Science versus money often results in a loss for science. So it appears to be with climate change; recent research out of the University of California-Santa Barbara looked at the effects of lobbying on climate action.

The story of civilization is the story of energy, says Michael Webber. In fact, all the major technological advances of the last several hundred years have followed advances in the harnessing of energy. But as always, the devil's in the details. If we manage energy wisely, we thrive. If not, we die. Webber tells the story in Power Trip: The Story of Energy .

150 feet can make a big difference. California's Proposition 64, which legalized recreational marijuana use in the state, allows municipalities to set buffers between cannabis-based businesses and places frequented by children, like schools. Many jurisdictions have opted for 600-foot buffers, which were advised, but not required, by the state. When the Mount Shasta City Council voted recently to set the buffers at 450 feet, it got an earful from opponents. Tom Scovill, for one, is not happy

Anyone who remembers the cars of a few decades ago can appreciate just how much more comfortable motor vehicles are these days. But comfort does not preclude the occasional performance issue. Sometimes our cars and trucks just act weirdly (or don't act at all), and we have to get them fixed. Zach Edwards thanks those people and vehicles for his livelihood at Ashland Automotive . Once a month, Zach visits to answer questions about car care and feeding, in a segment we call The Squeaky Wheel.

Imagine a world of greater equality, and you may be willing to follow Martin Schoenhals down the path of "radical equality." That is what he espouses in his book Work, Love, and Learning in Utopia: Equality Reimagined . And yes, it's about economic equality, but a lot more as well. Equality of love, for example. The author is a psychological anthropologist, and he brings a number of fields of thought together in the book.

Jackson County's Public Health Division has provided family planning and sexually transmitted infection services for a while now. But that changes in mid-June, when the family planning and STI services will no longer be provided. Jackson Baures, Division Manager, and Stacey Gregg, Clinic Manager, have the details on why the services will be offered no more.

It started life as the Ashland Food Project, which led to the Talent Food Project, the Phoenix Food Project, and so on. Simple design: buy a few more food items when you shop, put them in the green bags provided, and leave them out for pickup every other month. The various food projects have collected tons of food for needy families since the beginning; now the effort is going nationwide, with crowdfunding campaign now planned for fall of this year.

All it took for the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to rocket to fame was a visit or two from the Beatles. But his influence was more durable than the musical group. Centers for transcendental meditation and other teachings sprang up all over the world, even in Iowa. That's where Claire Hoffman grew up, a story she tells in the book Greetings from Utopia Park: Surviving a Transcendent Childhood . Was it a cult? She says not, but it was an interesting childhood.

Lawyers and non-lawyers alike have argued for some time now about the rights of non-human entities. Do animals, for example, have rights? The idea of extending rights to nature got a boost recently when the Yurok Tribal Council passed a resolution to extend rights to the Klamath River, which has sustained tribal members for eons. So now come the questions about what granting rights to a river accomplishes.

It's not every day we get to witness archaeology in action. But Portland State University offers the Archaeology Roadshow , a one-day event with examples of archaeology and the discoveries it makes. This year the Roadshow, in addition to its Portland event on June 1st, makes June stops in Central Oregon and in Burns, in the eastern part of the state. So guess what we talk about in this month's edition of Underground History, our monthly visit with the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of