Kyiv, Ukraine - October 29, 2025: Open ZYN nicotine pouch tin in red fruits flavor, medium strength, showing white pouches inside red and white branded container with lid removed on white background.(Panama - stock.adobe.com / 1775747864)

A new report from the Center for Environmental Health argues that while youth vaping has finally dropped, the tobacco industry has simply shifted tactics. E-cigarette use among teens hit a 10-year low in 2024, but nicotine pouches are now surging, especially among young people. According to federal data, youth use of nicotine pouches more than doubled between 2021 and 2024.

The products are discreet, heavily flavored and widely promoted on social media, often in ways that appeal to teens. Some pouches contain extremely high nicotine levels, strong enough to pose serious health risks.

The report documents a familiar pattern.

"What we saw with e-cigarettes is very similar to what we are now seeing with nicotine pouches," said Caitlin Moore, research manager at the Center for Environmental Health. "We found a bunch of different fruit flavors and also candy flavors like chocolate and caramel apple."

A decade ago, e-cigarettes were marketed as a safer alternative, even as products contained cancer-causing chemicals and lacked required health warnings. Legal action eventually forced companies like Juul to limit youth marketing and pull flavored products, which helped drive teen vaping rates down.

Now, the nonprofit watchdog organization finds that nicotine pouches are filling that gap and is calling for stricter enforcement of regulations and the end of flavored pouches.

• Caitlin Moher, research manager at the Center for Environmental Health and author of "A Candy Shop of Deception: Big Tobacco’s Evolving Plan to Addict Generations of Users"

(Chiloquin Community Center )

Hundreds of people use the Chiloquin Community Center each month to visit the Chiloquin Library, Two Rivers Art Gallery, attend meetings and take part in community events. Chiloquin Visions in Progress (CVIP) recently announced the completion of a critical upgrade at the center: the installation of two ADA-compliant automatic door openers on the public restrooms.

The project, funded by the Pacific Power Foundation, seeks to make restroom access safer and more independent for all community members, especially seniors and people with mobility challenges. The new automatic doors help visitors who use wheelchairs, walkers or other mobility aids, as well as those with limited upper-body strength.

• Robert Crowie, the executive director of Chiloquins Visions in Progress, joins the Exchange to discuss what the project means for the commmunity.

( Oregon Wildlife Foundation)

Roads across Oregon cut through wildlife habitat. When animals, both large and small, make the dangerous journey across the road, thousands will lose their lives in collisions with vehicles. Approximately 5,000 deer, elk, bears, antelope and other large animals are killed on Oregon roads by vehicles every year. The risk to humans can also be fatal. But efforts are underway to address the problem.

Tim Greseth, executive director of the Oregon Wildlife Foundation, joins the Exchange to discuss the problem and potential solutions.

Joan Ellison and the Rogue Valley Symphony will perform original arrangements in 'A Judy Garland Christmas" at the Agnes Bowmer Theater on Dec 19. (Joan Ellison )

Restored orchestral arrangements made famous by Judy Garland will anchor the Rogue Valley Symphony’s holiday concert later this month.

The symphony will perform "A Judy Garland Christmas" on Dec. 19 at the Angus Bowmer Theatre on the Oregon Shakespeare Festival campus in Ashland, Oregon.

The concert features soprano Joan Ellison, who has spent nearly a decade working to restore Garland’s original arrangements. Ellison serves as editor of the Judy Garland Carnegie Hall Concert Restoration Project for the Judy Garland Heirs Trust and will perform the restored orchestrations during the concert. She will also appear in costumes inspired by Garland’s stage performances.

Rogue Valley Symphony Music Director Martin Majkut joins the Exchange to discuss the concert and the process of bringing Garland's music back to the stage.

Majkut has served as music director of the Rogue Valley Symphony since 2010 and was appointed music director of the Oregon Coast Music Festival in 2025. He was born in Bratislava, in what is now Slovakia, and came to the U.S. as a Fulbright scholar in 2003.

Rogue Valley Symphony Music Director Martin Majkut joins Jefferson Exchange Host Mike Green in the JPR studio on Dec. 16, 2025.(JPR Senior Producer Natalie Golay)

Anderson, California Mayor Susie Baugh(Susie Baugh)

As part of its ongoing series featuring local leaders, the JX speaks with Susie Baugh, mayor of Anderson, California. The city, located 10 miles south of Redding in Shasta County, has a population of about 11,000.

Baugh has lived in Anderson her entire life and now raises her family there. She points to the city’s scenic beauty and family-friendly atmosphere as key strengths, while also discussing the challenges Anderson faces and her outlook for its future as she approaches the end of her term.

Oregon gray wolf. The Center for Biological Diversity is petitioning the court to compel the Trump administration to comply with an agreement to protect the gray wolf population in Oregon under the Endangered Species Act, which was made under the Biden administration.(Center for Biological Diversity )

The Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, alleging the agency failed to develop a national gray wolf recovery plan as required under the Endangered Species Act. Two years ago, the nonprofit won a similar lawsuit.

The Trump administration published a finding in November that protecting the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act is “no longer appropriate” and that the agency would not develop an updated recovery plan.

The agency’s recent finding reflects a policy reversal. In 2024, under the Biden administration, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced a national recovery plan for gray wolves, following an agreement reached after a 2022 lawsuit seeking a national wolf recovery plan.

Collette Adkins, director of the carnivore conservation program and a senior attorney at the center, discusses details of the current lawsuit and the importance of federal protection for gray wolves.

( Simon and Schuster)

Jaz Brisack is the author of "Get on the Job and Organize: Standing Up for a Better Workplace and a Better World."

Jaz joins the Exchange to share insider details of how the workers at Starbucks were organized into a union, and the response by corporate leaders to undermine those efforts. The story also includes efforts to organize workers at Nissan and Tesla.

Portland State Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner is the author of a new book about the life of one of America's most iconic storytellers, Lin-Manuel Miranda.( Simon and Schuster)

How did Lin-Manuel Miranda, the sweet, sensitive son of Puerto Rican parents from an immigrant neighborhood in Manhattan, rise to become the preeminent musical storyteller of the 21st century? Vanessa Finney visits with Portland State Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, author of "Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist."

The book traces Miranda's path from an often isolated child to the winner of multiple Tonys and Grammys for his Broadway hits "Hamilton" and "In the Heights." Miranda also produced the global chart-topping sensation songs in Disney’s "Moana" and "Encanto." He's the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur Genius Grant.

Fall-run Chinook salmon migrate and spawn in the Feather River near state infrastructure and the Feather River Fish Hatchery in Oroville, on Oct. 28, 2024. ( Xavier Mascareñas / California Department of Water Resources )

The JPR news team gathers for a roundtable discussion of the top news stories they've been working on this week. Top stories include:

Feds deny petition to list two Oregon Chinook salmon populations as endangered

Update on lawsuit against Humboldt County hospital over abortion access

Homeless service providers prepare for HUD funding changes, uncertainty

Jessica Jones is the Area General Manager of Waste Management (WM) of Northern California-Nevada. She oversees the new Organics Composting Facility in Anderson, CA. ( WM)

Jessica Jones joins the Exchange. She is the Area General Manager for Waste Management (WM) of Northern California and Nevada.

The Anderson Chamber of Commerce recently hosted a grand opening ceremony for the new WM Anderson Organics Composting Facility, the first large-scale commercial composting site of its kind in the region.

The new facility is supported in part by a $10 million CalRecycle Organics Grant, a key component of the California Climate Investments program. The facility is expected to process yard waste and food scraps from across Shasta County and surrounding communities, converting organic material into nutrient-rich compost for use in local farms, gardens, and other end markets.