Think Out Loud

Julie Brown is an English and humanities instructor at Clatsop Community College in Astoria. One of the most popular courses she teaches is on maritime culture, which takes students out of the classroom and onto the decks of ships to see firsthand what life is like working as a bar pilot on the Columbia River or as a deckhand on the Lady Washington, an exact replica of an 18th-century, 90-foot-tall ship that was the first recorded vessel to sail to the Oregon coast. Eight years ago, a former student encouraged Brown to train to work as a deckhand aboard the Lady Washington, which she did for two years, traveling from British Columbia to San Diego, while juggling her teaching duties. The Astorian recently previewed a lecture Brown gave to a packed audience on how cultures as diverse as Vikings and Chinook Indians used boats to bury their dead at sea or on land. Brown joins us to talk about these ancient practices, and how her love for writing, literature and maritime history has taken her from the halls of Oxford to the bars of Astoria.   

Washington County Animal Services recently won the 2023 Animal Control Agency of the Year award from the National Animal Care & Control Association. Randy Covey manages the Hillsboro organization and the Bonnie Hays Animal Shelter. He also won a Lifetime Contribution Award from the Oregon Animal Control Council earlier this year.  We hear more from Covey about the county’s work and how the animal control industry has changed over the years. 

Enhanced rock weathering is a method that uses crushed volcanic rock to improve soil health. Ann Leslie Davis is a freelance science writer and recently covered the issue for Modern Farmer. We hear more from Davis about her reporting, how volcanic rock dust can help overworked soil and how farmers feel about using the method.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is updating its rules around how and when visitors may be excluded from state parks. A committee of lawyers, mental health professionals and park staff has been developing the update over the last few months. The updated rules specify that any behavior that endangers the safety of visitors, staff or park resources qualifies for an exclusion. They also lay out how long a visitor may be excluded based on those behaviors and the appeals process for visitors who feel they’ve been unfairly excluded. Public comment on the update is now open and will close Nov. 3. 

Chris Havel is the deputy director and a spokesperson for the OPRD. He joins us with more details on the proposed update. 

When a new wildfire starts in the forest, wildland fire dispatchers are the people in charge of getting resources where they need to go. Their early decisions can help to keep a small fire from getting huge. But a 2022 survey of wildland fire dispatchers in Oregon and Washington by the U.S. Forest Service found that “dispatch is experiencing problems that compromise their own health and safety” as well as “the health and safety of other firefighters,” according to a new article in High Country News. Kylie Mohr, a correspondent for High Country News who wrote that story, joins us to talk about it.

Thirty years of international treaties like the Paris Climate Accords have not reduced global carbon emissions. Oregon State University economist William Jaeger says that’s because the majority of those involved in policy making will not support climate policies whose benefits arrive mainly after they die. Jaeger argues that we may need to rely on the courts to set legal standards that will help create solutions to climate change. Jaeger joins us to discuss his findings.

Since 2010, Eugene's minor league baseball team have been playing at University of Oregon’s PK Park. But with a MLB decision to upgrade to a more expanded season, conflicting schedules and facility requirements mean the Emerald's can no longer play at the field they’ve known for the past decade.

The team has proposed a multi-use facility, but they only have two-thirds of the funds to pay the $90.4 million bill they would need. Allan Benavides, the general manager of the Ems, joins us to share what’s next and what the team means for the community.

The film “Deafula” tells the story of a man who comes to realize he’s a vampire. But what makes the 1975 movie unique is that it was the first feature-length 35 mm film to be shot entirely in American Sign Language. The film’s star and director was deaf, and the film created a singular experience for deaf and hard-of- hearing audiences at the time. It was shot in Portland and produced by Oregonian Gary Holstrom.  For hearing audience members, a soundtrack with a translation of the dialogue is part of the original film, along with a music track.

“Deafula” was last screened in 1975 at the Paramount Theatre. The film will be shown for the first time since then to a sold-out crowd at the Hollywood Theater this Thursday. Because of popular demand, the Oregon Historical Society is planning to bring it back for a second screening in early 2024.  Holstrom joins us to talk about the making of the film and its unique place in cinematic history.

 Mount Rainier in Washington state is covered with nearly 30 square miles of glaciers and icy patches - more than Mount Hood, Crater Lake and all other volcanic mountains combined, from British Columbia to Northern California. But climate change is taking a toll on Mount Rainier’s glaciers, according to a study published in June. It found a 42% reduction in glacier area from 1896 to 2021, and officially removed Stevens glacier from the park’s inventory. The situation appears worse for the glaciers at Mount Hood, according to a new photographic survey completed last month by the Oregon Glaciers Institute. It found that the seven major glaciers at Mount Hood had receded an average of 60% over the past 120 years, and that roughly a quarter of that loss happened in just the last 20 years. Joining us to discuss the toll climate change is taking on the ice cover in these iconic and popular Northwest peaks are Scott Beason, a park geologist at Mount Rainier National Park, and Anders Carlson, the president of the Oregon Glaciers Institute. 

For the first time in 15 years, passenger flights are once again taking off from the Salem Municipal Airport. Avelo Airlines recently began providing flights to Las Vegas and Hollywood Burbank Airport in Southern California. The ultra low-cost carrier is the first to provide commercial flights in Salem since Delta stopped its service to the city during the 2008 financial crisis.

Salem Mayor Chris Hoy recently returned from the inaugural flight to Las Vegas, along with Travel Salem CEO and President Angie Villery. They join us with more details on what the new air traffic could mean for the city.