Think Out Loud

Oregon lawmakers are considering a bipartisan bill that would create some of the strictest limits in the nation on corporate ownership of primary care and specialty medical clinics. The bill has passed the House already, and senators on the health care committee voted Tuesday to pass it on to the full Senate for consideration. Some of the bill’s toughest provisions would not apply to hospitals, health systems, and nursing homes, which are already largely exempt from Oregon’s restrictions on the corporate practice of medicine. We hear more details from OPB health reporter Amelia Templeton.

The ringtail is a big-eyed, bushy-tailed relative of the raccoon whose range extends from northern Mexico to Southern Oregon. The squirrel-sized carnivores are active during the night and spend the day resting in hollowed-out trees. It’s a reclusive species, but a recent study from the Hoopa Valley Tribe and Oregon State University shed new light on the ringtail's habitat and behavior. By understanding which trees the animals choose to rest in, researchers and tribal members hope to better inform forest management practices in Southern Oregon and Northern California.

Sean Matthews is a wildlife ecologist with OSU’s Institute for Natural Resources. He joins us with more details on the study’s findings.

 The Oregon legislature is considering a bill which would make state agencies pay a fee to compensate the city of Salem for fire, police and emergency medical services. The proposal would require paying roughly $6 million a year to the city, and would launch as a three-year pilot project this year if approved by lawmakers. Supporters say the payment is needed since Salem misses out on millions in tax revenue from state-owned land even though those agencies rely on city services. Whitney Woodworth is a reporter for the Statesman Journal and has covered the proposal. She joins us with details.

Last week, the Portland school board unanimously passed a resolution allowing for the sale of its North Portland district headquarters to the Albina Vision Trust. The local nonprofit has been working to restore the historically Black Albina neighborhood through redevelopment efforts such as the construction of 94 affordable housing units it recently broke ground on. The idea for AVT’s acquisition of the PPS property goes back several years, and gained momentum last month when AVT presented its proposal to the PPS board, including a commitment to help the district find a new headquarters location that matches or exceeds the value of its current site. The resolution establishes a timeline of up to one year for a new location to be identified, along with various milestones that must be met. Michelle DePass, a Portland Public Schools Board member who grew up in the Albina neighborhood, and Winta Yohannes, executive director of Albina Vision Trust, join us to discuss the details.

The National Parks Service is planning to terminate its contract with Aramark, the company that manages lodging, food and other services at Crater Lake under the name Crater Lake Hospitality. The announcement comes after the company received the lowest possible annual rating from the park service last year. Since Aramark took over in 2018, annual reports have documented fuel leaks, sewer overflows, incomplete maintenance projects, food safety issues and more in the park. Unsafe and rodent-infested employee housing has also been a major concern. 

Roman Battaglia has been covering this issue as a reporter for Jefferson Public Radio. He joins us with more details on what the reports show and what’s next for the park.

Oregon Democrats and Republicans appear to have reached agreement to enact jail sentences of up to 180 days for people caught with small amounts of drugs like fentanyl, meth and heroin. House Bill 4002 also weakens a provision that would have required police to offer to connect people caught with drugs to treatment rather than bringing them to jail. That “mandatory deflection” was designed to give drug users a choice to avoid a criminal charge. But under the most recent version of the bill, it’s only optional. Malori Maloney, a staff attorney at the Oregon Justice Resource Center, joins us to explain how she thinks this bill will affect Oregon’s already overburdened criminal justice system.

Last month, trees throughout Western Oregon fell as strong winds and snow battered the region. In Portland alone, there are more than a million trees in its parks and nearly 3 million trees on private property. January’s storm affected branches, dead and dying trees, but also healthy trees. What can the city learn about its urban forest following the storm? How should we think about the conifers around us moving forward? We check in on trees with Brian French, arborist and owner of Arboriculture International. 

In 2015, Portland created a groundbreaking policy to give preference for affordable housing and housing loans in historically Black neighborhoods to those who have been displaced from the area. In 2018, a report found that just 4 households had been able to purchase homes using city loans. After a major overhaul, part of the contract for the city’s housing preference policy was handed to the Portland Housing Center. This week, the nonprofit celebrated 5 years and 110 homes that have been successfully purchased through the program. We check in on the policy with Dana Shepherd, executive director of Portland Housing Center, and Leslie Goodlow, equity business operations manager for the Portland Housing Bureau.

The Portland Police recently announced it had made 13 arrests and recovered two stolen vehicles during a mission targeting thefts of large amounts of retail goods in the Hollywood and LLoyd districts. About two dozen retail theft missions have taken place since last March, mainly at locations in North Portland like the Cascade Station shopping mall, according to North Precinct Portland Police Commander Rob Simon. He said the missions can involve up to 15 officers and require the participation of retail staff to inform the police of thefts of large amounts of merchandise such as Nike sneakers, North Face jackets and crates of wine. The crackdowns come amid a new Oregon law which took effect in January that toughens the penalties for organized retail crime, such as allowing a judge to impose a two-year prison sentence for a person with prior convictions for retail theft. Portland Police Sergeant and public information officer Kevin Allen joins us to talk about the police’s response to these crimes. 

After the All-Star Break, the Portland Blazers have just 28 games left in their season. With new faces on the court, the loss of beloved point guard Damian Lillard and TV viewership reportedly dropping by almost 50%, what is the future of the team? To give us a sense on how the season has played out so far and what is to come, we’re joined by Host of the “Locked on Blazers” podcast Mike Richman.