Think Out Loud

Oregon and its child welfare system have been in and out of court since 2019, defending against a class action lawsuit on behalf of every child in foster care. The national advocacy group A Better Childhood and Disability Rights Oregon are pushing for adequate facilities and support and an end to the trauma they say kids suffer in state custody. Similar lawsuits have been brought in other states, including Tennessee, which implemented reforms following a settlement that resulted in improved outcomes for the children and youth in its care. A trial date is set for May in the Oregon case, and another round of settlement talks is scheduled for next week. We’ll get an update from the lead attorney in the case and the director of A Better Childhood, Marcia Robinson Lowry.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation is managing a budget shortfall of about $32 million. Meanwhile, traffic deaths in Portland remain high with about 68 deaths recorded for last year, according to PBOT’s preliminary data. We hear more from Millicent Williams, the director of PBOT, on the agency’s future and managing traffic safety in the city. 

Portland musician Jimmie Herrod has sung in many different kinds of venues for a variety of performances. He’s been a guest vocalist with Portland-based Pink Martini since 2017. He was a finalist on "America's Got Talent" in 2021, and his past shows include performances with numerous symphonies, including the Oregon Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra. But his upcoming show with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony is a unique performance. The program consists of orchestral arrangements done in collaboration with youth composers for six of his original songs: Are You Lonely, Beautiful, I Love You, I Want To Run, Mouche, and Willow Bed. MYS trombone player and composer Elaina Stuppler arranged I Love You with only a rough recording Herrod made for her on his phone. Music Director Raúl Gómez-Rojas facilitated the unique project, which will be performed on Tuesday, Jan. 9 at the Newmark Theatre in Portland. He joins us in studio, along with Herrod and Stuppler, to talk about the creative process and bring us a sneak peak of the show.

Ben Hoffman is the first Oregon doctor to serve as president of the American Academy of Pediatrics in 84 years. A professor of pediatrics at Oregon Health & Science University, Hoffman has worked to promote injury prevention policies and advocacy training for pediatric residents. He joins us in studio to talk about his new role and what he sees as the biggest issues in children’s health care nationwide.

A fire ripped through the Portland Mercado food court early Wednesday morning. Vendors there are currently closed so that the damage can be fully assessed. The location has been a hub for Latino communities and featured food from countries including Mexico and Columbia. Hacienda Community Development Corporation owns the space. Ernesto Fonseca is the CEO of the organization. He joins us with details of the fire and what this means for the future of the Mercado.  

Efforts to remove former president Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot are under way in multiple states, including in Oregon. The challenges rest on an obscure clause of the 14th Amendment that prohibits anyone who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding federal office. It’s unclear whether the clause applies to the presidency, but groups in Colorado and Maine successfully argued that Trump’s actions after the 2020 election disqualify him from running for office. Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade has said she doesn’t have the authority to bar Trump from the primary ballot. But the Oregon Supreme Court is expected to rule in the coming weeks on a suit that seeks to oust him from the 2024 contest. Norman Williams is a professor at Willamette University who teaches election and constitutional law. He’s been following the litigation in Oregon and elsewhere, and joins us to talk about the details. 

Over $3.6 million in federal funding will be given to the City of Salem and Umatilla and Clackamas Counties to improve street safety. The money will be used to develop and update road safety plans. Joseph Marek is the traffic safety program manager for Clackamas County. Treven Upkes is the deputy chief of the field operations division for the Salem Police Department. They join us to discuss what traffic safety looks like in their community and how they plan to use these new funds.

The local alt weekly in Eugene has been publishing community and regional news since 1982. It’s no purple prose to say that many readers consider Eugene Weekly to be an institution. So when editor Camilla Mortensen put out a letter explaining that the paper had suffered a huge blow from alleged theft and mismanagement by a longtime employee, the community responded with offers of help and donations of cold hard cash. Law enforcement are investigating, and Mortensen says the Eugene police chief personally assured her he is overseeing the case. Some details are under wraps because of the investigation, but Mortensen joins us to discuss the situation and what the paper hopes can be a way forward.

Where the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean meet the shallower waters of the Columbia River, the waves, the wind and the current combine to make what is often a very hazardous situation. More than 2,000 vessels and 700 lives have been lost at the Columbia Bar, and many more in the surrounding area, known as ‘The Graveyard of the Pacific.’ Christopher D’Amelio is one of a select few people who have qualified as surfmen for the U.S. Coastguard. Surfmen pilot rescue boats over sometimes huge waves and help keep boaters safe. D’Amelio’s book about his time on the Columbia is called “Life and Death at Cape Disappointment.”

Last month, the Biden administration announced an agreement with four Northwest tribes, the states of Oregon and Washington, and environmental groups around the waterways of the Columbia River Basin. As a part of the agreement, the Federal Government commits to fund salmon restoration projects, build clean energy generation for the tribes and clear the pathway for the possible eventual removal of the four Lower Snake River dams. We talk to Nez Perce Tribal Chairman Shannon Wheeler, who is party to the agreement, and Kurt Miller, executive director of the Northwest Public Power Association, who wrote a letter objecting to the agreement.