Think Out Loud

Oregon’s Tribal Early Learning Hub has faced a number of challenges since its creation. But this summer, state lawmakers passed HB 2815 , which would invest more in early learning for Oregon's nine federally recognized tribes. As the school year begins, we hear from Jory Spencer, the early childhood service program manager for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. We al...

Movies like “The Goonies,” “Animal House” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” are among the most famous of those filmed in Oregon, and they're points of pride for Oregon film buffs. Television shows like “Grimm” and “Portlandia” and animation studios like Laika and ShadowMachine burnish the state’s production portfolio. &nbs...

Last year, there were 36 whales entangled with commercial fishing gear off the coasts of Oregon, Washington and California, or found entangled with West Coast fishing gear off the coasts of other countries. That’s the highest number of whale entanglements in the West Coast region since 2018, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.    More than eight years...

As Western Oregon faces drier and hotter summers, researchers at Oregon State University Extension are investigating crops that can withstand drought and require less irrigation. Shayan Ghajar is an organic pasture and forages specialist at OSU Extension. He has been researching grasses and legumes that can resist Oregon’s drying climate and still feed people and livestock. Ghajar joins us w...

To say spotted ratfish are unusual is an understatement. Related to sharks, they abound in the inky, dark depths of the Puget Sound. Armed with a venomous fin, they swim gracefully  along the sea floor trailing a long, pointed tail half the length of their bodies, with green, glowing eyes hunting for mates or prey to crack open with their beak-like mouths. And if all that wasn’t weird e...

For decades, rural Oregon counties that contain large swaths of federally owned forest land have depended on a share of timber revenues from federal logging to fund schools, law enforcement and other essential public services. These payments were originally meant to offset the loss of property tax revenue that counties could not collect on federal lands. But when logging on these lands slowed dras...

Last week, a plot of land in North Portland felt a shake, but not one caused by an earthquake, but instead by a machine known as T-Rex. Researchers with Portland State University were simulating a minor quake to test a soil treatment that would fortify the ground from liquefaction . Arash Khosravifar and Diane Moug are both associate professors in Civil and Environmental Engineering at PSU. They b...

Samaritan Health Services considered closing the birth centers at its hospitals in Lebanon and Lincoln City earlier this year. The move drew pushback from nurses, community members and lawmakers. The health system recently announced it would keep the centers open for at least another year — but not without some changes .   Lesley Ogden is the CEO of both Samaritan’s North Lincoln...

The Rowena Fire and Burdoin Fires affected communities along the Oregon and Washington sides of the Columbia River. Many of the structures destroyed were part of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. The region has legal protections in place to preserve its natural and recreational resources, although the areas typically have some people already living there.    The Columbia Riv...

The new school year means that once again some kids are walking or biking through neighborhoods and on busy streets to get to class. Safe Routes to School is a nationwide, federally funded initiative that works to educate and encourage students to bike and walk to school safely. There are Safe Routes to School programs across Oregon, including one serving students in the Salem-Keizer School Distri...

In October, a new community health center and pharmacy will be coming to Wheeler, Oregon. The Nehalem Bay Health Center and Pharmacy will replace an aging clinic that provided services to the region since the early 1980s. The new 16,000 square feet facility will double the capacity of the old clinic and will now provide some new services, such as dental care and x-rays. Marc Johnson is the preside...

”Magic mushroom” edibles sold at smoke shops and other retailers might be missing psilocybin but can contain undisclosed ingredients, according to a joint study published Thursday.    Oregon State University researchers collaborated on the analysis with Rose City Laboratories, a state-certified testing lab in Portland, and the manufacturer Shimadzu Scientific Instruments. &nb...

Fifteen years after the arrest of Mohamed Mohamud, Portland writer Jamila Osman reflects on the aftermath of that time on the local Somali community in a new essay in Oregon Humanities . Osman grew up in the same tight knit community as the young man who would go on to press a button that he thought would blow up the Christmas tree at Pioneer Square. She joins us to discuss the essay.

Two Oregon restaurants appear on The New York Times’ annual list of the 50 best restaurants in the country. Yardy Rum Bar is a Caribbean restaurant in Eugene “celebrating the food and drinking culture of the West Indies using seasonal ingredients from the Northwest.” The Paper Bridge is a Northern Vietnamese restaurant in Portland specializing in house-made rice noodles and chili...

On Wednesday, the Oregon Department of Forestry announced that the emerald ash borer has now been found in the Hazelwood neighborhood in East Portland and five other new sites in the north Willamette Valley. In addition to Portland, the highly invasive and destructive beetle has now been found near other urban areas in the region, including Beaverton, Banks and Oregon City. The Oregon Department o...

Portland’s Time Based Art Festival brings performers from all over the world for 10 days of performances, exhibitions, music and movement. This year the Portland-based musician Erika M. Anderson, who has performed internationally under the name EMA, will present a piece of music, video and storytelling that she hopes will be like nothing audiences have seen before. We talk to Anderson about...

Upward Bound is a faith-based camp that opened in 1978 for pre-teens and adults with disabilities to experience traditional camp activities, from making s’mores around a campfire to hiking, fishing or playing outdoor games. In 2014, the camp bought an 18-acre property in Gates in Linn County that included an elementary school, a gymnasium and high school building. Classrooms were converted i...

Tribal health clinics often provide healthcare to tribal members and non-tribal members in their area. The providers can also be the only accessible healthcare option for people in rural communities. The Ko-Kwel Wellness Centers serve Coos Bay and Eugene.  The clinics are grappling with looming changes to Medicaid and gaps in funding. Lyric Aquino, an indigenous affairs reporter and Report fo...

Scott Kalama is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. He works as a certified prevention specialist at the Warm Springs Indian Reservation to mentor youth and raise awareness about the risks associated with drug and alcohol use. Growing up on the reservation, his older brother handed down CDs and mixtapes of Tupac and other hip hop artists which sparked Kalama’s own...

Day use fees for some state parks went from $5 to $10 dollars at the beginning of the year, and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department will be applying those same fees in locations where there were none previously. According to the department website , the agency manages 259 properties, which include camping at 52 parks as well as the entire ocean shore along 362 miles of the Oregon coast. The...

The cities of Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview and Wood Village are rethinking what fire service might look like in East Multnomah County. For decades, Gresham’s fire department has contracted with the other cities to provide service. But the cities have grown, and funds for firefighters have not kept up. Now, the cities are considering a new option: a fire district. Instead of Gresham having pr...

 Stella-Jones, a Canadian wood products company, recently pleaded guilty to exceeding legal limits of pentachlorophenol in water discharged from its plant near Sheridan, Oregon. The chemical is used to protect wood from insects and fungi and poses a number of health concerns , including an increased risk of cancer.    According to a recent investigation from the journalism nonprofit...

Since 1994, the Washington Department of Transportation has operated a roadside memorial program that allows for the creation and installation of signs along state highways in honor of victims of fatal collisions. Washington was the first state in the nation to start a roadside memorial program, and there are now more than 1,000 signs posted along state highways bearing a message such as “Re...

Since it broke out two weeks ago, the Flat Fire burning two miles northeast of Sisters has burned more than 23,000 acres. The wildfire destroyed five homes, threatened hundreds of others and prompted evacuation orders that have since been lifted or reduced in Jefferson and Deschutes Counties.       Although the fire isn’t yet fully contained, the focus in the Sisters...

 Portland Mayor Keith Wilson made ending unsheltered homelessness central to his policy agenda. He’s leaned into one kind of shelter to do that, overnight-only shelters . And he’s successfully opened five of these this year, as part of his plan to provide an additional 1,500 beds by Dec. 1. Last month, the mayor announced plans to open what will eventually be four centers where ho...