OPB Audio

Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon has existed since 1872 under various names and is one of the largest employers in the rural region. It’s also one of the most affordable Universities for students in the surrounding areas. But financial troubles have brought the university to the brink of closure.

Women across the Pacific Northwest compete in the Larry Bell Memorial All Girls Rodeo

Over the weekend, the Bench and Beachcomb fires experienced extreme fire activity and merged to create one fire now known as the Bench Fire. With three potential fronts reportedly threatening the Warm Springs community.

Portlander Aliyah Tan recently won first place at the National Yo-Yo Contest in Las Vegas. It was the first time Tan took the spot spot since she started competing at nationals in 2014. Tan’s winning routine, set to music by the British rock band The Last Dinner Party, featured three minutes of elaborate string tricks between two yo-yos. She now heads to the World Yo-Yo Contest in Himeji, Japan, n...

Tribal police departments in Washington employ police officers who have been fired at a disproportionate rate, according to new reporting from InvestigateWest. At the state level, tribal law enforcement only makes up about 2.5% of the police force, but they hire four times more officers who were previously fired or resigned in lieu of termination than other departments. Melanie Henshaw reported on...

On July 19, Portland celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the BIKETOWN bike-share program with a record-setting electric bike ride. With 1,069 attendees, Portland shattered the Guinness record for largest e-bike ride, more than doubling the previous record set by Seattle. Director of Portland Bureau of Transportation, Millicent Williams joins us to discuss the record-breaking e-bike ride, and ref...

Cascade Head UNESCO Biosphere is doing well despite losing federal funding and not getting much direction from the United Nations.

For a group of incarcerated girls at the Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility in Albany, a natural hair care program is providing both training and styling.

The board is taking up an aspirational proposal to rename the center, reduce its primate population over time and invest in new approaches.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek visited fire crews in Sisters, where the nearby Akawa Butte Fire has already burned at least two homes. Officials say it's the number one priority wildfire in the nation.

More than 500,000 acres have burned in Oregon from wildfires that were sparked last week by lightning storms. That includes the Rowe Creek Complex that has grown to roughly 150,000 acres and triggered level 1, 2 and 3 evacuation notices for residents in Wheeler and Wasco counties. The fires have also led to air quality advisories for more than a third of the counties in the state. Rangeland Fire P...

Last year over 7,000 people gathered on camp chairs and picnic blankets to hear the opera “Carmen” at Peninsula Park in Portland. It was a performance staged by the organization Opera in the Park, which aims to share the love of opera with as many people as possible. This year the organization will bring the Oregon premiere of the world's first Mariachi opera, “Cruzar la Cara de la Luna,” to both...

Nearly 30% of people who experienced homelessness in Clark County last year were children. That’s according to a recent report by the Council for Homelessness, which also found that the percentage of family households stabilized through rent assistance dropped by 5% last year. For families experiencing homelessness in Vancouver, they may have to wait months until a spot becomes available at the fe...

Resources are stretched thin in an already grueling fire season in Oregon.

Public and private universities alike are facing increasing financial strain with rising costs, limited funding and tuition already unaffordable for many. Now two of Oregon’s private universities have decided to merge, in large part to save money. Willamette University and Pacific University are the oldest colleges in Oregon and the entire Western U.S., predating Oregon statehood. Leaders of both...

Glendon Smith is the inaugural tribal liaison for the Oregon State Police. Since 2023, he’s been responsible for establishing relationships with Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes and educating state troopers on how to interact with tribal citizens and other law enforcement agencies. He recently received a public service ambassador award from Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek for his work. Smith joins...

About 100 different industry, government and academic organization are part of the consortium that will spend 160 million over the next 10 years to increase research on and production of semiconductors. These components are vital to virtually every electronic device you are likely to use, from mobile phones to home appliances. Industry and government leaders say it’s vital that the U.S. keep up wi...

Jury finds Nike discriminated against former employee due to her gender

Portland author and investigator Rene Denfeld releases new thriller, ‘The Talking Bone’

The lone minor-party nominee currently headed to the ballot could siphon votes from Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek.

We end the show today with a listener mailbag. Guest host Jenn Chavez and senior producer Allison Frost read some of your comments about the topics from recent “Think Out Loud” episodes.

The Trump administration is rewriting Bureau of Land Management rules to increase the number of cattle and other livestock that can graze on public lands. The rules affect 155 million acres in the West, an area more than two-and-a-half times the size of Oregon. The BLM says the proposal “reflects the Trump administration’s priority to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, promote productive worki...

From Journey and the Grateful Dead, to The Strokes and Depeche Mode, Oregon has no shortage of tribute bands. But why perform the music of another artist? Adam Corkery is a guitarist and vocalist for Brown Stallion, a Ween tribute band based in Eugene and Portland. Renée Muzquiz is the lead vocalist and guitarist for Major Tomboys, an all-femme David Bowie tribute based in Portland. She also repre...

Whether you like it or not, street art is a defining component of a city. However, street art has historically been a male-dominated field, which inspired the Portland Street Art Alliance’s Ladies Up Project. With allocated space and canvases, Ladies Up is rooted in empowering the creative expression of female street artists. We’ll hear from Executive Director Tiffany Conklin and artist Kyra Watki...

Why data centers pose an outsized threat to Eastern Oregon’s air quality