Think Out Loud

King City, Oregon began as a community for older adults in the 1960s. While the area was once an age-restricted community, the demographics of the region are starting to change. As King City expands, leaders have to navigate managing growth amid pushback from some residents. We check in on what’s next for the region with city manager Mike Weston.    

Oregon’s urban and community forestry program has grown significantly over the last few years thanks to an influx of state and federal funding. The program’s staff has more than tripled, and it recently received nearly $27 million in federal funding through the Inflation Reduction Act. $10 million of that is earmarked for grants to Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes, and $12.5 million will go to communities and organizations across the state to help with tree planting and maintenance.

Scott Altenhoff is the urban and community forestry assistance program manager for the Oregon Department of Forestry. He joins us to talk about what those opportunities could mean for the state’s urban forests. 

The city of Portland’s Safe Rest Village in the Southwest Multnomah Village neighborhood is one of two city run shelters that’s set to significantly expand capacity. The Multnomah Safe Rest Village, which opened in June 2022, will go from 28 units to 100. Volunteer groups like Southwest Outreach and Clean Camp PDX have been working for years to support the people they call their houseless neighbors. One of the key pieces of successfully integrating such a shelter into a neighborhood of concerned and housed residents is what’s known as a Good Neighbor Agreement. The Multnomah Village agreement has been years in the making and was just finalized Thursday. We hear from Sandy Stienecker with Southwest Outreach, Will Denecke with Clean Camps PDX and Laudie Porter, the community engagement coordinator on the city’s Shelter Services Team.

It’s been two years since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Supreme Court decision that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in the U.S. Since then, 14 states have instituted full bans on the procedure. Now new research shows that states with these bans are seeing fewer residency applications from medical students. Katie Hansen is an administrative chief resident at Oregon Health & Science University. Ian Field is an OB/GYN and the program director for OHSU's OB/GYN residency program. They both join us to share the impact the Dobbs decision has had on schools, communities and healthcare.

 Earlier this month, the U.S. national cricket team defeated Pakistan during a match at the Men’s T20 World Cup. It was a stunning upset and impressive victory for Team USA’s first outing at the World Cup cricket tournament, as the team continues to defy expectations by advancing to the quarterfinals. 

The international tournament is also being played on U.S. soil for the first time, a reflection of the sport’s growing popularity here. There’s also now a U.S. major league of cricket with six professional teams, including the Seattle Orcas, kicking off their second season next month. As reported recently by Axios, the Pacific Northwest has been a hub for cricket enthusiasts, thanks to the efforts of amateur cricket leagues in Seattle and Portland that have been organizing games and tournaments among teams for nearly 30 years. Joining us to talk about cricket and its growth in our region is Srini Ramakrishna, the secretary and treasurer of the Portland Metro Open Cricket League, and Satish Naik, the secretary of the Northwest Cricket League and the coordinator of the Seattle region for USA Cricket. 

Smallmouth bass can be found in rivers throughout Oregon. The fish is an invasive species and has a big appetite for salmon smolt. Smallmouth bass have been disturbing ecosystems and compete with other species for food and habitat. The Native Fish Society will host two events on Saturday to raise awareness about the problem. The “bass bashes” will happen on the Molalla River and the Umpqua River. Attendees are encouraged to catch as many smallmouth bass as they can, and the event includes a cookout full of the freshly caught fish. Kirk Blaine and Liz Perkin are the southern and northern Oregon coordinators, respectively, of the Native Fish Society. They join us with more details about the smallmouth bass and the events. 

Five years ago, the Oregon state legislature passed a bill declaring missing Native American women a statewide emergency. The bill also authorized an investigation into the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people, and the release of a report containing recommendations to more effectively respond to it. But as reporting from InvestigateWest reveals, Indigenous activists are frustrated by the lack of progress and a lack of direct engagement by law enforcement with their communities on this issue. Meanwhile, obstacles can exist around filing reports of missing Indigenous persons and sharing information across state, federal and Tribal jurisdictions. Melanie Henshaw, the Indigenous Affairs reporter at InvestigateWest, joins us to share details of her investigation. 

Brit Bennett’s book The Vanishing Half was on a lot of best-of lists in 2020. Though spanning the second half of the 20th century, the novel speaks to questions about race and identity that have been central to national conversations for the last two years. In that novel and her other writing, Bennett deals with the bonds of family, the importance of storytelling, and nature of identity. We spoke to Bennett about her essays and novels in front of an audience of students at Grant High School in Portland in 2021.

Daniel Gibbs dedicated his career as a neurologist to the study of Alzheimer’s and care for patients living with the disease. Then he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s himself. Gibbs says that early diagnosis has allowed him to slow the progression of the disease through diet, exercise and other treatment. A documentary based on the book he wrote about his experience, “Tattoo on my Brain,” is airing on June 22 at OHSU. Gibbs and his wife, Louis Seed, join us to talk about living with Alzheimer’s.

The Oregon Department of Education released its first statewide plan for computer science education late last year. The chief goal is for all K-12 public schools to offer some level of computer science classes by the 2027-28 school year. The plan received some initial funding through the governor’s office, but has yet to receive long-term funding from the state Legislature.  

Joanna Goode is the Sommerville Knight Professor in the University of Oregon College of Education. She helped create Exploring Computer Science, a curriculum and professional development program used in schools across the country. She joins us to talk about the work computer science teachers are already doing in Oregon and what it would take to make the state’s plan a reality.