Willamette Wake-up

This last year, people who are part of the majority culture have been learning about racism, and it is embedded in all parts of our society.  The conversation with Laurie Dougherty, Laurie Hoeffer, and Paul Krissel brings up the books they've read and how it's affected their perspective on current events.

In this new monthly segment, Jenny Ammon, education director for the Marion Soil & Water Conservation District, hosts the MSWCD board chair, Terry Hsu, about the board's role in this semi-public agency whose mission is to help landowners promote the health of their property.

Impact Oregon is a website that connects job seekers with careers in the field of developmental disabilities. Learn more with Angela Yeager, Communications Officer with Developmental Disabilities Services.

Meet Zachary Stocks, executive director of the Oregon Black Pioneers. Hear what the organization is doing during the pandemic, and the role history plays in today’s times of racial tension.

Hear the story of "Q" Robertson - the owner of Q's Corner Barbershop in Salem.  It's more than just a place to get your haircut.  This BIPOC business interview is part of Willamette Wake Up's regular monthly segment "RJOC's Corner" but aired today as a special segment.

In this episode of Invisible People, we get the big picture of efforts to alleviate homelessness in Marion & Polk Counties. The Mid Willamette Valley Homeless Alliance is the Continuum of Care organization planning and securing federal funds to end homelessness in Marion and Polk counties. Alliance Co-Chair and Salem City Councillor Chris Hoy shares the Alliance's work and the story behind the new shelter at the state fairgrounds.

In this week's Legislative Matters, Jan & Cindy highlight committee work on the issues of conduct, redistricting, natural resources & environment. They review legislation and informational hearings coming up this week in those areas and the House's health care committee.  For more information on their discussion: https://kmuz.org/legislative-matters/

The Polk County Report. KMUZ interviews State Representative Paul Evans, whose House District 20 includes West and South Salem, Monmouth and Independence. He addresses his committee work and statewide issues facing the 2021 Legislature.

RJOC's Corner showcases a BIPOC business (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) each month.  Here is CreativiTEE and Rofe Designs with owner Roanna Gingerich.

In this episode of RJOC's Corner, Sandra Hernandez Lomeli, executive director of Latinos Unidos Siempre (LUS), talks about LUS's history and mission.  Then about current pressing issues including school to pipeline, police officers in schools, a student led task force process and upcoming school board elections.

In this episode of Keeping Oregon Oregon, meet the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources' Chair, Rep. Brad Witt. Rep. Witt discusses his commitment to sustainability and describes his committee's issues for the 2021 legislative session.

In this episode of Elephant in the Room, Lisa Arkin with Beyond Toxics and Aimee Okotie-Oyekan with Eugene/Springfield NAACP talk about a legislative proposal to address environmental injustice by modifying Oregon's land use laws. The bill would increase equitable participation to address impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities.

In this episode of "Legislative Matters Tune in and Take Part," listeners hear about budget issues facing this legislature and bills coming up in both chambers of the health and education committees during the week of Feb 1, 2021.

 Camila Vergaras, author of "Systemic Corruption", explores ideas of Democracy. While many countries claim to be democracies, Vergaras asserts that they are not.  She talks about a budding system in her home country of Chile where "local assemblies" are bringing back key elements of a true democracy.

Eric O'Grey, author of Salem Reads's "Walking with Peety" talks with KMUZ about his journey and the book.

In this week's Legislative Matters, program hosts review key legislation sponsored by Mid-Valley Area legislators and remind listeners how to be engaged with the legislative process.

On the Labor Report, Kipp Dawson, a woman coal miner active in the women miners' movement of the 1970s, '80s and '90s, on women's empowerment and recent labor history.    

Bruce Goldberg, chair of the Universal Health Care Task Force gives an update on the task force's work - the information gathered, the process informing their decisions and how the public can follow their work. For more information: https://www.oregon.gov/oha/HPA/HP/Pages/Task-Force-Universal-Health-Care.aspx    

Legislative Matters hosts introduce listeners to their legislative delegation and the committees on which they serve. Tune in every Monday during the legislative session to find out what your elected representatives are doing. Here's a link to the legislative website so you can follow legislation, committees, and legislative members of interest to you: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/

On the Polk County Report, hear from newly-elected State Sen. Deborah Patterson, D-Salem. Patterson represents Senate District 10, which includes Monmouth and Independence and a large part of Salem. She is also chair of the Senate Committee on Health Care for the 2021 Legislative Session.

Gary Daily, a psychologist with a school district and private practice, discusses his experience moving from person-to-person sessions to a telehealth practice.

Bill Smaldone, professor of history at Willamette University, talks about growing fascism in the United States. He compares the social and political elements in Germany after WW I that nurtured the rise of the Nazi party and compared that to the modern-day United States. He makes a case for even distribution of wealth and civil rights for all as two components needed to quell growing fascist ideas in this country.

Monday, January 11, 2021, the City of Salem's Council unanimously passed a resolution denouncing white supremacy and institutional racism.  Council Tom Andersen, the motion maker, talks about what led up to the resolution, its purpose, and his hopes for how it can affect real change. A brief clip from the meeting follows the interview to hear two BIPOC members of the public speak to the resolution, followed by comments by four council members. (BIPOC - Black Indigenous People of Color)

Sara Webb, Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, on the purpose and method of the 2021 Point in Time count in Marion and Polk Counties. The Federal Housing and Urban Development agency must require the PIT Count to monitor and provide resources to communities to combat homelessness.

Kendra Tibbot and Lindsay Bigelow explain Kindness Closet's mission - a nonprofit organization encouraging and inspiring changes to better the local community, focusing on houseless people.

In light of calls to either impeach or invoke the 25th amendment to remove Donald Trump from office 13 days before the inauguration, Dr. Ed Dover explains its process and the likelihood either would happen. Dr. Ed Dover is a professor emeritus of political science at Western Oregon University.

Ona Elkanah, the owner of Flourish Spices and African Foods, talks about her Salem business and her spirit to this community. This interview with Sarah Evans is part of a new series called RJOC's Corner, highlighting the engagement of communities of color in the mid-Willamette Valley.

Dr. Reginal Richardson, newly elected NAACP president in the Salem-Keizer branch, talks about his background, history of the organization, and vision for the next two years.  This program is called "R-JOC's Corner" and is a new program on Willamette Wake Up. It highlights a local organization of color and a BIPOC business (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color) and offers ways for people to create racial justice and equity.

In this Elephant in the Room program, Rob Del Mar from the Oregon Department of Energy talks about solar energy advances - cheaper and better storage options.

Rep. Paul Evans speaks about legislative proposals to either add seven governor-appointed members to the Salem-Keizer School Board or require the school board to adopt zone-based voting. The school board has come under fire for not responding to community members' requests to remove police from schools and by adopting a policy to curtail some public comment.  (Note: a Willamette Wake Up report on the school board meeting in question was podcast on Dec 10, 2020.)

Hear clips from the Polk County Report that defined 2020 for this rural Oregon county.  Plus clips from all WWU's regular special programs, from climate change to labor news and a lot in between.

Clips from 23 past Willamette Wake Up episodes are played with narration in between, giving listeners a romp through the defining events of 2020 in the mid-Valley.

Mimi Casteel, a holistic vintner in Hopewell, talks about using permaculture principles at Bethel Heights winery. Every 5th Tuesday, program host Tom Ellis produces a segment showcasing permaculture practices in the mid-Valley region.

On Legislative Matters - Tune in Take Part, the special legislative session from Dec 21, 2020, is reviewed, emphasizing the discussions underlying the eviction moratorium extension and relief for renters and landlords.

Rick Gaupo, CEO & President of the Food Share, congratulates the community for coming together and rising to the occasion to feed the thousands of extra hungry individuals and families caused by the crises of 2020.

In part 2, Bob Berto Rossi shares the stories of day to day life in the Colorado coal towns during the 1920s.  The program recaps part 1 from November 27, 2020, reveals the day to day lives of women & children, and gives insight into the writer and his motivations for telling these stories.

Jimmy Jones, Executive Director of the Community Action Agency, gives a year-end review of the agency's efforts and programs to address homelessness and poverty in the mid-valley. There's a long way to go to meet the need, but for the passionate like Jones, they keep going.

The Polk County Report. KMUZ talks with Operation D.O.G., a Rickreall, Oregon nonprofit group that helps low-income families pay for emergency veterinary care, saving beloved pets.

Shelaswa Crier on the Oregon Cares Fund targeted investment in the Black community. Also, hear about a lawsuit that attempts to undermine this legislative appropriation.

Earlier this month, some Democratic members of Congress introduced an Abolition Amendment to the US Constitution.  Why would this be necessary?  Find out now. Willamette University alumni talk with KMUZ on the 13th Amendment, how the amendment allows slavery to exist today, and their effort to change that in Oregon with an amendment to this state's Constitution.

"Policy for the People," a new monthly program with the Oregon Center for Public Policy. In this program, OCPP communication director Juan Carlos Ordóñez talks about the pandemic's economic impacts on Oregonians and makes a case for raising taxes on the wealthiest individuals and corporations in Oregon.

While recycling may make us feel good about protecting the earth, not everything is recyclable, and done incorrectly can be detrimental.  Marion County Environmental Services, Alan Pennington, reminds us what we can and cannot recycle and how to do it right!

In a part of its Dec 8th meeting, the Salem Keizer School Board reviewed a proposal called Safe & Welcoming Schools and a proposal to curb public testimony deemed uncivil, derogatory and included other criteria which the board chair deems inappropriate.  Over the last number of months, public comments on the removal of SROs (police in schools) and the demand for two board members' resignation have gotten stronger and more persistent. Some comments are directed to specific board members and have been critical of their behavior or affiliation with white supremacist groups.  This report gives a "flavor" for the tenor at the meeting and the issues discussed.

Life long Salem resident and newly published author Jan McComb talks about her book "Cherry City Confidential: 12 Murder Cases that Rocked Oregon's Capital City". Salem may not have any more murders than other cities of its size, but they are unique and certainly Salem-centric.

A history lesson on corporations with Adam Winkler, author of “We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights.” Even though revolutionaries showed disdain for corporations at the Boston Tea party event, corporations regained a foothold in the U.S. courts as early as the mid-1800s.  UCLA Professor Winkler leads us through the benchmark rulings.

The Willamette Heritage Center has been offering the community Magic at the Mill for decades. Lights, Santa, singers, storytellers, and more.  But, like with everything else, Magic will be different this year. Liz McIntire shares how the event will happen in 2020.

When temperatures drop, people without shelter are at risk of illness and even death. In this episode of Invisible People, hear how the Arches Project, SafeSleep United, and their partners are providing shelter.  Some shelters are temperature driven, others are open every night. Robert Marshall, volunteer coordinator of Arches, and Lynelle Wilcox, SafeSleep United talk about their programs and how you can help.

Katrina Rothenberger, Marion County Public Health, provides a COVID-19 update: the numbers, the implications, the challenges, and the county's message to its residents.

In the Polk County Report, Rebecca Salinas-Oliveros talks about her leap into local politics. She started as an activist in the Black Lives Matter movement, then ran for Monmouth City Council. She was the top vote-getter in the recent city council election despite opposition from a political action committee that supported a slate of conservative candidates.

Josh Gwin, the Retail Food Resource Coordinator for Marion Polk Food Share, talks about ways the organization is shifting its approach to ensuring food insecure individuals and families have enough food this winter. Due to the pandemic, rather than purchasing and bringing food to a pantry or Food Share location, Food Share encourages creative ways for individuals and community groups to raise funds to end hunger. He directs folks to the organization's webpage to find ways to give and ways to fundraise.

Steve Thorsett, President of Willamette University (WU), talks about a merger between WU and the Pacific Northwest College of Art.  Molly Mayhead, professor emeritus of Western Oregon University and KMUZ board member, conducts the interview.  They discuss the reasons and logistics of the merger as well as benefits for both schools and the greater community.