Think Out Loud

”Magic mushroom” edibles sold at smoke shops and other retailers might be missing psilocybin but can contain undisclosed ingredients, according to a joint study published Thursday.    Oregon State University researchers collaborated on the analysis with Rose City Laboratories, a state-certified testing lab in Portland, and the manufacturer Shimadzu Scientific Instruments.   The edibles, including gummies and chocolates, contained caffeine and synthetic psychedelics. Richard van Breemen worked on the research and is a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at OSU.  “Syndelics represent a rapidly growing area of drug design, where medicinal chemists create novel compounds inspired by known psychedelic agents like psilocybin and LSD,” van Breemen said in a press release. He joins us with details of the study. 

Fifteen years after the arrest of Mohamed Mohamud, Portland writer Jamila Osman reflects on the aftermath of that time on the local Somali community in a new essay in Oregon Humanities. Osman grew up in the same tight knit community as the young man who would go on to press a button that he thought would blow up the Christmas tree at Pioneer Square. She joins us to discuss the essay.

Two Oregon restaurants appear on The New York Times’ annual list of the 50 best restaurants in the country. Yardy Rum Bar is a Caribbean restaurant in Eugene “celebrating the food and drinking culture of the West Indies using seasonal ingredients from the Northwest.” The Paper Bridge is a Northern Vietnamese restaurant in Portland specializing in house-made rice noodles and chili sauces.   Isaiah Martinez is the chef and co-owner of Yardy Rum Bar. Quynh Nguyen and Carlo Reinardy are the co-chefs and co-owners of The Paper Bridge. They all join us to talk about their respective cuisines and what being included on the list means to them.  

On Wednesday, the Oregon Department of Forestry announced that the emerald ash borer has now been found in the Hazelwood neighborhood in East Portland and five other new sites in the north Willamette Valley. In addition to Portland, the highly invasive and destructive beetle has now been found near other urban areas in the region, including Beaverton, Banks and Oregon City. The Oregon Department of Agriculture said that the discovery of EAB in Portland has now put all of Multnomah County into the EAB quarantine zone, which also includes Washington, Yamhill, Marion and Clackamas counties.     Native to Asia, EAB was first detected in Oregon in 2022 at an elementary school in Forest Grove. Considered to be the most destructive forest pest in North America, EAB has killed over 100 million ash trees nationwide since its arrival in the U.S. more than 20 years ago.  Joining us to discuss the spread of EAB and how the public can help efforts to contain it are Cody Holthouse, manager of ODA’s  Insect Pest Prevention and Management Program and City of Portland Forester Jenn Cairo.

Portland’s Time Based Art Festival brings performers from all over the world for 10 days of performances, exhibitions, music and movement. This year the Portland-based musician Erika M. Anderson, who has performed internationally under the name EMA, will present a piece of music, video and storytelling that she hopes will be like nothing audiences have seen before. We talk to Anderson about the piece and about the arc of her career from fronting punk bands in Montana to touring giant stadiums to returning to experimental noise.

Upward Bound is a faith-based camp that opened in 1978 for pre-teens and adults with disabilities to experience traditional camp activities, from making s’mores around a campfire to hiking, fishing or playing outdoor games. In 2014, the camp bought an 18-acre property in Gates in Linn County that included an elementary school, a gymnasium and high school building. Classrooms were converted into bunks for campers to stay in, along with other modifications made to allow for year-round programming and activities.    Although the camp was able to successfully pivot when the pandemic broke out with individual tents for campers to stay in and other precautions taken, tragedy struck on Labor Day in 2020. As the Beachie Creek fire tore through the Santiam Canyon, Upward Bound executive director Diane Turnbull and her staff evacuated the camp. When Turnbull returned two weeks later, many of the structures had burned, including the elementary school where campers stayed.    Turnbull, with the support of Upward Bound’s board, decided to keep the camp going, with outdoor bell tents that counselors and campers now stay in. The camp recently ended its summer session and has since expanded its programming to include activities like archery, theater and music performances. Turnbull joins us to talk about the camp’s recovery efforts, including working with FEMA to rebuild structures lost in the fire that would allow the camp to expand access to people who are visually impaired or require other physical accommodations. Also joining us is Misael Pujols, a camp counselor from the Dominican Republic who recently completed his third summer working at Upward Bound.   

Tribal health clinics often provide healthcare to tribal members and non-tribal members in their area. The providers can also be the only accessible healthcare option for people in rural communities. The Ko-Kwel Wellness Centers serve Coos Bay and Eugene.  The clinics are grappling with looming changes to Medicaid and gaps in funding. Lyric Aquino, an indigenous affairs reporter and Report for America corps member, has covered this issue for Underscore Native News. She joins us with details. 

Scott Kalama is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. He works as a certified prevention specialist at the Warm Springs Indian Reservation to mentor youth and raise awareness about the risks associated with drug and alcohol use. Growing up on the reservation, his older brother handed down CDs and mixtapes of Tupac and other hip hop artists which sparked Kalama’s own musical calling and journey. Performing under the name “Blue Flamez,” he raps about life on the reservation, celebrates pride in being Native American and the teachings he learned from tribal elders, while acknowledging how violence and substance use have scarred his family and community. We spoke to Kalama in 2024 when he was awarded $150,000 for winning a 2024-2026 Fields Artist Fellowship from Oregon Humanities and Oregon Communities Foundation. He joined us in the studio for a performance and to share how he plans to use this fellowship to reach a wider audience.

Day use fees for some state parks went from $5 to $10 dollars at the beginning of the year, and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department will be applying those same fees in locations where there were none previously. According to the department website, the agency manages 259 properties, which include camping at 52 parks as well as the entire ocean shore along 362 miles of the Oregon coast. The parks and recreation department is also raising camping and other fees to close its budget gap, which it says stems from rising costs and decreased contributions from the Oregon Lottery. State parks receive no operating money from Oregon’s general fund.  We’re joined by Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Director Lisa Sumption to tell us more about how the agency balances access to facilities in the state’s parks and shoreline with maintaining those public resources as costs continue to rise.

The cities of Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview and Wood Village are rethinking what fire service might look like in East Multnomah County. For decades, Gresham’s fire department has contracted with the other cities to provide service. But the cities have grown, and funds for firefighters have not kept up. Now, the cities are considering a new option: a fire district. Instead of Gresham having primary control of services, the municipalities would work together to offer fire support for the area. Holly Bartholomew is an OPB reporter covering Portland’s suburban communities as a Report for America Corps member. She joins us with more on how the cities plan to move forward.