Community Calendar

Come experience the history, flora and fauna of Lithia park in a guided tour led by knowledgeable and passionate volunteers.

Walks run every Saturday and Sunday morning at 10:00am, May through September. Sunday walks begin July 5.

Walks last 90 minutes, are FREE of charge, and are open to locals and visitors alike. Please meet your guide at the front entrance of Lithia Park across from the Plaza.

This program has been running since 1989, and is a fantastic way to immerse yourself in Ashland’s crown jewel.

For several years, Oregon climate activists and sympathetic state legislators promoted comprehensive greenhouse gas proposals known as Cap and Trade or Cap and Invest. These proposals sought to impose a declining cap on statewide emissions of greenhouse gases, while generating pollution proceeds to be invested in clean energy projects statewide, particularly in economically disadvantaged communities.
Legislative cap and invest proposals failed year after year largely as a result of resistance from Republican legislators who thwarted all legislative action by walking out of the legislature to deny a quorum. Finally, in 2020, Governor Kate Brown issued Executive Order 20-04 charging state agencies with developing programs within their authority that would achieve the goals of the failed legislative proposals. After much resistance from the same forces opposing Cap and Trade, this EO ultimately resulted in the development of a Climate Protection Program (CPP) that placed the state on a meaningful emissions reduction trajectory.
As the CPP has finally been taking effect, the same forces who resisted both past legislative Cap and Trade and the CPP are proposing to reconsider and reintroduce a legislative Cap and Trade proposal that would replace the CPP. Given the source of this proposal, many climate concerned Oregonians are quite skeptical of this effort. However, if such a program allowed Oregon to link with the Washington and California cap and trade programs, this could be beneficial. What are the tradeoffs, and what is the best path forward for Oregon?
Nora Apter, Oregon Director of Climate Solutions, has been deeply engaged in CPP implementation for many years and closely tracking efforts to consider a legislative replacement of the program for some months. Nora will join us via ZOOM at our August monthly meeting to help us understand exactly what is involved and help us decide how we should respond to these discussions.
SOCAN’s next General Meeting will involve Nora Apter discussing the history of cap and invest in Oregon, where the idea for replacing the Climate Protection Program with a legislative framework comes from, how it's progressing, and key considerations and policy parameters.
SOCAN’s general meetings are free and open to the public. There is no charge for attending. More information is available at: https://socan.eco/events/
Guests wishing to view the ZOOM program should contact Alan (alan@socan.eco) for details
This meeting is not sponsored nor endorsed by Jackson County Library Services

All Southern Oregon businesses interested in learning about and expanding into public contracting are invited to attend the no-cost 2026 Governor's Marketplace in North Bend. The event brings information about public contracting opportunities and business resources to Oregonians across the state. The theme of this year's Governor's Marketplace is Pathways to Partnerships. We must prioritize building shared prosperity across the state and for all communities, especially as it relates to expanding opportunities for partnership between all of our different communities and state agencies.

This one day in-person event will be held in North Bend on August 27, 2026 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Pre-registration is highly recommended as session space is limited and there is no charge for attending. Light morning refreshments and lunch will be provided at no cost.

Training Sessions & Continuing Education Credits
This event includes several training session offerings that we invite you to attend. Contractors who are licensed by the Construction Contractors Board (CCB) and attend these trainings are eligible to receive (1) continuing education unit per session. To receive continuing education credits, you must complete the pre-registration form and also sign-in when you arrive at the training classroom.

There is ample free parking at the venue.

Are you listening to the news of the world right now and wondering, "What can I do?!" We've got just the thing for you. KS Wild hosts monthly Activist Nights where we bring you a fresh topic every month to learn about what's happening on your public lands and offer quick, easy, actionable opportunities to stand up for the places that make our area so special and beautiful.

For this month's KS Wild Activist Night, we are digging into the 2001 Roadless Rule. What is it, how did it come to be, why is it important to protect our wildlands, and what's under threat with the proposal to revoke it.

Join us at the KS Wild office from 6-7pm on Thursday, August 27th for a virtual trip into some of our most beloved wildlands that fall under an "Inventoried Roadless Area" protection and learn how you can help stand up with us to protect them.

These Activist Nights are FREE and open to folks of all ages who wish to learn more about ways they can step up into action for their rights and the places they care about most. Sign up for this month's Activist Night below to receive information about our monthly topic and about what to bring.

Why Are Oregon Schools FAILING?

Oregon ranks at the bottom nationally for K–12 academic success. We also have some of the lowest attendance and graduation rates. Salem politicians say they’re going to hold schools accountable. But that’s of little use if we don’t fix the root cause of failure.

Join us at the Medford Library for an information-rich exchange about how we rebuild Oregon K–12 Education to succeed.

Discover How The Science of Learning Leads to Success

Come experience the history, flora and fauna of Lithia park in a guided tour led by knowledgeable and passionate volunteers.

Walks run every Saturday and Sunday morning at 10:00am, May through September. Sunday walks begin July 5.

Walks last 90 minutes, are FREE of charge, and are open to locals and visitors alike. Please meet your guide at the front entrance of Lithia Park across from the Plaza.

This program has been running since 1989, and is a fantastic way to immerse yourself in Ashland’s crown jewel.

Come experience the history, flora and fauna of Lithia park in a guided tour led by knowledgeable and passionate volunteers.

Walks run every Saturday and Sunday morning at 10:00am, May through September. Sunday walks begin July 5.

Walks last 90 minutes, are FREE of charge, and are open to locals and visitors alike. Please meet your guide at the front entrance of Lithia Park across from the Plaza.

This program has been running since 1989, and is a fantastic way to immerse yourself in Ashland’s crown jewel.

Professor Prakash Chenjeri created SOU’s Civicus: Advancing Civic Education course in response to the growing urgency to rebuild civic trust, knowledge, and curiosity, and to do so in shared, nonpartisan, civil dialogue. It has received national attention as a model for how to engage students in their communities and society. You are invited to learn about the Civicus project and examine your own participation in civil society.

Prakash Chenjeri is a professor of philosophy at Southern Oregon University, whose international academic journey spans both India and the United States. His teaching and research sit at the vital intersections of political philosophy, citizenship, the dialogue between science and religion, and the imperative role of scientific literacy in democratic societies. As the co-chair of the university’s Democracy Project, Dr. Chenjeri is a dedicated advocate for civic renewal, recently designing Civicus: Advancing Civic Education—an innovative, foundational course engineered to revitalize university-level civic instruction.

The monthly Big Ideas discussion series features prominent local experts speaking on relevant and timely issues affecting our community. Lectures are jointly sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Library, Ashland Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), and Jackson County Library Services.

This talk will examine the intersection of fashion, satirical illustration, cultural biases, and misogyny, and how these forces worked together to construct our modern stereotype of the 19th-century woman. From corsets, hoop skirts and bustles, to leg-of-mutton sleeves and elaborate braided hairdos, there was something worthy of mockery no matter where one looks within the 19th century. Come along with speaker Cassidy Hausmann-Mason to learn the truth behind the trends and consider whether our ancestors were truly so different from us, after all.

Cassidy Hausmann-Mason has nine years of historical tailoring experience and over a decade of antique collecting under her belt. She has a deep appreciation for all things textile and fashion history, and loves to uncover the stories hidden within the clothing of ages past. Cassidy is excited to share her wealth knowledge and take a critical look at the conversations around gender and clothing that were ongoing in the 19th century, and the way in which those conversations shape our modern ideas of the 19th-century woman.

The monthly Windows in Time lunchtime lectures feature well-known writers and historians and bring alive the people, values, and events that shaped our Southern Oregon heritage. Lectures are jointly sponsored by the Southern Oregon Historical Society (SOHS) and Jackson County Library Services. Programs are presented in Medford (first Wednesdays) and again in Ashland (second Wednesdays). Recordings of Medford presentations are available on the JCLS Beyond YouTube channel.

Come experience the history, flora and fauna of Lithia park in a guided tour led by knowledgeable and passionate volunteers.

Walks run every Saturday and Sunday morning at 10:00am, May through September. Sunday walks begin July 5.

Walks last 90 minutes, are FREE of charge, and are open to locals and visitors alike. Please meet your guide at the front entrance of Lithia Park across from the Plaza.

This program has been running since 1989, and is a fantastic way to immerse yourself in Ashland’s crown jewel.