Think Out Loud

Ann Patchett’s novel "Tom Lake," is set during the pandemic, but it is also set in the past. The main character, a mother of three adult daughters, tells her children the story of her own youthful romance with a man who is now a famous movie star. The story is told over long days picking cherries on their family farm, where everyone has gathered together for the lockdown. Though the central story revolves around the mercurial movie star, the real focus of the book is the relationship between mothers and daughters, the lives that parents led before they were parents, and what the stories of our past tell us about ourselves. We talked to Ann Patchett in August, 2023.

Doctor Carlos Sanchez has an unusual and challenging caseload of patients. For one thing, they have scales, feathers, horns and fur, and can’t really say where it hurts. But it’s his job to oversee the medical care and treatment of more than a thousand animals as the head veterinarian at Portland’s Oregon Zoo. In our latest installment in our series on professions, we accompany Dr. Sanchez as he makes his daily rounds to check up on some of his favorite patients. He shares with us the special bond he has with them, the invaluable role zoo keepers play in their wellbeing and the fateful encounter he had as a young boy in Mexico City that would forever change his life

For the fourth year in a row, nonprofit theater Kickstand Comedy is hosting a series of free stand-up comedy nights in Portland’s Laurelhurst Park Friday evenings for the entire summer. The first outdoor event was held by necessity in the pandemic and began with a small crowd of less than 100 people. But word has spread, and as pandemic has subsided, crowds have grown and shows now typically draw around 3,000 or more. Since it began 10 years ago, the theater has offered a broad array of classes, including improv, sketch comedy and stand up. We’ll get a preview of the upcoming shows from Dylan Reiff, co-founder and artistic director of Kickstand Comedy and Julia Corral, a comic, teacher and one the co-hosts of the series.

There are roughly 500 Southern Baptist churches in the Pacific Northwest, accounting for more than 44,000 members. At its annual meeting last month, the Southern Baptist Convention considered an amendment to ban women from being pastors. It ultimately didn’t meet the two-thirds majority it needed to pass, but it still had support from more than 60% of delegates. At the same meeting, delegates passed a resolution opposing the use of in vitro fertilization. Susan Shaw is an ordained Southern Baptist pastor and a professor of women, gender and sexuality studies at Oregon State University. She joins us to talk more about these changes and the role of women in the church.

On Thursday morning, a semi-truck hauling an excavator caused severe damage to the Hood River-White Salmon bridge when an excavator it was hauling struck the lift span above the traffic lanes. The Port of Hood River immediately closed the nearly mile-long bridge spanning the Columbia River until “further notice.” No  injuries were reported at the time of the accident. Engineering crews are continuing to assess the damage to the 100-year-old bridge and will provide an update about its status after a meeting scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, according to Kevin Greenwood, director of the Port of Hood River. Officials have advised motorists to find alternative routes, including The Bridge of the Gods in Cascade Locks and The Dalles Bridge. Greenwood joins us to talk about the latest developments, along with White Salmon Mayor Marla Keethler, who shares the impact of the closure on residents in the Columbia Gorge. 

In April, United States Supreme Court Justices heard arguments in one of the most widely watched cases out of Oregon in recent memory. The question at the heart of Grants Pass v Johnson was whether cities can regulate where and when people can sleep outside, especially if there isn’t shelter space available.  The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had held that the city’s ordinance was in violation of the basic principle established in Martin v. Boise from 2018: “A person cannot be prosecuted for involuntary conduct if it is an unavoidable consequence of one’s status.” But on Friday the Supreme Court issued its ruling siding with Grants Pass, saying that it is not cruel or unusual punishment to penalize people from living outdoors even if they have nowhere else to go.  We get reaction and analysis from Grants Pass Mayor Sara Bristol and Sara Rankin, associate professor at Seattle University School of Law and the director of the Homeless Rights Advocacy Project. 

A population of gray whales that feed off the Oregon coast have been shrinking in size over the last 20 years. New research from Oregon State University shows that whales born in 2020 grew to be more than 13% shorter than whales born before 2000. The shrinkage could bring significant reproductive health challenges for the whales, and could also be a warning sign about the health of the broader ecosystem. K.C. Bierlich is an assistant professor of senior research at OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute. He joins us with more details.

Oregon’s foster care class action lawsuit against the state's Department of Human Services was settled in May after five years. But the improvements to the foster care system agreed in the settlement couldn’t move forward until a “neutral” was chosen to oversee the system. This week the court picked outside expert Kevin Ryan to oversee the changes. He previously played a similar role in child welfare cases in Texas, Michigan and Oklahoma, and also served as New Jersey’s first State Child Advocate. We talk with Fariborz Pakseresht, director of the Oregon Department of Human Services and Aprille Flint-Gerner, director of Child Welfare. They discuss the settlement and what they think this will mean for foster children and youth in Oregon.

In November 2016, Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved Measure 98, also known as the High School Success fund. It provides targeted state funds in three core areas: dropout prevention, career and technical education and college readiness. High schools across the state can apply to access Measure 98 funds by developing individual plans on how those dollars will get used to boost graduation rates among students at risk for dropping out, for example, or provide CTE courses. Stand for Children, a nonprofit that helped write Measure 98 and campaigned for its passage, credits it with helping raise graduation rates, especially for students of color and from low-income households. OPB’s education reporters Liz Miller and Natalie Pate join us to share their recent reporting on Measure 98’s impact and its future. 

Hayward Field is once again hosting the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene which end on Sunday. The nation’s best sprinters, hurdlers, javelin throwers and more are competing for a shot to qualify for the summer games which kick off next month in Paris. Among those who’ve already punched their tickets is Ryan Crouser, an Oregonian and two-time gold medalist who finished first in the men’s shot put final on Saturday night. Also competing is fellow Oregonian Jaida Ross, a University of Oregon junior who was named the 2024 National Women’s Field Athlete of the Year earlier this month after she became the first collegiate woman to throw the shot put more than 20 meters. Joining us to discuss the key developments so far at Hayward Field is Sarah Lorge Butler, a contributing writer for Runner’s World who is based in Eugene.