Photo from Coos Bay mayor (L-R): Matt Vorderstrasse, Executive Director of the North Bend City/Coos-Curry Housing Authorities; Coquille Housing Authority ED Anne Cook; Oregon Governor Tina Kotek; City Manager Nichole Rutherford; Jessica LaBerge, Regional Solutions Coordinator (Governor's Staff)(Joe Benetti, Mayor of Coos Bay, Oregon )

Joe Benetti, Mayor of Coos Bay, joins the Exchange to discuss the recent visit of Governor Tina Kotek along with a variety of key issues facing the city.

( Ryan Hampton)

"Fentanyl Nation: Toxic Politics and America's Failed War on Drugs" exposes the underbelly of America's complicit institutions of power, wealth and influence in a manufactured drug war on American citizens.

Author Ryan Hampton reveals in well-resourced detail the history of fentanyl's impact, which continues to cause an average of 300 deaths per day across the nation. He chronicles his own history of fentanyl abuse and offers insight into the roles that law enforcement play, along with doctors, journalists and elected officials, in the ongoing tragic saga that still rages across America as a deadly endemic plague. He concludes with a list of specific actions to address the tragic ongoing saga of fentanyl in America.

( Oregon Entrepreneurs Network)

John Williams joins the Exchange. He's an entrepreneur in scalable technology companies, i.e. biotech and edtech. He'll discuss the upcoming Oregon Entrepreneurs Network PubTalk in Ashland.

John Williams, Chair of the Southern Oregon Innovation Hub, and OEN Board Member, joins Jefferson Exchange Host, Mike Green, in the JPR studio on July 2, 2025.(JPR Senior Producer, Natalie Golay)

LOCATION
White Rabbit Creator Clubhouse
Ashland Plaza on July 9th at 5-7pm.
5 North Main Street #2

TIME
5-7PM

PUBTALK REGISTRATION

SPEAKERS
Jessica Murrey, Wicked Saints Studio: Ashland High School graduate, and founder of one of a handful of woman-owned, venture-capital backed game developers in the US.

Cassandra Davis, Functional Botanicals: Ashland-based hospitality product company, and recent $100,000 winner of an OEN statewide startup competition.

Misty Burris, Co2Trust: Providing a platform for carbon credit management.

Cara Turano, the Executive Director of OEN.org.

( Dolly Parton Imagination Library)

The future of Oregon's Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) seemed uncertain when the $2.2 million requested to sustain and expand the program was not included in the state's 2025–27 budget. This critical funding is essential to keep books in the hands of more than 67,000 Oregon children each month—and to reach even more families across the state.

Virginia Auer, Executive Director of the Jackson County Library Foundation, joined the Exchange to discuss the work of the Foundation, the importance of early childhood literacy and DPIL funding concerns. During our conversation, she announced that funding has now been secured up to 2027 for continued operations, which affects around 4,500 Jackson County children under the age of five.

Virginia Auer, Executive Director of the Jackson County Library Foundation, and Jefferson Exchange host, Mike Green in the studio at JPR on July 2, 2025.(John Williams, Board Chair, Southern Oregon Innovation Hub)

( Oregon Entrepreneurs Network)

John Williams joins the Exchange. He's an entrepreneur in scalable technology companies, i.e. biotech and edtech. He'll discuss the upcoming Oregon Entrepreneurs Network PubTalk in Ashland.

John Williams, Chair of the Southern Oregon Innovation Hub, and OEN Board Member, joins Jefferson Exchange Host, Mike Green, in the JPR studio on July 2, 2025.(JPR Senior Producer, Natalie Golay)

LOCATION
White Rabbit Creator Clubhouse
Ashland Plaza on July 9th at 5-7pm.
5 North Main Street #2

TIME
5-7PM

PUBTALK REGISTRATION

SPEAKERS
Jessica Murrey, Wicked Saints Studio: Ashland High School graduate, and founder of one of a handful of woman-owned, venture-capital backed game developers in the US.

Cassandra Davis, Functional Botanicals: Ashland-based hospitality product company, and recent $100,000 winner of an OEN statewide startup competition.

Misty Burris, Co2Trust: Providing a platform for carbon credit management.

Cara Turano, the Executive Director of OEN.org.

( AboutKidsHealth.ca)

Dr. Emma Sandoe joins the Exchange. She's the director of Oregon Health Authority’s Medicaid Division. Dr. Sandoe leads employees and programs that support Oregon Health Plan (OHP), the state’s Medicaid program, which provides access to health coverage for approximately 1.4 million Oregonians.

Beginning January 1, 2026, Oregon will be able to increase access to lower-cost, lifesaving cell and gene therapies for people on Oregon Health Plan (OHP), the state’s Medicaid program.

Oregon will initially focus on providing lower-cost therapies for people living with sickle cell disease, a genetic blood disorder that affects 120,000 individuals nationally, the majority of whom are Black, African American and/or Hispanic. Approximately 800 Oregonians live with sickle cell disease.

Oregon is one of 35 states that applied in 2024 to join a multi-year initiative with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to negotiate lower costs for innovative therapies. By lowering costs for participating states, the Cell and Gene Therapy Access Model will improve access to transformative treatments for people who have health coverage through Medicaid and live with a rare or severe disease.

( Oregon Entrepreneurs Network)

John Williams joins the Exchange. He's an entrepreneur in scalable technology companies, i.e. biotech and edtech. He'll discuss the upcoming Oregon Entrepreneurs Network PubTalk in Ashland.

John Williams, Chair of the Southern Oregon Innovation Hub, and OEN Board Member, joins Jefferson Exchange Host, Mike Green, in the JPR studio on July 2, 2025.(JPR Senior Producer, Natalie Golay)

LOCATION
White Rabbit Creator Clubhouse
Ashland Plaza on July 9th at 5-7pm.
5 North Main Street #2

TIME
5-7PM

PUBTALK REGISTRATION

SPEAKERS
Jessica Murrey, Wicked Saints Studio: Ashland High School graduate, and founder of one of a handful of woman-owned, venture-capital backed game developers in the US.

Cassandra Davis, Functional Botanicals: Ashland-based hospitality product company, and recent $100,000 winner of an OEN statewide startup competition.

Misty Burris, Co2Trust: Providing a platform for carbon credit management.

Cara Turano, the Executive Director of OEN.org.

( Dolly Parton Imagination Library)

The future of Oregon's Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) seemed uncertain when the $2.2 million requested to sustain and expand the program was not included in the state's 2025–27 budget. This critical funding is essential to keep books in the hands of more than 67,000 Oregon children each month—and to reach even more families across the state.

Virginia Auer, Executive Director of the Jackson County Library Foundation, joined the Exchange to discuss the work of the Foundation, the importance of early childhood literacy and DPIL funding concerns. During our conversation, she announced that funding has now been secured up to 2027 for continued operations, which affects around 4,500 Jackson County children under the age of five.

Virginia Auer, Executive Director of the Jackson County Library Foundation, and Jefferson Exchange host, Mike Green in the studio at JPR on July 2, 2025.(John Williams, Board Chair, Southern Oregon Innovation Hub)

A map of the Gas Transmission Northwest Express pipeline, or GTN Express, from the Idaho-Canada border to Southern Oregon. (Courtesy of TC Energy )

In 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the expansion of the TC Energy Pipeline known as GTN Xpress (Gas Transmission Northwest), which spans over 1,300 miles, from Canada through Washington and the entire state of Oregon and ending in southern Oregon.

350 Deschutes is an Oregon organization opposed to the expansion. It believes "the expansion threatens the health, safety, and climate of the Northwest region and imposes a significant financial burden on Cascade Natural Gas customers," according to its website.

Joining the Exchange to discuss the details is Diane Hodiak, Executive Director of 350 Deschutes. Her organization claims that TC Energy has a deeply flawed track record on safety. Also joining the conversation is Mark R. Vossler, MD, Board President for Physicians for Social Responsibility. Both guests are part of the Stop Northwest Gas Expansion Coalition.

On a related note, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation issued a public notice that the Trump Administration had rolled back safety protections on pipelines across the country.

"U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, called on the Trump Administration to explain why the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) -- the agency charged with enforcing pipeline safety -- is failing to act against operators that fail to comply with laws that keep the public safe.

“According to PHMSA data, only five pipeline safety enforcement actions were initiated in the first three months of President Trump’s second term, compared to 68 in the same period in President Trump’s first administration, a 92 percent decrease,” Sen. Cantwell wrote in a letter to the Deputy Administrator of PHMSA. “Pipeline safety violations do not just stop happening overnight. Rather, this dramatic drop in enforcement suggests a change in department policy."

(Photo by Ben Coogan)

The Coos History Museum presents "Legends of the Sea," an immersive four-week summer lecture series that dives into the eerie, true, and legendary tales along Oregon’s treacherous coast that have haunted seafarers for centuries. From ghost ships adrift with no crew, to lost expeditions, mutinies, wrecks and more.

Coos History Museum Educator, Sire Pro, joins the Exchange to discuss.

Sire Pro is a museum educator at the Coos History Museum.( Coos History Museum)

Lecture series: Wednesday evenings only, July 2 - 23 from 5:30 - 6:30 PM at the Coos History Museum.