Think Out Loud

This summer, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek recently signed into law an ambitious, $90 million climate package to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and leverage as much as $1 billion dollars in federal funds to tackle climate change. Among its provisions are rebates on medium and heavy-duty electric trucks and help for homeowners to offset the cost of installing heat pumps. It also mak...

Maternal mortality rates in Oregon more than doubled in the twenty years from 1999 - 2019. They rose at an even higher rate in the U.S. as a whole. That’s according to a recent study - and the very first to look at rates across ethnic groups state-by-state. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association earlier this summer, a collaboration between researchers at t...

 In 2020, former Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed an executive order to achieve the state’s carbon reduction goals. The order directs state agencies to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Three years later, we check in with Nora Apter, a senior program director for climate at the Oregon Environmental Council, about where the plan stands now and the progress Oregon’s Department of Environm...

For the last two months, Laborers’ Local 485 member employees with Metro Park and Nature and the Oregon Zoo have been working under an expired contract with Metro. Negotiations are ongoing, and employees are asking for hazard pay when working in extreme weather, extra days off when dealing with extremely traumatic situations in the workplace and higher pay across the board. Marina Garcia is...

Earlier this year the federal government announced changes aimed at making it easier for schools to get reimbursed for services that they are already providing to children on Medicaid. The program has the potential to serve students where they already are, get schools more needed funding and shift the paradigm on how to approach childhood disability and neurodiversity. But many challenges remain....

German scientist Peter Wohlleben captured global attention when he wrote “The Secret Life of Trees.” Now, he’s followed up with a new book, "The Power of Trees: How Ancient Forests Can Save Us if We Let Them," that essentially argues that we should leave forests alone, because trees are very good at adapting to whatever comes their way. We spoke to Wohlleben in front of an audien...

A conflict over fishing access has some of Oregon’s federally recognized tribes at odds with both each other and the state’s Fish & Wildlife Commission. The commission voted last month to allow the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde to issue hunting and fishing licenses to its own members. It’s approved similar agreements with four other tribes, but the wording of Grand Ronde...

Earlier this month, about 40 organizations, including the Sierra Club, outlined actions that the Eugene Water & Electric Board could take to continue the utility’s transition to clean and renewable energy. The letter follows an analysis by the utility that suggests the need for different sources of low-carbon energy, including the use of small modular nuclear reactors. The analysis is pa...

Artificial intelligence is becoming more sophisticated, and the U.S. is a leader in the technology. Policymakers will need an innovative approach to managing the tech, and safety should be top of mind for government officials, according to Charles Jennings. He’s a Portland-based former AI executive and the author of the book, “Artificial Intelligence: Rise of the Lightspeed Learners.&r...

In 2020, smoke from wildfires led Jenifer Cruickshank, an assistant professor and dairy extension specialist at Oregon State University,  to explore how the issue affects livestock. Cruickshank along with several other academics in Oregon and Idaho have banded together to create an online resource hub where researchers are investigating the effects of wildfire on cattle. We learn more about t...

Menstrual products like tampons typically have an absorbency level listed on the side of their packaging. But until recently, that absorbency had never been measured with actual blood. Saline, a simpler and less viscous fluid, has been the default test liquid since absorbency standards were first set in the 1980s. However, researchers at Oregon Health and Science University recently tested the abs...

In Southwest Oregon, Douglas firs are dying. And warmer temperatures along with more severe droughts are making the problem worse. What does this mean for the future of forests in places like Ashland? How should fire prone communities handle stands of dead trees which can act as fuel for wildfires? Max Bennett is a retired extension forester with Oregon State University. He led research on Douglas...

Nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in statehouses across the U.S in 2023. While many were defeated, the ACLU has tracked more than 80 bills that were passed into law. These include measures banning gender-affirming care for minors, banning trans athletes from playing in K-12 sports and prohibiting minors from attending drag story hours and shows. While some of these laws are currently be...

Next month, the city of Vancouver will open the newly redesigned Chelsea Anderson Memorial Play Station at Marshall Park. But this isn’t your typical playground. For one thing, wood chips have been replaced with smooth surfaces to allow children in wheelchairs easy access to play features, including a merry-go-round and swing, modified for their use and enjoyment. Instead of an abundance of...

Tim Bond will become Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s newest artistic director at the end of this week.  He takes over at a time of turmoil for the company, which is still fundraising millions of dollars to cover the costs of the 2023 season. OSF’s executive director left in January. The previous artistic director, Nataki Garrett, left in April after leading the organization through...

On Sept. 1, people who suffer from fentanyl addiction in the Portland area will have a new place to go for 3-7 days while they get treatment. The nonprofit Recovery Works NW used Measure 110 funding to open the 16-bed treatment center, which will be staffed around the clock 365 days a year. Recovery Works NW has been working with doctors providing outpatient medical assisted opiate treatment for y...

Ann Patchett’s latest novel is set during the pandemic, but it is also set in the past. The main character, a mother of three adult daughters, tells her children the story of her own youthful romance with a man who is now a famous movie star. The story is told over long days picking cherries on their family farm, where everyone has gathered together for the lockdown. Though the central story...

Sophia Weiss is the owner of Firebird Farms, a working ranch nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains outside of Ashland. But you won’t find any Angus beef cattle roaming and grazing on the rolling hills of her 200-acre property. Instead, you’ll find a herd of about 80 Tibetan yaks which Weiss has carefully bred and built up from a pair she acquired nearly a decade ago off a C...

A new audit from the Oregon Secretary of State’s office found that the current healthcare structure for Medicaid pharmacy benefit managers lacks transparency and is too complex to properly measure its value. Pharmacy benefit managers are the go-between for drug manufacturers and wholesalers. They are responsible for paying and processing prescription drug claims, creating preferred drug list...

The city of Portland has had the dubious distinction of being the only city of its size where police officers do not wear body cameras. Last spring, the police union and the city came to an agreement to move forward with body-worn cameras. Now, 150 officers are wearing them in a 60-day pilot project that began this week. OPB’s Jonathan Levinson joins us with details.

With the departure of the University of Oregon and the University of Washington from the Pac-12 conference, athletics at Oregon State University face an uncertain future. OSU is one of four remaining schools in the conference, along with Washington State University, Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. OSU President Jayathi Murthy has said the university is doing everyth...

PHAME, an experiential arts academy designed for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, has been around for decades. Students take classes in visual art, photography, improv, voice acting and much more. The academy has put on plays, musicals and even rock operas before, but it’s never undertaken anything quite like this weekend’s show, says Jessica Dart, who co-directs...

The acute lack of public defenders in Oregon has been nothing short of a constitutional crisis. An American Bar Association study released last year confirmed the state had only a third of the public defense attorneys it needed to ensure the civil rights of those accused of crimes. There were about 600, but about 1,300 more were needed. Defendants have had to be released because there were no publ...

 In 2020, Oregon voters passed Measure 109, a ballot initiative that made Oregon the first state in the nation to legalize the use of the psychedelic drug psilocybin. It directed the Oregon Health Authority to create a framework to regulate and issue licenses for the manufacture, testing, sale and use of psilocybin in supervised settings. Clients 21 and older can buy and consume psilocybin in...

Kwame Alexander has written many books and picture books for children, tackling a range of different topics. His newest book, “The Door of No Return,” is the first in a trilogy starting in Ghana in the 1800’s when white colonizers began the slave trade. The book is written as a series of poems, following a young boy, Kofi, who is captured and sold into the slave trade. Kwame Alex...