Think Out Loud

14 neighborhood schools in Portland would close if the Portland Public Schools Board approves a district plan. The "rightsizing" plan also includes consolidating or eliminating programs, as well as major boundary changes. Parents, students and staff have been pushing back on both the process and substance of the plan, and are calling for a pause .   School Board Chair Eddie Wang joins us for...

“Think Out Loud” continues our monthly conversations with Meg Samples, general manager of member-supported KMHD Jazz Radio. Each month, we’ll hear about artists to add to your playlist, along with concerts and community events to attend.    In October, that includes a concert by the pioneering, alternative hip-hop group Digable Planets . The trio is currently on tour fo...

Metro has been acquiring land to create green spaces in the Portland metro area since the 1990s — and its collection of natural areas, trails and parks has now grown to over 20,000 acres. Metro-managed natural areas and parks include the Smith and Bybee Wetlands in North Portland, Cooper Mountain Nature Park in Beaverton, and Oxbow Park on the Sandy River. John Blasher, the parks and nature...

The Portland-based group Seffarine blends traditional music from Morocco and Southern Spain with jazz and other contemporary genres. Their upcoming album, “ Abaraz ,” explores the music of Southern Morocco and the Arab and West African music that influenced it. The album was inspired by the band’s residency in Mhamid El Ghizlane , an oasis at the edge of the Sahara Desert where t...

More often than not located in a dark basement, walls hidden behind a massive collage of musical ephemera dating back a few decades, young adults sorting records and CDs: It’s the local college radio station!   In 1948, when the FCC was making an attempt to promote new FM radio, they created the Class D radio license, which allowed stations to operate with less expensive equipment and m...

The Clark County Youth Commission allows young people to offer their input to the county council about the issues youth are facing and how to address them. While their work typically focuses on mental health, the commission has also explored violence prevention, youth homelessness, community resilience and other topics. As reported in The Columbian , commission members created two murals to repres...

Immigrants’ rights advocates are reporting a rise in the number of arrests by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in the Portland metro area in the last week.  Immigration arrests peaked in November of 2025 with “ Operation Black Rose .” They decreased dramatically earlier this year but numbers surged again in the summer. The Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition told OPB tha...

Early next year, Portland residents may begin seeing and hearing fleets of drones carrying Amazon packages bound for delivery in as fast as half an hour. The tech giant says it plans to expand its Prime Air delivery service to nearly 500 cities and towns by the end of the year. A company press release from August shows the service is being offered in 10 metro areas in the U.S., including Phoenix,...

With both education and arts funding facing cuts across the country, it’s not an easy time to be a school music teacher. Research shows that music educators have been leaving the field in recent years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic . But there are still young professionals who are entering the classroom in Oregon.   Charles Torok is a music instructor at Antonia Crater Elementa...

The voter-passed Portland Clean Energy Fund, or PCEF has been awarding grants for about five years. The tax on large retailers who do business in the city has raised far more money than expected. Now Eugene voters will decide whether to pass their own clean energy fund, called ECEF.  It’s modeled after PCEF, but does have differences. We’re joined by representatives from both side...

Polling from OPB shows that the Oregon gubernatorial race is neck-and-neck in the rematch between Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan and the Democratic incumbent, Gov. Tina Kotek. That’s with roughly a week to go before Oregon voters start receiving their ballots.    OPB politics reporters Lauren Dake and Dirk VanderHart join us to talk about the key issues in the race and wher...

When you think of professional wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment, also known as WWE, may come to mind. But the Pacific Northwest is home to its own indie scene of wrestling. As Katherine Cusumano writes in The Believer , the blood, sweat and tears that go into wrestling take a toll on the body and mind, but the spirit and drive keep many in-ring. Including Derek Drexl and Amira Lukens, both...

Portland’s got a reputation for food — the New York Times has called the city “ the dining capital of the Pacific Northwest. ” And last year, a Eugene establishment made it into the publication’s top 100 restaurants of 2025.   Zoe Baillargeon is a freelance food writer based in Portland , and Taylor Gobel is the Food Correspondent at Lookout Eugene-Springfield ....

Toody Cole has been a pillar in many beloved Pacific Northwest bands, including Dead Moon and the Rats and Pierced Arrows. After Pierced Arrows disbanded in 2015, Toody Cole and her husband Fred Cole performed together until his death in 2017.   Six years later, the 77-year-old would return as Toody Cole and her Band. They just got back from a Summer tour in Europe and will be returning for a...

The Leatherman tool came from a simple idea: What if a Boy Scout knife had pliers? This simple idea started a company with now more than 540 employees and a dedicated fan base. In a new book from the tool’s inventor, Tim Leatherman, “The Leatherman” shares the story of the tool's creation, the ups and downs of inventing and practical advice for anyone with their own big idea. Lea...

 Portland voters in two of the city’s four districts will soon be casting ballots to elect or re-elect their city councilors . It’s the second election using ranked choice voting. With half of the Portland city council seats up for grabs, what should voters expect? We hear from OPB politics reporters Bryce Dole and Alex Zielinski as they discuss the upcoming Portland election on t...

The Oregon chapter of the international nonprofit “Dress for Success” was among the very first of the 130 member networks. It started by offering professional suits and clothes to women who couldn't otherwise afford them. But since 1998, it’s evolved to offering a range of career services. And now it’s opening its most ambitious program yet: WorkWell , a co-working space in...

 Researchers at Washington State University were interested in seeing whether cannabis use decreased stress, based on both subjective reports and objective measurements of bodily changes associated with stress. That includes, for example, an increase in heart rate during stress.    The scientists recruited 120 regular users of cannabis to vape a low or moderate dose of cannabis in t...

From Wonderwoman and Lois Lane to Cathy and Veronica Lodge, there have been no shortage of women represented in comics. In the new book, “ Women in Comics, ” authors Nhora Lucia Serrano and Portland State University’s Susan E. Kirtley explore the history of not only the women on the page, but the authors behind them. Using archetypes commonly found in comic books, Kirtley and Ser...

Portland’s Alano Club is dedicated to helping people recover from alcoholism, addiction and mental health disorders. It serves 10,000 people a month with meetings, classes, workshops and other activities and programs. Founded in 1947, it’s the oldest and largest such recovery nonprofit in the country.   Several years ago, a participant in its programs decided to start bringing nal...

Between AI chatbots, social media influencers and websites offering medical advice, it can be difficult to parse the vast amount of health information online. It also presents a challenge to physicians and other healthcare providers who are fielding questions from patients based on what they’ve read online.   Kristin Whitman is the head of information and learning services at the Oregon...

At a time when many rural hospitals are either closing or merging with larger, urban health systems, a group of Oregon hospitals want to try something different .   Eleven hospitals and health systems are asking for state approval to form a clinically integrated network . They say the partnership will allow them to share resources while maintaining their independence.    Landon Dybd...

The Major League Baseball playoffs began on Tuesday. As fans around the nation watch the action, one lifelong fan of the sport in Sisters is busy fielding emails or answering calls to see if he might be available to talk baseball, or rather, baseball cards.    Michael Blesius is the owner of Sports Card Ink , a store in downtown Sisters that specializes in vintage baseball cards and is o...

The future of a new homeless shelter in Grants Pass is in question after the shelter and the organization providing wraparound services ended their working agreement. Under the terms of a lawsuit settlement , Grants Pass is required to provide space for 150 unhoused people in the city, which the shelter is meant to fulfill.   The shelter, known as Parker’s Place Village , is required to...

Mazama Energy, a Texas-based geothermal company, has recently secured more than $135 million to dig deeper and harvest heat for renewable energy. Project Ceres, which the funding will be put toward, is a horizontal well development in Central Oregon and could generate more than 15 megawatts of power next year. That’s enough to power 4,500 homes. OPB climate reporter Monica Samayoa joins us t...