PODCAST

Think Out Loud

Oregon Public Broadcasting

OPB"s daily conversation covering news, politics, culture and the arts. Hosted By Dave Miller.

news

All Episodes

20:40

New Portland district map options finalized

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/19

For more than a hundred years, all the members of Portland's city council have been elected city-wide. That's about to change after voters passed a major overhaul to the city charter last November. The volunteer Independent District Commission has released three maps depicting different options for how the districts could be drawn. We talk to Josh Laurente and DaWayne Judd, co-chairs of the Independent District Commission, about their proposed maps for how to divide the city

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17:15

Federal and local agencies work with citizen...

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/19

Portland area counties are joining together to work on a regional heat map. The data will be collected by volunteers, and public health officials hope that the information can help better prepare the region for hotter summers. In a typical year in Portland, no heat related deaths are reported. In 2021, after the record-breaking heat dome, at least 69 deaths resulted from extreme heat in the last week of June, according to Multnomah County. Summers in Oregon are heating up, and

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18:31

Portland emergency dispatcher honored as best in...

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/18

The system for dispatching emergency services is itself in need of help. The Portland Bureau of Emergency Communications has been struggling for many years to get its hold times down. It has hired more dispatchers, and is now using a system of automatic call backs to numbers that hang up. It’s also implemented as an automated answering system for non-emergency calls. Given the challenges, it might come as a surprise to learn that the award for best dispatcher in North

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14:50

Federal judge finds Oregon gun safety measure...

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/18

Measure 114, Oregon’s voter-passed law to regulate firearms, has yet to go into effect because of multiple court challenges. Measure 114 bans future purchases of magazines that can carry more than 10 rounds of ammunition. It also requires those wishing to buy a firearm to get a permit first. Permits will require applicants to complete a safety class and a federal background check.Last Friday, a federal judge ruled that the measure’s ban on the sale or manufacture of

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19:21

Archaeological finds suggest human habitation in...

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/18

Oregon archaeologists have found evidence of human occupation in the state that dates back more than 18,000 years. University of Oregon students and faculty working at the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter in Harney County found stone tools and fragments of camel and bison teeth beneath a 15,000-year-old layer of volcanic ash. Radiocarbon dating of the tooth enamel revealed that the fragments were 18,250 years old. Due to their position in the ash, the tools are thought to be even older

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20:47

Oregon facing threats from invasive vine mealybugs

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/17

The invasive vine mealybug was found in Southern Oregon in 2021 and since then, vineyards have been fighting to eradicate the insect. The pest can cause significant damage to Oregon’s grape vines, affecting fruit quality and mold growth. State funding from SB 5506 will invest more than $400,000 to monitor, research and suppress the insect before it becomes widespread in the state. Brian Gruber is the president of the Oregon Winegrowers Association. Greg Jones is the vice

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20:54

Climate change is making mass seabird die-offs more...

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/17

With its bright orange bill, white face and curling, yellow plumes, the tufted puffin is arguably the most recognizable seabird in Oregon. But scientists are now getting a clearer picture of how climate change is affecting the survival of tufted puffins and other seabirds. A new study from the University of Washington found that persistent heat waves in the marine environment linked to climate change are leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of seabirds several months

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10:40

Sweet Home gets a paint job

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/17

Last weekend volunteers painted the old city hall building and a downtown restaurant in Sweet Home, Oregon. The small town pitched the idea to Miller Paint Company as a way to revitalize the downtown and convince drive-through tourists to stop and spend money. Like many small towns in Oregon, Sweet Home has been struggling to achieve economic viability after timber mills closed down and COVID hit. City manager Kelcey Young joins us to talk about why she thinks this new paint job

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52:13

Nicole Chung’s “A Living Remedy” tackles grief,...

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/12

Author Nicole Chung was born to Korean immigrants in Seattle and later adopted by a white couple in Southern Oregon. The 2018 memoir “All You Can Ever Know” follows Chung’s exploration of her identity as a transracial adoptee as she searches for her birth family. Her second memoir, released earlier this month, covers the untimely deaths of her adoptive parents — first her father from kidney disease, then her mother from cancer in the early days of the

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52:14

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón on “The Hurting Kind”

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/12

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 talk to Limón, the poet laureate of the United States, before an audience at the Literary Arts space in downtown Portland.

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19:35

Why Oregon is seeing a shortage of driving instructors

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/12

School is out for summer vacation, but some Oregonians are still in the classroom taking a driver’s education course. At the same time, the state is currently seeing a shortage of people who can actually teach the course. Michelle Godfrey is the public information officer for the Oregon Department of Transportation. Nancy Haase is the program manager for the High Desert Driver Education Program. They both join us to share some of the reasons behind the Driver’s Ed

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20:34

Oregon to receive nearly $700 million for broadband...

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/12

Oregon will receive a whopping $688 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to help provide broadband in areas of the state that lack high-speed connection. The funding is part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. Oregon’s Broadband Office will craft a five-year action plan and has been holding community meetings across the state to hear what Oregonians are experiencing in terms of internet access. Nick Bats is the director of the

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12:39

Salem City Council approves payroll tax to fund...

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/12

After hours of public testimony, Salem City Council voted to approve a payroll tax to help fund police, fire and homelessness services. The ordinance passed by a single vote, taxing wages for anyone who works in Salem, regardless of their home address. The policy could go into effect as early as next summer. Chris Hoy is the mayor of Salem. He joins us to share why this tax is needed and how it will work going forward.

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12:38

Oregon could glean lessons from Colorado River...

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/11

In the Klamath Basin, many different interests have struggled to get the water they need. Meanwhile, Colorado River users have agreed to use less water as supply has dwindled over time. As water users across the West continue to face uncertainty over water levels, how can stakeholders compromise on limited resources? Adell Amos is a Clayton R. Hess Professor of Law and the Executive Director for the Environment Initiative at the University of Oregon. She joins us to explain what

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21:32

How Oregon is approaching wildfire planning

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/11

Oregon lawmakers recently passed legislation advancing wildfire programs in the state. And nearly a year after a draft wildfire map was withdrawn, the proposal gives the Oregon Department of Forestry and Oregon State University another chance at outlining hazards. Mariana Ruiz-Temple is the state fire marshal. Chris Dunn is an assistant professor in wildfire risk science at Oregon State University and will continue work on the state’s wildfire map. Mike Shaw is the fire

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18:31

Southern Oregon town buys surrounding forest to...

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/11

Butte Falls is a small town in southern Oregon, about an hour northeast of Medford. The 400 or so residents there are surrounded by a ring of what was until recently privately owned forest. But a decades-long effort to buy and manage the land itself has finally come to fruition, with the help of state, federal and private funding - and too many agencies and elected officials to list. As reported by Inside Climate News and Columbia Insight, Butte Falls will be making forest

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17:09

Longboard skate team ends national relay ride in Oregon

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/10

On June 20, four skateboarders gathered together to ride from Virginia to Oregon. They began the journey in Williamsburg, and on Friday, the group arrived in Newport and dipped their boards into the Pacific Ocean. The team set out to break the record for the fastest skateboarding relay across the U.S. The trip clocked in at 17 days and six hours. Andrew Andras, Rick Stubblefield and Paul Kent were part of the relay. They join us with details of the trek.

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21:38

Quarantine in Washington County aims to limit spread...

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/10

Last summer, an invasive and highly destructive forest pest was first spotted in Oregon at an elementary school in Forest Grove. Oregon is the first state on the West Coast and the 36th in the nation where the emerald ash borer has been detected. The small, shiny green beetle is native to Asia and has killed over a hundred million ash trees nationwide since its arrival in the U.S. roughly 20 years ago. In June, the Oregon Department of Agriculture reinstated a temporary

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13:55

Washington youth soccer league mirrors alleged abuse...

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/10

A new investigation from Washington news outlet KNKX has found that allegations of a culture of sexism, racism, and abuse at a premier youth soccer club mirror the behavior alleged at the professional level. The investigation found allegations of racial and sexual harassment, player endangerment and inappropriate touching of underage players at one of Washington’s premiere youth leagues. Reporter Grace Madigan joins us to talk about what they found.

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14:51

How hot, dry conditions are affecting Oregon farmers...

Think Out Loud ·

2023/07/07

Cooler temperatures have brought some relief to the Willamette Valley and a large swath of Western Oregon which were under heat advisories from the National Weather Service earlier this week. The hot, dry conditions coincided with three straight days of the hottest global temperatures ever recorded. Farmers and ranchers are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change as they contend with hotter and drier weather conditions, particularly during the summer months

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