Beat Check with The Oregonian

For decades the holy veneer of amateurism surrounding big time college sports largely stood untouched and unblemished. It was sacrosanct, even as coaches made millions. Then come July - poof. It was gone. College athletes were free to make money off their names images and likenesses. On this episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, reporters Aaron Fentress and Jeff Manning talk about the brave ne...

Portland is still emerging from a deadly pandemic, and we’re seeing a record number of homicides plus dozens of deaths due to the recent heat wave. But another troubling issue continues to bubble beneath the surface: Traffic deaths are on pace to shatter records as well. On this episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, reporter Savannah Eadens talks about the ongoing crises of people dying either...

What does it mean to have one of the nation’s premier food shows shoot in Portland and what should we make of the controversial winner? Despite our national reputation and several celebrity chefs, Portland has never hosted a season of Bravo’s Top Chef until now. On this bonus episode of Beat Check, resident food and TV gurus, Michael Russell and Kristi Turnquist, discuss the Top Chef season. They...

It’s been one week since Portland had its hottest day in recorded history — and that came on the heels of two days that were also record breaking. 116 degrees. What do we make of it? Is this a one off or a scary preview of our future? On the second half of the show, criminal justice reporter Noelle Crombie talks about the unprecedented death toll tied to the heat wave. We talked about what we know...

The Oregonian/OregonLive's Janet Eastman discusses the red-hot Portland housing market, why millennials are hopping into the buying spree and why prices are unlikely to go down even as inventory increases. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oregon’s longest tenured Congressman has a critical seat at the table in Washington as the Biden administration pushes for a massive transportation package. On this episode of Beat Check, Rep. Peter DeFazio talks about the latest twists and turns in the years long effort to pass a major transportation package. The Springfield Democrat chairs the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure...

We all had to summon something to get through the past 15 months or so. Call it resilience or whatever you want. But the pandemic invariably hit some people harder. For people living with drug and alcohol addiction, the pandemic presented a massive roadblock. On this episode of Beat Check, staff reporter Fedor Zarkhin, who’s been covering COVID-19 since before the virus hit Oregon, talks about lif...

Have the water wars returned to Klamath county? Federal officials announced last month that no one -- not the tribes or farmers in the Southern Oregon county -- will get water from upper klamath lake this year.  The impact goes beyond Oregon’s border. No one is happy. On this episode, reporter Kale Williams breaks down just what is going on in Klamath County. Related reading: Draining Oregon inves...

It’s been one year since George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. And since then Oregon lawmakers have taken concrete and bipartisan steps toward addressing how officers can deploy force in the state. More bills aimed at holding officers accountable are likely to pass this session. And Oregon’s lone Black woman lawmaker Janelle Bynum has been at the center of those policy changes...

A year ago this week, protests against racial injustice sprang up in cities nationwide, and Portland was no different. Iconic images of thousands of protestors marching across Portland bridges made national headlines and Portlanders took to the streets night after night. What’s the state of that movement in Portland today, and has the message been lost amid headlines about broken windows and vanda...

Downtown Portland is a complex place. In some ways, it’s struggling mightily. There’s the weight of the pandemic, the boarded up businesses and widespread trash there. In others, its excelling. See the lines for the new Gucci store for example. But how downtown is perceived is in some ways more important than its actual reality, especially for its economic future. And Portland area residents don’t...

Linfield University normally doesn’t make big news. But in the past month, the private school has attracted the attention of the NAACP, Anti Defamation League, Oregon Board of Rabbis and national news outlets.   On the latest episode, cops and courts reporter Max Bernstein discusses the still unfolding situation at Linfield, where a tenured Shakespeare scholar was fired last month. The school now...

With 15 Oregon counties moving back to extreme risk of COVID spread, the state will likely see jobless claims rise as restrictions on indoor activities return. Those newly out-of-work Oregonians will go back to the state's clunky unemployment system that remains one of the slowest in the country On the latest episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, business reporter Mike Rogoway talks about the...

For many of us, normal life ground to a halt during the pandemic. For Luke Wirkkala, his life is about to start anew. On the latest episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, crime and justice reporter Noelle Crombie talks about Luke Wirkkala’s story. Wirkkala was convicted of murder in 2014 and acquitted of the same crime earlier this month. It’s a remarkable story that legal observers say is virt...

All Oregonians 16 and older are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, but the virus continues to spread, and the state so far hasn’t lived up to its promises to ensure people of color and those most at risk of the virus get their shots first. In the second half of the show, we’ll hear from The Oregonian and OregonLive’s Rob Davis about how a public records request filed by our newspaper laid bare t...

Portland is on pace to hit 100 homicides this year, an unprecedented tide of violence that many other cities also are facing. Last week, the City Council unanimously acted, funneling millions to violence prevention groups and creating a new police unit. On the latest episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, City Hall reporter Shane Dixon Kavanaugh and cops and courts reporter Maxine Bernstein tal...

As the Beavers men’s basketball team made an incredible run to the Elite Eight, Oregon State University also saw its new president resign under pressure after revelations of culture of sexual harassment at his previous post. On this episode, The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Jeff Manning talks about the fallout from F. King Alexander’s brief tenure in Corvallis and where the state’s largest university go...

The stories of Black Oregonians, like those of many people of color, often aren’t given the space they deserve in history books. Oregon Black Pioneers, a Salem-based historical society, is trying to bring them more attention. On this week's episode, we hear from Zachary Stocks, the group's executive director. Stocks’ background in colonial history; Beaver Hill, the long forgotten mining town that...

Nora the polar bear has lived a tough life, and the fact that she’s alive — and back in Portland at the Oregon Zoo — is a miracle of sorts. Nora’s story represents so much more than the life and struggles of one bear. It’s about climate change, the effect it’s had on indigenous people and their livelihoods, and how we — humans — can respond to it. It also shows how zoos have evolved over the last...

A month from now, many middle and high schoolers across the Portland area will return to in-person teaching at least part time or the first time in a year. Bars and restaurants in the Portland area can now open up indoor dining to half of their normal capacity. Are we inching back to something resembling normalcy?   On this episode, you’ll hear from two of my colleagues about these baby steps towa...

On the latest episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, we hear from three staff writers about the state of affairs in Oregon: Hillary Borrud, our state politics reporter; Mike Rogoway, who covers business and technology; and one of our newest staffers, homelessness reporter Nicole Hayden. We talked about the the economy, the state of homelessness services in the city, the legislature and another...

One year ago, Oregon announced its first known case of the coronavirus. It’s changed all of our lives, and few are untouched by toll the disease has taken on our society, our economy and our politics. In those 12 months, life — and its many challenges — have continued on. Up next, we’ll hear from Katrina Thompson, a Springfield nurse who worked with COVID patients throughout the year, then lost he...

Renee Watson grew up in Northeast Portland, and the acclaimed author and poet has built a sterling career putting the experiences of Black girls and women at the center — and on the cover — of books sold around the country. Amy Wang, the books columnist for The Oregonian and OregonLive, interviewed Watson for the latest episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian. They talked about Watson's newest bo...

As the pandemic raged last fall, some families decided not to enroll their kids in public online-only kindergarten. According to enrollment data, white families were twice as likely as Black and Latino families to skip kindergarten. Eder Campuzano, an education reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive, explains what's going on. You can support this podcast and our local journalism with a subscription...

For Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, there was no easing into the new gig. No honeymoon period. The prosecutor, elected in a landslide last May, was thrown right into the fire. On the latest episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, reporter Noelle Crombie talks about Schmidt’s first six months on the job as one of the state’s most prominent attorneys. On OregonLive: Portland prote...