Youth Rising in Klamath Falls has always been about supporting young people in the community with a variety of needs. And now it plans to address the issue of youth homelessness. YR envisions an expansion of its services, including the creation of emergency shelter facilities for young people. And it's already beyond vision, with YR buying the old Gospel Mission in Klamath Falls.

Native American tribes across the country have worked over the years to install justice systems that are in tune with tribal culture. The federal government provides financial support to the efforts, and recently awarded large sums to tribes in our region. The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians plans to use the money--more than $700,000--for transitional housing. The Klamath Tribes plan to enhance programs for crime victims, and the Karuk Tribe will be able to build a Victim Services Access Center

A not-so-old song sings "every generation blames the one before." In our time, the one after, as well. Cutting remarks and jokes about OTHER generations are par for the course these days. Nobody should have to say that each generation has gifts to offer the others, but Hayim Herring says it anyway, in the book Connecting Generations . The books lays out the issues each generation has with the others, and how we can reach across generational divides to the benefit of all.

Life goes a lot faster when we like what we do at work. Being passionate rivets the attention and can result in eruptions of creativity. But it can also lead to exploited workers, says new research out of Duke University . It shows employers taking advantage of passionate workers, asking them to do things--including work for free--that they do not ask of workers who lack passion.

Redwood trees still grow tall and strong, but not all of the species is represented. Individual trees that may have possessed characteristics key to the species' survival have been cut down. That's why researchers worked for years to sequence the genomes of the Coast Redwood and the Giant Sequoia. It's a big job... a Coast Redwood has nine times as many base pairs of DNA as a human.

It is a concern in many parts of the world, and has been through history: how can we keep our culture alive? It is a particular issue for indigenous cultures in lands that have been colonized by people from elsewhere. And it is a focus of attention this week at Southern Oregon University, which hosts the Pacific Islander Indigeneity and Education Conference (May 3rd). Rob Goodwin, the host of our Keenest Observers segment, returns to talk about the issues in keeping culture alive when people--in

It's often mentioned in discussions of people living homeless: veterans are a noticeable share of the population. Veteran-focused organizations on Oregon's South Coast formed Operation Rebuild Hope to address veteran homelessness. The work resulted in "Bryan's Home," the purchase and renovation of an aging house in North Bend. It will provide shelter for veterans and a place for them to work.

Women's health is just health; it's just about dealing with health issues in women's bodies. The trouble is, societies around the globe still freak out in greater and lesser degrees about even discussing women's bodies and what they do. Case in point: women are social outcasts in some cultures while they are menstruating. Scientific American attempts to separate science from social mores in its May issue on "The Long-Neglected Science of Female Reproductive Health."

The image of the Japanese samurai is one of a bold and fearless warrior. And, it goes without saying, a Japanese one. But there are exceptions to all rules: the samurai known as Yasuke, who not only was not Japanese, but did not come from Asia. He had been kidnapped as a child in Africa, and had traveled a good bit of the world by the time he landed in Japan in the late 1500s. Yasuke's story is told in the book African Samurai , by Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard.

It's been a long time since condors soared over California's North Coast. But they could soar again under a venture that combines the efforts of the National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service with those of the Yurok Tribe . A comment period recently opened to take input on the plan to reintroduce California Condors in redwood country.