The Human Beat

The United States is facing a national blood crisis, brought on by complications from the pandemic. A significant portion of hospital blood needs for patients is not being met.  Doctors are forced to make difficult decisions about who receives blood transfusions and who has to wait until more becomes available. The American Red Cross is...

On the north side of Commercial Street in Astoria – between 10th and 11th streets – is a building housing the Beacon Clubhouse and Filling Empty Bellies. The two organizations are filling gaps in the community – meeting vital needs – but they serve and attract homeless people and that has caused concern from some neighbors....

Welcome to the Human Beat!  I’m Roger Rocka. Clatsop Community Action is a non-profit agency that has been providing services to low-income residents of the county for over 30 years.  CCA tries to help people meet their critical needs like shelter and food.  Their clients include people who are homeless. The executive director of Clatsop...

In Clatsop County, the primary provider of mental health services is Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare.  We sat down with CBH executive director Amy Baker to talk about the growing mental health problems in the county and across the country, and what’s needed to provide adequate treatment.

Abigail Scott Duniway, Jesse Applegate and Richard Neuberger each helped to shape the Oregon we know today.  We get to know them in Eminent Oregonians, a new book published by long time Daily Astorian editor and publisher Steve Forrester.

Host Roger Rocka speaks with guest Denise Lofman, Executive Director of Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST).

Finally, two weeks ago, the overture began and Astoria’s Cascadia Chamber Opera Company emerged from the long pandemic shutdown. The new season began with a performance at the Performing Arts Center of the comic opera, The Old Maid and the Thief. I talked with opera Artistic Director Bereniece Jones-Centeno about how things went.  

He is Oregon’s all-time winningest high school baseball coach. He has five state titles and seven state championship game appearances. 18 league titles, including 5-for-5 with Astoria High School. In 30 years of coaching, his teams never missed the playoffs. He took the Astoria baseball team to the state championship game four times and won...

For more than 40 years, Economist Ernie Niemi has investigated and described the relationship between the natural environment and local economies, in Oregon and elsewhere. Niemi, President of Natural Resource Economics, spoke before North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection recently about some of the economics of logging in Oregon. He discussed logging profits, taxes, jobs,...

The subject of this Human Beat is a new exhibit at the Heritage Museum called “Away from Home.”  It’s quite a coup for them to have it since it’s booked out for five years, largely to major metropolitan museums like the Autry in L.A. The exhibit tells the story of the Indian schools that were...

When Duncan Law was a baby, his aunt and his single mother launched their beauty parlor by serving as beauticians to Astoria’s bordellos.  He worked his way through school in Astoria’s canneries under the old Chinese Contract Labor system.   The Chinese lived at the cannery bunk house, and in the cannery dorms he learned...

An interview with Clatsop Community College President Chris Breitmeyer about adapting to the effects of the pandemic on the college, about plans for new courses of study and about support from the community.

Roger talks about next week’s reopening of the Astoria Warming Center in the face of COVID-19, with Executive Director Kathleen Sullivan, Center Manager Cheryl Paul, and board president Rick Bowers.  

Candy Yiu is a software engineer for Intel in Portland.  She’s also a partner in a Portland restaurant called Malka.  After falling in love with Astoria, she became the owner of a boutique hotel called Near the Pier, the former Franklin Street Station.  And she has launched a pilot project in Astoria and Warrenton to...

Today’s program focuses on Consejo Hispano, formerly the Lower Columbia Hispanic Council. In a wide ranging conversation – edited here for time – we talked about the one stop, range of help provided through Consejo Hispano, which has expanded services in Clatsop, Tillamook, Columbia and Pacific counties. But our conversation also led us to immigration, to hate and...

Astor Street Opry Company will be doing a tribute to Shanghaied in Astoria… outdoors this Friday in the parking lot of its playhouse.  The idea is to provide some theatrical fun, safe from COVID-19.  You’ll find details on the Facebook page for Astor Street Opry Company.   This would have been Shanghaied’s 36th year.  In...

The Human Beat, with your host Roger Rocka.

Host Roger Rocka features Astoria City Planner, Barbara Fryer.

On this episode of The Human Beat, Roger talks with Nelle Moffett and Rick Bowers of Astoria and how they started advocating for the homeless.

Roger Rocka interviews Brett VandenHeuvel and Kate Murphy.

Presentation by Lisa Arkin, Executive Director of the Eugene non-profit Beyond Toxics.

Join host Roger Rocka for a look at Astoria’s watershed.

Join host Roger Rocka for a look at local community discussion about ocean health, held at the Columbia River Maritime Museum Barbey center.

Join host Roger Rocka for a look Astoria’s watershed, which he toured recently with fellow Astoria City Councilor Joan Herman. “Astoria is one of the few cities anywhere that entirely owns and controls its own watershed, its source of clean water. The watershed is managed to make the forest as healthy as possible and protect...

Join host Roger Rocka for The Human Beat.