Two-sport athlete Bryce Boettcher may have joined the University of Oregon as a baseball player, but football was also important to him. In June, the outfielder was named a Rawlings Gold Glove recipient by the company and the American Baseball Coaches Association. Now, he’ll finish out his time as a Duck playing football as UO officially joins the Big Ten conference. And in the spring, Boettcher will report to the Astros after football under an agreement with the MLB team and the university. He ...
Aug 23, 2024•12 min
Trans, non-binary and gender diverse (TNGD) youth often experience harm in child welfare programs, the justice system and homeless services. That’s according to a new national report by Lambda Legal that the Portland-based Unicorn Solutions helped inform. The report focuses on how these youth fare in government-involved systems, and the policies that are needed to help them thrive. We talk with Elliott Hinkle, a former foster youth who founded Unicorn Solutions and who coordinated the contributi...
Aug 23, 2024•9 min
The birth of a baby is often celebrated as a joyful and natural process, but it can also be physically and emotionally traumatic. The Perinatal Trauma Clinic at Oregon Health & Science University is one of only a handful nationwide that aims to support parents who have experienced trauma around birth or pregnancy. Patients work with both mental and physical health care providers at the Center for Women’s Health to develop a plan that fits their personal circumstances. Katie Au and Katherine ...
Aug 22, 2024•15 min
Starting in September, HB 4002 will go into effect and will recriminalize possession of small amounts of controlled substances. Portland’s public transportation agency TriMet is hopeful this could bring changes to the system that has faced a number of challenges in recent years, including a historic driver shortage, increased assaults on operators and more. Since 2021, TriMet has been stepping up its enforcement efforts, and in July of this year, it began increasing enforcement of fares and othe...
Aug 22, 2024•20 min
Classes at Portland Public Schools begin next week and the district also welcomes a new superintendent. Kimberlee Armstrong began her career as a teacher in the Puyallup School District in Washington and most recently served as deputy superintendent of Evergreen Public Schools in Vancouver. Armstrong joins to share what she’s looking forward to in her first year overseeing the district and goals in her first year.
Aug 22, 2024•18 min
Nearly 20 years ago, researchers at Oregon State University began leading an effort to collect information about the structure and evolution of the North American continent using electromagnetic energy. That effort is finally complete. The new map can be used to protect the electrical grid during extreme solar storms and identify geohazards. It can also help target locations for tapping natural resources, including geothermal power and critical minerals. Adam Schultz led the effort at OSU and jo...
Aug 21, 2024•12 min
Central Oregon poet, teacher and author Ellen Waterston began her role this month as the state’s official Poet Laureate. Waterston has won many literary awards, including two WILLA awards and the Obsidian prize for poetry. This year she received both the Holbrook and Soapstone award in recognition of her contributions to Oregon’s literary landscape. She began her own Writing Ranch in 2000 in Central Oregon to support and nurture writers, and she was instrumental in the genesis of the low residen...
Aug 21, 2024•21 min
The Portland Bureau of Transportation has made it clear, shared electric scooters are here to stay. Two new multiyear contracts with Lime and Lyft have recently been announced that would bring the citywide fleet to upward of 3,500 scooters. Millicent Williams is the director of PBOT. She joins us to share more on this expansion and micromobility in Portland.
Aug 21, 2024•19 min
A big shift took place over the weekend in the way people buy and sell homes in the U.S. The National Association of Realtors settled a lawsuit earlier this year that changed the way real estate agents get paid. Previously, a home seller would pay for both their own real estate agent and the agent representing the buyer. The two agents would split the commission, which was typically around 5-6% of the home’s selling price. But now, buyers either have to pay for their own representation or negoti...
Aug 20, 2024•16 min
On Monday, the Oregon Department of Forestry confirmed that the emerald ash borer has been discovered in three new counties in the Willamette Valley. In the past month, the invasive pest was caught in traps set in Marion and Yamhill counties, and is also suspected of being in neighboring Clackamas County, pending confirmation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The highly destructive beetle, which is native to Asia, has killed over 100 million ash trees nationwide since it first appeared in t...
Aug 20, 2024•20 min
On Monday, the Democratic National Convention kicked off in Chicago. It comes four weeks after President Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic party nominee. Harris quickly ramped up her campaign and won a majority of delegate votes to secure the Democratic presidential nomination earlier this month, and shortly thereafter announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. Kien Truong is a delegate from Oregon’s 3...
Aug 20, 2024•17 min
Georgia Cloepfil spent six years playing soccer professionally in six different countries after she graduated from college. It was a lonely, physically demanding life that was also incredibly rewarding. Cloepfil’s new memoir, “The Striker and the Clock,” details that time, and the beauty and complexity of the game she still loves.
Aug 19, 2024•27 min
On August 24, 1949, work crews and bulldozers cleared out a neighborhood just outside of Eugene known as Ferry Street Village. The Lane County Board of Commissioners had voted to demolish the neighborhood just a month before, and some residents who hadn't gotten the news ran from their homes with as much as they could carry. The neighborhood was one of the only places near Eugene where Black people could settle. The Black Cultural Initiative is working with other groups to raise money for a monu...
Aug 19, 2024•27 min
The Portland Votes 2024 Grant Program has awarded $210,000 to 11 different organizations to support education efforts about ranked choice voting. The adoption of a new city charter has changed multiple aspects of city government. One of the most prolific is that in November, voters will participate in a ranked choice voting process to choose city council members, which is different from how many people are used to voting. Direct voter education grantees including APANO, NAYA and Urban League of ...
Aug 16, 2024•17 min
The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted Thursday to approve a temporary staffing plan that aims to improve ambulance response times in the county. The decision comes after months of disagreement between the county and its sole ambulance services provider, American Medical Response. The company hasn’t met its contractual requirement to respond to 90% of life-threatening calls within eight minutes since 2022. AMR has long blamed the delays on the county’s requirement that eac...
Aug 16, 2024•19 min
Oregon hop growers will be harvesting their crops next week, but at a much smaller yield than last year. The acreage for the plant has fallen by 18% this year in Oregon and nationwide. The driving factor is declining beer sales and changes in consumer habits. Michelle Palacios is the administrator for the Oregon Hop Commission. She joins us to share more on the future of the industry.
Aug 16, 2024•17 min
Coastal Curry County is home to several different rivers but all of that open water can lead to accidents like drownings. Luke Martinez is the aquatic safety officer and lifeguard for Curry County. He says he’s seen tourism in the region grow and has witnessed more incidents around water safety. He joins us with details of what the county has been experiencing and how a junior lifeguard program can help educate residents.
Aug 15, 2024•17 min
When Matt Swihart started Double Mountain Brewery in 2007, his vision was to sell beer in the most ecologically sustainable way possible: in reusable bottles, which would be returned, cleaned and refilled, to be sold again. He says it wasn’t a new idea at all - this was common for all kinds of beverages in the early 20th century. And it wasn’t even novel - in other countries, refillable beverage containers occupy a solid share of the market. Nevertheless the regional infrastructure didn’t exist,...
Aug 15, 2024•23 min
Since 2018, Portland-based developer Avangrid Renewables has been working to develop an industrial solar project on a piece of state-owned land in eastern Washington. The parcel, known as Badger Mountain, is also an important ceremonial and first-foods site for tribal nations such as the Yakama and Colville. An investigation from High Country News and ProPublica earlier this year revealed that Avangrid omitted more than a dozen sites of cultural and archaeological significance from its survey of...
Aug 15, 2024•13 min
The largest public works project in Oregon history is coming to completion. After four years of construction and a little more than $2 billion, the PDX airport’s new terminal is open to the public. The main terminal remodel features skylights made of local Douglas fir, the return of the beloved original carpet and a 120-foot-long video wall that serves as a 24-hour art installation. This opening is just one phase with more to come in December 2025. Curtis Robinhold is the executive director of t...
Aug 14, 2024•28 min
In Oregon, farmers and ranchers are contending with wildfires, water shortages and invasive species. Still, Oregonians continue to start small farms in the state. Next month, Oregon State University Extension Service – along with other agencies – will offer Small Farm School, an event at Clackamas Community College that includes workshops and classes on farming in Oregon. We learn more about how the extension service is supporting producers and what the industry looks like right now from Hayley ...
Aug 14, 2024•12 min
Burnside Bridge, which is nearly 100 years old, is set to undergo a five-year seismic rebuild, likely beginning in 2027. It’s a major travel route as the only bridge in Portland that touches all four quadrants of the city. Two potential designs have been put forth by Multnomah County: a tied arch bridge like the Fremont Bridge and a cable-stayed bridge like the Tilikum Bridge. Project managers asked for public input on the design back in early July. The survey was open for a month and gathered o...
Aug 14, 2024•13 min
Oregon State and Washington State are the only two schools left in the Pac-12 athletic conference. The University of Oregon is heading to the Big Ten conference for the 2025 season. Is the Ducks football team set up for success in their new conference against opponents like the Buckeyes, Wolverines, Nittany Lions and others? And how will athletes in less well-funded sports fare in a conference that requires a lot more travel? Zachary Neel, managing editor for USA Today’s Ducks Wire, joins us for...
Aug 13, 2024•15 min
With drought, wildfire and other extreme weather events, climate change is bringing stress and a feeling of uncertainty for many farmers and ranchers. It’s also bringing along a new hurdle for many in the agricultural world – climate grief. Seeing the effects of climate change firsthand can invoke fear, sadness, hopelessness and despair for many farmers and ranchers. A new project from Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center aims to help people understand their climate change related emoti...
Aug 13, 2024•10 min
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has proposed killing hundreds of thousands of barred owls over the next 30 years in an effort to protect the endangered northern spotted owl, which competes with the barred owl for food, habitat and other resources. The agency published a final environmental impact statement last month, and a decision on whether to adopt the strategy could be imminent. A group of philosophers at Oregon universities recently took issue with the proposal. In a New York Times op...
Aug 13, 2024•14 min
Last week, the Portland Police Bureau intervened in six street racing takeover attempts and arrested 15 in connection. These events have been on the rise nationally since the pandemic. Portland began a concentrated effort on these incidents in 2021. Commander Franz Schoening with PPB's Specialized Resources Division joins us to share more about last week’s interventions and more.
Aug 13, 2024•15 min
Portland author Carl Sciacchitano’s debut graphic novel, “The Heart That Fed,” focuses on his father’s experience in the Vietnam War and the decades that have followed. It also follows Carl as he watches his father struggle with the psychological effects of the war. The book explores their relationship and the many, nuanced ways that PTSD can affect families and communities. Sciacchitano and his father, David, join us to talk more about the book and what it was like to travel back to Vietnam tog...
Aug 12, 2024•39 min
Coffin Butte Landfill, which is located in Benton County, might expand soon. The site draws waste from nearly two dozen Oregon counties and accepts more than one million tons of garbage annually. But the facility’s operators have applied for a permit to expand the landfill even further, raising public health and environmental concerns. A 2022 Environmental Protection Agency report found high levels of methane in the air at Coffin Butte Landfill. People living in nearby towns say that the landfil...
Aug 12, 2024•13 min
A lot has changed statewide since Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek last appeared on “Think Out Loud” in October 2023. Since then, the state’s three-year experiment with drug decriminalization has ended , a state of emergency was declared to address the fentanyl overdose crisis in Multnomah County, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a homelessness case out of Grants Pass and the governor faced backlash for the prominent role her wife has played in her administration.We spent an hour in Salem recently to get a...
Aug 09, 2024•54 min
Last week Ryan Crouser, who grew up in Boring, became the first person to win three straight gold medals in men’s shot put. University of Oregon’s Jaida Ross will compete in women’s shot put on Aug. 9. Earlier this week, former Duck Cole Hocker won the 1,500 meter race. Sarah Lorge Butler, contributing writer at Runner’s World, joins us for an update on athletes with Oregon ties competing in track events in Paris.
Aug 08, 2024•29 min
