Ashland OR News, February 26th, 2014

By Andy Harris

Welcome to our weekly blog feature – the Ashland OR news round-up! Simply read the short tidbits of information for a quick review of what’s happening in town, or click on the links for access to the full articles.

Good news for those in the hotel industry in Southern Oregon, as January 2014 saw a room revenue growth of 11.4% year over year as compared to 2013. All the trends in the Southern Oregon hotel business – room rates, demand and occupancy – saw year over year increases. LINK*

The Mail Tribune reports that Umpqua Bank’s $2B purchase of Sterling Bank has been approved, and the merger will create the West Coast’s largest community bank. LINK*

Ashland was recently named the #2 Top Town to live and work as a moviemaker in the US by MovieMaker Magazine. Learn all about Ashland’s standing in the film and television industries via a Q&A with Southern Oregon Film and Television’s founder Gary Kout. Ashland missed the top spot by losing to a “town” of nearly half a million people, which town was that? LINK

The “What to Do in Ashland this Week” article offers a particularly strong variety of theatre and events at SOU this week. It even includes hanging out with dinosaurs! LINK

The upcoming Oregon Chocolate Festival at the Ashland Springs Hotel is previewed by the folks at the Rogue Valley Messenger. LINK

We recently posted our three part series on the 2014 OSF season. We are very excited for the the season that has just recently started. Here you can read all about it: The three outdoor shows at the Elizabethan Theatre: LINK The five shows at the Bowmer Theatre: LINK The three shows at the Thomas Theatre: LINK

In case you missed these, here is a variety of previously posted Ashland focussed articles from our blog: Ashland’s Disc Golf Course: LINK 5 Free Things to Do in Ashland: LINK Searching for the Siskiyou Mountain Salamander: LINK Ashland’s Acid Castles: LINK Hearts Trail: LINK Growing a yard vs. Growing food: LINK Ashland Art, Volume 4: LINK

Do you have news you’d like shared in this blog feature? Please email Andy at info@insighttoashland.com for more information.

*Daily Tidings and Mail Tribune articles allow 3 article views/month, all views beyond that require a paid subscription.