Podcasts about opb

 In early June, a federal judge found the state in contempt of a court order that requires people with severe mental illness in custody to be quickly admitted to the the Oregon State Hospital.  Now, the state is appealing that decision and has asked the court to pause the contempt ruling. Amelia Templeton is OPB’s health reporter and has been following this story. She joins us to share more on what is happening at the state’s psychiatric hospital.

Oregon lawmakers recently unveiled a proposal to maintain the state’s roads and bridges. House Bill 2025 would raise the state’s gas tax by 15 cents, raise vehicle fees and add oversight to the Oregon Department of Transportation, according to OPB reporting. The bill could raise more than $2 billion annually by 2034, according to a revenue analysis. What does the proposal mean for cities and counties? Dan Dorran is a Umatilla County Commissioner. Jim McCauley is the legislative director for the League of Oregon Cities. They join us with more on the role that cities and counties play in Oregon’s transportation system and why funding is critical at the local level.

As the giant bill to address our state's transit infrastructure crises faces an uncertain future in Salem, it's important to remember how rural areas rely on our roads and bridges every day. Today, we're revisiting a conversation with OPB's Lillian Karabaic who earlier this year travelled all over Oregon using only public transportation, learning about the struggles rural communities are facing along the way.  This episode originally aired on Feb 6, 2025 Become a member of City Cast Portland today! Get all the details and sign up here.  Who would you like to hear on City Cast Portland? Shoot us an email at portland@citycast.fm, or leave us a voicemail at 503-208-5448. Want more Portland news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter, Hey Portland, and be sure to follow us on Instagram.  Looking to advertise on City Cast Portland? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about the sponsors of this June 16th episode: Babbel - Get up to 60% off at Babbel.com/CITYCAST PaintCare Portland State University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Rodger Kennedy was 17 years old, he dropped out of high school. He worked to survive on his own.   Over a decade later, right before Rodger turned 30, he decided to get his GED. He wanted to prove a point to his son Sam.  “I did it to show them that it's never too late to follow through and finish that goal,” Rodger said. In this week’s episode, we finish our three-part series on OPB’s “Class of 2025.” It’s a project we created back in 2012 when former Oregon governor John Kitzhaber declared the ambitious goal of one-hundred percent graduation by 2025.    That’s when OPB decided to document the stories of a kindergarten class on their journey all the way through high school: to capture what it’s like to grow up in the Oregon education system, and all the other life experiences that make us who we are along the way. Thirteen years after Kitzhaber’s State of the State address, one-hundred percent high school graduation is no longer the goal.    Today, we tell the stories of the unsung heroes we’ve met along the way: the parents and guardians of the class of 2025 students.    Education reporter Elizabeth Miller tells us the story of Rodger and his son Sam, plus all the other ways parents have impacted their kids in the project.    For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

In 2017, Portland created a Tribal Relations Program to bridge the relationship between Tribal governments and the city. It was a trailblazing program at the time, but in the years since, it's had three different managers and has been without a leader for seven months. OPB’s Alex Zielinski and Underscore’s Nika Bartoo-Smith join us to talk about the city’s troubled relationship with Tribal governments and its hopes for the future of the program.

“High school didn't really go the way I expected it,” said Leyna, who didn’t graduate with her high school class in early June.    Leyna’s dad died right before her freshman year. Since then, she’s struggled to complete her work, and she switched to online school her senior year. She was dealing with some health issues and helping her mom take care of her little sister.    School wasn’t her main priority.   In this week’s episode, we continue to tell the stories of OPB’s “Class of 2025.” It’s a project we created back in 2012 when former Oregon governor John Kitzhaber declared the ambitious goal of one-hundred percent graduation by 2025.    That’s when OPB decided to document the stories of a kindergarten class on their journey all the way through high school: to capture what it’s like to grow up in the Oregon education system, and all the other life experiences that make us who we are along the way. Thirteen years after Kitzhaber’s State of the State address, one-hundred percent high school graduation is no longer the goal.    Today, we tell the stories of two students who aren’t graduating. Education reporter Elizabeth Miller gives us insight into their lives.    For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

In 2012, then Oregon governor John Kitzhaber announced a lofty goal: by 2025, the state would achieve a 100% high school graduation rate. That hasn’t happened — the state’s graduation rate is around 82% — but the goal sparked the creation of a 12-year reporting project at OPB called  “Class of 2025.”   OPB journalists began talking to 27 students who were then in kindergarten at Earl Boyles elementary school in Southeast Portland, and have followed most of them through to 2025. Back in 2014, “Think Out Loud" spent an hour with the first graders, their teachers and parents after an early pizza lunch at Earl Boyles. We listen back to that show.  

On the latest episode of OPB Politics Now, reporters Lauren Dake, Bryce Dole and Dirk VanderHart discussed the major things happening in Salem, as lawmakers race to a conclusion in the coming weeks. This episode was available live on OPB.org/livestream or on OPB's YouTube page. They discussed the transportation package, gun legislation, foster care bills, the budget, the overall tone of the session and much more. Find the show anywhere you get your podcasts.  

Until last week, Kevin Heatley was the Crater Lake National Park superintendent. He’d worked in the private sector for much of his career, but for most of the last decade he’s been in leadership positions with the federal government, including with the Bureau of Land Management. He had only taken the Park Service job in January, a move he made in anticipation of possible BLM cuts. But last week, he chose to resign, saying he could no longer be party to President Trump’s dismantling of the federal government. He told OPB that while park services will be affected, it was the impact on the physical and mental health of employees that he felt he could longer be complicit in. Heatley joins us to tell us more about his time at the helm of Oregon’s only national park and his hopes for federal government employees in the Trump administration.

In 2012, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber announced a goal that by 2025, the state would achieve a 100% high school graduation rate. Although Oregon today graduates only about 4 out of 5 students, that aspiration sparked the creation of OPB’s “Class of 2025” project. Journalists at OPB began tracking 27 students starting in first grade at Earl Boyles Elementary School in Southeast Portland through their senior year. For the past 12 years, the production team has documented the students’ triumphs and setbacks, transitions to new schools and social dynamics, along with the family members, teachers and administrators who’ve been helping them reach this milestone. The first podcast episode featuring some of those students at David Douglas High navigating their senior year is now available and a TV documentary featuring other seniors will be released in November. Joining us to discuss “Class of 2025” are three students: Josh, Joel and Anais. OPB editor and “Class of 2025” executive producer Rob Manning and Elizabeth Miller, an OPB education reporter and the reporter, producer and host of the “Class of 2025” documentary, also join us to reflect on the project and what it reveals about Oregon’s education system.

In 2012, former Oregon governor John Kitzhaber declared an ambitious goal in his State of the State Address.    “Next year’s class of kindergarten students is a benchmark,” he said. “They are the class of 2025. And 2025 is the year we’ve set to have 100 percent high school graduation in the state of Oregon.”   OPB decided to document the stories of a kindergarten class on their journey all the way through high school; to capture what it’s like to grow up in the Oregon education system, and all the other life experiences that make us who we are along the way.    Thirteen years after Kitzhaber’s State of the State address, that once tall order of a one-hundred percent high school graduation rate is no longer the goal.    “We’re not gonna meet it,” Kitzhaber said.    Now, it’s both the Class of 2025’s last year of high school and OPB’s last year of this long-term project.    In the next few weeks, we’ll hear three unique stories from the class of 2025 students we’ve been following.    In this episode, we present the story of two cousins: Anna and Austin. As little kids, they lived in the same neighborhood and went to the same elementary school. But now they go to different high schools, in two different zip codes.   How did Austin and Anna’s high schools affect their decisions about college? Education reporter Elizabeth Miller finds out.    For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

There’s a population of Northern red-legged frogs that make their home in Portland’s Forest Park. In late winter and early spring, they come down to the nearby Harborton wetland to breed. There’s only one problem: the frogs have to cross Highway 30 to get from Forest Park to the wetland and back. About ten years ago, a local resident saw the road covered with the bodies of frogs who had tried to cross during the night and gotten squished. They alerted some friends and neighbors and that’s how the Harborton Frog Shuttle, also lovingly known as the “frog taxi” came to be. Teams of dedicated volunteers are on-call from late winter to early spring and when the conditions are right for the frogs, they come out with their buckets and headlamps to help the amphibians cross the road safely.   OPB “Oregon Field Guide” producer Jule Gilfillan and OPB cinematographer/editor Brooke Herbert tagged along with the frog taxi volunteers. They join us to share a bit about the experience. And you can see their video here.    For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

On Wednesday, Portland’s 12 city councilors stayed late considering a number of amendments to the city’s budget - both large and small. OPB's Portland city politics reporter Alex Zielinski was there and tells us what it all means.

While the biggest school bond on the ballot seems to be passing in Tuesday’s special election, Oregonians appear to be split in their support of education-related bond measures that would fund school building construction, maintenance and other improvements. OPB editor Rob Manning joins us to give us a picture of how many of the education-related votes fared in this week’s election.

The Oregon Legislature is racing toward a conclusion in the coming weeks. On this week's episode of OPB Politics Now, we’re going to bring you a special episode from our OPB colleagues and friends at The Evergreen podcast. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at what our lives are like down at the state Capitol in Salem. Usually, OPB Politics reporter Dirk Vanderhart is bringing you the news on this podcast. This week, you’re going to get a glimpse into how he finds it. Enjoy the show!

Oregon journalist and OPB’s “Hush” Podcast Host Leah Sottile has made a name for herself investigating extremism and fringe movements in the West. Her latest book, “Blazing Eye Sees All,” explores New Age religion, including the Love Has Won movement. Beyond that, the book is a history of spirituality in the U.S. and looks at the ways fascism and metaphysical circles are intertwined. Sottile joins us in front of a live audience at the Literary Art Bookstore in Portland to share more.

For over 20 years, Portland's premier summer bike festival, Pedalpalooza, has organized events for people to participate in a variety of bike-related activities all summer long. Today, we're talking with Lillian Karabaic, host of OPB's "Weekend Edition" and long-time Pedalpalooza ride organizer. She's filling us in on the festival's growth, the name change to Bike Summer, and giving us a little preview of how you can join in the fun during the upcoming season. Discussed in Today's Episode: Full Bike Summer Calendar Stationery Store Day Ride The Myspace Ride Breakfast on the Bridges    Get more from City Cast Portland when you become a City Cast Portland Neighbor. You'll enjoy perks like ad-free listening, invitations to members-only events, and more. Join now at membership.citycast.fm. Who would you like to hear on City Cast Portland? Shoot us an email at portland@citycast.fm, or leave us a voicemail at 503-208-5448. Want more Portland news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter, Hey Portland, and be sure to follow us on Instagram.  Looking to advertise on City Cast Portland? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about the sponsors of this May 19th episode: Oregon Health Authority PaintCare Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you hear the words ‘craft’ or ‘artisan’ mentioned together with Portland, you might tend to think of beer or coffee. But it could also easily be artisan amplifiers and handcrafted cables. From custom-made guitars to individually soldered effects pedals, the city has a vibrant boutique audio manufacturing industry closely intertwined with the local music scene.   Portland writer Marc Young tells us about how Oregon became known as a place where people make a lot of very cool audio equipment. For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Right now, there’s a lot happening in the State Capitol that will affect all Oregonians in some way. And because it’s an odd-numbered year, which means the Oregon Legislature has a session that stretches from January to June, we’re nearing the busiest time of the legislative session. This is when lawmakers have to pass a two-year budget and, of course, some other bills that are critical to keep the state running. Podcast producer, and self-described “civics nerd,” Julie Sabatier tagged along with OPB capitol reporter Dirk VanderHart for a day to see what’s going on behind the scenes of our state government.    For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

 On Monday, Oregon Health and Science University and Legacy Health announced they are mutually walking away from an effort to combine the two healthcare organizations. The merger was first announced last August, when OHSU agreed to acquire 8 hospitals, $3 billion in assets and promised a whopping $1 billion in upgrades to Legacy facilities. The merger garnered scrutiny from a citizen review committee and public comments have reflected opposition to the deal. Amelia Templeton is OPB’s Healthcare reporter and has been following this story. She joins with the latest.

On Monday, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson unveiled a budget for the city as it faces a massive budget shortfall. That deficit is $65 million if you don’t include the cost of the mayor’s ambitious plan to end unsheltered homelessness, or the city's new obligations to pay for homeless shelters that Multnomah County previously paid for. Mayor Wilson’s budget calls for staff layoffs and cuts to some programs and services, while also expanding staffing for homeless services outreach, Portland Street Response and Portland Fire & Rescue. In February, City Administrator Michael Jordan outlined the scope of the deficit in the city’s general fund that is due to a range of factors, from steep declines in property and business tax revenues to mounting overtime and healthcare costs.  The 12-member city council has until June to approve a budget and has held budget listening sessions where it’s heard from constituents concerned about cuts to city programs and services. Joining us to share details about Mayor Wilson’s proposed budget is OPB’s Portland city government reporter Alex Zielinski.

World-class cheese is all around us in Oregon.    From our largest cheese producers like Tillamook and Rogue, who won the world’s best cheese in 2019, to some of our smallest producers like Helvetia Creamery and Don Froylan, who won the best string cheese in the country for two years in a row.    And while Oregon doesn’t produce the quantity of cheese like Wisconsin, Idaho, or other leading states do today – Oregon punches above its weight class in terms of quality. And the production of cheese has also shaped the history of the state.   Katy Osuna from the Copper & Heat podcast joins us to share the history of cheese in the region and how it became so special. Osuna also produced a documentary about cheese for OPB’s Superabundant. Check it out. For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

A bill in the Oregon Legislature would set up a structure for social media companies to compensate local news producers whose content is shared on those sites. SB 686 is based in part on bills in California and New Jersey, as well as a law that recently went into effect in Canada. It was meant for the largest social media companies to compensate local news media organizations whose content is shared on the platforms — thus supporting news outlets, many which have seen advertising revenues plummet. But the law has had some unintended consequences, including Meta simply deciding not to allow news to be shared at all in Canada.  Joining us to talk about the law's intentions, its unintended consequences and possible solutions is Ryan Adam, formerly the vice president of government and public relationships for the Toronto Star. He led efforts to pass the country’s Online News Act, also known as the C-18 law, and testified in Salem in April about Canada’s law.  OPB is among the news media organizations that testified in support of the Oregon bill.

For our latest “At Work With” episode, where we talk to Pacific Northwesterners with interesting jobs and ask them your questions about what it’s like to do what they do, we bring you along as we visit a queseria where Mexican cheese is made, hit the streets at dawn with a garbage collector and meet a biologist whose job it is to protect birds at the airport.    For our “At Work With” series, let us know who you want to hear from next! You can also send us questions you have for our next “At Work With” interview. Email us at theevergreen@opb.org or visit our web page to submit questions.   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.  

This month marks 50 years since the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. It’s also the anniversary of many Vietnamese families arriving to start a new life in the Pacific Northwest. Thousands of people fled the country and became refugees in 1975, and many of those people ended up on the west coast of the United States. According to the census data, there are now more than 37,000 Vietnamese Oregonians. We’ll hear from a few of them.    Van Le and Allen Luong are organizing a series of art exhibits featuring paintings by Le’s late father to mark the anniversary and look towards the future. OPB arts and culture producer Steven Tonthat, whose parents emigrated from Vietnam, shares his perspective. And we hear from Thuy Huyen, whose harrowing story of escaping her home country was featured in OPB’s documentary “The Vietnam War Oregon Remembers.”   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

The United States’ entry into World War II presented a challenge to American farmers. On the one hand, demand for agricultural products skyrocketed. On the other hand, a dire labor shortage emerged, as tens of thousands of American farm workers joined the military and others headed from rural areas to bigger cities in search of wartime industry jobs.   So, the governments of the United States and Mexico made an agreement: the creation of a program to bring Mexican workers to the U.S. on temporary labor contracts to help farms, as well as railroad companies, across the country.   Officially called the “Emergency Farm Labor Supply Program,” it became known as the Bracero Program. Around 15,000 Mexican workers came to Oregon as braceros while the program lasted here, from 1943 to 1947.   Braceros often endured labor abuses, workplace injuries, and anti-Mexican racism. They also saved American agriculture during the war and built Mexican American communities in the Northwest for years to come. This week, we learn about the history of the Bracero Program in Oregon and throughout the Pacific Northwest.   To learn more, watch OPB’s 2007 “Oregon Experience” documentary, “The Braceros.” For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

An unassuming house in Southeast Portland’s Buckman neighborhood was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. Once known as “Juniper House,” the building served as one of the first end-of-life care homes for AIDS patients in the Pacific Northwest in the late 1980s. An OPB documentary at the time explored the lives of some of the patients in Juniper House and the neighboring Assisi House, which provided a range of care for patients with HIV/AIDS. Jan Weyeneth is one of the co-founders of Juniper House. Cayla McGrail is a former associate project manager for Portland’s LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project, which sponsored the house’s listing. They both join us to share more about Juniper House and the importance of documenting queer history in Portland.

On “The Evergreen,” we’ve talked about the history behind the largest dam removal project in the United States: the long fight over water in the Klamath basin between Tribes and farmers, the process of getting the dams out, and what dam removal means to the Tribes along the river.    Today, we’re bringing you up to date. What’s on folks’ minds now that all the dams are out a year later — and what still needs to be done to piece this basin together again?    Cassandra Profita is an editor and reporter at OPB. She’s been covering the Klamath Dam removal for years and joins us to talk about the challenges that remain to repair salmon habitat.    Profita also produced a documentary about the Klamath Dams for OPB's "Oregon Field Guide." Check it out.   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Food is obviously part of our lives every day. We literally need it to survive. But it can also be an art form and serve as creative inspiration. From fifteenth century still life paintings to pop art, food and art have gone hand in hand for a long time. In this episode, we’ll introduce you to three Pacific Northwest artists whose creativity is inseparable from food.    Julie Beeler is an artist and designer based in Trout Lake, Washington. She makes inks, dyes and watercolor paints from the mushrooms she collects in the forest, and she’s the author of the Mushroom Color Atlas.    Portland photographer Isabella Cassini captures food in a number of different ways – from carefully arranged kaleidoscope images to her dynamic “splashes, crashes and smashes” series. That series is all about capturing messy food in motion – raw eggs, bowls of cereal and milk and plates of spaghetti get thrown in front of the camera as Cassini captures the midair collisions and spectacular spills.    Gena Renaud’s exquisite artwork is actually meant to be eaten. She makes wagashi, or Japanese sweets, meant to be enjoyed as part of a traditional tea ceremony. For most of her career, she was a graphic and industrial designer and worked at companies like Nike and Adidas. Now, she spends time on her meticulous, seasonally-inspired wagashi – delicate, pickled cherry blossoms suspended in wobbly agar, a jelly candy made to look like pieces of sea glass and a confection called manju made with sweet lima bean paste.     For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Oregon lawmakers are crafting a budget for the next two years. They're facing a lot of uncertainty since nearly a third of the state’s funding comes from federal dollars and budget committee members have mapped out several scenarios. Meanwhile, hundreds of bills failed to meet a legislative deadline last week.  But one proposal that narrowly passed the Senate would give public workers who go on strike access to unemployment benefits. We get an update on what’s ahead for lawmakers from OPB political reporter Dirk VanderHart.  

Many of Oregon's county health officials are asking for a little extra consideration from lawmakers this year as they decide where to allocate funding. Two counties, Wallowa and Curry, have no public health staff and rely solely on the Oregon Health Authority to meet their needs. With the fifth anniversary of the initial COVID-19 lockdown this week, perhaps nothing is a bigger reminder of the need for a stable funding source for public health infrastructure. Sarah Lochner, the executive director of the Oregon Coalition of Local Health Officials, told OPB that not only is the state not ready for the next pandemic, counties are in dire need of stable funding just to deal with the everyday public health needs of the communities they serve — from vaccinating against whooping cough and measles, to providing needed treatment for alcohol and substance use disorder, to preventing HIV, hepatitis C, syphilis and other communicable diseases.  Jackson county public health worker Tanya Phillips said because grants are often available only when the health of a particular population declines, the system sets up a kind of unreliable boom and bust cycle for funding, which does not support healthy communities long term. Phillips and Lochner join us to share the impact that unpredictable and insufficient funding is having in Jackson County and around the state.

A once popular teacher at St. Helens High School pivoted his career to communications, becoming a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Education and the Department of Human Services. In now-public allegations, two former students say he sexually abused them when he was a teacher. OPB reporter Joni Auden Land joins us to lay out the investigation.

It’s hard to keep up with the dizzying pace of changes being made by the Trump Administration. This episode, we take a tour of OPB’s newsroom and hear from reporters covering politics, climate, health, business and more about what those changes mean for people in the Northwest, and what it’s like to be covering them as a journalist right now.    You can find even more coverage of federal policies and how they are playing out in the Pacific Northwest here.   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek stopped by the OPB studio this week for an extended interview with Think Out Loud. She talked about her housing policy, what she views as her role in responding to the Trump administration and much more. It was a meaty conversation. Here’s governor Kotek with OPB’s Dave Miller  

Last week I alluded to Malheur—a French word which translates as “misfortune”—having a kind of name-place irony, back in 2016. It was national news. Maybe you recall?But, before I go further I want to take a moment to say that telling this story makes me a bit uncomfortable. On the surface it has little to do with the sound of Malheur, with music, with a connection to nature. And, because it involves the US Government, it has political overtones. Birds aren't political, right? Why dredge it all up? Aren't we all overburdened with current events as it is?Literally speaking, birds are not political. But, birds have symbolic resonance. “Hawks” want war, “doves” seek peace. Consider the phrase “canary in the coal mine”. What does it mean, exactly? It's a metaphor that relies on the sensitivity of birds to detect danger. Canaries are more sensitive to toxic air than humans. Sometimes stories from the past can help bring the present into focus. Posting about politics just seems exhausting and unproductive, right? It's usually just preaching to the choir in an echo chamber. Meanwhile, reading political articles often just leads to feeling a pit in one's stomach. I know I'm not alone, and I know it happens across political divides. While I do feel timid, learning about the history of the landscapes I visit makes me to feel more connected to them, and gives me a little courage to bring up uncomfortable, but worthwhile topics. The Malheur Wildlife Refuge OccupationIn January of 2016, a far-right militia led by Ammon Bundy, averaging maybe a two to three dozen in number, occupied the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. Their demands? That the Federal Government cede ownership of refuge lands to “the people of Harney County”, and for ranchers to be allowed to graze their cattle as they see fit, unencumbered by federal permits. It was a stunning move, coupled with unusual imagery: video clips of AR rifle-toting men shuffling around in cowboy hats and winter coats, speaking in soft voices. Their enemy, the federal government, was an off-camera abstraction, seemingly immutable as the snow-covered landscape. It was a strange spectacle. The backstory for this flashpoint goes back many years, involving episodic tensions over federal land use in the western US. The reason it played out at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge seems like, well, bad luck—misfortune. The spark was the re-sentencing of two local ranchers, the Hammonds (father and son) to serve out the remainder of a minimum five year prison term for a conviction of arson. (An exhaustive Wikipedia entry on the arson cases does not paint a sympathetic portrait of the Hammonds' actions.) A small protest rally for the Hammonds in nearby Burns, OR in December 2015 was co-opted by Bundy and others—who all lived out of state—when they attempted to galvanize resentments, and escalate the protest. This took shape as the occupation of the nearby Malheur Wildlife Refuge, which lasted for 41 daysIn the aftermath, one occupier, LaVoy Finicum, was shot dead in a climactic altercation with FBI and law enforcement. The federal government tallied over six million dollars in costs for repair and restoration to the refuge facilities, while state and county agencies attributed over three million dollars in costs related to the dust-up. The vast majority of county residents, and the Hammonds themselves, did not approve of the occupation. In a surprise legal conclusion, Ammon Bundy and six other occupiers were acquitted of conspiracy to impede federal officers, the charge the government brought in the wake of the ordeal. The verdict seemed to be chalked up to: 1) A thin presentation with scant evidence meeting the specific requirements of the charge, and 2) far-reaching defense arguments, including revelations FBI informants may have overstepped with behaviors that smacked of entrapment. Together this appeared to sow reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors.The verdict was a bitter pill for most people following the story to swallow. How is it possible that a small number of people could take over a wildlife refuge—involving breaking and entering, aggravated trespass, and trespass with a firearm—for well over a month and face no consequences? Some observers see a loose connection between Malheur and the January 6th attack on the US Capitol. Malheur was arguably a precursor, emboldening extremist groups by reinforcing the idea of taking over government property as a viable form of protest.In this way the president's broad pardons given to over 1200 individuals convicted for their involvement in the 2021 Capitol riot does not bode well.So…?So where does that leave us today? Well, for starters, Malheur Wildlife Refuge (and the nearby Steens Mountains, and Alvord Desert) are wild, beautiful, wide open places. If that sounds interesting, consider making the trip! You'll be happy you did!But what else is it about the 2016 Malheur occupation that seems uncannily similar to right now? Is there a canary in a coal mine here?Let's think…A small number of people…taking over government buildings…wielding power like self-righteous vigilantes…with a disdain for bureaucracy…a hostility toward government oversight…a belief in private control over public resources…a belief that their actions represent the will of the people, when it's far from clear that they do. Sound familiar?I have an answer in mind and maybe you do too. But, I don't want to dignify the annoyingly-named entity by mentioning it here.Any conclusions one can draw from the Malheur occupation are blurry, unsatisfying, and when tallied up in a ledger, offer more losses than gains. From a more detached point of view—perhaps closer to that of a migratory bird—all that remains when you subtract out the egos, the surprise plot twists, the courtroom dramas, the short-sightedness, the logic and the absurdity of it all, is the wordless landscape. The habitat.Is the habitat more or less functional? Water, food, shelter—is it easier or harder to come by? For some, or for all?Habitats like Malheur can appear simple at a glance. Wet basin, scrubby uplands, big sky. Boring. But if you bear witness to the land, if you just listen to it in the spring, you can hear it. It's complex. It's structural. The sound has order. The wildlife voices fit together, they make room for one another. I would go so far as to say it's musical. It's a complexity forged over time. It's easily broken, and difficult to rebuild.Thanks for reading and listening. I'm grateful for you. Malheur Suite II is available under the artist name Listening Spot on all streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple, Tidal, Amazon, YouTube…) Friday, March 21st.Further Reflection on the Malheur Case: This final podcast episode from the This Land Is Our Land series from OPB offers two jurors' reflections on the case and verdict. It's really good reporting. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chadcrouch.substack.com/subscribe

In the fruit orchards of the Hood River Valley, spring means rolling fields blanketed with blossoms and a view of Mount Hood that looks so close you could reach out and touch it. And at the Kiyokawa Family Orchards in Parkdale, the apples are beginning to grow. The family-owned farm was once called the best apple orchard in America, and is known for its wide selection of 125 apple varieties. The family also has an incredible local history dating back three generations, to when a vibrant community of Japanese American orchardists established itself in the Hood River Valley in the early 20th century. The Kiyokawas have worked as fruit orchardists in the area since 1911. They’re also one of the few Japanese American families from the valley that was able to return and work the land after surviving forced relocation and incarceration during World War II.   Video producer and cinematographer Jeff Kastner and his family have been eating the Kiyokawas’ apples for years, and followed the family last year for a full growing season. He recently shared their story for OPB’s “Oregon Experience” and “Superabundant” series. This week, we head out onto the farm with owner and third-generation orchardist Randy Kiyokawa, meet the family’s 101-year-old matriarch Mich, and learn all about how the Kiyokawas created an apple paradise in the shadow of Mount Hood.   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Measure 114, which was narrowly approved by Oregon voters in 2022, bans the purchase of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition and requires a permit for anybody purchasing a firearm. The measure never went into effect after it faced a number of legal challenges, but on Wednesday the Oregon Court of Appeals declared the measure constitutional. This overturns a 2023 decision from an Eastern Oregon judge who ruled it violated Oregon law. OPB reporter Conrad Wilson joins us to explain what it all means.

Scientists at Oregon State University and Oregon Health and Science University have teamed up to find new ways to treat endometriosis, ovarian cancer and other health conditions using nanoparticles and magnetic fields. Joining us to tell us more about this fascinating research are OPB science reporter Jes Burns, who is also the host and producer behind the “All Science. No Fiction.” video series, and OPB cinematographer and editor Brooke Herbert. This episode was recorded with a live audience at the Tomorrow Theater in Portland.   You can see the video about the medical applications of magnetic nanoparticles here.   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, host Jenn Chávez and Oregon Field Guide. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Oregon lawmakers are once again debating how best to allocate education funding to improve attendance, graduation rates, test scores and other key metrics of success. Meanwhile, parents and educators are pushing to remove restrictions on the amount of money school districts can receive for students with special needs. Lawmakers are also considering a bill that nearly passed last year that would block schools from removing certain books from libraries and classrooms.  Natalie Pate is OPB’s K-12 education reporter. She joins us to talk about all of those efforts and more.

Quiet can be an elusive thing, especially in an urban environment. Going out into nature is a good way to escape the sounds of the city, but trails are often full of people talking, dogs barking and you can still hear road noise from a lot of parks and hiking spots. Some people even feel the need to bring a Bluetooth speaker along with them when they’re out in nature. So how can you find a place that is truly quiet? And what would that be like? Ed Jahn is the executive producer of Oregon Field Guide and he recently went on a quest to find the quietest spot in all of Oregon. In this Evergreen episode, he takes us to that place.    You can see Ed’s video about the quietest place in Oregon here.   And if you want to hear about a spot in the Pacific Northwest that just might be the quietest place on earth, check out this episode of “The Wild” from our friends at the public radio station KUOW.    For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, host Jenn Chávez and Oregon Field Guide. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

You might encounter an ice sculpture of a swan at a fancy banquet, or an ice luge on a night out. But have you ever seen an 18-foot-tall punk baby with a mohawk made of ice? That’s one of the massive ice sculptures dreamt up by world-class ice carver Chris Foltz. Every winter, master sculptors from across the globe converge for the World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, where the temps are sub-zero, the ice blocks are sawed out of frozen ponds and the sculptures can weigh up to 20 tons. Foltz, a longtime chef who teaches ice sculpting to culinary students on the Oregon coast, has led teams to multiple world championships in Alaska.   “Oregon Field Guide” producer Noah Thomas followed Foltz and his team from Oregon to Fairbanks and joins us to share the thrills and chills of their quest for icy glory.   For more “Evergreen” episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

Esta es la versión en español de este episodio del podcast. Click here to listen in English.  Los años 60s marcaron el comienzo del Movimiento Chicano denominado: El Movimiento.    Activistas como César Chávez y Dolores Huerta lideraban demostraciones, demandando derechos civiles y justicia social para la comunidad Mexicana Americana después de haber enfrentado décadas de discriminacion.    Y aquí mismo en Oregon, un grupo de Chicanos fundó una institución que cambiaría por genraciones el acceso a la educación para los latinos en la región del Noroeste Pacifico.   En el episodio de esta semana, la productora Alicia Avila comparte la história del Colegio César Chávez – la primera universidad Chicana acreditada e independiente de los Estados Unidos. Y como hasta el día de hoy continúa inspirando a la comunidad Latina en Oregon en su lucha contra la posibilidad de ser borrados.     Avila también produjo el documental sobre la historia del Colegio César Chávez para nuestro programa de OPB “Oregon Experience”    Para escuchar más episodios de The Evergreen y compartir tu opinión con nosotros visita nuestra pagina.    Siguenos en nuestra página de Instagram y también sigue a nuestra anfitriona Jenn Chavez. Suscribete a nuestro correo informativo para recibir todas las noticias que necesites directamente en tu buzón de correo electrónico.    No olvides explorar nuestros otros programas de podcasts. Los puedes encontrar en tu plataforma de podcasts favorita:    Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud Y muchos mas! Visita nuestra lista completa aquí.   

This is the English version of this podcast episode. Haga clic aquí para escuchar en español.   The 1960s was the start of the Chicano movement: El Movimiento.    Activists like César Chávez and Dolores Huerta were on the front lines calling for civil rights and social justice for Mexican Americans after facing decades of discrimination.    And right here in Oregon, Chicanos founded an institution that would change education for Latinos across the Pacific Northwest for generations.   In this week’s episode, producer Alicia Avila shares the story of Colegio César Chávez  – the first accredited, independent Chicano university in U.S. history, and how it continues to inspire as the Latino community in Oregon fights against its erasure.   Avila also produced a documentary about Colegio César Chávez for OPB's "Oregon Experience." Check it out.   For more Evergreen episodes and to share your voice with us, visit our showpage. Follow OPB on Instagram, and follow host Jenn Chávez too. You can sign up for OPB’s newsletters to get what you need in your inbox regularly.   Don’t forget to check out our many podcasts, which can be found on any of your favorite podcast apps: Hush  Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars Politics Now Think Out Loud And many more! Check out our full show list here.

In Courtney Gould’s latest young adult love story, “Where Echoes Die,” two sisters travel to a strange desert town to investigate the death of their mother … and find that everything is not as it seems. In Jennifer Dugan’s novel “The Last Girls Standing,” two survivors of a summer camp massacre search for the truth of what happened that terrifying night. OPB’s Jenn Chavez talked to Dugan and Gould at the 2024 Portland Book Festival about psychological thrillers and writing queer love stories for a YA audience.

U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle announced last week she’s leaving the Department of Government Efficiency House caucus. She was one of few Democratic members of DOGE, the new efficiency effort led by Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Tesla and other companies. She told OPB that President Donald Trump has given enormous power to billionaire Elon Musk – including control of the government's finances - and that they are operating “unconstitutionally and illegally.” Hoyle says Musk’s access to Social Security numbers and other personal information of U.S. citizens, along with names of U.S. agents abroad, represents a grave threat, both domestically and internationally. On Saturday, a federal judge blocked Musk from accessing Treasury department records containing Americans’ personal data. Hoyle joins us from D.C. to talk about the details and what she’s hearing from colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

Oregon Health & Science University has been facing a series of mounting challenges in recent months, including its proposed merger with Legacy Health, which is being reviewed by the Oregon Health Authority. If approved, OHSU would control five of the six hospitals in Multnomah County, according to a report issued by OHA last November.  OHSU has also had to contend with the departure of prominent executives such as the interim head of its health unit last month, and Dr. Brian Druker, a world renowned cancer researcher, who resigned in December as CEO of the Knight Cancer Institute. Among the reasons Druker shared with OPB for his decision included low staff morale, a lack of trust in OHSU’s leaders and the organization’s cost-cutting measures, such as its decision to lay off more than 500 employees.  Leading OHSU during this turbulent time is Steve Stadum. The board of directors appointed him as interim president in November, marking his return to the organization which he first worked at more than 25 years ago. Stadum joins us to share his vision for OHSU and how he aims to navigate its internal and external challenges, including threats to federally funded research from the new Trump administration.  

The largest healthcare strike in Oregon history appears to be at an end. The unions representing most of the 5,000 Providence doctors and nurses who worked at eight different hospitals and six clinics around the state have now reached contract agreement. Union leaders say if members vote to approve the deal Thursday and Friday, they will end the strike and return to work immediately. We get the latest from OPB healthcare reporter Amelia Templeton.

OPB's Lillian Karabaic recently traveled all over our state using only public transportation. In 14 days, she rode 38 buses and three trains over 1,700 miles, collecting stories from fellow travelers. Today, we're asking Karabiac what she learned about some of Oregon's farthest-flung communities. Become a member of City Cast Portland today! Get all the details and sign up here.  Who would you like to hear on City Cast Portland? Shoot us an email at portland@citycast.fm, or leave us a voicemail at 503-208-5448. Want more Portland news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter, Hey Portland, and be sure to follow us on Instagram.  Looking to advertise on City Cast Portland? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Point-in-Time count is a federally required snapshot of how many people are experiencing homelessness in a given area. Last week, the Council for the Homeless in Vancouver, WA went out on a cold Thursday morning to start the count. It was conducted by outreach staff, volunteers and other social service providers. OPB’s “Think Out Loud” joined surveyors Daniel Rivera, Gemma Somol and Brian Starbuck as they conducted their work. We were also joined by Charlene Welch, chief advancement officer for Council for the Homeless. They all shared the importance of the count, what homelessness looks like in Vancouver and why they go out and do this work.

Around 14,000 subscribers read the locally-owned community newspaper Hoodview News every month. Along with community events, feel-good stories about the East County area and advertisements, readers find columns that espouse and encourage a transphobic worldview. Hoodview News is published by longtime Oregon political operative Mike Wiley — perhaps best known for his work as communications director for the Oregon Citizens Alliance, or OCA, an ultra-conservative activist group that pushed stridently anti-LGBTQ+ ballot measures across the state in the 1980s and 1990s. OPB journalist Leah Sottile joins us with the story.