Just about anybody who ever worked in a newsroom can share a story about a public official NOT looking happy to see a reporter. News organizations report on the business of government, not always a comfortable situation for people in government. And a recent study shows that cities where newspapers shut down saw an increase in local government costs, at least partly because of reduced scrutiny of city deals.

Using the hospital as the doctor's office is not uncommon in America. When you're low on cash and don't have insurance, visiting the emergency room is a viable option. And may be less of an option now that more people are insured. Research out of the University of California-San Francisco notes the use of emergency rooms dropping in California since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

Humans spent many years building big mechanized facilities to keep sewage and other waste from getting into our waterways. In Arcata, the city and community supporters worked long and hard to get nature involved in the treatment process. The result is the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary , a jewel in the city's environmental crown. It is featured in a new book called The Marsh Builders by Sharon Levy. She visits the studio to talk about the marsh creation.

Oregon needs more homes... lots of them. By one measurement, Medford alone could use more than 4,000 new rental units to make housing more affordable for more people. The state of Oregon is acting. The department of Housing and Community Services just awarded nearly $53 Million to build hundreds of housing units in other parts of the state. Margaret Salazar runs OHCS.

Conservation easements and land donations are pretty common here... people who own land volunteer to give it up, or some uses of it, for the good of the environment. There's another approach, payments for environmental services (PES), which are controversial. Do we have to pay people to do the right thing? Recent research involving Oregon State University indicates PES does provide some benefits to land and people and the communities they share. The research focused on Mexico.

Too many people already spend nights in their cars because they don't have any other place to sleep. But some other vehicles, with a little work, can be comfy places to spend some time. Ashland-based Forever Homes, Vehicles for Change plans to convert retired school buses to new uses as temporary homes for homeless people. FH,VFC leaders envision both short- and longer-term modifications for the big yellow buses.

It's a natural fit, for churches to help the homeless population. The founders and leaders of most major religions speak with compassion about caring for people down on their luck. Ashland churches are making moves to increase the quantity and quality of the community's offerings for homeless people. Rev. Dan Fowler from the First Presbyterian Church visits, along with Ken Gudger, president of Options for Helping Residents of Ashland .

Yikes, the recipe you got online calls for grams of flour, not cups. How...? Don't panic. There are easy conversion charts, and you're already doing math in the kitchen anyway. True, as pointed out by mathematician Eugenia Cheng, whose goal is to rid the world of math phobia. She worked on us a few years ago with a lighthearted look at math/kitchen crossovers, How to Bake Pi .

The resistance is not just about people taking to the streets and signing up to run for office. Opposition to President Trump is obviously expressed in literature, too. The work of 42 writers, poets, and graphic artists is bundled together in the book Who Will Speak For America? The works range from the beginning of the presidential term to the far future of the country, very much under debate at the moment. Nathaniel Popkin edited the book with Stephanie Feldman.

The recent discovery of an unusual looking wolf (or is it bear?) shot in Montana has a connection to Oregon. Because the federal Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Lab performed the work to identify the creature, which is indeed a wolf. Ken Goddard has been the director of the lab since its inception. And he can tell us plenty about the tools at the lab's disposal... it's the only fully-equipped lab of its kind in the world, serving 182 countries.