Think Out Loud

The primaries are just around the corner, and Multnomah County residents will see a few names on the ballot for the District 2 county commissioner seat. We'll hear from the top three contenders: Sam Adams is a former mayor of the city of Portland and previously held a position within Mayor Wheeler’s office. Jessie Burke is the owner of the Society Hotel and board chair of the Old Town Community Association. Shannon Singleton is the former interim director of the Joint Office of Homeless Services and is a trained social worker. They join us to share why they’re running and what they want to accomplish if elected.

Gabrielle Zevin is a lifelong devotee of video games, which is obvious to readers of her newest book, the bestseller “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.” The book tells the story of two video game designers who find professional creative and intellectual synergy that doesn’t always match in their personal lives. The book starts from the premise that designing video games is the highest of artistic pursuits. "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" is the Multnomah County Everybody Reads 2024 selection, and Zevin joins us to discuss it in front of an audience of students at Grant High School.

Grief isn’t the kind of theme or subject matter that an art exhibit would normally be organized around to draw visitors to marvel at expressions of on canvas or clay. In fact, its experience can be socially isolating, often only with the support of family members or close friends people suffering through it might hope to call upon. 

But a new art exhibit that opens this Friday at AntFarm Café and Bakery in Sandy aims to remove the stigma of talking about grief and center the reality of living with it. Now in its second year, “Grief Made Visible” is organized by Laura Lirette, the director of bereavement services at Mt. Hood Hospice. It showcases dozens of works of art and writing created by participants who attended grief support groups offered by the hospice. Prompts given during those sessions helped participants process their feelings and thoughts through writing and visual art, including painting and making collages. Joining us to talk about the exhibit are Lirette and participating artist Dina Renée, who shares her journey navigating the loss of loved ones.

Rikki Nouri came to the U.S. from Israel eight years ago for school. She has since married and settled in the Pacific Northwest. Nouri shares what she hears from friends and family in Israel, and what it’s like living so far away from this conflict. 

Last Friday, Klickitat County commissioners voted 2-1 during a special session to close the county jail following disturbing incidents that have called into question conditions in the facility and the treatment of inmates detained there. In January, the family of Ivan Howtopat filed a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit. Howtopat was withdrawing from fentanyl at the time of his detention and was found dead in his jail cell last May. Last November, a female inmate at the county jail was transferred to a local hospital after her health severely deteriorated while in custody.    

Commissioners indicated they would transfer the roughly 30 inmates in the jail across state lines to the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility in The Dalles. Joining us to talk about the recent developments and what they mean for controversial Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer is Troy Brynelson, OPB’s Southwest Washington bureau chief.

Editor’s note: This story contains discussions of suicide. If you or someone you love is considering self-harm, support is available 24 hours a day at the national suicide crisis lifeline. Just call 988. 

The iconic 1980s mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap” follows a fictional British band as their first North American tour slowly – and hilariously – falls apart. The movie serves as inspiration for the “Too Much Effing Perspective” podcast, hosted by Portlander Alex Hofmann and LA-based Allen Keller. Hofmann and Keller kick off conversations by asking guests about their “Spinal Tap” moments — situations where everything that could go wrong, did. The podcast has featured several Northwest artists since it launched in 2021, including Sleater-Kinney, the Dandy Warhols and Nancy Wilson from Heart.

Hofmann and show producer Gretchen Kilby join us in the studio to talk about the best stories guests have shared, as well as their own “Spinal Tap” moments.

Mohammad Usrof came to the U.S. from his hometown in Gaza 12 years ago for school. He has since married and settled in the Pacific Northwest. Usrof shares what he hears from friends and family in Gaza and Egypt, and what it’s like living so far away from this conflict. 

The task force that investigates online child exploitation in Oregon has long been understaffed, leading to a serious backlog of tips to follow up on. But as reported in Willamette Week, state lawmakers recently approved an extra $2.7 million for the team, allowing it to nearly quadruple in size. The money will also support community outreach efforts and training for local law enforcement to aid in their investigations.

Michael Slauson is chief counsel for the Criminal Justice Division at the Oregon Department of Justice, which oversees the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. He joins us to talk about the work the task force does and what this new funding could mean.

Public health agencies are playing an increasingly important role in alerting residents to the risks of wildfire smoke as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of wildfires in the West. But that messaging can lack important information about the severity of that risk and specific actions that can be taken to mitigate it, according to a new study from the University of Oregon. 

The study examined nearly 1,300 messages about wildfire smoke exposure that were sent in 2022 by federal, state and county health agencies in Oregon and Washington using the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. While slightly more than half the tweets were sent during September and October when wildfire smoke peaked, less than a fifth of them contained useful air quality descriptions or steps residents could take to mitigate exposure to it, such as using an air purifier at home or wearing a mask outdoors to filter out ash and smoke particles. 

Joining us to discuss the findings, and the opportunities they reveal to better communicate wildfire smoke health risks  is Cathy Slavik, the lead author of the study and a research associate at the Center for Science Communication Research at the University of Oregon.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is actively trying to hire 250 seasonal park ranger and ranger assistants in anticipation of another busy summer this year. The recruitment drive started in February, two months earlier than last year, and has already yielded more than 4,200 applications for seasonal park ranger assistants - a nearly 100% increase compared to the number of applications the agency received for this position during this same time last year. 

The OPRD won approval from state lawmakers last year to lengthen the duration of its seasonal positions up to nine months to better handle increasing numbers of visitors beyond peak summer months. There were an estimated 52 million day visits made last year, making it the second busiest year on record for the parks system. Joining us to talk about how these recruitment efforts are going and what staffing looks like at their parks are Jason Elkins, Park Manager at Cape Lookout Management Unit which includes Cape Lookout State Park on the Oregon coast, and Grace Neil, who recently started her second year as a seasonal park ranger at Wallowa Lake State Park in Eastern Oregon.