To call Cherríe Moraga a writer understates the case. She is that, yes, but also an activist on behalf of people of color, particularly women. And she comes to the University of Oregon this week (October 13-14) to talk about civil rights and civil liberties... and methods to use in activism. Those who know her best call her Maestra Moraga.

Who would have thought that the drug story of our time is a story of legal drugs, prescribed by doctors? Opioids, prescription painkillers, became highly popular for pain management. And then they became a source of consternation for health workers and police, as people began committing crimes to obtain the drugs or to obtain money to buy them, because they are so highly addictive. RxSafe Humboldt is one of several coalitions that have cropped up to address opioid addictions in our communities.

Precious Yamaguchi heard the term "camp" a lot growing up in a Japanese American household. It wasn't until she was a little older that her parents and grandparents added a key modifier to the phrase: internment camps. Her exploration of the effects of the camps on family members and other led to a monograph, Experiences of Japanese American Women during and After World War II. Dr. Yamaguchi now teaches communications courses at Southern Oregon University.

"What's that smell?" is something we ask each other every so often. If dogs could talk, it would be a constant discussion topic, because they smell so much more than humans can. It's a subject Alexandra Horowitz gets deeply into, in her book Being A Dog. And just so no one thinks we've gone completely to the dogs, we give equal time for cats in this hour.

Dennis Richardson lost the last race for Oregon governor, only to watch his opponent resign a little more than a month into his term. Which set up another race for governor this year, but Richardson opted not to run. Instead, the former legislator from Central Point is running for the Secretary of State of Oregon. His opponent, Brad Avakian, currently holds statewide office as the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries. The secretary of state has its own important roles, including

Stephanie Majewski likes it when things bump into each other. Which is a huge OVER-simplification of her work in the field of physics at the University of Oregon. But it IS true that she learns a lot from atoms crashing into each other, especially at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland. Dr. Majewski's work is the topic of this month's installment of "cUriOus: Research Meets Radio."

As with many statistics, there's some dispute about this one: every 28 hours a black person in America is killed by a vigilante, security guard, or police officer in the United States. It gave a name to the Every 28 Hours project of plays begun at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. OSF artists and theaters in other parts of the country created one-minute plays about the subject matter, and OSF and collaborators present plays and discussion at an event Monday (October 10).

Minoru Yasui is no longer with us, but he is well-remembered as the 100th anniversary of his birth approaches. Yasui was a native Oregonian, born in Hood River. But that status did not stop the federal government from sending him to an internment camp during World War II. His legal training and challenge to the internment made him famous and earned him a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Yasui is remembered in the film "Never Give Up! Minoru Yasui and the Fight for Justice," and a play called

Next time you see your favorite female actor risk life or limb on-screen, think good thoughts for the stunt double. That's the person who really faced the risks. Mollie Gregory tells the story of these unheralded heroines in her book Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story.

The play version of Edgar Lee Masters' "Spoon River Anthology" features the characters telling their stories from the graveyard, after death. So it seems appropriate to use the play as a fundraiser for a graveyard. And that's just what's happening, as the Friends of Jacksonville's Historic Cemetery mount a production of "Spoon River" to bring in money for cemetery upkeep. David Gordon provides musical accompaniment for the play.