OPB's daily conversation covering news, politics, culture and the arts. Hosted By Dave Miller.
Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood is closed until further notice following a fire Thursday night. The surrounding Timberline ski area is also closed Friday. Clackamas Fire officials have reported that everyone evacuated from the building safely. We get more details on the fire and the extent of the damage from John Burton, director of marketing and public relations for Timberline Lodge.
The award winning poet, writer and essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s genius lies in making connections between the astonishments of the natural world and the particular wonders of her own - and all of our - lives. Nezhukumatathil is the author of four collections of poems, including “Oceanic, and her latest book, a bestselling collection of essays, is called “World of Wonders.” Nezhukumatathil is a professor of English at the University of Mississippi, and joins us in front of an audience of stud...
The award winning poet, writer and essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s genius lies in making connections between the astonishments of the natural world and the particular wonders of her own - and all of our - lives. Nezhukumatathil is the author of four collections of poems, including “Oceanic, and her latest book, a bestselling collection of essays, is called “World of Wonders.” Nezhukumatathil is a professor of English at the University of Mississippi, and joins us in front of an audience of stud...
Scientists at the University of British Columbia may have identified a new population of orcas, also known as killer whales, feeding in the deep waters between Astoria and Southern California, according to a recently published study. The researchers reviewed photos, videos and descriptions made by fishermen, NOAA scientists and a whale-watching tour operator during multiple encounters with the marine mammals over a span of nearly 25 years. Their distinctive appearance and feeding behaviors - inc...
Oregon’s second largest city has an open seat for mayor. Incumbent Eugene mayor Lucy Vinis announced last year she would not be seeking a third term of office, and she promptly endorsed architect and housing expert Kaarin Knudsen, the first to declare her candidacy. Educator Shanaè Joyce-Stringer joined the race later, as well as Stefan Strek, who does not appear to have a campaign website but who was included in a recent mayoral candidate forum hosted by the Eugene City Club. KLCC’s Rebecca Han...
At this point, many of us have probably encountered someone in the midst of a drug, alcohol or mental health-related crisis in a public place. And you may have wondered: What can I do for that person? Where could that person go so as not to be disrupting public space? In Multnomah County for the last four years, the answer has been: nowhere. Central City Concern’s Sobering Station closed abruptly in December 2019, and a lengthy effort to reopen a new center fell apart two years later. Now, Multn...
If your weekends aren’t complete without watching a tight spiral arc, you can catch the Oregon Ravens as they are starting their season in the Women’s National Football Conference. We talk to two players about the joys of playing one of America’s favorite sports on a team dedicated to women and nonbinary players: Chris Landers is defensive tackle and offensive guard and has been playing with the Ravens since 2019. Kola Shippentower is in her first season as a linebacker and running back. We talk...
In 2017, fewer than 1,000 winter steelhead returned to the Upper Willamette Basin. That number has exploded to more than 7,600 so far this year. The returns are the highest since 2004. Zach Urness is the outdoors editor for the Statesman Journal and hosts the Explore Oregon podcast. He joins us with more on what’s behind the increase.
Plans are underway to turn the former Statesman Journal building in downtown Salem into a one-stop shop for community services, including youth programming, health services and religious charities. As recently covered by the Salem Reporter, the project is moving forward after receiving $3 million from state lawmakers. The current plan is for storage company StoreIT to buy the building and occupy the subfloor, while nonprofits and community organizations rent space on upper floors. Tim Sinatra is...
Plans are underway to turn part of the former Presbyterian Church of Laurelhurst into a tiny home village for Indigenous families experiencing homelessness. As reported in Underscore, the project – known as Barbie’s Village – will also include family and children’s programming in the former church building. The project was made possible after regional Presbyterian Church leaders voted to sell the land for $1 to Future Generations Collaborative, a local Indigenous services nonprofit. Jillene Jose...
Four years ago at the dawn of the pandemic, many universities across the country scaled back on their admissions process, many no longer requiring SAT or ACT scores with an application. Now, U.S. universities are bringing standardized testing back. Institutions such as Brown University, the University of Texas at Austin and University of Tennessee are all reinstituting the requirement for applicants. This also comes at a time where the Supreme Court recently struck down Affirmative Action. In Or...
When one of the city’s vehicles are in need of repair, they may find themselves at Kerby Garage, a two-story city-owned facility in North Portland. But while the facility is responsible for servicing more than 2,000 city vehicles such as snowplows, dump trucks and excavators, the building has been labeled in city reports as in “very poor condition.” Some of the many problems with the building include no automated smoke detectors, frequent garage door issues and no air conditioning. Willamette We...
Last week, Gov. Tina Kotek signed into law HB 4002 which effectively ends Oregon’s experiment with drug decriminalization under Measure 110. As of Sept. 1, the possession of hard drugs like fentanyl and meth will be a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail. But the law also sets aside nearly $21 million to incentivize counties and Tribal governments to deflect drug users from jail time by connecting them to treatment and recovery service providers. Twenty-three counties in the state,...
In her State of the City address last month, Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle touted the city’s rapid growth and development since she was first elected to the city council more than a decade ago. But with that growth comes challenges for Washington’s fourth-largest city. In the past decade, homelessness has increased by more than 250%, prompting city officials to declare a state of emergency to streamline responding to this crisis. Last year, voters approved a new property tax levy that is ex...
Camp Namanu, a camp that has been a summertime idyll for Oregonians since 1924, was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. The historic district includes lodges, cabins, and community buildings which were designed to complement and blend in with the Pacific Northwest forest environment. Nancy King, a board member of Camp Namanu, joins us to talk about what this camp has meant to generations of Oregonians.
The state is taking another crack at a wildfire hazard map that outlines areas where fire resources should be prioritized. The first attempt was withdrawn in 2022 after public outcry. As the latest map is drafted, the state continues to seek public feedback. In the coming months, agencies will visit places that might be more affected by the map, like Southern Oregon. Andy McEvoy is an OSU faculty research assistant, Derek Gasperini is a public affairs officer with the Oregon Department of Forest...
One of the many parts of a 10-year-plan to make the U.S. Postal Service financially sustainable involves reductions to rural postal service. U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy was appointed by then-President Trump in 2020. The cutback to rural service are part of DeJoy’s “Delivering for America” plan. We talk with Baker City Herald Editor Jayson Jacobi about the latest cutbacks, which went into effect in
An event in Pendleton this weekend will honor the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, also known as the Triple Nickles. Formed during WWII, the unit was the first all-Black paratrooper battalion in the U.S. military. The Nickles were stationed in Pendleton as part of Operation Firefly, a top-secret effort to intercept and disarm Japanese balloon bombs that were floated over the Pacific. The unit fought the wildfires caused by the balloons as some of the nation’s earliest smokejumpers, all while ...
The Meating Place is a butcher shop and cafe located in Hillsboro. It recently received a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand its meat processing capabilities. In 2022, the shop received a grant from the Oregon Department of Agriculture as part of a state meat inspection program. Processing meat in Oregon can help producers save time and money. The Meating Place will use the latest round of federal funding to ramp up those services. We check in with Casey Miller, the...
The City of Eugene helps run several types of homeless shelters and services along with Lane County and other partners. The city has cobbled together funds to keep them running until June 2025. After that, the city will have to figure out how to keep some services going that currently rely on one-time funds. Meanwhile, Eugene has already made budget cuts to some services, like its libraries, to prioritize other emergency needs. We learn more about Eugene’s approach to funding homeless services w...
LONG SYNOPSIS: Last month, the girls and boys basketball teams at Crane Union High School in Eastern Oregon won state championship titles at the Oregon School Activities Association 1A tournament in Baker City. The smallest schools in the state compete in this division, including Crane, which is located in Harney County and currently has 84 students. It’s the third consecutive state title for the boys basketball team, and the fourth state title in the past five years for the girls team which end...
Data released by the Oregon Department of Education in the fall showed that student proficiency rates for mathematics dropped to about 30%. At the same time, investments championed by Gov. Tina Kotek will bring $100 million to schools to address literacy and early-learning reading. But should the same investments be made into other subjects like math? What needs to be done to help kids catch up? To answer these questions and more, we’re joined by Brenda Lindsay, the K-6 math facilitator for the ...
Recent data from the Agricultural Census shows that while conventional farm animals like cows and chickens are doing fine, exotic animals are on the decline. As reported by the Washington Post, from 2002 to 2022 the number of Ostriches in the U.S. fell by 83%, while Llamas saw a similar decline at 79%. Michael Lehman is the president of the American Ostrich Association and co-owner of Central Oregon Ostrich. Ron Wilkinson is the president of the Central Oregon Llama Association and owner of R&am...
After serving nearly 30 years in Congress, Democratic U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer announced last fall that he wouldn’t run for reelection. That leaves an open field for Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District primary this May. We’ll hear from the three most prominent candidates vying for the Democratic nomination: Maxine Dexter is a pulmonologist who represented Northwest Portland in the Oregon House of Representatives; Susheela Jayapal formerly represented District 2 on the Multnomah County Board of ...
A federal district court judge ruled last week that St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Brookings can continue to serve free meals without restriction to people living on the streets. The church sued the city in 2022 over an ordinance that required a permit for meal services in residential zones and limited the number of days meals could be served to two days a week. Bernie Lindley, the Vicar of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, joins us to discuss the ruling.
Recently released agricultural census data showed the number of farmworkers in Washington has dropped dramatically over the last five years. At the same time, the number employed through the H-2A guest worker program has nearly doubled. We learn more from Seattle Times reporter Alison Saldanha about these contrasts and what they mean.
The primaries are just around the corner, and Multnomah County residents will see a few names on the ballot for the District 2 county commissioner seat. We'll hear from the top three contenders: Sam Adams is a former mayor of the city of Portland and previously held a position within Mayor Wheeler’s office. Jessie Burke is the owner of the Society Hotel and board chair of the Old Town Community Association. Shannon Singleton is the former interim director of the Joint Office of Homeless Services...
Gabrielle Zevin is a lifelong devotee of video games, which is obvious to readers of her newest book, the bestseller “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.” The book tells the story of two video game designers who find professional creative and intellectual synergy that doesn’t always match in their personal lives. The book starts from the premise that designing video games is the highest of artistic pursuits. "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" is the Multnomah County Everybody Reads 2024 se...
Grief isn’t the kind of theme or subject matter that an art exhibit would normally be organized around to draw visitors to marvel at expressions of on canvas or clay. In fact, its experience can be socially isolating, often only with the support of family members or close friends people suffering through it might hope to call upon. But a new art exhibit that opens this Friday at AntFarm Café and Bakery in Sandy aims to remove the stigma of talking about grief and center the reality of living wit...
Rikki Nouri came to the U.S. from Israel eight years ago for school. She has since married and settled in the Pacific Northwest. Nouri shares what she hears from friends and family in Israel, and what it’s like living so far away from this conflict.
