Think Out Loud

Only five states in the U.S. require sex education to be made accessible to people with disabilities. Oregon has no such requirements, but a partnership between Oregon Health Authority, Oregon Department of Education, the University of Alaska Anchorage and Oregon Health and Science University aim to fill this gap though a program for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Friendships and Dating Program provides participants the skills to promote healthy relationships and sexual health in their communities. Lindsay Sauvé is the program and evaluation manager with the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at OHSU.  Morrigan Hunter is a community research liaison with the center. They both join us to discuss the impact this program is having and what it takes to make sex education more accessible. 

It’s been about two weeks since war broke out in Israel and Gaza. Though thousands of miles away, the war and subsequent humanitarian crisis in the Middle East has taken an emotional, mental and personal toll on many Oregonians. An event in Wilsonville this weekend brought together medical and mental health professionals to help community members develop coping mechanisms for the stress and find support through fellow community members. Farah Ramchandani organized the event and Selma Quan Anderson participated in her capacity as a registered nurse. They join us to talk about the importance of creating space for community members to process their feelings.

A recently released audit took aim at the operation of Metro’s two solid waste transfer stations. Located in Northwest Portland and Oregon City, the facilities process about 40% of the garbage generated by 1.7 million customers in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington County. They also accept hazardous household items like paint thinner, batteries and used propane tanks.  Willamette Week earlier reported on the audit which found “gaps” and “weaknesses” that reveal a “lack of basic management practices” and raise concerns around safety and financial risks for the agency. For example, only 3% of employees at the transfer stations completed annual radiation safety training, and fewer than half completed asbestos awareness training. The audit also found overpayment to a contractor supplying diesel for Metro’s garbage trucks. Joining us is Metro Auditor Brian Evans to talk about the audit and recommendations it made to Metro officials.

The Refindery in the tiny coastal town of Wheeler is not your typical thrift store. For one thing, you won’t find secondhand clothes for sale. But if you’re looking for a 1986 wall calendar, a used door hinge that still works or that missing piece for a Monopoly board game, you might be in luck. The Refindery invites visitors to reimagine and repurpose items otherwise destined for the landfill, like the glass fish and salvaged seashells mounted inside a vintage television displayed in the store. It also hosts a monthly event where community members can bring in broken vacuum cleaners, lamps and other objects for repair by a team of volunteers. The Refindery and the Repair Café are operated by Heart of Cartm, a nonprofit formed in 2021, which grew out of  a volunteer-run recycle transfer center started in Manzanita three decades ago. Jessi Just, the executive director of Heart of Cartm, joins us to talk about her organization which was recently profiled in Oregon ArtsWatch, and its ongoing work to reduce and reimagine waste on Oregon’s North Coast.

Since 2017, Bruce Poinsette has helped lead a neighborhood effort to interrupt racism in Lake Oswego. The group is called Respond to Racism and holds regular community meetings to engage people in conversations and anti-racism action. Poinsette recently launched a new online interview series talking to people of color who have left the “bubble” of LO. He joins us to share his own experience in the bubble, Respond to Racism’s work more broadly, and what he’s hoping to accomplish with the latest video series.

Oregon’s Warmline is a hotline people can call to get support and talk through issues with a peer. For the second quarter of 2023, the service received over 20,000 calls across the state, a more than 40% increase in demand compared to last year. But while need for the service is there, a state grant is expected to expire in the spring, throwing the future of the program into question. Kimberly Lindsay is the executive director of Community Counseling Services, the nonprofit that operates the line. She joins us to share what demand has been like for the warmline and the options the organization is considering to keep the service going.

The new Oregon Children’s Theatre play “SPIDER” centers around teens struggling with the numbing effects of social media, normalized gun violence and the interplay of online reality and real life. Playwright Madeleine Adriance graduated from St. Mary’s Academy in Portland in 2019 and is currently a senior at Brown University. She took a semester off to assist with the production of the play OCT commissioned her to write.  Adriance got involved in the organization when she was just 8 years old and took her first playwriting class when she was a freshman in high school. “SPIDER” opens Friday and runs through November 5. Adriance joins us to discuss the play and the importance of talking about what she calls the “ever-present specter of gun violence” young people live with.

The Portland State University Bike Hub started an e-bike rental program this year. The rentals were established through a Drive Change Fund award from Portland General Electric which emphasizes electrifying transportation in Oregon. The goal of the program is to help students who live further from campus reduce car trips and their transportation costs.  Daniel Penner is the Bike Hub supervisor and Claire Hinkley is a second year grad student at PSU.  We learn more from them about the program and how it’s helping students get to campus. 

The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a heavy blow to Oregon’s farmers markets. According to the Oregon Farmers Market Association, visitor numbers and sales both dropped by nearly 50% between 2019 and 2020. But as reported in the Capital Press, the association’s most recent survey shows an estimated 3.5 million visits to farmers markets in 2022. That’s down from 4.2 million in 2019, but an improvement from the 2020 low of 2.2 million.   Ashley Hess is the executive director of the Oregon Farmers Market Association. She joins us with more details on how markets across the state are bouncing back.

This Friday, people will start lining up at the High Desert Museum for an annual art show that can feel more like a Black Friday sale. But instead of a mad dash to score a new 4K TV, the customers here will be jostling past each other to grab canvases of original artwork off the wall, each one priced at just $20. Now in its tenth year, the 20-Dollar Art Show features more than 4,000 handmade pieces of art submitted by 165 artists this year. If a work sells, 100% of the money goes to the artist, according to Stuart Breidenstein, an artist and the co-founder of the 20-Dollar Art Show and Bright Place Gallery in Bend. Oregon ArtsWatch profiled the show before tickets for the opening night event, which are now sold out, went on sale. Breidenstein and Kait Kenobi, an artist and branding consultant in Bend, join us to talk about this unique event and its enduring appeal for artists and the community in Central Oregon.