Think Out Loud

Next Tuesday, voters in Lane County will decide the fate of Measure 20-373, also known as the “Watersheds Bill of Rights,” in the May primary election. Organizers of the measure say it is in response to years of aerial spraying of pesticides in the county they claim has polluted drinking water and sickened residents. The measure also appears to be inspired by a global rights of nature movement, by claiming that watersheds –  including rivers, creeks and the lands they flow through –  possess “inalienable rights” that any resident in Lane County can sue on behalf of in order to protect those watershe...

When local folk legend Michael Hurley died last spring, his friend Alela Diane was inspired to write “Spring Is A Fine Time (To Die)," an homage to her friend and his career. The song helped catalyze her new album, which was recorded live in the attic of her Portland home. Diane joins us in the studio, along with fellow musician Peter Lalish, for a conversation and live performance.

Last year, Oregon lawmakers passed one of the toughest corporate medicine laws in the nation and a recent court case put this law to the test. SB 951 limits corporate influence in medical decisions and was at the center of a courtroom battle between Apollo MD, Peacehealth and local physicians in Eugene. The issue came up when Peacehealth announced it would not renew its contract with Eugene Emergency Physicians and instead would instead contract with Georgia-based Apollo MD. The case took a turn when it was announced that a tentative agreement between EEP and Peacehealth was made. Ashli Blow is...

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 parents across Oregon that are like-minded about creating phone-free environments for their children. Currently, these groups exist around Central Oregon, Hood River, Ashland, Salem and the Portland-Metro area.

One of these groups, based in Sherwood, was founded by Dani...

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.  

TK Smith is a writer and cultural historian who is curating the 2026 OCA Biennial that coincides with the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding. Smith took inspiration from author and civil rights activist James Baldwin’s anthology o...

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 Allen and her husband, Don, had made since 2018 to sell the business due to his declining health. 

Don died last May, and a few months later, Allen decided to throw a party at Crosl...

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 due to climate change?

Tiquette Bramlett is the founder of Henderson Ave, a collection of canned wines that launched last year. Jen Cossey is the general manager of Brooks Wine. They both join us to...

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 at the Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland.

Ada McGraw was one of the first women to participate in this program after it expanded to the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility last year. While serving her sentence, McGraw was paired...

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?

Jarrett Walker is a transportation consultant based in Portland — and he’s been answering these kinds of questions for public transit agencies across the nation for the last 35 years. We’ll hear hi...

 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 about why he loves poker, addiction and what the tournament circuit is like.

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 state in 1987 and has strengthened its protections in the intervening years. It is already illegal for law enforcement or public agencies to cooperate with federal agents without a warrant. 

The new laws strengthen existing protections and es...

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 smaller communities. But some people aren’t so keen on this idea. We hear more from Mike Rogoway, who covers business and technology at The Oregonian/Oregonlive to hear more about Amazon’s strategy and the variet...

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 the land as wilderness failed in Congress at the end of last year. We traveled to the area and talked to people about the land and the efforts to protect...

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 has chapters in Arizona, California and Texas. We listen back to a conversation we first aired on Aug. 11, 2025 with Shah and Mehta who shared how tennis has shaped their lives and their plans for growing Smashing Barriers.

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 growth by moving nutrients between plants and soil.

Scientists at SPUN say that this hidden vital component of land-based ecosystems is deserving of more protection. But protection for these networks is different from typical land protection, sinc...

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 said this has been one of the hardest things he’s ever done. He joins us now to share more on his budget proposal and the financial future of the city.

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 landscape transformed by artificial intelligence. But what about a liberal arts degree? We sit down with students, faculty and administrators at Linfield University to ask whether a liberal arts degree is still worth...

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 group’s launch comes amid rising vaccine skepticism fueled by misinformation about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. A recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation and The Washington Post showed that 1 in 6 parents in the US have delayed or skipped vaccines fo...

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, cases that don’t exist, or all three. Doshi says using AI this way is antithetical to the sworn duties and responsibilities of the profession. Courts are increasingly imposing higher fines for these violations and stat...

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. Navigators will respond to welfare checks and connect community members to housing, behavioral health and other services.

Eugene-Springfield Fire Chief Mike Caven joins us to talk about the new program and the sta...

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 expected to move faster through our landscape into rivers and streams in the Pacific Northwest through the coming decades, according to a new study led by scientists at Oregon State University. Scie...

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 prescribed burns on private land. They also work closely with certified burn managers for planning, securing permits and more to prepare the site for fire.

Chris Adlam is a regional fire specialist for O...

“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 say they need most and what programs and services are helping them survive–and for some, get housing. 

Kathleen Conte is the lead investigator of the study, and Cassie Marusa is a member of the 17-person Lived Experience Committee that helped produce...

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 brought together puzzle lovers across the country to Atlanta to compete. Portlander Rob Shields was one of the attendees. He is a speed puzzling enthusiast as well as the host of "Piece...

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 resistance to the antibiotic orchardists have typically used to protect their fruit trees.

But that resistance may have met its match in a compound that W...

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 have been extremely malnourished. Scientists think that melting sea ice due to climate change in the arctic is reducing the whales’ food supply, leading to the uptick in whale deaths recorded along the entire West...

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-life, filled with lies and organized crime in a city changed by extreme wealth. Patrick Radden Keefe dives into this story in his newest book, “London Falling,” focused on Brettler’s death and the people aroun...

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, May 19.

Joy Alise Davis is the executive director of Imagine Black. She joins us to talk about voter burnout in Portland’s Black communities and how her organization hopes to make voting exciting again.

Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute are pioneering a new way to study cancer that could lead to faster cancer detection and more targeted treatment. It involves 3D printing cancer cells from a patient and miniature versions of organs like bones and lungs. The healthy tissue and cancer cells are placed together inside a tiny device that’s roughly the size of a thumbdrive. Scientists can then observe in real time how they interact and discover ways to halt the cancer’s spread into the healthy tissue. 

Luiz Bertassoni is the director...

As of last week, Oregon had reported 20 measles cases since the start of 2026. Measles was declared eradicated in the U.S. in 2000, but falling vaccination rates have driven outbreaks in more than half of U.S. states so far this year. Health officials warn that community transmission in Oregon is beginning to grow and have asked for the public’s help in curbing the spread.

Dean Sidelinger is a health officer and state epidemiologist for the Oregon Health Authority. He joins us with more details about where the outbreak stands and how people can stay saf...

Josh Hancock, Danielle Doelling and Anna Soens are all athletes based in Bend who suffered life-changing accidents, leaving them with varied levels of spinal cord injury. All three of these athletes spent their lives before injury participating in extreme outdoor sports. The film “Adapted” follows these athletes on their journeys to get back to the activities they love, and finding new accessible ways to access the outdoors. 

Paul Bikis, the director of the film, noticed the threads through all of their stories, and created a feature-length film showcasing the Hancock, Doellning and Soens’ unique journeys through their r...

From the Emerald Ash Borer to Zebra Mussels, Oregon is no stranger to invasive species. The state has a management plan in place that aims to detect invasive species early on, educate the public and prevent their entry into Oregon to begin with. But there are other tools that government agencies and researchers use around the world: dogs. Conservation dogs are trained canines that help locate invasive and endangered species, as well as playing a role in data collection for research. Jennifer Hartman and Heath Smith are co-founders of Rogue Detection Dogs. They both join us to share more...

Portland’s Bureau of Emergency Communications has drastically improved its 9-1-1 call times and medical response. Just a few years ago, the agency was short staffed and response times were far below national standards. But the efforts the Bureau has made have yielded dramatic results: it recently earned accreditation by the International Academy of Emergency Dispatch, which put it in the top 10 percent of dispatch agencies in the world. We talk with Steve Mawdsley, the interim director of the Bureau of Emergency Communications, and call dispatcher Hannah Kimbell to hear about the improvements they've made, and what it’s li...

Ponderosa pine trees dominate parts of Eastern Oregon and Washington and have long been an icon of the American West, but in the past decade more than two hundred million ponderosa have died. Particularly in the Southwest, scientists estimate that by mid-century less than 5% of the ponderosa trees may remain. We revisit a conversation we first aired on Dec. 22, 2025 with Portland author Gary Ferguson about the history and the future of the ponderosa forests of the Southwest in his new book, “The Twilight Forest.”

The Fertile Ground festival of news plays in development has become a staple of the Portland theatre scene since it first began in 2009. This year’s festival has expanded to 17 days, the longest festival yet, to take in the 80-some different productions that run through April 26. We talk with the festival director Tamara Carroll and Kristin Tehrani, who helped create “When I Was a Mexican: A Bollywood Musical.”

 Charitable donation bins, the large steel and metal boxes often found in parking lots, began appearing in the U.S. in the 1950s. By 1960, Portland had more than 70 goodwill bins, collecting tens of thousands of bags of donated goods a year. But there is a cost that comes with charitable giving. New reporting from The Believer found more than 30 documented cases where people have died while trying to access donated goods. Many of the deceased were people experiencing homelessness, and the documented number of deaths is believed to be an undercount.

Paul Collins, an English pr...

Oregon voters passed Measure 110 in 2020. The goal was to decriminalize small amounts of street drugs and move users into treatment. That goal was ultimately not realized, and in 2024, the legislature changed the drug laws. They implemented a new program: it let counties set up deflection programs to direct people facing misdemeanor possession charges away from the criminal justice system and into treatment.

Most counties set up these deflection programs, and some, like Washington county, kicked off their program on as early as they could: Sept. 1, 2024. Now, a new report is out that details how many p...

For more than four years, business teacher Marcia Latta has been helping youth improve their financial literacy at McKay High School in Salem. In recognition of her efforts, Latta was recently named the Oregon Financial Empowerment Educator of the Year by Oregon Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner. The Salem Statesman Journal first reported news of Latta’s award, which includes a $1,500 cash prize for Latta, $500 for her school and $500 total in college savings plan gift certificates for her students.  

Starting next year, all Oregon high school students will be required to earn a half credit in personal finan...

 In 2023, the FDA approved the first gene therapies to help treat people with sickle cell disease. The treatment is for patients 12 years and older, but what if you could use this technology before someone is born? That’s what some researchers, and others, believe is the hope for the future. The idea is to use CRISPR, a technology used to edit the genes of living beings, during in vitro fertilization. It is much easier said than done, but could be possible in theory. Ashley Smart is the associate director of the Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT. He is als...

An explosion on April 26, 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, which was then a part of the Soviet Union, resulted in the worst nuclear disaster in history. Massive amounts of radioactive material spewed into the atmosphere. At least 30 people were killed. A Chernobyl Exclusion Zone was established and today remains largely uninhabited with lingering radioactive contamination. 

To mark the 40th anniversary of the disaster, a free concert is being held tomorrow night at Portland State University. The concert is being organized by Inna Kovtun, a Ukrainian singer, folklorist and ethnomusicologist who settled in Po...