OPB Audio: Recent Episodes
Oregon Public Broadcasting
The Multnomah County Homeless Services Department was first established in 2016 as the Joint Office of Homeless Services — an office overseeing services provided to people experiencing homelessness in Portland and Multnomah County The agency faced turnover as it transitioned from a joint office to a formal county department in 2024, and its newest leader, appointed in April, is Nathaniel VerGow, who comes from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
VerGow begins his new position following Portland Mayor Keith Wilson’s campaign promises to end unsheltered homelessness in Portland, which have raised questions about what goals can be realistic for the city and what services do the most good. He's also heading up the agency as it faces a $67 million funding gap. VerGow says the agency has the current job of learning how to “do as much if not more with less,” as the department adjusts to its new fiscal norm.
We’ll hear from VerGow about his plans for the agency, and how his work with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority can inform his new role with Multnomah County.
For the last 5 years, The Hybrid Gallery in Eugene has welcomed and showcased creatives of all kinds into its space. The art collective has diversified its offerings over the years, adding more classes, groups and space for local bands to play. General manager Geneva Vincent says The Hybrid is providing a safe space, not just for artists but for everyone in the community. Events include weekly open mic nights where anyone can share comedy, music, poetry and storytelling. And last year they added a monthly queer and trans figure drawing class. Mars Cantrell teaches that class in addition to one that focuses on body positivity. He and Vincent join us to share more about the art collective and how these figure drawing classes support both those who take them and those who model for them.
A large botulism outbreak in Klamath Basin wetlands could kill more than 100,000 waterbirds if more water is not sent to the wetlands. The Bird Alliance of Oregon is asking the Bureau of Reclamation to release the water to the Klamath National Wildlife Refuges and says if there is no intervention, the die-off could surpass the one in 2024 when 140,000 birds were killed. We talk with Teresa Wicks, Eastern Oregon biologist with the Bird Alliance of Oregon to get more details.
A feature on how attendees at the Crook and Baker County fairs are dealing with wildfire smoke.
The Portland Trail-Bladers host their final Beyblade tournament at Portland's Lloyd Center ahead of its closure on Aug 8, 2026. The mall transformed into a community living room over the past few years.
The power of a powwow has been described as a collective heartbeat that draws people together. Celebrants often say they feel unity and freedom as they dance in a circle. Those elements are especially vital for those serving time at the Oregon State Correctional Institution in Salem, where life is spent behind barbed wire and fortified walls. But as KLCC’s Brian Bull reports, for one day each year, inmates get to wear Native apparel and move to the rhythm of a rawhide drum with friends and loved ones. Warning: This story contains mentions of violent crime, suicide and terminal illness.
Gov. Kotek’s recent executive order on instructional time — and the process to put it in place — raise questions about the state board’s job.
Tye Austin is a classical guitarist and composer from Southern Oregon and also the founder and artistic director of Wilder Frets: Classical Guitar in the Wilderness.
The two-month-long concert tour that kicked off on Aug. 1 features Austin performing original and traditional classical guitar compositions at 15 state parks and other outdoor locations, from the Central Oregon high desert to the Portland metro area, the Rogue Valley and the rugged Oregon coast. Austin is making tickets available for free or at discounted prices for people facing financial difficulties, and he’s also giving away free classical guitars and music instruction to at-risk youth.
He joins us to share how the pandemic inspired this concert series, his vision for its future growth and to perform works audiences can expect to hear.
One of the most watched congressional races in the country is in Southwest Washington, and yesterday’s primary yielded few surprises. Washington’s 3rd Congressional District will be critical for both Democrats and Republicans hoping to control the U.S. House. Out of 435 House seats on the ballot this year, it’s one of only a handful of races political experts say will be a toss-up. Republican state Sen. John Braun and Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez will face each other in the November election.
We get an update on that race from OPB's Southwest Washington Bureau Chief Erik Neumann, and also hear about the Washington Supreme Court, Clark County Council and several sheriff elections from OPB reporter Elena Neale-Sacks.
At first, Ada Limón wasn’t able to write poetry during the pandemic. And then she wrote a poem called “The Hurting Kind.” From that flowed the rest of her new book of poems under that same name. We talked to Limón, then the poet laureate of the United States, before an audience in April 2023 at the Literary Arts space in downtown Portland.
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 around him. He joined us in front of a live audience of students at Portland's Lincoln High School in Portland on April 23, 2026 to share more on his newest book.
Four years ago, a Portland Jewish family’s home was destroyed in an arson. As they got rid of all their burned belongings, the one thing they couldn’t bear to do was toss out with the rest of the burned remains a 100 year-old Steinway grand piano that had belonged to “Grandma Bess.” Much of it was intact, though not restorable. They reached out to musicians and artists and ultimately found their way to Jennifer Wright. She’s a classical pianist by training, a composer and a sound artist who works with found instruments and other objects.
The family, who wants to keep their identity private, worked with Wright over the following two
years on turning the grand piano into a mixed media exhibit, including a newly formed glass piano and textile art made with the burned strings. In a statement that is included in the exhibit, the family wrote: “Seeing the piano transformed from a burned and destroyed object into the foundations of new instruments, furniture, art, beauty, and community awareness is a balm for the wounds of waste and loss. … Finding connectedness is an antidote to hate.”
We listen back to our visit to the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education to see the mixed media exhibit and talk with artist Jennifer Wright and OJMCHE director Rebekha Sobel. This segment originally aired on May 31, 2024.
On August 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing an estimated 140,000 thousand people. Hideko Tamura Snider was 10 years old at the time of the devastating blast and suffered unspeakable loss. She tells her story and her work for peace and reconciliation in the new documentary “Seeds of Peace.” She recently revised and updated her 1998 memoir “One Sunny Day” to include this work.
The film documents her involvement in the years-long effort taking the seeds of trees that survived the atomic bomb to grow dozens of trees in Oregon. The communities chosen have ties to “World War II memory, Japanese American incarceration, veterans’ experience, and reconciliation.” We talk with the historian David-Paul B. Hedberg, producer and director of “Seeds of Peace." The film is screening around the state, including on the August 6 anniversary at Portland’s Tomorrow Theater.
Last year, California and Washington passed laws to make it easier to allow midrise buildings to be built near transit stations throughout the state. Oregon did not. According to Fischer Jemisen, who runs urbanpdx.blog, transit-oriented upzoning in Portland could help answer the ridership recovery issues that TriMet is having. He joins us to share more on the benefits and challenges of transit upzoning.
Stage magic reached its peak in the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th century, when illusionists such as Harry Houdini and Howard Thurston fascinated audiences with feats of escapism, levitation and more. It had a resurgence in the late 20th century when David Copperfield, Penn and Teller and others brought their acts to television audiences.
In the age of reality TV stars and social media influencers, illusionists may seem like entertainment relics. So who’s still learning magic? What keeps the craft alive?
To answer those questions and more, we’re joined by George Alvarez, president of the Portland Society of Magicians, and Eric Pearson, founder of the magic performance group The Secret Society.
The Portland-based organization Stone Soup hosts a twelve-week culinary education training for individuals that have had significant employment barriers, whether that be experiences with substance abuse, gaps in work experience, lack of access to resources or housing, or other systemic obstacles. The program works to equip those participants with skills to enter the food service industry.
The organization was founded in 2018, and its community kitchen program also provides meals to senior care communities, schools, mental health facilities and shelters, some of which are cooked by those participating in the culinary training program, and some of which are cooked by Stone Soup staff.
We’ll hear from the organization’s director, Ellen Damaschino, and one of the participants of the program, Mikey Barth, about the culinary training program, as well as the organization’s work to provide meals to community organizations.
As the Bench Fire continues to threaten the Warm Springs Reservation in Central Oregon, people who’ve lost homes, and those still trying to protect them, are waiting for clarity about when the danger will pass, and what resources they’ll have to recover.
Dave Jeter thought it would be like the last time a fire threatened his corner of Baker County. It wasn’t.
‘Light of Day’ memoir tells story of Portland family’s heartbreaking struggle with childhood cancer / Portland author Lorna MacKinnnon Day has written a new memoir about her son’s diagnosis with a rare form of bone cancer when he was 9 years old. “Light of Day,” details the ways her family navigated six years of his treatment for Ewing sarcoma. After his death, she founded the Sam Day Foundation, which advocates for funding childhood cancer research and supports the families of children living with cancer. Nationally, only 4% of federal cancer research money goes toward childhood cancer, according to the Pediatric Research Foundation. This year the Sam Day Foundation and Oregon Health & Science University secured a $3.17 million research grant to fund pediatric cancer research. MacKennon Day joins us to share more about her son Sam and her own experience in his fight to both survive and live well.
Oregon’s wildfires have now burned an estimated 1.8 million acres so far. Dozens of large fires are continuing to burn, many only partially contained. The Confederate Tribes of the Warm Springs reservation in North Central Oregon is at risk from the Bench fire in the area. The KWSO radio station located inside the reservation is playing a critical role in helping the community stay informed about fire risks and evacuation orders. Station Manager Sue Matters joins us with the latest.
A conversation with OPB southwest Washington Bureau chief Erik Neumann ahead of Washington's upcoming primary election set for Tuesday, August 4th.
1803 Fund aims to involve the North Portland community as it pursues its vision for the neighborhood near the Moda Center.
Fog is a constant presence on the Oregon Coast, but it can be difficult to measure and track. In a recent study, researchers used webcams that are normally used to check surfing conditions to get a better picture of when and where fog forms and dissipates.
The team analyzed images from six cameras stretching from Cannon Beach to Yaquina Head and compared them with data from a visibility sensor at the Newport Municipal Airport that measures fog. They found that while fog was often patchy and rapidly shifting between camera sites, the airport sensor still provided a reliable picture of average fog frequency along the coast.
Sonya Rauschenbach is a graduate student in atmospheric science at UC Davis and the lead author of the study. She joins us with more details.
Disability Rights Oregon filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that Portland and Multnomah County “fail to protect people with disabilities before, during and after disasters.” It argues that the city and county’s emergency management systems — from alerts and warnings to evacuation assistance and shelter accommodations — are out of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
For more on the lawsuit, we’re joined by Jake Cornett, the executive director and CEO of Disability Rights Oregon, and Audra Pearson, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Earlier this month, the Pharmacy Foundation of Oregon announced it was awarded more than $5 million from the Oregon Health Authority to expand pharmacy access in rural and frontier communities.
The need is particularly acute in Oregon. According to an analysis by AP in 2024 using data from the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs, Oregon has the second fewest retail pharmacies per capita in the nation. Pharmacy closures can be particularly hard for patients in rural areas who may have to drive hours to the next available pharmacy to fill their prescriptions.
To help this population, PFO will use the OHA funds to install secure lockers in Burns, Baker City, Gold Beach and other locations for patients to pick up their prescriptions. The nonprofit will also roll out a prescription delivery service staffed with a community health worker who is also a bilingual pharmacy technician to serve customers in Heppner, John Day, La Grande and other locations. PFO is also hoping to launch a telepharmacy service where a pharmacist would be available for video consultations with patients and would be able to remotely supervise a technician as medications are dispensed.
Brian Mayo is the executive director of the Oregon State Pharmacy Association and the Pharmacy Foundation of Oregon. Ann Murray is a pharmacist and the co-owner of Murray’s Drug, an independent, family-owned pharmacy with locations in Heppner, Condon and Boardman. Murray and Mayo join us to discuss the OHA grant and the challenges facing pharmacies and the rural communities they serve.
Warm Springs rancher Jason Smith has helped manage the wild horse population on the reservation for decades. Now, he and partner Kremena Doust are helping keep the horses safe from a nearby wildfire.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 18,500 professional tailors, dressmakers and seamstresses in 2024. That’s a 30% drop from a decade before. The median age for the profession is 54, and unlike other skilled labor industries, not enough young people are filling in for those who are retiring.
What are the challenges of this work and why don’t more young people want to do it? To answer these questions and more we are joined by two professional sewists in Oregon. Stephanie Mendes is the owner of Love Stephanie Apparel and is an instructor at the Portland Fashion Institute. Mackinley James is known as the Fibrarian and is based in Portland.
In January of 2027, people on Medicaid will need to meet a slate of new requirements mandated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or HR1. Some people on the Oregon Health Plan will need to confirm that they are working, volunteering or attending school every six months. And everyone will need to renew twice a year, rather than once every two years. All this paperwork will be handled by the Oregon Department of Human Services, in collaboration with the Oregon Health Authority. Both departments are working hard to make sure they are ready for the January deadline. Vivian Levy, Interim Medicaid Director for the Oregon Health Authority, and Nate Singer, Director of Eligibility Partnership at the Oregon Department of Human Services, join us to explain how Oregonians will be impacted.
Reed College recently settled a pair of complaints from former students who said they were targeted and harassed for being Jewish. The college agreed to update its discrimination policy, implement new training for students, faculty and staff and appoint a coordinator for Title VI civil rights complaints, among other changes.
For a student perspective on the settlement, we’re joined by Reed Student Body President Andrew Happy.
As Moda Center deal looms, Portland city officials at the center of negotiations weigh in
By Monday, the Bench fire burning in Warm Springs grew to more than 40,000 acres after combining with the Beachcomb fire. At least six homes and five buildings have been lost, according to state fire officials.
Hundreds of people are under Level 3 “Go Now!” evacuation orders, with more than a thousand others under lower evacuation levels.
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Tribal Council Chair Dennis White III has issued a state of emergency declaration that authorizes coordination with and seeks assistance from state, local and federal agencies to fight the wildfires threatening the reservation and taking a toll on tribal services. Tribal officials have now issued a water conservation order and a boil water advisory while announcing the closure of government offices on Tuesday.
Edward Henderson, Secretary-Treasurer/CEO of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, joins us to share more.
Portland city officials are rapidly approaching the Aug. 12 deadline to begin negotiations for a Moda Center deal.
With both city officials and Trail Blazers management firm in their stance, the threat of a Trail Blazers relocation has crept into NBA discourse.
NBA reporters Mike Vorkunov and Yaron Weitzman join us to discuss further about the possibility of a Blazers relocation, and what cities may be attractive suitors for the franchise.
Firefighting crews are working around the clock to contain the dozens of wildfires burning across Central, Eastern and Southern Oregon. The Oregon Department of Forestry is coordinating with state, local and federal agencies to contain large wildfires that have triggered level 1, 2 and 3 evacuations and led to air quality advisories in more than a third of the counties in the state.
The agency’s complex incident management teams have taken command of the Akawa Butte fire burning near Sisters and are assisting on several fires that are part of the Rowe Creek Complex. A state-to-state mutual aid agreement has allowed ODF to get help from Florida firefighters who took over command on Monday of the Evans Creek fire in Southern Oregon.
Kyle Williams, ODF’s Deputy Fire of Fire Operations, joins us for more details.
Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon has existed since 1872 under various names and is one of the largest employers in the rural region. It’s also one of the most affordable Universities for students in the surrounding areas. But financial troubles have brought the university to the brink of closure.
Over the weekend, the Bench and Beachcomb fires experienced extreme fire activity and merged to create one fire now known as the Bench Fire. With three potential fronts reportedly threatening the Warm Springs community.
Portlander Aliyah Tan recently won first place at the National Yo-Yo Contest in Las Vegas. It was the first time Tan took the spot spot since she started competing at nationals in 2014. Tan’s winning routine, set to music by the British rock band The Last Dinner Party, featured three minutes of elaborate string tricks between two yo-yos. She now heads to the World Yo-Yo Contest in Himeji, Japan, next month.
Tan joins us in the studio to talk about her elaborate yo-yo routines and what she loves about it.
Tribal police departments in Washington employ police officers who have been fired at a disproportionate rate, according to new reporting from InvestigateWest. At the state level, tribal law enforcement only makes up about 2.5% of the police force, but they hire four times more officers who were previously fired or resigned in lieu of termination than other departments. Melanie Henshaw reported on this issue for InvestigateWest and joins us to share more.
On July 19, Portland celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the BIKETOWN bike-share program with a record-setting electric bike ride.
With 1,069 attendees, Portland shattered the Guinness record for largest e-bike ride, more than doubling the previous record set by Seattle.
Director of Portland Bureau of Transportation, Millicent Williams joins us to discuss the record-breaking e-bike ride, and reflect on the 10-year anniversary of the BIKETOWN program.
Cascade Head UNESCO Biosphere is doing well despite losing federal funding and not getting much direction from the United Nations.
For a group of incarcerated girls at the Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility in Albany, a natural hair care program is providing both training and styling.
The board is taking up an aspirational proposal to rename the center, reduce its primate population over time and invest in new approaches.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek visited fire crews in Sisters, where the nearby Akawa Butte Fire has already burned at least two homes. Officials say it's the number one priority wildfire in the nation.
More than 500,000 acres have burned in Oregon from wildfires that were sparked last week by lightning storms. That includes the Rowe Creek Complex that has grown to roughly 150,000 acres and triggered level 1, 2 and 3 evacuation notices for residents in Wheeler and Wasco counties. The fires have also led to air quality advisories for more than a third of the counties in the state.
Rangeland Fire Protection Associations have been working with state and federal agencies to respond to the Rowe Creek Complex and other fires in remote, difficult terrain. There are currently 29 RFPAs in Oregon. Their members are ranchers and private landowners who volunteer to help fight wildfires on private rangelands in coordination with the Oregon Department of Forestry and other state and federal agencies.
Ted Netter is a rancher and chairman of the Oregon RFPA Advisory Committee and the fire supervisor of the Lower Bridge RFPA which serves Jefferson and Deschutes counties. Ross Ryno is a rancher and member of the Twickenham RFPA which serves parts of Wheeler county. They join us to talk about their efforts to protect their homes and communities from the Rowe Creek Complex and Akawa Butte fire burning near Sisters.
Last year over 7,000 people gathered on camp chairs and picnic blankets to hear the opera “Carmen” at Peninsula Park in Portland. It was a performance staged by the organization Opera in the Park, which aims to share the love of opera with as many people as possible. This year the organization will bring the Oregon premiere of the world's first Mariachi opera, “Cruzar la Cara de la Luna,” to both Portland and Hillsboro. Ashley Clark, the executive director of Opera in the Park, and Nicholas Fox, the artistic director, join us to talk about the performance.
Nearly 30% of people who experienced homelessness in Clark County last year were children. That’s according to a recent report by the Council for Homelessness, which also found that the percentage of family households stabilized through rent assistance dropped by 5% last year.
For families experiencing homelessness in Vancouver, they may have to wait months until a spot becomes available at the few shelters that allow families. The nonprofit Share operates two shelters in Vancouver for families, each with 14 rooms, on-site laundry, a communal kitchen and dining area, and indoor and outdoor play areas for children. As The Columbian recently reported, Share’s shelters have remained at or near capacity for years. Adrianna Kofoed, director of family shelters at Share, says she and her staff have seen increased demand in just the past year, with at least five or six calls a day from parents seeking help for their families.
Kofoed joins us to share more details about Share’s family shelters. Also joining us is Gracie White, a mother who has been staying at Share’s Homestead shelter for roughly a month with four of her children.
Public and private universities alike are facing increasing financial strain with rising costs, limited funding and tuition already unaffordable for many. Now two of Oregon’s private universities have decided to merge, in large part to save money. Willamette University and Pacific University are the oldest colleges in Oregon and the entire Western U.S., predating Oregon statehood. Leaders of both universities say their institutions’ mission and values are aligned. They also say the merger won’t just save money but will “expand academic offerings, broaden access, and deepen the opportunities for students across the region.”
The structure Willamette and Pacific are pursuing is what’s known as a collegiate model, where multiple universities exist as part of a larger institution. The two universities will retain their names and campuses as part of what will likely be named the University of the Northwest. Pacific University President Jenny Coyle and Willamette University President Steve Thorsett join us to discuss the merger and its impact on the institutions and the students they serve.
Glendon Smith is the inaugural tribal liaison for the Oregon State Police. Since 2023, he’s been responsible for establishing relationships with Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes and educating state troopers on how to interact with tribal citizens and other law enforcement agencies. He recently received a public service ambassador award from Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek for his work.
Smith joins us to talk more about his role and the relationship between tribal and state law enforcement.
About 100 different industry, government and academic organization are part of the consortium that will spend 160 million over the next 10 years to increase research on and production of semiconductors. These components are vital to virtually every electronic device you are likely to use, from mobile phones to home appliances. Industry and government leaders say it’s vital that the U.S. keep up with demand and support its semiconductor research, development and production.
That’s the intention behind the Frontiers of Advanced Semiconductor Technology, or FAST, grant. Oregon State University is coordinating the consortium’s efforts. Rob Stone is a Professor of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at OSU, and the interim CEO and principal investigator of FAST. He joins us to share more about how the money will be used and its effect on Oregon’s economy.
Portland author and investigator Rene Denfeld releases new thriller, ‘The Talking Bone’
The lone minor-party nominee currently headed to the ballot could siphon votes from Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek.
We end the show today with a listener mailbag. Guest host Jenn Chavez and senior producer Allison Frost read some of your comments about the topics from recent “Think Out Loud” episodes.
The Trump administration is rewriting Bureau of Land Management rules to increase the number of cattle and other livestock that can graze on public lands. The rules affect 155 million acres in the West, an area more than two-and-a-half times the size of Oregon.
The BLM says the proposal “reflects the Trump administration’s priority to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, promote productive working lands and strengthen local economies.” But environmental groups have raised concerns about the effect loosening these rules would have on wildlife. And Native American tribes that manage bison anticipate impacts on their herds as well. The public comment period on the proposal closed last week.
We talk with Mark Olalde, reporter for High Country News and Propublica, about the plan and how it would affect ranching as well as wildlife and Indigenous tribes.
From Journey and the Grateful Dead, to The Strokes and Depeche Mode, Oregon has no shortage of tribute bands. But why perform the music of another artist?
Adam Corkery is a guitarist and vocalist for Brown Stallion, a Ween tribute band based in Eugene and Portland. Renée Muzquiz is the lead vocalist and guitarist for Major Tomboys, an all-femme David Bowie tribute based in Portland. She also represents Linda Ronstadt in Stone Phoneys, a tribute to Ronstadt, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris.
They both join us to talk about the joys of performing familiar songs for die-hard fans.
Whether you like it or not, street art is a defining component of a city. However, street art has historically been a male-dominated field, which inspired the Portland Street Art Alliance’s Ladies Up Project. With allocated space and canvases, Ladies Up is rooted in empowering the creative expression of female street artists. We’ll hear from Executive Director Tiffany Conklin and artist Kyra Watkins about the program’s impact and recent expansion.
For 52 years, citizen-scientists have documented Mt. Shasta’s melting glaciers as the planet warms from climate change. They’ve taken a series of photographs over decades that shows these glaciers shrinking.
These citizen-scientists say they’re hoping to reduce “environmental amnesia” by presenting this visual evidence of climate change.
Washington journalist and author of “The Earth Said Remember Me,” Jason Dove Mark, joins us to discuss his experience on Mt. Shasta, and its broader implications.
An estimated 56% of people turning 65 will need long-term care in their lifetime, according to the AARP. On average, much of the care is done by unpaid caregivers and friends helping with day-to-day activities. But a program in Washington is designed to help provide seniors to get the care they need.
WA Cares Fund is the first state-run program for long-term care insurance. It is funded by a mandatory surcharge on payroll taxes in Washington state. After contributing for 10 years, Washington residents qualify for benefits, which could be used for various services including: home care, transportation, adult day programs, home modifications and compensation for family caretakers.
Paula Span writes the New Old Age column for the New York Times and KFF News and wrote about this program, which started offering benefits this month. She joins us to share more on why this program is needed and the impact it could have.
For more than 25 years, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule has helped protect nearly 60 million acres of federal forest lands from logging and new road construction. Last year, the Trump administration announced it would end “the roadless rule,” which it claims would allow for “more flexibility” to reduce wildfire risk and for “responsible timber production.” Senate Republicans attached an amendment to the Wildfire Prevention Act last month to repeal the roadless rule that passed out of committee on party lines.
But building new roads to boost timber logging in national forest lands could imperil the quality of drinking water for at least 25 million residents across the U.S., according to a new University of Washington study. That includes residents of Portland, Hood River and other communities who get their drinking water from watersheds in the Mt. Hood National Forest.
The study also found other potential harms from rescinding the roadless rule, including to biodiversity and habitats for species like salmon that spawn in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest and other national forests in the Pacific Northwest. Hunting, fishing and other recreation activities could also be at risk from development of wilderness areas currently protected by the roadless rule.
Michael Dombeck is a co-author of the study and a Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. As chief of the U.S. Forest Service from 1997 to 2001, Dombeck helped create the roadless rule and implement it under President Bill Clinton. He joins us for more details.
According to the Oregon Department of Emergency Management, wildfires have burned more than 300,000 across the state so far. Fire officials say that lightning strikes last week ignited dozens of fires which were fueled by dry vegetation, hot weather and windy conditions. An estimated 1,500 Oregonians are under Level 3 — GO NOW! — evacuation orders.
Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple joins us with an update on the status of the fires and how agencies are responding.
Mary Fariba Afsari is an OB-GYN based in Portland, and she’s the author of a new memoir, called "Labor: One Woman’s Work." She tells the story of her practice, and how she came to turn a 31-foot-RV into a mobile women's health clinic. She also weaves her personal narrative with the story of her grandmother in Iran, who died as a young woman from a lack of reproductive healthcare. We'll talk with Afsari about the book and her work.
Earlier this year, Flor Sánchez made the agonizing decision to leave her husband and 6-year-old son behind, and self-deported to Sinaloa, Mexico amid the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown. As immigration enforcement activity spread earlier this year into Central Washington, where Sánchez worked in the fruit orchards, she made the choice to depart Sunnyside, Washington and leave the U.S. with her eldest son. Her story is part of a larger trend of immigrant workers making the choice to leave the U.S. due to immigration enforcement.
Daisy Zavala Magaña and Hal Bernton covered Sánchez’s story for Range, and they join us to discuss their reporting.
Portland artist Arvie Smith is known for colorful, larger-than-life oil paintings that explore oppression and injustice against Black Americans through symbolism and visual tropes. He’s also a professor emeritus at Pacific Northwest College of Art after a 35-year tenure. His murals can be seen on buildings in North Portland and at the Donald E. Long Juvenile Center, where he spent time teaching art to incarcerated youth.
Despite being in his mid-80s, Smith is far from retired — just last year, he received a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship. The work he created during that fellowship is currently on display in Chicago. Titled “Crossing Clear Creek,” the exhibit explores Smith’s childhood memories and experience of race in rural Texas and Los Angeles. We spoke with Smith in March 2025 about his life and work.
Seattle poet Kathleen Flenniken grew up in Richland and worked as a civil engineer at Hanford in the 1980s. She served as Washington State Poet Laureate from 2012-2014. In her first year as poet laureate, she published a collection called Plume, which deals directly with how her Hanford area upbringing influenced her. The book explores the history of the site, the death of her best friend's father from a radiation illness, and her childhood in "Atomic City.” Flenniken sits down with us from the campus of Washington State University Tri-Cities.
Meet the ‘scrappy’ women putting small-scale operations in Oregon and Washington on the winemaking map.
The Oregon Health Authority is considering doubling license fees for the state’s psilocybin service providers. The draft rules would also eliminate discounts for nonprofit service centers and facilitators who are veterans or qualify as low-income. A third of Oregon’s psilocybin service centers have already closed since OHA began issuing licenses in 2023.
Cathy Jonas, the founder and CEO of EPIC Healing Eugene, joins us to share what the proposed changes could mean for her center. We’ll also check in with Angie Allbee, manager of the Psilocybin Services Section at OHA, about the future of Oregon’s first-in-the-nation program.
The Jefferson County Soil & Water Conservation District helps manage irrigation, soil erosion, water quality and other factors that impact the health of the county’s watersheds. It’s supposed to be overseen by a seven-member board, but until recently, one seat had remained vacant for more than 30 years.
Alysia Klick’ump was recently appointed to the board as an associate director for Zone 1, which covers the Warm Springs reservation. She joins us to talk about her role and the perspective she adds to the board as a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs and fly fishing guide.
Many residents believe the water is harmful to drink. But the actual quality is unclear because the town failed to consistently test for metals and contaminants.
In 2022, the Multnomah county auditor looked into the jails run by the county sheriff’s office. The audit found that adults in custody who were Black or had mental health conditions were discipled and put in isolation or solitary confinement more often. That audit made several recommendations, but a new report says the sheriff’s office has not implemented the recommendations related to the use of solitary confinement. While the sheriff’s office did not include a response to this report, a public information officer told OPB that their operations were grounded in best practices, and that the auditor’s office refused their request to meet before the report was released. The sheriff’s office also said that “a decision to not adopt a specific recommendation does not diminish our commitment to providing exemplary public safety services.”
We talk with auditor Jennifer McGuirk about the details of the report and its recommendations.
People experiencing homelessness in Astoria will have to abide by new camping codes going into effect Wednesday, July 15. The changes to the camping codes make it illegal for people to camp knowingly on public property if they have access to “reasonable shelter,” which will be determined on a case-by-case basis. The code also provides exemptions depending on someone’s circumstances.
At the same time, Clatsop County budget and funding formula changes mean one of the city’s low-barrier shelters, LiFEBoat, will be seeing major cuts that could lead to a reduction in services and even closure. Osarch Orak is the executive director of the shelter. He joins us to share more on what these camping code changes mean for the nonprofit and the people they serve.
A Moda Center deal is in the works, and the Portland City Council will vote in just a few weeks to decide if it will spend public money on a renovation. But details are hazy about where exactly the funding would come from.
Mayor Keith Wilson and city councilors have suggested they’ll draw upon city revenue streams such as the Portland Clean Energy Fund and a fund within Prosper Portland, the city’s urban development agency. But the boards that govern those sets of funding would first have to determine if their revenue can be spent on the arena.
It’s just the latest in a long saga that has involved negotiations between the Trail Blazers and city officials to keep the team in Portland and meet demands for renovations.
Alex Zielinski covers Portland politics for OPB. She joins us to break down the latest updates.
On Tuesday, Columbia Riverkeeper joined a coalition of environmental groups that sued the Trump administration over a rule change that would undo protections under the Endangered Species Act for endangered and threatened species of animals like Columbia River salmon, steelhead and northern spotted owls. Other environmental groups and tribes have also filed separate lawsuits over the rule change, including the Swinomish and Squaxin Island Tribes in Washington state and Eugene-based Cascadia Wildlands.
The rule change, which is scheduled to take effect in September, removes the regulatory definition of “harm” under the ESA that for more than 50 years has been interpreted to include harm to endangered species’ habitats. That interpretation was affirmed by the Supreme Court in a 1995 decision. U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a press release the rule change “restores common sense, respects private property, provides much-needed certainty for landowners and follows the statute Congress actually passed.”
Miles Johnson, legal director of Columbia Riverkeeper, joins us for more details.
North Powder public works director says their office ‘looked like a bomb went off’ due to decades of disorganization.
For most artists, Portland isn’t the place to relocate amid the heights of their career.
But for iLoveMakonnen, relocating to Portland from Atlanta offered a space away from the pressure and attention of the music industry, and the opportunity to explore himself.
Makonnen joins us to share more about his upcoming performance at the Pride in Demand Queer Takeover and what has kept him in Portland nearly 10 years later.
Oregon school districts rely on the state for funds they need to educate students in their schools, but some educators and advocates say the formula they use to allocate those funds is outdated and inequitable. In-depth reporting by The Oregonian/OregonLive describes the way that students in poverty are undercounted, their schools underfunded and details how the resulting cuts are affecting some of the most vulnerable children in the state.
Education reporter Julia Silverman spent time with a student, a teacher, a principal and an attendance specialist in the Reynold’s school district in east Multnomah county. The district serves the highest percentage of low-income students in the Portland area. Silverman joins us to share more about her reporting and the possibility of state lawmakers reforming or overhauling the funding formula.
July 17 is the deadline for Washington counties to mail out ballots to voters. And it’s the first day voters can submit ballots. In the state’s top two primary, an unusual number of state supreme court judicial candidates appear on the ballot. And five of the nine seats will be decided in November. We talk with Sarah Mizes-Tan, state government reporter for KUOW and KNKX, about this unusual turn of events and other notable primary races.
Despite wildfires becoming more frequent and intense, little is known about how wildlife responds to the threats they present. Researchers at Oregon State University are attempting to shed some light on the issue.
A recent study looked at how wildfire smoke affected the behavior of robins. Instead of simply fleeing the smoky conditions, the birds often reduced their activity and shortened their flight distances to remain in their home environments.
Jamie Cornelius is an associate professor in the department of integrative biology at OSU and principal investigator of the university’s Little Bird Lab. She joins us to talk about what scientists are learning about how different wildlife species respond to wildfire.
A new report found that Portland Police Bureau response times for high-priority calls is on average more than 20 minutes. And as reported in Willamette Week, some neighborhoods in Portland can wait as much as 40 minutes. The reports of these delays come as a new city budget is adopted that will lead to cuts to public safety. A PPB-backed proposed measure aims to direct Portland Clean Energy Fund dollars to the bureau. Portland Police Chief Bob Day joins us to share more on response times and the new budget.
Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read recently called for the United States Postal Service to look at its policies around mail pick up on Election Day, after officials in Benton county found some voters’ ballots were left in mailboxes. The postal service has said they prioritize package delivery when staffing is short.
Read has also pushed back against the Trump administration’s threats to elections officials in all 50 states and D.C.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked vote-by-mail with false statements and is pressuring Congress to pass his “Save America Act” in an effort to exert federal control over state elections in a variety of ways.
We talk with Secretary Read about federal interference in Oregon elections and the security of elections in this state.
When ESPN feature writer Roberto Jose Andrade Franco spent two weeks in Woodburn, Oregon, he met and spoke with a host of community members, from business owners to coaches to artists. Those conversations informed a new piece Franco wrote about the ways the community came alive and together during the World Cup.
Franco joins us to discuss his reporting and what he found during his time in Woodburn.
In Oregon’s rural, coastal communities, volunteers are coming together to reimagine what end of life care can look like for aging residents outside of medical settings.
Three years ago, Margo Lalich co-founded the North Coast End of Life Collective. She’s a nurse and public health professional who says the COVID-19 pandemic was a “wake-up call” that helped her identify a lack of intentional, communal grieving and gaps in infrastructure surrounding end-of-life care in rural areas. She began hosting educational workshops via Zoom for people who wanted to learn more and be involved in facilitating end-of-life conversations and initiatives for their communities’ aging residents. One of the attendees was Kevin Shluka, a sculptor and landscaper located in Tillamook County who’s been volunteering in community hospice since 2024.
We’ll hear more from Lalich and Shluka about the role the End of Life Collective has filled in these coastal communities, and more on what it looks like to facilitate this unique model of care.
Five years ago, the Oregon legislature declared that racism is a public health crisis. A year later, lawmakers told the Oregon Advocacy Commission’s office to come up with recommendations for how to respond to the crisis. The final report detailing that work was just released. It has information about the status of 100 recommendations, ranging from community safety and social services to education and healthcare. We get the details from Kaj Jensen, the author of the new report and the operations and policy analyst with the Oregon Advocacy Commission’s office.
Every bus stop, route and schedule is a series of trade-offs. We spent some time ‘At Work With’ TriMet planner Tom Mills to see how Oregon’s largest transit agency decides which buses go where.
Former congressional candidate Jonathan Lockwood depicted political rivals in a series of outlandish videos.
In the 1920s, Mahjong took the U.S. by storm, rapidly becoming a popular game to play and a household name. More than a century later, Mahjong’s popularity seems to be on the rise again, as Yelp data shows a nearly 4,500% increase in searches for Mahjong in the last year. Annelise Heinz is an associate professor of history at the University of Oregon’s College of Arts and Sciences. She is also the author of “Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture.” She joins us to share the history of the game and why its popularity seems to be on the rise yet again.
Proponents for growing native plants, especially in gardening, argue that because native species adapted and evolved in their surroundings, they are best suited for the climate, habitats and mutually beneficial relationships with species in the area. But does this still ring true as our planet continues to change? Can someone have a garden that mixes both introduced and native species that still benefit insects and animals? Ferris Jabr is a science writer and author of “Becoming Earth.” He set out to answer these questions in a new piece for the New York Times. He joins us to discuss the native plants movement, its challenges and benefits.
It’s been five years since the Portland Clean Energy Fund, or PCEF, gave out its first grants. The fund has grown much more than expected, and various interests have proposed using some of it for non-climate goals. The Community Energy Project is among the local groups that helped create PCEF after voters passed the ballot measure in 2018. The Fund was designed to reduce carbon emissions to help get Portland net-zero emissions by 2050, develop a diverse workforce and focus on populations most affected by climate change. Jim Plantico is one of the Community Energy Project’s program directors. He joins us to share more about the program, what the money is being spent on more broadly and the specific projects that CEP has implemented with PCEF grants.
Amid the many return-to-analog trends in the U.S., vinyl records have held their footing as a popular medium since the early 2000s. In 2025, vinyl sales in the U.S. had its best year since the 1980s, and surpassed $1 billion for the first time ever. However, most vinyl record pressing is done overseas, with just over 40 record pressing plants currently manufacturing in the U.S.
Object Permanence records, based in Salem, is the newest vinyl pressing plant in Oregon. They’re also now the sole local manufacturer, since Cascade Record pressing in Milwaukie closed its doors just last month.
Object Permanence has been in operation for just over three weeks, and the co-owners Carrie Morrisey and Adam Philips will join us with the details of the vinyl-pressing business, and why they moved from Brooklyn, NY, to Salem to start their small-press record manufacturer.
While Portland is not hosting any World Cup matches, residents of "Soccer City, USA" have been showing up at local sports bars in hoards to view games. Away Days and GOL PDX are both located in Southeast Portland, and have been hubs for World Cup viewing since the matches kicked off on June 11. Co-owners of Away Days, Niki Diamond and Pete Hoppins, and co-owner of GOL PDX Peter Ma hr join us to discuss how their business fluxes during the busy soccer season, and the impact they notice the World Cup has on the Portland soccer community.
Prediction market platforms allow people to place bets on a staggering array of outcomes - from the US-Iran conflict to the winner of the World Cup to who Taylor Swift’s bridesmaids will be. Add to that list betting on wildfires.
High Country News recently reported that Polymarket, the world’s biggest prediction market platform, accepted bets on the Palisades Fire as it broke out in January 2025 in Los Angeles County. The fire killed 31 people and destroyed more than 16,000 structures. High Country News also reported on the launch of another prediction market earlier this year that is currently accepting only simulated bets on wildfires in California.
Betting on where and when a wildfire starts and how it grows raises ethical and safety concerns. A user on the prediction platform could, for example, engage in arson to score big on a placed bet. Federal and state fire officials High Country News spoke to rejected claims that bets placed on wildfires could aid their wildfire forecasting and monitoring efforts.
High Country News Correspondent Kylie Mohr joins us to share more details and what it means for Oregon as state officials prepare for a potentially destructive wildfire season.
The cuts are just the beginning. The hole in the state’s budget will double as federal funding phases out over time.
Marisa Anderson has been dubbed as one of “this era’s most powerful players,” for her deep and varied interpretations of American music. Her latest album, “The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music,” takes inspiration from folk music from around the world. From Vietnam and Syria, to Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, the album is shaped by songs from countries that have been in conflict with the U.S. in her lifetime. Andreson join us to share more on her album and performs live in-studio.
“Death of a Drag Queen” opens on the 60th birthday of fictional queen Cram Brulee. Her water is shut off, an eviction notice is on the door and the friends who are supposed to take her out to celebrate keep pushing back their arrival. Inspired by “Death of a Salesman,” the play follows Cram as she grapples with her own fading relevance and mortality.
The play opened at Portland’s Echo theater in December 2025 and moved to Triangle Productions before closing this January. It’s back at Triangle for another two-weekend run starting July 11.
Playwright Sean Brown joins us to talk more about the show and its renewed run.
Nearly 5 million acres of forest and grasslands in Oregon could be seeing drastic changes under the federal government's new draft plan for the Blue Mountain Forests. The draft, which was recently released to the public, proposes tripling the logging happening across three national forests in the state’s Blue Mountain region. While some are hopeful this could boost timber jobs that have declined in the region, others worry about the wider implications it could have on recreation and hunting. April Ehrlich covers lands and environment for OPB. She joins us to share more on plan.
The public university that received $3.3 million in public funds to build a daycare center that doubled as a workforce training pipeline closed after just 11 months.
Several days a week, Quinn Brown will head to Goodwill stores in the Portland area to spend hours at a time sifting through blue bins to look for clothes to resell on the secondhand clothing site Depop. Brown launched his business reselling vintage clothes in 2023, when he was a junior at Lincoln High School. He says his items sell on average for $13 and the biggest sale he’s netted to date was $250 for a ‘90s-era t-shirt.
But all of that is about to change. Earlier this month, Sotheby’s listed for auction Brown’s thrift store find of a lifetime: a warm-up jacket worn by LA Lakers basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain during the 1972 NBA Finals. Brown spotted the warm-up jacket this past January during one of his weekly visits to the Goodwill store in Hillsboro. He paid $3 for the jacket, which Sotheby’s has authenticated and estimates to sell for as much as $250,000 when the auction closes on July 20.
Brown shares more about his amazing discovery, how he got involved in reselling vintage clothes and the growing popularity of thrifting among Gen Z youth.
Oregon students missed classes, left school and struggled to learn as the fear of ICE undermined the school year. Washington County saw Oregon’s highest number of recorded immigration arrests from July to December. In all, Operation Black Rose led to the detention of more than 1,400 people statewide. That number includes some of the 39 kids who were arrested in Oregon between January 2025 and this February, according to the Deportation Data Project. OPB reporters Holly Bartholomew and Elizabeth Miller join us to talk about what they’ve learned in terms of how immigration enforcement has impacted Oregon students.
After more than 40 years in Portland’s Old Town, homeless services nonprofit Sisters of the Road is moving. Last month, the organization closed on a house in the Lents neighborhood which will serve as the new base of operations for the organization. This comes after the nonprofit closed its physical doors in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and after the organization initially announced their intent to purchase the House of Louie, before walking away from the deal. Nicki Dardinger is the executive director of the nonprofit. They join us to share more on this news.
Last Thursday, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek announced she had accepted the resignation of the director of the Oregon Health Authority, Dr. Sejal Hathi. As OPB reported, Hathi wrote to OHA employees that she was leaving to focus on her family, health and “personal priorities” without mentioning what she plans to do next. In May, the New York Times published an op-ed Hathi wrote about the lack of postpartum care in the U.S. new mothers such as herself receive, even after complications from childbirth.
Kotek appointed Hathi in November 2023, making her the first person from outside of Oregon to lead the agency. Hathi is also a part-time assistant clinical professor at Stanford University’s medical school, a position she has held while leading OHA.
Hathi is leaving OHA at the end of this month amid a series of challenges facing the agency, including a nearly 5% cut to the Oregon Health Plan, the state Medicaid program that covers 1 in 3 Oregonians. OPB health reporter Amelia Templeton joins us for more details.
Oregon communities have some of the nation’s highest rates of alcohol-related deaths among adults age 65 and older. That’s according to a new study conducted by the Woodlands Grove Recovery Campus in Ohio. It used CDC data from 2020 through 2024 to rank metro areas by both alcohol-induced death rates and total number of deaths.
Of the top 15 cities with the highest rates, six were in Oregon. Roseburg ranked second, Eugene-Springfield fourth and Medford fifth. Salem, Bend and the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area also appeared in the top 15.
Dean Sidelinger is the chief health officer and state epidemiologist at the Oregon Health Authority. He joins us to talk about the dangers drinking can pose to older adults and what the state is doing to reduce alcohol-related deaths.
Cathedral Park Cohousing is a mixed-income cohousing development in North Portland that was recently awarded $1.4 million in Oregon State Lottery Bond funds. Along with $2 million in funding previously awarded by Oregon Housing and Community Services and other funding sources, the project is expected to break ground early next year. In cohousing developments, residents typically own their own units but share common areas and participate in decisions affecting their community.
The nonprofit Our Home Inclusive Community Collaborative has spent several years working to secure the funding and partnerships to develop Cathedral Park Cohousing as an inclusive, mixed-income community. Fourteen units are being set aside for affordable home ownership, which people earning 80% or less of the Area Median Income would typically qualify for. The other nine units are being sold at market rate. Priority is also being given to people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, a group that often struggles to find housing options that meet their needs.
Alicia DeLashmutt is the president and founder of Our Home Inclusive Community Collaborative. Shane Boland is the development consultant on Cathedral Park Cohousing and the development director of Owen Gabbert, LLC. They join us for a discussion, along with Abby Braithwaite, a future owner of a market rate unit at Cathedral Park Cohousing.
In just a few weeks, our nation will commemorate the 250th anniversary of its independence.
As we approach this historic milestone, “Think Out Loud” has been hearing from guests whose life experiences and personal histories illuminate different aspects of what it means to be an American.
Noushin Hoshyar came to the U.S. in 2010 and just last month, became a naturalized citizen. She's originally from Iran and had a dream of working in healthcare. After attending school and receiving her license in the U.S., she became a nurse, something she could not have done in Iran. Hoshyar joins us to share her story, what it means to be an American and how she is thinking about the country's 250th anniversary this year.
It took months for Pendleton city staff to negotiate a tentative settlement to resolve a lawsuit over the city’s homelessness policies. Ultimately, it took only three hours of public pressure before it unraveled.
In just a few weeks, our nation will commemorate the 250th anniversary of its independence.
As we approach this historic milestone, “Think Out Loud” hears from guests whose life experiences and personal histories illuminate different aspects of what it means to be an American.
Jill Gentry is the recently installed State Regent of the Oregon State Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Gentry is an army veteran and worked for the National Security Agency for over 30 years before retiring to Bend and becoming involved in the DAR. Her mother and grandmother were also active DAR members. We talk to Gentry about her life of service and how she thinks about this country on its 250th anniversary.
The National Civic League has announced the 10 recipients of its prestigious All-American City award. Woodburn was the smallest of the 10 cities from around the country to receive this honor, and the only one on the west coast. The winning cities were chosen by a panel of judges based on how they demonstrated “innovation, civic engagement, and inclusive collaboration.” Woodburn Mayor Frank Lonergan joins us to share details of the award and what it means to the community.
The punk organization Volume Bomb has been around in one form or another for the last 10 years. It’s been organizing and promoting local punk bands ever since it began — with one neighborhood block party. Volume Bomb’s mission has gradually evolved since then, says co-founder Jason Rocksmore. Last year, they incorporated as a 501(c)(3) to better fulfill their goals of supporting local punk bands. The nonprofit aims to not only organize shows, but also to pay the musicians.
This weekend, Volume Bomb is launching its newest program called UnMuted, highlighting queer and female-led punk bands. Some of those Unmuted bands will be performing this weekend at the first annual Pride at Full Volume show in downtown Portland. Rocksmore joins us, along with UnMuted program director Jamie Lynne Powell-Herbold, to share more about how the organization has grown and what they hope the next 10 years bring.
Since 1971, the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) program at the University of Washington school of medicine has been working to bolster the rural physician workforce, both by recruiting medical students from these communities and providing them financial support to return to their communities as family physicians. The program also provides specialized education that prepares graduates to practice medicine in non-metropolitan areas of the northwestern U.S.
A recent donation to the UW School of Medicine will help to bolster this program, and fund students who want to practice family medicine in rural and indigenous communities.
Dr. Tim Dellit is the CEO of UW medicine, and Jenya Morales, a second year medical student who is currently taking part in the WWAMI program at the UW school of medicine. We’ll hear from them about this education model, the shortage of primary care physicians in rural areas, and about what this funding could mean for students who aspire to pursue family care in these areas.
As we approach the 250th anniversary of American independence, “Think Out Loud” has been hearing from guests whose life experiences and personal histories illuminate different aspects of what it means to be an American.
We’ll continue that conversation with Tony Johnson, the chairman of the Chinook Indian Nation. The nation represents five tribes whose ancestral homelands surround the mouth of the Columbia River in present-day Oregon and Southwest Washington.
The nation received federal recognition in 2001, only to have it rescinded 18 months later. Johnson joins us to talk about the ongoing fight for recognition and the nuances of being Indigenous in the U.S.
Centrally Oregon is a co-working space for artists, writers and other professionals which opened earlier this month in Sunriver. The Bulletin previously reported on its opening and owner Stephanie Gregory’s vision for it. Located inside a 1,400-square-foot warehouse, members have access to dedicated desks, an art studio space and workshops Gregory currently teaches on writing, printmaking, watercolor and more.
Gregory says she created the business because of her own experiences with working remotely and as a writer and artist in southern Deschutes County who often struggled to find local venues to teach her writing workshops. She joins us to share why she thinks her new space is needed in the region and her future plans for it. Kristine Thomas, the executive director of the Sunriver Area Chamber of Commerce and an aspiring mystery writer who has taken writing workshops taught by Gregory, also joins us for this discussion.
A Washington State University study found that rates of food insecurity in the U.S. vary among members of different racial and ethnic groups. It found, for example, that only 10% of Asian American adults who live in severe poverty are food insecure, compared to 40% of American Indian and Alaska Native adults living in severe poverty. It also found that low-income white adults had similar levels of food insecurity as low-income Hispanic adults while low-income Black adults faced more food insecurity than both those other groups.
A household whose income is below 50% of the federal poverty level is considered to be living in severe poverty, whereas a household whose income is 100% to 200% above the federal poverty level is considered to be living in near poverty.
Justin Denney, a professor of sociology at Washington State University, joins us to share more details about the study and how its findings could inform outreach efforts to communities with the greatest food assistance needs.
Gina Jacobsen and Leslie Warren are both financial advisors based in Portland who specialize in helping women navigate financial confidence and life changes such as divorce or death of a partner. They say they notice patterns in the women they work with — oftentimes, they have their first interactions with money management later in life, and Jacobsen and Warren often take on the role of building up self-reliance in those who are managing these responsibilities for the first time.
They join us to talk about what it means to build financial confidence and competency out of uncertainty when navigating financial systems.
Last week, the Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration to end protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian immigrants. The Temporary Protected Status program was signed into law by George H. W. Bush in 1990 and allows citizens of other countries to stay in the U.S. when it is deemed unsafe for them to return to their home countries.
The 6-3 vote only ends protections for people from Haiti and Syria, but will have broader implications for the nearly million other immigrants who also received TPS. Kelsey Provo is the associate legal director of the Innovation Law Lab in Portland. She joins us to share more on what this decision means and the impact it will have.
An Oregon law lets one wealthy region turn the desert green. When drought hits, farmers pay the price
Former Portland Black `n Blue band mates Tommy Thayer and Jaime St. James reunite for their first new music together in over 30 years
The state of Oregon has agreed to pay $49 million to the families of inmates who died while in state custody during the COVID-19 pandemic and to the more than 5,000 people who contracted the virus while incarcerated.
For nearly 40 years, Store to Door has helped homebound seniors and adults with disabilities in the Portland metro area by taking orders for groceries and delivering them each week with a team of mostly volunteers. These “Kindness Couriers”, as the nonprofit calls them, will enter clients’ homes - if requested - to unpack the groceries and stay for a brief chat. Those interactions can help ease feelings of social isolation for the clients, most of whom are low-income seniors living alone. In July, Store to Door will offer the grocery delivery service on a sliding scale, with no cost for clients facing the greatest financial need.
During the pandemic, Store to Door began offering clients free weekly phone calls made by volunteers through its Friendly Caller program. The calls are intended to foster regular social connections that may evolve into friendships between volunteers and the clients they serve.
Joining us for a discussion about Store to Door and the communities it serves are Program Director Cass Listro; Board President and Kindness Courier volunteer Jeri Janowsky; and Gloria Nussbaum, a Friendly Caller volunteer.
Katherine Lee Bates' greatest hope in life was to write a poem that people would remember after she died. One hundred and thirty three years later millions of people across the United States will sing “America the Beautiful,” commemorating the nations’ 250th anniversary. However, some of the same problems America faced at the time Bates wrote her poem are still relevant today.
Filmmakers Laurence Cotton and John de Graaf join us to discuss their documentary “From Sea to Shining Sea,” which follows the life of Katherine Lee Bates, and the striking relevance of “America the Beautiful” today.
This week, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington sided with the Center for Food Safety and the Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat in a suit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The ruling means that nine industrial shellfish operations that were approved by the Army Corps of Engineers off of Washington’s coast are unlawful. The plaintiffs argue that the USACE violated the law when relying on streamlined permitting procedures for the shellfish operations. Kristina Sinclair is the staff attorney for the Center for Food Safety. She joins us to share more.
Next month, the Food and Drug Administration committee will consider easing restrictions on some peptides. Some influencers have claimed these injectables improve muscle growth, create better immune function and slow aging, among other things. However, there is very little evidence to support the benefits of many of these drugs in humans. At the same time, prescription peptides that are already on the market, such as GLP-1s like Ozempic, have seen increasing demand for off-label use. Daniel Hartung is a professor of pharmacy at Oregon State University. He joins us to share more on the FDA processes and off-label prescriptions.
Two comedians in Portland have launched a "reality TV dating show" in which local singles bring their dogs to a park, release them, and dates are determined by dog compatability.
Chef Ryan Roundhouse is pushing the boundaries of Japanese cuisine at his Portland restaurant Nodoguro. The avant-garde omakase has menus themed around the abstract: writers, directors, music albums and even manga cartoons. Last week, Roundhouse won a a James Beard award for Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific.
Four times a week, you’ll find Camas resident Martins Licis working out in his home garage. Like many people, he will lift repetitions of weights to build strength. But most people don’t do 600 to 900-pound deadlifts or 500 to 700-pound squats.
Licis is a professional strongman who is currently training to compete in the Giants Live Strongman Classic in London on July 4 and another international competition three weeks later. The Columbian recently profiled Licis before his return to the World’s Strongest Man, which he won in 2019 and finished in sixth place this year. The four-day competition features grueling feats of strength like pulling a truck along a 100-foot course or throwing 30-pound sandbags over a 16-foot-high bar.
But it’s more traditional feats of strength that Licis is particularly interested in these days. In 2022, he launched with his friend and manager the YouTube series “Strength Unknown.” As host and co-producer, Licis has traveled to more than 15 countries to document and participate in ancient strength traditions, from sumo wrestling in Japan to stone lifting in Pakistan, and to meet the people who are keeping them alive.
Licis joins us to discuss the series, which is currently on hiatus, and how it’s expanded his understanding of strength.
Four times a week, you’ll find Camas resident Martins Licis working out in his home garage. Like many people, he will lift repetitions of weights to build strength. But most people don’t do 600 to 900-pound deadlifts or 500 to 700-pound squats.
Licis is a professional strongman who is currently training to compete in the Giants Live Strongman Classic in London on July 4 and another international competition three weeks later. The Columbian recently profiled Licis before his return to the World’s Strongest Man, which he won in 2019 and finished in sixth place this year. The four-day competition features grueling feats of strength like pulling a truck along a 100-foot course or throwing 30-pound sandbags over a 16-foot-high bar.
But it’s more traditional feats of strength that Licis is particularly interested in these days. In 2022, he launched with his friend and manager the YouTube series “Strength Unknown.” As host and co-producer, Licis has traveled to more than 15 countries to document and participate in ancient strength traditions, from sumo wrestling in Japan to stone lifting in Pakistan, and to meet the people who are keeping them alive.
Licis joins us to discuss the series, which is currently on hiatus, and how it’s expanded his understanding of strength.
The Menopunks movement started as a documentary. The goal was to debunk claims about hormone replacement therapy through interviews with doctors and hear the stories of Portland musicians who have benefited from HRT. But it’s now grown into a broader effort to advocate for more comprehensive and accessible menopause care.
A benefit concert series this weekend aims to raise money for the documentary and awareness around hormonal therapy through a resource fair and panel conversation with doctors and healthcare advocates.
Alicia J Rose is a musician, filmmaker and one of the founders of Menopunks. Gilly Ann Hanner is a participant in the documentary and a founding member of the band Calamity Jane, which will perform this weekend with both of its founding members for the first time in 35 years. They both join us with more details.
High Country News recently reported on how residents within the city limits of White Salmon, Wash. have lacked free mail delivery from the U.S. Postal Service for years now. The agency also does not provide free Post Office Boxes for those residents. High Country News’ reporting also revealed that at least 10 other towns in Washington, Oregon and Idaho also lack both free home mail delivery and free P.O. Boxes provided by the USPS. Meanwhile, White Salmon Mayor Marla Keethler has been trying to no avail since 2020 to work with the agency to create a new mail delivery route or provide free P.O. boxes.
Susan Shain is a freelance journalist based in White Salmon. She joins us to share more details of her recent reporting.
The Portland Trail Blazers named Micah Nori as their permanent head coach. We talk to KOIN-TV sports reporter Brenna Greene.
Portlander Carrie Joy Grimes’s new book, The Joy of Money, looks at the relationship people have with money and why why financial habits can be so hard to change, and why the deck is stacked against us.
The production found women who worked in factories during World War II — often centenarians — to invite them.
Portland Public Schools’ only K-12 school almost lost its high school this spring. Now, another class graduates as the district pledges to support the school’s future.
Danielle Jester spent the last year trying to cover Lake County remotely, from Northern California. This month, she returned to Lakeview to be the Examiner's sole reporter.
Soccer fans around the globe have spent the last few days cheering on their favorite teams in the FIFA World Cup. The five-week tournament is being co-hosted by Mexico, Canada and the United States. While there has been a lot of excitement about what’s happening on the pitch, there’s been not as much fanfare about the pitch itself — much of it made with Oregon grass seed.
The Sandy-based competition saw artists creating sculptures using chainsaws and testing their timber skills. Organizers say they want to spur interest in forestry careers.
The second episode of OPB’s documentary series “The Crackdown” chronicles the operation and its impact on the Pacific Northwest.
Portland’s Moda Center is getting old. The 31-year-old arena is home to the Portland Trail Blazers, and the team's new owners want the public to pay for major renovations – soon. The conversation is central to negotiations between the city and the Blazers to renew the team’s Moda Center lease. And now the city’s asking the public to weigh in.
Packwood built a reputation as a maverick Republican and champion of women’s rights. It collapsed amid revelations of sexual misconduct.
Packwood built a reputation as a maverick Republican and champion of women’s rights. It collapsed amid revelations of sexual misconduct.
The Tonquin helped settle Astoria and was the key to John Jacob Astor’s effort to build a worldwide fur-trading empire. But in 1811, the ship exploded, killing an untold number of tribal members and putting an end to Astor’s northward expansion.
For 10 years, April Fox has been teaching doom metal yoga classes in Portland, in the hope of making the practice more accessible and inclusive.
Outside of New York, bagels have been slow to garner the cachet or interest of other viral foods... but that seems to be changing, especially on the West Coast.
After paper mill disaster, Longview community rallies around fundraising efforts while long-term questions loom
The federal tax credit provides up to $15 billion in subsidies a year to help developers build apartments. It’s created housing that’s often no more affordable than the market rate.
As crews continue to work through hazardous conditions, company and government officials say it’s too early to know what might have caused the implosion in Longview that killed 11 people.
Recovery crews on Friday afternoon retrieved the body of another worker who died in Tuesday’s Longview paper mill chemical rupture. As the death toll mounts, officials look ahead to a long investigation.
Hundreds of Northwest cinephiles make their Criterion Closet picks in Portland this weekend
A day shadowing longtime Multnomah County health inspector Mike Christman as he conducts surprise restaurant inspections.
Recovery efforts are continuing at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co., where a tank holding hundreds of thousands of gallons of a caustic chemical ruptured.
9 people are still unaccounted for after a Longview industrial implosion leaves at least 1 dead. Others were being treated for injuries after a chemical vat imploded at Southwest Washington paper mill Tuesday morning.
With tax dollars unable to meet the city’s needs, and other revenues falling short, Portland is now turning to outside groups, such as private organizations, national nonprofits and volunteers, to pick up the slack.
Garry Small, 86, is selling his eponymous Saab dealership and service center in Portland after 40 years in business.
The WNBA season is barely two weeks old. But already the Portland Fire have surprised fans with a couple wins, endured some tough losses and even had a bit of controversy.
OPB is committed to covering the 2026 primary and general elections in our region accurately and fairly. Our highest calling is to bring you the campaign developments and context that you need — without bias or editorializing — to make an informed decision on the candidates and issues.
Oregon's public schools rank last in fourth-grade reading, according to an analysis of national testing. As a wake-up call for elected leaders, Pencil is running for governor as a write-in candidate.
Rising diesel prices are not just squeezing fishermen, but the fishing industry across the Pacific Northwest. It’s cutting into profits and adding new uncertainty to an already volatile business.
How to address the Eastern Oregon city’s growing homelessness crisis has supercharged Tuesday's city council race, in a place that sometimes has struggled to attract candidates at all.
A dozen large cruise ships will dock in Astoria this year, bringing a total of 28,000 passengers. And each of them will likely spend more than $100 over the few hours they spend in town.
Defense attorneys are pressing the parent company of Instagram and Facebook to turn over social media messages that could prove their client acted in self-defense.
After 32 years of helping shape Portland's culinary scene, James Beard Award-winning chef Greg Higgins plans to sell his namesake Higgins restaurant and retire. OPB's Crystal Ligori sat down with him to discuss the legacy of his restaurant and where he sees Portland's culinary scene going in the future.
The small Clackamas County city is in the process of filling another vacancy following the recent arrest of a city councilor.
The San Antonio Spurs dealt a crushing blow to end the Blazers’ season in their first playoff appearance since 2021. The season was also marked by a coaching scandal, a change in ownership and org-wide penny-pinching.
Camden Spiller, the CEO of Maddox Industrial Transformer, has purchased a series of notable properties in the Southwest Washington town. Some see progress; others have concerns.
The court’s ruling eliminates restrictions imposed by two federal judges in Oregon that strictly limited when federal officers could use tear gas on crowds outside the facility.
OPB's Geoff Norcross calls Ava, an AI assistant currently being tested on the Salem non-emergency line.
The Willamette Valley Communications Center is testing an AI program (named "Ava") for non-emergency calls for 6 public safety agencies in Marion, Polk and Lincoln Counties. We talk with Brian Carrara with Salem Fire about how it's going.
An arbitrator said Amanda Gonzales should get her job back, but the district has not let her return to class. Gonzales was put on leave eight months ago.
Jonathan Maus has announced he is taking a hiatus from BikePortland.org, a blog that has documented more than 20 years of Portland's bike culture and politics.
The former member of Congress and Happy Valley mayor served as America’s labor boss for more than a year before a mounting scandal pushed her out.
The Booklover's Burlesque Festival, which just wrapped its fourth annual installment, pairs burlesque performances with literary readings.
Since it's founding in 2021, the Oregon Pro Wrestling School in Hillsboro has seen a growing stream of athletes looking to make it as far as they can and continue Oregon's long history between the ropes.
The executive order issued Thursday aims to stop Oregon school districts from going below minimum instructional hour requirements. The order is meeting questions and criticism from the state’s most powerful education organizations.
Credited with developing the first commercially made hamburger bun in the 1920's, Franz Bakery has grown to become one of the largest family-owned bakeries on the west coast and this week celebrated its 120th anniversary.
Jefferson High's renovated building, larger student body mean a crossroads for Portland
The 50th anniversary special performance by Jefferson High School’s nationally renowned dance program is April 16-18 at the Newmark Theater.
For OPB’s “At Work With” series, which asks Pacific Northwesterners from different professions what it’s like to do what they do, we meet Asher Kondziela, a fitness coach.
Many ski resorts across the West have been forced to close early this year. An unseasonably warm winter has led to one of Oregon’s worst snow seasons on record.
A new OPB Oregon Experience documentary explores how the state built a reputation as a great place for pets and their humans.
The court will decide whether the limitations on crowd control weapons put in place by two federal judges in Oregon are lawful.
The state hasn’t seen a major measles outbreak yet. But it may only be a matter of time.
It’s been a year of adversity and resilience for the young but talented Portland Trail Blazers squad.
As the Thompson Elk returns to its spot in the middle of Main Street, a new comic book celebrates its rededication and revisits the statue’s 126-year history.
In a rare move, labor unions and advocacy groups are taking aim at two sitting Democratic lawmakers this year.
For years, communities across the U.S. celebrated Chavez’s birthday — March 31. This year, planned events memorializing the labor rights leader's birthday have been canceled. Instead of celebrating, Portlanders are calling for a way to acknowledge the pain of Chavez’s legacy.
High gasoline prices send ripple effects through the economy, and those who drive as part of their jobs are among the first to feel the ramifications.
Downhill mountain biker Alyana Van Horn is making a name for herself on the national stage by excelling at one of the most dangerous extreme sports.
The May ballot in Deschutes County is crammed with local candidates coming from different walks of life — a pastor, a medic, a rancher and a teacher are among the gaggle of 15 people seeking to represent one of the fastest-growing, most politically-diverse communities in the state.
Pacific University debuts sensory rooms to help students keep calm and succeed in the classroom
Documents obtained by OPB and ProPublica reveal that Tom Dundon was behind what regulators called an “aggressive push” to waive proof-of-income requirements at Santander Consumer USA.
Youth Watershed Council packs a one-two punch, helping both Oregon students and the local environment
Bruce Campbell may best be known to cinephiles as Ash, the protagonist of the classic cult-horror franchise “Evil Dead” by director Sam Raimi. Now, the Oregon-based actor has written, directed and stars in a new movie called “Ernie & Emma", set entirely in Southern Oregon's Rogue Valley.
This week, an investigation by The New York Times uncovered a trail of sexual abuse allegations against civil rights leader Cesar Chavez, including from two woman who were young girls at the time of their abuse. This news has sent shockwaves across the country, including here in Oregon. Reyna Lopez is the Executive Director of PCUN, Oregon's largest farmworker union. She joined OPB's “All Things Considered” host Crystal Ligori to discuss the history of PCUN, the impact the Chavez allegations have locally and the push for gender equality in movement spaces.
“Godzilla vs. America” is a new comic book anthology series that brings the towering ‘King of the Monsters’ crashing through the United States, one city at a time. In “Godzilla vs. Portland," familiar locations are rendered in beautiful detail — only for Godzilla to inevitably destroy them.
“Godzilla vs. America” is a new comic book anthology series that brings the towering ‘King of the Monsters’ crashing through the United States, one city at a time. In “Godzilla vs. Portland," familiar locations are rendered in beautiful detail — only for Godzilla to inevitably destroy them.
Mindy King lives in an apartment building that is less than 100 feet from the ICE facility on Portland’s South Waterfront. A judge’s ruling gives her a reprieve from the chemicals federal agents have been using against protesters.
For five years, a small, urban farm in Vancouver, Washington has grown produce that’s culturally specific to Latino communities. They’ve had to adapt because of increased immigration enforcement.
In the new children’s book “You Are The Land”, artist and author Steph Littlebird shares the joy and color of the Willamette Valley. An enrolled member of Oregon’s Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Littlebird explores how her Indigenous identity influences her relationship with the land.
Multnomah, Washington and Marion counties saw significant upticks as the Trump administration launched a crackdown.
After 11 months of failed contract negotiations, hundreds of Portland Community College faculty and classified staff say they are ready to strike.
May is supposed to mark the WNBA’s return to Portland, but an ongoing contract dispute has put the start of the season in jeopardy.
A new children's picture book called "Bing's Cherries" reimagines the life of Ah Bing into a classic American tall tale. The Chinese horticulturist worked in the orchards of Milwaukie, OR and was the namesake of the iconic Bing cherry.
The city’s fines are “at least 27 times higher” than any other city, according to the ombudsman’s office.
A mini-trial of sorts could determine whether a federal judge continues limiting federal law enforcement officers’ uses of chemical munitions at the facility.
Oregon has a long history of unsuccessfully trying to eradicate invasive species. The state came within one day of announcing it was free of feral swine in 2022. But then another wild pig appeared.
A 2014 postcard created by OPB's Amanda Peacher profiles Munira, one of OPB's Class of 2025 students.
Work on the historic Chinese section of Lone Fir Cemetery includes a community led art project at the site.
The war is over, her side lost. But Helena Marino is still fighting.
Marino is the main character of the new dark fantasy novel, “Alchemised,” by Portland author SenLinYu. The book follows a healer under interrogation in captivity in a time of war, exploring themes of women’s unrecognized labor and the violence of losing one’s autonomy. And if that already sounds dark, the story is also full of necromancy, magically altered memories and unflinching descriptions of the horrors of war.
A federal judge in Oregon has ordered dams that operate on the Columbia and Snake rivers to generate less hydropower and allow more water to pass in an effort to keep salmon populations from dying out. The order largely restores measures that were in place under a landmark deal to protect salmon that the Trump administration canceled last year.
In October, an ICE officer called the emergency dispatch in Portland. He was in his car, and told the operator that a kid was following him on a motorized bicycle. As the dispatcher took his information, the ICE officer said "I need someone here now, or else I'm going to have to shoot this kid." The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions from OPB about the incident.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who previously represented Oregon's 5th congressional district, is now facing back-to-back scandals. Last month, an internal investigation was launched into the Republican's conduct. Now, her husband has been banned from the Labor Department’s headquarters after allegations of the sexual assault of a female staff member. While local police have closed that investigation, other investigations continue. We get the latest from Washington Post political reporter, Meryl Kornfield.
The owners of Northeast Portland’s Lloyd Center plan to demolish the aging mall, but have no plans to replace the 60-year-old rink.
The Portland United Hockey league is an inclusive league for women, non-binary, and trans players.
In a case led by Oregon, the high court ruled the president did not have the authority to enact import taxes, undermining his economic agenda.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the GOP secured meaningful concessions from Democrats.
Athletes from around the globe are in Italy for the Winter Olympics. But in Oregon, a different breed of athlete has been training — and competition can get a little… hairy.
Simon Xu went to every single Plaid Pantry store in Portland in an eight-hour "pointless" personal challenge.
Portland’s billion dollar climate fund is being eyed to help pay for upgrades to the Moda Center, in an effort to keep the Portland Trail Blazers in the city.
As Portlanders gear up to once again pay their arts tax by April 15, even supporters say the voter-approved charge needs an overhaul.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon said federal officers could not use “chemical or projectile munitions” near the ICE building unless there was an imminent threat of harm.
This pillar of Oregon’s energy strategy can help the state meet its climate goals — and lower electric bills at the same time
As we wrap up the final days of the month, Dry January—a movement to go alcohol-free to start the new year—is also coming to a close. But as Crystal Ligori found out, some Oregon bars, restaurants and even wineries are embracing the NA options year round.
The Harney Basin in southeast Oregon is now a critical groundwater area. Farmers are navigating a process they say will put them in a tough financial spot that could put some out of business.
Holly Goldberg Sloan's new Young Adult novel — set in the town of Florence — follows a young girl trying to navigate home and family dynamics after her father died in a fishing accident.
The National Institutes of Health, which is the center’s main funder and client, is under orders to cut back animal research.
The Rose City Dog Show welcomed thousands of attendees and their furry friends to Expo Center
In November, the U.S. Treasury stopped minting pennies after more than 230 years, because the coins cost more than three times their own value to make. The end of the Lincoln cent is a nostalgic goodbye for coin collectors. That includes longtime coin dealer Monte Mensing, who owns a coin shop in Stayton, Ore.
Surrounding deep blue strongholds, there's a red sea of conservative voters — with some nuances under the surface.
Antonio Sánchez launched "Noticias Noroeste" on Inauguration Day in 2025. The daily Spanish newscast on YouTube has evolved into a source of news during a time of great fear and upheaval for Oregon’s Latino community.
The Dalles is pushing to expand its water reservoir to serve a growing population. The problem is, the population hasn't really grown. Now folks are wondering if the extra water will really go to local homes and businesses — or if The Dalles wants to draw water from the Mount Hood forest to slake the tech industry’s growing thirst for data centers.
The initial idea behind the project was simple: connect business owners to property owners. But so far, none of the businesses getting support from the No Vacancy project have actually opened.
Federal investigators said in court documents that they have not yet found video of the incident.
Workers at El Centro Mercado food pantry help feed families in majority-Latino community.
The development comes after a Republican-led campaign delayed key tax increases in the bill.
Since 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice has helped Portland police rewrite some of its policies surrounding treatment of people experiencing behavioral health crises. Does that entitle it to recent police records?
The troops were part of the Trump administration’s plan to support immigration enforcement operations.
A remote corner of southeast Oregon was the backdrop when a group of armed, anti-government militants took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters on Jan. 2, 2016.
Oregon lawmakers passed hundreds of bills in 2025, but only now will we see the impact many will have on our lives. That’s because barring any special directive, after bills are passed, they go into effect the following Jan. 1st. OPB's politics and government reporterDirk VanderHart breaks down some of the most notable new laws.
Clark County residents say they’ll get all the burdens and none of the benefits of proposed PacifiCorp transmission line
The Trump administration has sent five times more people at least 1,000 miles compared to the last year of former president Joe Biden’s term.
Rail enthusiasts use rail speeder cars to collect toys for children on the Oregon Coast.
Kelly Ma has two children in PPS. She speaks some English but has needed the help of a Chinese language specialist for her oldest. Ma’s son, who goes to Woodstock Elementary School, is on the autism spectrum. Ma was still trying to understand the U.S. education system when she realized her family needed help.
Trang Nguyen has two children in PPS. For her, having the help of a Vietnamese language specialist was invaluable when her son was struggling with his speech. But Trang considers herself one of the lucky ones — she got support when her children were still little. She and other parents who’ve worked with the LAS team are worried about what might happen to new families.
When Nancy’s family moved from Mexico to Oregon, she barely spoke any English. So when the youngest of her three sons was identified with a disability, she needed help. That’s when Nancy began working with a Spanish language specialist for Portland Public Schools’ Language Access Services team. But in the most recent round of multi-million dollar budget cuts, PPS eliminated that team.
Insurers love to cut costs — but they’re also looking at what happens after a medication is used. In some cases, paying more upfront can reduce emergency care and hospital bills later. A life-saving - and talking - allergy injector helps explain the economics.
The West Linn-Wilsonville school board will take up a vote this week to move forward with a school closure plan.
PPS dismantled the Language Access Services team last year amid millions of dollars in budget cuts. They say needed services are still provided, but some argue vulnerable families are worse off.
Assaf Mevorach is planning an unusual way to help start the Hanukkah season, a black light rave on Saturday ahead of the first night of Hanukkah.
At Work With an Oregon state park forest ranger, Rhett Wilkins, at Tryon Creek State Natural Area.
An exploratory lithium mining project and a federal push for energy dominance could hurt sage grouse conservation efforts.
Oregon’s two oldest private universities say their plan to consolidate will benefit students, the state’s workforce and help future-proof the institutions.
The ornaments at The Grotto are one of many examples showcasing the high-level tech work coming out of a Northeast Portland school.
State officials aim to buy providers homes to house vulnerable children. Advocates say it may help provide more stability for Oregon’s foster kids.
After a sudden drop in returning salmon on the Coquille River, a new Oregon law allows old-fashioned hatchboxes to return.
Oregon struggles to land federal counterterrorism money as Trump orders troops to stop ‘terrorists’ hindering ICE
If you ask Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, he has met his goal to open 1,500 new shelter beds by Dec. 1. But only 890 of those 1,500 beds are currently open for use.
Preservationists worry Portland State University’s plan to build for the future could erase the past
In a Portland kitchen, a nonprofit cooks up a small-scale solution to Oregon’s big hunger problem
Siletz Tribes, Oregon coastal community and OSU scientists learn from beached whale experience
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland has attracted national attention this year, as demonstrators squared off with federal officers. Now a far smaller Oregon city is bracing for its own possible clash with ICE.
We join Marty Valentine, the first record holder for a TriMet transit speedrun, to find out what exactly a speedrun is.
This week, the top elections officials from 10 states sent a letter to the Trump administration, demanding answers about how voter data is being used and shared. Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read was one of the signatories.
Oregon is one of the highest users of SNAP in the country. Now that funding has been restored, we get a program check-in with Mark Edwards at OSU.
A group of young Indigenous kayakers set out to become the first to paddle the entire Klamath River, from source to sea, after the removal of four dams.
Ranging from age 13-20, the youth dedicated years to training for the 300-mile, month-long journey. But for many, it was a journey generations in the making, as their relatives and communities had been fighting for dam removal for decades.
Central Oregon is a hotspot for a sport that boosters credit with drawing new and diverse players
It may be hard to believe, but 25 years ago, Portland was not a food city. So how then did it become the culinary juggernaut it is today? That was the question Portland Monthly set out to answer in their latest issue which took a deep dive into the 25 restaurants that shaped the last 25 years of Portland's food scene.
The College Access Migrant Program helped create pathways for students across the Northwest to enroll in higher education institutions.
In this episode, we feature Timothy Snyder as part of a Literary Arts Special Event at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
Oregon is on the northern edge of where olives can grow. But the state’s olive oil sector is beginning to establish itself, and Willamette Valley farmers are celebrating this year’s olive oil pressing.
In her ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut found President Trump “did not have a lawful basis to federalize the National Guard.”
Our dependence on cars isn’t just unsustainable, it's destroying our society, say the authors of Life After Cars.
This week features bestselling writer Elizabeth Gilbert as part of the Portland Arts and Lectures series at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
National groups are betting on blue-collar Democrats following Gluesenkamp Perez’s success
With deepest gratitude, I write to you today to share an important update. Thanks to your extraordinary support, we have closed this year’s $5 million budget gap created when Congress ended federal funding.
Shape note singing is one of the oldest forms of American folk music — and it has a thriving community in the Pacific Northwest.
A federal trial wrapping up Friday could determine whether President Donald Trump can legally deploy the National Guard in Portland.
The state offices are seeing a surge in calls as families prepare to have food benefits lapse starting Nov 1.
The state offices are seeing a surge in calls as families prepare to have food benefits lapse starting Nov 1
Federal immigration officials arrested a parent near Eastwood Elementary School last Monday. Teachers and parents have been patrolling the neighborhood every morning since.
Oregon and Washington are falling so far behind on upgrades to the electrical grid that the states could start seeing rolling blackouts during extreme weather as soon as next year.
A federal trial in Oregon that could determine whether President Donald Trump can legally deploy the National Guard to the city of Portland is set to get underway Wednesday.
Oregon is the first state in the nation to be considered “Accessibility Verified” by Wheel the World, a nonprofit for travelers with disabilities.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said Friday it wanted more time to decide whether to rehear arguments on the matter.
In her new novel, “Play You For It,” Portland author Sam Saldivar shares a romance about finding your place on and off the court.
Oregon Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley held the Senate floor this week with a marathon speech to protest President Donald Trump – and what he sees as the administration’s threats to democracy. He spoke for more than 22 hours.
An Oregon penitentiary is showcasing its inmates and their debating skills. They make arguments, speak to others' perspectives, and resolve disputes amicably — all of which can have a huge impact on their lives inside prison and out.
Funding for the federal government has been on hold for more than three weeks – but many people in the Northwest may not feel affected much so far. That could change on November 1st, when food stamp benefits end for 750,000 Oregonians.
The iconic outdoor store will keep two locations open with new ownership and an eye on community engagement. A third location in Scappoose was purchased by a local couple and rebranded as The Paddle Shack" this month.
As the governor prepares to launch a reelection bid many believe will succeed, she may need to address the sense that she has underwhelmed.
The appeals court overturned the ruling of a lower court judge in Oregon, which could pave the way for President Trump to deploy the National Guard to Portland.
Thousands across the Pacific Northwest took part in the national "No Kings 2.0" protests Saturday. Demonstrations happened in nearly every major city in the region and in many small towns, including in places that voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Casino and resort operations have brought some prosperity to the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Eastern Oregon. But tribal officials say a lot of that money doesn’t stay on the reservation. Now they’re looking to change that.
Hood River’s Fruit Loop has everything from grape harvests to U-Pick pears and packaged goods, all basking in the glory of fall colors.
Julian Brave Noisecat’s new book ‘We Survived the Night’ blends personal memoir and indigenous history.
Portland author Daniel H. Wilson’s new thriller combines Indigenous knowledge with science fiction
Social media personalities, conservative media outlets and the Trump administration itself are blending online content to serve the administration’s policies.
Rocky Horror Picture Show turned 50 years old this year, and for nearly as long it's been shown at Portland's Clinton Street Theater.
Taxpayers subsidize a thrice-daily small plane from the Pendleton to the Portland airport through the Essential Air Service program. Would it be more efficient to provide bus service instead?
It’s been three years since Oregon legislators passed a law requiring employers pay overtime to farmworkers. But as OPB’s Alejandro Figueroa reports, some farmworkers say they’re making less money, not more. And growers say they can’t afford to pay the overtime.
OPB emailed every Republican state lawmaker in Oregon on Monday to ask whether they support the deployment of National Guard members to the Rose City. Two responded.
We vote for directors of soil and water conservation districts every couple years, but not everyone knows what they do. Kristian Foden-Vencil talked to one director, and a farming family in Troutdale, for a better understanding.
Former colleagues describe Judge Karin Immergut as exceptionally qualified and not influenced by politics.
Washington County Cooperative Library Services wants to change the way money is distributed to libraries and not everyone is pleased.
The Cascade Range is known for recreation, stunning views, and – of course — volcanos. And in Central Oregon, one company hopes it can harness enough heat from deep beneath the surface of these mountains to power our homes — using technology known as “Super Hot Rocks”
As the deadline for Portland mayor Keith Wilson’s plan to end unsheltered homelessness by December 1st approaches - the city is scrambling to open more night-time emergency shelters.
Homelessness among seniors is rising in Oregon. Many rely on an increasingly fragile social safety net. OPB traveled to rural Polk County to learn more about the housing crisis facing aging and vulnerable people.
Portland remained in the national spotlight throughout the weekend - with dramatic developments occurring each day, including attempted efforts by the Trump administration to send National Guard troops from multiple states to Portland. But a federal judge in Oregon wanted none of it, issuing 2 restraining orders in as many days.
For OPB’s “At Work With” series, which asks Pacific Northwesterners from different professions what it’s like to do what they do, we meet Elizabeth Figueroa Alvarez, a traffic flagger for construction sites.
In 2020, the state sued Santander Consumer USA for allegedly preying on Oregonians through high-interest car loans they couldn’t afford in a case involving more than 265,000 borrowers nationwide.
JAMO showcases a half-year exhibit on Japanese American photographer Frank Matsura starting Sept. 27, and Vancouver's Kiggins Theatre will hold a screening of documentary Our Mr. Matsura on Matsura on Sept. 28.
A nonprofit is offering low-cost apartments to students, even if they have no credit score or co-signer. This story comes to OPB from the education journalism nonprofit, Hechinger Report.
The Oregon State Police forensic lab agreed to pay millions as part of a settlement after failing to disclose DNA evidence in the decades-old homicide of Leah Freeman.
The Beaver State has long prided itself on its two political parties finding common ground, but it is now lamenting the loss of centrist lawmakers.
The four-state group, which includes Oregon, Washington, California and Hawaii, formed a vaccine policy alliance after concerns about partisanship at the CDC.
The owner of Hillsdale thrift shop Shirtzenpantz, Owen Gail, goes viral kicking a piece of granite named “Christosphere.”
Most Oregon hospitals have been bleeding cash for years, and at least two are already set to close their obstetrics units.
The deadline for Portland Mayor Keith Wilson’s big campaign promise to end unsheltered homelessness is quickly approaching.
He’s not just opening shelters, he’s changing city policies to try and meet his goal. Starting next month Portland will handle so-called derelict recreational vehicles differently.
Fans of scary stories can dig their teeth into Coffin Moon, a book set in Portland right after the Vietnam War and full of surprising twists on the vampire genre.
Eight months ago, Josephine County Commissioners put their local library in limbo after terminating the lease of the Grants Pass branch. It came after years of turmoil about how the library should be funded and more recent political pressure from county commissioners.
Commissioners in Josephine County have put their local library in limbo after terminating the lease of the Grants Pass branch which has been in place since 2008.
A barrage of updates to the federal student loan repayment system this year has left borrowers feeling misled and frightened for their future.
Sean Strauss has worked five summer seasons inspecting rides like Zero Gravity at the Southeast Portland amusement park.
A year after her tragic death, Pomeroy’s impact on Portland’s culinary world is still present in dishes crafted by those who knew her best.
West Coast states are teaming up to issue their own vaccine guidelines in the face of rapid changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. The federal turmoil has some people wondering what this means for their seasonal shots.
Despite the anxiety evacuees felt, a combination of swift firefighting efforts and fire prevention long in advance meant the Flat Fire’s legacy is more about the thousands of homes saved instead of lost.
The democratic governors of Oregon, Washington and California are forming a new public health partnership aimed at preserving access to vaccines. The announcement comes after a week of turmoil at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over vaccines.
OPB obtained the records after months of appealing the local district attorney’s office.
The paths of students in OPB’s Class of 2025 project didn’t always go in a straight line. And now that they’re out of school, they’re learning how hard their next steps can be.
Every year, the Oregon State Fair draws thousands of people who come for the rides, fried foods of all sorts, the music and livestock competitions. And some Oregonians come to showcase their fruits, vegetables and flowers in the hopes of landing a blue ribbon at the farm and garden competition.
Pacific Northwest researchers are on an ambitious quest to understand how the megafires of 2020 altered mountain streams and all the life they contain.
A violent attack outside the Portland Central Library this week is the second one in less than two months. Director of Libraries Annie Lewis talks about security in and around the facility.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said she wants agencies to work with 'greater urgency' to get answers for residents.
Lawmakers held their first public hearing Monday on Gov. Tina Kotek’s proposal to hike transportation taxes.
Bentz is meeting with small groups of constituents in his district this week. He’s defending Republican policy moves over the summer, including the spending bill that cut federal dollars for Medicaid and SNAP benefits, while extending President Trump’s tax cuts.
Four homes have been lost to the Flat Fire as it continues to threaten nearly 4,000 homes in Deschutes and Jefferson counties.
Portland Center Stage just hit a major milestone in its effort to raise $9 million by next June. We talk with PCS artistic director Marissa Wolf.
Higher education leaders in the state say they are pulling all the levers to minimize student impacts caused by state and federal funding pressures.
A budget crisis a century in the making is coming to a head as Oregon's rural counties wait on Congress to approve funding they've long relied on.
For the past decade, Opera a la Cart has performed in parks and on streets around Portland. The aim is to revive interest in opera by offering more accessible performances in a former popcorn truck.
Pacific northwest skateboarders will compete in a pro-am competition on Portland's waterfront park this weekend. We talk Seattle's 14-year-old Nels "Gnarls" Rosen.
Irene Gilbert is a 76-year-old retired state employee on a mission, fighting energy projects like large wind farms in Oregon’s rural communities. Renewable energy advocates treat activists like her as gadflies who should be stopped.
Tom Dundon, who owns professional hockey’s Carolina Hurricanes, is leading the ownership group.
The Clackamas County music festival known as "Harefest" just completed it's 13th year, celebrating some of the biggest songs and artists in rock history, all via Northwest-based tribute bands.
As Democratic members of the Texas House continue to boycott their state Capitol, some Oregon Democratic lawmakers are cheering them on. And that has rankled some Oregon Republicans.
The Gateway district’s economic struggles offer Portland’s new city government a chance to show up for long-neglected neighborhoods.
As Oregon lawmakers prepare to return for a special session focused on transportation, the Rose Quarter and other high-profile projects are on the back burner.
For formerly incarcerated Oregon youth, high school graduation — and success — look different.
The city of Bend considered holding back funding for Juneteenth over a Facebook post on the personal page of an organizer.
The third phase of the Viaduct Column painting project is now complete with new murals painted under the Hawthorne Bridge. It's part of a larger, long-term initiative lead by Portland Street Art Alliance.
The Portland Police Association is criticizing city leaders and staff, accusing them of trying to pit police and behavioral health first responders against each other in the wake of a man’s recent death in police custody.
The total wildfire budget for the next two years is less than the state spent last year alone. In some cases, costs that used to be borne by insurance plans and private landowners are now the responsibility of all Oregonians.
The Salem City Council unanimously approved an emergency declaration Monday night to help it prepare for a potential drinking water shortfall next year due to the drawdown of the Detroit Lake Reservoir.
During his first visit to his district since voting for federal budget cuts, the state’s lone Republican congressperson spoke of his “incredible power” to influence national policy.
The Wash House is providing free laundry services to people in need and getting clean, useable clothes and textiles back into the community.
Portland officials are weighing how to navigate a new federal landscape without sacrificing the city’s values
From food banks to disaster planning, Oregon small towns relied on national service members—until the federal funding vanished overnight.
New research by OHSU says adults who were vaccinated against diphtheria and tetanus as kids don't need regular boosters.
Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, who was detained by federal immigration officials July 15, is being held at a detention center in Tacoma, Washington.
Faced with a 14% budget shortfall in the next biennium, Oregon State Parks is looking for new business partners to help offset some costs. Otherwise, the agency may need to cancel park expansions, reduce staff and consider closing some parks in 2027.
Some attendees said this year’s celebrations felt more urgent, given the Trump administration’s positions on LGBTQ+ issues.
NBA All-Star Damian Lillard is finalizing a three-year contract to return to the Portland Trail Blazers.
A federal grant that helps student parents pay for child care is on the chopping block. The grant’s elimination would make it even harder for the one in five Oregon undergraduate students who are parents to obtain a degree.
What was once a free-for-all animal extravaganza in the streets of the Central Oregon city now has some rules — and a kangaroo.
Oregon’s PacWave testing facility is now complete — but delays and cuts to federal funding for renewable energy development could impact its future.
One of the most diverse cities in Oregon is growing faster than ever following the implementation of a groundbreaking restaurant strategy eight years ago. Here’s how it happened, and what’s next.
Last week, congressional Republicans passed a domestic policy bill that makes sweeping changes to safety net programs like Medicaid. An analysis of an earlier version of the bill found that Oregon would be disproportionately hit by Medicaid cuts, with more people likely to lose coverage and end up uninsured. We hear from Eric Hunter, President and CEO of the state's largest Medicaid provider, CareOregon, about how the bill affects people on the Oregon Health Plan.
Jewish leaders in Portland say they have seen more people express an interest in converting, a process that can last a year or longer.
Congressional Republicans have passed their sweeping domestic policy bill. In Oregon, the impacts of the legislation will be significant.
The U.S. Senate passed their version of President Donald Trump’s budget bill Tuesday. Oregon’s U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley called the final vote, which came after hours of debate, “extraordinarily painful” and said the process of crafting the final bill was “the most chaotic legislative process” he’s ever seen.
Luis Lamas close to leave the United States at a moment, politically, when the Trump administration has made immigration a centerpiece policy. The administration is vowing to deport millions of immigrants without legal status, whether they have a criminal record, or not. But while the administration’s crackdown on immigration played a role in his decision, it’s more complicated than that. In some ways, he felt trapped, Lamas said.
Yang became the third Chinese-born player ever taken in the first round of the NBA Draft. OPB’s Winston Szeto interviewed Yang at the Blazer’s Tualatin facility about his forthcoming move to Portland and the Blazers.
Most people are familiar with the green, spicy paste served next to sushi or sashimi, but the vast majority of folks in the U.S. have been eating dyed-green horseradish. Earlier this month, OPB's Crystal Ligori went to WasabiFest in Portland, and got a taste of some freshly grated wasabi grown on the Oregon Coast.
Kelly Ramsey’s literary memoir details her ‘circuitous’ journey from poet to being the only woman on an elite hotshot firefighting crew.
The Portland Trail Blazers made international headlines with their first pick in the NBA draft. Yang Hansen is a 20-year-old center from China. He was not on most NBA watchers’ radar to be picked in the first round. But Blazers general manager Joe Cronin says they’ve been watching Yang for years, and calls him a very unique talent. Yang's arrival to Portland could add a ton of newfound Blazers fans from China along the way.
Some agriculture experts in the region are starting to consider “climate” as an ingredient in the food industry. Increased temperatures and more extreme weather patterns have impacted how and where some of our Northwest food staples grow.
The Oregon Country Fair is a special place and time of year for many people in the Pacific Northwest. Started in 1969, the fair takes place on a 20 acre fairyland of forests and meadows outside Eugene the second weekend of July. It’s sort of a renaissance fair, meets-hippie counterculture meetup, meets music festival. An hour-long OPB Oregon Art Beat special about the fair premieres on June 27th. We speak with Oregon Art Beat producer, Eric Slade.
Paying college athletes has changed the game. This UO student group is leveraging the opportunity to help more than student-athletes.
Often called the Oscars of the food world, the 35th annual James Beard Awards happened this week in Chicago. Oregon cinched two of the top awards: best chef in the Northwest / Pacific region, and the most outstanding bakery in the country. That second honor went to North Portland’s JinJu Patisserie. We spoke with the owners about how they're incorporating Asian flavors with traditional French patisserie.
As a candidate, Nathan Vasquez wielded allegations of mistreatment of female employees against his predecessor. Now he’s on the receiving end as the county’s top prosecutor.
Dozens of protests are happened Saturday, June 14 in Oregon and Washington against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and military parade. Joni Auden Land reports live from Portland's Waterfront Park.
Today we're At Work With a parent who's not just getting her own kid to school — she's leading a joyful, pedal-powered parade to the classroom - a bike bus.
President Donald Trump has pulled the federal government out of what Northwest tribes have hailed as a historic agreement to recover salmon in the Columbia River Basin.
On Thursday, dozens of young kayakers from a variety of Indigenous tribes will embark on the first source-to-sea descent of the Klamath River since the country’s largest dam removal project was completed last fall.
After years of talk and testing, autonomous vehicle deployment seems to a reality. Daimler promises autonomous trucks by 2027. Waymo’s fleet of autonomous ride hail vehicles are open for business in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Austin. Zoox is testing in the Bay Area and Las Vegas. But news of Robotaxis on streets in the Northwest is still scant. As Julia Pickar reports, this could be changing soon.
A wildfire that started Wednesday afternoon near Rowena, Oregon, grew to an estimated 3,500 acres by Thursday morning. OPB's Kristian Foden-Vencil saw the Rowena Fire firsthand.
Six years ago, the public learned that Oregon child welfare officials were sending children placed in foster care to facilities in other states. After widespread stories of abuse -- kids being restrained and assaulted -- Oregon largely stopped the practice. But now, as Lauren Dake reports, lawmakers are considering changing the law to once again make it easier to send kids out of state.
OPB reached out to local and state officials in Oregon, as well as Portlanders who protested in 2020, to find out what they learned from the federal law enforcement deployment during that time — and what it might mean if tensions rise locally.
Dr. Robert Macauley of OHSU is one of the few pediatricians in the U.S. who is certified in palliative medicine. His memoir is called, "Because I Knew You: How Some Remarkable Sick Kids Healed A Doctor's Soul"
Scientific research programs across the nation are being impacted by Trump administration policies… and Oregon’s no different. The National Institutes of Health has gotten rid of grants for training programs that help young scientists from underrepresented communities. It’s a move advocates say will mean losing out on future leaders and scientific advancement. Here to explain how this affects one program at Oregon Health and Science University is OPB higher education reporter Tiffany Camhi…
Newport’s historic Yaquina Bay Lighthouse expected to reopen this fall after renovation
Tongue Point is one of 99 Job Corps centers facing closure, after the Department of Labor announced the abrupt pausing of the program last week.
Billie McBride-O'Neel transitioned in 1985 after a career as a professional figure skater. She stayed in the closet for four decades, until trans youth were threatened.
Philosopher Devin Fitzpatrick designed his new course, “Data for Good,” to challenge students to get their hands dirty — both in messy datasets and in the soil, through a partnership with a gardening-focused nonprofit.
For the latest installment of OPB’s ‘At Work With’ series, we get to know Oregon tattoo artist Ruby Gore. She specializes in helping people cover up scars with tattoos, and taking a trauma-aware approach to tattooing.
How one former Oregon foster youth used financial literacy training to launch her own clothing business
A pregnant mother-of-four is raising concerns about their detention in a single room for 24 days.
A pair of Portland tattooers are hoping to fill a gap in the market with a new tattoo convention that focuses on the artists themselves. The three day event will also focus on inclusivity and education.
Robert Atrops was convicted last month for the cold case murder of his wife. Statements made during the trial showcased the flexibility attorneys have in their closing arguments to interpret the evidence.
The Portland Trail Blazers are officially for sale. Who could buy them and for how much
An in-depth guide to help voters navigate their local school board races on the May 20 ballot.
A bill that passed a key committee vote in Congress this week would add a work requirement for some on Medicaid and would jeopardize billions in Medicaid funding for Oregon.
Next Adventure will be shutting its doors this fall, closing four retail locations and its online business.
The estate of the late Paul Allen has begun the formal process to sell the franchise and direct all proceeds to philanthropic causes. We speak with Mike Richman, host of the "Locked on Blazers" podcast about the team's future.
Oregon and Washington passed aggressive goals to decarbonize their power supply — but left it to the Bonneville Power Administration to build the transmission lines needed for wind and solar. The agency hasn’t delivered.
The Oregon nonprofit that has helped cultivate new Spanish-speaking farmers for two decades.
Author Jaysea Lynn share details about her new novel about a Pacific Northwest woman who finds family and romance in the afterlife.
President Trump’s tariff policy is hitting two medium-sized businesses in Oregon hard. Showers Pass makes rain gear, mainly for cyclists. Its products are manufactured in China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Vvolt makes electric bikes, manufactured in mainland China.
In the last decade, Oregon lawmakers have increasingly relied on a tool that risks cutting out public participation in lawmaking.
The invasive emerald ash borer beetle has killed millions of ash trees across the country. Experts say the easiest way to slow the spread of this beetle is to avoid moving firewood more than 10 miles.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality internally warned its staff about a 'dangerous link' in its statewide press release. The message came ahead of the agency's public announcement about a massive cyberattack.
Oregon's agency that certifies police officers found Deschutes County Sheriff Kent van der Kamp’s "dishonesty under oath discredits the law enforcement profession."
We go to work with Nick Atwell, one of the wildlife technicians who work at the Portland International Airport. Their job? Prevent bird strike.
Oregon leaders agree the state needs tens of thousands more housing units every year. Tariffs are the latest hurdle to meeting that goal.
A groundbreaking discovery at the John Day Fossil Beds has found fossilized footprints of birds, lizards and mammals. These rare trace fossils give us a 50 million year-old snapshot of how these prehistoric animals walked the earth in Central and Eastern Oregon.
A new trove of data on Multnomah County’s homeless population dropped this week, offering the public an updated and more accurate understanding of the region’s homelessness crisis.
Prosecutors won’t call the sheriff to the stand anymore, and the district attorney says charges could be dismissed in past cases.
Portland high schoolers raise money, awareness for youth aging out of foster care system
As music fans around the country celebrate Record Store Day, which started in 2008, Albert Menashe shares a look at his records and record players going back over 100 years.
OPB's rural communities reporter Antonio Sierra gives us an update from Burns about flooding in Harney County, and Governor Tina Kotek's visit there.
Salem lawmakers have yet to tackle the biggest items — such as passing a budget and debating a major transportation package.
‘A Feast of Thorns and Roses’ is just the latest in pop culture cookbooks from PNW authors
A framework released Thursday includes a major gas tax hike, several entirely new taxes, and a lot more.
Getting more feedback from residents partly inspired Portland's new government structure. But a confusing comment process has stymied that goal.
A group of history buffs spent this summer trekking across Eastern Oregon to retrace the path of the old Oregon Trail. The event is a part of an annual conference that's re-examining how to share the story of the West's pioneer era.
As the legislative session heats up, here’s how Oregon Republicans are gaining ground within the state’s Democratic supermajority.
The state has wrestled for years with ordering civil commitments for people with severe mental illness. Here’s what you need to know.
On April 1st, 2014, Jennifer Langston was shot by her partner. She talks about how she lives with the trauma today.
Conversation with new owner of Darcelle XV showplace, Jeremey Peck, a longtime friend of Darcelle XV and a drag artist who's been performing for 30 years.
Disability Rights Oregon report accuses Oregon officials of failing to provide trained staff to monitor teen who was at risk for suicide.
For decades the owners of Southeast Portland’s Cargo Inc. sold well-crafted, unique, and curious items from around the world. The pandemic meant a shift to searching for those things right here in Oregon.
Emma Pattee's first novel tells the story of a pregnant Portland woman who is shopping for a crib at IKEA when the Cascadia subduction zone earthquake hits.
Portland piano tuner Denis Wilkinson stopped working on player pianos a few years ago, because it’s so hard and few people are interested.
But not everyone has given up on player pianos.
Grant School District is hundreds of thousands of dollars into a project that is supposed to be reimbursed by the federal government. Now, it’s not clear the feds will pay.
In Portland, a group of queer women, nonbinary and trans soccer players is creating a safe space on a soccer field.
A Seattle tech company has created the first tactile sports broadcast, transforming gameplay into trackable vibrations for visually impaired sports fans.
“You have a right to an attorney. If you can’t provide one, one will be provided for you” is no longer guaranteed in this state. The number of Oregonians without counsel has reached an all-time high. Here's what to know about Oregon’s public defender crisis.
Oregon state veterinarian Dr. Ryan Scholz gives an update on the state of avian influenza in Oregon.
Deschutes County dissolved its DEIA committee without hearing public opinions but officials got an earful anyway
At work with a garbage and recycling collector, or "garbage man" Bryan Chamblin in Sherwood Oregon.
Hate filing your taxes? These people volunteer to do other people's taxes for free - and they serve a lot of undocumented taxpayers.
Oregon Field Guide’s Ed Jahn took a journey in search of silence, and found what could be the quietest place in Oregon.
Portland’s airport hypes sustainable timber, but those lofty claims are more complicated than they seem
Oregon state climatologist Larry O'Neill reacts to cuts in National Weather Service personnel in Oregon.
Last week, the county revealed a massive shortfall in its homelessness budget. And now it’s facing criticism for how it manages its money.
U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz joined OPB's Think Out Loud to discuss proposed cuts to the federal budget, including to Medicaid.
After 46 days on strike, nurses at Providence have approved a deal and will return to work starting Wednesday night. The strike was one of the largest in state history, with some 4000+ nurses at all eight Providence Oregon hospitals on the picket line.
U.S. Representative Cliff Bentz faced tough questions from his constituents during a town hall tour of Eastern Oregon this week. According to the East Oregonian, the Republican was booed during a meeting yesterday in Pendleton. Many attendees expressed frustration over federal job cuts.
Last spring, dozens of police descended on Portland State University to break up a protest, arresting around 30 people. Several demonstrators took plea deals, but a handful decided to fight the charges and won—kinda by default—after the discovery of missing footage from the protests.
Since last week, the Forest Service has fired at least 2,000 employees. That’s raising concerns among some employees, who say they’re worried about how the Trump administration’s staffing cuts will affect fire season.
Linemen, engineers among hundreds of staff to leave Bonneville Power Administration as Trump trims workforce
Millions of grandparents across the country are being pushed into parenthood again. A new peer support group in Salem helps them through it
Ikoi no Kai has been a gathering place for generations in the local Japanese American community and beyond, bringing people together over food and friendship. Winston Szeto has the story.
Ikoi no Kai has been a gathering place for generations in the local Japanese American community and beyond, bringing people together over food and friendship. Winston Szeto has the story.
Much of western Oregon has been dealing with snow, icy roads and freezing cold overnight temperatures.
The Everywhere is Queer map has evolved into an app listing more than 15,000 LGBTQ-owned businesses around the globe.
The 27 students in OPB’s Class of 2025 have had dozens of teachers over their 12 years of public school. As the end of senior year approaches, OPB asked each student to name a couple of teachers who made an impact on them — and many of them did.
It’s been a chaotic time since college athletes started profiting from use of their name, image and likeness in 2021, and more changes are on the way. NIL experts say UO is in the right position to leverage the changing atmosphere.
Gov. Tina Kotek talks to OPB about some of the top issues shaping Oregonians' lives today. Here’s what she told us about the state’s climate progress, how federal funding will affect Oregon’s goals, what climbing utility rates mean, what the state government can do, and more.
Yovana Benancio works for a nonprofit organization called Path Home, connecting with families experiencing homelessness and helping them access the resources they need to get into stable housing. For OPB’s “At Work With” series, we rode along with Benancio to learn more about how she does her job.
As lawmakers search for billions of dollars to maintain deteriorating roads, it’s one of many options under consideration.
Months after its Supreme Court win, Grants Pass faces a new lawsuit claiming its homeless policies violate state law and discriminate against people with disabilities
“Sinkhole and Other Inexplicable Voids” is a new short story collection from Spokane author Leyna Krow. Set in the Pacific Northwest, her characters explore what it means to be a good mother, daughter, sister or wife, in a changing world that tends to only get stranger. These characters wrestle with the real threats of climate change in the region, through a lens of magical realism, humor and heart.
The order sparked widespread confusion and left many Oregon organizations concerned about funding, including Clackamas Women's Services, which provides domestic violence services.
The English explorer could have careened his Golden Hind for repair at Whale Cove near Depoe Bay, Oregon, in the late 16th century, according to scholars such as Portland State University anthropologist Melissa Darby.
President Donald Trump has pardoned or commuted sentences for hundreds of Jan 6th defendants including those in the PNW
Last week following the devastating wildfires in California, eight US senators sent a letter, urging the US Treasury and Federal Insurance Office to publish data about how the climate crisis is impacting homeowners insurance. One of the authors of that letter was Oregon Senator Ron Wyden.
It’s day eight of the Providence health care workers strike. Close to 5,000 nurses and about 150 doctors went on strike indefinitely starting last week. Providence has offered to resume bargaining -- but both sides have indicated they’re not expecting a quick resolution.
The newly signed legislation follows reporting from Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica that underscored the risks and costs associated with a plan to migrate salmon past hydroelectric dams using a giant fish collector and tanker trucks.
President Donald Trump has called for blanket tariffs on U.S. trading partners, a move economists say would raise prices for consumer goods.
A conversation with Disability Rights Oregon about how Oregon is prepared to help people with disabilities in a major disaster.
The Oregon Department of Forestry is embroiled in budgetary and workplace conduct issues. Now Oregon state forester Cal Mukumoto is leaving.
Audiences across the country are debating the accuracy of the new movie about Bob Dylan: ‘A Complete Unknown.’ For retired Portland sound engineer Dennis Darby, he doesn’t need to debate. He was there – at least for some of it.
Oregon roads and bridges are old and damaged. Fixing them is an expensive task for lawmakers this year
For over a decade, the Portland Mercado has been a hub for Latinx communities and food vendors. But last year, a fire destroyed parts of the public market, shuttering its doors. Now, the Mercado plans to rebuild with community support.
Melissa Skinner’s critics say the conflict hits a nerve in the national debate over activism in public education.
As board games boom, one Portland-area group brings new games and new friends to the table
Nearly two dozen bills passed by Oregon lawmakers in early 2024 take effect on New Year’s Day.
The Oregon Ducks kick off the New Year by taking on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.
A mixture of landslides, volunteerism and fundraising may help Cape Meares residents surround themselves with a wildlife sanctuary.
For the second year in a row, Milwaukie, Oregon will be hosting a New Year's Eve celebration by dropping a seven foot Bing cherry to ring in the new year. The event is an opportunity for both celebration and education, to honor the Chinese horticulturalist that became the cherry's namesake.
OPB's longtime Christmas music curator JT Griffith is back for his fifth year of holiday cheer! He spoke with OPB’s “All Things Considered” host Crystal Ligori about finding holiday vinyl from Japan, scoring an art installation with Christmas tunes, and being perpetually in his ‘Christmas era’.
Mayor-elect Keith Wilson has pledged to end unsheltered homelessness in Portland by 2026. Past mayors have failed to deliver on similar promises.
In the final episode of Stop Requested, OPB's Lillian Karabaic and Prakruti Bhatt spend a 12-hour travel day going from Enterprise to John Day. And are driven by a buffalo riding champion.
Oregon’s nonprofits fill in a lot of gaps in service that neither government nor businesses can handle. Now they're struggling.
Police shot Immanueal Clark in the back Nov. 19, 2022 while he fled. The deadly shooting caused a rare rift between investigators and Portland police leadership.
A strong earthquake off California on Thursday triggered a tsunami warning for the coast, all the way up to just south of Florence. The waves didn’t really come. But for about an hour, local governments had to mobilize an emergency response to a threat that’s always kind of lurking under the surface.
In this episode of Stop Requested, OPB's Lillian Karabaic and Prakruti Bhatt adventure from La Grande to Wallowa Lake by bus, and look for Bigfoot along the way.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced he was retiring from the struggling semiconductor manufacturer.
Suong Huynh and Kasia Moon found freedom and self-actualization by starting their nail salons. Their customers find community and care.
Potential for protecting Owyhee Canyonlands takes urgency in final months of Biden administration
A planned resort in Oregon's high desert is a testing ground for reigning in groundwater pumping.
For the fifth installment of Stop Requested, we solve a public transit mystery to Baker City, where we attend The Great Salt Lick Auction.
Incoming Portland city councilors want to follow through on campaign promises, and are also expected to keep the city running smoothly under a new form of government.
After more than two decades, the James Beard Public Market is closer to reality than ever before. The market is expected to open in 2026 and will not only showcase dozens of local food vendors, but also house a bookstore, restaurant and test kitchen.
The Democratic party is still processing President-elect Donald Trump’s resounding return to power. For some Democratic-led states, that means returning to a playbook of resistance from his first four years.
St. Helens school officials for years sat on multiple reports of sexual abuse, police say
Every year, the Oregon Health and Science University brings a speaker to Portland for the Calvin and Mayho Tanabe address. But this year's keynote speaker isn’t human. Sophia the Robot and her creators at Hanson Robotics say she’s the world's first robot citizen.
Last weekend, 13 of the best roller derby teams in the world were in Portland competing in the International World Flat Track Derby Association championships. It was hosted (and WON!) by Portland’s own Rose City Rollers who this year celebrated their 20th anniversary.
For the first time, Portlanders used ranked choice voting to select their mayor and city council members. They ranked candidates in order of preference, and their votes got distributed as candidates were eliminated. So how did it go?
Broadman claims victory in his Oregon Senate race, Vander Kamp leads the Deschutes sheriff race, and Bend City Council has two new members.
Salem-Keizer will have weapon detection systems operating in all six comprehensive high schools this school year, with a likely expansion to middle schools next year. Here’s what you need to know.
Oregon needs more housing, but challenges getting electrical equipment could hurt the effort.
The Oregon Ducks’ #1 national ranking has led a supportive fanbase of students to new emotional highs for the green and yellow.
Weekend Edition host Lillian Karabaic interviews a haunted house actor for OPB's At Work With series
The majority of the world’s population of the once-endangered Bradshaw’s lomatium was destroyed a few weeks ago on a golf course in Camas, Washington. Some experts are worried that the removal is a sign of species losing federal protections too soon.
The Cora Center is the first psilocybin facility in the state that is run by majority BIPOC and LGBTQ+ facilitators. They help clients from those groups get over cultural barriers to treatment, like trauma and stigma.
Candidates running for office in Portland this fall are navigating uncharted waters, and that means trying out different strategies.
Starting next year, Oregon will have a new attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer. All three seats are open with no incumbent running, and Republicans believe they have a shot in one of the three.
The federal government postponed a floating offshore wind auction off the coast of Southern Oregon. Many still see the potential, but the state must first tackle a combination of issues that led to the postponement.
Oregonians will vote on five statewide measures in the upcoming election. If approved, they would all do very different things, from directing yearly checks to all residents to allowing the Legislature to impeach statewide leaders.
Wildlife officials this week documented salmon above the former J.C. Boyle Dam in Southern Oregon for the first time in more than a century. It happened less than a month after removal of four Klamath River dams was completed to restore fish passage.
One church in Northwest Portland has distributed food to the needy for decades. Now, with growing homelessness and drug use in the area, that service is upsetting some neighbors
In college sports, conference realignment continues to be a major topic for schools. The Pac-12 is in the middle of a lawsuit as it continues to restructure its conference.
Counties will approach enforcement differently, providing yet another large-scale experiment in drug policy.
Records show La Mesa police officials recommended firing Kent Vander Kamp for “serious incidents of misconduct,” but he said they ultimately did not.
The representative for Oregon’s sprawling 2nd District seeks to become key player in canyonland negotiations.
Some Oregon congressional races this fall could prove nail-bitingly close. The contest to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer is not one of them. Former state Rep. Maxine Dexter virtually punched her ticket to become the state’s newest congresswoman by winning the Democratic primary in May. In Oregon’s ultra-blue 3rd Congressional District, she faces no serious competition in the general election.
At the latest count, nearly 13-hundred people who are not citizens have mistakenly been added to the voter rolls.
The University of Oregon takes on Ohio State this Saturday in one of the biggest games in Ducks football history.
Election officials have found hundreds more people in Oregon who may have been improperly registered to vote. That's on top of the more than 1200 people officials found who didn't give proof of citizenship when they were registered.
Portland is entering a new chapter of city government in 2025, and many want a seat at the top. In all, 19 people have filed to run for mayor.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced Tuesday its 2024 class of fellows - often known as recipients of the “genius grant.” The list includes Wendy Red Star, an Apsáalooke artist based in Portland. Red Star’s work seeks to reclaim images of Native Americans from history by creating, beading, sewing, building, configuring and then photographing finished sculptures, paintings and prints.
Portland writer Tom Spanbauer is no less than a legend in some literary circles. A Portland Monthly profile earlier this year called him “The Godfather of Portland’s writing scene.” When we talked with him earlier in the year (2014), we focused on his latest novel, "I Loved You More“ and about his practice of teaching and creating “Dangerous Writing.”
But we didn’t get to talk too much about Spanbauer’s real life, even though some is reflected in his fiction, including “I Loved You More” and “In The City of Shy Hunters”.
This time, we sit down with him to focus on his experience living with HIV for more than two decades, and the personal and cultural changes he’s observed in that time.
An artist has created a comic strip to make voting easier for a group that doesn't speak English
Influential Oregon author Tom Spanbauer died last week after a long illness with Parkinson’s disease. He was the author of five novels, including "The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon" and "I Loved You More." Spanbauer shaped a generation of Pacific Northwest authors through his ‘Dangerous Writing’ workshops, with authors like Chuck Palahniuk, Lidia Yuknavitch, Chelsea Cain and Cheryl Strayed, all citing his influence.
The Portland Trail Blazers have partnered with Sinclair Broadcast Group as the future broadcast home for Blazers games, quadrupling the broadcast reach throughout Oregon and Washington. They're also introducing a direct-to-consumer streaming service called BlazerVision.
Around 33,000 of Boeing’s unionized workers on the West Coast have been on strike since early Friday. That includes over 1,000 workers in Gresham. The walkout comes as the machinists’ union continues to negotiate toward better wages and pensions.
The state is still working to identify how many people were improperly registered to vote despite not being U.S. citizens.
The battle between U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer and state Rep. Janelle Bynum could come down to Clackamas County. Winning Oregon’s 5th Congressional District could help decide control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Meteorologists say it’s been an incredibly busy summer tracking and forecasting the wildfires across Oregon.
In Bend, this year’s city council race has been shaped by pledges some candidates made to the Deschutes County Democrats – and that means voters will have fewer choices in November.
The Oregon-Oregon State game wasn't expected to be this interesting. The Beavers are playing well, and the Ducks aren't so much. Tyson Alger of the I-5 Corridor newsletter joins us to preview the game.
The rise of the railroad helped create Pendleton, and that heritage can still be found in many downtown buildings. Now, the city is working to restore some of that frontier history while giving businesses the modern signs they say they need. But not everyone’s happy.
Republican lawmakers in Oregon have struggled to raise campaign money this year. That means the GOP is increasingly relying on a familiar face: former Congressman Greg Walden.
The youth development program, housed at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, teaches its participants specific skills and broader life lessons, all while finding homes for dogs in need.
Court-Appointed Special Advocates are volunteers for children in the foster care system.
The Oregon College of Oriental Medicine is closing. Its graduates face one of the worst combinations of high debt and low earnings in the country.
The company that owns Sizzle Pie, Rudy’s Barbershop, See See Motor Coffee Co. and Bamboo Sushi is facing evictions and lawsuits
Portland's Native American Youth and Family Center celebrates culture and history with a powwow as nonprofit turns 50.
OPB is nearing the end of a 13-year reporting project following a group of students in the Class of 2025. Today, several students in the class we’ve been following start senior year at David Douglas High School in Southeast Portland — their last, first day of high school.
Oregon has ended its experiment with drug decriminalization. Starting Sept. 1, possession of small amounts of illicit substances are once again considered a misdemeanor crime. Earlier this year, state lawmakers rolled back key provisions of Ballot Measure 110, the voter-passed initiative that decriminalized drugs nearly four years ago.
Two different projects are moving forward to develop entertainment venues that are able to accommodate audiences of more than 3,000 people.
Some of the people at the heart of that process believe Oregon is on the verge of making critical mistakes that mean many parts of the state will flop when it comes to meeting the overarching goal: steering drug users who are causing public angst and disorder away from the public eye and toward recovery.
The investigation into the mass shooting last October in Lewiston, Maine, said local law enforcement and Army Reserve leaders failed repeatedly to take steps to prevent the tragidity.
We’ll find out more in our newscast, just two minutes away on O-P-B.
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Today is Tuesday August 20th … it’s 4 o'clock … Good afternoon.
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This is OPB’s All Things Considered.
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“CIVICS IN 60 SECONDS. I’M GOING TO TEACH YOU POLITICAL LESSONS IN 60 SECONDS OR LESS — AND BREAK DOWN THE POLITICAL BS.”//”YOU THOUGH IT WAS ONLY THE SUPREME COURT THAT COULD MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT YOUR BODY AND YOUR CHOICES? YOU’RE WRONG.” (:09)
For the first time, hundreds of social media influences were invited to cover the DNC.
Also this hour: how the change at the top of the Democratic ticket has affected down-ballot races…
Plus, as the U.S. pushes for a ceasefire, Israel recovers six bodies of hostages from Gaza…
Later, a conversation with the cofounders of XOXO festival, an experimental festival for people who work online, as they gear up for the final fest.
And Londoners are figuring out how to respond to a deluge…of Taylor Swift fans.
I’m Crystal Ligori with Ari Shaperio and Ailsa Chang
After a five year hiatus the event is back for one final hurrah. Co-founders of the festival Andy Baoi and Andy McMillan spoke with OPB Morning Edition host Jess Hazel about what to expect from the last XOXO.
In a reversal, Multnomah County Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell has agreed to start booking people into jail who have been charged with violating Portland's anti-camping policy.
As a relationship therapist, social media influencer and author Guenther helps his clients in Portland and his audience of millions of subscribers on TikTok navigate the joys and difficulties of relationships. Guenther spoke with OPB Morning Edition host Jess Hazel about his new book “Big Dating Energy” and shared some relationship tips.
When three Portland pizzerias were added to national and international rankings, they had no idea how deeply it would affect their business.
Oregon’s temperatures are dipping, but last month’s heat wave solidified an unsettling trend: Extreme heat is hitting Oregon’s aging population hard.
We speak with Taylor West of the group Healing Advocacy Fund, an organization that advocates for psychedelic-assisted therapy in Oregon and Colorado.
Private investigator Tea Godfrey says you need curiousity and tenacity to do her job. For the latest installment of At Work With, we follow her around.
Oregon is asking the public to weigh in on a plan to reboot the Climate Protection Program.
Renee Miller hiked 457 miles alone and unsupported to break the women’s record for fastest known time on the Oregon section of the Pacific Crest Trail.
The Oregon Department of Emergency Management says over a million acres have already burned across the state. In Malheur County, the Cow Valley Fire has burned 130-thousand acres much of it rangeland for cattle. We’ll learn more about how this wildfire season is affecting Eastern Oregon ranchers.
Candidates seem to agree that the best path to victory in the primaries -- and ultimately November -- is to distance themselves from the Biden administration.
The eel-like fish join the likes of salmon and sturgeon as a first food, a staple for local tribes long before European contact. But their numbers are dwindling.
The sudden emergence of Vice President Kamala Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president provides an opportunity for Oregon’s voters of color to recenter the values and issues most important to their communities.
QA with historian Johanna Ogden, who wrote a book about the Ghadar Party's roots in Astoria.
Voters in rural Oregon are increasingly turning to recall elections to settle political controversies. Morrow County will vote on the recall effort Monday.
James Beard award winning chef and icon of Portland's culinary landscape, Naomi Pomeroy, has died. Journalist and Food Critic Karen Brooks joined OPB to look back at Pomeroy's life and legacy.
Peter Courtney, the longest-serving state lawmaker in Oregon history whose booming oratories and one-of-a-kind style made him a Salem legend, died Tuesday. He was 81.
Environmental groups say riverside homeless encampments are polluting waterways. People experiencing homelessness say urban camp removals are pushing them there.
Finding a solution to the state’s road funding problems is one of the highest-profile — and politically tricky — problems lawmakers will consider next year.
Environmental groups say riverside homeless encampments are polluting waterways. People experiencing homelessness say urban camp removals are pushing them there.
The Willamette River has a trash problem and homeless camp removals could be making it worse
Each summer for more than 30 years, over 100 volunteers spend rush hour at intersections across Portland to tally vehicles. But they’re not counting car bumpers, but bike bells — it’s the city’s annual bicycle count.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation has said half of Portland vehicles have lapsed registration. But DMV data shows that number is far lower.
Emails obtained by OPB show drug users are more likely to face criminal penalties after input from Nathan Vasquez.
Portland was once a national leader for bike and transit infrastructure. Now some people question whether the city has sidelined its ambitious transportation goals.
Pacific Power has taken some criticism from elected leaders in Southern Oregon for cutting off power during this heat wave. The mayor of Talent, Oregon says her city deserves answers after six power outages in as many days.
In many beach towns, nostalgia is unlocked by nothing more easily than saltwater taffy. The Oregon coast is no different. But why is it called "saltwater" taffy anyway? And how does the sweet, stretchy, chewy stuff get made? For OPB's latest "At Work With" interview, we asked a Cannon Beach family that’s been in the taffy making business for more than 60 years.
The abnormally high temperatures coming later this week, part of a multiyear warming trend in Oregon, are prompting concerns about health in a state where many homes lack air conditioning.
People incarcerated at state prisons in Oregon have access to a variety of educational opportunities. But facilities that offer full-on degrees are rare. A new program from Central Oregon Community College seeks to fill the prison higher education gap.
Tony Gilbertson from Vernonia, Oregon took home the top prize at this year’s World Elk Calling Championships.
The film reevaluates the life of the Memphis Country Blues Festival through the lens of race, the counterculture of the 1960s and the genre of Memphis Blues.
Paul Iarrobino and Roland Mechanik talking about what it’s like to be a queer storyteller.
As Portland heads toward a pivotal election that will reshape its city government, conflicting ideologies over how to address unsheltered homelessness have opened potential legal and financial pitfalls in a key contract with Multnomah County.
It’s June 2024. And yet, Logan has become the first student in OPB’s Class of 2025 project to graduate, thanks to a little-known option available to Oregon students.
The Portland Police Bureau is re-launching its crowd control unit. The Rapid Response team was often used to break up protests. It infamously disbanded after one of its officers was charged with misdemeanor assault. Police officials say the revamped team will have additional training, with new standards — but what exactly has changed about the unit?
More than 3,000 nurses at six Providence hospitals across the state are set to go on strike for three days this week. In an unusual turn of events, they’re striking in part over the rollout of a law that was hailed just two years ago as a major win for the nurses union and the first of its kind in the nation.
The shipping container service was in jeopardy of disappearing until Governor Tina Kotek stepped in to propose $40 million in state funds for the Port.
The most outstanding restaurant in the US is located inside another restaurant in Northwest Portland. It’s appropriately named Langbaan, which means “back of the house” and serves a five course tasting menu of elevated Thai food with Pacific Northwest ingredients.
Neighbors in Portland’s Forest Park get a new glimpse of Ted Kaye’s flag collection daily
Goldschmidt, once a towering figure in state and national politics, admitted sexually abusing a teenager and attempting to cover it up.
Multnomah County has a new district attorney. Nathan Vasquez defeated his boss Mike Schmidt and will become the county’s top prosecutor in 2025.
Oregon Ballet Theatre had 92,000 attendees this year, the best attendance record ever. We talk with executive director Shane Jewell about what they did right this season.
Before colonization, many Northwestern tribes used fire to replenish lands. Those fires burned grasses and underbrush, adding nutrients to the soil and helping plants germinate. Raymond Huesties of the Umatilla tribe is sharing this knowledge of prescribed fire with younger generations.
In Rachel K. Jones’ fantasy/horror story “The Sound of Children Screaming,” a fourth-grade teacher and her students find themselves in a magical world during a school shooting. The story draws inspiration from real-life events. The Beaverton author’s short story is a finalist for several literary awards, including the Hugo, Nebula and Bram Stoker awards.
Bill Walton died this week at the age of 71. Many are remembering his dominance as a pro-basketball center, including with the championship-winning Portland Trail Blazers in 1977. After he retired, he enjoyed a second life as a unique and off-the-wall announcer.
Mayoral candidates Carmen Rubio and Rene Gonzalez each had a rooting interest in the race for county prosecutor. The results suggest a rightward shift countywide, with potential implications for City Hall this fall.
After noticing that many abandoned cremated remains in Portland belonged to veterans, the two volunteers launched a decade-long effort to find them and give them a soldier’s resting place
The settlement stipulates Disability Rights Oregon and the state will agree upon a “neutral,” an expert to oversee the foster care system and work with the individual to improve the child-welfare system, primarily by reducing the rate of mistreatment and improving the quality of placements.
The graduation of Daiichi Takeoka from UO law school a century ago illuminates barriers for nowadays Asian American lawyers.
As electric and gas rates continue to rise, an advocacy group for utility customers is proposing rate caps on energy increases for all for-profit utilities to help avoid high energy bills.
Jane Kim became an unexpected internet celebrity when her son started filming her reactions when they went out to eat. Now, under the handle "The Korean Mama", Jane and her son Ed are bringing joy to more than a million followers on social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.
Patagonia made headlines in 2022 when its founders said company profits would go to fighting climate change. They followed a model pioneered in the U.S. by an Oregon produce distributor, and the approach is offering independent business owners a new way to preserve companies.
Portland Public Schools wants to renew a local tax that already helps pay for hundreds of teachers. Bend-La Pine wants to start a new levy that would offset substantial budget cuts. But in Salem-Keizer, option levies aren’t really an option at all.
State Senate candidates promise to balance conservative principles with pragmatic bipartisanship
A conversation with Seattle writer Geraldine DeRuiter on her new book "If You Can't Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury".
Portland fans of women’s basketball are celebrating the start of the WNBA season Tuesday, even though the city has yet to secure a team. Still, Portland has cemented itself as a women’s basketball hub.
Cathy Wood Wyrick helped organize the anti-Vietnam War protests at Portland State University in 1970. She compares that action to the recent pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus.
Mike Schmidt faces Nathan Vasquez in a race that’s become much more than a contest to manage the district attorney’s office.
In demonstrating against the war in Gaza, student protesters are using the longtime tactic of demanding schools cut financial ties to companies they deem harmful
When Eugene trail runner Emily Halnon’s mother died of cancer, she wanted to honor her with something big. In 2020, Halnon set the overall speed record for the Oregon section of the Pacific Crest Trail. Halnon's new book 'To the Gorge', explores how she celebrates her mom's life through running.
Police made 12 arrests and are pursuing more. There’s no timeline for opening or damage estimates yet for Portland State University’s library.
They don’t disagree on much — so congressional candidates Eddy Morales, Susheela Jayapal and Maxine Dexter are selling voters on experience.
Former Portland Timbers star Diego Valeri led his team to win the 2015 MLS Cup and was ultimately named the league's MVP in 2017. Valeri now covers matches as a studio analyst for the Spanish broadcasts on MLS Season Pass. Valeri weighs in on his role off the field, and what the future of Major League Soccer might look like in North America.
Oregonians are being asked to create more defensible space around their homes, with vegetation modified in that space to reduce wildfire threat and help firefighters defend the house.
School officials say they’ve given Portland police the authority to clear the library at some point.
Emails released Friday confirm that senior members of the governor’s team had questioned Aimee Kotek Wilson’s expanding role.
Native youth have the highest suicide rate of any demographic in the country and need solutions that address their unique needs.
On a Portland sidestreet, there's a window just above street level - the window of poet Anis Mojgani's studio. The humble space belies the exalted title he's held for the past four years: Oregon poet laureate. The Evergreen's Jenn Chávez visited his studio to ask him what it's like to be a poet and to serve as the state's poet laureate, for the latest interview in OPB's "At Work With" series.
Records obtained by OPB offer new insight about Elias Huizar’s past and the events that led to his ex-wife’s death and the death of his 17-year-old girlfriend.
On Thursday night, a small group of protesters set up tents and barricades in the South Park Blocks in Portland. The encampment was in support of Palestinians in Gaza and in protest of Portland State University’s ties with companies that have contracts with Israel. By midday Friday, the University announced it will temporarily pause accepting gifts or grants from the Boeing Company.
Both men’s and women’s rugby clubs of Western Oregon University have qualified for the Rugby 7s Collegiate National Championships which take place this week in Maryland. This is the first time both teams qualified in the same year and the first time Western’s women’s team has made it to the national championships.
For more than 50 years, Earth Day has been used by environmental advocates to raise awareness and support sustainability and environmental protection.
Portland has become a popular destination for musicians who made their names in other cities or music scenes. A new addition to that list is Freedy Johnston.
Last month, Portland Public Schools, Multnomah County and a nonprofit organization running an afterschool program were sued on behalf of an elementary schooler. The allegation from a female student and her family involves sexual harassment and unwanted touching by classmates and other children. The traumatic events occurred two years ago, when the girl was only nine years old.
Portland’s ongoing attempt to regulate homeless camps on public property hit another snag this week. Now, two of the top candidates for mayor are on opposite sides of the divisive issue.
Multnomah County and American Medical Response have been at an impasse for about a year over a shortage of paramedics and ambulances arriving late to the scenes of life-threatening emergencies. The county and AMR enter a second mediation session this week.
States across the country have attempted to tamp down gun violence by placing restrictions on firearms. But a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling has roiled lower courts.
The city of Portland could sell the RedTail Golf Center to the Portland Diamond Project, who want to bring an MLB team to Oregon. But the city's Golf Advisory Committee says doing so would make the golf system financially unstable.
Future high school teachers spent an afternoon exploring the area around Tubman Middle School in Portland as part of a place-based lesson on the I-5 expansion.
High school athletes in Beaverton, Oregon who are competing in athletics while fasting for Ramadan.
In the 1930s, there weren’t many women who went on weeks-long horse packing trips. But La Grande’s Jean Birnie led a group of women who did so, calling themselves the “hen party”, in the Wallowa mountains each summer for decades in the early 20th century.
A group of Crook County residents plans to sue the state for failing to regulate a nearby mine and polluting their groundwater.
Portland comedian Mx Dahlia Belle talks about being part of the new Netflix special 'Gender Agenda'
To some, Rene Gonzalez is the savior Portland needs to pacify a city under threat by crime and leftist policies. To others, he’s a villain, using his position as the least progressive council member (but far from conservative) to harm the city’s most vulnerable residents.
Oregon just passed a major reform to Pharmacy Benefit Manager. But what exactly are these secretive middleman of the drug industry?
Oregon is the latest state to pass legislation to ban copay accumulators - but what exactly IS a copay accumulator?
The commission planning the I-5 bridge overhaul will reveal today what the new project may look like.
Oregon's state legislature voted to reverse a measure that decriminalized personal drug use. What does the Oregon experiment and its likely overhaul mean in the wider context of the U.S. war on drugs?
Corequisite education flips traditional remediation in higher education on its head. Some education advocates in Oregon are looking to make it a mainstay in the state’s community colleges.
The top five illuminating, inspiring and just plain cool Pacific Northwest science stories from “All Science. No Fiction.”
Oregon hosted its first girls wrestling tournament recently and OPB was on hand to report on the action
Oregon coastal communities are susceptible to major natural disasters, like earthquakes and floods. A nonprofit in Manzanita wants to highlight the meals you can make with what you can find in your pantry in case of an emergency.
Bobbie Scopa is a transgender woman and a wildland firefighter. She's the author of "Both Sides of the Fire Line: Memoir of a Transgender Firefighter."
The Oregon Symphony will perform musical arrangements from beloved video games at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
To complete the transition, the benefits systems will close at 5 p.m. Wednesday and reopen on the upgraded site at 8 a.m. Monday.
More than three decades into a nitrate pollution crisis, a handful of Lower Umatilla Basin residents are escalating their concerns to the courts.
Business and labor groups have negotiated a system of contribution limits they hope to push through before lawmakers adjourn March 10. Critics say the proposal is weak.
Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson is responding to mounting public pressure for the county to reconsider its ambulance staffing requirements and address slow response times countywide.
The team behind the team: Rip City Remix is powered by seven staff members and eight paid interns launching careers in sports marketing and finance
Just over three years since Oregon voters passed Ballot Measure 110, elected officials want to repeal key elements, blaming the law for open drug use and soaring overdoses. But it’s their own hands-off approach that isn’t working, advocates say.
Founded in 1978, Bob’s Red Mill initially served only the Portland area, but over the years it grew into a global corporation selling more than 200 products.
Students at Cottage Grove-based national tree climbing school push themselves to the limit to become professional pine cone collectors
Newer Portland police officers are more likely to use force, according to an analysis of newer recruits.
The city, county and state governments declared an emergency surrounding fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid, though the announcement won’t include additional funding.
OPB’s “All Science, No Fiction” producer Jes Burns joins Lillian Karabaic for a monthly round-up of research coming out of Pacific Northwest.
A few iconic video stores are still holding strong in the Northwest, keeping the movie rental dream alive for renters young and old. For OPB's At Work With Series, we hear from video store clerk Sara Reinhart from Portland's Movie Madness about what it's like to work in a movie lover's paradise.
Three young people with lived experience of homelessness share their ideas on how to improve support for Oregon’s homeless youth.
New challenges are overwhelming an already inadequate network of services for young people struggling with substance abuse.
Three years after Oregon eliminated criminal consequences, influential lawmakers say it’s time for a course correction. Republicans say the changes wouldn’t be enough.
Cottage Grove residents haven't had power, internet or phone service for the past seven days. They have a long road to recovery after facing the worst of the latest winter storms.
It’s been a tough week for most Oregonians: battling snow, downed trees and sheets of ice. At least a dozen people have died, and falling limbs and ice have caused millions in damages.
“Downwind” looks at how miscalculated wind forecasts, government proclamations that radiation exposure wasn’t a serious health threat, and revelations from now-declassified documents referring to those who lived near the test site as a “low use segment of the population” potentially contributed to illnesses suffered by Americans who were never warned about the dangers of living near the test sites.
Oregon Department of Transportation has been working to rebuild the old Columbia River Highway for 37 years.
Mayor Ted Wheeler and Councilmember Carmen Rubio join for a skate on the holiday ice rink to talk about downtown economic revitalization.
The piece of the plane’s fuselage landed not far from his house. OPB's Crystal Ligori spoke with Portland teacher Bob Sauer about finding the plane's door plug in his own backgyard.
Once considered one of the most progressive legislative leaders in the country, Kotek has spent the last year preaching pragmatism over ideology.
In 2020, protesters marched in racial justice demonstrations following George Floyd’s murder. Several monuments were pulled down in Portland as part of a reckoning over the city and country’s racist history. Now the fate of those monuments is back in the spotlight.
Christopher Hendon is an associate professor at the University of Oregon who has the appropriate nickname of ‘Dr. Coffee’. He and a team of volcanologists on campus have found a way to up your coffee game: adding a little bit of water before you grind your beans.
Coastal residents attempt to study offshore wind projects and call for a pause in development as a federal agency fails to convey its message
It's that time of year when we take a deep dive into the niche genre of Christmas music with JT Griffith. He's the longtime curator of holiday tunes for OPB and KMHD and the founder of Liminal Music. He spoke with our "All Things Considered" host, Crystal Ligori.
Among the things Kris Kringle has learned over his six winters in Portland: Christmas season is hard on Santa’s suits, but soft on his heart.
Like hundreds of other ranchers in Colorado, the Stanko family is anxious about wolf packs being airlifted back to the state, where they were eradicated by the 1940s. Supporters of the effort, however, see a bright future.
With a regenerative farm and an on-site larder, ōkta restaurant is celebrating the bounty of the Pacific Northwest while focusing on preservation.
Mat Johnson joined horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan’s team of writing scripts for the hit Netflix series The Fall of the House of Usher because he has long been fascinated with Edgar Allan Poe’s writing.
The state will send a jaw-dropping $5.6 billion back to taxpayers next year, ratcheting up pressure on a policy voters love.
As Oregon evaluates how schools prepare students for life after high school, employers and college representatives share what graduation requirements they’d like to see.
How Portland downtown businesses are responding to the Governor's task force recommendations
As Tokyo Sando prepares to close its doors Sunday, owner Taiki Nakajima intends to take an extended break in Japan, pondering the possibility of a return
Portland artist and storyteller Andrew Dickson discusses his new book, "Me and My Family and Me", which is part memoir, part family history, and some antecdotes and advise for his kids.
The recommendations emerged from a sprawling task force that Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek convened to address the city’s most challenging problems.
Alaska Airlines pilot who nearly shut down an aircraft’s engines mid-flight, to be released from jail.
Five of the most illuminating, inspiring and just plain cool Pacific Northwest science stories from “All Science. No Fiction.”
110 years ago, part-Indigenous community activist Clara Latourell Larsson was elected Oregon’s second female mayor—just one year after women achieved the right to vote statewide.
Mysterious respiratory illnesses are sickening dogs in several states — including Oregon.
High maintenance costs — and the geographic availability of hot water — limit the use of geothermal energy in Klamath Falls.
NextGenRadio’s Ella Hutcherson speaks with Pat Johnson, a former diplomat who’s lived and worked in multiple countries around the world. The canopy of fruit trees enveloping her Portland house bear the same fruits that grew in countries she’s lived in all over the world.
NextGenRadio's Nora Colie speaks with Sean Cruz, who preserves the memory and legacy of Indigenous jazz musician, Jim Pepper.
NextGenRadio's Carrie Cantrell speaks with Miguel Chavez, a disability advocate. Chavez grew up blind in rural Washington, where few resources existed for people with disabilities.
NextGenRadio's Anna Lueck speaks with Laura Green, co-founder of the Portland Grief House. Adrift after a series of losses, Green began holding gatherings online, and later in her mother’s house in North Portland.
NextGenRadio's Terah Bennett speaks with Barbra Weber, a Portlander who used to live on the sidewalks of Portland’s Old Town. Now, she’s a prolific advocate for the safety of unhoused people.
A new anthology collects dark fiction that centers indigenous perspectives. An interview with the co-editor Theodore Van Alst Jr
The city of Portland and attorneys for several unhoused Portlanders presented their arguments about the daytime camping ban just days before enforcement was scheduled to begin
Tribes in Central Oregon are pushing back against a luxury resort development they say could violate their treaty rights.
Portland resident Kevin Dahlgren [[DOLL-gren]] is best known for making viral and controversial videos on homelessness. Police arrested him this week. OPB’s Weekend Reporter Joni Auden Land is here to tell us more about who Kevin Dahlgren is and what he’s being accused of.
Oregon’s largest school district has been on strike for three days - and it seems likely to keep going next week. The Portland Association of Teachers has not yet reached an agreement with Portland Public Schools -- though negotiations continue.
Portland’s government makeover is a little more than a year away. Top officials are already making decisions that aren’t as visible but will be critical to how the city functions for decades to come.
Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme became household names on “RuPaul’s Drag Race", but long before that, they were working together in the Pacific Northwest. Now, the duo is hitting the road for an international holiday tour and they joined OPB’s “All Things Considered” host Crystal Ligori to talk about queer joy, drag as resistance and the idea of "chosen family."
The Lane County ice rink has a history filled with glittering stars, a war between pitchforks and hockey sticks, and even a Mexican drug cartel. Michael Sheehan's new book gathers their stories.
A look at what Portland teachers and Oregon’s largest district have been struggling to agree on
Christine Sinclair is leaving Canada's National Team. She's the most decorated Canadian player of all time. Anne Peterson reflects on her legacy.
Filmed By Bike is an international film festival based in Portland that is focused on the stories that bikes - and the people on them - can tell us
After an authorization vote this week, educators in Oregon’s largest school district have called for a strike.
A massive dam removal project has turned large stretches of the Klamath River into construction sites.
The removal of four dams along the Klamath River is giving scientists a unique opportunity to learn more about these flying mammals.
In Central Oregon, emergency services are seeing more staffing shortages, which means longer response times for people calling 9-1-1.
Portlanders gathered on the tilikum crossing to set the record for longest howl at the moon on a portland bridge.
The path out of Oregon's homelessness crisis isn’t simple, nor is it direct. But solutions do exist. To uncover them, it’s important to first understand the origins of this crisis.
Portland's own Sam Rollins took home second place in this year's Mondial du Fromage. It's the best-ever finish for an American in the history of the tournament.
As climate change makes weather patterns more erratic and access to water becomes more politicized, some Oregon farmers are pivoting to a centuries old practice of growing crops without irrigation.
The city of John Day is the largest in Grant County. But it has fewer than 10 employees serving more than 16-hundred people who live there.
Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell is resigning from his post as the city’s top law enforcement officer, but he plans to continue working for the police bureau.
More than a decade ago, Oregon leaders established a goal that starting with the Class of 2025, 100% of students would complete high school successfully. Students in that class just started 11th grade.
The court will have to balance the legal protections of a person charged with a crime against the ethical obligations of a public defender.
Voters approved tighter gun restrictions in 2022, but multiple court fights have delayed implementation
The state library’s Oregon Intellectual Freedom Clearinghouse tracks challenges to books and other materials and services in libraries and schools across the state. Its new annual report found that, from 2022 to 2023, more individual book and material titles were challenged in Oregon than at any point since the state library began tracking this data in the ‘80s.
As the Class of 2025 students start their junior year of high school, a look back on the ambitious long-term project.
We wrap up the week's Northwest news with OPB's Emily Cureton Cook. We also hear from Oregon Capital Chronicle reporter Ben Botkin about his reporting on new scrutiny of Oregon’s system for getting mental health services to people on Medicaid, following a whistleblower complaint.
Oregon’s largest homeless shelter has won a reprieve and will remain open — at least until the end of the year. The Bybee Lakes Hope Center, which is housed at the old Wapato Jail site in North Portland, received $1.5 million from Multnomah County on Thursday. The money comes with one condition: that Bybee Lakes open its books for a third-party financial review.
Three years after the 2020 fires devastated communities in Southern Oregon, survivors are still recovering from the fires’ impact on their homes, their stability and their mental health. A local long-term recovery group is helping support residents who’ve experienced trauma.
Three years after the 2020 Labor Day fires devastated communities in Southern Oregon, wildfire survivors are still recovering from the fires’ impact on their homes, their stability, and their mental health. A local long-term recovery group is helping support residents who’ve experienced trauma.
Organ donation in the US is broken - but there's a possibility that breaking the monopoly that runs it might change things.
OPB politics reporter Dirk VanderHart to talk about the record 5 billion dollar kicker that is making its way back to taxpayers next year.
School staff are working to ensure a smooth and celebratory start to the new school year. Here’s a look inside a few Oregon schools.
Some special education programs are not required to report the same information to the state as other educational institutions, leading to a lack of accountability for systems serving Oregon's most vulnerable students.
Gov. Tina Kotek, who briefed reporters on a new task forced aimed at reviving the city, says she’s not ruling anything out.
Addressing questions of race and representation in Oregon’s political system can be fraught. That can be especially true in some Eastern Oregon communities. In Ontario, a recent discussion about the city code defining its diversity committee became a full-on debate over what the committee’s actually accomplishing.
We wrap up the week's Northwest news with OPB's Anna Griffin. We also hear from Bend Bulletin reporter Taylor Bayly about her reporting on student discipline reform efforts in Bend and throughout the state of Oregon.
Summer is a time for festivals – and celebrating the bounty of the Pacific Northwest. And one of the most fragrant celebrations takes place in Washington County: the North Plains Elephant Garlic Festival.
Radical Abundance is a new Southeast Portland thrift shop that opened July 23rd. Like many other thrift shops, volunteers take clothing donations, resell them at a low price, and use the proceeds for charitable causes. Their cause? Helping trans* and non-binary folks afford gender-affirming medical care.
There’s a growing push in Oregon to decriminalize consensual sex work – in other words, to stop charging people who engage in prostitution with crimes. But recently, it’s gotten some push back from perhaps the most influential place: The governor’s office. Earlier this month, Governor Tina Kotek quietly vetoed two attempts to use public money to study the idea.
This week’s oppressive and deadly heat wave is finally beginning to wind down in some parts of Oregon. But although some relief from the extreme heat is coming soon, climate scientists predict heat waves could happen more frequently in the Pacific Northwest.
In Central Oregon, roughly a quarter of a million people float the Deschutes River through Bend each summer, and many of them lose things along the way. But, thanks to a local diving group, some lost items are finding their way home.
The Oregon state agency charged with monitoring discrimination in workplaces across the state was itself a hostile work environment for the Black woman who was hired to head the civil rights division of the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries.
New study shows terrible pay and working conditions for nonprofit service providers who work on homelessness
The recent on-the-job deaths of a Portland hospital security guard and a Gresham mental health aide have put a fresh spotlight on the violence that many working in health care experience routinely.
Oregon state leaders have agreed to let tech giant Amazon install a new trans-Pacific cable stretching from the Tillamook County coastline to Asia. But in the process, they also said they want tighter restrictions on undersea cables off the Oregon coast.
Portland’s Old Town has become a microcosm of the many challenges the city is facing now: homelessness, the opioid crisis and public safety. But despite this, entrepreneurs and social services are continuing to invest in the neighborhood.
St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch struck a deal this week to sell Bend’s 10-Barrel Brewing Company and Portland’s Widmer Brothers Brewing and Square Mile Cider Company as part of a 8 brand acquisition by Tilray Brands.
Oregon lawmakers wrapped up the legislative session earlier this summer with a flurry of bills and some compromises. The final days of session were a blur. One topic never came up: Why a project to renovate parts of the Capitol was nearly $100 million over budget.
Last month, members of the mid-Columbia River tribes set off from Oregon on an annual intertribal canoe journey to Seattle. It's especially poignant this year after a three-year hiatus due to COVID.
An unconfirmed ‘person of interest’ in the deaths had an earlier sentence commuted by former Gov. Kate Brown, but would have been out of prison at the time of the deaths, regardless
July 31st marked the final deadline for all Oregon businesses to enroll in the state's mandated retirement plan, OregonSaves. However, a significant number of businesses remain unaware of the deadline.
Producer, songwriter and vocalist Madison Mcferrin visited the KMHD studios and spoke with host Deena B about her artistic journey of creating her debut album, “ I Hope You Can Forgive Me."
On July 22nd and 23rd, HONK! PDX brings a brass and street band musical festival that’s been celebrated in cities around the world to Portland for the first time. The two-day festival is focused on reclaiming public space, providing free access to music, and encouraging Portlanders to participate themselves.
Next summer, Oregon could become just the third state in the country to offer a basic health program. It’s a special kind of health plan for people who earn too much for Medicaid, but still struggle to pay for private health insurance. The plan could make health care free for nearly 100,000 Oregonian
Oregon agreed to stop placing foster kids in hotels as part of a legal settlement in 2018. But the state has continued to put vulnerable kids there for years and now the issue has flared up again in the courts.
We wrap up the week's Northwest news with OPB's Andrew Theen. We also hear from KOIN 6 News investigative reporter Elise Haas about Oregon Health Authority rules mandating testing of cannabis for the mold aspergillus and their implications for cannabis growers.
Fifty-one years ago this summer, Title IX was signed into law. Its most visible achievement has been the inclusion of women in interscholastic sports. Earlier this year, Oregon officially sanctioned girls wrestling at the high school level. Asia DeWeese is one of the athletes who helped to usher in that change. She competed in Oregon as a wrestler in the 1980s.
Teens in Wallowa County break the mold of traditional summer camps by participating in Haunt Camp, where they design and build an avant-garde haunted house, showcasing their creativity and learn trade fabrication skills to the surprise and delight of the community.
Colleges and universities across the country have been launching programs aimed at making it easier for Native American students to afford higher education. But the new free or reduced-tuition programs aren’t available for Native students from federally unrecognized tribes.
Last month, Oregon lawmakers approved a $170M drought package. But lawmakers left out a program to provide direct aid to rural homeowners who rely on wells.
A year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned the constitutional right to abortion care, even states with strong abortion protections are feeling the effects. In Washington, new data shows a significant increase in out-of-state patients seeking abortions. We hear more from Northwest Public Broadcasting's Rachel Sun.
This spring, a four-alarm fire inside a downtown Portland apartment building sent smoke billowing across the city – and cost more than 100 people their homes. We learn more about how firefighters and arson investigators figure out what – and who – could have started that kind of blaze.
Owners of establishments founded in 1883, and located on separate ends of Oregon, have searched for records to prove their exact age.
Newport Mayor Dean Sawyer resigned Monday, three days after OPB revealed he has been posting offensive content in a private Facebook group.
A former nurse at the Oregon Department of Corrections is set to go to trial on Monday in Portland. The U-S Department of Justice has charged the man with violating the constitutional rights of numerous women while they were incarcerated.
The all-star point guard requested a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers over the weekend. This comes after 11 seasons as one of the best players in the league, and in a franchise that feels a long way from contention.
Measure 110 forced Oregon to build a new drug addiction services model. Here’s how that’s going
The Legislative session is over. We break down the big political winners, losers and policy gains from another session disrupted by the Republican walkout.
The county is seeking $50 million in actual damages for the 2021 heat dome, $1.5 billion in future damages and $50 billion to better prepare for the changing climate.
Urban Gleaners started in 2006 when Tracy Oseran made a simple observation: there were hungry people in Portland who could be fed with good, edible food that was being thrown away.
Rebuilding homes on a landscape ravaged by 2020 fires has been slow, expensive and traumatic
Democrats agreed to change marquee bills on abortion and guns. Republicans still face the possibility of losing their political careers.
Cannon Beach on Oregon's North Coast has held an annual sandcastle contest, now an Oregon heritage tradition, since 1964. The city celebrated its 59th annual contest on Saturday, June 10th, 2023, drawing competitors of all ages and levels from around the country to dazzle crowds with elaborate castles, sand sculptures and more.
To mark its 20th birthday, Portland's Mississippi Records celebrated the strange and wonderful tradition of song-poems, with a local song-poem writing contest where community members sent in poems that were interpreted and performed by local musicians.
Last month, Proud Mary Cafe was selling a single cup of coffee for $150,even though the current Commodities Market rate for coffee is about a tenth of that. Somewhere between these two extremes is where most consumers find their cup of joe, but between cl
Spring is officially here, and with a new season comes new arts and culture events to add to our calendars this April.
Last month, Proud Mary Cafe was selling a single cup of coffee for $150,even though the current Commodities Market rate for coffee is about a tenth of that. Somewhere between these two extremes is where most consumers find their cup of joe, but between cl
The legendary drag queen was a champion of LGBTQ rights and a pioneering entertainer in Oregon.
Last year was rocky for the National Women Soccer League, especially for the Portland Thorns.We spoke with new head coach Mike Norris ahead of the season which kicks off on Sunday.
Parents in one of Oregon's most affluent cities are pushing for a change to how the local schools teach reading. It's not going well - and it raises questions about the state's role in ensuring quality reading instruction.
Future sleep center and transitional housing project was originally slated to be in Hermiston.
Despite big Democratic wins during the election, extreme right-wingers continue to make in-roads into the Republican Party. Following the ballot box strategy, they have been going after small committee chair positions.
Oregon ProStart trains more than 4,000 high school students for careers in the culinary industry. Monday was the culimainary of their training: the Oregon ProStart Competition. We speak to a lead judge about the event and the importance of career technica
Instruments placed on the Axial Seamount measure volcanic activity and provide helpful clues.
Portland Seed Fund co-manager Angela Jackson weighs in on how Portland's venture communities are responding to the collapses of Silcon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
Advocates say projects to help homeless residents are caught in the middle of government conflicts.
The Tri County Women’s Stabilization Program offers healthcare, temporary shelter and case management in a setting surrounded by people with lived experience. The Portland nonprofit Bridges to Change partnered with CareOregon to open the 20-bed care cente
We wrap up the week's Oregon news with OPB's April Ehrlich. And we hear from The Lund Report managing editor Emily Green about how state inaction on improving youth education, prevention and addiction services has left teens vulnerable to fentanyl.
One of Oregon's most influential conservation groups is changing its name. Portland Audubon is dropping ... Audubon. Leaders of the nonprofit say they don't want to celebrate a person who upheld a system of white supremacy.
A bill in the Oregon legislature is looking to set up a payment program that would give $1,000 a month to low or no income Oregonians over a two year period. If passed, it would create the nation’s first statewide guaranteed income program.
College instructors and students across Oregon had to rely more on technology when the pandemic hit, and that led to new headaches. But some professors at Pacific University have used that shift to make lasting changes in how they teach.
A review of hundreds of pages of records show security guards at Vancouver Public Schools have used banned restraints more than a year after the state outlawed them.
The purple leaves in your salad greens are ready to take center stage on your dinner plate.
Animal care dipped to staggering lows as Multnomah County shelter reached crisis, records show
A new study in collaboration with Oregon State University finds moisture plays a key role in soil’s ability to store carbon. We speak to Jeff Hatton, a Professor of Forest Soils in Oregon State University’s College of Forestry, who co-authored the study.
Starting March 1st, many people experiencing homelessness in Bend will face new restrictions on where they can camp.
A Baker City man is planning a series of events in the region, while a professor is collecting data from Pendleton.
Warming shelters and rides are available from Multnomah County. Call 211 for more information.
Once again, afternoon snowfall led to a traffic nightmare. This time, transportation leaders say the problem was the changing forecast.
In Central Oregon’s Crook County, a conservative activist spent months last year pressuring the superintendent of schools, Sara Johnson. Their emails show a back-and-forth where anti-LGBTQ views go unchallenged by the school leader.
An apartment complex for low-income artists is facing a lawsuit from tenants accusing management of serious neglect.
Several women at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility who made allegations of sexual abuse to detectives never had their accounts considered by local prosecutors, raising questions about how seriously authorities took the case.
The NBA trade deadline has come and gone, and the Portland Trail Blazers made some pretty interesting choices, including a unique four-way trade. We get the details from Sean Highkin, host and author of the Rose Garden Report podcast and newsletter.
Chemeketa Community College is the first to offer an ‘applied’ baccalaureate this fall. Legislators are already considering an expansion to what the colleges can offer.
State lawmakers have long employed family members, a practice that would be illegal for most elected officials.
More than 600 city of Portland workers are out on strike today after their union and city labor negotiators failed to reach a deal.
Though students in special education are among those with the most academic ground to gain during the pandemic, parents and staff acknowledge gaps and inconsistencies in the interventions available to students.
Weeks before Clark County officials created a new department to run the local jail, tensions flared over the sheriff’s unconventional plan to bring help to his shorthanded staff.
The state college-going rate and enrollment numbers across many colleges and universities in Oregon have dropped during the course of the pandemic. Oregon State University seems to be doing ok, but it's dealing with its own dynamics in academics with the
As a string of attacks on electrical substations unfolded in Oregon and Washington in 2022, the FBI was warning utilities of white supremacists’ plots to take down the nation’s power grid.
The city of Portland is moving forward with a controversial plan to create several massive outdoor homeless encampments throughout the city.
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley tour reveals Morrow County residents’ frustration with groundwater inaction
The sport of running has many benefits. The improvement of one's mental and physical health are just a few
Schonely called games for the NBA team for nearly three decades, including during the team’s historic championship win in 1977.
After a dead sperm whale washed ashore on Oregon's coast, officials needed to determine a cause of death and what to do with the 40-foot carcass.
The Oregon Legislature returned to work this week for the 2023 session. State lawmakers have huge challenges to solve and a recent history of partisan gridlock. But legislative leaders in both parties sounded surprisingly optimistic.
Dungeness crab is the most valuable single-species fishery commodity in Oregon. The 2021-2022 season was one of the best on record, with fisherfolk bringing in $91.5 million worth of the crustaceans. But that's not always the case.
Just before last year’s Thanksgiving holiday, four students from the University of Idaho were found stabbed to death in their off-campus home. The murders have rocked the small town of Moscow, Idaho and captured national attention
Reflecting a national trend, communities in the Northwest are seeing a wave of proposed bans or limits on books in schools or local libraries. Two students in the region share their perspectives on the importance of literary access, libraries as community
Hospitals are currently crowded with patients suffering from the "tripledemic" of RSV, flu and COVID. And a new COVID variant known as “kraken” has come to the forefront. What should we expect from the global pandemic in 2023?
Gov. Tina Kotek takes office, pledging to ramp up the building of new homes and forge connections with people across the state
Gov. Tina Kotek takes office, pledging to ramp up the building of new homes and forge connections with people across the state
Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler represented Southwest Washington’s 3rd congressional district for 12 years until she was defeated by right-wing candidate Joe Kent in the primaries last spring after she voted to impeach former President Donald Trump.
As we settle into the new year, there are plenty of events this month that can enlighten your start to 2023. OPB producer Donald Orr sat down with All Things Considered co-host Crystal Ligori to chat about a few events to check out this January.
After taking more than a week to deliberate, circuit court judge Robert Raschio ruled Tuesday that the state cannot implement the additional background check requirement. Ballot Measure 114, which would create stricter gun laws in Oregon, is now blocked b
Oregon Governor Kate Brown leaves office in a few days with historically low poll numbers, and a reputation so tarnished even fellow Democrats criticized her during the 2022 campaigns. But an analysis of the outgoing governor's record shows that Brown lea
Congresswoman-elect Andrea Salinas can’t get to work until House Republicans choose their next leader.
For the third year in a row, OPB's Christmas music authority JT Griffith guides us through the very niche musical genre of holiday music.
The debate over LGBTQ books for children is an existential issue for one Oregon library
Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said compounds in Monsanto’s products continue to pollute Oregon’s land and waterways, more than 90 years after the company knew they were highly toxic.
Oregon college students continue to struggle with mental health as pandemic restrictions ease.
Brown has continued Democratic efforts to end the death penalty in Oregon on her way out of office.
A new Christmas musical seeks to raise awareness about queer youth houselessness and give young lgbtq+ people a more positive story to tell this holidasy season
Emails obtained by OPB and KUOW show that at least six electric substations in the region have been attacked, at least two with firearms.
Oregon’s new paid family and medical leave program starts collecting money from workers and businesses in just a few weeks. That means your paycheck could be slightly smaller in January.
Hours after a federal judge said part of Oregon's new gun law can move forward, a circuit court judge in Harney County said the law can't take effect at all.
The holidays are in full swing, and for many of us that means celebrating with friends and family. As we gather with loved ones this month, OPB's Donald Orr has a few events to to check out this December.
Pediatric ICU beds are nearly full in Oregon because there is an unprecedented surge in RSV. Dr. Jill Pearson is the Director of Pediatrics at Salem Health and joined OPB to explain how we can keep kids safe.
Officials say updates included in a recently-passed $450 million bond will help the college adapt for the future
Jurors found Ian Cranston not guilty of the more severe second-degree murder charge for shooting and killing Barry Washington, Jr. last year.
An OPB investigation found Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and his staff sent and received thousands of text messages between 2017 and 2021 that were never available to people requesting city records.
Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez declared victory Saturday night in her bid for Southwest Washington’s congressional seat, flipping a key House seat from red to blue.
The Bend City Council received a clear housing mandate from voters. The congressional race there is still too close to call -- and conservatives may hold onto control of the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners.
Republicans were hopeful 2022 would be the first time in 40 years the state would elect a GOP governor. They were wrong.
ShotSpotter, which sells technology meant to locate gunshots, has ramped up legal and PR spending to push back against criticism that its tech doesn’t work. In Portland, records suggest much of the sales pitch was intentionally hidden from public view.
Mailers sent in several Oregon Senate districts point to Democratic candidates’ liberal positions on abortion law in a bid to make it a winning issue for Republicans.
The ongoing pandemic has led many restaurants to shut their doors for good, but some who have stayed open have found success in making the shift to packaged foods.
All three candidates want the Oregon Department of Education to do a better job holding school districts accountable for spending and student outcomes.
In the region’s suburban 17th and 18th state Legislative Districts, both parties view the races as more competitive than ever due to redistricting.
Two more Oregon counties will vote on pro-Greater Idaho ballot measures on Election Day, as the movement looks to keep supporters engaged.
Proponents say the measure is a statement of values. Some in law enforcement oppose it because they worry it would affect jail and prison work programs.
Oregon’s 6th Congressional District is its newest after the 2020 Census. The district contains all of Polk and Yamhill counties, as well as pieces of Marion, Washington and Clackamas counties.
The campaign is taking place in a freshly redrawn district, which stretches from Clackamas County all the way to Bend and Albany, covering many conservative and liberal strongholds in Oregon.
After the election in November, Southwest Washington will have its first new representative in Congress in more than a decade. And who wins that election will say a lot about the voters’ priorities in the 3rd Congressional District.
Candidates are offering competing plans on how to address Bend’s housing crisis, as affordability remains a key issue
With voters seething over homelessness and crime, Hardesty faces a tough reelection bid against a centrist candidate who blames her approach for many of the city’s challenges.
Northeast Portland's Cully neighborhood lost a longtime fixture after the Prescott Cafe closed its doors for good with the owner's retirement. Industry experts say ever-changing restaurant trends don't leave much room for eateries like this.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters was the first woman to oversee the state’s high court, which she has run since 2018
Future of Columbia Gorge sternwheeler uncertain as Cascade Locks courts larger cruise line
More than 200,000 Oregonians have likely experienced long COVID-19, causing significant health issues and financial pain. The condition’s economic toll is beginning to come into focus.
Here’s where the candidates stand on vaccination, the pandemic and the health care industry — based on their own words and their voting records.
Acclaimed chef Sarah Pliner was killed last week while riding her bike in southeast Portland. A three-time James Beard Award semifinalist and co-founder of Aviary, Pliner often shied away from the limelight, letting her work speak for her.
This year, the Baker School District has doubled the number of international students spending time in Eastern Oregon.
The pandemic galvanized an Eastern Oregon nonprofit to do community organizing in the Latino community.
The bellwether civil case against the city for police behavior could indicate Multnomah County juries are willing to hold the city responsible for police violence.
Dan Wieden, the co-founder of Wieden+Kennedy, died last week at age 77. Ad Age reporter Brian Bonilla joins us to remember the advertising icon who helped create one of the largest independent ad agencies in the world
A brief preview of arts events in the region this month, with some help from our friends at KMHD and Oregon Art Beat.
Votes in rural Oregon could play a factor in deciding an unusually tight race to replace Gov. Kate Brown.
Angry residents in the wealthy eastside neighborhood have hired a lawyer, one on a quest to make the city stop allowing public camping.
State and local organizations are building programs to connect EVs with more rural and low-income people, as well as communities of color.
OPB's Jamie Diep caught up with cosplayers showing off their costumes at Portland's recent comic book convention, Rose City Comic Con.
Teachers in Ridgefield, WA are on strike - and they're not alone. Educators in Seattle went on strike earlier this month. Teachers in other cities nationwide walked out this year too. We hear more from Nadra Nittle, education reporter for The 19th News.
Portland comedian Julia Coral tells us where he finds joy, humor and inspiration these days.
A 2021 report by the Oregon Crimes Commission revealed that Anti-Asian bias crimes went up in 2021
The Portland Art Museum's Center for an Untold Tomorrow rents out virtual reality headsets, preloaded with ten curated immersive VR pieces from around the world, for viewers to try out for a few days at home.
Portland comedian and podcast host Jaren George tells us where he finds joy, humor and inspiration these days.
Oregon district attorneys worry that new state hospital stay limits will affect public safety
Former classmates of Bend shooter say he was violent. How do schools respond to student threats?
Metro’s first year of supportive housing funding lays the foundation for regional response to homelessness
The state’s leading housing agency made permanent supportive housing a key part of its statewide housing plan in 2019. Its goal was to create 1,000 of these units by 2023. It surpassed that goal this month.
Fiesta Mexicana has been an annual summer tradition in Woodburn since the 1960s. The weekend of festivities brings community members together for plenty of food, music, dance, a parade and more in celebration of Woodburn's vibrant Mexican community.
A ballot measure that would open streets to ATVs in a small Oregon town is causing a ruckus
We wrap up the week's Northwest news with OPB's Lillian Mongeau Hughes. And we hear from Juliet Grable of Jefferson Public Radio about a coalition in Southern Oregon that's working to help wildlife cross I-5.
This week, the federal government declared a public health emergency around h-M-P-X-V, also known as monkeypox. The virus causes a painful, blistering skin rash. And it's spreading in Oregon: as of Tuesday, there were 72 known cases statewide.
Beach towns up and down the West Coast have feral cats living near the waterfront. But now, jetty cat colonies on Oregon’s coast are being closed as people say they’re inhumane and a nuisance.
In part three of OPB's joint investigation with ProPublica, Tony Schick reports on ways the Bonneville Power Administration has undermined tribes’ efforts on salmon recovery.
A vaccine rule for indoor dining grabbed the attention of a prominent anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist, drawing a slew of online harassment that quickly descended into racism
The Pacific Northwest is nearing the end of a weeklong heatwave that brought triple-digit temperatures. It’s the first test for Oregon’s recently adopted rules to protect people working outside or without air-conditioning on hot days.
Libraries are more than just books. You can find movies, music, and games there too. But in recent years, some libraries have been building entire collections of even more unconventional items: Libraries of Things. One of the first of its kind in the U.S. got its start here in the Northwest.
New education research from Portland-based company NWEA shows student learning gains returned to the pace seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Corn dogs are an iconic ummer staple, but did you know the fair favorite was invented in Oregon? Since 1941, the Original Pronto Pup has been a classic snack-on-a-stick.
Oregon teachers, students lead push for sweeping expansion of climate change curriculum
As Oregon is facing a wave of landfill closures in coming decades, a group of mysterious investors hope to cash in on Lake County officials’ willingness to become a destination for all that trash.
Jury selection has begun for the trial of Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson. He’s facing a felony charge of riot that stems from a 2019 street brawl. It's the first-time he faced serious legal consequences, despite involvement in previous violent protests
Some Oregon companies are figuring out how to cover travel expenses for out-of-state employees who need to leave home to access abortion
A trio of GOP candidates has dominated the race for Southwest Washington’s congressional seat, but Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez sees an advantage
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler announced a new gun violence initiative last week that is big on ambition but short on specifics. Shareef Khatib will take the helm of the latest gun violence reduction initiative, a yet to be defined $2.4 million program.
High schoolers new to the U.S. need to learn new content in addition to learning English. For newer students, a new staffing formula may mean more support. Some teachers are concerned about what that might mean for other students.
Multnomah County residents who are not U-S citizens could soon get the right to vote in county elections. It’s shaping up to be one of the most controversial proposals on the November ballot.
Multnomah County residents who are not U-S citizens could soon get the right to vote in county elections. It’s shaping up to be one of the most controversial proposals on the November ballot.
One month after the primary, Dems in Oregon’s 11th Senate District have chosen a new candidate, after the previous nominee dropped out.
In Oregon and Washington abortion remains a fully legal health procedure, protected by state law. But that’s not the case in several other states, here abortion clinics are already closing.
The Supreme Court decision to overturn federal protections for abortion won’t affect the practice in Oregon and Washington. But it will in Idaho. So how will overturning Roe v Wade will affect our neighbors?
The US Supreme Court today ended nearly 50 years of the constitutional right to an abortion. Along the West Coast, abortion rights are still protected, but demand from neighboring states could delay access to Oregonians seeking care.
Portland is a diverse food city, but the restaurant industry at large is plagued with racial inequality and sexual harassment. Often, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ food makers struggle to find support. A new restaurant group, Win Win, is hoping to change that.
Share is the largest provider of homeless services in Southwest Washington. Current and former workers allege being ignored about dangerous work environments and improper firings.
A cool, wet spring has delayed the start of wildfire season in Oregon, but fires and smoky skies may not be far off.We've got tips on how to prepare for the upcoming fire season.
Blue Mountain Community College is downsizing some of its core staff. The school’s board members met in Pendleton last night and approved a budget for its coming fiscal year. It included cuts to five faculty positions.
An investigation into allegations former House Speaker and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tina Kotek caused a hostile work environment has stretched out over 16 months.
A group of Oregon nonprofits representing communities of color are asking the Biden administration to invest $100 million into the fight against white supremacy. Latino Network is one of seven organizations that signed a letter to President Biden.
Getting enough sleep is tough for a lot of people. But researchers in Oregon are working to solve this problem. They’ve created a new device that uses a quirk of neurobiology to persuade your brain into getting better, deep sleep.
The Oregon nonprofit Our Legacy Harvested has announced its inaugural class of interns for the 2022 season. The organization, founded by Tiquette Bramlett, is "dedicated to educating, advancing and empowering the BIPOC community within the wine industry."
As climate change threatens hatchery salmon, reforms and investments are sorely lacking
The US has spent more than $2B on a plan to save salmon but the fish are vanishing anyway
In the 1960s, the Portland Japanese Garden was built to foster peaceful cultural relations between the United States and Japan. Now, its sister organization, the Japan Institute, will continue the work done by the garden.
Bend has new mayor and two vacant city council seats this week. It comes after previous Mayor Sally Russell abruptly quit, citing exhaustion and Council Member Rita Schenkelberg resigned, citing transphobia and racist bullying.
After more than two years, a Portland nonprofit has reopened its cafe to indoor dining. Blanchet House serves free, hot meals at its downtown Founders Cafe to anyone who would like one — no questions asked.
Just days away from Oregon's May 17th primary, early turnout results suggest many Oregonians haven't voted yet. But there are a number of important races on the ballot. We're here to help with a ballot study session!
The city of Portland created a system of public campaign financing to reduce the influence of big money in local politics. But business interests have discovered a huge loophole in this system.
Scientists are looking at how beavers can revitalize our landscapes just by doing their beaver things.
The race for Oregon's new 6th Congressional seat has a lot of people flummoxed. Some are wondering why a cryptocurrency billionaire is interested enough in political newcomer Carrick Flynn to spend more than $7 million on his behalf.
Earlier this year, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler issued an executive order banning camping along busy roadways and bridges. He said the goal was to protect people experiencing homelessness. We hear from OPB reporter Rebecca Ellis about whether it's working.
The new study found that a majority of people living in these tiny villages are satisfied and that neighbors who live next to these communities grow less concerned over time.
Educators, advocates and a state lawmaker say phonics-based reading teacher training could help Oregon children. Federal pandemic relief money could pay for it.
Mysterious death of a chief’s daughter in Oregon illustrates challenges of Native boarding school reckoning - Part 2
Mysterious death of a chief’s daughter in Oregon illustrates challenges of Native boarding school reckoning - Part 1
Oregon will strike the word “alien” from its state laws. It’s the latest move to update the language of Oregon’s laws to be more inclusive toward noncitizen immigrants and refugees.
Portland is home to over 800 music businesses, most of them small and independent. Two years into the pandemic, many continue to face challenges. But a wave of new small business owners is giving a boost to that slowly rebounding music economy.
Hapa Pizza, a BIPOC-owned pizza business started by Aaron Truong, combined both Asian and American cuisines to create a new dish that reflects Truong's own experience as an Asian American.
The new comic series"Season of the Bruja" blends indigenous folklore, magic and monsters, and has a 20-something hipster as its lead protagonist.
Playwright Mikki Gillette’s "The Queers" centers three trans women grappling with their careers, finances, and love lives amid transition. Called a landmark event, it's the first-ever trans ensemble drama by a trans writer to premiere in Portland.
Playwright Mikki Gillette’s "The Queers" centers three trans women grappling with their careers, finances, and love lives amid transition. Called a landmark event, it's the first-ever trans ensemble drama by a trans writer to premiere in Portland.
We wrap up the week's Northwest news with OPB's Jeff Thompson. We also hear from High Country News' Kylie Mohr, about new data showing that millions of acres maintained by the Bureau of Land Management fail to meet the agency's land-health standards.
Oregon -- along with many parts of the American West -- may be stuck in a state of unending drought. That’s according to a new study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
As Oregon prepares to lift it's mask mandate for most indoor spaces, parents and children under five who cannot yet be vaccinated, face navigating a new world of optional masks in schools and other public places.
Oregon state legislators finished their 2022 session today. The remarkably drama-free short session it included big spending on some of the most pressing problems for the state.
Three Democratic lawmakers announced this week/on Monday they can no longer afford to serve in the state Legislature and will not be seeking re-election.
A recently submitted proposal for the Oregon Health Plan, the state's Medicaid program, includes spending Medicaid dollars on some people who are in jail or prison, and keeping children enrolled through their sixth birthday.
As the world responds to the Russian invasion, Ukrainian Americans here in Oregon are worrying about their relatives back home. OPB’s April Ehrlich reports that they’re finding some solace through prayer and song.
Lawmakers want to make huge investments in homeless services, affordable housing development and access to homeownership intended to help the poorest Oregonians.
Masks are coming off and a two-year long emergency order is ending. That’s the official word Thursday from Oregon Governor Kate Brown and the Oregon Health Authority.
As Oregon lawmakers begin the final two weeks of this year’s legislative session, they are about to unveil their approach to a unique puzzle
After a 2021 pandemic hiatus, the Joriad North American Truffle Dog Championship was back in Eugene this week. The top dogs from around the country came to sniff out some fragrant fungi.
Lawmakers take emergency action to patch the long-deteriorating public defense system in Oregon.
A new project from Portland State University is combining the stories of students who’ve experienced homelessness with the graphic arts.
A highly edited and condensed survey of all conversations Think Out Loud had as part of its trip to the Klamath Basin in 2021
A committee of experts and advocates has come up with rules for how Oregon's psilocybin therapy program should work.
After more than a year of negotiating, the city of Portland revealed the details of a tentative contract agreement with the Portland Police Association today.
Castle Rock SD superintendent tells parents he has no choice but to follow the state mask mandate.
Former Portland Mayor Bud Clark, who stunned an incumbent mayor with his election in 1984, has died. He was 90. Despite his two terms running Oregon’s largest city, Clark may be best remembered as the model in the famous “Expose Yourself to Art” poster.
Two years into the pandemic, COVID-19 is still disrupting so many basic parts of life. In Southeast Portland, that’s meant temporarily pausing a crucial part of childhood: swim lessons. There just aren’t enough hands on deck.
Oregon schools have struggled to find enough substitute teachers to keep classes going in person during the omicron surge. But despite state efforts to plug the gap, those efforts to keep class in session haven't gone as smoothly as many had hoped.
About a hundred people gathered in a church gym in northeastern Portland to share songs and stories about the Polynesian country of Tonga, which remains isolated and without power since a nearby undersear volcano erupted.
This week, transportation planners suffered a setback in their efforts to expand I-5 at Portland’s Rose Quarter. But they also got some good news regarding the effort to replace the I-5 bridge at the Oregon-Washington border.
COVID-19 is hitting a lot of us right now. While there are official government guidelines to folllow, sometimes it’s also good to hear from someone who’s been through it.
The Sixth Amendment of the Constitution guarantees a person the right to an attorney. But in Oregon, that’s not always happening. Over the course of the pandemic, defendants who can’t afford an attorney have found it harder and harder to get a lawyer.
Iconic Portland baker Ken Forkish joined OPB to talk about his two-decade culinary career, the recent sale of his restaurant and bakery, and what comes next.
Rising omicron cases in the state has forced some schools in Oregon back online. Schools in Portland, Beaverton and North Clackamas are the latest to move to remote learning due to COVID-19 related absences.
Nick Kristof does NOT qualify to run for governor. House Speaker TIna Kotek is leaving the legislature to focus on her own gubernatorial run. And the longest-serving legislator in state history, Senate President Peter Courtney, is retiring.
People from Oregon and Washington were involved in the mob at the U-S Capitol last year. At least 11 of them face charges for their actions at the January 6th insurrection.
Omicron is more transmissible but likely milder, making hospitalization numbers harder to interpret. But doctors say their core message hasn't changed: Get vaccinated or boosted to keep yourself out of the ICU.
Few things can bring people together like food and at the heart of every delicious dish are the ingredients themselves. OPB's digital series 'Superabundant' explores the stories behind the local foods you love.
Whether you love it, hate it, or something in-between—Christmas music is a genre you can’t escape during the holiday season. JT Griffith joins us to talk about what's new for 2021.
Top officials in Oregon issued a dire warning Friday about the omicron variant of COVID-19. It’s threatening to quickly bring a spike in cases and drive up hospitalizations more than any variant of the virus we’ve seen before.
Hospitals in Oregon are still understaffed and struggling, and now they’re facing a new challenge: omicron. That’s the new variant of COVID-19 and the first Oregon cases were detected this week.
More than 10,000 Oregonians have had their applications for rental accepted, but the state hasn’t been able to process applications quickly enough to protect them from possible eviction. Now, lamakers hope to strike a deal to solve the problem.
In the lawsuit involving the now-closed Concordia University, a judge resolved one question but many remain.
Timbers TV analyst Ross Smith previews the MLS Cup final between the Portland Timbers and NYCFC.
Dr, Kim Repp answers a listener Q about why Oregon's COVID-19 infection rates are so stubbornly high, even with our tough mask mandate.
The new omicron coronavirus variant has been identified in at least 24 different countries, including the US. Local health officials say it’s just a matter of time before it’s detected in Oregon.
If the Supreme Court upholds Mississippi's abortion law, it could trigger a wave of state-level restrictions. Abortion would remain legal in Oregon and Washington—but not in Idaho.
While the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Oregon has fallen significantly since September, working conditions for frontline medical workers have not meaningfully improved.
The Oregon Transportation Commission took a significant step forward this week in its plan to transfer ownership of 82nd Avenue from the state to the city of Portland, unanimously approving a plan to fund $185 million in safety and modernization.
In an effort to unlock hemp's potential as a cash crop, researchers in Oregon are asking if hemp biomass could be a cheap source of feed for animals.
We hear from kids with their thoughts about the pediatric COVID vaccine, as well as a Q&A with Portland pediatrician Shaili Rajput.
Dr. Kim Repp, chief epidemiologist for the Washington County Public Health Division, answers a listener question about natural immunity to COVID-19.
Portland-based comics journalist, pop culture critic, comics studies professor and author Douglas Wolk. By his count, Wolk read over 27,000 Marvel comics for his latest book, 'All of the Marvels.'o
One family’s continuous wildfire preparation paid off this summer in North Central Washington.
A new report released today says systemic racism within the Vancouver Police Department and the Clark County Sheriff’s office disproportionately affects BIPOC communities.
A new report from the Portland Ombudsman’s Office found the system for enforcing property maintenance rules pushes homeowners of color into debt.
Roseway Heights middle school students staged a walkout this week to demand a response to sexual harassment allegations. The walkout led to fights outside of the school, but families say these problems are not new.
Election Day was busy in Southwest Washington. Voters decided on changes to the Clark County charter, the makeup of the next Vancouver City Council and some contentious school board races.
The Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos, rooted in Indigenous culture, honors and celebrates loved ones who've died. It's celebrated in Mexican & Latinx communities around the world. Our listeners tell us about how they're observing the holiday this year.
Environmentalists and timber industry officials in Oregon have hammered out details of an historic agreement to change the way 10 million acres of private forests in the state are managed.
You may wonder if that case of the sniffles is a cold or the flu, or something more dangerous. OPB's Erin Ross explains how to get tested for COVID-19.
Excitement is in the air for a new company focused on helping student-athletes at the University of Oregon market and monetize their brands, but there are still many questions about how it will work.
In Oregon, there are at least 19 unsolved cases of missing or murdered Indigenous people. Now, a national program created through the Department of Justice is trying to address the problem with tribal outreach and data research.
The Oregon Employment Department estimates that more than 1.1 million working Oregonians will need to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to comply with either federal, state, or local vaccine mandates. Some of those mandates go into effect on Monday.
Monday, October 18th is the deadline for hundreds of thousands of workers in Washington and Oregon to be vaccinated, or lose their jobs
Southwest Washington’s White Salmon River, ten years after the removal of the Condit Dam
A recent hack of the Oath Keepers militia website revealed that tens of thousands of people across the country have paid for memberships to that organization— including some who've worked in Oregon law enforcement.
School board races in Southwest Washington are getting a lot of attention this year, and it's not just because it's an off-year election. Across the country, school board races have become a target for partisan national politics.
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Washington's state-run veterans homes hard. Now the homes are bracing for another challenge: the potential for a staffing shortage as the governor’s vaccine mandate kicks in.
Portland State University switched many classes from in-person to online right before the start of the term.
A moratorium on executions has been in place in Oregon since 2011, but the threat of the death penalty is still there for dozens of people in Oregon prisons. But a decision this week from the state’s highest court could upend all of that.
The Newberg school board voted tonight/last night (TUES) to proceed with a policy that bans district employees from displaying any sort of political or controversial images.
Bills to rejigger the state’s 90 legislative districts and to give Oregon a sixth congressional district passed the House largely along party lines Monday. The bills must be signed by Gov. Kate Brown by midnight.
As pandemic protections fall away and evictions mount, the nonprofit Resolutions Northwest is offering mediation to help landlords and tenants resolve disputes—out of court—in Portland
Critics of a proposed contract with the non-profit that provides security and cleaning services in downtown Portland say the City Council hasn't gone far enough to address the ongoing concerns with the service.
The Thurston County DA will not pursue charges against the federal officers who shot and killed Michael Reinhoel last year.
A confirmed Covid-19 case in the Oregon State Capitol is temporarily halting a special session on redistricting. But that’s not the only thing threatening the passage of lawmakers’ proposed political maps.
A confirmed Covid-19 case in the Oregon State Capitol is temporarily halting a special session on redistricting. But that’s not the only thing threatening the passage of lawmakers’ proposed political maps.
Oregon lawmakers begin a special session Monday on redrawing the state's political maps.
We wrap up some of the week's big news in the Pacific Northwest with OPB news director Anna Griffin. We also hear from High Country News journalist Sarah Sax about her recent reporting on the role libraries play in climate justice.
In response to Texas’ near ban on all abortions, the City of Portland is planning to set aside a large chunk of money to go towards reproductive care in the state. But the move is very different from what Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler first proposed.
Steelhead are returning from the Pacific Ocean to their freshwater spawning grounds in some of the lowest numbers of record.
Thousands of Oregon renters are waiting for pandemic assistance money to keep them in their homes. But technology issues, burdensome levels of paperwork and staffing shortages have plagued the state as it works to distribute that money.
School is back in session amid the worst COVID-19 wave to date. OPB Science & Environment reporter Erin talks about the measures schools are taking, and if they're safe.
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced on Friday that his office will not be pursuing charges against police officers in many of the investigations opened after last year’s clashes between officers and protesters.
An industrial facility in a gritty part of Northwest Portland is drawing a good deal of attention these days.
80 thousand Oregonians will see their pandemic unemployment benefits expire this weekend
Don has been in recovery for alcoholism for 36 years. The pandemic created a new challenge: losing his in-person support community
Oregon's Office of Emergency Management sending refrigerated trucks to handle an increase in COVID-19 deaths.
As Oregon experiences one of the worst surges of COVID-19 in the nation, vaccination rates are still low among Black Oregonians. An event in Portland tomorrow aims to help with that. The organizers of the Soul 2 Soul drive thru vaccine clinic describe it as “a clarion call” to reach unvaccinated people in the Black community.
Soon after getting vaccinated against COVID-19 earlier this year, Portland cartoonist and educator Jonathan Hill realized that as an immunocompromised person, he likely wouldn't get the same level of protection that most people got from two doses. He went back to living as if he hadn't been vaccinated at all. But now, after health officials recommended an additional mRNA vaccine dose for many people with compromised immune systems, Hill has just gotten his third shot.
Oregon and Washington rpoduce more than half of the nation's apples, and that requires a lot of manual labor. WSU professor Manoj Karkee talks about the apple-picking robot he's been developing over the last eight years.
In a dispute with little apparent precedent, the Legislature is declining to abide Brown’s decision to trim a bill passed last year. Legislative officials contend the vetoes were illegal.
A new Filipino community center in Portland is providing health resources and other services to the area's growing Filipino community, with special attention to migrant workers. The Filipino Bayanihan Center sprang out of efforts to provide COVID-19 response for Filipinos in Oregon earlier in the pandemic.
Starting Friday, Oregonians are going back to wearing masks in indoor public spaces. Oregon Governor Kate Brown made that announcement today, as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are skyrocketing in the state.
The group known as Central Oregon Black, Indigenous, People of Color or COBIPOC has expanded from its virtual gathering space to zines and now, the walls of a gallery.
On the Warm Springs reservation in Central Oregon, a community water system serving more than 3,000 people needs an overhaul. Repairs could take years. Now, tribal leaders want an emerging technology to leapfrog broken pipes.
The alarming surge of the delta variant of COVID-19 is taking its toll on Oregon. One measure of that: a near record number of coronavirus patients are now receiving intensive care.
Pacific Northwest beer drinkers know that Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve wasn't always a mass brewed corporate property. Henry Weinhard was a real person, not the product of a focus group. In fact, he was a Portland resident and one of its first craft brewers. He started making beer in what is now known among beer lovers as Brewvana in 1856 - just 5 years after Portland became incorporated. Now the beer named after Weinhard, brewed since 1976, is being discontinued by its parent company, Molson Coors.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown is throwing her support behind a somewhat controversial plan that would expand Interstate 5 through Portland’s Rose Quarter. The governor has called the latest plan a “win-win”, but other groups disagree citing concerns over climate change and racial inequity.
On Monday, health care giant Kaiser Permanente announced that it will require the COVID-19 vaccine for all of its physicians and employees. Peacehealth, a nonprofit Catholic health system serving Oregon and Washington, made a similar announcement the next day. Both say the mandates will apply to their employees here in Oregon, in spite of a state law that many interpret as banning vaccine mandates for health care workers.
On July 30th, 1967, a protest in Portland's Irving Park over the police treatment of Black people turned into a week of social unrest and clashes with police.
Thieves stole dozens of guns and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition. As Clark County detectives built a case, it appears to have set the stage for a confrontation that killed Det. Jeremy Brown.
For nearly a decade, FEAST Portland has drawn foodies from around the globe to the Pacific Northwest for a 4-day food festival with local chefs and international culinary talent. But in the midst of the pandemic the festival went on hiatus.
Now a new version called the “Summer of FEAST” is back with smaller, more intimate events spread over a month.
Honey may not be the first thing you think about when you think about Oregon, but you could argue that some of the most delicious honey is made here. That’s because the bees of Oregon have a huge diversity of pollen and flowers to work with.
The more contagious delta variant of COVID-19 is spreading rapidly across the U.S. and in just a few weeks, it’s changed everything. In Oregon, new cases have more than doubled in the past month and some schools are now requiring masks this fall.
The nine black members of the Washington legislature have formed their own caucus. Austin Jenkins takes a look at their policy goals.
A group of Native American women from Utah have spent the past year promoting healing across the U.S. by dancing in what’s called a jingle dress.
Vietnam is the second largest coffee producer in the world, and the number one producer of Robusta beans. But most cafes making Vietnamese inspired coffee drinks were using beans from other countries. Now, one café owner is sourcing, roasting, and selling Vietnamese coffee to give Portlanders a taste of the real thing.
A coalition of academcs, activists, lawmakers and sex workers hosted the first public forum of the Oregon Sex Workers Human Rights Commission this week. They're arguing that decriminalizing sex work would be a win for health, safety and human rights.
Throughout the pandemic, the Oregon Employment Department has been under intense pressure to get money into the hands of people who lost jobs. In an effort to move faster, the Employment Department quietly stopped following a key part of its own process: getting some employers’ side of the story.
It’s been two weeks since a historic heatwave shattered temperature records in Oregon. Officailly, 83 people died from the oppressive heat, but the real number could be dozens more. First responders and disaster planning experts say Oregon was not prepared. We find out what we can do to get ready for the next one.
Critics of Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler won permission today to begin collecting signatures in their effort to kick him out of office. On paper at least, the recall effort centers around Wheeler’s decision to loan his reelection campaign $150,000 last year. But for organizers, it’s about much more.
Portland author Emilly Prado is out with a new debut memoir, Funeral for Flaca. The collection of personal essays spans almost her entire life. Prado chronicles growing up Chicana in a white Bay Area suburb, and explores mental health, trauma, healing, music, radical self love, evolving identity and more.
The Oregon Legislature ended its five-month long session with a flurry of votes. Among the highlights: Legislators set ambitious goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They pumped money into wildfire relief and extended protections for renters and homeowners hit hard by the virus. And they set up an intriguing fight next year over political redistricting.
Oregonians are still recovering from last weekend’s record breaking heat wave. In some places the temperature neared 120 degrees. And this weather put a lot of stress on our built environment, like roads, public transporttion and electricity grids.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed a new executive order today that will lift all remaining COVID-19 health and safety restrictions once 70 percent of Oregonians 18 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine, or on Wednesday, June 30th - whichever comes soonest.
Last week, an officer with the Portland Police Bureau faced a criminal charge for actions at a protest; others could see similar charges in the future. Shortly after that, the entire team that responds to protests left those voluntary positions to return to regular policing duties. What does all this say about the state of the bureau?
You may know Kevin Cook better by his drag alter-ego Poison Waters, who is also the co-hostess at the Darcelle XV Showplace. Since the late 1980′s Cook has been a performer, MC and community activist. And now, add one more title to that list: professor. This summer he’ll be teaching a three-week class at Portland Community College called “Histories of Drag Performance in Portland”.
70%: that’s the share of Oregonians 18 or older who need to get at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in order to end the statewide mask mandate and allow most businesses to reopen fully. Oregon could be just days away from hitting that goal. But the rate of new vaccinations has slowed to a crawl.
Oregon Sen. Lew Frederick was one the leaders of the push to make Juneteenth a state holiday. The holiday commemorates the day when news of the end of slavery finally reached the last remaining enslaved people in Texas in 1865 — two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt is doing something few of his predecessors ever have. This week, he indicted a Portland police officer. Officer Corey Budworth is facing a misdemeanor assault charge for actions at a racial justice protest last year. It’s the second time an officer has been charged for use of force during last summer’s racial justice protests
As Oregon legislators contemplated allocating a record $9.3 billion to Oregon’s state school fund, school leaders were hoping for more. They say it's not sustainable.
Reverend Lenny Duncan is a queer black minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America with a vision of an anti-racist Jesus who loves queer, trans, and two spirited people too.
When you think of Pride month, what comes to mind? Parties, excitingly flamboyant marches, rainbows...everywhere. But one rarely thinks about the decades of struggle.
High school graduation is underway for the Class of 2021. Oregon students in career technical education programs are some of the most likely to graduate.
In Central Oregon, home sales are breaking new records. And as high prices force more buyers out of urban Bend, sellers in still affordable towns are cashing out to meet demand.
Advocates pushed the city of Portland to disband its Gun Violence Reduction Team, but the team to take its place looks very similar. OPB's Jonathan Levinson has an update.
With Oregon closing in on its goal that 70% of the population receive COVID-19 shots, officials announced Friday they are preparing to lift most pandemic restrictions by June 21.
Vaccine lotteries like Oregon's are making headlines across the country. But what is it about games of chance that are so inherently motivating?
Stuck in jail waiting for a state psychiatric bed is an all too familiar story in Washington
Oregon lawmakers planned to make big changes to the state's mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes. But with just a few weeks left, proponents are paring back on what, if anything, they think they can get done.
Former Uber driver Trenelle Doyle plans to launch a new rideshare company in Portland this summer. Go Girl Ride will give rides to women, sex workers, non-binary passengers and anyone who wants more assurance of a safe ride.
The technology police use to search cellphones is part of a rapidly changing legal environment – an area where the Portland Police Bureau is precariously on the edge of what’s permissible in modern policing.
Nikeisah Newton is the chef and owner of Meals4Heels, a late-night food delivery service for sex workers. Founded in 2019, her business has now expanded to catering and just this month, she started serving food from a space at The Redd on Salmon Street, a
Clark County will have to pay nearly $700,000 combined to three former employees, including longtime former state Sen. Don Benton, for how it dissolved and laid off a department in 2016.
The U.S. Supreme Court made an important ruling in a case that directly impacts Oregonians. The high court had already found that convictions reached by non-unanimous juries are unconstitutional. In their latest ruling, they answered whether it would apply to old cases.
Once again, the Portland Trail Blazers are headed to the NBA Playoffs. With their 132-116 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night, the Blazers clinched a playoff spot for the eighth consecutive season, the longest active streak in the NBA. With a six-seed standing in the Western Conference, they’ll avoid the play-in tournament and face the three-seed Nuggets once again in the first round of the playoffs. Aaron Fentress, who covers the Portland Trail Blazers for the Oregonian/OregonLive, joined OPB to take stock of the season and look ahead to the playoffs.
The person responsible for the iconic U-S Forest Service signs that welcome you onto national forest land, has roots right here in the Northwest. Writer Greg Christensen joined OPB to look back at the legacy of Virgil “Bus” Carrell, the father of the forest service sign.
Governor Kate Brown has told Oregonians what it will take to reopen public spaces and the economy: 70% statewide vaccination. Brown made the announcement today and encouraged people to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
Oregon’s first gun control legislation in years is on its way to Governor Kate Brown’s desk. If signed, the bill would require gun owners to safely store their firearms when not in use and it would allow gun bans in certain public buildings.
The Portland Garment Factory is a small textile design and fabrication studio based in Southeast Portland. In April, its facility was destroyed in a fire that was determined to be arson. Its founder and owner, Britt Howard, tells OPB about her experience of fire loss.
A rarely used charge from the Civil Rights era is being used in two very different scenarios
A Polk County Republican lawmaker who allowed far-right demonstrators to breach the Oregon state Capitol in December is now facing criminal charges. Prosecutors filed the charges against Representative Mike Nearman on Friday.
Portland native Hazel Ying Lee was the first Chinese American woman to fly for the U-S military during World War II. The new children’s book “The Fearless Flights of Hazel Ying Lee" looks at her life and legacy.
n 2020, Portland awarded over $200 million for ‘goods and services’ — a broad category of city contracts that has historically encompassed everything from printers to police dogs. A review of procurement records by OPB found businesses owned by people of color receive a tiny fraction of these dollars.
Class Of 2025 returns in-person to Ron Russell Middle School. Well, some of them at least.
President Biden's infrastructure spending plan includes $20 billion to reconnect neighborhoods that were obliterated by massive building projects. Portland's historically-Black Albina neighborhood is a textbook example of a community that could benefit.
Move over red Romas, a gothic new purple variety is here. The Midnight Roma is a gorgeous, dark purple tomato with a rich, concentrated flavor and a shape similar to an heirloom San Marzano. We spoke with Jim Myers, the mastermind behind the gothic tomato.
Cameron’s Books in downtown Portland is scheduled to close Friday after 83 years in business.
The poem Howl, by Allen Ginsberg, is one of the most famous works of the Beat literary movement. He read the poem for the first time in 1955 in San Francisco. But Ginsberg was first RECORDED reading Howl on Valentine’s Day 1956 at Portland’s Reed College. The tape recording of the reading was long forgotten, until an author discovered it in a box at Reed in 2007. This month, a restored version of the archival recording was released - including on vinyl - by Omnivore Recordings. Reed's Professor of English and Humanities Pancho Savery, who wrote the record's liner notes, talks more about the significance of the poem and the recording.
The poem Howl, by Allen Ginsberg, is one of the most famous works of the Beat literary movement. He read the poem for the first time in 1955 in San Francisco. But Ginsberg was first RECORDED reading Howl on Valentine’s Day 1956 at Portland’s Reed College. The tape recording of the reading was long forgotten, until an author discovered it in a box at Reed in 2007. This month, a restored version of the archival recording was released - including on vinyl - by Omnivore Recordings. Reed's Professor of English and Humanities Pancho Savery, who wrote the record's liner notes, talks more about the significance of the poem and the recording.
In Washington state, a bill awaiting Governor Jay Inslee’s signature would create a new independent office to investigate police. It would exclude active duty officers from its staff. The move is potentially the first time an entire state would have people who aren’t in law enforcement investigating deadly police shootings.
Representative Vikki Breese Iverson, a Republican from Prineville, said Representative Brad Witt, a Democrat from Columbia County, used text messages to sexually harass and pressure her to engage in a “quid-pro-quo” arrangement. She is demanding he be removed from three committees.
A Portland police officer shot and killed a man with known mental health issues last week. What happened at the shooting in a Southeast Portland park remains under investigation. We get the latest details from OPB's Jonathan Levinson.
13% of Oregonians identify as Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census. Just 6% of the people who’ve been vaccinated in Oregon so far are Latino, according to the Oregon Health Authority.
Weeks of delays in the Oregon legislature appear to be nearing an end. Democrats and Republicans reached a deal last night to put a stop to a standoff that had been slowing down this year’s session. And in exchange for ending the logjam, Democrats agreed to give up a big political advantage
The Lot at Zidell Yards wants to bring people together again — socially distanced, of course
The Lot at Zidell Yards owill open in May as Portland's "premier socially-distanced outdoor performance venue". The Lot will host live music, dance, art, fundraisers, outdoor movies, and more.
Mental health has been a big concern during the coronavirus shutdown. For both the housed and unhoused, fears of getting sick, of losing a job, of being isolated at home are all factors that can increase anxiety or depression.
Pacific Islanders in Oregon continue to have disproportionate rates of coronavirus cases in the state. Now, as vaccinations are ramping up across the state, a coalition of local Pacific Islander community groups are making sure their elders aren’t left behind.
All Oregonians over the age of 16 will be eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine beginning April 19th. What then? Dr. Dawn Nolt, pediatric infectious diseases specialist at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital, talks about vaccine doses, side effects and timelines.
The Portland City Council this week approved a six-million-dollar plan that would put more resources toward interrupting cycles of violence. Commissioners hope the plan will avoid some of the previous controversies around police responses to shootings.
Earlier this year, Oregon Animation studio LAIKA announced plans to create the nation's first-ever stop motion studio at a Historically Black College or University. The collaboration will give a new generation of Black creatives a new venue to tell their stories.
Conservation groups and scientists are challenging a U.S. Forest Service decision to construct a road through a one-of-a-kind research area in Mount St. Helens’ Pumice Plain.
One of the latest groups of Oregonians to become eligible for COVID-19 vaccination is people experiencing homelessness. Health officials and service providers are working together to make sure unhoused people have access to vaccines, after an especially isolating pandemic year for this vulnerable community. In Multnomah County, some older unhoused adults already benefited from vaccine clinics like the ones held weeks ago at the county’s physical distancing shelters. Eboni Brown is the shelter coordinator for Do Good Multnomah, which runs three of the motel shelters. We hear from her about vaccine efforts and how the pandemic has affected the homeless community.
Investigators in Thurston County, Washington say they’ve completed their review of a shooting by federal law enforcement that left a Portland activist dead. The shooting in question happened last September when members of a U-S Marshal’s task force shot and killed Michael Reinoehl, a self-described anti-fascist activist. Investigators say it’s likely that Reinoehl fired the first shot at officers.
At the time, Reinoehl was wanted on murder charges for killing a pro-Trump demonstrator in Portland.
Two Oregon Brothers are now among the hundreds who face federal charges for their direct involvement in the insurrection at the nation’s Capitol on January 6th.
What should pregnant people or new parents know about keeping themselves & their baby safe during the pandemic? We get answers from Dr. Amy Hermesch, a doctor specializing in high risk pregnancies from OHSU.
The board of trustees at Oregon State University is feeling pressure - on campus and from high-ranking officials - over sitting president, F. King Alexander. Some are pushing for him to resign from the state’s largest university. That’s after a recent report detailed Alexander’s mishandling of sexual misconduct allegations at his previous leadership post at Louisiana State University.
A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, we take a data-driven look back at how Oregon handled its pandemic response and how we're positioned moving forward.
We wrap up the week's big events in the Pacific Northwest with OPB news director Anna Griffin. And we hear from Street Roots managing editor Emily Green about the devastating impact of COVID-19 on men incarcerated in Oregon prisons, explored in the special Street Roots report The Expendable.
Asian Americans across the country and here in the Pacific Northwest are reeling after last night’s deadly mass shooting in Atlanta, Georgia. Six of the eight victims were Asian American women and the attack comes amid a rise in hate crimes against Asian-Americans during the pandemic. We spoke with Oregon State Representative Khan Pham, who's district covers parts of Southeast and East Portland, including the Jade District.
THE CITY OF ASHLAND HAS A NEW TRADITION. AT THE BEGINNING OF CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS, PARTICIPANTS NOW ACKNOWLEDGE THE NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES THAT THE CITY DISPLACED WHEN IT WAS FOUNDED
After 11 days, a strike at the St. Charles Hospital in Bend is over, and medical technicians, technologists and respiratory therapists are back at work. The workers’ union struck a temporary deal with hospital administrators over the weekend. OPB’s Emily Cureton has been following this labor action from the start.
Clark County's arrangement to lease a Motel 6 ended in December, but it was proof of concept for a new kind of shelter in the region. Former tenants welcome news that a new hotel will open this summer.
This week, President Joe Biden ordered the Department of Education to review guidance on Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination at federally funded institutions. That means changes could be coming to how colleges and universities handle sexual assault cases.
More Oregon students could see the inside of a classroom by the end of this school year -- so what might hybrid learning look like?
Schools across Oregon are gearing up to welcome kids BACK to in-person learning,leaving many parents and teachers worried about COVID-19 risks. But one Portland area school is dealing with an entirely different health concern: tear gas. Cottonwood School of Civics and Science, a public charter school, has been subjected to clouds of tear gas since May of last year, as a result of law enforcement response to regular protests at a nearby U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility. Amanda McAdoo, director of the Cottonwood school, spoke to OPB about concerns the school has to bringing kids back into the classroom.
Oregon colleges and universities have a lot on their plates right now – continuing to offer courses and services during the pandemic, while worrying about costs. But many students have concerns of their own, about how much they’re paying and where the money’s going. State legislators are getting involved in these conversations too.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown is ordering schools to reopen to in person learning. In an executive order today, Brown is requiring elementary schools to open by March 29th. Middle and high schools have to open by April 19th.
Prisoners are eligible for stimulus checks, but getting payout behind bars is complicated
More than 100 hospital workers went on strike in Bend today, picketing outside St. Charles Bend hospital. Medical technicians, technologists, and therapists are just some of the technical jobs that were recently unionized at St. Charles after workers said they’ve gone years without adequate pay increases or contractual protections against forced overtime. Workers on strike wore bright red face masks, and waved signs that read: On strike against unfair labor practices.
The Portland-based non-profit Latino Network has a new executive director. Tony DeFalco is taking over at a time when Oregon’s Latinx community has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. He joined OPB to discuss his vision for the future of Latino Network and Oregon’s Latinx community.
The history of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, one of the most famous and revolutionary organizations of the Black liberation movement, is told in graphic novel form by Portland-based writer and historian David F. Walker and illustrator Marcus Kwame Anderson. Walker talked with OPB about the book, the party, and its legacy.
After four years of Donald Trump, conservative groups across the country are continuing to reassess the future of the Republican party. And it looks as though the GOP in Oregon is choosing to lean into the far-right approach.
One year ago, the Oregon Ducks Women's Basketball team was on the verge of making history. But then the coronavirus arrived and halted their run -- leaving its players facing an uncertain future. What happens when athletes look to start their pro careers during a pandemic?
A statue of the only Black member of the Lewis and Clark expedition that popped up in Portland recently will remain there...at least for now.
The former jazz musician went viral in 2014, and it almost ruined her life. Now she’s reinvented herself and resurfaced as a force to be reckoned with in the world of rock music.
Work in the Oregon Senate is at a standstill today after Senate Republicans declined to show up over objections to Governor Kate Brown's coronavirus response. This maneuver is becoming commonplace in Oregon. It’s the fourth time in three years Republican senators have used the tactic.
Getting Oregon back to 'normal' will require vaccination rates to go way up. OPB Science and Environment reporter Jes Burns talks about how what needs to happen for Oregon to achieve herd immunity.
Oregon may have quietly reached a monumental milestone last week in the fight against COVID-19. First doses of the vaccine for COVID-19 have reached almost every nursing home, assisted living, and memory care facility in the state. That’s according to the pharmacies that are distributing it there.
Oregonians are going to be able to get COVID-19 vaccinations at some local pharmacies. The federal pharmacy program is ramping up and today, 127 locations in the state will each be receiving 100 doses of vaccine.
The U.S. has been vaccinating people against COVID-19 for a little over a month. While there have been plenty of hiccups, over 20 million people in the country have received at least one dose of the available vaccines. There are still many questions about how they work, and we’re turning to Dr. Dawn Nolt for answers. She’s the medical director of infection prevention and control at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.
Bill Minnix says he was raped multiple times while in the U.S. Air Force. Now he's fighting to overcome the trauma and stigma associated with sexual assault.
One of Oregon's largest school districts is going to a hybrid teaching model for all students. We talk with Summit High School teacher Travis Overly about his concerns.
It will be months before most Oregonians can get vaccinated for COVID-19. But employers in the state are already grappling with how to approach vaccination - and whether to reward, or even require it. OPB business reporter Kate Davidson has the details.
Vaccines are coming, but so are newer versions of the COVID-19 virus. These new variants seem to be better at spreading, may be more deadly, and in some cases, might be different enough to dodge our immune system a little bit.
Parks and trailheads are slowly reopening, allowing people to once again enjoy the benefits of being in nature while the coronavirus pandemic continues to play out. But not everyone has the same access to green spaces. Many Black people have felt excluded and unwelcomed in these outdoor public spaces.
The Portland Police determined this week that a local attorney is the man who was pepper-sprayed by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler last weekend. This attorney is also an heir to the Alpenrose Dairy. The confrontation came as the Mayor was leaving a restaurant and was accosted by a man who accused him of sitting in the restaurant without wearing a mask.
A months-long investigation into the behavior of Representative Diego Hernandez found the lawmaker likely created a hostile work environment at the state Capitol for some women.
A small, nonprofit private Portland college is offering free tuition to Black and native students.
The states of Washington and Oregon joined with tribes and cultural groups to halt the closure and sale of the National Archives Building in Seattle, which houses historic, undigitized documents including tribal records and treaties.
When news emerged that an Oregon lawmaker allowed far-right demonstrators into the state capitol last month, the story went national. Many news outlets identified state Rep. Mike Nearman by his party affiliation and home address: Republican from Independence, Oregon. But he actually lives outside city limits, and the small Willamette River city has taken the extraordinary step of disowning the lawmaker.
Oregon’s legislative session began this week. OPB politics reporter Lauren Dake is tracking the hundreds of bills that Lawmakers will consider during the session.
Housing, police accountability, racial equity and implementing a drug decriminalization measure are all among the top priorities on Oregon State Sen. Kayse Jama’s agenda for the 2021 legislative session.
From county commissioners and state lawmakers to a member of the U.S. Congress, some Oregonians in power have enabled the extreme beliefs and conspiracy theories fueling political violence carried out in the name of President Donald Trump.
Oregon State Police are investigating whether demonstrators who gained access to the State Capitol in Salem last month were allowed in purposefully by a state lawmaker - Republican Rep. Mike Nearman.
The violent insurrection at the U-S Capitol has many people in Oregon thinking about the racial justice protests over the summer that put a nationwide spotlight on Portland. Rep. Janelle Bynum discusses the double standards seen in police response.
Oregon is still just halfway to its goal of getting the COVID-19 vaccine to 100,000 health care workers and nursing home residents. The Oregon Health Authority acknowledged problems and announced some steps they says will speed up the vaccination process.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler wants to take a tougher stance on people who commit violence and vandalism at political protests. It comes after a New Year’s Eve protest that ended with three arrests and tens of thousands of dollars of damage in downtown Portland.
Dr. Dawn Nolt from OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital answers kids' questions about how the coronavirus got started, whether kids can get vaccinated and whether trees can get infected.
U-S Senator Ron Wyden has represented Oregon for 24 years, but none have been as tumultuous as this one. He joined OPB on New Year's Eve to reflect on the end of the Trump administration, his hopes for President Joe Biden, and his own plans for the future.
After 12 years on the Portland City Council, Commissioner Amanda Fritz leaves office this week. Fritz joined OPB to talk about her successes, her regrets, and the challenges Portland faces in the future.
It’s been more than a month since rising virus cases prompted Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to issue more emergency public health orders. Some business owners have refused to comply. Now, that defiance is growing, as allies with a common cause promote a coordinated rebellion to begin on New Year’s Day.
Michael Contreras is only in his second year as principal of Ron Russell Middle School in Portland. He talks about how he, his staff and students are managing distance learning during the outbreak.
Oregon lawmakers are set to convene in Salem on Monday for a special legislative session, as many pandemic protections for Oregonians are due to expire at the end of the year. OPB politics reporter Dirk VanderHart has been tracking the session, and provides a preview of what to expect.
Chris Willis has been putting up the Santa Clones installation annually in empty storefronts in the Portland area since 2010. This year's display features over 400 of the vintage plastic statues in handmade masks, are arranged in formations inspired by China's first emperor's terracotta warriors. This year, in classic 2020-style, the Santas are even sporting tiny masks and staying in socially distanced pods.
First doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine have arrived in the Pacific Northwest. Dr. Steven Nemerson is the chief clinical officer for the St. Alphonsus Health System, which operates two hospitals and dozens of clinics in Eastern Oregon. He’s based in Boise, Idaho. He spoke with OPB's Crystal Ligori about how the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine in Eastern Oregon and Idaho might work.
During the statewide eviction moratorium, landlords cannot evict a tenant for not paying rent. Some tenant advocates say this has resulted in increased reports of tenant harassment.
The former GOP Washington senator and Trump appointee ponders his political future, now that the president's term is coming to an end.
Federal approval for a COVID-19 vaccine could be just days away. But historically, some vaccines have been known to protect some populations better than others. And one population researchers are especially concerned about are people with obesity.
A new government report on high-speed rail in the Pacific Northwest recommends that Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia formalize their interest in a Cascadia bullet train by creating an independent body to plan and eventually build it. But the reality of a when a bullet train may arrive is still up in the air.
Nearly a year after the new coronavirus emerged as a worldwide threat, dozens of companies and research institutions started work to create a vaccine for COVID-19. Less than a year later, there are three COVID-19 vaccines nearing the finish line.
A new government report on high-speed rail in the Pacific Northwest recommends that Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia formalize their interest in a Cascadia bullet train by creating an independent body to plan and eventually build it. But the reality of a when a bullet train may arrive is still up in the air.
In September, after a years-long court battle, a Multnomah County judge ordered the eviction of the Kinney family from a home that’s been in their family since the 1950s. Protesters had been occupying the home and the lot next door since then and early yesterday morning, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office along with assistance from the Portland Police Bureau, showed up to enforce the eviction.
Cannabis has been legal in Oregon since 2015 and sales have been steadily growing year over year. But this year, we hit a milestone in the state - one billion dollars in sales.
The investigation into the police shooting of Kevin Peterson Junior is moving toward a conclusion. This weekend, protesters held a vigil calling for repercussions against the three officers who shot and the young, Black man in Southwest Washington. It comes after documents were released on Friday that include previously unreported details.
That vigil followed the release of new information late last week that described a chaotic drug bust leading up to the police shooting.
Troy Brynelson has been covering this story for OPB, and joins me now.
Hi, Troy.
Late on Friday, investigators publicly released almost 5-hundred pages of their work looking into this shooting...so a lot of new information to look at. What do we know now about how deputies first encountered Kevin Peterson Junior?
The ongoing spike in Oregon's COVID-19 cases has health officials worried about safety in places where people commonly gather, like schools, restaurants, and long-term care facilities. But jails and other correctional facilities are receiving less attention.
The temporary two week “freeze” Oregon Governor Kate Brown implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19 ends tomorrow. But new restrictions are coming. This time, they’re based on how each of Oregon’s 36 counties is doing when it comes to tracking and testing.
With governments having to make hard choices about opening or closing schools, the science of kids and COVID-19 is especially necessary right now. We talk with Dr. Dawn Nolt, a pediatrician and the director of infectious disease control and prevention at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.
A traditional map of Oregon shows the Cascades, the Willamette Valley, the high desert and the coast. But there’s a lot of information NOT depicted, like the indigenous lands of Oregon’s Native Americans and the original place names given to them. David Harrelson, head of Cultural Resources with the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde, explains how cartographers are working to counter this erasure by de-colonizing maps of Indigenous lands.
For many Americans, this Thanksgiving will be unlike any other in recent memory. The pandemic has forced many people to cancel their usual plans with friends and family. But despite the pain and suffering this year has brought, many of you are still finding things to be grateful for.
Racial justice protests in Portland have continued for six months. But now, activists are divided as to whether they are still fighting in a racial justice movement centered on Black lives, or if protests have become an anti-establishment fight against capitalism.
After more than 100 years, the Kiwanis Club of Portland has closed its doors. It’s not the only service organization that has struggled as Oregonians change the way they donate and network.
Police in Washington state have killed more than 90 people since December 2018, when Initiative 940 became law. The law promised more transparency and accountability from agencies when officers kill, each death bound for an independent investigation.
Macy’s, the last remaining department store at Portland’s Lloyd Center mall, has announced its closing in January after 54 years. What does the Lloyd Center’s latest loss of an anchor tenant mean for the mall’s future? What about the future of malls in general? We discuss with Mike Rogaway, business reporter for the Oregonian/OregonLive.
If you’re having a medical emergency, get care immediately - and don’t worry too much about the possibility of catching COVID-19 in the emergency room. That’s the upshot of a new study of emergency departments, including dozens in Oregon and Washington. It found that ERs are relatively safe.
Hopworks Urban Brewery has locations in Portland and Vancouver, which means they're juggling different COVID-19 regulations in each state.
As the four week "freeze" takes hold in Multnomah County, one bar is laying off its entire staff ... again.
A group of more than 50 Republican lawmakers and county commissioners in Oregon sent a letter to the governor, asking her to lift the newly placed COVID-19 restrictions in more rural parts of the state.
After months of uncertainty, plans are once again moving forward to remove four dams on the Klamath River in Southern Oregon and Northern California.
Oregonians are under new COVID-19 restrictions starting today, including limiting store capacity, closing gyms and capping how many people can attend social get-togethers. But how will these guidelines be enforced?
New restrictions to blunt the surge in coronavirus cases take effect in Oregon today. The restrictions will last at least 2 weeks.
New restrictions on some businesses are now in place and Oregon Governor Kate Brown is asking everyone to avoid social gatherings and stay home. It’s all to help curb this new surge of COVID-19 cases. There are more coronavirus patients requiring hospital care - including life support – than at any other time in the pandemic. OPB Reporter Amelia Templeton talked with one of the people charged with making sure there’s an I-C-U bed available for every patient who needs one.
Beaverton is getting a new mayor next year - and she will have a very different job than her predecessor
City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly has lost her seat to Mingus Mapps four years after she defeated an incumbent. Mingus Mapps will be the third new commissioner on the city council.
In early returns, former Oregon state lawmaker Cliff Bentz is leading in the race to represent the state’s massive 2nd Congressional District. Bentz is seeking to replace longtime fellow Republican and district Rep. Greg Walden.
The ongoing protests for racial justice didn't just happen in Portland by accident. They're kind of by design. Urban plannign consultant Jarrett Walker makes the connection between protests, urban planning and Portland's celebrated livability.
Protests in Portland over the police killing of George Floyd and other Black Americans began more than five months ago. But with the 20-20 election just days away, some protests have become flash points for opposing political views.
Bret Chiafalo was a faithless elector in 2016. He sees plenty of potential to manipulate the 2020 election after the votes are cast—and it’s all perfectly legal.
Donald Orr looks at the unique challenges Black Oregonians face when seeking Black therapists.
In 1948, Portland hosted the United States’ first ever nationally broadcast presidential debate. The face-off, between two candidates competing for the Republican nomination, is widely seen as the precedent for today’s debates.
Dr. Dawn Nolt of OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital talks about the current state of drug therapy for COVID-19 patients.
Along the entire Western seaboard of the United States, there is only one congressional district still held by Republicans. It’s in Southwest Washington, the seat held by Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler since 2010. And Democrats are hoping this is the year they finally wrest control from her. But it won’t be easy -- Washington’s primary election in August showed Herrera Beutler with a commanding lead over her opponent: Democrat Carolyn Long.
Airport business interests are funding a candidate they hope will get Wilsonville to drop its role in legal challenge to runway extension.
This November, Portland Public Schools is asking voters to support a $1.2 billion bond to fund continued work modernizing the district’s high schools, among other things. Liz Miller has details.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and Republican challenger Jo Rae Perkins have little in common when it comes to issues such as the pandemic and the economy.
Wildfires that have burned more than 1 million acres across Oregon created hazardous air quality for much of the state — leading to an unexpected pause in protests for racial justice that had lasted for more than 100 days continuously in Portland.
Current projections have a vaccine to protect against COVID-19 ready to administer to the public by the spring of 2021. That would be a record.
It’s almost like Portland’s food carts were made for this moment. The iconic streetside kitchens flourished during the Great Recession over a decade ago, when Portlanders were hungry for cheaper takeout versions of their favorite restaurant food. They're showing the same resilience and creativity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tests for COVID-19 are widely available, but there are barriers to everyone in America getting one. We talk to Dr. Dawn Nolt, medical director for infectious disease control at OHSU Doernbecher Childrens Hospital, about the state of COVID testing in America.
Covering protests in Portland is nothing unusual for Karina Brown. She’s been doing it regularly since Donald Trump was elected president. What’s unusual is how she reacted to a run-in with law enforcement while covering a late-night Black Lives Matter protest a few weeks ago. She wrote about what happened, and what it did to her emotionally, for the Courthouse News Service recently.
Dr. Dawn Nolt of OHSU talks about how warmer weather affects how the coronavirus moves through the environment.