Think Out Loud

 On Monday, Oregon Health and Science University and Legacy Health announced they are mutually walking away from an effort to combine the two healthcare organizations. The merger was first announced last August, when OHSU agreed to acquire 8 hospitals, $3 billion in assets and promised a whopping $1 billion in upgrades to Legacy facilities. The merger garnered scrutiny from a citizen review c...

Oregon hospitals are “on the brink” according to a recent Oregon Hospital Association report. Half of them are losing money on operations, and more than two-thirds say they don’t have the resources to keep up with patient care. The data is from 2024, and anticipated federal cuts to Medicaid make the outlook even worse. Becky Hultberg, the President and CEO of the Hospital Associa...

From acidic excrement that eats through bridge coating to nesting near roadways causing accidents, cormorants have been known to create some problems for humans here in Oregon. But for more than a decade now, researchers at Oregon State University have been using these diving birds to better understand oceans in Oregon and around the world. As recently featured in Audubon Magazine, by strapping se...

Between the on-again-off-again tariffs and the cancellation of federal funding, Oregonians across the state are affected by the many changes coming from the federal government. Reporters at the Portland Business Journal set out to take the temperature of business, nonprofit and political leaders across the state, three months into the Trump administration. Elizabeth Hayes, reporter for the Portlan...

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Education is expected to resume collections on student loans that are in default, ending a five-year pause that first began at the start of the pandemic. According to the agency, more than 5 million borrowers are in default, which typically happens after nine months of non-payment on a federal student loan. The federal government can force collections on defaulted...

When Dennis Nyback died in 2022, the Portland film archivist and programmer had amassed a collection of thousands of reels of films, whether they were black and white cartoons, 1960s-era commercials or educational films shown in classrooms. Nyback would share his eclectic finds through curated screenings at independent movie theaters not only in Portland, but also across the U.S. and Europe. ...

On Monday, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson unveiled a budget for the city as it faces a massive budget shortfall. That deficit is $65 million if you don’t include the cost of the mayor’s ambitious plan to end unsheltered homelessness, or the city's new obligations to pay for homeless shelters that Multnomah County previously paid for. Mayor Wilson’s budget calls for staff layoffs and...

On May 2, 2000, the U.S. government lifted restrictions that made GPS technology more accurate and accessible to the general public. This day became known as Blue Switch Day, and this decision inadvertently created a new outdoor hobby. Geocaching is an activity where participants use GPS and coordinates to hunt down hidden containers, known as geocaches or caches, often located in parks, forests a...

The late Pope Francis brought attention to the plight of refugees and immigrants around the world, as well as to the climate crisis. He also took a different view of the role of women in the church and a more inclusive approach to gay rights and many other social issues, compared with his predecessors. Nearly one and a half billion Catholics around the world revere the Pope, and address him as &ld...

Big changes could soon be coming to the way college athletes can profit off their name, image and likeness, or NIL. Since NIL legislation was first passed in 2021, student-athletes have had to pursue deals independently of their universities. But under the terms of a legal settlement announced last year, colleges could devote up to $20.5 million in athletic revenue to directly paying athletes for...

A bill in the Oregon Legislature would set up a structure for social media companies to compensate local news producers whose content is shared on those sites. SB 686 is based in part on bills in California and New Jersey, as well as a law that recently went into effect in Canada. It was meant for the largest social media companies to compensate local news media organizations whose content is shar...

Washington lawmakers have ended their legislative session by sending a $78 billion budget to Gov. Bob Ferguson’s desk. It includes nearly $6 billion in cuts and over $9 billion in taxes. Legislators also passed rent cap increases and a new gun permit system. Olympia correspondent Jeanie Lindsay joins us to share what the Washington Legislature accomplished this session. 

For the last year, Grants Pass has been at the center of a national conversation about where people who are homeless can stay. A lawsuit brought against the city by a group of homeless people had made its way all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court: Grants Pass v. Johnson. Last June, the court released a six-to-three decision finding that it is not cruel or unusual punishment to penalize people for...

Brit Bennett’s book The Vanishing Half was on a lot of best-of lists in 2020. Though spanning the second half of the 20th century, the novel speaks to questions about race and identity that have been central to national conversations for the last two years. In that novel and her other writing, Bennett deals with the bonds of family, the importance of storytelling, and nature of identity. We...

Jack Reacher may be one of the most iconic action book heroes of all time. Over 100 million copies of author Lee Child’s books have been sold. But the author who has taken over the series is perhaps a little less well known. Andrew Child, who also writes under the name Andrew Grant, is now carrying on the legacy of Jack Reacher for his older brother. He came to Portland for the 2024 Portland...

Amid the flurry of executive orders President Trump signed on his first day in office was one that called for a 90-day pause and review of all foreign assistance programs. Three months later, that has resulted in the cancellation of thousands of contracts and grants distributed through the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the gutting of the agency’s workforce.  Portland-ba...

The number of registered voters who choose not to be members of any political party is growing. In fact, in Oregon, the percentage of these voters is bigger than both registered Democrats and Republicans. But those who vote in the major party primaries are the ones that decide which candidates appear on the general election ballot that is open to all voters. While Oregon’s neighbors, Washing...

Multnomah County chair Jessica Vega Pederson released a proposed $4 billion budget plan this week. The budget includes cuts to several programs and over 100 staff to address a $77 million shortfall. Earlier this year the county asked local and state jurisdictions to help fill a shortfall of over $100 million in the county’s homeless services budget. Chair Vega Pederson joins us to explain he...

Next month marks the five year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder. Across the state and country, protests soon followed as videos and the news spread of his death, sparking wider conversation around race, police violence and more in our daily lives.  But what has and hasn’t changed since then? To answer these questions and more we’ll hear from Candace Avalos, Portland City...

On Tuesday, Portland Public Schools Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong shared her new proposed budget of $2 billion for the 2025-26 school year, her first budget proposal as the leader of Oregon’s largest school district.  But with rising costs, limited revenue and declining enrollment are putting pressure on a school that is now facing a financial shortfall of $40 million. Supt. Armstr...

Songs of Power and Protest is a songwriter showcase that’s happening in Portland on April 26 at the Cravin' Gravy Social Club at 8 p.m. Jordan Sings and Ezza Rose are Portland musicians that will perform at the event. They join us to talk about the showcase and the power of music to express dissent.   

Oregon lawmakers are considering HB 3018, which would require thousands of Oregon businesses – from hospitals to restaurants to food producers – to compost their food waste. Nationwide, an estimated 15% of methane gas pollution is created by food and other organic waste decomposing in landfills. The bill would also try to reduce the amount of food being tossed out in the first place by...

“Hands of the Ancestors” is an exhibit currently taking place at Linfield University’s Miller Fine Arts Center in McMinnville. It showcases the work of Stephanie Craig, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and a seventh-generation basket weaver and artist. Oregon ArtsWatch recently profiled Craig and her exhibit, which is on display until May 2.  Crai...

Just over 5 years ago, Sarah Baker created an  Instagram account that they hoped would evolve into something more. A couple of months later, they had connected with some other activists and filmmakers and launched a film festival of Earth Day shorts in 2020 - just weeks after the pandemic lockdown. Five years later, the group of volunteer creatives say they are Making Earth Cool with a &ldquo...

A federal law passed in the 1950s gave six states, including Oregon, civil and criminal jurisdiction over tribal reservations. Tribal nations have argued that the law undermines their sovereignty. Oregon tribes have been able to petition the governor to repeal the law on their land, but there’s no official procedure or timeline for that process to take place. Senate Bill 1011 would change th...