The 20th annual Ashland Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday celebration is scheduled for 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m. Monday, January 18 at the Historic Ashland Armory in downtown Ashland. Produced by a group of community volunteers and sponsored by the Ashland School District, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the City of Ashland, Jefferson Public Radio and Southern Oregon University, the event is free and open to the public. People are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to donate to Rogue Valley food banks.

Huffington Post Impact has put together a comprehensive list of links to donate and get involved in relief efforts for victims of Tuesday's devastating earthquake. You can also go to The Goods: Help Send Relief To Haiti, an online store by Causecast and HuffPost Impact, where you can purchase products for organizations that will be directly used on the ground in Haiti.

The U.S. State Department Operations Center has set up the following number for Americans seeking information about family members in Haiti: 1-888-407-4747

It's not often that a college dropout, self-taught in astrophysics, publishes an article in a prestigious scientific journal proposing a major new theory on the structure of spiral galaxies — but that's what Erik Anderson of Ashland did.

The non-legally binding “deal” agreed at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen among the U.S., China, Brazil, South Africa and India, has brought to a conclusion what has proved an extraordinarily complex set of negotiations.

Editor's Note: At the Ashland Resource Center we want to pause and thank you for whatever you have given to our world, for giving your attention to young people, for whatever you give to those less fortunate, for the work you do in your community, and for the light-life gift your soul presents to the world. May the darkness season you, may your soul find some warmth and comfort as the light gathers itself to renew the days again.

Did you happen to hear the good news? Mt Ashland is set for opening day this Thursday – December 17, 2009! Click here for the latest opening day info, snow report and live web cam with real time mountain conditions.

Commentary:

Be aware the H1N1 swine flu is being touted by government and health agencies worldwide as the next pandemic and are selling millions of vaccines. In our opinion the fear of pandemic is being intentionally created without considering the side effects and possible health consequences of this and other vaccines which remain controversial at best.

With a projected $1.8 trillion deficit for 2009, several trillions more in deficits projected over the next decade, and with both Medicare and Social Security entitlement spending about to ratchet up several notches over the next 15 years as Baby Boomers become eligible for both, we are rapidly running out of other people's money. These deficits are simply not sustainable. They are either going to result in unprecedented new taxes and inflation, or they will bankrupt us.