The only thing certain about the race for Jackson County Commissioner Position #2 is that it will result in a new commissioner. Incumbent Doug Breidenthal went down to defeat in the Republican primary in May. Former Medford City Councilor Bob Strosser won the primary and now faces Democrat Jeff Thomas in the November election. Thomas is currently a member of the Medford School District board.

"You should see a doctor," people say when you're having health issues. That phrase has taken on new dimensions in the age of almost-universal health insurance. It's the "almost" part that troubles some people; they want to see health care coverage for all. Count Health Care For All Oregon in that group. HCAO endorses a local measure on the ballot in Ashland (Measure 15-154) which calls on voters to pressure the legislature for an improved health care system.

A recent report from Oregon State University outlines some of the issues facing farming and farmers in Oregon. For one thing, many aging farmers are retiring. And land costs are stopping some would-be farmers from getting into the business. Rogue Farm Corps is already at work on these and similar issues; in fact, the Corps co-wrote the report with OSU.

Working a farm is a very different business from 100 years ago. Farms are bigger and numbers of farmers smaller, due in large part to mechanization. And in this age of local food and farm-to-fork events, more people seem to be paying attention to what happens on farms. The documentary film "Gaining Ground" explores some recent trends, with a focus on farming in inner-city California and rural Oregon. The film visits Ashland on Tuesday (October 25).

Two things any business getting started needs: money and expertise. So it helps when the expertise can be obtained for little money. Or none, as happens at the weekend (October 22nd) Business Resource Forum scheduled for Medford. The Small Business Development Center at Southern Oregon University is among the entities putting the forum together.

"The winners write the history books," goes the old saying. And it's a saying that has particularly grim implications right here in our country. Because white settlers ultimately won the war with Native Americans. The situation is explored in a play called "Undamming History," to be presented at the Cascade Theatre in Redding. It's a collaboration between the Shasta Historical Society and four tribes in the area, presented as part of Indigenous Peoples' History Day.

The world can seem like a troubled place right now. And Michael Meade not only acknowledges that feeling, but knows of times in the past when the world seemed troubled. Meade is a scholar of mythology, anthropology, and sociology, and he visits Southern Oregon University tonight (October 21st). He says the adversity in the world can trigger a time of renewal.

You can complain about the weather, but you can't do anything about it. But in the minds of some people, the weather is changed by planes flying across the sky, spewing chemicals in "chemtrails." To most of the population, they're just contrails. That's the way Paul Ruscher sees them; he's the Dean of Science at Lane Community College. And he'll be debunking "chemtrails" in a talk at LCC on Wednesday (October 26).

Maybe you never heard of the 1950s musical duo Tom and Jerry (you mean, like the cat and mouse?). They gained much more fame using their own names: Simon and Garfunkel. Paul Simon's presence in, and influence on, the music scene is explored in Peter Ames Carlin's new book Homeward Bound. The examination goes beyond music, to the use of Simon's music as a soundtrack for generations of Americans.

Gray wolves can't seem to stay out of the news in Oregon, and with good reason: they are growing in number. The effects are not always welcome: the Rogue Pack, OR-7's pack, gets the blame for recent livestock attacks in the region. Wolf biologist Richard Thiel has studied wolf recovery in other parts of the country; Beckie Elgin advocates for wolf recovery closer to home.