Think Out Loud

For the first time, the Oregon Department of State Lands has millions of dollars to remove abandoned and derelict vessels  from state waterways. The department previously had to request money from the Common School Fund for cleanups, but the state Legislature granted it $18.8 million in June to address the growing number of hazardous vessels. The funding will also be used to develop a statewide program to identify, prioritize and oversee vessel removals. Crews recently removed the Tiffany from the Columbia River near Rainier, Oregon. The 86-foot former fishing vessel is the first to be removed and deconstructed using the new funds. Chris Castelli is acting deputy director of operations at the Department of State Lands. Bob Dorn is the CEO of Hyak Maritime, which is housing the Tiffany as it’s deconstructed. They join us to talk about the new funding and what it takes to remove potentially hazardous vehicles from state waterways.

For many arts organizations in Portland and across the nation, recovery from the pandemic has been painfully slow or downright elusive. Lagging box office sales are forcing companies like the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Artists Repertory Theatre to layoff staff and cancel or scale back entire seasons. So it’s all the more surprising to see an arts venue in the region that has drawn more than 70,000 people since it opened last year for musical performances, art exhibits, community events and classes. The Patricia Reser Center for the Arts opened in March 2022 in downtown Beaverton and features a 550-seat theater, art gallery, outdoor plaza, meeting and rehearsal spaces. Executive director Chris Ayzoukian joins us to talk about the new season which launched last month and his hopes for the future amid uncertainty around arts funding and audience demand. 

Since our last conversation with Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Republicans lawmakers staged a historically long walkout, a state task force convened to address serious problems in Portland’s central city, and a coalition of prominent leaders have begun calling for an overhaul of Measure 110, Oregon's drug decriminalization law. We spent an hour in Salem with the governor to talk about all those things and more.

When Tom Swearingen wrote his first poem to remember a friend who had died, he didn’t consider himself a poet. But the small group of friends and family he read it to told him to keep writing. He did, and he says because he long enjoyed Western music, art and literature, including the cowboy poetry of Baxter Black, that was the style that fit. Within 10 years, Swearingen had published a collection of poetry which was named the 2020 Cowboy Poetry Book of the year by the International Western Music Association. The group also named him best male poet in 2019 and 2022. He also got Willamette Week’s nod in its “Best of” edition this year. Swearingen, like other cowboy poets, is particularly busy in the summer months with performances at rodeos and other events. We listen back to a conversation about his work and read some of his poetry.

Late this summer, Gov. Tina Kotek announced a new task force aimed at addressing the challenges of Portland’s downtown. City mayor Ted Wheeler told OPB last month that if Portland’s downtown fails, it could have consequences for the rest of the state. But what are downtowns facing in other parts of Oregon? Natascha Adams is the co-chair of the Independence Downtown Association. Jen Bell is the former co-president of Downtown Eugene Merchants. They both join us to share what’s working and what isn’t in their communities.

A north Portland low-income apartment complex that opened in the summer of 2020 was meant to be a way to help some people out of homelessness.  Now, three years later tenants are citing filthy conditions, assault and thefts. While some have stayed, others have fled and returned to shelters. Courtney Vaughn is the News Editor for the Portland Mercury. She joins us to share more on the habitability issues of the complex.

Julie Brown is an English and humanities instructor at Clatsop Community College in Astoria. One of the most popular courses she teaches is on maritime culture, which takes students out of the classroom and onto the decks of ships to see firsthand what life is like working as a bar pilot on the Columbia River or as a deckhand on the Lady Washington, an exact replica of an 18th-century, 90-foot-tall ship that was the first recorded vessel to sail to the Oregon coast. Eight years ago, a former student encouraged Brown to train to work as a deckhand aboard the Lady Washington, which she did for two years, traveling from British Columbia to San Diego, while juggling her teaching duties. The Astorian recently previewed a lecture Brown gave to a packed audience on how cultures as diverse as Vikings and Chinook Indians used boats to bury their dead at sea or on land. Brown joins us to talk about these ancient practices, and how her love for writing, literature and maritime history has taken her from the halls of Oxford to the bars of Astoria.   

Washington County Animal Services recently won the 2023 Animal Control Agency of the Year award from the National Animal Care & Control Association. Randy Covey manages the Hillsboro organization and the Bonnie Hays Animal Shelter. He also won a Lifetime Contribution Award from the Oregon Animal Control Council earlier this year.  We hear more from Covey about the county’s work and how the animal control industry has changed over the years. 

Enhanced rock weathering is a method that uses crushed volcanic rock to improve soil health. Ann Leslie Davis is a freelance science writer and recently covered the issue for Modern Farmer. We hear more from Davis about her reporting, how volcanic rock dust can help overworked soil and how farmers feel about using the method.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is updating its rules around how and when visitors may be excluded from state parks. A committee of lawyers, mental health professionals and park staff has been developing the update over the last few months. The updated rules specify that any behavior that endangers the safety of visitors, staff or park resources qualifies for an exclusion. They also lay out how long a visitor may be excluded based on those behaviors and the appeals process for visitors who feel they’ve been unfairly excluded. Public comment on the update is now open and will close Nov. 3.  Chris Havel is the deputy director and a spokesperson for the OPRD. He joins us with more details on the proposed update.