It's been several weeks since we last did a story on the Almeda Fire, and it's been some time since we last had a look at the affected area for ourselves. In this episode of US AS WE ARE, we head back into the burn zone to investigate the progress being made on the cleanup and rebuilding effort. We start near where the fire began in North Ashland and proceed along the path it took through Talent and Phoenix. Once we reach the far side of Phoenix, we pay a visit to Bach Development managing partner Bear Klinge, who we've talked with in a previous episode, and have him fill us in on where he and his work crew are in their process of cleaning up, removing debris, prepping the ground, and installing manufactured homes.
0 Comments
We're happy to present the first edition of "Us As We Cast," a new podcast where we recap the events documented on Us As We Are and discuss them from our perspective. In this first episode, UAWA host Keegan and camera guy Tripp sift through the archive of 2020 episodes and re-live the gnarly year's major moments.
This first episode is going to be free to everyone to watch, but future monthly recap podcasts will be exclusive to our Patreon supporters. Support Sailor Boy Media on Patreon at any level to gain access to the podcast and other behind the scenes content. This week we focus our lens on Joseph Gibson, an individual who describes himself as "home-free" -- choosing to live on the streets -- and his occupations of the Ashland Downtown Plaza, Triangle Median, and Police HQ undertaken with support from a local Housing Now group. The purpose of this demonstration, which is ongoing as of our uploading this video, is to protest the City of Ashland's no-camping ordinance, the police's treatment of the homeless population, and the lack of adequate shelter and affordable housing in the Rogue Valley.
In this episode of US AS WE ARE, we head out into the streets of downtown Ashland to find out how people feel about Oregon's new COVID-19 related shutdown, being dubbed a "freeze" of the phased reopening plan. Along the way we get to speak with the full array of opinions on this controversial matter.
If you didn't know, we are airing abridged versions of many of our interviews as shorts on Southern Oregon PBS: www.sopbs.org/usasweare I've been pretty bad with updating this website as of late, so here's a quick blast-post to show off the last four Us As We Are episodes, which should have been posted here when they all came out.
In this episode, we head down to Ashland's Lithia Park to have some open conversations and get the scoop on how people are feeling about 2020 now that it's over 2/3rds complete. We talk to a nice diversity of individuals about a wide array of topics ranging from the pandemic, to the recent fires, to the simple beauty of Oregon in Autumn.
In this episode, we re-visit Pastor Lee Gregory and his "I CARE" campaign, who we interviewed briefly in our first video of the Almeda Fire's aftermath. We meet Gregory at his church, the Medford Neighborhood Church, then he takes us on a ride in their chartered school bus through some of the most affected areas of Phoenix and Talent. Along the way, the pastor shares his story from the day of the fire and his perspective of the aftermath.
Wednesday, Sept. 23rd was the first day of classes for SOU's 2020 fall term, and due to the Covid-19 pandemic, things are shaping up quite a bit differently than in past years. In this video we head into the sparsely populated campus to talk to students about their studies, the year ahead, and the adaptations that have had to be made in order for school to proceed.
On Monday, we went to Hawthorne Park to explore the situation surrounding the encampment that had build up there for previously unhoused refugees of the Almeda Fire. The majority of people staying here were already homeless prior to the fire, but when the Greenway went up in flames, they needed to find a new place to camp. There had already been a feeding effort happening in the park before the fire, so it became a big spot for people to go, eventually leading to a sort of tent city.
When our crew arrived, we were told that the encampment had just been given a 24 hour notice to vacate by the police. In this video we explore the encampment and talk with some of its volunteers, campers, and police. As of 8AM Tuesday the 22nd (the day after we were there) the police made good on their intention to vacate campers from the park. There are reports of arrests having been made. This is obviously a rather big story, so this video is not meant to be a definitive picture of all the various details and plot points, but nevertheless we hope it can help shed some light on the truth, whatever it is. |
The CrewKEEGAN VAN HOOK
producer, host, editor, manager TRIPP WHITE
producer, first camera, creative assistant, editor LOUIS BENGTSON
contributing correspondent, researcher, host/personality, chef |