 years in October 2024.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 15

Down to Earth Continued from previous page

Returning salmon use less energy when the water is colder, meaning they’re healthier and have more energy left for the main event—spawning—once they arrive upstream.

Before dam removal, the reservoirs on the river would get hot over the summer and release warm water throughout the fall. This kept river temperatures unnaturally high as salmon were making their way upstream.

“With those reservoirs in place, they were kind of like heat batteries,” said Toz Soto, senior policy and research advisor for the Karuk Tribe.

Now, with a year of post-dam data, scientists are seeing river temperatures more naturally fluctuating as the weather changes—getting colder when it matters most. The water below the former Iron Gate Dam site in California is dropping to around 60 degrees Fahrenheit about a month earlier than it did when the dams were in place.

This coincides with Chinook salmon exploring the 400 miles of newly accessible habitat made available by dam removal. The fish have been spotted going over the fish ladders at the remaining Keno and Link River dams and swimming through Upper Klamath Lake.

“Those fish look pretty good. They really do,” said Soto of the fish now being documented above the old dam sites.

In the spring, before dam removal, the “reservoir battery” would work in the opposite way. The lake water would get cold over the winter and keep the rivers artificially cool in the spring.

Now, without the dams, 2025 temperature data show spring river temperatures rose faster, which is beneficial to young salmon as they hatch and move downstream to the ocean.

While boosts in water quality are undoubtedly beneficial to the salmon, lamprey and other wildlife on the river, Goodman says it’s too early to make blanket statements about how dam removal will ultimately affect salmon recovery in the Klamath Basin.

Chinook are on a three-year return cycle. Most of the offspring of the fish that are spawning upstream of the removed dams this year won’t return until 2028. Researchers say it will likely take even longer before they can measure and understand the true impact of the river restoration on salmon populations.

In these All Science Snapshots, “All Science.

No Fiction.” creator Jes Burns features the most interesting, wondrous and hopeful science coming out of the Pacific Northwest.

Hi! We’re the Ashland Climate Collaborative We empower our community to do what we can about climate pollution— right here at home. Get involved to protect what you love.

HOME • ENERGY • WATER • COMPOST • WILDFIRE • TRANSPORTATION | ashlandclimate.org

“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”

16 | JEFFERSON JOURNAL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

JPR NEWS FOCUS

TRANSPORTATION

MONICA SAMAYOA

“We’re talking about an additional 250 to 300 fast charging ports in some of the most rural communities, especially in Oregon.”

— Brett Howell, ODOT Transportation Electrification Coordinator

Oregon Seeks Companies to Build Out Electric Vehicle Fast-Charging Stations on Five Major Roadways

O

regon is hoping to add at least 200 public fast-charging electric vehicle chargers on some of the state’s major highways by the end of next year.

But first, the state is seeking applications from companies that will build and maintain the charging stations.

The Oregon Department of Transportation recently opened up its second round funding through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, or NEVI, program. The program aims to build out a network of public DC fast chargers, which can take an electric vehicle from zero to 80% charged in about 20 minutes, throughout frequently used highway corridors.

New DC fast chargers coming to Oregon in 2026 Oregon is set to receive more than $52 million over a period of five years through the program.

Last year, the agency awarded about $10 million toward the construction of 13 fast-charging stations.

For this second round, the agency is looking for companies to build out charging stations along five major highways throughout the state: · Interstate 84 · U.S. Highway 20 · U.S. Highway 26 · U.S. Highway 101 · U.S. Highway 97 “Between the five roads we have about $32.3 million available in funding, and our goal is to award at least 40 stations,” ODOT’s transportation electrification coordinator Brett Howell said.

Howell said last year’s contracts and the work that will come out of this new funding round will together represent about 90% of what the state has available through the NEVI program.

Oregon’s EV footprint has been steadily increasing, with more than 126,000 registered electric vehicles in the state as of August. But public charging ports have struggled to keep up.

There are about 4,000 public charging ports in the state, with nearly 1,200 of those DC fast chargers. That means Oregonians are spending more time charging their cars at home or at public stations with slower charging ports.

Howell is hopeful this second round of funding will fill those gaps while supporting community needs.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 17

MARY LOUISE KELLY

A Legacy of Public Radio

JPR News Focus: Transportation Continued from previous page

...

o much has changed since JPR began in 1969. In many ways, public radio has grown up. What was once a struggling—almost experimental—operation has become a permanent and positive presence in the lives of so many in Southern Oregon and Northern California and across the nation.

S LAKSHMI SINGH

AYESHA RASCOE

ROBIN YOUNG

ARI SHAPIRO

We continue to seek and depend on regular membership contributions from supporters, especially new generations of listeners. But in the long run our future will depend, more and more, on special gifts from long-time friends who want to help Jefferson Public Radio become stronger and more stable.

One of the many ways that friends can choose to express their deep commitment to public radio here in our region is by supporting Jefferson Public Radio in their will or trust.

This is a way to make a lasting contribution without affecting your current financial security and freedom.

To support Jefferson Public Radio in your will or trust, consult your attorney or personal advisor. The legal description of our organization is: “The JPR Foundation, Inc., an Oregon non-profit tax-exempt corporation located in Ashland, Oregon.”

If you would like more information about making a bequest to support Jefferson Public Radio call Paul Westhelle at 541-552-6301.

STEVE INSKEEP

“We’re talking about an additional 250 to 300 fast charging ports in some of the most rural communities, especially in Oregon,” Howell said. “Round two representing U.S. 26, U.S. 20, the eastern portion of Interstate 84, these are what most electric vehicle drivers would describe as charging deserts where there’s very few options for people to commute.”

The NEVI program was created through the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021. But it’s had a rocky year. The Trump administration suspended the program in February as it worked on creating new guidelines. It later restarted the program in mid-August.

Since then, ODOT has been working on finalizing contractors to add chargers along Interstate 205 and Interstate 5 south of Eugene, from the first round of funding.

Howell expects those stations to be up and running by midnext year.

U.S. Highway 97 was originally part of the first round of funding. But Howell said the contractor initially chosen to do that work could not meet the minimum requirements of the program.

Now that highway is part of the second round of funding.

Howell expects several companies to apply, as the criteria for applicants has been expanded in the second round. That includes owning, operating and maintaining the charging stations, as well as allowing individual site hosts, like gas stations, to own the stations.

“It’s essentially wide open to any incorporated entity or federally recognized tribe to apply for the program,” he said.

The application period for contractors seeking to build and maintain charging stations in round 2 of the program is open until February 20. The agency expects to make awards by the end of March.

Monica Samayoa covers climate and environmental news for OPB, a JPR news partner. Her reporting comes to JPR through the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

JPR NEWS FOCUS

EDUCATION

JANE VAUGHAN

The only institutions in the region where enrollment declined were Southwestern Oregon and Umpqua Community Colleges, which saw declines of about 8% and 9%, respectively.

Enrollment Is Up at Southwest Oregon’s Public Universities, Community Colleges Southern Oregon University and many community colleges in the region saw enrollment climb, but for some, that growth is creating new challenges.

Rogue Community College in downtown Medford.

With that foundation solid, Stringer said, they can afford to look ahead.

“We have plans for very long-term exciting things here, as we discuss things such as a potential for a medical school at Oregon Tech, or we talk about expanding our engineering proThe Oregon Institute of Technology campus in Klamath Falls.

COURTESY OF OREGON INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

ost public universities and community colleges in southwest Oregon saw overall enrollment numbers increase this fall, but numbers still have not returned to pre-COVID levels, according to enrollment data from the Higher Education Coordinating Commission.

Headcount enrollment, which includes both full- and parttime students, at the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls increased for the fourth year in a row and is now greater than it was in 2019.

Greg Stringer, associate vice provost for strategic enrollment management at Oregon Tech, said one part of their success is meeting with potential students in person.

“Then we focus also on that first year coaching,” he said.

“Making sure that once you get them to school here, are we providing the tutoring, the support, the academic support in a fashion that is going to help the students succeed?”

Oregon Tech also recently created a new direct admission process for high school students taking classes at the university.

COURTESY OF RCC

M

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 19

JPR News Focus: Education Continued from previous page

Dave Koehler, vice president of student learning and success at RCC, said much of their growth is concentrated in career and technical education, or CTE. On the one hand, he said, that’s good news.

But, “at the same time, it’s concerning for us because we’re wanting to make sure that we’re growing strategically,” he said.

“Our CTE programs are the highest cost programs for us to deliver.”

Last year, voters rejected a $60 million bond that would have increased RCC’s capacity for CTE programs.

“Our science labs are full. We can’t offer any more because we just don’t have the capacity,” Koehler said. “Our automotive and diesel, we’re at capacity.”

He said the college is considering implementing a competitive entry process for some programs, along with other options.

JPR is licensed to Southern Oregon University, but our newsroom operates independently.

Guided by our journalistic standards and ethics, we cover the university like any other organization in the region. No university official reviewed or edited this story before it was published.

Jane Vaughan is a regional reporter for Jefferson Public Radio.

Jane began her journalism career as a reporter for a community newspaper in Portland, Maine. She’s been a producer at New Hampshire Public Radio and worked on WNYC’s On The Media.

JANE VAUGHAN/JPR NEWS

gram,” he said. “We want to be sound and stable in our growth, but we also want to be as aggressive as we can be.”

The only institutions in the region where enrollment declined were Southwestern Oregon and Umpqua Community Colleges, which saw declines of about 8% and 9%, respectively.

At Southern Oregon University in Ashland, headcount enrollment went up by about 1.5% after a decrease last year but is still below what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yet, SOU President Rick Bailey said reaching that number might not be the goal.

“What I don’t want to do is set an arbitrary number and say that has to be the target,” he said. “What I would rather do is say, what do we need in order to serve this region? And then let’s just do that the absolute best we can.”

SOU has faced a dire financial situation in recent years and recently approved a plan to cut $10 million over the next four years.

“The fact that we are moving in the direction we’re moving is really heartening,” Bailey said. “Now, it’s incumbent upon us—students, faculty and staff—to build on these wins, to continue to put some points on the board and move in the direction that we all know we are capable of as an institution.”

Meanwhile, enrollment at Klamath Community College has surpassed its pre-pandemic level.

Enrollment at Rogue Community College also increased for the fifth year in a row, by about 7%.

The archway in front of Southern Oregon University's Churchill Hall.

20 | JEFFERSON JOURNAL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

JPR NEWS FOCUS

POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

SHAANTH NANGUNERI

Gov. Kotek, Lawmakers Call for Streamlined Permit, Land Use Rules Amid Concern for Oregon Business The remarks came during annual Oregon Leadership Summit aimed at hearing from business leaders along the state. n early December, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek called upon Oregon’s business community to support her plan to create more jobs and streamline the permitting process, as the state battles lagging economic growth and a reputation for crushing businesses with taxes and regulation.

The governor made her remarks on December 8 at the annual Oregon Leadership Summit in the Oregon Convention Center’s Portland ballroom on Monday. The economic policy forum was established in 2002 when the state was grappling with a recession and high unemployment.

On December 4, Kotek formally announced her plans to run for reelection in 2026, when she will have to defend her record against what many business leaders perceive as an unfriendly statewide market filled with regulations, fees and taxes that make it impossible to survive in the state. On Monday, she touted her previously-unveiled “prosperity roadmap” which has come with a goal of reforming permit systems, increasing global trade and providing corporate tax incentives.

While some Oregon lawmakers echoed her priorities at Monday’s summit, the governor’s roughly 20-minute speech in front of hundreds of industry leaders was largely a defense of her record. She argued that she has planted the seeds for improvement in Oregon’s business, education and housing sectors, framing some of the state’s challenges as a result of the Trump administration’s priorities.

“Oregon now has to focus on the seamless, continuous execution of these policies and investments. We are in the process of continuous performance improvement across our state,” Kotek said. “We’re making real progress on these core issues, each of them vital to Oregon’s ability and wellbeing, and because of that, we have laid the foundation that we need to have to respond to today’s economic headwinds:” Kotek also called upon attendees to help enact her prosperity roadmap, setting an end-of-year deadline to name a chief prosperity officer and council of leaders who would be able to make policy recommendations. Kotek said she is planning to introduce legislation in the 2026 session which would create a fast-tracked program to provide permits for “large projects that

SHAANTH NANGUNERI/OREGON CAPITAL CHRONICLE

I

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek speaks to business leaders at the annual Oregon Leadership Summit in December 2025.

can create jobs and grow our economy.” She also said she plans to seek one-time funding from the Oregon Legislature dedicated to land ready for industrial development.

“The takeaway that we should all focus on is: there’s an opportunity here,” Kotek said. “There’s an openness, and I think a bipartisan openness, to try new things.”

This year’s summit was themed “At a Crossroads,” as the Beaver State battles rising unemployment, declining population growth, economic uncertainty from President Donald Continued on page 23 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 21

2025/2026 AT T H E

Michal/Yungen Duo

Trio Bohémo

September 12

March 28

Dover Quartet October 12

Reverón Piano Trio October 18

Dudok Quartet Amsterdam January 16

Borromeo/Verona Octet April 18

Amit Peled, cello & Daniel del Pino, piano May 2

Galvin Cello Quartet November 2

Stile Antico

November 14

Baltimore Consort January 30

The Esmé Quartet February 21

Mandelring Quartett March 14

Canadian Brass May 17

ChamberMusicConcerts.org · 541-552-6154

6

JPR News Focus: Politics & Government Continued from page 21

Trump’s tariff policies and test scores for students in English, math and science that have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. In an 11-page report released ahead of the conference, analysts for the forum described Oregon as “a state built on growth and innovation now confronting the limits of both.”

“What you want to do is ensure that we are competitive, that we look to innovations, but the approach has got to be inclusive,” U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who helped launch the summit in 2002, told the Capital Chronicle.

“You’ve got to make sure that people who are affected are having a chance to get new jobs and new opportunities and have the fruits of innovation.”

Oregon lawmakers seek permitting, land use readjustments The one area of consensus between lawmakers on the left and right on Monday appeared to be easing the regulatory burden facing businesses, with legislators offering suggestions for changes to Oregon law in the 2026 session. House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, said Monday that she was “open” to conversations about easing land use regulations to help spur development across the state. For more than 50 years, the state’s land use system has regulated residential, industrial and commercial development to protect Oregon’s natural resources and unique environment, including through limiting where and how cities can grow.

“It is worth looking at, ‘How can we introduce some additional flexibility to the system while still keeping what works?’” she said. “The land use system prevents sprawl. It helps preserve our valuable farm and forest, one of the big economic drivers in the Willamette Valley, and it protects Oregon’s natural beauty.”

House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, D-Tigard, said he was bringing forward two ideas in the short legislative session set for February 2026 that are “not going to change the world overnight.” One proposal would set clear requirements regardless of rules changing after a company has applied for a permit, and another would ensure “timeline clarity” given that some permit applications can stretch on for years.

“This is not super sexy. This is about procurement. This is about hiring. This is about permitting timelines. This is about the rulemaking process,” he said. “We need to streamline all of that, not so that we’re saying yes to everybody, but so that we can actually achieve our own stated goals as a government.”

Although Bowman and Fahey did not elaborate further on any details, their ideas could receive some bipartisan support.

Senate Minority Leader Bruce Starr, R-Dundee, said he did not disagree with Bowman, adding that he was hopeful that lawmakers could leave the summit with a unified goal in streamlining land use rules.

“It’s too expensive. It’s too kind of cumbersome, the ability for virtually anybody to, with a stroke of a pen and appeal, to stop a process,” he said. “We got to figure out how we could move forward on this together.”

Kotek said she is planning to introduce legislation in the 2026 session which would create a fast-tracked program to provide permits for “large projects that can create jobs and grow our economy.”

At the same time, it’s unclear the extent to which lawmakers have found consensus on the issue. Starr cited Austin, Texas as a positive example of an area streamlining its housing regulations, while Fahey criticized the state of Texas for allowing “eternal sprawl.”

House Minority Leader Lucetta Elmer, R-McMinnville also spoke on Monday alongside Bowman, Starr and Senate Majority Leader Kayse Jama, D-Portland.

Elmer called for the state to “be more competitive in our taxes,” and referred to the signatures gathered by opponents of the $4.3 billion transportation package Oregon Democrats passed during a special legislative session in September. Critics have reported receiving nearly double the 78,116 signatures necessary to place the measure on the November 2026 ballot, with the goal of undoing the increased taxes and vehicular fees the package mandates.

But she was also hopeful lawmakers could find consensus.

“Senator Starr and I have lots of great solutions. Bowman has said he wants to work with me, so, I mean, today’s a good day,” Elmer said. “We can turn it around. This is a gorgeous place. We can be the pioneering state once again.”

Although she did not speak on stage at the event, Kotek’s top political rival and state Sen. Christine Drazan, R-Canby, attended with several of her Republican colleagues. When announcing that she would be running for governor in 2026, she said in late October that small businesses such as welders, builders, farmers and shop owners “are being buried under taxes and regulations and red tape every single day,” while calling for expedited building permits and lower taxes and fees.

Shaanth Kodialam Nanguneri is a reporter based in Salem, Oregon covering Gov. Tina Kotek and the Oregon Legislature for the Oregon Capital Chronicle, a professional, nonprofit news organization and JPR news partner. The Oregon Capital Chronicle is an affiliate of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers. The Capital Chronicle retains full editorial independence, meaning decisions about news and coverage are made by Oregonians for Oregonians.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 23

STAT I O N S

&

P RO G R A M S

Classics & News Service Monday through Friday..

3:00pm The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center 4:00pm All Things Considered 5:00pm New York Philharmonic 7:00pm State Farm Music Hall

5:00am Morning Edition 8:00am First Concert 12:00pm Siskiyou Music Hall 2:00pm Performance Today 4:00pm All Things Considered 6:30pm The Daily 7:00pm Exploring Music 8:00pm State Farm Music Hall

Sunday..

5:00am 9:00am 10:00am 12:00pm 1:00pm 2:00pm 4:00pm 5:00pm 7:00pm

Saturday..

5:00am Weekend Edition 8:00am First Concert 10:00am WFMT Opera Series / Met Opera 2:00pm Played in Oregon

Stations

KSRS 91.5 FM

KZBY 90.5 FM

KLDD 91.9 FM

KSOR 90.1 FM

KNYR 91.3 FM

KLMF 88.5 FM

KHEC 91.1 FM

KSRG 88.3 FM

KOOZ 94.1 FM

KNHT 102.5 FM

KWCA 101.1 FM

Grants Pass 101.5 FM Happy Camp 91.9 FM Lakeview 89.5 FM Langlois, Sixes 91.3 FM LaPine/Beaver Marsh 89.1 FM

Lincoln 88.7 FM Mendocino 101.9 FM Port Orford 90.5 FM Weed 89.5 FM

ASHLAND

FM Transmitters provide extended regional service.

(KSOR, 90.1FM is JPR’s strongest transmitter and provides coverage throughout the Rogue Valley.)

ASHLAND

FM Translators provide low-powered local service.

Translators Big Bend 91.3 FM Brookings 101.7 FM Burney 90.9 FM

Weekend Edition Millennium of Music Sunday Baroque American Landscapes Fiesta!

Performance Today Weekend All Things Considered Chicago Symphony Orchestra State Farm Music Hall

Camas Valley 88.7 FM Canyonville 91.9 FM Cave Junction 89.5 FM Chiloquin 91.7 FM Coquille 88.1 FM

ROSEBURG

COOS BAY

YREKA

MYRTLE POINT/COOS BAY

Coos Bay 90.5 FM / 89.1 FM Etna / Ft. Jones 91.1 FM Gasquet 89.1 FM Gold Beach 91.5 FM

KLAMATH FALLS

RIO DELL/EUREKA

MT. SHASTA

CRESCENT CITY REDDING

METROPOLITAN OPERA Jan 3:

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Mason Bates (MET premiere)

Jan 10: I Puritani by Vincenzo Bellini (Live in HD) Jan 17: Carmen by Georges Bizet COURTESY OF THE MET

Jan 24: Porgy & Bess

by George Gershwin Jan 31: Arabella by Richard Strauss Feb 7:

Werther by Jules Massenet

Feb 14: Idomeneo by W.A. Mozart Feb 21: Manon Lescaut

by Giacomo Puccini Feb 28: Les Troyens: La Prise de Troie by Hector Berlioz

Strauss’s elegant romance brings the glamour and enchantment of 19th-century Vienna to the Met stage in a sumptuous production by legendary director Otto Schenk.

24 | JEFFERSON JOURNAL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

STAT I O N S

&

P RO G R A M S

Rhythm & News Service Monday through Friday..

5:00am Morning Edition 9:00am Open Air 3:00pm Today, Explained 3:30pm Marketplace 4:00pm All Things Considered 6:00pm World Café 8:00pm Folk Alley (M) Mountain Stage (Tu) American Routes (W) The Midnight Special (Th) Open Air Amplified (F) 10:00pm XPoNential 3:00am World Cafe

Saturday..

FM Transmitters provide extended regional service.

FM Translators provide low-powered local service.

5:00am 9:00am 10:00am 11:00am 12:00pm

Stations

KSBA 88.5 FM

KNCA 89.7 FM

KSMF 89.1 FM

KSKF 90.9 FM

KNSQ 88.1 FM

ASHLAND

COOS BAY

KLAMATH FALLS

Weekend Edition Wait Wait ...Don’t Tell Me! Radiolab Snap Judgement E-Town KVYA 91.5 FM

BURNEY/REDDING

CEDARVILLE/ SURPRISE VALLEY

MT. SHASTA

1:00pm 3:00pm 5:00pm 6:00pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 12:00am

Mountain Stage Folk Alley All Things Considered American Rhythm The Retro Cocktail Hour The Retro Lounge Late Night Blues XPoNential

Sunday..

5:00am Weekend Edition 9:00am TED Radio Hour 10:00am This American Life 11:00am The Moth Radio Hour 12:00pm Jazz Sunday 2:00pm American Routes 4:00pm Sound Opinions 5:00pm All Things Considered 6:00pm The Folk Show 9:00pm WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour 10:00pm The Midnight Special 12:00am XPoNential

Translators Callahan/Ft Jones 89.1 FM Cave Junction 90.9 FM

Grants Pass 97.5 FM Port Orford 89.3 FM Roseburg 91.9 FM Yreka 89.3 FM

News & Information Service Monday through Friday..

12:00am BBC World Service 7:00am 1A 9:00am The Jefferson Exchange 10:00am Here & Now 12:00pm BBC News Hour 1:00pm Today, Explained 1:30pm The Daily 2:00pm Think 3:00pm Fresh Air 4:00pm The World 5:00pm On Point 6:00pm 1A 7:00pm Fresh Air (repeat) 8:00pm The Jefferson Exchange (repeat of 9am broadcast) 9:00pm BBC World Service AM Transmitters provide extended regional service.

FM Transmitter FM Translators provide low-powered local service.

Stations

Saturday..

12:00am BBC World Service 7:00am Inside Europe 8:00am Left, Right & Center 9:00am Freakonomics Radio 10:00am Planet Money/How I Built This

KTBR AM 950

KHWA 102.3 FM KJPR AM 1330

KSJK AM 1230

KRVM AM 1280

KPMO AM 1300

KAGI AM 930

KSYC 103.9 FM

KNHM 91.5 FM

TALENT

GRANTS PASS

ROSEBURG EUGENE YREKA

MT. SHASTA/WEED MENDOCINO

BAYSIDE/EUREKA

SHASTA LAKE CITY/ REDDING

11:00am Hidden Brain 12:00pm Living on Earth 1:00pm Science Friday 3:00pm Unexpected Elements 4:00pm The Ezra Klein Show 5:00pm Radiolab 6:00pm Selected Shorts 7:00pm BBC World Service

Sunday..

12:00am BBC World Service 7:00am No Small Endeavor 8:00am On The Media 9:00am Throughline 10:00am Reveal 11:00am This American Life 12:00pm TED Radio Hour 1:00pm The New Yorker Radio Hour 2:00pm Fresh Air Weekend 3:00pm Milk Street Radio 4:00pm Travel with Rick Steves 5:00pm This Old House Radio Hour 6:00pm The Moth Radio Hour 7:00pm BBC World Service

Translators

Ashland/Medford 102.3 FM Klamath Falls 90.5 FM / 91.9 FM Grants Pass 97.9 FM

Redding 96.9 FM Roseburg 96.3 FM Eugene 98.7 FM

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 25

NEWS BRIEFS Oregon Reverses Early Releases For 20 Inmates After Pushback

By Justin Higginbottom/JPR News The corrections department has again recalculated sentences for hundreds of prisoners. That means some people are going back to prison.

T

he Oregon Department of Corrections has said 20 prisoners it released early now owe more of their original sentence after review. Seventeen of them were in custody as of Nov. 26, according to a statement, including convicted sex offender Joaquin Cowart.

The corrections department ordered the release of Cowart four years early after applying his time served to each of his consecutive convictions. The recalculation quadrupled Cowart’s credit for time spent in custody.

The reduction in Cowart’s sentence was part of a review of thousands of convictions following an Oregon Supreme Court ruling that expanded the circumstances under which inmates can receive credit for time served.

But in November Jackson County District Attorney Patrick Green filed a contempt of court action against the corrections department, claiming it misapplied the ruling and ignored the sentencing judge’s intent when releasing Cowart.

Green said the reversal was a step in the right direction but that the department should still formally apologize. “[T]here is simply no taking back the harm that DOC has caused to victims,” Green said. “There needs to be a full accounting for what led to DOC making this mistake.”

Green said he will dismiss the contempt filing but will continue pressuring the department.

“Because while their partial about-face this week is good, it is not good enough yet in my eyes,” he said.

Green said the department has not changed its interpretation of the state Supreme Court ruling regarding time served.

Since 1993

Saturdays at 9pm on Rhythm & News 26 | JEFFERSON JOURNAL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

“We recognize that the Oregon Supreme Court’s decision to change sentence calculations has significant and immediate impacts on victims, survivors, the formerly incarcerated, and their families,” Department of Corrections spokesperson Amber Campbell said in a statement. “As we implement these changes, the Department of Corrections remains firmly committed to public safety, accountability, and full transparency throughout every step of this process.”

The department said the Oregon Supreme Court’s ruling in Torres-Lopez v. Fahrion constrained its “discretionary authority” in calculating sentences. Its legal counsel advised that a literal interpretation of judgments was best.

A recent Supreme Court clarification, along with advice from the Oregon Department of Justice, led to the latest sentence recalculation, the department said. It recommends that district attorneys ensure that judgments align with agreements made between the parties.

Feds Deny Petition to List Two Oregon Chinook Salmon Populations as Endangered

By Roman Battaglia/JPR News The federal government denied a petition to list Chinook salmon along the Oregon and Northern California coasts as endangered.

A

group of environmental nonprofits filed a petition in 2022 to protect the spring-run Chinook along the Oregon Coast and part of Northern California.

Jeff Miller from the Center for Biological Diversity said spring-run Chinook are more threatened by habitat changes than fish that return in the fall.

“Spring-run are blocked in their migration to where they ideally want to go,” Miller said. “A lot of their former spawning habitat is blocked above major dams.”

Terry Gross provides a lively look at entertainment and the arts, combined with in-depth personality interviews, to make you feel like you’re in the middle of the arts scene.

Weekdays at 3pm & 7pm Fresh Air Weekend Sundays at 2pm JPR’s News & Information Service

Spring-run Chinook return from the ocean much earlier than the fall-run salmon and will stay in deep-water pools until the fall, when they head further upstream to spawn. That means spring-run Chinook often spawn further upstream than fall-run.

The National Marine Fisheries Service said that spring-run Chinook faced greater threats, including rising stream temperatures and habitat loss. But, the agency refused to split the spring- and fall-run populations into two distinct groups.

“Factors leading to this conclusion included the lack of spring-run specific habitat in most of the river systems in the ESU [environmentally significant unit] and the lack of strong evidence that the spring run was ever historically a substantial component of the ESU,” the agency said in its decision.

The nonprofits initially sought only to protect the spring-run Chinook. But because the government would not split up the two populations, the groups had to petition for an endangered species listing that included both spring- and fall-run salmon.

Despite threats to spring-run salmon, the agency said fallrun salmon are more abundant and outweigh the threat to the overall population.

The federal government has only listed spring- and fallrun Chinook salmon separately for inland populations, not for salmon populations along the coast.

Miller said recent studies have found major genetic differences between the two populations, which justifies protecting just the spring-run salmon.

“These fish didn’t evolve from fall-run Chinook,” he said.

“They evolved separately on their own, and they diverged a very, very long time ago. So they’re really an irreplaceable run of fish that we would not get back if we just continue to say, ‘Well, everything’s fine.’”

Miller said his organization is looking at challenging the decision and possibly seeking state-level protections.

Oregon Tech Gets $500K Boost for New Construction Management Program

By Jane Vaughan/JPR News Designed to train a new generation of construction managers amid an aging workforce, the program opened with a small cohort that leaders expect to grow quickly.

L

ast fall, Oegon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls launched a construction management degree to address a workforce shortage in the field. It recently got a financial boost from the Beavers Charitable Trust, a nonprofit focused on the construction industry, which donated $500,000.

Neslihan Alp, dean of the College of Engineering, Technology and Management, created the construction management program, which she said is really needed in the region.

“When we talk with the construction companies, they told us that they are looking for people who can manage projects, who can do scheduling, who can do estimating, who can deal with people, who can travel to different work sites,” she said.

“So they are looking for managers.”

Alp said the only similar degree in the state is Oregon State University’s construction engineering management program, but that falls under engineering, rather than management.

Students at Oregon Tech can earn a Bachelor’s degree or a minor to prepare them for careers in the construction industry.

The program offers two tracks: one focused on heavy construction, such as roads, bridges and tunnels, and another on general construction, such as commercial and residential buildings.

Courses include Construction Law, Structural Analysis & Design and Sustainable Construction.

The money from Beavers Charitable Trust will be used to provide scholarships to students in the heavy construction track and to hire a director to run the program.

“There are a lot of reasons for this aging of the industry: Poor business climate, industry down-sizing, unstable, mobile workforce, etc.,” the Beavers website reads. “But a far more insidious reason is that too many young people do not view the heavy construction business as a viable alternative for career development. That spells trouble for the long-term survival of the industry.”

About 10 students are currently enrolled in the program.

Alp hopes to increase that tenfold over the next couple of years and notes that many scholarships are available, as well as required internships.

She sees potential for graduates to find good jobs and fill a crucial workforce shortage.

“Hopefully, our students will be able to serve the state and do great things,” she said. “I believe that the program is going to grow so fast that we have to make sure that we have enough faculty who can teach these courses.”

Her next task is to create an undergraduate artificial intelligence degree, which she said will be Oregon’s first.

California Urges Judge to Order Emergency Abortion Care at Eureka’s St. Joseph Hospital

By Justin Higginbottom/JPR News California’s attorney general is seeking an injunction against a Humboldt County hospital after staff refused to perform abortions. The state claims the Catholic-run facility is violating California law.

A

California deputy attorney general urged a Humboldt County judge to require Providence St. Joseph Hospital expand its emergency abortion care, arguing the hospital illegally JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 27

SOU_JPRGiftAnnuityAD_2025.pdf

1

1/24/25

12:36 PM

TOGETHER for SOU and JPR

Creating a charitable gift annuity is an easy way to support SOU and its programs. With a gift of cash or

securities, you receive fixed income payments for life. Its benefits include a tax deduction and possible capital gains benefits.

Current rate for single life annuity:

Your age:

65 75 85

Rate of return:

5.7% 7.0% 9.1%

Lock in higher rates today.

Call or email us to learn more:

541-552-6127 soufoundation@sou.edu

e:

7 u

NEWS BRIEFS CONTINUED denied treatment to women facing life-threatening pregnancy complications.

In the hearing on Dec. 10, Deputy Attorney General David Hauska asked for the court to issue a preliminary injunction requiring the hospital to comply with California’s Emergency Services law. He described two cases in which hospital staff denied abortions to women experiencing life-threatening pregnancy complications.

“What happened was not a mistake, it was not bad luck, and it was not an oversight,” Hauska said in court. “It was the result of a deliberate and illegal policy whereby St. Joseph withholds care from women experiencing obstetric emergencies.”

One of the cases involved Anna Nusslock, who sought care at St. Joseph after her water broke 15 weeks into her pregnancy. According to the state, hospital staff declined to provide an abortion and sent her to another hospital, providing her with a bucket and towels in case she bled heavily during the drive.

Staff at Mad River Hospital, which closed its birth center in 2024, terminated the pregnancy. The state claims that by the time Nusslock arrived, she was hemorrhaging and her life was at risk.

“Providence prohibits its physicians from terminating a pregnancy even when there is a substantial threat to the mother’s health,” Hauska said. “Only once her actual life is in immediate danger, only once the alarm bells on the medical monitoring equipment are ringing, are the physicians allowed to intervene.”

Attorney for St. Joseph argued Nusslock and another unnamed woman were not experiencing medical emergencies when they were denied abortions.

“The hospital determined, based on what the physician said… that Ms. Nusslock did not have an emergency medical condition,” St. Joseph attorney Harvey Rochman said. “Legally, that is the end of the story in terms of whether or not they can be held liable for some violation of the [emergency services law].”

Rochman also accused the attorney general’s office of making false statements related to the case, which he said “stirred up community concern.” He cited conflicting accounts of Nusslock’s condition when she arrived at Mad River Hospital. Rochman said that Nusslock was not bleeding in large amounts when she was admitted, contrary to the state’s claims.

“These [St. Joseph] doctors are fine people,” Rochman said.

“If they had thought that she was going to need an immediate abortion because of an emergency, … they would have gotten her an abortion at the hospital.”

St. Joseph previously agreed to change its abortion policy after the California attorney general sued in 2024, but state attorneys claim the hospital withdrew from that agreement after local Bishop Robert Vasa raised objections.

Rochman denied the hospital’s policy on abortion care comes from Vasa.

“We’re asking for an injunction that requires them to follow the law,” Hauska said. “If they are right that they are already allowing pregnancy terminations under circumstances where

there’s an reasonable expectation of a threat to the patient’s health, then there’s no harm here.”

The judge has 90 days to rule on the injunction. That decision will likely face an appeal.

Josephine County Commissioner Andreas Blech Resigns Rather Than Face Recall Election

By Roman Battaglia/JPR News Josephine County Commissioner Andreas Blech resigned on December 5 after a recall petition gathered enough signatures to force a vote.

B

lech’s departure took effect immediately under Oregon law, leaving a vacancy on the Josephine County Board of Commissioners.

Blech was appointed to replace recalled Commissioner John West in January 2025.

The recall effort against Blech was led by a former county department head. The county clerk verified the signatures December 3, leaving Blech with the option to resign by the following Monday or face the recall election on Jan. 6, 2026.

Petitioners accused Blech of poor management and a lack of transparency, citing his approval of a voluntary resignation program, departmental restructuring without explanation, and limited communication with residents and local media. Blech has declined multiple interview requests from JPR during his tenure.

In a letter, Blech wrote that his resignation would take effect at 11:59 p.m. Monday December 8, but the county clerk confirmed the resignation was effective immediately under the Oregon Constitution, which says resignations prompted by recall petitions are effective when submitted.

“Helping to make Josephine County more efficient, streamlined and ultimately a better place has been quite an adventure,” Blech wrote.

Before Blech announced his resignation, the commissioners had scheduled a meeting to appoint someone to fill a vacant commission seat. The county canceled the meeting on December 5 and removed the online application for the position from the county website.

The board later said its earlier notice announcing the vacancy did not meet statutory public-notice requirements and that applications submitted under the initial posting could not be considered. The board said a revised notice would be issued, and interested applicants will need to reapply.

Commissioner Chris Barnett is also facing a recall. Rather than resign, he has filed a lawsuit claiming that the recall is legally flawed and should be stopped.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 29

JPR NEWS FOCUS

POVERTY & HOMELESSNESS

JANE VAUGHAN

A HUD report released one year ago says homelessness increased nationally by 18% between 2023 and 2024 to the highest number ever recorded.

California and Oregon Homeless Service Providers in Limbo Amid HUD Funding Changes The federal government announced major changes to funding for homeless services in November, but the department reversed those changes.

H

omeless service providers in Southern Oregon and Northern California are waiting to see what happens next after the federal government reversed course on a policy shift on funding homeless services.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced in November that it would prioritize funding for short-term transitional housing and supportive services, such as substance use treatment, rather than permanent housing for homeless people.

That led to two lawsuits: one from a coalition of states, including Oregon and California and one from local governments and nonprofits. HUD withdrew those changes on Dec. 8, shortly before a scheduled court hearing on the lawsuits, Politico reports.

“Things are changing by the day,” said Darlene Spoor, executive director of Arcata House Partnership. “Just wait a minute, and the president will give us something new to worry about.”

The original Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) allocated $3.9 billion in grants for HUD’s Continuum of Care program, which provides funding to address homelessness. The press release says, among other changes, it “restores accountability to homelessness programs and promotes self-sufficiency among vulnerable Americans.”

“Our philosophy for addressing the homelessness crisis will now define success not by dollars spent or housing units filled, but by how many people achieve long-term self-sufficiency and recovery,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in the release.

HUD has traditionally encouraged the “Housing First” model, which prioritizes placing people experiencing homelessness in permanent housing. The new NOFO would have decreased the percentage of Continuum of Care funding allocated to permanent housing from about 90% to about 30%.

Local service providers agree on the importance of substance use treatment and transitional housing, but they want more time to prepare if there are drastic changes. They also want to keep funding for permanent housing, which keeps folks sheltered long-term.

“Helping people reach permanent housing is the ultimate goal,” said Kristen Schreder, the coordinator for the Northern California Continuum of Care. “The program that they were advocating for, this latest NOFO, would have upended the goal, the accomplishments.”

30 | JEFFERSON JOURNAL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

Heyleigh Strempel, UCAN’s director of housing and community services, agrees.

“Permanent supportive housing is meant really to sustain households that cannot be housed otherwise. Those are the hardest people to house with the highest barriers. So a reduction in permanent supportive housing across the nation would have big impacts,” she said. “However, there is a big need for more transitional housing and detox and substance use recovery centers. [...] So I don’t know that cutting one and funding another or vice versa is going to maybe solve the problem.”

The recent announcement said HUD would revise and reissue the NOFO. But the agency did not provide a timeline, so Schreder doesn’t know when they’ll receive funding or how much.

“We just have no idea,” she said. “It’s not a really good way to plan what should be a multi-year planning function to allocate funding on a multi-year basis. It’s better if we know a little more in advance.”

Schreder said time is running out. The approval process takes months, and some HUD grants end in July, leaving agencies at risk of running out of funds.

Meanwhile, a HUD report released one year ago says homelessness increased nationally by 18% between 2023 and 2024 to the highest number ever recorded.

Spoor is concerned about what will happen to the families Arcata House Partnership shelters if HUD slashes funding for permanent housing.

“If they don’t have this support, they will become homeless again,” she said. “What we’re hearing from people we serve [is] they will die without support and without housing. They have no options.”

Jane Vaughan is a regional reporter for Jefferson Public Radio.

Jane began her journalism career as a reporter for a community newspaper in Portland, Maine. She’s been a producer at New Hampshire Public Radio and worked on WNYC’s On The Media.

JPR NEWS FOCUS

POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

APRIL EHRLICH

Before Secure Rural Schools, rural counties largely relied on getting a share of the federal government’s logging revenues.

Congress Approves Secure Rural Schools Funding Critical to Rural West Coast Counties COURTESY OF TOM IRACI VIA U.S. FOREST SERVICE

The U.S. House voted 395-4 to renew funding that helps rural counties pay for schools, roads and public safety.

A

measure to renew critical funding for rural counties and schools, including many in Oregon, California and Washington, has won bipartisan approval in Congress.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 395–4 in favor of the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025, which the Senate approved in June. It now heads to President Donald Trump for his signature.

For many rural counties with huge swaths of untaxable federal land in the Northwest, the bill will renew funding they’ve come to rely on to pay for sheriff ’s departments and other essential needs. It also helps school budgets.

When Republicans omitted Secure Rural Schools funding from the federal spending bill they approved earlier this year, leaders of Klamath, Curry and other rural counties feared they could face local budget crises.

In early December, U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Oregon Democrats, joined dozens of other lawmakers from across the political aisle calling on House leadership to fast-track the bill and get funds back to rural counties.

On December 9, U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a Republican representing inland Northern California along the Oregon border, moved to fast-track the bill and send it to Trump’s desk without amendments.

That motion gained “yes” votes from Oregon’s congressional leaders, including Republican U.S. Rep Cliff Bentz and Democrat U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle.

Before Secure Rural Schools, rural counties largely relied on getting a share of the federal government’s logging revenues. After those revenues declined due to a host of economic and environmental factors, including new laws protecting forests from clearcutting, Wyden wrangled lawmakers to pass a bill that created the Secure Rural Schools program in 2000.

The program has been especially influential in Oregon, where half the land is managed by the federal government.

More than two dozen counties in both Oregon and Washington typically receive Secure Rural Schools funding.

“This law and the funding it provides was designed to partially offset the massive decline in federal timber revenue,” Bentz said on the House floor. “It provides a modest amount of funding for critical services including infrastructure maintenance, search and rescue, fire prevention, and most importantly, money for children’s education.”

Bentz represents Oregon’s second congressional district, covering most of the state’s dry forests and sagebrush deserts.

Curry County is one of many Oregon counties that includes vast stretches of federally owned lands, such as the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.

Oregon’s fourth congressional district, represented by Hoyle, includes many of the coastal temperate rainforests that have long supplied the nation with timber.

Those forests also provide critical old-growth habitat for vulnerable species, like spotted owls and marbled murrelets.

Environmental policies in the 1990s aimed to protect those species by limiting clearcutting.

“Generations of families built their lives and livelihood around federal timber harvest, and counties relied on the revenue shares from those sales to fund public services,” Hoyle said. “When the timber industry collapsed, the revenue shares also disappeared.”

Counties’ individual payments from Secure Rural Schools are based on how much they would have received during the height of the logging industry in the 1980s, and the program’s funding has to be approved by Congress every couple of years.

When funding lapsed in 2023, counties defaulted back to getting federal logging revenue, which was a small fraction of what they had been receiving.

Then Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in June, which called for ramping up logging. But instead of sending a share of logging revenue to counties, the federal government would take it all, leaving rural counties worrying about how they would pay for sheriff ’s patrols.

Those worries may be alleviated if Trump signs the bill to reauthorize funding. It’s not clear when that may happen.

April Ehrlich reports on lands and environmental policy for Oregon Public Broadcasting, a JPR news partner. Her reporting comes to JPR through the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 31

“We try to stay involved in a lot of different community programs because one of our goals is to add more diversity in the media and film industry.”

Mylz Blake ‘17

Co-founder of digital creative agency Black Cub Productions

sou.edu

•

855-470-3377

JPR News Focus: Education Continued from page 12

Former business manager Karina Taylor resigned after, among other things, she said Schermer reversed approvals for purchases and attempted to blame Taylor for it.

“Just the way that she treated me verbally, I could see that I wouldn’t be able to feel safe in that environment and be able to do good work,” she said.

Former operations director Chris Trevisiol alleged that the superintendent didn’t properly dispose of asbestos during a remodel, which he described as an example of poor decision-making and financial mismanagement.

“She pushes people away and isolates and gaslights,” he said. “It’s not healthy behavior, and she’ll tell you one thing and do another.”

Chico Robinson, local representative for the Oregon Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, said he was surprised Schmerer is still in her role.

“What started as a labor dispute truly turned into a crisis of leadership and integrity,” he said. “I’ve never seen an administration so openly toxic or a governance culture so compromised by personal bias and intimidation.”

The district and school board declined repeated requests for interviews.

In an email, school board Chair Angela Cardas said JPR needed to hear the “rest of the story,” but she first needed to consult the district’s legal counsel and the Oregon School Boards Association. She did not respond to follow-up emails.

In a public statement, the board said it’s committed to transparency, fulfilling its legal obligations and working toward a positive climate in the district.

The statement also said Schmerer would be evaluated this spring.

Some in the community support the superintendent and have spoken up at meetings in her favor.

“Shauna has shown leadership in our district by being part of this organization,” said Susan Dodrill, vice president of the Bandon Booster Club. “Students come first for her. Bandon and the Booster Club need her strength and dedication, as she has shown to our student body.”

“Rebuilding trust and fostering a tone of mutual respect is a high priority for me and our leadership team,” Schmerer wrote in a June email to a parent. “I truly believe that positive change starts with openness, humility, and consistent communication, and I remain committed to modeling that.”

‘Loyalty to the superintendent’ It’s not just Schmerer; there have also been complaints about school board members.

Some residents alleged that certain members are protecting the superintendent due to their friendships with her.

“What’s equally troubling is the behavior of some of the school board members who’ve chosen loyalty to the superintendent over the duty to the public that voted for them,” Robinson said.

One complaint against Cardas alleged that her personal relationship with Schmerer “could reasonably be perceived as

biased decision-making” and constituted a conflict of interest.

In a November Facebook post, Cardas wrote about how difficult the past six months have been for her as a board member.

“I’m tired of researching answers, providing proof, giving my side of the story and explaining why I legally can’t explain every last detail,” Cardas wrote, adding that those restrictions are meant to protect all parties involved.

Board member Briana Hutchens acknowledged her friendship with Schmerer in an October Facebook post supporting the administration.

“I have had it with hearing ‘what’s best for the kids’ from the teachers,” she wrote. “We are a small community, and nothing good will come from continuing to let the teachers and the public shame our administration.”

“Conflict of interest has not been proven,” the board wrote in an October email to Burg, stating that Cardas and Hutchens said their evaluations of Schmerer were “more critical as a result of their friendship.”

There has been some movement. The board recently held a mandatory staff meeting to discuss workplace culture. Cardas reassured employees, “Nothing has been hidden, nothing has been thrown away, nothing has been ignored.”

Later that day, the board voted to begin an inquiry into complaints it received about Schmerer and other issues. Cardas said the board would seek outside investigators through OSBA and that she would remove herself from the process.

‘We were getting nowhere’ Some families have also raised concerns about special education services in the Bandon School District.

Parent Amy Orique said the district’s response to her autistic son’s needs led her family to move to California.

She claims the district did not respond to her questions and failed to provide an aide for her son, who has a history of eloping, or running away from school — including once into traffic.

“It was stonewalling, no communication, ignored emails, and we were getting nowhere,” she said.

There is an ongoing discrimination investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights into this case, involving potential disability-related retaliation.

Orique said she understands the constraints of a smaller district, but she thought that at least physical safety would be a given for all students.

She also claims Schmerer accosted her and her son when they went to the district office one day, which led her son to run away.

Eventually, Orique said her family had enough.

“We couldn’t build a life there. We weren’t being treated well at all,” she said. “My son was just declining. He was losing skills. He was not getting what he needed. He received zero minutes of service while we were in Bandon.”

Jessica Markham-Brink said her son, a senior with ADHD, also did not receive adequate support, despite having a 504 Continued on next page plan for classroom accommodations.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 33

JPR News Focus: Education Continued from previous page

“Mainly when I talk to the school, it seems to be they don’t have anything for him,” she said.

Markham-Brink said her son has been struggling, and she worries about whether he’ll graduate, given how much school he’s missed.

To her, the district is trying to fit all students into the same cookie-cutter mold. “‘If you can’t hang with this one-size-fits-all program, then go away,’” she said. “That doesn’t really work in a community where they’re the only option, really.”

In an email, Becky Armistead, the district’s special education director, said the district takes concerns about special education services seriously and was not aware of any formal complaints over special education services. She did not respond to a follow-up email detailing specific concerns.

Support JPR Today Contribute at least $60 annually, or become a sustainer with ongoing monthly contributions of any amount. Do your part to support public radio in southern Oregon and northern California and you'll also receive an annual subscription to the Jefferson Journal.

Please fill out the form below and mail it to: Jefferson Public Radio Attn: Membership 1250 Siskiyou Blvd Ashland, OR 97520 Contributions can also be made online at ijpr.org/support

Enclosed is my gift for $___________.

The JPR services I enjoy are: Classics & News Rhythm & News News & Information Name Organization Address City State / Zip Phone Email

‘Really destabilizing for kids’ Concerned parents and community members created a group called Do Better BSD to create positive change and demand transparency and accountability from the district.

A separate Facebook group was created in mid-December, Friends of Bandon School District, to push back against the recent complaints and support the administration.

“When elections don’t go their way, teachers’ unions, partisan activists, and disgruntled former employees shouldn’t get to override the will of voters through intimidation, manufactured outrage, or endless pressure campaigns,” one post reads.

Meanwhile, the state Employment Relations Board plans to hold a hearing in February regarding an unfair labor practices complaint filed by the union. The district and union are also working through arbitration on a grievance the union filed, and there’s an open case regarding the district at the Oregon Department of Education.

All of the changes and uncertainty trickle down to students, Ells said.

“As a middle school student, you might have three brand new teachers,” she said. “It’s really destabilizing for kids.”

State data shows few students in Bandon are meeting state grade-level expectations in 3rd-grade English or 8th-grade math, although the district is above the statewide average in the latter. Attendance and on-track to graduate rates have improved. But enrollment is declining, and the number of students with disabilities has increased.

Farrell even considered pulling her kids out of the district.

“In the last six months, things have escalated,” she said.

“Over the summer, I had conversations with my kids that we may need to find a different school district.”

She said her kids told her they want to stay, so she’s hoping things improve soon.

Jane Vaughan is a regional reporter for Jefferson Public Radio.

Jane began her journalism career as a reporter for a community newspaper in Portland, Maine. She’s been a producer at New Hampshire Public Radio and worked on WNYC’s On The Media.

JPR NEWS FOCUS

“People were able to reach out and talk to their aunties or their great uncles or their grandparents to share things that normally I think wouldn’t be in history textbooks or archives.”

EDUCATION

ROMAN BATTAGLIA

— Cutcha Risling Baldy, Professor of Native American studies at Cal Poly Humboldt

How A New California Curriculum Brings Native American Knowledge into Everyday Learning Developed with tribal voices and community stories, the curriculum helps teachers connect Native American knowledge beyond history class to science, art and other subjects.

C

ERIK NEUMANN/JPR NEWS

alifornia recently released a model curriculum to help teachers incorporate Native American history, culture and experiences into their lessons.

The Humboldt and San Diego County departments of education jointly developed the model curriculum over three years. Cutcha Risling Baldy, a professor at Cal Poly Humboldt, was one of the lead scholars behind the curriculum.

“The state of California had said that they wanted a full Native American studies model curriculum, and they needed people to lead what that would look like,” she said. “There wasn’t really an exact vision of what that could be.”

Risling Baldy said the decision to involve two counties was because of California’s size and the vast variety of tribes there.

A state law passed in 2021 required the development of this model curriculum.

Karuk tribal member Kathy McCovey shows off a traditional woven basket near her home in 2021.

A model curriculum gives teachers a ready-made framework, so they can easily create lesson plans.

“The goal is to create a resource, something that people feel like has been vetted, has been created with community knowledge as well as expertise,” said Risling Baldy.

The Native American studies curriculum spans from transitional kindergarten through 12th grade.

“The goal was really to think about what people want to be able to bring into their classrooms that are pretty easy to implement,” she said. “There’s some that are shorter modules, like shorter lesson plans than modules. There’s units that could last multiple weeks.”

The lesson plans are also designed to extend beyond history into science, art and math classes.

Risling Baldy grew up weaving baskets. “I didn’t know I was learning all the things that I needed to know about different shapes and how you make them. I didn’t know I was learning area and circumference,” she said. “I thought I was just learning how to weave a basket.”

Other lesson plans cover subjects like food sovereignty, dam removal and a unit all about acorns.

Risling Baldy said that the goal isn’t necessarily to make people feel guilty about what’s happened to Native Americans

COURTESY CAL POLY HUMBOLDT

Not just history

Cutcha Risling Baldy, a professor of Native American studies at Cal Poly Humboldt

throughout history. Instead, it’s to help students understand the importance of tribal sovereignty and what the history means for native peoples today.

“You’re a human being learning about the struggles that it took to survive a genocide, and as a human being that will touch you,” she said.

Risling Baldy said that Native people are often framed as historical artifacts rather than living communities.

“We’re actually human beings navigating those moments.” she said. “When you think about it that way, you start to go like, ‘Okay, what does that mean for us?’”

Community-based learning A big part of the curriculum’s development involved directly engaging the Native American community. Risling Baldy said a unique part of this curriculum is that it included a lot of storytelling.

“People were able to reach out and talk to their aunties or their great uncles or their grandparents to share things that normally I think wouldn’t be in history textbooks or archives,” she said.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 35

JPR News Focus: Education Lessons on the Nome Cult Walk, which involved the forced relocation of native people to the present-day Round Valley Reservation, touched not only on the historical aspects of forced relocation but also on what that means for the Round Valley Indian Tribe today and how they’re honoring their ancestors.

She said teachers will be able to show how Native Americans are part of contemporary history, not a relic of the past.

“Native people’s knowledge is necessary for how we’re going to build climate resiliency, how we’re going to address climate change, what the future of science looks like, what we should think about when we’re doing land management,” she said.

Cultural burning, or prescribed fires in wild areas, has been a part of Native American society for centuries. These practices are starting to play a larger role in landscape management across California.

Risling Baldy said people may not know how Native Americans have influenced many other aspects of American society.

Aspirin, for example, was derived from an active ingredient found in willow bark, which Native Americans would chew on to soothe aches and pains. Native women also made an early version of baby formula from walnuts and cornmeal.

with Mike Green

Join Host Mike Green and Producers Natalie Golay & Charlie Zimmerman for in-depth conversations about the issues and ideas vital to our region.

Weekdays – Live 9–10 AM Rebroadcast 8–9 PM Jefferson Public Radio’s News & Information Service

Email: exchange@jeffnet.org 36 | JEFFERSON JOURNAL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

COURTESY YUROK TRIBE

Continued from previous page

Kayla Salinas from the Yurok Wildlife Department plants native seeds as part of an ongoing project to restore more than 100 acres of prairie habitat in the Blue Creek watershed.

A living curriculum Risling Baldy said the project is designed as a “living curriculum,” one that can be updated as teachers begin using the lessons and giving feedback. But, she said the state has not yet committed any funding to continue developing materials.

“We’re really focused right now on professional development to help people who want to learn how to teach the curriculum,” she said.

Professional development seminars are available for teachers, and the model curriculum website, hosted by the University of California, Davis, has additional resources.

Risling Baldy said she thinks educators will also be able to learn from the curriculum and hopes it will be a tool for teachers in other states, who may not have something like this available. She said there are lessons about other tribes and histories taught in school.

“Thanksgiving is a good example,” she said. “Here’s other ways that people from outside the state could very much engage with this curriculum and get so much out of it, but also maybe it inspires them to bring in some conversations around California native peoples.”

California schools and teachers don’t have to include these lessons in their curriculum. But Risling Baldy hopes this will help teachers add more Native American history and culture in the classroom. The state law that created this model curriculum encourages high schools to offer a Native American studies class, which would count toward state college admissions requirements.

Roman Battaglia is a regional reporter for Jefferson Public Radio. After graduating from Oregon State University, Roman came to JPR as part of the Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism in 2019. He then joined Delaware Public Media as a Report For America fellow before returning to the JPR newsroom.

JPR NEWS FOCUS

CULTURE

CRYSTAL LIGORI

“We don’t participate in the national school lunch program. It’s too restrictive and so we’ve found our own funds to feed every single student here for free.”

— Patrick Clarke, Culinary Director Siletz Valley School

Indigenous Chefs Are Training the Next Generation of Culinary Students A group of culinary students from the Siletz Valley School was recently invited to cook under a trio of world-renowned Indigenous chefs.

Chef Nephi Craig, left, showing high school senior Zoey Koehler a culinary technique on Nov. 22, 2025. Eleven students from Siletz Valley School were paired up with Indigenous chef-mentors for a First Foods dinner at at The Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg, Ore.

CRYSTAL LIGORI / OPB

bout 20 minutes from the Oregon coast, a group of high school students at the Siletz Valley School are learning hands-on culinary skills, chopping chives, flipping hoecakes in sizzling frying pans and carrying stock pots of bubbling broth.

But this is far from your average home economics class.

“I like to run the program like work,” said Patrick Clarke.

“It’s just like being in a restaurant kitchen.”

Clarke is the Culinary Director for the K-12 charter school, but even with two decades of cooking experience, he never intended to be a teacher.

“I barely made it out of high school myself,” laughs Clarke.

“I joined the military right afterwards and then went to restaurant work. I went to Cordon Bleu and did more restaurant work, and I never expected to be here.”

The program is just a few years old and started after the students asked for more career technical education opportunities, specifically a culinary program. At the same time, Clarke had stepped away from a chef position in California and relocated his family to Oregon.

“I am a veteran, so I talked to the local Veteran Resource Officer in Lincoln County,” he explained. “His wife actually is the principal here, and he mentioned that Siletz Valley School was looking to start a whole culinary program.”

Clarke teaches a variety of unique culinary classes like Wild Foraging and Seafood Butchery, but also oversees the school’s food program.

“We don’t participate in the national school lunch program.

It’s too restrictive and so we’ve found our own funds to feed every single student here for free,” said Clarke.

And a lot of the work that the culinary students do in class goes directly to the school lunch program.

The goal is to teach transferable, real-world skills to his students, and also to expose them to foods from around the world, including Indigenous, first nations foods from the Americas.

“I’m Navajo Native and I never got to grow up learning my culture, but now I get to because of Patrick.” said senior Jaiden Knapp, who’s been in Clarke’s culinary program since it started.

“Here we wouldn’t just do the Native dish, he would talk about it and tell us where it’s from and how they used to use it and what they used it for.”

More than half of the students at this charter school are

CRYSTAL LIGORI / OPB

A

Culinary students Nick Dickson, left, and Zoey Koehler help prepare a Veterans Day lunch hosted at the Siletz Valley School in Siletz, Ore. on Nov. 6, 2025.

Indigenous, most of them members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. And the students are lucky to have a nearby example of Indigenous culinary success: James Beard Award-nominated Chef Jack Strong, who grew up right down the road.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 37

JPR News Focus: Education

CRYSTAL LIGORI / OPB

CRYSTAL LIGORI / OPB

Continued from previous page

Culinary students from the Siletz Valley School surround Chefs Jack Strong, Rob Kinneen, Nephi Craig, Patrick Clarke and Kaylee Martin after a First Foods dinner at the Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg, Ore. on Nov. 22, 2025.

“I know what it’s like to grow up in Siletz, a town of a thousand. There’s nothing different from [the students] and myself other than getting exposure to the world,” said Strong.

Strong is now the Executive Chef at The Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg and as part of a celebration of Native American Heritage Month, he welcomed nearly a dozen culinary students to help with a First Foods dinner.

“We’re really going to be telling stories through food,” said Strong. “[We’ll be] highlighting Native cuisine as well as Native foods in general.”

Joining Strong were two visiting Indigenous chefs: Rob Kinneen and Nephi Craig.

“I’m doing an Apache seed mix-crusted acorn squash with Three Sisters and bright citrusy salad with microgreens, amaranth, and marigold petals,” said Craig, who is half Navajo and from the White Mountain Apache Tribe in northeastern Arizona.

The trio of chefs each created a dish highlighting Indigenous cuisines, often expanding on their own backgrounds.

“I’m Tlingit from Alaska, and I feel like I’ve been kind of pigeonholed into seafood and seaweed,” joked Kinneen. “So I did a strong left turn [with my dish] and I’m doing braised bison cheeks served with Minnesota harvested wild rice accented with local mushrooms, turnips, and dandelion greens.”

The culinary students from the Siletz Valley School created their own dishes too, serving them during the welcome reception.

“We made a duck BLT on a blueberry hoecake with some duck bacon and a tomato compote,” said Siletz Valley senior Zoey Koehler. “And we have wild rice cracker that we made and a mushroom pâté that we’re putting on it.”

The students were paired with the chef-mentors and did everything from shucking raw oysters to thinly slicing sous-vided bison cheek. They also plated hundreds of dishes for the multicourse meal, all while Patrick Clarke looked on like a proud parent.

38 | JEFFERSON JOURNAL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

Safiya Reed plates blueberry hoecakes in the kitchen of The Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg, Ore. on Nov. 22, 2025. Culinary students from Siletz Valley School were invited to help with a First Foods dinner while shadowing world-renowned Indigenous chefs.

“They’re doing a good job,’ he beamed. “It’s a great opportunity for them, and I wish that I had even more educational opportunities exactly like this with other chefs that we could just rotate through consistently. That would be the perfect education to get them set to move forward out of high school.”

This was the third annual First Foods dinner hosted at the Allison and the largest one yet, with more than 140 people in attendance. After the meal, the chefs spoke about the impact of the event.

“For all three of us, I don’t think we could have imagined something like tonight would have happened 25 to 30 years ago,” said Strong. “It was as elegant or as creative as any other type of cuisine, and because we tie that in with the Siletz youth that are here tonight—they’re the future, they’ll be replacing us at some point.”

The impact of the night was not lost on the students either.

“It was a lot of fun [and] I was really surprised with how much I learned so much in that short period that I cooked with them,” said Siletz Valley sophomore James Pearson. “I’m happy that somebody from Siletz is pushing Siletz more out, ‘cause we could use all the help that we can get.

Crystal Ligori is OPB’s “All Things Considered” host and narrates OPB’s digital food series “Superabundant”. Her reporting highlights unique stories from diverse communities, often focusing on food systems, pop culture, and LGBTQ+ communities. Crystal’s reporting comes to JPR through the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

RECORDINGS DAVE JACKSON

High Notes of 2025 025 is behind us. It’s safe to say we live in interesting times.

When you sift through all that took place last year, one thing stands out: people who create are going to create no matter the circumstances, and people like me will feel compelled to express our opinions about it. For me, that means music.

Here’s some of what stood out for me last year.

Two of my favorites may actually be a symptom of my age, but are worthy nonetheless.

My first pick is Tedeschi Trucks Band and Leon Russell Present: Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited – Live at Lockn’. It’s from a 2015 concert paying tribute to Joe Cocker’s 1971 live album— Mad Dogs & Englishmen, that was influential in developing the large ensemble, high energy live shows Tedeschi Trucks Band is known for. It includes several of the original players—including Leon Russell, Rita Coolidge and Claudia Lennear, as well as Chris Robinson of the Black Crows, John Bell of Widespread Panic, Dave Mason of Traffic and Warren Haynes. TTB is arguably the best live band of our time, and this album showcases them doing what they do best all while showing respect for the music and artists that inspired them.

The other throwback I can’t stop listening to is the remastered version of the 1973 album Buckingham Nicks. The strength of the original prompted Mick Fleetwood to invite Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks to join Fleetwood Mac, a move that shaped the sound of rock music in the ‘70s, and continues to inspire musicians today like Bonny Light Horseman, Ray Lamontagne and Waxahatchee. At over seven minutes, the

Released in the fall of 2025, Tedeschi Trucks Band and Leon Russell’s Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited is a tribute to Joe Cocker and the legendary keyboardist and bandleader Leon Russell.

COURTEST OF THE ROSA LEES

2

The Rosa Lees are a bluegrass band based out of Southern Oregon.

album closer Frozen Love, with some great instrumental breaks and a melody that gets stuck in my head for days at a time, is among my favorites of 2025.

After a couple of critically acclaimed solo records, Brittany Howard’s fans, including yours truly, were excited to hear of the reunion of Alabama Shakes. Their new album will be out this year, but they released the single Another Life in late summer. The track is unmistakably Alabama Shakes with their alternative/southern rock vibe. I would highly recommend seeing them in concert if you have the chance.

The family band, Southern Avenue, named after a famous street in their home town of Memphis, released Family, their fourth full-length album. They play high energy, uplifting southern soul and roots rock. On the new album, guitarist and founding member Ori Natfally, sisters Tierinii and Tikyra Jackson are joined by their sister Ava Jackson. With Family, they have matured as musicians and stand out as one of the best soul bands of the decade.

Regionally, there was a lot to take in.

Tiller of the Moon is a folk-rock band from Coos Bay that released two albums—Congratulations, their debut, and Wasson which was funded with a state grant and inspired by front man Tim Bustler’s work with the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve and their restoration project. It’s creative and catchy with a good message.

The Rosa Lees are a bluegrass band with an all-woman line-up.

They released their debut, Wake Up Call. They joined us for a JPR Live Session you can find at our website. Their tight harmonies, hot picking, and clever songwriting, make them a joy to hear.

One of the more prolific singer/songwriters of the region, Alice Di Micele, whose music catalog takes up a lot of real estate in the JPR music library, released Reverse the Flow. She continues to spread positive vibes and champions the under-represented and focuses on environmental issues. Produced by Bret Levick, whose music catalog stretches back decades and with a line up JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 39

Recordings

PHOTO BY BOBBI RICH

Continued from previous page

Alabama Shakes’ Heath Fogg, Brittany Howard, and Zac Cockrell.

of sought-after local musicians, it showcases her stellar singing voice and the internal voice that drives her songwriting.

Adam Gabriel & The Cavaliers released an ep of originals— Still Standing, and started gaining traction locally this year.

They have roots-rock vibe, and Gabriel has a soulful voice reminiscent of Cat Stevens or Tom Petty.

There were also some emerging artists that caught my attention.

In late 2024, I started seeing videos of Jesse Welles, a folk singer from Arkansas. He was playing protest songs in the vein of Woody Guthrie. I made an assumption that his online pres-

ence was his main act, but learned of his album Middle last spring. It was one of two full length records of new music he released in 2025, along with a couple of volumes of his previous work. He appeared on several other tracks by artists like Margo Price and Marcus King, and performed a duet of Bob Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright, with Joan Baez. He’s been nominated for four Grammy awards and received the Spirit of Americana/Free Speech award at the 2025 Americana Music & Honors Awards. I get the feeling we’ll be hearing about him for decades to come.

Finally, late this year came something a bit different than what we normally spin. Flash Poetry is the nom de plume of Australian poet, producer, musician and free-style rapper, Nico Lim. His debut, Reality, Now is a spoken word album with a rap delivery. He takes on social issues with a message of hope and a sound based on hip-hop, rock, soul, jazz, and blues. The groove pulls you in. The message is inspiring.

I look forward to uncovering and exploring what 2026 has to offer. Happy New Year!

Dave Jackson curates the music on JPR’s Rhythm and News Service, manages music staff and hosts Open Air, JPR’s hand-picked house blend of music, JPR Live Sessions and Open Air Amplified. The exploration of music has been one of his lifelong passions.

Elizabeth Letz, Merlin · 1979 Dodge Van “This 1979 Dodge Van, B 200, 360 engine, V-8, 36-gallon gas tank is my baby. I never called her that, but she is. When I read Anne McGaffrey’s Dragon of Pern series, I called her Silver Dragon in my head, never out loud. That V-8 still liked to haul ass and take on hills, even as late as 2019. Having a vehicle without a computer, nor electronics has been a joy.

Open the windows and vents for air. Now, forty-three years later, I’m retired. But the Dodge Van will come out of retirement as a donation to JPR.”

Thinking about selling your car, boat, Avoid the hassle and get a tax deduction motorcycle, truck or other vehicle? by donating it to JPR instead!

Simply call 844-577-2886 or fill out the web form at www.jprauto.org and we’ll take care of the rest, including pick-up, at no cost to you.

UNDERGROUND HISTORY CHELSEA ROSE

Early Southern Oregonians were participating in some version of early cocktail culture.

The Comic Book History of the Cocktail

F

ancy cocktails seem ubiquitous these days, with everyone trying to put their own spin–with what seems like as many ingredients as possible–into a chilled glass for a premium price.

I am no stranger to the cocktail renaissance of the 21st century, having made my own riffs on triple sec, Kahlua, grenadine, and even once, tonic water. Home bars like mine are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and craft barware is a serious industry (at least as far as my social media algorithm would suggest).

Much of this rise to fame and expansion of our boozy palate can be attributed to pioneering cocktail historian and enthusiast, David Wondrich. This fangirl was seriously thrilled to have Wondrich as a guest on a recent episode of Underground History to discuss his most recent publication, The Comic Book History of the Cocktail: Five Centuries of Mixing Drinks and Carrying On. Illustrated by Dean Kotz, this fun coffee table (or bar top) book highlights the colorful history of our favorite drinks, featuring recipes and how-to tutorials, and touches upon some of the darker aspects of the industry over time.

Many of the early mixologists lost to history get a chance to shine in the book, including women displaced from behind the bar once it became profitable and the Black bartenders who perfected the julep only to be relegated to servers once the drink caught on. Wondrich has spent decades researching and

compiling historical biographies of these early craftsmen and women, and the illustrated format allowed Kotz to help him bring them back to life.

Preparing for the interview made me think of the ways in which our region can be tied to cocktail history. A project we did years ago was tied to the Hotel Central Point, which boasted a saloon and dance hall complete with a live black bear. An article published in the Democratic Times on October 16, 1891 wrote that hotelier Fred Fredenburg hired W.P. Parson, “the genial mixologist,” who provided “the best satisfaction to his drinking customers.” I don’t know what Parson’s might have been serving, but the first cocktail book was published in the 1860s, indicating that he would have had access to a wide and established repertoire to draw from, including many recipes that remain mainstays to this day. While we have never found (or recognized) the signature tools of the trade (think shakers, jiggers, or muddlers), we have found Swiss absinthe at the home of pioneer photographer Peter Britt, shot glasses and tumblers dating to Jacksonville’s mining heyday, gin and whiskey bottles galore, and we know that early Jacksonville breweress Frau Wetterer of the Eagle Brewery was manufacturing a fine apple brandy. All of which suggests early Southern Oregonians were participating in some version of early cocktail culture.

Continued on page 43

COURTESY OF DAVID WONDRICH

Pioneering cocktail historian and enthusiast, David Wondrich.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 41

42 | JEFFERSON JOURNAL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

Underground History Continued from page 41

As an archaeologist interested in material culture, as well as an amateur cocktail enthusiast with limited space, I appreciated Wondrich’s insight into the glassware associated with our favorite drinks. If you are serving a drink up (no ice) you want to make sure your warm hands don’t heat up the beverage, thus stemware! Rocks glasses are made for drinks with ice and designed to slow its melt. Highball glasses are designed for fizzy beverages. In summary, while an old canning jar will do in a pinch, 500 years of crafting cocktails has led to innovations that promote the best drinking experience. I consider this the permission I needed to keep scouting vintage cocktail ware at yard sales.

Be sure to pick up your copy of The Comic Book History of the Cocktail at your favorite independent bookstore to learn more (I didn’t even have time to get into punch!), and if you want to enjoy some of the best contemporary cocktail culture our region has to offer, check out the NiteOwl Bar next time you are in Klamath Falls for creative originals and quality classics!

Chelsea Rose is the director of the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology (SOULA) and host of the Underground History podcast, which airs during the Jefferson Exchange on JPR’s News & Information service and can be found on all major podcast platforms.

This image is a panel from the graphic novel The Comic Book History of the Cocktail: Five Centuries of Mixing Drinks and Carrying On, written by David Wondrich and illustrated by Dean Kotz.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 43

SUPERABUNDANT HEATHER ARNDT ANDERSON

Spicy Seafood C Stew to Cure What Ails You

OVID-and-cold season has been taking its toll around these parts, and when nasal congestion has robbed you of your sense of smell there’s only one panacea: antiseptic levels of garlic and chile. Garlic’s allicin and chile’s capsaicin both have antimicrobial properties that, while maybe not working the same in a bowl of soup as they do in a Petri dish, are more pleasant to spoon into your mouth than cough syrup.

Though it draws some inspiration from French cooking, this spicy soup defies the canon set in place by the Bouillabaisse Charter—with copious amounts of paprika and cayenne, it’s got a Low Country drawl that takes it almost into halászlé (Hungarian fisher’s soup) territory. When it comes to cooking, some rules were meant to be broken! (To wit, we added a blob of Thai crab paste and ground

44 | JEFFERSON JOURNAL MARCH/APRIL 2025

Ingredients 2 tbsp olive oil ½ cup chopped onion 5 cloves garlic, minced 1 leek, sliced 1 fennel bulb, sliced (reserve the fronds) 1 tbsp Thai crab paste (optional) 3 tbsp paprika (preferably 2 tbsp sweet and 1 tbsp hot, or 3 tbsp sweet + 1 tsp cayenne) 1 tsp black pepper 1 tsp ground lovage seed or celery salt 6 cups seafood stock or fish fumet 3 tbsp tomato paste Salt to taste 4 small waxy potatoes (such as Yukon Gold), sliced 3 lbs seafood, preferably a mix of mild, white-fleshed fish (like rockfish, cod or hake) with shellfish (like shrimp, clams or mussels) 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley Crusty bread for serving

Instructions

HEATHER ARNDT ANDERSON / OPB

1. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion, garlic, leek and fennel until they become glossy and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the crab paste (if using), paprika, black pepper and lovage seed or celery salt and stir to coat the vegetables. Stir-fry for a minute to activate the seasonings in the hot oil.

lovage seed to add an extra punch of flavor.) Use any seafood you like here, though a mild, white-fleshed fish like rockfish or Pacific cod will work better than salmon.

2. Add the seafood stock and tomato paste, stirring to dissolve the tomato paste and breaking up any clumps of spices. Bring to a boil, then taste the broth and adjust salt as needed. (If you used store-bought fish stock and celery salt it may need less salt added.)

3. Add the potatoes and once the pot comes back to a boil, reduce to a simmer and let it bubble away until the potatoes are nearly cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add the seafood and simmer until the fish is opaque, the shrimp are pink and firm and the clams or mussels have opened, about 5-8 minutes. Discard any clams or mussels that didn’t open.

4. Serve garnished with the chopped parsley and reserved fennel fronds and break open a loaf of crusty bread for dipping. (A dollop of sour cream is also nice to quell the heat.)

Makes 4–6 servings

OPB’s “Superabundant” explores the stories behind the foods of the Pacific Northwest with videos, articles and a weekly newsletter. Every week, Heather Arndt Anderson, a Portland-based culinary historian, food writer and ecologist, highlights different aspects of the region’s food ecosystem.

Her work comes to JPR through the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

MARCH/APRIL 2025 JEFFERSON JOURNAL | 45

POETRY PERII OWEN & LOIS SCHLEGEL

At North Mountain Park

It’s Not Beautiful

on this March day a tree, still dulled by winter, raises it raw-boned branches and beckons to a crow.

It’s not a beautiful thing not really—the way you make me tea at the end of a long day wrap the pot with a towel and leave it sitting on the center island where it’s the first thing I see when I come downstairs

For now, the crow will be its only visitor. preening and watching and cawing as if to say… this tree is about to transform this tree is soon to be reborn this tree is waiting for spring And so am I. —Perii Owen

Perii Owen is a 25-year Ashland resident, settled there after careers as a flight attendant, art dealer, and high school librarian. She still thanks her lucky stars to have landed at the Ashland Branch of the Jackson County Library, where she served as one of the Children’s Librarians for a blissful ten years before retirement. She loves the mind-expanding experience of putting words together in a written form, inspired often by photographs or her varicolored life.

Writers may submit original poetry for publication in Jefferson Journal.

Email 3–6 poems, a brief bio, and your mailing address in one attachment to jeffmopoetry@gmail.com, or send 3–6 poems, a brief bio, and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Amy Miller, Poetry Editor Jefferson Journal 1250 Siskiyou Blvd.

Ashland, OR 97520 Please allow eight weeks for reply.

46 | JEFFERSON JOURNAL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

It’s not a beautiful thing the way you get dinner ready before Jeopardy and we sit on the couch our knees touching shouting out the occasional answer feeling smart for a moment—how you say “I really think you should be on Jeopardy” when we both know you are really just saying, I love you It’s not beautiful, but it’s all we’ve got—you getting up before me to turn on the heat take the dog out, make coffee—sometimes even build a fire in the little red stove, so when I pad into the kitchen in bare feet the floor radiates warmth —Lois Schlegel

Lois Schlegel lives, works, and writes on seven acres in the Rogue Valley. She shares her home with her husband, adult children, and granddaughter. Lois has published short stories in The West Wind Review and Margin: Magical Realism and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She has three books of poetry in print and is currently working on a novel. When she isn’t writing, Lois is busy as a full-time mental health counselor or working in her garden.

jan. 22, 2026 | 7:30

tickets

cascadeth eatr e.org • 5 3 0 -2 43- 887 7

Southern Oregon University 1250 Siskiyou Blvd.

Ashland OR 97520-5025