Think Out Loud

Jeanne Carver and her family have spent decades incorporating sustainable practices into their ranch.  Her brand, Shaniko Wool Company, is certified under the Responsible Wool Standard. The certification includes third-party audits of the ranch and covers sheep welfare and sustainable land management. More recently, Carver has studied how much carbon her ranch has stored in its soil. We check in with her to learn more about sustainable ranching.

Oregon has one of the highest rates in the country for kindergarteners with vaccine exemptions. The state’s 7% rate is only lower than Utah’s (7.4%) and Idaho's (9.8%).  Ryan Hassan is a pediatrician in Happy Valley and also serves as the medical director for Boost Oregon, a parent group working to increase vaccinations overall through education. He says he’s seen coronavirus vaccine skepticism bleed into skepticism towards well-established vaccines against measles, mumps, rubella and pertussis. He says since the pandemic, an industry promoting dangerous disinformation about vaccines has itself spread like a virus. We talk with him about how he approaches conversations with parents of school-aged children, and how Boost Oregon is attempting to overcome disinformation with the truth about the medical efficacy and public health necessity of vaccinating against preventable diseases of all kinds.

Oregon is one of the leading exporters of peppermint oil in the U.S. But a fungus called verticillium wilt, which affects the leading variety of peppermint, is spreading throughout the Willamette Valley. Reporter Berit Thorson recently wrote about the issue for Capital Press, and joins us to talk about what she learned.

The Hermiston Herald recently profiled Jessica Marcum, a community paramedic at Umatilla County Fire District #1, about her job helping patients in the region. Unlike paramedics who respond to emergencies, community paramedics work to keep patients out of emergency rooms by providing in-home health services, from medication management after a hospital stay to making referrals for mental health services. Although community paramedics are found throughout Oregon, their impact is especially felt in rural areas. A recent study by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University found that community paramedics in Central Oregon reduced visits to the emergency department by nearly 14%. We hear from Jessica Marcum and Sabrina Ballew, the Mobile Integrated Healthcare Manager at Mercy Flights in Medford, about the role community paramedics are playing to bridge gaps in care and improve health outcomes in Southern and Eastern Oregon.

Last spring, the Hood River library system went on the road with a bookmobile that travels to rural communities throughout the county. The van offers books, DVD players, laptops and free wifi to patrons This summer, the bookmobile started offering other services as well, including hygiene kits, cold water on hot days, and meals to school-age kids. Yelitza Vargas-Boots, the bilingual outreach librarian for the Hood River County library district, joins us to explain the services of the bookmobile.

The Portland City Council this week unanimously passed a drug criminalization ordinance crafted by Public Safety Commissioner Rene Gonzalez and Mayor Ted Wheeler. The measure bans the public use of drugs, contingent on a change in state law to allow such measures. City commissioners also voted to direct lobbyists to push for that state law change. Addressing public safety and homelessness were chief among the issues Gonzalez campaigned  on. Earlier this year he made a controversial decision to prevent Portland Street Response from distributing tents and other supplies to people experiencing homelessness. The future of the popular PSR program has yet to be determined, with full funding for its ongoing operation yet to be identified. Gonzalez joins us to talk about his vision for a public safety system that serves all residents.

Football has been the main focus of the PAC-12 realignment, in which all but Oregon State University and Washington State University have jumped ship for other conferences. But what about the bands, cheer squads and other student groups that support athletics? As reported in the Daily Barometer, members of OSU’s marching band are facing their fair share of distress and uncertainty over the PAC-12 collapse.

Mayri Ross is a fifth-year saxophonist in the OSU Marching Band and serves as the band’s recruitment officer. She joins us to talk more about what conference realignment could mean for members of the marching band.

Forest thinning improves the health of older trees and enhances native biodiversity on federal lands in eastern Oregon. That’s according to a new study from Oregon State University, in partnership with local groups in Oregon’s Blue Mountains. We talk to James Johnston, the assistant professor in the College of Forestry at OSU who authored the study, about how selective thinning could make forests more resilient in the face of forest fires.

Jesse Johnson walked out of the Marion County Jail on Tuesday as a  free man, after 25 years behind bars in Oregon. In 2004, Johnson was convicted of murdering 28-year-old Harriet Thompson in a Salem apartment — a crime that he denied committing. A jury then sentenced him to death, and Johnson lived on death row at the Oregon State Penitentiary until 2021, when his case was overturned by the Oregon Court of Appeals. Prosecutors quietly dismissed the case against him on Tuesday, acknowledging evidence in the case was too thin to retry the 62-year-old. OPB editor Ryan Hass tells us the details.
 

While rescue shelters for dogs and cats can be found in many Oregon cities, there are fewer options for small pets like hamsters, hedgehogs, rats and chinchillas. The Little Critter Crew is working to change that. As reported in Eugene Weekly, the Eugene-based animal rescue has built a network of 32 foster homes across the state since it launched in 2020. Kayla Hernandez is the rescue’s co-founder. She joins us to share more details on how the “crew” operates and the importance of small animal rescue.