Think Out Loud

An unassuming house in Southeast Portland’s Buckman neighborhood was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. Once known as “Juniper House,” the building served as one of the first end-of-life care homes for AIDS patients in the Pacific Northwest in the late 1980s. An OPB documentary at the time explored the lives of some of the patients in Juniper House and the neighboring Assisi House, which provided a range of care for patients with HIV/AIDS. Jan Weyeneth is one of the co-founders of Juniper House. Cayla McGrail is a former associate project manager for Portland’s LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project, which sponsored the house’s listing. We first spoke with Weyeneth and McGrail in April 2025 about Juniper House and the importance of documenting queer history in Portland.

Roger Devers, a financial advisor in Eugene who founded Lucky Enough Social Club to create community murals for nonprofits and advocate for mental health. He describes how a Curaçao trip inspired the first mural and the volunteer-driven process. He talks about making painting accessible, art’s role in suicide prevention, and how gratitude and service fuel the project.

Lakayana Yotoma Drury, educator and founder of Word is Bond, edits 503—a magazine-style love letter to Black Portland youth. He reads poems, recounts teaching at an alternative school, explores Black Portland transplant identity, and describes community healing, mentorship, and cultural unity. The conversation spotlights stories of resilience amid gentrification and miseducation.

Samira Sahebi, secretary of the board at Free Iran PDX and Portland community organizer, explains why she left Iran and how the regime shaped daily life. She describes communication challenges with family back home and reflects on reactions to Khamenei’s death. Samira also discusses fears of fragmentation, lessons from past U.S. interventions, and hopes for a democratic future with minimal bloodshed.

 The Tualatin High School co-ed cheer team entered this competition season with the pressure of defending the state title they won last year. In response to that pressure? The team not only took first place at the state championships in Oregon City, but one week later, took home first place in the USA Spirit Nationals championship. They competed in the Advanced Co-Ed Varsity Large division, against varsity teams from across the US.   The team had just a few days to alter their routine for the national championships before they traveled to Anaheim, California, to compete for the national title.   Crystal Corona, the team’s coach, has been with the team at Tualatin High School for the last five years. She’s seen the class of 2026 through their entire high school careers. One of the team’s seniors is Elizabeth Klups, who said her role was “to keep the team calm” through their fast-paced competition season. Corona and Klups join us to discuss the wins and what it means to represent Oregon on a national stage.  

The Columbia River Gorge Commission oversees land use and stewards both economic development and conservation efforts within the National Scenic Area. Robert Liberty served as the Multnomah County appointee to the commission since 2015, and was most recently reappointed in 2023. But he resigned earlier this year with more than a year to go in his term, citing “the gentrification of working lands with luxury homesites for the wealthy” and “the anti-conservation, pro-development interest of some of the Commission members,” among other reasons.

Oregon lawmakers must end the legislative session by March 8th. Bills are still moving through chambers, but several major issues remain unsettled, among them balancing the state’s general fund budget and solving transportation funding. OPB political reporter Dirk VanderHart joins us to talk about the key bills and developments in Salem as the session nears its end.

 U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said President Trump’s decision to launch an attack on Iran “shreds our Constitution, which assigns decisions of war to Congress.” As of March 2, at least six U.S. Service members have been killed in the military operation. The House and Senate are set to vote this week on bipartisan war powers resolutions, which would limit Trump’s ability to take military action — in Iran and around the world — without Congressional approval. Though the measures are bipartisan, those supporting and opposing the Trump-ordered attacks on Iran are split along party lines, with Democrats opposing and most Republicans supporting them. We hear from Merkley, a long time member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, about what he and other Democrats are doing to prevent further war and bloodshed in the region.

La Pine Library is hosting a free event this Saturday, “Not Your Mama’s Cheddar,” as part of Deschutes Public Library's monthlong exploration of fermentation, decay and rot. Teri Tith is leading Saturday’s event, drawing on her extensive knowledge about cheese and years of experience working as a cheesemonger at Market of Choice in Bend to help educate the public about this delicacy, including cheddar, her personal favorite.    But to say Tith is a cheese expert is an understatement. She’s a Certified Cheese Professional, which she was awarded in 2023 by the American Cheese Society. Tith earned that distinction by working more than 4,000 hours in the cheese industry, and she also had to pass an exam testing her knowledge on the production, distribution and science of cheese.    Tith also holds a Level 3 certification in wine from the Wine and Spirits Educational Trust, which she says has helped inform the kinds of wines she selects for wine and cheese pairing events at tasting rooms in Bend. While most people know about the natural pairing of cheese and wine, most don’t know about the pairing possibilities of cheese and sake, an alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice. Last autumn, Tith offered cheese and sake pairing classes and is now pursuing a Level 2 certification to boost her knowledge of this traditional Japanese beverage.    Tith joins us to share more details and insights into artisanal cheeses made in Oregon and beyond.  

Navigating substance use disorder can be especially difficult for those who are pregnant. As reported in InvestigateWest, state data shows that mental health conditions and substance use disorder were the leading causes of pregnancy-related deaths in Oregon from 2018 to 2021. And a study from OHSU found that the rate of opioid use during pregnancy has more than doubled over the last decade.   Those with substance use disorder are often reluctant to seek prenatal care due to stigma around their addiction, and drug treatment centers often turn away pregnant patients due to potential health risks. Efforts like Project Nurture and Nurture Oregon aim to integrate behavioral health and perinatal care by connecting pregnant clients with peer support, social services and other resources.   Diana Smith is the clinical lead for Project Nurture at Legacy Health. Sarah Bovee is a perinatal peer mentor and doula for Project Nurture. They join us to talk about providing simultaneous prenatal care and treatment for substance use disorder.