KGW’s Straight Talk

This week on Straight Talk, three associate professors at Portland State University, Paul Loikith, Max Nielson-Pincus and Andres Holz, analyze the historic wildfires that devastated parts of Oregon, climate change’s role in the fires and what can be done moving forward. Maggie Vespa fills in for Laural Porter.

Two men. One dream. Their partnership could mean a new beginning for hundreds of people living on the streets of Portland. Jordan Schnitzer and Alan Evans, the CEO of the nonprofit Helping Hands, are about to do something most everyone else had given up on. They’re on the brink of opening the never-used Wapato Jail facility in North Portland as a homeless shelter newly branded as the Bybee Lakes Hope Center. Schnitzer and Evans shared their story this week on KGW’s Straight Talk.

In this week’s episode of Straight Talk with Laural Porter, Portland activist Cameron Whitten says Portlanders should be asking when the suffering of their Black neighbors will end. Also, Reed College professor Paul Gronke says to get ready for a long election night that could potentially extend into days.

As the pandemic stretches into six months, more than two-thirds of employees working from home are experiencing symptoms of burnout, according to a survey from online employment platform Monster. The problem seems to be growing. The number of people reporting signs of burnout is up 20% from a similar survey in May. On this week's episode of "Straight Talk," a Providence psychologist and a sports medicine specialist offered advice on how to battle burnout and succeed in a work-from-home and remote learning environment.

This week's guests include Dan Ryan, who this week won a special election to fill the late Nick Fish's seat on Portland City Council. He discusses the ongoing protests and what he hopes to bring to the council. Also, Portland businessman and philanthropist, Jordan Schnitzer, talks about his foundation’s $150,000 Black Lives Matter artists grant program.

Portland mayoral candidate Sarah Iannarone positions herself as a more progressive alternative to incumbent Mayor Ted Wheeler, who is seeking his second term. She's made police accountability a major part of her platform, and has joined protesters on numerous occasions calling for racial justice and an end to police brutality. Iannarone joined KGW for a taping of this week's episode of Straight Talk.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was once overheard saying he couldn't wait for the next 24 months to be over, and the end of his first term as mayor. That was in November 2018 after a health coalition forum where he was heckled.

Fast forward to today and being disrupted during a speech seems minor. Wheeler faces a global pandemic, an economic crisis rivaled only by the Great Depression, and nightly civil unrest on the streets following the killing of George Floyd. But now, he said he has no doubt he wants to be Portland's mayor for another four years.

"This is a leadership moment," Wheeler said. "This is a very tough time, being the mayor of the city of Portland is never particularly easy, but it is a privilege.

Being the mayor of this city has meaning." Wheeler joined host Laural Porter on this this week's episode of KGW's Straight Talk. He acknowledged the myriad of challenges facing the city, but called it a transformational period in history.

"We have an opportunity as a community and as individuals to write that history that decades from now, people will look back on as being a really important inflection period in our city and nation's history," he said.

Portland voters will decide between longtime political insider Loretta Smith and political newcomer Dan Ryan, who calls himself a change agent, as the next commissioner on Portland City Council. The winner in the Aug. 11 special election will take the late Nick Fish's council seat, Commissioner Position 2. Fish died in January after a two-year battle with stomach cancer. Smith, a former Multnomah County commissioner, and Ryan, the former executive director of the educational nonprofit All Hands Raised, were the top two vote-getters in the May primary between 18 candidates. Smith and Ryan joined KGW Straight Talk host Laural Porter for a modified debate as they pointed out differences they feel make them the better choice.

For the first time, Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty said she is open to heading up the Portland Police Bureau.

Traditionally, the mayor has taken on that role, and Mayor Ted Wheeler currently heads the bureau. Hardesty, who is pushing for police reform, had said in recent interviews she had no interest in being police commissioner.

However, during this week's taping of "Straight Talk," Hardesty told KGW's Laural Porter she's warming to the idea of having the police bureau in her portfolio. She currently oversees three first responder bureaus: Portland Fire & Rescue, the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management and the Bureau of Emergency Communications.

All of Oregon has begun gradual reopening over the last month. At the same time, cases of COVID-19 have also increased to their highest levels during the months-long pandemic. Dr. Dean Sidelinger from the Oregon Health Authority analyzes where Oregon is right now, the challenges facing the state and what may lie ahead. Maggie Vespa fills in for Laural Porter.