Think Out Loud

OR Unplugged” is a coalition created by parents in Portland to support healthy digital environments for children. The group provides resources to parents and families like curriculums for digital wellness, suggestions for alternative devices to smartphones, and community events with “unplugged” activities. The group also works as a thread to unite several smaller, local groups of...

More than two dozen artists are participating in the 2026 Oregon Contemporary Artists’ Biennial , which launched last month and ends on July 5. The current exhibit is titled “The Price of the Ticket” and is on display at the Oregon Contemporary gallery in North Portland. Audiences can also experience performances, poetry readings and public talks at other venues in the city.&nbsp...

Rachael Allen says business is booming these days at Allen’s Crosley Lanes , a Vancouver bowling alley that her family has owned for nearly four decades. The Columbian’s recent profile of Allen and Crosley Lanes helped remind readers that the 71-year-old bowling alley is not only still around, but today thriving. That’s despite a couple of close but ultimately failed attempts All...

Henderson Ave and Brooks Wine are two Oregon winemakers that operate at different price points, but are currently faced with many of the same questions: How do wineries appeal to consumers when American alcohol consumption has waned in recent years ? How do producers ease barriers to entry for wine consumption and education? How do vintners approach sustainability when wine is facing challenges du...

The Lullaby Project was created more than a decade ago by the  Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute. The program pairs singer-songwriters with parents who are incarcerated or experiencing homelessness, and together they create a lullaby.  In Oregon, those songs are arranged for the Oregon Symphony and then publicly performed . This year’s performance is next Tuesday, May 12...

As commuters are seeing continuous hikes on gas prices in Oregon and across the nation, some are forced to reevaluate their commuting habits. Public transportation could currently be a vital alternative to commuters in Oregon and the Northwest as a whole. But, how well are public transportation systems in Oregon cities serving the public? How can they serve their communities in more efficient ways...

 Adam Nattress has been playing poker since he was 19 years old, but it wasn’t until he got sober that he was able to really support his family and dedicate himself to the game. Nattress recently won nearly $140,000 dollars in South Lake Tahoe at the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event. The $1,700 buy-in tournament drew over 400 players from around the U.S. We talk to Nattress abou...

Oregon lawmakers passed eight immigration bills in the last legislative session that ended in March, and Gov. Tina Kotek signed them into law in April. The package of bills came as a response to a host of federal actions in 2025 that put immigrants and their families in jeopardy. Oregon was the first in the nation to become a sanctuary stat e in 1987 and has strengthened its protections in the int...

Amazon has plenty of huge warehouses around Oregon to get goods to online shoppers quickly, including one that’s 3.8 million square feet one in Woodburn, its biggest in the entire Northwest. But the giant retailer has started moving toward smaller facilities in more communities around the state, like Hood River, Eugene and Redmond. Amazon says this will provide better service for rural and s...

The Owyhee Canyonlands area encompasses millions of acres along the Owyhee River on the borders of Oregon, Idaho and Nevada. The land is rugged and remote and beautiful, and efforts to to protect it in some way have dragged out for years. There were pushes for the last two Democratic presidents to designate the area a national monument and most recently, a bill to protect over 1 million acres of t...

The Portland-based nonprofit Smashing Barriers works with organizations including the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Friendly House. It offers free tennis clinics and organizes charity tournaments. Jiya Mehta and Rohan Shah, the co-founders, started the nonprofit while in high school. They aim to bring the organization to each state in the U.S. In addition to Oregon , the nonprofit already...

  LONG SYNOPSIS: Oregon’s Willamette Valley is a major hotspot for webs of mycorrhizal, or network-forming, fungi. Researchers at the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) predict that nearly 90% of mycorrhizal networks around the world lie outside of protected areas, including those in the Pacific Northwest. These fungal networks help promote soil health and plant g...

The city of Portland is facing a $172 million budget shortfall for various reasons, including declining tax revenue, inflation, expiration of pandemic-era funds and increased healthcare costs.  Mayor Keith Wilson shared a proposal last week that would cut nearly 150 jobs and make cuts to public safety, parks, transportation and resources for people experiencing homelessness. Mayor Wilson has...

Student debt in the U.S. has risen dramatically in the last few decades, while recent college graduates are having a harder time finding work. For the last five years, the unemployment rate of college graduates is above the national average and students graduate with an average of $40,000 dollars of debt. Meanwhile, students with degrees in technology or finance might find they are facing a work l...

Grandparents for Vaccines is a nationwide nonprofit that aims to educate the current generation of parents about vaccine-preventable diseases. Launched in September 2025, the group has produced videos of grandparents describing what it was like to endure or witness their friends, classmates and relatives battle illnesses such as polio, measles and pertussis before vaccines for them existed. The gr...

Two Oregon lawyers were recently fined $110,000 for including fictitious cases in filings that were AI “hallucinations.” This is not the first such case in Oregon, and General Counsel of the Oregon State Bar Ankur Doshi says it’s unlikely to be the last. There are hundreds of cases across the U.S. where the use of AI has resulted in incorrectly cited cases, fabricated quotes, cas...

It’s been just over a year since the crisis intervention program CAHOOTS stopped providing services in Eugene after the city decided to end its contract with the organization. The mobile team had operated in the city since 1989. Lane County launched its own crisis response team in 2024, and now, the city is partnering with Ideal Option to send peer navigators on non-emergency calls. Navigato...

This past winter tied Oregon’s record for the warmest winter ever recorded. The warmer temperatures have led to record-low snowpack levels not only in Oregon but across many other western states . Climate change will likely make our winters not only warmer but also rainier, as more of the winter precipitation falls as rain instead of snow.    That rain and melting snow are also exp...

Prescribed burns are carefully planned fires on public lands to help reduce the risk of wildfires in communities. They're often conducted by by government agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management , but new groups of community members are now getting involved. Prescribed Burn Associations, also known as PBAs, are local groups of community members, land owners and other volunteers that conduct...

“What is the most effective way to support people experiencing homelessness?” That’s the question a new report called “The Pathways Study” tries to answer. Researchers at the Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative at Portland State University surveyed more than 500 people who are or have been homeless. The study focused on what people experiencing homelessness...

Over the pandemic, the sale of puzzles skyrocketed . And while people of all ages enjoy piecing together jigsaw puzzles as a more leisurely activity, others take it at a much more serious and at a competitive level. Speed puzzling is a competition where everyone is given the exact same puzzle and individuals, duos or teams work together to complete it the fastest. Last month, USA Jigsaw Nationals...

When it comes to growing apples, no state dominates like Washington. It accounts for roughly 6 in 10 of all the apples grown in the U.S. One of the major threats facing this top crop is fire blight. The bacterial disease attacks apple and pear trees and can ruin an entire harvest, costing roughly $100 million annually in losses for the U.S. apple industry. The fire blight bacteria can also develop...

According to scientists at the Cascadia Research Collective, gray whale populations off the Washington coast are experiencing a higher level of early-season mortality than they’ve ever recorded. Just this year, three gray whales have been found off the Oregon Coast, and 14 have been found off the coast of Washington. The whales that have been found stranded in Washington and Oregon appear to...

Patrick Radden Keefe discusses his new book “London Falling” at Lincoln High School in Portland LONG SYNOPSIS: In 2019, a 19-year-old man named Zac Brettler died after jumping off the balcony of a luxury apartment in London near the River Thames. Police never came to a conclusion about what led to Brettler’s death. But soon after, it was revealed that Brettler was living a double...

With ballots for Oregon’s primary elections scheduled to go out next week , civic organizations are working to get out the vote. Imagine Black , based in Portland, aims to engage voters through community events, rather than mailers or door-to-door canvassing. The nonprofit is holding a basketball benefit next month with community leaders and elected officials ahead of primary Election Day, M...