Parker’s Place Village, the long-awaited managed homeless site in Grants Pass, opened 44 beds on Monday, the first of a total of 150 that must open before a June 30 deadline.

Bernie Woodard, operations manager for the Roseburg-based company Elk Island Trading Group, said the goal is to open a second phase with 44 beds today and a third phase with the remainder before midnight on June 30.

Name: Freeman Rountree

Sport: Baseball

Team: Medford Mustangs

School: Ashland High graduate

The Lowdown

Rountree was stellar on the mound in the Mustangs' Area 4-opening win over the Eugene Challengers on Thursday in Central Point. The former Ashland High standout allowed just two hits in a five-inning complete game that the Mustangs won 10-0 via mercy rule over the rival Challengers.

For Kassydie Cavanaugh, the owner of Crust & Crumb bakery in Grants Pass, baking is a form of mental escape.

“It’s a time to turn my brain off and just concentrate on doing, on creating,” she said. "I like to think that the joy I experience in the kitchen goes into what I’m making and that it will make people happy. It’s all about making connections, connections and community.”

If you’re completely comfortable with the First Amendment, you’re probably not doing it right. In fact, when art, science, and culture in America make you cringe, then you can be assured it’s working just as intended.

The core tenet of the First Amendment is the free expression of ideas that differ from the mainstream. So, by nature, it’s going to bring challenges.