It’s been four months since the July 1 deadline for Oregon cities to establish codes on where and when people experiencing homelessness can camp outside. We’ll hear from two low-barrier shelters on what has changed in their communities since then. Evan Hendrix is the director of navigation services at Shepherd's House Ministries in Bend. Terry McDonald is the executive director of St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County. They both join us to share more on what demand has been like for their services ...
Nov 01, 2023•15 min
In May, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling blocking states from keeping surplus funds from the sale of foreclosed homes. Now, three Oregonians are a part of a class action lawsuit against Multnomah, Yamhill and Lane counties. Nadia Dahab is a partner with SugermanDahab and is representing some of the plaintiffs in the suit. She joins us to share more on the Court ruling and its impacts.
Oct 31, 2023•10 min
On Monday, U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer announced he will not seek reelection next year after serving nearly 30 years in Congress. In a statement released by his office, he pledged to continue “championing livable communities starting right here in Portland and being a resource and a partner for the next generation.” The Democratic lawmaker from Portland was first elected to Congress in 1996, the same year he founded the Congressional Bike Caucus which has grown to include 130 members. In 2017, he ...
Oct 31, 2023•20 min
A new study by researchers at Washington State University found a “small but significant” effect from training to counter implicit bias in police officers. Implicit bias occurs without conscious awareness and can shape prejudicial attitudes and behaviors. The study recruited 50 police officers in Sacramento, California to participate in video simulations of encounters between police officers and different community members. Two of the study’s authors developed the interactive training program wh...
Oct 31, 2023•23 min
Bill Mansfield passed the Oregon State Bar and began his legal career in 1953. He turned 94 earlier this month, and while he describes himself as semi-retired, you’d be hard pressed to find a more active and engaged citizen. He’s an elected member of the Rogue Valley Transportation District board, and serves on the Medford Planning Commission. In 2018 he was recognized by the Center for NonProfit Legal Services with an award for his pro bono work defending civil rights, including free speech and...
Oct 30, 2023•27 min
Cancer for Breakfast” is a podcast hosted by Stefanie LeJeunesse and Amy Dials. They navigate two different breast cancer experiences in their podcast. As hosts based in the Pacific Northwest, they discuss cancer with humor while also talking about advancements in research in an approachable way. We learn more from LeJeunesse and Dials about their podcast and experiences.
Oct 30, 2023•27 min
For over 40 years, Mount Pisgah Arboretum in Lane County has held a mushroom festival in the fall. While the last few years haven’t offered the best mushroom seasons, this fall is shaping up to be a beautiful time for foragers. Chris Melotti, president of the board of directors of the Cascade Mycological Society, shares his love of fungi with us.
Oct 27, 2023•16 min
ACLU of Oregon recently sent a public records request to the Canby School District, seeking information regarding their push this summer to consider restricting access to some book titles. The district initially pulled 36 books for consideration, but only banned one title in the end: “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov. Kelly Simon, legal director of the ACLU, tells us what legal issues should be considered when schools consider banning books. And Mary Masingila, the mother of a student at Canby High S...
Oct 27, 2023•16 min
Last week, Ashland and Newport’s Housing Production Strategy Plans were approved by the state. These plans come from a 2019 House bill requiring Oregon cities with populations over 10,000 to come up with eight-year plans to address housing. Linda Reid is the housing program specialist for the city of Ashland. Jan Kaplan is the mayor of Newport. They both join us to share what housing looks like right now in their cities and their plans for the future.
Oct 27, 2023•21 min
Even though the Roman empire came to an end thousands of years ago, we still tell stories about the emperors who ruled during that time. From Caligula, who threatened to make his horse a senator, to Nero, who killed his own mother and set fire to the city to make room for his palace, classicist Mary Beard argues that the stories we tell about the Roman emperors might say more about us than they do about the emperors themselves. Beard joins us to talk about her latest book, “Emperor of Rome: Ruli...
Oct 26, 2023•52 min
The Black Possibilities App is creating a “digital safe space for Black Oregonians to connect, organize, heal, & advocate together,” according to the organization Imagine Black, which created the app. Joy Alise Davis, the executive director of Imagine Black, joins us to talk about the need the app fills for Black Oregonians, and the new online connections and exchanges she hopes will emerge from using it.
Oct 24, 2023•19 min
The city of Salem is facing a massive budget shortfall. To help close it, the City Council recently approved a tax on anyone working in Salem who earns above the minimum wage. City officials claim the tax is needed to maintain and expand emergency services, including hiring more police officers, firefighters and sustaining homeless services. Oregon Business & Industry successfully petitioned to put the issue before Salem voters in a special election this November. Virginia Stapleton is presi...
Oct 24, 2023•20 min
Last week, reporting from the Portland Mercury revealed some of the living conditions at Argyle Gardens, a transitional housing apartment complex operated by Transition Projects Inc. Tenants reported issues with cleanliness in communal spaces, bed bugs and poor management. Tony Bernal is the interim executive director of TPI. He joins us to share the organization's response to the reporting and what they’re doing now to address some of these issues.
Oct 24, 2023•14 min
Only five states in the U.S. require sex education to be made accessible to people with disabilities. Oregon has no such requirements, but a partnership between Oregon Health Authority, Oregon Department of Education, the University of Alaska Anchorage and Oregon Health and Science University aim to fill this gap though a program for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Friendships and Dating Program provides participants the skills to promote healthy relationships and se...
Oct 23, 2023•18 min
It’s been about two weeks since war broke out in Israel and Gaza. Though thousands of miles away, the war and subsequent humanitarian crisis in the Middle East has taken an emotional, mental and personal toll on many Oregonians. An event in Wilsonville this weekend brought together medical and mental health professionals to help community members develop coping mechanisms for the stress and find support through fellow community members. Farah Ramchandani organized the event and Selma Quan Anders...
Oct 23, 2023•14 min
A recently released audit took aim at the operation of Metro’s two solid waste transfer stations. Located in Northwest Portland and Oregon City, the facilities process about 40% of the garbage generated by 1.7 million customers in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington County. They also accept hazardous household items like paint thinner, batteries and used propane tanks. Willamette Week earlier reported on the audit which found “gaps” and “weaknesses” that reveal a “lack of basic management practi...
Oct 23, 2023•21 min
The Refindery in the tiny coastal town of Wheeler is not your typical thrift store. For one thing, you won’t find secondhand clothes for sale. But if you’re looking for a 1986 wall calendar, a used door hinge that still works or that missing piece for a Monopoly board game, you might be in luck. The Refindery invites visitors to reimagine and repurpose items otherwise destined for the landfill, like the glass fish and salvaged seashells mounted inside a vintage television displayed in the store....
Oct 20, 2023•25 min
Since 2017, Bruce Poinsette has helped lead a neighborhood effort to interrupt racism in Lake Oswego. The group is called Respond to Racism and holds regular community meetings to engage people in conversations and anti-racism action. Poinsette recently launched a new online interview series talking to people of color who have left the “bubble” of LO. He joins us to share his own experience in the bubble, Respond to Racism’s work more broadly, and what he’s hoping to accomplish with the latest v...
Oct 20, 2023•17 min
Oregon’s Warmline is a hotline people can call to get support and talk through issues with a peer. For the second quarter of 2023, the service received over 20,000 calls across the state, a more than 40% increase in demand compared to last year. But while need for the service is there, a state grant is expected to expire in the spring, throwing the future of the program into question. Kimberly Lindsay is the executive director of Community Counseling Services, the nonprofit that operates the lin...
Oct 20, 2023•12 min
The new Oregon Children’s Theatre play “SPIDER” centers around teens struggling with the numbing effects of social media, normalized gun violence and the interplay of online reality and real life. Playwright Madeleine Adriance graduated from St. Mary’s Academy in Portland in 2019 and is currently a senior at Brown University. She took a semester off to assist with the production of the play OCT commissioned her to write. Adriance got involved in the organization when she was just 8 years old and...
Oct 19, 2023•22 min
The Portland State University Bike Hub started an e-bike rental program this year. The rentals were established through a Drive Change Fund award from Portland General Electric which emphasizes electrifying transportation in Oregon. The goal of the program is to help students who live further from campus reduce car trips and their transportation costs. Daniel Penner is the Bike Hub supervisor and Claire Hinkley is a second year grad student at PSU. We learn more from them about the program and h...
Oct 19, 2023•14 min
The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a heavy blow to Oregon’s farmers markets. According to the Oregon Farmers Market Association, visitor numbers and sales both dropped by nearly 50% between 2019 and 2020. But as reported in the Capital Press, the association’s most recent survey shows an estimated 3.5 million visits to farmers markets in 2022. That’s down from 4.2 million in 2019, but an improvement from the 2020 low of 2.2 million. Ashley Hess is the executive director of the Oregon Farmers Market Ass...
Oct 19, 2023•16 min
This Friday, people will start lining up at the High Desert Museum for an annual art show that can feel more like a Black Friday sale. But instead of a mad dash to score a new 4K TV, the customers here will be jostling past each other to grab canvases of original artwork off the wall, each one priced at just $20. Now in its tenth year, the 20-Dollar Art Show features more than 4,000 handmade pieces of art submitted by 165 artists this year. If a work sells, 100% of the money goes to the artist, ...
Oct 18, 2023•16 min
For the first time, the Oregon Department of State Lands has millions of dollars to remove abandoned and derelict vessels from state waterways. The department previously had to request money from the Common School Fund for cleanups, but the state Legislature granted it $18.8 million in June to address the growing number of hazardous vessels. The funding will also be used to develop a statewide program to identify, prioritize and oversee vessel removals. Crews recently removed the Tiffany from th...
Oct 18, 2023•16 min
For many arts organizations in Portland and across the nation, recovery from the pandemic has been painfully slow or downright elusive. Lagging box office sales are forcing companies like the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Artists Repertory Theatre to layoff staff and cancel or scale back entire seasons. So it’s all the more surprising to see an arts venue in the region that has drawn more than 70,000 people since it opened last year for musical performances, art exhibits, community events and ...
Oct 18, 2023•21 min
Since our last conversation with Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Republicans lawmakers staged a historically long walkout, a state task force convened to address serious problems in Portland’s central city, and a coalition of prominent leaders have begun calling for an overhaul of Measure 110, Oregon's drug decriminalization law. We spent an hour in Salem with the governor to talk about all those things and more.
Oct 17, 2023•54 min
When Tom Swearingen wrote his first poem to remember a friend who had died, he didn’t consider himself a poet. But the small group of friends and family he read it to told him to keep writing. He did, and he says because he long enjoyed Western music, art and literature, including the cowboy poetry of Baxter Black, that was the style that fit. Within 10 years, Swearingen had published a collection of poetry which was named the 2020 Cowboy Poetry Book of the year by the International Western Musi...
Oct 16, 2023•18 min
Late this summer, Gov. Tina Kotek announced a new task force aimed at addressing the challenges of Portland’s downtown. City mayor Ted Wheeler told OPB last month that if Portland’s downtown fails, it could have consequences for the rest of the state. But what are downtowns facing in other parts of Oregon? Natascha Adams is the co-chair of the Independence Downtown Association. Jen Bell is the former co-president of Downtown Eugene Merchants. They both join us to share what’s working and what is...
Oct 16, 2023•20 min
A north Portland low-income apartment complex that opened in the summer of 2020 was meant to be a way to help some people out of homelessness. Now, three years later tenants are citing filthy conditions, assault and thefts. While some have stayed, others have fled and returned to shelters. Courtney Vaughn is the News Editor for the Portland Mercury. She joins us to share more on the habitability issues of the complex.
Oct 16, 2023•15 min
Julie Brown is an English and humanities instructor at Clatsop Community College in Astoria. One of the most popular courses she teaches is on maritime culture, which takes students out of the classroom and onto the decks of ships to see firsthand what life is like working as a bar pilot on the Columbia River or as a deckhand on the Lady Washington, an exact replica of an 18th-century, 90-foot-tall ship that was the first recorded vessel to sail to the Oregon coast. Eight years ago, a former stu...
Oct 13, 2023•23 min
