The Clark County Sheriff’s Office recently began partnering with mental health providers from Sea Mar Community Health Centers to respond more effectively to people in crisis, who may otherwise go to jail or the emergency department. The Columbian reported on the new Co-responders program which was modeled on a similar partnership launched in October 2020 between Sea Mar and the Vancouver Police Department. 
The program typically involves mental health specialists from Sea Mar being notified by Vancouver police or a 911 dispatcher of a person experiencing a mental health crisis who may be a danger to themselves or others. The Sea Mar team will then meet up with the police officer responding to the call and help by de-escalating the crisis or providing support services to the person in need. Joining us to talk about the Co-responders program and the impact it’s having is Blaise Geddry, a lieutenant in the Vancouver Police Department, and Laura Nichols, a mental health therapist and the program manager of behavioral health services at Sea Mar Community Health Centers. 
 

Mental health providers and Vancouver police partner to help people in crisis

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Oregon's groundwater is being used faster than it’s being replenished, and the state’s aquifers are declining. The Oregon Water Resources Department is proposing new rules in response. The agency would change the way it decides if groundwater will be available for new users. Justin Iverson is the groundwater section manager for OWRD. He joins us to explain what we know about Oregon’s groundwater and what can be done to regulate its use.

Oregon’s groundwater is declining

It’s been just over a week since protesters took over the Branford Price Millar Library at Portland State University as part of demonstrations against Israel’s war in Gaza. Police eventually cleared the building and classes resumed last Friday, but the library remains closed as damage to the collections and facilities are assessed.
Cris Paschild is an associate dean, university archivist and head of special collections at PSU. She joins us with more details on the Millar Library’s state and when it might reopen.

How the PSU library is faring after occupation by protesters

In 2022, Oregon voters cast ballots for the first time in a newly created congressional district the state was awarded after the 2020 U.S. Census. The 6th Congressional District stretches from suburbs southwest of Portland to Salem, and includes all of Yamhill and Polk counties, as well as portions of Marion, Washington and Clackamas counties. 
  
We hear from two prominent candidates in the Republican primary vying for a chance to flip the seat in the fall. Mike Erickson is the founder and CEO of AFMS, a supply chain and logistics consulting firm based in Tigard. He narrowly lost to Democrat Andrea Salinas in 2022 after winning the GOP primary that May. David Russ, the mayor of Dundee in Yamhill County, is challenging Erickson once again in this year’s GOP primary race. Russ and Erickson join us for a debate to talk about their competing visions.  

Oregon 6th Congressional District GOP candidates Mike Erickson and David Russ debate the issues

 Last week, crude oil started flowing through a newly expanded pipeline that stretches more than 600 miles from the tar sands of Canada’s Alberta province to an export terminal near Vancouver in British Columbia. The Canadian government spent $25 billion and more than four years to complete construction on the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion which will triple its capacity to ship nearly a million barrels of oil a day. But the project has also raised concerns about the threat of oil spills south of the border, and the harm to endangered marine mammals from increasing tanker activity moving through the Salish Sea to customers in Asia. Tom Banse, OPB’s former Olympia correspondent, joins us to share his recent reporting on this story.  

Concerns grow over Canadian pipeline expansion and impact on oil tanker activity in Pacific Northwest waters

School districts all over Oregon are struggling to find the money to fund vital services with declining budgets. Many of those districts are making cuts to library staff, which librarians say has a direct result on educational outcomes for students. They also say these cuts are also in direct opposition to the educational goals districts say they’re committed to —  providing tutoring, research help and safe spaces for students experiencing bullying or isolation. Joining us to talk more about these issues are Ayn Reye Frazee, president of the Oregon Association of School Libraries and Franklin High School teacher librarian, and Jean Gritter, OASL advocacy chair and teacher librarian at West Albany High School.

Mental health providers and Vancouver police partner to help people in crisis

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