Join us Thursday, October 14, for another SOUTHERN OREGON TOWN HALL. Candidates for Jackson County Commissioner will discuss local issues with southern Oregon journalists in a town hall forum. Moderated by Julie Akins, news director at KOBI TV, questions will also be fielded from panelists Bob Hunter, editor of the Medford Mail Tribune, and Bill Meyer, radio commentator on KMED Radio.

On October 1, SOPTV changed the way you watch public television, now providing three channels of program choices designed to educate, enlighten, and entertain you twenty-four hours a day. Our new channel — SOPTV-World, 8.2 — is the place to find repeat broadcasts of many of public television’s most popular news, public affairs, and documentary programs. In primetime, Democracy Now! and Classical Arts remain in the schedule as part of the new SOPTV-World channel along with national, regional, and local independent productions.

September and back-to-school mean changes in the daily routine and new adventures for SOPTV kids. September also brings changes to our Kids Program Lineup. We have a terrific new series, THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT, which will appeal to pre-schoolers and elementary school children alike. In the new schedule, there are several opportunities to join the Cat in the Hat and his buddies on adventures of scientific discovery; and WORDGIRL and ELECTRIC COMPANY have been added to the Sunday morning lineup as well.

Special thanks to the loyal members and viewers who filled out SOPTV’s 2010 Annual Survey. We had over 500 participants, a large increase from past years. We are happy to announce our winners of the $100 Porters Gift Certificate. We randomly selected one winner from the print entries and one winner from the online entries. Congratulations Gladyce Maloney and Jan Acord!

SOPTV has just completed its June Pledge Drive, but we couldn’t have done it without the help of our dedicated volunteers and local businesses. Each drive, we rely on people in the community to crew the productions and take your pledges. Equally important are the local restaurants that donate food to feed all of these great people.

Support SOPTV and see CELTIC THUNDER live or even meet the band. It’s just one of our ways of saying thanks for supporting Southern Oregon Public Television. CALL SOPTV for tickets: 541-779-0808 or 800-888-1847.

Tuesday, June 15 at 9 p.m. — FRONTLINE examines the war between vaccine opponents and public health officials. In communities like Ashland, Oregon, up to one-third of parents are choosing not to vaccinate their kids at all, raising new concerns about the return of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough.

Look to the stars!!! As “400 YEARS OF THE TELESCOPE” returns soon, find out where your local planetariums and astronomy clubs are located. See the stars for yourself.

STUDENT SHOWCASE has now been updated online to include all the exceptional southern Oregon students you’ve seen on-air.

Sunday, November 22 at 7 p.m. — Lecture and book signing by Amy Goodman, best-selling author of Breaking the Sound Barrier.