Think Out Loud

In 2022, Oregon voters cast ballots for the first time in a newly created congressional district the state was awarded after the 2020 U.S. Census. The 6th Congressional District stretches from suburbs southwest of Portland to Salem, and includes all of Yamhill and Polk counties, as well as portions of Marion, Washington and Clackamas counties.   We hear from two prominent candidates in the Republican primary vying for a chance to flip the seat in the fall. Mike Erickson is the founder and CEO of AFMS, a supply chain and logistics consulting firm based in Tigard. He narrowly lost to Democrat Andrea Salinas in 2022 after winning the GOP primary that May. David Russ, the mayor of Dundee in Yamhill County, is challenging Erickson once again in this year’s GOP primary race. Russ and Erickson join us for a debate to talk about their competing visions.  

 Last week, crude oil started flowing through a newly expanded pipeline that stretches more than 600 miles from the tar sands of Canada’s Alberta province to an export terminal near Vancouver in British Columbia. The Canadian government spent $25 billion and more than four years to complete construction on the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion which will triple its capacity to ship nearly a million barrels of oil a day. But the project has also raised concerns about the threat of oil spills south of the border, and the harm to endangered marine mammals from increasing tanker activity moving through the Salish Sea to customers in Asia. Tom Banse, OPB’s former Olympia correspondent, joins us to share his recent reporting on this story.  

School districts all over Oregon are struggling to find the money to fund vital services with declining budgets. Many of those districts are making cuts to library staff, which librarians say has a direct result on educational outcomes for students. They also say these cuts are also in direct opposition to the educational goals districts say they’re committed to —  providing tutoring, research help and safe spaces for students experiencing bullying or isolation. Joining us to talk more about these issues are Ayn Reye Frazee, president of the Oregon Association of School Libraries and Franklin High School teacher librarian, and Jean Gritter, OASL advocacy chair and teacher librarian at West Albany High School.

Students across the country, including in Oregon, have escalated their protests in recent weeks of Israel’s war in Gaza. Many of the student protesters have been calling for their colleges and universities to divest from companies that do business with Israel. Similar calls were made in the 1970s and 80s as part of the effort to end apartheid in South Africa. But how effective have those divestment campaigns been in affecting change? And how realistic is it for educational institutions to modify complex financial portfolios to end investments in specific companies?   Joining us to answer those questions and add some historical context is David S. Meyer, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine, and the author of “How Social Movements (Sometimes) Matter.”

More than 200 species of wildlife call the Owyhee Canyonlands home. The dramatic landscape stretches across southeastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho, and is the ancestral homeland of several Indigenous tribes. While much of the region is currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management, advocates have championed for broader protections like a national monument or a wilderness designation. Kylie Mohr is a freelance journalist and correspondent for High Country News. She recently wrote about the proposals for the magazine and joins us with details.

Nearly a quarter of K-12 teachers in the U.S. reported going into a gun-related lockdown last year, according to new data from the Pew Research Center. Researchers also found that most teachers experience some degree of worry about the possibility of a school shooter. How does gun violence look like right now in Oregon schools, and what are districts doing to address threats and concerns? Andrea Castañeda is the superintendent for the Salem-Keizer School District. Mark Mulvihil is the superintendent for the InterMountain Service District, which serves Baker, Union, Morrow and Umatilla counties. They join us to answer these questions and more.

Earlier this year, Gov. Tina Kotek, Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler declared a 90-day state of emergency to address what has become widely seen as a fentanyl crisis in downtown Portland. The idea was to bring more coordination and resources to bear on the crisis that is claiming lives through fatal drug overdoses and draining the resources of law enforcement, first responders, public health and medical professionals. The 90-day period ended April 29, and the official report on the progress that was made was released today. We talk with Multnomah County Health Officer Dr. Richard Bruno to get the details.  

Hearing loops are an assistive listening device that can significantly reduce background noise for hearing aid users. The device is relatively simple: a loop of copper wire encircles a desk, room or entire building, creating a magnetic field. People within that field can activate a particular setting on their hearing aids that allows sound from a microphone to be transmitted directly into their ear. Hearing loops are still gaining traction in the U.S., but the city of Eugene has looped nearly 60 locations, from hotel front desks to entire performance halls. As reported in KLCC, Travel Lane County was recently recognized by the Hearing Loss Association of America for its work to install hearing loops across the county. Andy Vobora is the vice president of stakeholder relations at Travel Lane County. Ginevra Ralph and Sue Prichard are the co-chairs of the advocacy group Loop Oregon. They join us to talk about looping, its implementation in the county and the difference it makes for people who are hard of hearing.

Oregon Business and Industry, a business advocacy group, recently released the 2024 Oregon Competitiveness Book. The report is the first of a yearly look at how Oregon compares to other states as a place to do business. Angela Wilhelms, the president and CEO of OBI, joins us to reflect on the data compiled in this report.

Reporters with the Portland State University Vanguard have been on the ground as protesters have taken over the Branford Price Millar Library. The university closed campus on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday morning, Portland Police began to clear protesters from the building. [Does the campus remain closed?] Student journalists have provided updates on Instagram throughout the occupation. Kat Leon, editor-in-chief of the Vanguard, joins us with updates on the story, and to reflect on the role of student journalists in situations like this.