Think Out Loud

An event in Pendleton this weekend will honor the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, also known as the Triple Nickles. Formed during WWII, the unit was the first all-Black paratrooper battalion in the U.S. military. The Nickles were stationed in Pendleton as part of Operation Firefly, a top-secret effort to intercept and disarm Japanese balloon bombs that were floated over the Pacific. The unit fought the wildfires caused by the balloons as some of the nation’s earliest smokejumpers, all while facing discrimination as service members and civilians. Jordan Bednarz is the event coordinator and recruiting and retention director for the veterans support nonprofit All Airborne Battalion. Robert Bartlett is a retired educator from Eastern Washington who produced a documentary on the Triple Nickles. They join us to share more about the battalion’s history and its legacy.

The Meating Place is a butcher shop and cafe located in Hillsboro. It recently received a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand its meat processing capabilities.   In 2022, the shop received a grant from the Oregon Department of Agriculture as part of a state meat inspection program. Processing meat in Oregon can help producers save time and money. The Meating Place will use the latest round of federal funding to ramp up those services.   We check in with Casey Miller, the owner of The Meating Place to learn more about meat processing and what this means for Oregon’s economy.  

The City of Eugene helps run several types of homeless shelters and services along with Lane County and other partners. The city has cobbled together funds to keep them running until June 2025. After that, the city will have to figure out how to keep some services going that currently rely on one-time funds. Meanwhile, Eugene has already made budget cuts to some services, like its libraries, to prioritize other emergency needs. We learn more about Eugene’s approach to funding homeless services with Kelly McIver, a communications manager for the city. 

LONG SYNOPSIS:  Last month, the girls and boys basketball teams at Crane Union High School in Eastern Oregon won state championship titles at the Oregon School Activities Association 1A tournament in Baker City.  The smallest schools in the state compete in this division, including Crane, which is located in Harney County and currently has 84 students. It’s the third consecutive state title for the boys basketball team, and the fourth state title in the past five years for the girls team which ended their season undefeated. Joining us to talk about Crane’s dominance in the sport are  Eric Nichols, the boys basketball coach and principal of Crane Union High School, and Kortney Doman and Kaitlyn Siegner, co-captains of the girls basketball team. 

Data released by the Oregon Department of Education in the fall showed that student proficiency rates for mathematics dropped to about 30%. At the same time, investments championed by Gov. Tina Kotek will bring $100 million to schools to address literacy and early-learning reading. But should the same investments be made into other subjects like math? What needs to be done to help kids catch up? To answer these questions and more, we’re joined by Brenda Lindsay, the K-6 math facilitator for the Forest Grove School District. Allison Samuel is the 7-12th grade math facilitator there. We’ll also hear from Nicole Rigelman, a math education professor at Portland State University

Recent data from the Agricultural Census shows that while conventional farm animals like cows and chickens are doing fine, exotic animals are on the decline. As reported by the Washington Post, from 2002 to 2022 the number of Ostriches in the U.S. fell by 83%, while Llamas saw a similar decline at 79%. Michael Lehman is the president of the American Ostrich Association and co-owner of Central Oregon Ostrich. Ron Wilkinson is the president of the Central Oregon Llama Association and owner of R&G Acres. They both join us to share why they raise unconventional animals and share their thoughts on where the industry is headed.

After serving nearly 30 years in Congress, Democratic U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer announced last fall that he wouldn’t run for reelection. That leaves an open field for Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District primary this May. We’ll hear from the three most prominent candidates vying for the Democratic nomination: Maxine Dexter is a pulmonologist who represented Northwest Portland in the Oregon House of Representatives; Susheela Jayapal formerly represented District 2 on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners; and Eddy Morales is a member of the Gresham City Council. They join us to share why they’re running and what they hope to accomplish if elected.

A federal district court judge ruled last week that St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Brookings can continue to serve free meals without restriction to people living on the streets. The church sued the city in 2022 over an ordinance that required a permit for meal services in residential zones and limited the number of days meals could be served to two days a week. Bernie Lindley, the Vicar of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, joins us to discuss the ruling.

Recently released agricultural census data showed the number of farmworkers in Washington has dropped dramatically over the last five years. At the same time, the number employed through the H-2A guest worker program has nearly doubled. We learn more from Seattle Times reporter Alison Saldanha about these contrasts and what they mean. 

The primaries are just around the corner, and Multnomah County residents will see a few names on the ballot for the District 2 county commissioner seat. We'll hear from the top three contenders: Sam Adams is a former mayor of the city of Portland and previously held a position within Mayor Wheeler’s office. Jessie Burke is the owner of the Society Hotel and board chair of the Old Town Community Association. Shannon Singleton is the former interim director of the Joint Office of Homeless Services and is a trained social worker. They join us to share why they’re running and what they want to accomplish if elected.