Locus Focus

A high tech noxious weed is spreading across Oregon, sucking up electricity

and water and giving little back in return, as the landscapes of Washington

County and parts of Eastern Oregon have been transformed into mazes of

gargantuan data centers.

On this episode of Loc...

For several years a Houston-based company has been trying to get all its

permits in place to build an enormous renewable diesel refinery at Port

Westward, near Clatskanie on the Columbia River Estuary. NXTClean Fuels sells

itself as a leader in developing clean renewable...

Portland has some of the worse air quality in the country and it’s mainly

due to the exhaust from diesel trucks. In Washington State and California

diesel trucks are required to have filtered engines which remove 90% of the

micro particles that are emitted from burning d...

The Willamette River begins its course as two forks merge south of Eugene, to

form the major river in NW Oregon. From its pristine origins the Willamette

flows as a recognizable river through small cities, forests and farmland,

until it reaches Portland. There it becomes...

Portland is gifted to have a mighty river flowing through the heart of the

city. Unfortunately for more than a century this priceless resource has been

abused, degraded and polluted, and for many decades Portlanders turned their

backs on the Willamette River. But things ...

Pollution from industrialized agriculture, confined animal feeding

operations, and processed food factories, has caused a decades-long public

health crisis in the Lower Umatilla Basin. More recently the rampant ground

water pollution in the region has been exasperated by...

Soon after the new Portland City Council took office in 2025, they passed a

resolution concerning Zenith Energy, the controversial Houston-based fossil

fuel company that rode into Portland in 2017. The resolution directed Mayor

Keith Wilson to investigate whether Zenith ...

This program aired originally on February 23, 2026

 

As data centers continue to pop up like noxious weeds, a growing movement is

coming together to stop their spread. Like oil and gas pipelines before them,

data centers are uniting people of diverse backgrounds and p...

This show aired originally on February 16, 2026

 

The largest waterfall in North America is Niagara Falls, a world renowned

tourist attraction with spectacular views from many angles. The second

largest falls is Willamette Falls, 16 miles south of Portland, Oregon, wh...

Ross Island, extending south in the Willamette River from the Ross Island

Bridge to Sellwood, could be the jewel of Portland’s park system. Instead

it has been abused and now abandoned by Ross Island Sand and Gravel, which

mined gravel on the island for 90 years. As a re...