The new Rogue Valley Times sign at 2 E. Main St. in downtown Medford.

The Rogue Valley Times took another big step toward solidity this week when we unveiled a new sign in front of our building at 2 E. Main St. in Medford.

We’ve been cranking out newspapers for nearly seven months now, so it feels good to have a visible presence in the middle of downtown.

Another happy development is the news that longtime outdoors writer Mark Freeman is writing a weekly Fishing Report for us. The fishing report publishes online and in print every Thursday. Welcome to the RV Times, Mark.

Probably the biggest news this week is that school is back in session.

In Medford, two new schools were launched, Oakdale Middle School and the Innovation Academy.

At the same time, the Medford School District announced it was unveiling a new English language curriculum aimed at raising reading scores in the district.

The start of the school year also means the start of fall sports, one of the most demanding times of year for sports editor Kris Henry. We’re happy to say that we’ve hired a new sports reporter so Kris doesn’t have to cover every team himself.

Joe Zochert is a University of Oregon journalism graduate who has been covering sports as a freelancer in the Portland area for the Oregonian and Pamplin Media. His first assignment was to cover North Medford High School’s season opener at Tigard Thursday. Welcome, Joe.

Perhaps the best news of the week is the rain and cooler weather that moved in Thursday and Friday.

The smoke has been brutal in recent weeks with wildfires burning in the mountains all around us. The change in weather gives us hope that the end of fire season is in sight.

The two biggest fire complexes in this part of the state are the Smith River Complex on the Oregon/California border and the Happy Camp Complex, burning 17 air miles south of Applegate Lake. Then last weekend, lightning kicked off the Tyee Ridge Complex in the Umpqua National Forest outside Roseburg.

After a searing heatwave and repeated lightning storms that peppered the region with literally thousands of lightning strikes, firefighters deserved to catch a break.

Maybe a damp Labor Day weekend is what we all needed.

— David Smigelski, Rogue Valley Times editor