Think Out Loud

Around 14,000 subscribers read the locally-owned community newspaper Hoodview News every month. Along with community events, feel-good stories about the East County area and advertisements, readers find columns that espouse and encourage a transphobic worldview. Hoodview News is published by longtime Oregon political operative Mike Wiley — perhaps best known for his work as communications director for the Oregon Citizens Alliance, or OCA, an ultra-conservative activist group that pushed stridently anti-LGBTQ+ ballot measures across the state in the 1980s and 1990s. OPB journalist Leah Sottile joins us with the story.

The bridge connecting Oregon and Washington on Interstate 5 has needed replacement for decades. Experts say it would not withstand earthquakes of the size that the Northwest is certain to experience in coming years. Hundreds of millions of state and federal dollars went under the metaphorical bridge when the Columbia River Crossing project fell apart more than a decade ago. Now the I-5 replacement plan that Oregon, Washington and other public agencies have created depends on funding from both states, future tolling, and the federal government coming through with money it pledged to the project long before President Trump began his second term.  Erik Neumann is OPB’s Southwest Washington Bureau Chief and has been following developments closely. He joins to share the details on where replacement stands and remind us what’s at stake.

 Earlier this month, Stephanie Johnson, a first grade teacher at Pine Ridge Elementary School in Bend, found out she won a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Central Oregon Daily News first reported on Johnson’s achievement. The award is considered to be the highest national honor a K-12 educator can receive for teaching science, technology, engineering or mathematics.   Johnson was one of five teachers in Oregon who received the most recent award, which was given to educators nominated in 2021, 2022 or 2023. It includes a certificate signed by former President Biden, an invitation to attend the awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. and $10,000 from the National Science Foundation. Johnson joins us to talk about her achievement and the joy she gets from teaching math to 1st graders. 

Glyphosate is an herbicide that’s widely used in agriculture in the U.S. and around the world. It’s the active ingredient in Roundup, which is commonly applied to crops like soy, cotton and corn that have been genetically modified to withstand the weed killer. The Environmental Protection Agency maintains that glyphosate is “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans,” although a ruling in 2022 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has prompted the agency to review the chemical’s risks to human health and the environment.  A new study by economists at the University of Oregon examined how glyphosate may also be impacting the health of infants. It looked at millions of birth records from 1990 to 2013 to see if there were differences in birth weight and gestational length after Roundup use intensified in rural counties that grew genetically modified corn, soy and cotton compared to rural counties that weren’t suitable for growing those GM crops. It found that exposure to glyphosate was associated with lower birth weights and shorter gestations, with those effects being greater for some babies more than others. Joining us to talk about the findings is Ed Rubin, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Oregon.

In 2020, the Almeda Fire ripped through the Rogue Valley and it destroyed about a third of the town of Talent. Among the losses were nearly 90 homes located at the Talent Mobile Estates park. Years later, the town continues to rebuild, including a groundbreaking ceremony for the mobile home park last year. We check in on recovery efforts from Darby Ayers-Flood, the mayor of Talent.       

Oregon lawmakers gathered in Salem on Tuesday for the start of the 2025 legislative session. They’ll have five months to tackle the state’s pressing challenges, including passing a two-year budget. Last month, Governor Kotek unveiled a budget proposal that boosts spending on her top priorities such as building more affordable housing, combating homelessness and funding for K-12 schools.  Lawmakers are also expected to pass a multibillion-dollar transportation package to shore up the state’s aging bridges and crumbling roads and highways. And although Democrats narrowly won a supermajority in the legislature, they may still face resistance from Republicans who have competing visions on education, public safety and addressing the housing crisis. Joining us to discuss all this and more is OPB political reporter Dirk VanderHart. 

Looking at the history of psychological operations, “Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind” is the latest book by author and journalist Annalee Newitz. It explores misinformation, propaganda and how the stories we hear can manipulate us. The book also features a chapter on the work the Coquille Indian Tribe has done to undo damage these operations did to some Oregon tribes in the past. Newitz spoke in front of an audience with “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller at a Powell’s Books event on June 4.

Oregon's reigning – and two time – state champion in chess is a junior at Westview High School in Beaverton. Zoey Tang has been playing since she was 7 years old and joined a chess club at her small charter school. She was hooked. She recently became the first Oregonian ever to achieve the title of “woman grandmaster.” She joined us to share her thoughts on the title and her goals going forward.

One of Mayor Keith Wilson’s main campaign platforms was his commitment to ending unsheltered homelessness in the city. On Wednesday, he presented his $28 million “Blueprint” for how he plans to achieve that goal. OPB Portland City Government Reporter Alex Zielinski joins us to share details about the plan and the reaction of regional officials and homeless experts who have been working to get people off the streets for decades.

President Donald Trump has wasted no time in enacting his immigration policy. On his first day in office, he issued an executive order that aims to end birthright citizenship, the constitutional provision that automatically grants citizenship to children born in the U.S., regardless of their parents’ status. Attorneys general across the country, including in Oregon, have already sued to block the order. The administration will also allow immigration authorities to make arrests in traditionally safe spaces such as churches and schools. Local and state officials around the country could also be investigated and prosecuted by the Justice Department for refusing to cooperate on immigration enforcement. But Oregon has a longstanding law that specifically prohibits officials from doing just that. Oregon's new attorney general, Dan Rayfield, joins us to talk about all this and more.