The composer John Luther Adams is famous for creating works about the great outdoors, many inspired by his years living in Alaska. Adams won a Pulitzer Prize for "Become Ocean" in 2014. Another work, "songbirdsongs," (lower-case letters deliberate) plays to an audience in Ashland this weekend (September 29). Tessa Brinkman and Terry Longshore of Caballito Negro perform, with a roster of guest artists.

California has seen some of the worst wildfires in its history this year. The explosive nature of the fires is due in part to serious long-term droughts in the state. A new report from The Public Policy Institute of California analyzes the state's ongoing problems with drought and proposes strategies for managing California's water supply in the future.

"Love is merely a madness; and, I tell you, deserves as well a dark house and a whip as madmen do..." So says Shakespeare, anyway. Frank Tallis might agree. In his new book, The Incurable Romantic and Other Tales of Madness and Desire, writer and clinical psychologist Frank Tallis shares stories from his own practice of patients whose obsessive love of others has turned to madness.

"Call before you dig," says the standard warning from the utility companies. That's usually about protecting people from digging into gas, electric, or water lines. But there's stuff in the ground we can learn from, too, and that's why the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology exists. The SOULA crew of archaeologists is experienced at digging into the region's history, in a very literal sense. This month we welcome local author MJ Daspit, who's been researching the location of

While the massive Carr Fire may have faded from national news, its affects remain in and around Redding, California. Small business owners hit by the fires can find some respite from the U.S. Small Business Administration, which is offering loans with a looming deadline. They have until next week to apply. Hear more in this return visit from Chelsea Irvine from the administration.

Medicare health and drug plans can make changes each year. Those changes could include costs, coverage, and network providers. Now is the time to make sure your Medicare health plan still works for you. If not, you can change it during the Medicare open enrollment from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 this year (not to be confused with the healthcare exchange period, when Oregonians choose their health insurance policies between Nov. 1 and Dec. 15.) We hear from AllCare Health vice president Freddy Sennhauser.

Elementary schools have been back in school for a couple weeks now. That might be a relief for parents, but not so much for local teachers. Medford school districts say there's been a rise of violent and disruptive students in their elementary schools. We hear from Medford Education Association president Troy Pomeroy about the problem. He's joined by Dr. Todd Bloomquist, who is leading the trauma-informed efforts with the Grants Pass School District.

Rogue Community College opened the doors to its new High Tech Center in White City earlier this month. Students filed into their classrooms for the first time this week. The $4.2-million project offers an array of high tech training opportunities, including those in manufacturing, welding, engineering and more.

Hip-hop has eclipsed rock as America's most important musical culture. In this month's The Kennest Observers, guest Vikki Tobak joins host Robert Goodwin in discussing a striking collection of candid photographs of the legends and innovators of hip-hop. From the last shoots of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls just weeks before their deaths, to Jerome Albertini’s shoot of all the members of Wu-Tang Clan, "Contact High" features rare photos of iconic artists, some of which have never been shared by

Oregon's Measure 105 seeks to revoke Oregon's status as a "sanctuary state," which limits local law agencies' cooperation with federal immigration officers. The Oregon AFL-CIO took up a position against the measure . A union rep visits to explain why the union wants the sanctuary status to stay in place. We also hear from Innovation Law Lab , a Portland-based nonprofit focused on immigration law, which is against the measure.