Tipsy Weekly No. 1

Local Opinion

Two-Thirds Gone: What the RVTD Bus Cuts Say About Southern Oregon’s Priorities

By: Andrew Barnes

Rogue Valley Transportation District (RVTD) is about to cut two-thirds of its fixed-route bus service. That’s not hyperbole. It’s real. Eighty-two employees could lose their jobs.

I don’t use the bus much in Medford.

Not because I’m too good for it, just the opposite, actually. I rely on public transportation everywhere I go when I travel. In Japan, Mexico, Thailand, Vietnam, Hawaii, you name it, I love it. It’s reliable. It’s cheap. It shows up. Often, it gets me to where I’m going faster than the paperwork at the rental counter. You meet people that way. So why don’t I use it more here?

I remember sitting in the back of a train heading from Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) to Danang with a Vietnamese intelligence officer. We were smoking cigarettes, buying each other beers, and talking about geopolitical happenings and how the Vietnamese government operated. That kind of strange connection between two people who’s very situation together is improbable and fascinating, and sticks with you.

But here in southern Oregon? That same trust in transit just isn’t possible. Our buses stop running at night. There’s no service on Sundays. And starting September 2, there won’t be service on Saturdays either. Everywhere else I go, public transit feels like a service for everyone. Here, it feels like a burden we carry for the desperate. And the truth is, a lot of folks around here don’t seem to look at those riders with much dignity anymore. There’s a quiet cruelty in that.

Do we even have a sense of community anymore? I don’t feel it.

So when I heard about the shutdown, a part of me understood the “who cares, everyone for themselves” attitude that showed up in half the comments online. Maybe not caring about the bus system is just part of a bigger problem—about how divided, isolated, and alone a lot of people feel in this valley. And maybe, just maybe, having something like this blog—where we can talk about the “us,” make fun of our troubles a bit, and unpack why things matter—might help.

So what happened?

The short version: politics, inflation, and a federal grant freeze.

RVTD is facing a $5 million shortfall for the 2025–26 fiscal year. That’s nearly 40% of its budget. This isn’t some bloated bureaucracy wasting money. This is buses not running. Rides not available. Real people stuck.

A big part of the budget hole comes from Washington, D.C. The Federal Transit Administration froze key grants this spring, claiming Oregon (and 19 other states) is violating an immigration rule. Basically, unless RVTD starts checking the immigration status of employees (something Oregon’s sanctuary state laws don’t allow) the money won’t flow.

The freeze could cost RVTD $2.4 million this year alone.

Meanwhile, costs are up across the board: Federal Sales tax on everything (Let’s Call Tariffs what they are), fuel, wages, maintenance. And local funding, from property taxes and payroll taxes, just hasn’t kept up. Even before the feds pulled the rug out, RVTD was already projecting a shortfall.

State lawmakers had a chance to help. They didn’t.

Oregon’s House Bill 2025 would’ve modestly raised the gas tax by three cents. Some of that revenue would’ve gone to keep transit systems afloat. The bill died in committee. Lawmakers never even voted on it.

Governor Kotek says she wants to find emergency relief funds. Whether they arrive in time—or ever—is anyone’s guess.

Here’s the thing: I don’t think we treat transit as real infrastructure.

We fund roads like they’re sacred. We pour money into interchanges and gas subsidies. But transit? That’s optional. That’s “for someone else.” That’s something we underfund and then blame for not working.

But people here still use it. The working poor. Elders. Disabled neighbors. Students. People trying to reduce their carbon footprint. They ride because they need it—or because they believe in it. And we’re failing them. Part of this bus problem is baked into the way southern Oregon has been built. We’ve planned and zoned like a retirement bedroom community, sprawling, disconnected, and almost impossible to serve efficiently with public transit. The result is a system that requires a long walk just to reach a bus line. But here’s the irony: that’s exactly why we need public transportation more than most.

We’ve built a region where the basic shape of life depends on driving, and that’s fine—until it isn’t. Until your car breaks. Until gas spikes. Until you can’t afford insurance. I’ve been there. I know how fast a jump in gas prices can pack the buses with people who never planned to ride. And I know how essential those riders are—many of them workers keeping the region running while we act like transit is just charity for the unlucky.

When I’m abroad, I can go anywhere on a bus for a few yen or đồng or baht. That’s not just transit it’s freedom. It’s dignity. It’s an invitation to participate in a city.

In Medford, we’re about to rescind that invitation.

This isn’t just about buses. It’s about the kind of place we want to be. One where people can get to work, to the doctor, to school—even if they don’t drive. One where public services aren’t treated like charity, but like common sense.

We still have time to fix this. But not much.

The local gripe is our humorous take making fun of what our community has been complaining about on social media this week.

Local Gripe

Rogue Valley Residents: Wildfire Smoke Public Health Miracle

RFK jr Leads a group Smoke meditation in front of the Ashland Food Co-Op

Medford, OR — In a baffling turn of events, northern California-based autism “expert” and newly minted Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has reportedly endorsed Rogue Valley’s autumn wildfire smoke season as a breakthrough in autism prevention. According to Kennedy’s leaked internal memo, “historically low rates of autism diagnoses” coincide with the region’s annual smoke season, prompting him to broker a deal to allow year‑round controlled burns of Southern Oregon’s prairies and forests.

“We checked the local health registry—sure enough, when the smoke is in our lungs, autism seems to vanish,” Kennedy quipped. “Our top-notch researchers at the Journal of Environmental Mysteries, confirm the correlation is undeniable.”

At the Medford Food Co‑op, patrons were spotted touting “smoke meditations” while inhaling particulate air, chanting: “Clear lungs, clear mind.” One shopper, puffing on a tank of forest fire extract, insisted he felt “less neurodivergent by day three.”

Locals are now planning a SmokeFest 2025—an annual celebration in downtown Medford featuring fire dancers, local kombucha with “extra particulate,” and a forest fire themed Pickle ball tournament. A local farmer, holding a sign that read “The Forest Service Lies!” reportedly said: “If the smoke hospitalizes me, at least I’m safe from the ‘tism!”

EVENTS THIS WEEK

July 28 – August 3, 2025
Rogue Valley & the Surrounding 100 Miles
A curated chaos of concerts, community, and unexpected barn-burners.

FEATURED EVENTS

Chase Rice

Friday, August 1 – 6:30 PM
Klamath County Fairgrounds – John Hancock Arena, Klamath Falls
Country swagger at full volume. Expect trucks. Expect hits. Expect dust. One of the biggest country names to hit Southern Oregon this summer.

Dispatch & Donavon Frankenreiter

Tuesday, July 29 – 7:30 PM
Britt Pavilion, Jacksonville
Indie folk and surf rock in a venue built for listening. Guitars, harmonies, and just enough pine-scented summer to feel like a daydream.

Paranormal Cirque II

August 1–4 – Multiple showtimes
Rogue Valley Mall, Medford
Part horror-cabaret, part acrobatic mayhem, part unexplainable. This isn’t your niece’s clown show. Adults only. Prepare to be weirded out.

Rodney Atkins & Ned LeDoux

Thursday, July 31 – 6:00 PM
Josephine County Fairgrounds, Grants Pass
Two generations of country grit. Beer, boots, and ballads you might cry to.

Medford Growers & Crafters Market

Thursday, July 31 – 8:30 AM – 1:30 PM
Hawthorne Park, Medford
Fresh produce, handmade soap, honey, flowers, and people who still believe in local food.

Cars Through History

Saturday, August 2 – 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Hanley Farm, Central Point
Vintage rides, pinewood derby races, food trucks, raffles, and stories about carburetors that go nowhere. Bring a grandpa or borrow one.

THIS WEEK: DAY BY DAY

Monday, July 28

(Rest. Scheme. Watch the heatwaves form patterns in the air.)

Tuesday, July 29

  • Open Mic w/ Gyasi Silas – Oberon’s, Ashland – 6:00 PM–late
  • Dispatch & Donavon Frankenreiter – Britt Pavilion, Jacksonville – 7:30 PM

Wednesday, July 30

  • Tony Brussat – Belle Fiore Winery, Ashland – 5:30–7:30 PM
  • LoGee – Weekend Beer Co, Grants Pass – 6:00–8:00 PM
  • Dan Doshier – Oberon’s, Ashland – 7:00–9:45 PM

Thursday, July 31

  • Medford Growers & Crafters Market – Hawthorne Park, Medford – 8:30 AM–1:30 PM
  • Redferrin – Rocky Tonk Saloon, Medford
  • Rodney Atkins & Ned LeDoux – Josephine County Fairgrounds, Grants Pass – 6:00 PM
  • Chase Rice – Klamath County Fair – 6:30 PM
  • Phil Reed – Belle Fiore Winery, Ashland – 5:30–7:30 PM
  • Kevin Conness – Bella Union, Jacksonville – 7:00–9:00 PM
  • Actual Wolfe – Oberon’s, Ashland – 6:30–8:30 PM

Friday, August 1

  • Shane Smith & The Saints – Klamath County Fair – 6:30 PM
  • Vintage Sterling Jazz – Belle Fiore Winery, Ashland – 5:30–7:30 PM
  • Shybo & The Twisted Vines – Daisy Creek Vineyard, Jacksonville – 5:00–7:00 PM
  • Pinsky & Newton – Bella Union, Jacksonville – 7:00–10:00 PM
  • The Rogue Underground – Oberon’s, Ashland – 9:00 PM–midnight
  • Paranormal Cirque II – Rogue Valley Mall – 7:30 PM

Saturday, August 2

  • Cars Through History – Hanley Farm, Central Point – 10:00 AM–3:00 PM
  • Mercy Trio – Red Lily Vineyards – 11:30 AM–1:30 PM
  • Blue Lightning – StoneRiver Vineyards, Talent – 5:00–7:00 PM
  • Brisbane Project Trio – Belle Fiore Winery, Ashland – 5:30–7:30 PM
  • Paul Jenny & Tom Freeman – Bella Union, Jacksonville – 7:00–10:00 PM
  • Lynx Family Band – Oberon’s, Ashland – 6:30–9:00 PM
  • Paranormal Cirque II – Rogue Valley Mall – 6:30 PM & 9:30 PM

Sunday, August 3

  • Giant Flea Market – Jackson County Expo – 9:00 AM–3:00 PM
  • Daniel Nickels Band – Daisy Creek Vineyard – 2:00–4:00 PM
  • Dr. Payne & The Remedy – Del Rio Vineyards – 4:00–6:00 PM
  • Rogue Hot Club – Belle Fiore Winery, Ashland – 5:30–7:30 PM
  • Paranormal Cirque II – Rogue Valley Mall – 5:30 PM & 8:30 PM

Submissions or Corrections

Send your events, awkward poetry, or community conspiracies to:
Andrew@Tipsy.Farm
Instagram: @TipsyBeeFarms

Amie BarnesComment