For Jim Eldred, kitchen coordinator at the Grants Pass Gospel Rescue Mission, the hardest part of Thanksgiving is finding ways to thank his volunteers.

"It's just so overwhelming," said Eldred, tears welling in his eyes as he explained how much it meant to him that volunteers would use their day off to serve meals to people in need.

It takes about 30 volunteers to put the three-hour meal on, Eldred said, and volunteer interest is sometimes more than he can keep up with. Read More »

The bar is always set high for the Cascade Christian football team.

That just comes with the territory during an extended run as one of the best teams at the Class 3A level.

But to win their third state title in four years, the Challengers will have to go through the reigning champions. Read More »

When I mentioned to Jayda Wood that my paternal grandparents Jonas and Harriet Fattig homesteaded in the Applegate Valley in 1907, she didn't snicker or guffaw. Never mind her family roots in the beautiful region go back to the 1850s.

A considerate lady, she listened patiently to my ancestral narration without interruption. Read More »

In libraries, we talk a lot about "lifelong learning." It's a phrase we use often, and for good reason. But lately I've been thinking about something even more fundamental — lifelong reading.

This is not only reading to finish a book or pass a test, but as a way of navigating the world. Reading instructions, recipes, letters, and more. Lifelong learning sounds big, but it really comes down to literacy in all its forms, at every age. Read More »