The number of registered voters who choose not to be members of any political party is growing. In fact, in Oregon, the percentage of these voters is bigger than both registered Democrats and Republicans. But those who vote in the major party primaries are the ones that decide which candidates appear on the general election ballot that is open to all voters. While Oregon’s neighbors, Washington and California, have made changes to their primary systems to allow for more participation, Oregon vot...
Apr 25, 2025•17 min
Multnomah County chair Jessica Vega Pederson released a proposed $4 billion budget plan this week. The budget includes cuts to several programs and over 100 staff to address a $77 million shortfall. Earlier this year the county asked local and state jurisdictions to help fill a shortfall of over $100 million in the county’s homeless services budget. Chair Vega Pederson joins us to explain her budget proposal.
Apr 25, 2025•15 min
Next month marks the five year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder. Across the state and country, protests soon followed as videos and the news spread of his death, sparking wider conversation around race, police violence and more in our daily lives. But what has and hasn’t changed since then? To answer these questions and more we’ll hear from Candace Avalos, Portland City Councilor representing District 1, Luke Richter, president of the Central Oregon Peacekeepers and Mic Crenshaw, an activist...
Apr 24, 2025•36 min
On Tuesday, Portland Public Schools Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong shared her new proposed budget of $2 billion for the 2025-26 school year, her first budget proposal as the leader of Oregon’s largest school district. But with rising costs, limited revenue and declining enrollment are putting pressure on a school that is now facing a financial shortfall of $40 million. Supt. Armstrong joins us to share the details.
Apr 24, 2025•16 min
Songs of Power and Protest is a songwriter showcase that’s happening in Portland on April 26 at the Cravin' Gravy Social Club at 8 p.m. Jordan Sings and Ezza Rose are Portland musicians that will perform at the event. They join us to talk about the showcase and the power of music to express dissent.
Apr 23, 2025•19 min
Oregon lawmakers are considering HB 3018, which would require thousands of Oregon businesses – from hospitals to restaurants to food producers – to compost their food waste. Nationwide, an estimated 15% of methane gas pollution is created by food and other organic waste decomposing in landfills. The bill would also try to reduce the amount of food being tossed out in the first place by requiring foods sold in Oregon to be more clear about when a product is safe to eat. The state’s Department of ...
Apr 23, 2025•19 min
“Hands of the Ancestors” is an exhibit currently taking place at Linfield University’s Miller Fine Arts Center in McMinnville. It showcases the work of Stephanie Craig, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and a seventh-generation basket weaver and artist. Oregon ArtsWatch recently profiled Craig and her exhibit, which is on display until May 2. Craig spends nine months of the year locating and harvesting traditional materials such as hazel, rushes, bigleaf maple and west...
Apr 23, 2025•15 min
Just over 5 years ago, Sarah Baker created an Instagram account that they hoped would evolve into something more. A couple of months later, they had connected with some other activists and filmmakers and launched a film festival of Earth Day shorts in 2020 - just weeks after the pandemic lockdown. Five years later, the group of volunteer creatives say they are Making Earth Cool with a “collective that creates content and events using science, comedy & creativity to educate & inspire peop...
Apr 22, 2025•22 min
A federal law passed in the 1950s gave six states, including Oregon, civil and criminal jurisdiction over tribal reservations. Tribal nations have argued that the law undermines their sovereignty. Oregon tribes have been able to petition the governor to repeal the law on their land, but there’s no official procedure or timeline for that process to take place. Senate Bill 1011 would change that by laying out clear guidelines for federally recognized tribes to regain control over civil and crimina...
Apr 22, 2025•16 min
Democratic Oregon U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter traveled to El Salvador, along with three other Democratic Congressional representatives, to push for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The Maryland resident was sent to El Salvador last month without a court hearing and despite a 2019 order from an immigration judge that barred his deportation. The Trump administration has accused Abrego Garcia of being a member of the El Salvadoran gang MS-13 and engaging in human trafficking. Last week, Democratic ...
Apr 22, 2025•15 min
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland is celebrating its 90th season. It’s long been one of the most prestigious professional theatres in the nation. But in recent years, it’s faced slings and arrows - from declining audiences and funding to wildfires and the pandemic. Executive Director Gabriella Calicchio began last fall after more than 25 years leading arts organizations in California and elsewhere. She joins us to talk about what OSF will do to appeal to audiences and regain financial f...
Apr 21, 2025•23 min
Teams from two Oregon high schools will soon put their hospitality and culinary skills to the test at the National ProStart Invitational. At the statewide competition last month, Crook County High School took the top prize in the culinary competition, while the Salem-Keizer Career Technical Education Center won the restaurant management category. Both teams will compete against schools from across the country at the national invitational in Baltimore next month. Riley McCartney is a member of th...
Apr 21, 2025•17 min
Students from Sprague High School in Salem and Lincoln High School in Portland are co-champions of a national civics competition that tests students’ knowledge and understanding of the U.S. Constitution. But it’s how they won that has made this year’s “We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution National Finals” one for the history books. Sprague High School’s team consisted of just two members, seniors Matthew Meyers and Colin Williams. They won a spot at the national finals in Washington, ...
Apr 21, 2025•15 min
If you’re dining out in Portland to celebrate a special occasion, there’s a good chance you might end up at Nostrana. The Italian restaurant has been in business for 20 years with six-time James Beard award nominee Cathy Whims in charge. Whims has just released her first cookbook, “The Italian Summer Kitchen,” and joins us to talk about Portland’s food scene, her role in it, and simple Italian recipes for the good life.
Apr 18, 2025•29 min
Portland has been operating with a 12-member city council and district representation for more than 100 days now. Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney is responsible for setting council meeting agendas and referring items proposed by the mayor or city auditor to votes. Among other things, the council has wrestled with the city’s noise code, the permit for Zenith energy, rent pricing software and when exactly public testimony should be heard. Pirtle-Guiney joins us to talk about the challenges a...
Apr 18, 2025•24 min
Children who experience trauma in childhood are far more likely to experience negative health and well-being outcomes later in life. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris has helped to develop a screening tool for childhood trauma in San Francisco. RJ Gillespie, Amy Stoeber, Sue Skinner, Ellen Baltus, and Fariborz Pakeresht all work with children in Oregon. We spoke to all of them in front of an audience in 2018.
Apr 17, 2025•53 min
Like Oregon, Washington state is what’s known as a sanctuary state. The Keep Washington Working act prohibits local law enforcement agencies from using county jails for immigrant detention and from interviewing or detaining those suspected of not having permanent legal status. Washington’s attorney general is suing Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner for allegedly sharing inmate information with federal immigration agents and holding people in jail solely based on immigration status. Sheriff Wagner...
Apr 16, 2025•15 min
A team of researchers led by Oregon’s Department of Geology and Mineral Industries recently lasers surveys of the area burned by the Eagle Creek fire in 2017 to better understand how frequent and severe landslides can be after severe wildfires. Much of the landslide research that has been done previously is in dryer desert climates. This new research will help communities understand landslide dangers after severe wildfires in wetter, forested ecosystems like Western Oregon. Bull Burns, engineeri...
Apr 16, 2025•9 min
A growing number of international artists have been rethinking, or even cancelling, their U.S. tours amid rising costs and visa issues. Late last week, Canadian band Shred Kelly cancelled their U.S. shows, including a stop in Portland. British singer FKA Twigs also announced in April they would not be making an appearance at Coachella and canceled their American tour. Both artists cited ongoing visa issues as the reason for not performing in the states. Alex Ashley is a journalist and musician w...
Apr 16, 2025•17 min
Students at the University of Oregon are calling for university administrators to take more action to protect international students amid an immigration crackdown on college campuses across the country. At least four international students at UO have had their visas revoked, along with 13 at Oregon State University and two at Portland State. At a rally on UO’s campus last week, students demanded that the university not comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, notify students of ICE activ...
Apr 16, 2025•13 min
Emily Wilson’s name on the cover of a book is a likely sign that it will be a bestseller. But she isn’t an author, and the books are unlikely fan favorites. Wilson has made a name for herself translating classic Greek texts - most notably Homer’s "The Odyssey" in 2017 and "The Iliad" in 2023. Wilson’s translations have gained a cult following and opened up these classics to a new generation of readers. She joins us in front of an audience of Lincoln High School students.
Apr 15, 2025•53 min
Portland’s Third Angle New Music will debut a new commissioned piece at its upcoming show on April 16 at OMSI’s Kendall Planetarium. The composition, called “Spheres,” was written for percussion quartet and three American Sign Language performers. Deaf and hard of hearing audience members can experience the program through haptic vests that translate the sound from the instruments music into physical vibrations. The vests were developed by local nonprofit CymaSpace, which aims to make arts and c...
Apr 14, 2025•15 min
It’s been 20 years since Nancy Sullivan, a media specialist at Portland’s McDaniel High School, organized a poetry slam for students in the school’s library. That one slam eventually evolved into Verselandia, the citywide youth poetry competition now sponsored by Literary Arts. The slam allows students from across Portland to bring their original spoken word poetry to the stage of the Arlene Schitzer Concert Hall to be scored by a panel of judges. Alex Dang competed in the first Verselandia back...
Apr 14, 2025•21 min
Tadd Mick, Noelie Achen and Chris Schaffner are the owners of Tradewinds Charters in Depoe Bay. They recently won a statewide award from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The national winner of the Small Business Person of the Year award will be announced in May. Tadd Mick is the president of Tradewinds Charters, and Noelie Achen is the vice president. They’ll head to Washington D.C. next month to receive their award. Achen and Mick join us to share more about their business.
Apr 14, 2025•17 min
The Yamhill Community Action Partnership has reached “functional zero” for unsheltered families with children. That means more people in that group are exiting homelessness than are entering it in Yamhill County. The organization has invested in a liaison who works with landlords and clients to get people into rentals and stay housed. It also expanded emergency shelter capacity in Newberg and has focused on getting vulnerable populations into homes. Alexandra Ball is the executive director of YC...
Apr 11, 2025•16 min
More than one in five bridges in Oregon was in “distressed” condition in 2024. That’s according to the Oregon Department of Transportation’s annual bridge condition report. Oregon also has the fewest number of bridges in “good” condition as determined by federal standards compared to six other Western states. Under ideal conditions, ODOT says it would be able to replace 27 of those bridges per year. But with its current resources, it’s only on pace to replace three. Tova Peltz is a statewide cap...
Apr 11, 2025•14 min
If you’re accused of a crime, having the right to an attorney - regardless of ability to pay - is one of your fundamental constitutional due process rights in the U.S. At least in theory. In reality, Oregon - like many states around the country - has long suffered from a shortage of defense attorneys. In 2018 the shortage had become so severe that the nonpartisan nonprofit Sixth Amendment Center, found the state’s system so flawed it could not provide citizens with this fundamental right. Oregon...
Apr 11, 2025•23 min
When you think about the Columbia Gorge, a multimedia rock opera might not be the first thing that comes to mind. But that’s exactly the vehicle producer Sarah Fox chose to showcase the unique history, personal stories and ecology of the Gorge. “The Watershed Rock Opera” unfolds in five movements that symbolize the cycle of the watershed itself. The journey starts in the clouds, descends into the Cascades and moves through a pear orchard before it ends in a kind of homecoming at the mighty river...
Apr 10, 2025•38 min
Multnomah County’s Preschool For All program has overshot its goals in each of its first three years, and this year is no exception. The county's coal was to support 3,000 slots, but it expects to have capacity for 3,800 3 and 4-year-olds in the 2025-2026 school year. Still, that number is far below demand, with nearly double the amount of applications filed every year than there are slots available. Backers hope capacity will be sufficient by 2030, when the county aims to offer 11,000 slots and...
Apr 10, 2025•16 min
From notes of affirmation to gift cards, Portland nonprofit Wildly Kind aims to spread acts of kindness to strangers LONG SYNOPSIS: Wildly Kind is on a mission to spread acts of kindness to strangers, not only in its home base of Portland but also across the nation and around the world. The Portland Tribune recently profiled the three-year-old nonprofit and the national media attention it received for a pop-up event it held in February, which involved setting up a phone booth for people to recor...
Apr 09, 2025•13 min
