Think Out Loud

Operation Inflation was conceived last fall when protests at Portland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement building routinely drew counter protesters and a large law enforcement presence. Jordy Lybeck and his wife Lacy wanted to impact the nature of news coverage as Pres. Trump threatened to send National Guard troops to Portland. As Trump’s baseless assertions that Portland was &ldqu...

Father Tom Oddo served as president of the University of Portland from 1982 until his death in a car crash in 1989. During his presidency, he helped UP transition to coed housing, oversaw construction of the Chiles Center and reversed the university’s declining enrollment.    Before coming to Portland, Oddo was a key member of the gay rights movement in Boston, advocating for the f...

Just over two years ago, Eugene Weekly, the city’s longtime alternative-weekly newspaper, came to a shocking halt. EW’s editor announced that their beloved paper was flat broke — not because of mismanagement, but because their business manager had apparently been embezzling for years . The paper was missing $100,000, with an additional $200,000 in bills that hadn't been paid. Edi...

New reporting from InvestigateWest finds it’s difficult for parents in Washington to challenge flawed reports concerning guardians ad litem, the court-appointed guardians assigned to children in custody cases, who decide where their children will stay temporarily. If parents do challenge these professionals, they risk hurting their case to regain custody of their children. In Washington, wit...

The Thornburgh Resort is a planned resort in Deschutes County that would provide 950 residential units, 380 overnight lodging units, two golf courses and a luxury hotel, among other offerings. But for more than two decades, the resort has faced continued challenges with the state’s regulatory laws, delaying its progress. A new report from the developer says the continued delays have cost the...

he Pacific Northwest has had an unusually warm winter. This year, Portland saw one of the warmest winters it has seen in the last 88 years. In fact, this February was one of the warmest and driest months in the nation's records . But what do these warmer winters mean for snow? A new study from the University of Washington found that warming temperatures leads to snow crusts happening more often in...

Amazon has a big footprint in Morrow County driven by tax incentives, cheap power and available land. A new complaint from the Oregon Department of Justice claims that some of those tax incentives and land sales were approved by people who benefitted from the company’s purchase of internet services from a small company called WindWave. Mike Rogoway, business and technology reporter for The O...

Artificial Intelligence is impacting business, government, social media — and countless aspects of modern life. Child health and safety advocates say the effects of social media and the rise of chatbots and other AI on children can be devastating and lead to depression, and in the worst cases, suicide. Oregon lawmakers passed a bill in the short session to protect children and youth from the...

The Center for Addiction Science, Policy, and Research , or CASPR, released a nationwide report ranking states based on their ability to protect residents from online gambling harm. Oregon received an “F” grade — among the bottom 10 states for its lack of gambling harm reduction methods.   Gambling is often regarded as an invisible addiction due to its lack of visible physic...

The two unions representing faculty and staff at Portland Community College have been on strike since March 11. It’s the first ever strike at a community college in Oregon. Instructors and staff are negotiating for higher cost-of-living and salary increases, among other issues. With the spring term scheduled to start March 30, the negotiations could delay classes , many of which have taken p...

Portland storyteller and comic Ash Allen is on something of a roll. She’s won the Moth’s StorySLAM multiple times. Willamette Week recently named her one of its Funniest Five and in 2025 she was a Best of Portland Comedy finalist. Allen has headlined festivals including Pickathon, Fire and Story, and Hell Yes Fest.   She says this debut solo storytelling show “Big Feelings B...

Doug Lowell spent nearly 40 years in the world of advertising, from co-owning an ad agency to teaching the subject at Portland State University. But it was only in retirement that he was able to achieve his dream job of opening his own bookstore. As a third-generation Portlander, the business also allows him to play a part in the revitalization of Portland’s downtown, which he recalls once b...

The Mt. Adams Institute has announced that it will dissolve and cease operations effective December 31st, 2026. The Southwest Washington nonprofit provides educational and career opportunities in the outdoors through partnerships with agencies such as the U.S. National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service. It pairs young adults and U.S. military veterans with internship opportunities in outdoo...

Spring has sprung! And Hearth and Hollow owner Dusti Arab is passionate about helping people grow their own food. She sells what she cultivates  herself in her edible-plant nursery and is also a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) grower. She says planting and growing food isn’t just for spring — it’s an all season activity. Her entire operation is run out of her home in V...

Danisa McLean has taken the helm of Multnomah County’s Preschool for All program after her predecessor resigned abruptly last summer amid an external investigation into a conflict of interest. The program is funded by a 1.5% marginal tax rate on high income earners which some, including Governor Tina Kotek, have said is having negative effects on Oregon’s economy. In addition, estimate...

Leaders in the Columbia River shipping industry say there’s a growing risk that the 95-year-old Lewis and Clark Bridge will be struck by a large ship and collapse. Ships have doubled in size since the shipping channel was first put into use. Without modern sensor technology, it’s increasingly difficult for pilots to calculate clearance margins when passing through the channel. In the e...

Author and journalist Annalee Newitz looks at the history of psychological operations in their book, “Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind.” It explores misinformation, propaganda and how the stories we hear can manipulate us. The book also features a chapter on the work the Coquille Indian Tribe has done to undo damage these operations did to some Oregon tr...

“Think Out Loud” wanted to hear how people are navigating the dating scene right now. So we gathered a panel of “experts” to help us break it down.     Sarah Ruby Armstrong is the creator of Dating Profile Tune-Ups, Playdates and Kissing Booth Social Club . Taylor Kravitz is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the CEO of Empowered Fulfillment Therapy ,...

The city of Bend is considering changing its building code to require fire-resistant roofs, siding and other materials in new homes. As reported in the Bend Bulletin , the proposal comes after a surge of interest in wildfire preparedness assessments after the devastating Los Angeles wildfires in early 2025. The Bend City Council is set to consider the measure at its meeting on April 1.  &nbsp...

For the first time, Clatsop Community College in Astoria is offering a course on the spike in recent years of book bans and challenges . The 10-week course launches on March 30 and will explore the reasons why titles such as “The Bluest Eye,” “Looking for Alaska” and "The Perks of Being a Wallflower” are being targeted in school districts or public libraries. The cour...

An ambitious plan to develop a shipyard at an under-utilized industrial area near Astoria has come into question recently. Several lawsuits claim that a shipyard project at Tongue Point isn’t living up to promises made to partners, the community and the state. Among other claims, the lawsuits say a boat lift intended to help inspect and repair up to 50 boats a year has only lifted two vessel...

The Portland Arts Tax was passed by voters in 2012. It requires those 18 or older to pay the city a flat $35 dollars, if they make $1,000 or more a year and live in a household above the federal poverty line. Residents pay online or by mail separate from their other taxes.  Since it was enacted the tax has drawn criticism for the collection mechanism and how the funds were distributed to publ...

Since 2022, homeowners have been able to get up to 30% off the cost of installing solar panels through a federal tax credit . But President Trump rolled back those incentives as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The residential credit officially expired on Dec. 31, 2025. The administration also changed how it defines the start of construction for large-scale wind and solar projects, meaning...

When the Oregon legislative session kicked off last month, state lawmakers had just five weeks to tackle a slate of priorities. One of those was a plan  Democratic state and local leaders championed  to keep the Portland Trail Blazers’ prospective new owners from moving the beloved basketball team out of Rip City. Lawmakers in Salem moved closer to that goal with the passage of&nbs...

The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America is holding a free one-day conference in Portland on Wednesday designed for patients, families and caregivers. One of the keynote speakers is the co-director of the state’s only Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University’s Kevin Duff . He says early detection recommendations have changed over recent years a...