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Letters to the Editor, Feb. 21 Tuesday Feb 21, 2017 at 12:01 AM Painting identified Thanks to the Tidings and John Darling for that lovely story about Ashland as a “hotbed of social invention.” I neglected to mention to your reporter that the painting on the left, by my wife, Shoshanah Dubiner, is called “Homage to Lynn Margulis,” a pioneering biologist. There are two connections to Ashland. She was the mother of local resident Jennifer, wife of one of the social inventors in "Better Ways to Live." And the painting was inspired, in part, by a class that Shoshanah and I took on cell biology at SOU. "Better Ways" is now available not only from Amazon but also locally from Bloomsbury and at the public library. Craig K. Comstock Ashland Meet corridor artist As a member of the Ashland Public Arts Commission, I encourage community members to meet Gordon Huether, our newest Ashland public art artist, at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24 at the Ashland library. Gordon will present some of his related works and his initial impressions of the challenges to developing the Ashland corridor walkway project. After Gordon’s presentation, community members will have an opportunity to share with Gordon how they want to feel in a transformed walkway. I look forward to seeing you at the library as we move forward on this exciting new public art project. Robert Block-Brown Ashland Time to step up Maybe all folks living in Oregon, the nation or the world think the same. Certainly, many of us in Southern Oregon think this is the best place in the world to live. But we are also noticing the rising temperatures that the Weather Service reports — over 2 degrees during the last century — we are noticing the trend of reducing snowpack, even though we’ve had a couple of decent snow years. Water shortages resulting from this trend are also troubling us. And we are aware that drought is becoming an ever-present risk, while our fire season and fire risk are both increasing. It’s time for Oregonians to join concerned peoples across the nation and the planet in addressing the global warming that is causing these climate changes. And we need to do it before our entire way of life is compromised. Fortunately, we can do this. The Oregon Legislature is considering placing a cap on the climate pollution that is causing our problems. The proposal will reduce pollution and generate funds earmarked to provide economic assistance to rural Oregon as we transition to a clean energy economy with better paying jobs. Data show us, reducing climate pollution can help our economy. Ashland is joining the leaders statewide in addressing this issue. Now it’s time for the state itself to step up to the plate and be part of the solution instead of continuing as part of the problem. Alan Journet Jacksonville