Think Out Loud

While it’s not the I-5, there’s another bridge spanning the Columbia River that may be in even more need of replacement. Last month, the federal government announced it was awarding $200 million to help pay for the replacement of the Hood River-White Salmon bridge in the Columbia River Gorge. Marla Keethler is the mayor of White Salmon and a commissioner on the Hood River-White Salmon...

A recent economic forecast by the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis shows that state lawmakers have more than $500 million to spend than previously expected. Still, much of the money has been accounted for and a slow population growth could negatively affect Oregon’s economy in the future. Mark McMullen, the state economist, joins us with details of the forecast.    

Since its launch two dozen years ago, International Guitar Night has grown from performances in a handful of venues to encompass more than 80 shows in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Brian Gore, a Portland-based singer-songwriter, created International Guitar Night as a way to showcase the solo guitar musicians from around the world he finds and brings together to perform on a single stage. Gore rece...

Washington’s farmworker overtime law took full effect this year, with workers now legally required to receive overtime pay after working 40 hours in a single week. In Oregon, a similar law is being phased in — workers currently receive overtime payment after 55 hours of work. The law was intended to fairly compensate farmworkers for the long hours worked during the growing and harvest...

 Sejal Hathi recently took over as director of the Oregon Health Authority. An attending physician, Hathi previously served as New Jersey’s designated state health officer and deputy commissioner for public health services. She also advised the Biden-Harris administration on public health policy for two years. Hathi has held faculty positions in the schools of medicine and public health...

 Erika Hayasaki’s book “Somewhere Sisters: a story of adoption, identity, and the meaning of family” explores a very complicated multi-family, multinational story. At the heart of the book are sisters: identical twins born in Vietnam. One was adopted by a wealthy family in the U.S., one was raised in rural Vietnam. We spoke to Hayasaki in 2022 in front of an audience at the...

The Oregon Office for Community Dispute Resolution supports 12 centers across the state where trained mediators help community members settle disagreements before they go to court. Housed within the University of Oregon law school, the office also provides the basic training needed to begin the process of becoming a court-appointed mediator. It recently offered its first series of trainings entire...

After almost a year of negotiations, nurses with PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services are going on strike. More than 90 nurses with the Oregon Nurses Association will be striking for two-weeks starting Feb. 10. These nurses provide hospice care and other services to patients in the Eugene-area. The nurses have been working under an expired contract since April 2023 and are looking to raise...

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...

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek’s office said this week that the state has exceeded its goals for the 2023 homelessness state of emergency. Over the last year/since the emergency was declared, more than 1,000 new low-barrier shelter beds were added, nearly 2,000 people were housed and almost 9,000 households were given aid to prevent them from becoming homeless. Andera Bell is the executive director...

In Washington, millions of dollars in child support payments are intercepted by the state from custodial parents who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a federal assistance program that includes cash benefits. Lawmakers are considering a bill with bipartisan support that would redirect a portion of future child support payments back to families. Brandon Block is an investigative repo...

Two of the largest supermarket chains in the U.S. are planning to merge. Kroger and Albertsons first announced their proposed merger in 2022. The Federal Trade Commission has been reviewing the proposal for more than a year and is expected to make a decision soon. Meanwhile, lawmakers, consumer advocates and others have raised concerns about the proposal. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson r...

The public school superintendent at the 4J School district in Eugene is under investigation, the Eugene Weekly is reporting. The school board hired Andy Dey in 2022 when similar allegations surfaced. A Seattle area firm has turned over its investigation to the school board, which met for another executive session Monday night. Eugene Weekly editor Camilla Mortensen has been following the story, in...

The American Library Association’s “I Love My Librarian Award”  recognizes public, school, college and university librarians for their “exceptional” accomplishments and “outstanding public service.” Only 10 librarians across the country receive the award, and this year, one of the recipients is from Oregon. Claire Dannenbaum is a reference and instruc...

As libraries change to meet the needs of their communities, these public spaces are seeing their services expand in different ways. For some, it’s the growth of children’s areas and play spaces. But how do libraries plan for these spaces and what does it take to make libraries a welcoming place for all ages? Several Multnomah County libraries are currently under renovation, with some o...

Mothers who use fentanyl, meth or other substances during their pregnancies can give birth to babies who have to spend weeks in the hospital to treat their exposure to and withdrawal from drugs. After their release, caregivers can still struggle to soothe and feed them. Tricia Hughes, a registered nurse in Spokane, discovered this when she and her husband began fostering babies born dependent on h...

Oregon lawmakers are deciding whether to make changes to the state’s landmark drug decriminalization law, Measure 110. A bipartisan committee has been meeting since October to hear testimony from law enforcement, substance use disorder experts and treatment providers. Democratic state lawmakers recently put forth a proposal that would recriminalize the possession of small amounts of drugs. R...

Oregon lawmakers are deciding whether to make changes to the state’s landmark drug decriminalization law, Measure 110. A bipartisan committee has been meeting since October to hear testimony from law enforcement, addiction experts and treatment providers. Democratic state lawmakers recently put forth a proposal that would recriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs. Republicans have i...

It’s been a few weeks since cold, ice and wind battered Oregon, killing at least 15 people and bringing much of the state to a grinding halt. The region has weathered many storms but this one prompted Gov. Tina Kotek to declare an emergency, enabling the possibility of federal funding and reimbursement to clean up the damages. We’re joined by Rachel Pearl and Chris Voss with Multnomah...

The East Side High Schools ski team has student racers from several schools in Portland including Grant, Cleveland and Franklin. This year, the team faced a power outage during a school trip, and other trips were canceled because of too little and too much snow. The already compact season is even shorter this year because of weather conditions. We learn more about the team and the ups and downs of...

The American Red Cross recently announced that blood donations are at a 20-year low. Along with the decline in donations, recent weather events disrupted planned donation drives. Angel Montes is the regional executive of donor services for the American Red Cross Cascades Region. He joins us to share more on what donations are looking like now and what this means in the Pacific Northwest. Claire Mu...

For the past year, Portland neurosurgeon Darrell Brett hasn’t been charging his patients for his services, but only as a result of disciplinary action. In an in-depth investigation conducted by the Oregon Medical Board that began in 2017, Brett was found to have grossly overcharged his patients for surgical procedures, overprescribed painkillers and referred his patients to a specimen testin...

Some U.S. cities are contending with the rollout of self-driving cars and other autonomous vehicles on their roads. Others are still considering how to approach AVs and whether they’re a good fit for the community. A new guide from the University of Oregon’s Urbanism Next Center aims to help leaders navigate these challenges.  Nico Larco is a professor of architecture and urban de...

When someone overdoses on opioids, they can sometimes be brought back to life with a dose of Narcan. Often it is a friend, family member or fellow addict who is administering the lifesaving overdose reversal drug. That means, the overdose itself may never be counted by medical officials, leading to an incomplete understanding of how many people are nearly dying because of drug use. The Malheur Cou...

A chauffeur couple are accused of stealing millions of dollars from their employer, Oregon-based publisher Win McCormack. Sergey Lebedenko and his wife, Galina Lebedenko, made up to $34 million in unauthorized charges to McCormack’s credit card, including several houses and a jet, according to a federal prosecutor. Maxine Bernstein wrote about the fraud for The Oregonian and joins us to talk...