Speaking Freely

Oregon is the nation's focus once again. This time, it's because of the largest wildfire in the country. This week we're focusing on the intense efforts to contain the Bootleg Fire, involving thousands of firefighters from throughout the country, plus what caused it, and why its smoke is endangering the health of millions of people thousands of miles away, while our air, remains healthy. And how the wildfires, and the drought that's feeding them, are impacting salmon, especially endangered and threatened species in Oregon and Washington. This episode features interviews with Bootleg Fire Spokesman Scott Babinowich, and Meta Loftsgaarden, the Executive Director of Oregon's Watershed Enhancement Board.

Oregon has the highest rate of youth homelessness in the country, and with it, hundreds of thousands of children and teenagers suffering from, or at risk of, hunger. Lydia Massad founded a charity called "Our Giving Table" that now provides meals to hundreds of at risk kids and families, through schools and the foster care system. In this episode we also talked to Jerry Kenney, a Papa Murphy's Franchise Owner. His businesses are holding a fundraising drive through August 13th to raise money for Massad's charity, "Our Giving Table," to support foster care kids, and food insecure homes in Oregon and Southwest Washington. We also talked about the impact of the pandemic on the restaurant business.

This is bound to be the summer of vaccines and variants, as the world tries to recover from the pandemic. So I decided to check in with some Oregon based experts, for their thoughts, and predictions, about what comes next. And they're all saying, a lot of it all hinges on those who have NOT gotten vaccinated... the firm 15% of people out there who say they will not get the shots. Experts included in this podcast are Oregon State University Professors Aimee Huff, Courtney Campbell, Chunhuei Chi, Daniel López-Cevallos, Brett Tyler and Oralia Mendez from OSU's Center for Health Innovation

Heat. Drought. Wildfires. All three are making headlines and history in Oregon, Washington and throughout the Pacific Northwest. So today, we're focusing on why it's getting so hot, so dry, and so firey.

And this comes as people are reeling from the tragic, and even shocking results, from last weekend's HISTORIC, record shattering heat-wave. Multnomah County Lead Health Officer, Doctor Jennifer Vines says there were dozens of deaths connected to the extreme heat. Those who perished, ranged in age from 44 to 97.

How safe do you feel, when it comes to crime in your area? That question provokes a pretty consistent response from people in the Pacific Northwest. Safewise Security Expert Rebecca Edwards tells us about results from the 2021 State of Safety Survey, and what they reveal about our perceptions, versus the reality, of crime in Oregon and Washington.

Certainly everyone's craving safety from COVID 19 right now, and the vaccines offer a way forward. Still, misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines continues to run rampant and seed distrust, so we spoke with Amy Gutierrez with the American Society of Health System Pharmacists.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also had an effect on housing, and the infrastructure necessary to keep up with the demand for it. Dr. Frank Nothaft, the chief economist for CoreLogic, explains the dramatic impact on the value of homes the Portland and Salem area.

The pandemic means more of us are skipping doctors visits, and that includes for our kids, too. So this week we are focusing on children's health. A new study from the government finds large numbers of American families are missing out on their children's normal checkups and vaccines. Rates of well-child visits and routine vaccinations dropped as much as 20% during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you break it down on ethnic lines, the percentage of missed well-child visits is highest in the Latinx and Hispanic households, at 35 percent, then African American families at 33 percent and 27 percent of white non hispanic households. We talked to Dr. Michael Warren, a pediatrician and the Associate Administrator for Maternal and Child Health Bureau, at the Health Resources and Services Administration. It's the main Federal agency for improving access to health care, and right now it's encouraging parents to get their children caught up on well-child visits and vaccinations, including the COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents age 12 and older. Also in our focus on children's health: we're about to enter a time where the danger of drowning becomes more severe. Did you know that drowning remains the leading cause of unintentional death for children ages 1-4? And also because of the pandemic, kids may be even more at risk this summer: because they're out of practice from swimming and safety lessons. So we talked to Nicki Fleming with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Oregon's lawmakers are singing a chorus: about change. Their mission: update the lyrics in Oregon my Oregon, the official state song.

The problem with Oregon My Oregon, isn't the music. It's the some of the words in the state song's first verse: That phrase: conquered and held by free men, fairest and the best, is what critics in the state legislature say, needs to go: The original song from 1927 was a winner of an intense competition. For the updated version, a Beaverton music teacher won a contest to change the lyrics: they'll now refer to Oregon's natural beauty, and rolling rivers. Kerry Tymchuck is the Executive Director of the Oregon Historical Society. We asked him to chime in on the controversy, and tell us about the society's effort to document Oregon's pandemic history, now, while it's happening.

This episode originally aired on March 14, 2021. It focuses on health. First, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden tells us about pandemic relief and vaccine distribution efforts. Then we hear how to get through springing forward and falling back with our clocks, and how that impacts our health. Finally, we talk with a leading cancer doctor about why younger people are being encouraged to get colon cancer screening earlier in life.

Saving lives: from cancer, falls, and COVID-19 . That's our theme this week. First, you've probably heard about the COVID 19 variants that are spreading. They're here. One person who knows that, is Professor Brett Tyler. He's the Director of Oregon State University's Center for Genome Research, and through what's called the "Trace" project, he and other scientists are genetically tracing, where exactly in Oregon, the virus mutations are popping up. Next, we focus on cancer. Younger men, can save their own lives, with a simple test, according to a Pacific Northwest doctor who's a national leader in cancer research. Dr. Julie Gralow taught about and researched cancer, at the University of Washington for 25 years. She's now the Chief Medical Officer for the American Society of Clinical Oncology, which held its national meeting this week. In honor of this month's National Cancer Survivors Day, we talk with Kim Thiboldeaux, the Executive Chair of the Cancer Support Community, and the author of the book, "Your Cancer Road Map." Finally, we found out from a new Centers for Disease Control report, that Oregonians are suffering from an unusually high rate of fatal falls. We talked with Dr. Robin Lee, an epidemiologist with the C.D.C., who explains how many preventable falls are costing lives, and hundreds of millions of dollars in Oregon each year.

Multnomah County passed what its leaders call a once in a generation budget this week. It includes a record $2.81 billion dollars. District 3 County Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson says she hopes some of that money, millions of dollars of it, will help stop gun violence in the coming summer months, the traditional time when shootings spike. She remembers witnessing a shooting herself, in her own Portland neighborhood last summer. Another big source of the money is the new, voter approved preschool for all program, which she says expects to welcome its first class of about 1,000 children in the fall of 2022. She explains how this investment will help boost people, across generations. She's also one of the many local leaders, working on getting an earthquake resilient bridge, crucial in the case of a cataclysmic event. I also asked her about her Sierra Club award winning environmental work on cleaner transportation, both as a state lawmaker and a county leader. And, how her observations about sidewalks and parks, spurred this tech worker, to get into politics. But first, we talked about the pandemic. The county's move, to a lower risk level. The vaccination efforts, and how they're targeting harder to reach communities, especially in the Latinx population. And the impact of COVID-19 on the essential workers who are her neighbors.

They are some of the most vulnerable people in our community. People living in nursing homes. Disabled veterans. And children. And the COVID-19 pandemic has taken an especially terrible toll on them. But there are resources, efforts, and people stepping up to help them in Oregon, and throughout the Pacific Northwest. So in this episode, we will focus on them. First: our family members in nursing homes. Across the country, about 40 percent of covid deaths so far, are associated with nursing homes. But in Oregon, it's been much higher. AARP Oregon's Joyce De Monnin says the pandemic's taken an especially horrific toll on Oregonians living and working in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities: but there are important questions to ask and ways you can protect your family members. COVID 19's also posed incredible challenges on our disabled veterans. Their unemployment rate doubled, they suffered from isolation and struggled with getting help for catastrophic illnesses and brain injuries. Jeff Hall, with Disabled American Veterans, explains his group is connecting these heroes, to help. Next: kids, and COVID. It's had a big impact on their education. Hundreds of thousands of Oregonians ages 12 to 16 are eligible for vaccines. And research is underway with a goal of getting a safe effective vaccine for those younger than 12 by this fall. Portland parenting expert, family coach and former teacher Janet Allison, tells us how to talk to a child about getting a COVID 19 vaccine, and how to answer tough questions about the pandemic.