Think Out Loud

Tom Cole moved to Southern Oregon in 1995 with the thought of starting a new regional chapter of Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Instead, what he saw around Medford made him realize the community was full of families whose children weren’t getting the educational support they needed, many of them low-income and from households that didn’t speak English. In 1998, Cole piloted an after-school...

This fall, the Meadowlark Day Program held an official ribbon cutting ceremony, to celebrate the unique mental health program for Salem-Keizer students in need. Trillium Community Health Plan and the school district had an existing partnership to provide lower levels of mental health care in some schools. But for some kids, their challenges from depression, anxiety, PTSD and other disorders are so...

Willamette Springs Memory Care, a senior living facility in Corvallis, was under 'enhanced supervision' by the state, but continued to operate. As reported in Willamette Week, within the past two years the facility has been cited with upwards of 50 instances of abuse. In September, the Oregon Department of Human Services considered removing the facility's license. However, last month the facility...

For the fourth year in a row, jazz fans can find the holiday music they’re looking for at Portland Center Stage next week. Local musicians and bandleaders Domo Branch and Charlie Brown III will direct a 15-piece lineup of regional and national musicians performing traditional scores with a modern twist. Domo Branch, drums, and Charlie Brown III, keyboard, join us to play some songs and talk...

Disney’s long-awaited sequel to its smash hit, “Moana,” is already one of the top-grossing movies of the year after its premiere at the box office just two weeks ago. Moana, however, is not your typical Disney princess. In fact, she forcefully pushes back on that characterization during an exchange with Maui, the Polynesian demigod, with whom she teams up on journeys of adventure...

From office settings to plastic recycling, workers were exposed to at least 14 chemicals in their daily lives, according to a new study from the International Pollutants Elimination Network. To measure exposures, participants in the study wore silicone bracelets which are able to mimic skin. This technology was invented at Oregon State University and has been used not only to measure human exposur...

Oregon lawmakers will have a one-day special session this week before the legislature begins officially in January. The governor has called them there to allocate over $200 million dollars in emergency spending  for this year’s unprecedented wildfire season. We’ll get a preview of the session with OPB’s Dirk VanderHart and April Ehrlich.

You may know them best for the songs they released in the '90s, but Portland rockers The Dandy Warhols have been going strong for 30 years, and have just released their 12th studio album. The new album includes collaborations with The Pixies’ Frank Black, Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Guns N’ Roses’ Slash. We talk to keyboardist Zia McCabe about the band’s legacy.

As a drag queen, environmentalist and community organizer, Pattie Gonia uses her platform to advocate for inclusive outdoor spaces. From mountain biking to skiing, she shares her love of the outdoors and has built a sizable following on social media. Pattie Gonia is based in Bend and she joins us with more on connecting with nature … in heels. 

Whether it’s smartphones or sneakers, toys or tents, about 80% of commercial goods are transported to markets around the world using giant container ships. As global shipping routes grow to meet increasing demand, so too does the likelihood of fatal collisions with whale species whose ranges overlap with them.  Researchers at the University of Washington led a team of international scie...

The Ashland Daily Tidings was established as a newspaper in 1876 and ceased operations in 2023. But local readers may not have known that. The Daily Tidings website re-emerged after the closure with a claimed staff of eight contributors, none of whom are reporters working in Southern Oregon. The website features a regular slate of "stories" that appear to be written by artificial intelligence. OPB...

Though the title of sheriff comes historically from England, the role is inextricably linked to the myth of the American West. It is also inextricably linked to the racist foundations of democracy in this country, according to Jessica Pishko in her new book, “The Highest Law in the Land: How the Unchecked Power of Sheriffs Threatens Democracy.” Pishko writes about the so-called ‘...

An exhibit at the Oregon Historical Society highlights the stories of transgender people in the American West during the frontier era. “Crossing Boundaries: Portraits of a Transgender West” runs through Jan. 5. The exhibit looks at the lives of several individuals in the Pacific Northwest who didn’t conform to gender norms through four themes: visibility, identity, acceptance and...

In 2019, the Oregon Legislature created the Urban Flood Safety and Water Quality District to manage levees and pump stations in Multnomah County. Last month, voters elected new board members to help guide infrastructure updates to the century-old flood system. As extreme weather events become more common, catastrophic flooding is a growing concern. We check in on the work of the district and learn...

According to recent federal data, workers in the logging industry are roughly 33 times more likely to die from a workplace injury compared to those in other civilian occupations. In Oregon, the industry has been in decline since the ‘90s due to a mix of environmental restrictions around timber harvests, wildlife protections for endangered animals and competition from lumber imports. But the...

Willamette University’s Pacific Northwest College of Art will feature student artists at the Holiday Makers Market. The event runs from Thursday through Saturday and will feature original artwork and crafts made by students. The college will also project animations and art created by students, staff and faculty during First Thursday in Portland’s Pearl District. Meghann Gilligan is the...

Ski season has begun, and along with the many recreational enthusiasts hitting the slopes, professional ski patrollers join them too. These patrollers are responsible for transporting injured skiers, providing first aid, mitigating hazards and more. Cathleen Calkins is a professional ski patroller and board member of Women of Patrol, a nonprofit aimed at supporting and highlighting female patrolle...

If you follow college football and you live in Oregon, there is little chance that you don’t already know that the University of Oregon Ducks are having their best season since 2010. Last weekend, the No. 1-ranked team completed a perfect 12-0 winning season - for just the second time ever - with a victory over rivals Washington Huskies. If you have high hopes that they’ll win their up...

Project Turnkey began as a way to house people who lost their homes in the 2020 wildfires and to provide a COVID-safe alternative to congregate shelters. The Oregon Legislature provided funding for communities to purchase underused buildings, typically motels and hotels, and turn them into shelter spaces where residents could stay for months at a time and engage in support services. A recent repor...

Every week in Corvallis a group of service providers, police and others sit down together to talk about the people in their community who are in crisis. Together, the group decides on a plan of action and works to help a few individuals with whatever they need, like housing, mental health services or health care. They call these meetings "the Situation Table," and it’s modelled on a system i...

Portland’s historic charter reform resulted in nearly 100 candidates running for a seat on the expanded city council and 19 Portlanders running for mayor. For those running for office, Portland’s Small Donor Election program promises to match funding to donations and provide their campaigns with taxpayer dollars. Exactly 52 candidates qualified for the program this election cycle. But...

The indie-folk band Blind Pilot has released its first new album in eight years. The band has been on tour and will perform in Portland in February. The group, which was formed in Oregon, joins us for an in-studio performance and to talk about the album, “In The Shadow Of The Holy Mountain.”  

Donna’s Law is a voluntary registry that lets people flag themselves, prohibiting them from purchasing a firearm. The registry is meant to allow people who are concerned about their own mental health and safety to restrict their own gun rights. At least 20 states have considered the law, while three states have successfully passed the measure. Washington, Utah and Virginia all have Donna&rsq...

Oregon middle and high schoolers have a new tool to help them explore career pathways. Sassy, an AI career coach, launched in September as part of the state’s Career Connected Learning initiative. The tool was developed by Ed Madison, an associate media professor at the University of Oregon and executive director of the nonprofit Journalistic Learning Initiative. Madison also developed the J...

Portland author David F. Walker and illustrator Marcus Kwame Anderson have worked together before - on a 2021 graphic novel about the Black Panther Party. This time they’ve teamed up on something a little different: an update of the classic American novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” In their version, the escaped slave Jim is more than just Huck’s companion; he&rsq...