Think Out Loud

Water has been drawn down from reservoirs on the Klamath River as the largest dam removal effort in U.S. history continues. It’s a critical step before the removal of three remaining hydroelectric dams on the river. We check in on the process with Barry McCovey Jr., the Fisheries Department director for the Yurok Tribe.

Pale Blue Wave, an Instagram profile with more than 80,000 followers, highlights impromptu photos and video portraits of strangers around Portland, mainly taken in downtown. The photographer who created the Pale Blue Wave account says he appreciates the style of the residents he sees walking around. In the videos, some Portlanders appear surprised and flattered to be noticed on their commutes going about their day. The interactions and on-the-spot photo shoots take place quickly, typically lasting 10 minutes or less. We hear more from Ryan, the photographer behind Pale Blue Wave, about his project. Editor's note: We are only using Ryan's first name to protect his privacy.

Earlier this month, scientists described what they believe to be the world’s first fossil of prehistoric grasshopper eggs. The silver dollar-sized fossil containing more than 50 grasshopper eggs was first found in 2012 at the Sheep Rock Unit at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Eastern Oregon. For several years, the fossil was mistakenly thought to be of ant eggs until Nick Famoso, a paleontologist hired at the monument in 2016, had doubts about their origin. The specimen was sent to the University of Oregon where CT scans helped reveal tell-tale clues about its structure that confirmed it was a grasshopper that laid them nearly 30 million years ago in a forested, temperate landscape very different from its place of discovery today. Famoso is the paleontology program manager and curator at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. He joins us to talk about the significance of this fossil find and the name he helped give it to pay tribute to the first superintendent of the John Day national monument.

The Woodland East Mobile Home Park is a community of residents 55-and-older, located in Southwest Washington, roughly 20 miles north of Vancouver. The Columbian recently reported on the plight of the many seniors who live there and struggle to pay $1050 per month to rent a lot, in addition to their mortgages, utilities and other expenses. The tenants claim the landlord has raised their rent by 250% since he purchased Woodland East in 2017, and have filed more than 100 complaints against him with the Washington Attorney General’s office.   But now the tenants are facing their biggest hurdle. They received notice last fall the community was up for sale and have until Jan. 24 to raise $33 million to buy the mobile home park themselves, although the property may already be under contract. Alexis Weisend and Mia Ryder-Marks cover affordable housing and homelessness at The Columbian. They join us to talk about their reporting, and how a new law intended to protect mobile home tenants can still leave them vulnerable to rent increases and eviction.

In November, the Oregon Health Authority began offering all middle and high schools in the state free kits containing naloxone, a medication used to reverse overdoses from opioids, including fentanyl. Fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl have been linked to accidental overdose deaths among multiple teens in Oregon. Amid this backdrop, a new investigative series from The Lund Report, University of Oregon's Catalyst Journalism Project  and OPB takes a look at what drug prevention messaging looks like in Oregon’s school districts. The investigation revealed that what students are being taught varies widely, and that many school districts don’t use programs backed by evidence that they are effective at delaying or preventing substance use.  Emily Green is the managing editor of The Lund Report and the lead reporter on the series. She and Amelia Templeton, OPB’s health reporter, join us to talk about what they heard from district officials, educators and high school students around addiction prevention education in Oregon.

Veneta, Oregon in Lane County, bills itself as a “quiet, small-town community” with access to both natural areas and the amenities of the Eugene metro area. It’s the kind of place where neighbors help neighbors, as evidenced by the recent activity on the Veneta Community Network Facebook page. During last week’s winter storms, the message board was full of posts from community members offering to help tow stuck cars, bring food to families who were snowed in, and clear downed trees from roads and driveways. Stacy Thompson is the admin of the page. She joins us to talk about how the community pulls together in times of crisis and what others might learn from Veneta’s example.

Early results show that residents in John Day have voted to recall their mayor just a year after she took office. A group of citizens and city employees moved to begin the recall process after filing a criminal complaint against Mayor Heather Rookstool last fall. Both the complaint and the recall petition allege that Rookstool overstepped the legal role of her office by taking on duties belonging to the city manager. The recall went to a vote this month after Rookstool refused to resign in December.  Antonio Sierra is OPB’s rural communities reporter. He joins us with more details on the recall effort and what comes next for the city.

Oregon has had the same blue and gold state flag for nearly 100 years. The state’s name, coat of arms and year of statehood are on one side, but it’s the other side that features the golden beaver that makes it unique — it’s the only state flag with two sides and one of the only double-sided flags in the world. The Redmond Spokesman recently ran an editorial pointing out that some of the images that make up the state seal on the flag might be due for a makeover. It also questioned the need for the words “State of Oregon,” likening that choice to having a bumper sticker with the word “car” on it. We discuss the pros and cons of the Oregon flag with the author, managing editor of the Redmond Spokesman, Tim Trainor, and one of the current state flag’s most ardent supporters, retired Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney.

Seven out of every 10 adults in the Oregon Department of Corrections have abused drugs or alcohol, and 1 out of 5 are classified as having severe mental health issues. People who are released from custody are 10 times more likely overdose on opioids than the general public. These are among the many challenges facing the new director of the Department of Corrections, Mike Reese, who took over the job late last year. Reese joins us to talk about his philosophy for managing the department. 

Most people are familiar with the classic game of telephone where one person whispers a phrase to someone else seated next to them and that person then whispers what they heard to the next person, and so on. The game continues until the last person shares aloud what they heard, often bearing little resemblance to the original message.  Oregon ArtsWatch recently profiled an exhibit that opened in Lincoln City this month that showcases what happens when a group of local artists is invited to play telephone. But instead of a phrase that’s whispered, here the prompt came in the form of two photographs, including one of the Oregon coast taken at sunset. Each of the participating artists had only the work that preceded them for inspiration to interpret visual details, colors or objects they saw or imagined, and chose to pass on in their rendering for the next artist. The result is 18 works in a variety of different media, from watercolors to sculpture, fiber art to spray paint, some bearing little resemblance to the work that came before it. Krista Eddy is the visual arts director at the Lincoln City Cultural Center and the creator of the exhibit. She and Sam Jacobson, a featured artist based in Cascade Head, join us to talk about “The Telephone Game Group Invitational” which is on display until Feb. 11 at the Chessman Gallery at LCCC.