In May, the Portland City Council approved an ordinance that would allow homeless people who camp on public property and reject offers of shelter to be fined up to $100 or sentenced to up to seven days in jail. That ordinance went into effect at the beginning of July, but was put on hold because of extreme heat. At the same time, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that cities have the right to penalize people for living outside. Then a few weeks ago Portland police made their first arrest under the ne...
Aug 08, 2024•24 min
Charles Yu has written a lot about the nature of reality, how we understand what is real, and the assumptions we make about each other and the universe we live in. Yu’s first novel, “How to live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe,” follows a time machine repairman who is searching for his father who is lost in time and memory. His latest book, National Book Award winning “Interior Chinatown,” takes place in a Chinese restaurant that’s also the set for a police procedural TV show and a sendup...
Aug 07, 2024•52 min
According to the FBI’s Internet Crimes Complaint Center, Americans lost more than $145 million to real estate scams last year. One component of those is rental scams, where legitimate listings are pulled from property management websites and reposted to sites like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for a lower price. Prospective tenants are sometimes even able to tour a unit before signing a bogus lease and paying a security deposit and fees to the scammer. Rental scams have been on the rise in...
Aug 06, 2024•15 min
Years ago, Washington passed a law requiring electric utilities to go carbon-neutral in a decade. Yet lawmakers continued to give generous tax incentives to data centers, which use a huge amount of electricity. In fact, in the last few years Washington has gotten a smaller share of its electricity from renewable sources than it did two decades ago, despite producing a quarter of the nation’s hydropower. Lulu Ramadan, investigative reporter at the Seattle Times, joins us to talk about her reporti...
Aug 06, 2024•18 min
Since the Grants Pass v. Johnson ruling in late June, which ruled that cities are now able to ban camping or sleeping in public spaces, local governments have been navigating how to handle this new power. For years, Deschutes County has battled with the Oregon Department of State Lands on a pending land swap between county-owned lands and the state. In 2022, the state required that the county clear homeless encampments on county property before making any deals. Now, as Clayton Franke from the B...
Aug 06, 2024•10 min
For the past two weeks, North Fork John Day Watershed Council has been hard at work helping people in and around Long Creek fight fires on their property and deal with the damage done by the flames. The Battle Mountain Complex and Courtrock fires have impacted residents living in rural parts of the state, which have not been serviced by firefighting teams as quickly as other areas, leaving landowners to fight fires by themselves. Kristen Walz, the executive director of North Fork John Day Waters...
Aug 06, 2024•13 min
Last week, researchers from Oregon State University documented two shark species in Puget Sound for the first time. They found a broadnose sevengill shark and the critically endangered tope shark. The presence of these large predators in the sound may mean that the ecosystem is changing to fit the needs of the sharks, which could have other effects. Taylor Chapple, assistant professor and head of the Big Fish Lab at OSU, joins us to share more about his team’s findings.
Aug 05, 2024•12 min
Cheatgrass and other invasive species are threatening important rangelands and helping fuel severe wildfires in Eastern Oregon. Lisa Ellsworth is an associate professor and range ecologist at the college of agricultural sciences at Oregon State University. She joins us to explain how these areas have been affected by invasive species, extreme wildfires and human activity and what that means for the future of a crucial Western ecosystem.
Aug 05, 2024•13 min
A food pantry located in the center of Talent, Oregon was forced to close earlier this year. It was located in Talent’s old town hall and was easily accessible to residents. A fire broke out at the location and organizers of the pantry are working on finding a new spot. Access, the agency behind the service, operates mobile pantries throughout Jackson County. We check in on what’s next for Talent with Marcee Champion, the food programs director for Access.
Aug 05, 2024•11 min
Washington voters have some high profile races on their primary ballots this week. Governor Jay Inslee, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Congressman Derek Kilmer are not seeking reelection. Meanwhile, Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez will try to hold on to her seat in the state's 3rd District. In addition, attorney general, public lands commissioner and insurance commissioner are all open seats. Olympia correspondent Jeanie Lindsay joins us to preview Washington’s top-two primary el...
Aug 05, 2024•18 min
Whether you attended Taylor Swift's Eras Tour or took a trip to a Disney park this summer, you may not realize there is an Oregon connection between the two. Michael Curry Design is a creative studio in Scappoose that has crafted puppets, stage pieces and more for a variety of venues. From artist tours to theatrical productions, the creatives at MCD have left their mark on stages and performances not just across the country, but around the world. Michael Curry is the founder, president and owner...
Aug 02, 2024•28 min
The Great Oregon Steam-Up in Brooks has been showcasing antique machinery every summer since 1969. The machines on display can be as large as a crane or as small as a coffee grinder. Visitors can also watch demonstrations of sawmilling and threshing equipment, participate in a parade of steam-powered vehicles and ride miniature trains and trolleys. Michelle Duchateau is the president of Powerland Heritage Park, which organizes the Steam-Up. She joins us to talk about this year’s festival and wha...
Aug 02, 2024•14 min
Low-head dams likely wouldn't catch the attention of a person floating down a river on a paddle board or inner tube. The unassuming structures can have drops as low as 1 foot, appearing as little more than a smooth bump in otherwise calm waters. But the continuous motion of water over the top of the dam creates a dangerous vortex at its base. As recently reported in the Register Guard, the churn can trap swimmers, kayakers and others recreating in the water, earning them the nickname “drowning m...
Aug 02, 2024•11 min
“Herding cats” may be shorthand for an impossible task, but according to Monique Udell, Director of the Human-Animal Interaction Lab at Oregon State University, cats can be trained. We’ll hear what she’s learning about the relationship between cats and people, and how they can each improve each other’s lives.
Aug 01, 2024•15 min
The Portland based-book company “A Kids Co.,” which has created books such as “A Kids Book About Racism” and “A Kids Book About Empathy,” was recently acquired by the British publisher DK. The partnership establishes DK’s first U.S.-based children’s creative team. A Kids Co. began in 2018 when founder Jelani Memory wrote “A Kids Book About Racism” for his six children. Now, A Kids Co. has published over 30 books featuring authors such as Billie Jean King, Jessica Biel and Ashley Graham. The comp...
Aug 01, 2024•26 min
Kids can get free lunches through the Central Curry School District in Gold Beach even during the summer. But workers at the Curry Public Library noticed that some kids were missing out and decided to step in. Throughout the summer, the library offers free sack lunches to children. The program began last year and recently has expanded. We learn more about the service and why it’s needed from Bronwyn Greathead, a library employee and program coordinator for ASCEND, a collaboration between the lib...
Aug 01, 2024•11 min
Last spring, a dozen horses died on the track at Churchill Downs, including two during the world’s most famous horseracing event, the Kentucky Derby. A report later released by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority found no single cause for the deaths but made several recommendations, including expanding the use of wearable technology to detect potentially fatal injuries. Washington State University has been at the forefront to refine this technology through its partnership for the past...
Jul 31, 2024•20 min
For many years now, medical schools around the country have ceased using live animals to perform procedures as part of the curriculum. But in a minority of surgical residencies, residents operate on animals – often pigs – to practice techniques to be used on human patients. Oregon Health & Science University is in that minority. For years, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has been waging a campaign to get OHSU’s OB/GYN residency program to stop using pigs for doctors in training t...
Jul 31, 2024•15 min
Portland State University has been awarded nearly $2 million in federal funding to continue work tackling microplastic pollution in Oregon’s coastal communities and the Pacific ocean. The money will go to a collaborative three-year effort to reduce microplastic pollution with groups from a wide range of academic, community, municipal and tribal partners, and will focus on filtering microplastics primarily out of hotels, restaurants, and laundromats. Elise Granek, project lead and professor at Po...
Jul 31, 2024•18 min
For nearly 40 years, the DoveLewis Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Hospital in Portland has operated a blood bank for cats and dogs in need of blood transfusions for life-threatening injuries and illnesses. According to blood bank coordinator Kelsey Reinauer, it’s the largest such facility in Oregon and possibly now the entire West Coast. Last year, DoveLewis performed nearly 500 transfusions in-house and shipped more than 200 units of blood products to hospitals as far away as Tennessee and ...
Jul 30, 2024•17 min
A team of researchers at the University of Oregon is currently studying the relationships between soccer cleat composition and risk of injury in female versus male athletes. Female soccer players are three times more likely to suffer from major knee injuries than male soccer players, and a recent English study found that ACL injuries are 2-6 times more likely in females than males. This group of students and faculty at UO have been running tests for the past five years testing cleat stud length,...
Jul 30, 2024•17 min
When autumn arrives, reminders typically start going out for people to get their annual flu shot. The vaccine changes each year, based on what strain of influenza is likely to be circulating then. Sometimes it’s a good match and other times, not so good. But what if you could get one vaccine that would confer lifetime protection against the flu and its ever-changing strains? Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University are working on advancing that goal by developing a new way to deliver...
Jul 30, 2024•18 min
Neal Cummings has owned and run Video Horizons in Astoria for the last 40 years. It’s now the city's only video rental store, and one of only a handful of businesses in Oregon where you can rent movies on VHS or DVD. We talk with Cummings about how he got into this business, what keeps him going and why he thinks people still want an alternative to streaming movies in the digital age.
Jul 29, 2024•17 min
A sleepaway camp designed for and by Indigenous theater aficionados is being held at Portland State University July 29 through August 2. The 26 students in attendance will live in the dorms and attend daily theater trainings as well as college prep sessions. The students also get to meet and work with Native staff on campus. By the end of the week-long camp, students showcase their work in a variety of ways: some will act in student-written plays, some will create writing or art projects and oth...
Jul 29, 2024•15 min
For inmates who are starting to plan for life after incarceration, delayed or unexpected release dates can scramble job opportunities and housing arrangements. A number of factors can affect release dates, including paperwork issues, miscommunication among corrections staff and changes to the way state corrections departments calculate time served. Ben Botkin covers criminal justice and health for the Oregon Capital Chronicle. Paul Kiefer is an intern at InvestigateWest. They join us to share mo...
Jul 29, 2024•20 min
There’s a new Portland-based, independent comedy on the scene. “Cora Bora” follows Cora, a snarky, somewhat aimless musician struggling her way through solo shows in bars and coffee shops across Los Angeles after the mysterious dissolution of her band. When she suspects her girlfriend is seeing someone new, Cora returns to Portland to try and salvage the relationship. While there, she loses her dog, almost joins an orgy, suffers through awkward encounters with old friends and ultimately confront...
Jul 26, 2024•22 min
Last year, city officials decided to end Portland’s contract with the independent Regional Arts and Culture Council. The organization was previously responsible for doling out grants and providing art advocacy for the city. Now, Portland’s Office of Arts and Culture has taken shape and has found organizations, including RACC and MusicOregon, to help administer grants to artists and creators. The city itself will be working on arts advocacy and education. We hear more about how Portland plans to ...
Jul 26, 2024•15 min
In the last few years, the state has come under intense criticism from civil rights advocates for its failure to provide constitutionally mandated defense attorneys to people charged with crimes if they cannot afford them. A 2022 report by the American Bar Association found the state had barely a third of the lawyers it needed to represent defendants who qualified for a public defender. Since then, lawakers and state officials have significantly increased capacity and made structural changes aim...
Jul 26, 2024•16 min
What does parking have to do with climate change? Everything, according to Parking Reform Network founder and president Tony Jordan. Getting rid of parking mandates in Oregon means that housing developers can also build more units rather than having to set aside space for car infrastructure. Four years ago there were fewer than a dozen cities nationwide that had lifted their parking mandates. Since then, the number has grown to 70, with 18 of them in Oregon. Jordan joins us to talk about how his...
Jul 25, 2024•26 min
Starting next week, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office will no longer allow prospective jurors to be dropped without reason for misdemeanor trials. The change was made to reduce racial bias during jury selection, according to outgoing DA Mike Schmidt. The new policy will not apply to trials involving domestic violence charges, and will allow for some exceptions for prosecutors to request a prospective juror be removed. But the move appears to have blindsided Senior Deputy District A...
Jul 25, 2024•12 min
