Think Out Loud

An ombudsman investigation in Portland found evidence of predatory towing at a group of apartment complexes in the Cully neighborhood. The report says towing practices financially and emotionally harmed residents, most of whom identify as low-income and Latino. It also found that the influx of towing impacted clients and staff at a nearby county-run health clinic and community center. Tony Green is a deputy ombudsman for the city of Portland. He conducted the investigation and joins us with more details.

For a third time, a federal judge has ruled that Wellpath — one of the nation’s largest for-profit providers of health care to people in prisons and jails — wrongfully deleted emails connected to in-custody deaths.  Wellpath operates in at least 10 correctional facilities in Oregon and Washington, and has purged email evidence in at least three wrongful death cases in the Pacific Northwest. Criminal justice reporter Conrad Wilson joins us to discuss the cases.

Radon is a naturally occurring, invisible and odorless gas released from the decay of radioactive metals like uranium found in soil, rocks and groundwater. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, it’s also the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S., and claims more than 20,000 lives annually. Homes are a major source of radon exposure which testing kits can be used to monitor and determine whether to do mitigation by increasing ventilation or sealing foundation cracks.   But it turns out that even relatively low levels of radon exposure can be dangerous, according to a new study funded by the EPA and led by researchers at Oregon State University. They found an increased risk for developing another kind of cancer - childhood leukemia - in children in more than 700 counties in 14 states, even at average levels well below the EPA’s own established guidelines for when to do radon mitigation. Joining us to share more is the study’s lead author, Matthew Bozigar, an environmental epidemiologist and assistant professor in the college of health at OSU.

Among the U.S. Congressional races that are being closely watched in this year’s general election is Oregon’s 6th Congressional District. It stretches from the suburbs southwest of Portland down into Salem, and includes all of Yamhill and Polk counties, along with portions of Marion, Washington and Clackamas counties. Voters cast their ballots for the first time in this district in 2022 when they narrowly elected Democratic state Representative Andrea Salinas over her GOP challenger, Mike Erickson. He is the founder and CEO of AFMS, a supply chain and logistics consulting firm based in Tigard. They are once again facing off to represent Oregon CD6 voters on Capitol Hill. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas and Republican candidate Mike Erickson join us for a debate on key issues and to outline their legislative priorities for the seat.  

The Portland Fermentation Festival – also known as “Stinkfest” – is a celebration of all things fermented, from kimchi and kombucha to pickles and miso. Started in 2009, the festival returned last year after taking a three-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once attendees pay admission, all of the featured fermented products are free to sample, trade and take home. We’ll talk with the three “Stinkfest Queens” who organize the festival — Liz Crain is an author who’s written several books about fermentation and the Portland food scene. Heidi Nestler is the CEO of Wanpaku Foods and a nutrition instructor at Quest Center for Integrative Health. Claudia Lucero is a cheesemaking book author and the CEO of Urban Cheesecraft. They join us in the studio to share more about the fascination with fermentation and what attendees can expect from this year’s festival. The 2024 Fermentation Festival will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10, at the Ecotrust building in downtown Portland.  

As buildings like the Keller Auditorium and iconic Portland sights such as the Burnside Bridge are approaching a remodel, could a fresh new look save Portland’s downtown? As argued in The New York Times, cities across the country and world are finding hope in new architecture. Tim Eddy is the founding principal architect and president of Henneberry Eddy. He joins us to share his thoughts on the role architecture plays in downtown revitalization.

Salem’s downtown has seen some local businesses shut their doors in recent years, but the Salem Reporter found that the economy is still strong there. Currently the vacancy rate for store fronts stands at 3.8%, and about half of the available spaces have new tenants within 6 months. Abbey McDonald is the homelessness and housing reporter for the publication. She joins us to share more. 

Native Hawaiian and former Oregonian Lehuauakea has created 10 kapa paintings and digital art posters that will be on display this weekend at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Beaverton. Kapa is a textile made from the bark of certain trees after going through a process involving soaking and beating to create the fabric. Lehuauakea’s work for this exhibit focuses on belonging, especially at a time where there are more native Hawaiins living on the U.S. mainland than in Hawai’i. Lehuauakea joins us to share more about their art and the upcoming exhibit.

Names like Lonnie Mayne, Buddy Rose and Dutch Savage may not be familiar to some today, but for fans of Portland’s professional wrestling scene of the 1960s to early '90s, these were some of the headliners that sold out the old Portland Sports Arena. As first reported in Slam Wrestling, two Portlanders have been working to preserve the history of the Pacific Northwest wrestling scene and making sure these names and more aren’t forgotten. Rich Patterson is one of these historians and a video wrestling archivist. Kerby Strom is a fellow historian of the scene as well as a collector of memorabilia. He also recently had recovered footage played at the Hollywood theater earlier this week. Strom and Patterson join us to share more on the history of the city’s wrestling scene and what they’ve found while collecting.

After years of steep increases, overdose death rates appear to be dropping nationwide. Data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a 10% decrease in the number of deaths from drug overdoses across the country from April 2023 to April 2024. That number varies significantly by state — while many Eastern states saw double-digit decreases, Oregon saw a 22% increase over that 12-month period. Still, some local health officials say they’re cautiously optimistic. Teresa Everson is the deputy health officer for Multnomah County. She joins us to talk about what overdose death numbers look like in the county and what they could tell us about the ongoing drug crisis.