Speaking Freely

I ask Tiernan about his plans for homelessness, crime, wildfires, drought, education and the pandemic

Former State House Speaker Kotek is running for the Democratic nomination for Oregon Governor in this month's election. I asked her about her plans to address homelessness, housing insecurity, the pandemic, wildfires, drought, record crime, climate, the economy, and what her candidacy means to the LGBTQ community.

He's a candidate to become Oregon's next Governor. He is a republican, a doctor from Salem. In my conversation, with Dr. Bud Pierce, we talk about homelessness, housing insecurity, crime, abortion, suicides, COVID-19, wildfires, and many more topics, plus his view on the Oregon he hopes to leave for the next generation.

President Joe Biden made his first visit to the Pacific Northwest since his election, arriving at Portland International Airport Thursday. His visit, greeted with enthusiastic support from members of his own party, including Governor Kate Brown, Oregon's U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and Oregon's democratic members of Congress. In impassioned tones, Biden touted the investments in infrastructure, that his administration has promised, including with PDX Next, the $2 billion project intended to improve the airport, and get it ready for a big earthquake. Biden also talked about his plans for lowering health care and energy costs.

Then: a follow up to my interview on Speaking Freely last week, with Oregon's American Lung Association Executive Director Julian Dillon. This week, as he promised, the lung association released its latest information about our air. And it's not good, especially as COVID mask mandates come to an end. Wildfire soot and smoke are creating the worst air quality in the 23 years that the lung association has tracked it.

Also when it comes to our health, particularly during the still present pandemic, about 1600 local nurses started voting this week, on whether to go on strike. I spoke to Sarah Kee, a cardiology nurse at Providence Saint Vincent Medical Center. And she's also on the front lines of the negotiating table, as nurses say, even a couple years now into the pandemic, they are still fighting for safer staffing levels, personal protective equipment, and a guaranteed contract.

Next, we focus on the health of our environment: specifically, invasive plants, pests and bugs, which can devastate native species, and cost billions of dollars in damage every year. I talked to Van Pickler, a national policy advisor for U.S.D.A. emergency domestic program.

Finally: we decided to have a little early Mount Angel Octoberfest fun. KXL's Brett Recamp helped me with that this week. Much laughter ensued, over weiner dog races, and lederhosen.

The extended wildfire season is making a big impact on Oregon, for some of the most harmful types of air pollution: particle pollution and ozone.

The Lung Association's "State of the Air" report tracks and grades Americans' exposure to unhealthy levels of smog, and soot. Julian Dillon, Oregon's Executive Director for the Lung Association says you can look up zip codes to find out what's in the air you and your family members are breathing.

He also tells us about several upcoming events aimed at increasing awareness and raising funds ro help us all breathe more easily.

Lots of topics covered in this one!

First, the financial landscape for Americans is changing. Many states, including Oregon and Washington have passed legislation requiring retirement plans. But do the people who could benefit the most from them, even know what they are? I talked to Financial Analyst Eric Phillips.

Then: after a couple of tough, trying pandemic years, what should Oregonians look for in their next governor? And what should we do about the misinformation running rampant during this pandemic, leading to hardship on our nursing workforce?

I attended an Oregon State University press conference and asked those questions. We hear Professors Courtney Campbell, Chunhuei Chi, and Christopher McKnight Nichols, explain the importance of health equity, and the role of essential workers like nurses, and why they have such a short professional life.

I also attended the East Portland Chamber's meeting, where I caught up with Portland Police Commander Erica Hurley. Her comments about the impact of gun violence and understaffing are powerful, and important.

Finally, we close the episode with an audio love letter to the beautiful Columbia Gorge, from people who are working hard to save it, as the Portland metro adds 30-40,000 new residents a year, putting more pressure on this environment treasure. Des Ramirez, Executive Director of Wild Diversity explains why she thinks tourism can be friend and not foe to the Gorge.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has become the focus of many of us here in the Pacific Northwest, including elected leaders, policy experts, and even family members with ties to Ukraine or Russia. So in this episode I'm gathering some of their emotions and thoughts. We start with my conversation with Oregon U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley. I asked him for his thoughts about our country's direction on Ukraine.

I also attended and had the chance to ask some questions, at Oregon State University's flash panel about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent war and humanitarian crisis. Julie Hessler, Associate Professor of History at the University of Oregon, explained the history and motivations behind Putin's view of Ukraine.

I asked "A debate is raging over closing the airspace, can you give us some clarity on the likelihood of the consequences of such a decision. Would it bring us closer to nuclear war, as some suggest?" Both O.S.U. history professors Jacob Hamblin and Christopher McKnight Nichols offered their thoughts.

Then the panelists were asked, what is keeping Putin's cronies by his side? And could sanctions threaten their wealth?

An answer, from Dr. Phillip Kneiss, with the School of Public Policy at Oregon State University.

An Oregon State University Professor and historian's work on a book sheds light on the current war in Ukraine. Dr. Christopher McKnight Nichols joined other historians and scholars, writing and editing a book about grand strategy, which countries use to further their interests. We talked about how the ideas in the book, "Rethinking American Grand Strategy" relate to Russia's struggles in the conflict, and also the international struggle and strife amid pandemic response. You can find a link to the Rethinking American Grand Strategy book on KXL.com.

And I also had some fun conversations, with Dr. Nichols and KXL's Brett Reckamp, about HBO's "The Gilded Age," and my concerns that something is off with Red Cross Founder Clara Barton's hat game on the show.

Tobias Read, Oregon's current state Treasurer, is also a democratic candidate for Oregon Governor. In this extra long podcast episode, he tells us about his public service career, his work as Oregon's State Treasurer, and why he wants to be Oregon's next Governor. The questions I ask include:

This is a time when the state is flush with extra COVID relief cash, but is that money getting out fast enough to those who need it most? To help alleviate homelessness and housing insecurity? To help education, and medical care?

We talked about the drought and wildfires. It's March, already the drought's sparking Governor Brown's emergency declaration for Klamath County. Central and southern Oregon are in for a third consecutive year of drought, with some of the worst of it in the area that suffered one of the state's most devastating wildfires ever, the Bootleg Fire, last fire season. According to NOAA: many of the areas most affected by drought would need 150 to 200 percent or more of normal precipitation over the next two months to ameliorate drought conditions, which seems unlikely.

We address another big crisis point in Oregon: shootings. 2021 brought Portland's most ever shootings and murders, 1200 documented shootings, nearly 70 homicides with guns, larger numbers than San Francisco and Boston and double Seattle's rate. Our suicide rate is also higher than the national average. What are his possible solutions to this?

And... Oregon's dropping the mask mandate. Is this good or bad?

And his thoughts on this: We've seen current Oregon Governor Kate Brown, cope with really historic challenge after challenge, crisis after crisis: the pandemic, the wildfires, the months and months of protests and clashes with police, near shuttering of businesses, coping with the challenges of online education, record setting violence. Are you sure you want this job?

President Biden, announced new sanctions, intended to continue crippling Russia's economy, to retaliate against Russian PresidentVladimir Putin. This, coming amid another week of devastation and tragedy, in Ukraine.

Among the many watching on, anxiously and in horror, was Sergiv Greblov an international student from Kiev Ukraine, studying at Oregon State University, which held an on line panel of local experts this week, entitled"War in Europe: Context and Implications of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine."

Downtown Portland is trying to get back some of what's been lost to the pandemic. Restaurants, in particular have suffered. But next week, there's hope that a celebration will kick off renewal. I talked to Josh Johnson, who owns Independent Restaurant Concepts, including Paddy's Bar and Grill… home of a famous celebration, that also raises money to help kids with cancer.

And as clocks spring forward Sunday, do you know that the time change actually impairs our brains' frontal lobes? We hear about that from Dr. Kimberly Hutchison, an Associate Professor of Neurology and Sleep Medicine at OHSU. She explains how to make the transition easier on mind and body.

Finally, we check in with best selling author and History Channel host: Brad Meltzer, about his newest book and writing career spanning 25 years.