KGW’s Straight Talk

Kim McCarty represents 6,000 low-income tenants across the state. As the executive director of the Community Alliance of Tenants, McCarty said their office receives hundreds of calls from tenants who have lost their employment benefits and are still not fully employed — now, they're afraid of being evicted. Oregon's statewide eviction moratorium expired at the end of June but state lawmakers passe...

Portland Police Sergeant Ken Duilio, Lakayana Drury, founder of the nonprofit Word Is Bond, and Multnomah County's Chief Deputy District Attorney Kirsten Snowden were guests on this week's episode of "Straight Talk" to discuss what's behind the gun violence and possible solutions.

It was 1913 when Portland voters first decided the city would have a commission form of government with city council members elected at large. Now, 108 years later, Portland is the only large city in the U.S. to still have the unique system of government and residents have voted eight times to keep it that way. A twenty member Charter Review Commission is studying alternatives to the city's form o...

Youth climate activists Adah Crandall and Cassie Wilson discuss the growing climate crisis and what they want Oregon leaders to do about it. Specifically, they talk about the recent climate protests and their objections to the I-5 Rose Quarter expansion project. 

Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan discusses the new "Safe Rest Village" project, the surge in gun violence and his plan to run for re-election in 2022.

Blanchet House Director Scott Kerman is calling for innovation, bold action and teamwork as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens the crisis on Portland's streets. Also, Terry Leckron-Myers with the Mental Health and Addiction Association of Oregon (MHAAO) joins to discuss how MHAAO has ramped up efforts to alleviate the ongoing crisis. 

Greg Johnson, the leader of the Interstate Bridge Replacement project, and Joe Cortright, a Portland economist opposed to replacing the bridge, discuss the latest bridge project and concerns about the cost, tolling and congestion. 

In a wide-ranging interview, Sen. Ron Wyden discusses a number of issues like the Afghanistan withdrawal, the COVID-19 pandemic and legislation he authored to eliminate dozens of current tax credits and replace them with provisions that would move the country toward achieving its carbon emission reduction goals.

Multnomah County Chair Kafoury, Multnomah County Health Officer Dr. Jennifer Vines and Deputy Chief of Multnomah County Emergency Management Alice Busch were guests on this week's episode of Straight Talk to reflect on the deadly heat wave and explore ways to address future heat emergencies.

Oregon state Sen. Lew Frederick, Cameron Whitten, co-founder of the Black Resilience Fund and founder of the nonprofit Brown Hope, and Dr. Carmen Thompson, a historian and visiting scholar in the Black studies department at Portland State University, discuss the prospect of reparations and what they should look like with KGW's Laural Porter. 

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg visited Eugene, Springfield, and Corvallis this week to highlight how the president's vision would improve traffic safety, make historic investments to help cut carbon pollution and make everyday Americans' lives better. Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana and a 2020 presidential candidate was a guest on this week's episode of Straight Talk...

The Centers for Disease Control reported a record number of overdose related deaths during the pandemic and several studies showed binge drinking increased during that same time.  This week, Straight Talk covered addiction and the impact the pandemic has had on those struggling. Two employees at the De Paul Treatment Centers joined to talk about the challenges doctors and their patients have navig...

Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) has said he has waited his entire congressional career for an opportunity to participate in a sweeping infrastructure plan like the one President Biden has proposed. Blumenauer was a guest this week on Straight Talk, and applauded Biden's announcement this week that he's reached a bipartisan deal on a pared down version of his American Jobs Plan.

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof writes about human rights, women's rights, and global affairs. He also has a unique perspective on his home state of Oregon and in Portland. In this episode of Straight Talk, Laural Porter went to Kristof Family Farms in Yamhill to talk to Kristof about his views of Portland, city leadership, and what he thinks the city n...

New York Times columnist and author Nicholas Kristof has been called the "Indiana Jones of journalists" for the dangerous places he's reported from around the world; genocide in Darfur, the massacre in China's Tiananmen Square, and war and human suffering in Yemen. But Kristof says some of the most painful and heart wrenching reporting he's done has been on the struggles and despair right in his o...

When the pandemic forced Portland Parks and Recreation to close community centers, swimming pools, and recreation programming, that also meant a hit to revenues. Portland voters came to the rescue in November 2020, passing a five-year operating levy. Portland Parks and Recreation Director Adena Long and Portland City Commissioner Carmen Rubio join Laural Porter to discuss what the levy means for t...

Three generations living together in a connected community, peers helping others experiencing homelessness, and grandmothers trained to offer counseling to people suffering from depression: from Portland to Zimbabwe nonprofits are innovating ways to deliver holistic health care. Dr. Derenda Schubert, the executive director of Bridge Meadows, Dr. Rachel Solotaroff, the president and CEO of Central...

Tax Day comes a month later than usual in 2021. The IRS extended the filing and payment deadline to May 17 to allow people more time because of difficulties posed by the pandemic. On Straight Talk, former Portland City Commissioner Steve Novick, economist Dr. Eric Fruits with the Cascade Policy Institute, and DHM Research pollster John Horvick join Laural Porter to discuss where Americans' taxes g...

Before 2001, a diagnosis of chronic myelogenous leukemia was almost certainly terminal. But a breakthrough drug pioneered by a doctor at OHSU changed that and made the rare cancer treatable, saving thousands of lives.  Dr. Brian Druker, chairman of OHSU's Knight Cancer Institute, and Rob Shick, a CML survivor and chair of the Knight Cancer Council, join Laural Porter to celebrate the 20th annivers...

The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners has declared racism as a public health crisis, in an attempt to rebuild the county using a racial equity lens. Chair Deborah Kafoury and Multnomah County Interim Health Director Ebony Clarke were guests on this week's episode of Straight Talk. They discussed how the county plans to tackle racism as a public health crisis and how it will make a difference...

Even as Oregon and Washington have expanded vaccine eligibility to everyone older than 16, the number of COVID cases and hospitalizations are going up. The Oregon Health Authority said this week, those numbers in some counties are beginning to look like they did last fall when they started to peak. The KGW Vaccine Team's Cristin Severance and Pat Dooris were guests this week on Straight Talk to pu...

Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio is king of the hill, at least Capitol Hill, when it comes to all things transportation and infrastructure. As the Chairman of the powerful House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, DeFazio is considered the expert on the issue. The 17-term congressman from Oregon's fourth district will be point-person in the House for President Biden's $2 trillion "America...

A human rights expert for the United Nations has said anti-Muslim hatred has reached epidemic proportions. Now as Ramadan begins, Portland Muslim community leaders are calling for unity against Islamophobia and all forms of hate.

Four Asian American women who are community leaders in Oregon discuss recent anti-Asian violence and how to stop it on this week's episode of "Straight Talk."

Three women who helped lead Oregon through the COVID-19 pandemic reflect on the past year, lessons learned and what’s ahead.