November 29, 2005

the Valley TODAY

AFN meeting on TV

The Ashland City Council study session to examine options for the Ashland Fiber Network's future will be broadcast live on television channel 97 for AFN subscribers and channel 30 for Charter Communications cable customers.

The study session begins at 5 p.m. tonight in the Ashland Civic Center Council Chambers, 1175 E. Main St.

Open Door Networks, which retails AFN Internet services, also will show the study session live via Internet at www.opendoor.com/webcast.

Council study sessions are open to the public, but opportunities for public input are at the discretion of the council. Councilors do not make decisions at study sessions, but instead use the time to ask questions and examine issues in-depth.

The AFN Options Committee, formed by the council this summer, will deliver its report that calls on the council to take a two-pronged approach and work to sell AFN while also laying the groundwork to spin it off as a separate, nonprofit enterprise. Should bidders not offer enough for AFN, the council would be ready to set it up as a nonprofit.Members of the options committee have expertise in high technology, business and financial fields.

Reruns of the study session can be viewed at the city Web site at www.ashland.or.us.

The Tidings will have coverage of the meeting in its Wednesday edition. The text of the options committee report is on the newspaper’s Web site at www.dailytidings.com.

French singer at SOU

Vincent

French singer Eric Vincent will perform today at 8 p.m. in the Music Recital Hall at Southern Oregon University. The concert, present by the SOU Department of Foreign Languages, has a quality that identifies him as a singer in the best tradition of the chanson francaise.

Vincent has a special passion for taking his music to every corner of the globe. He has performed in more than 140 countries. Although his background is in classical music, Eric's music encompasses many styles. His songs contain elements of jazz, folk, rock and rhythms reflecting his travels in Africa and the Caribbean.

Vincent’s resonant voice, acute sense of timing and charisma appeals to native speakers of French as well as those who speak no French at all. His songs contain universal themes, wedding words of substance with sensitive modern music.

Tickets are $8 for general admission and $5 to students. They can be purchased in the Foreign Languages Department, Churchill Hall, room 250 at SOU from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday through Friday and at Paddington Station, 125 E. Main St. For more information, please call 552-6435.

— Staff reports