Community groups such as APANO and Family Forward Oregon are urging Oregon lawmakers to give themselves a raise. Advocates argue that increasing pay for legislators will go a long way to break down barriers for people who want to run for elected office and could increase the diversity of the state legislature. SB 1566 would increase lawmakers’ salaries, starting in 2023, by tying them to the annual occupational mean wage estimate for Oregon. If the bill becomes law, it would also offer a monthly child care stipend of $1000 to lawmakers with children under the age of 13. A similar effort failed in the 2021 legislative session. We hear what it will take to get it passed this time. Our guests are Courtney Helstein, political director for Family Forward Oregon, and state Sen. James Manning Jr., a Democrat from Eugene.

Earlier this month, TriMet announced that it was reducing service on nearly a quarter of its bus routes because of an unprecedented driver shortage - and that's despite raising pay and bonuses to new drivers. The pandemic has taken a toll on other large mass transit providers as ridership has plummeted, budgets have contracted and labor woes have mounted. But what has the impact been like on rural transit providers who typically have smaller budgets to cover larger service areas than their metro counterparts? We hear from Doug Pilant, the general manager of the Tillamook County Transportation District; Adrian Mateos, the general manager of the Basin Transit Service in Klamath Falls; and Rob Johnson, the transit fleet safety and maintenance manager of Kayak Public Transit in Pendleton.

Oregon health officials announced plans this week to drop the statewide indoor mask requirement no later than March 31. This includes masking requirements for schools. We speak with Oregon’s state epidemiologist Dean Sidelinger about the data behind the decision.

Cycling is an activity that can be enjoyed by all, but if you are of a larger body type it can be difficult to find the right gear in your size or a bike that can handle your weight. All Bodies on Bikes aims to make cycling more inclusive by spreading awareness of issues in the community, educating and changing the industry and making cycling safe for all. Kailey Kornhauser and Marley Blonkey are the founders of the group and join us to share the work they do.

CJ McCollum is the latest player to be traded out of the Portland Blazers. Last week we saw the likes of Norman Powell and Robert Covington leave with many new faces heading the Blazers’s roster. Dia Miller is a writer for the Blazer’s Edge and host of the Dave and Dia podcast, she joins us on what rebuilding the Blazers means for the future of the team.

For the first time in years, Oregon's Dungeness Crab season was able to start on time and it has already set records. This season has been the highest grossing so far and it’s not yet over. Kyle Retherford is the captain of the Excalibur and Bruce Jones is the mayor of Astoria. They join us with details on what this means.

Perhaps no animal evokes as potently the existential threat of climate change as the polar bear. Global warming is causing sea ice to rapidly melt, leading to loss of habitat for the world’s largest land carnivore, which uses the Arctic ice as a platform to hunt ringed seals and other prey. Scientists face daunting challenges when studying wild polar bears in part because they live in remote places like Alaska’s north coast. But polar bears in captivity, including at the Oregon Zoo, are providing a trove of data that is helping scientists unlock clues to the health and survival of their wild counterparts. Joining us is Amy Cutting, interim director of animal care and conservation at the Oregon Zoo, and Karyn Rode, a research wildlife biologist based in Portland with the U.S.G.S Alaska Science Center.

For decades, affirmative action programs have been used as one way to bring racial equity to college admissions. Now the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases involving affirmative action, and is widely expected to say the practice is unconstitutional.The decision could come in early 2023. We hear from Milyon Trulove, the vice president and dean of admission and financial aid at Reed College, and Ame Lambert, vice president for global diversity and inclusion at Portland State University. They share what the absence of affirmative action programs would mean for their universities and what else institutions of higher learning can do to move toward racial equity.

Housing, water pollution and mental health are just a few concerns from survivors of the Santiam Fire, according to a recent Oregon State University study. Researchers conducted in-person interviews and collected anonymous survey results to understand what survivors were facing. We’ll hear from Sandi Phibbs, the evaluation and research manager at OSU Center for Health and Innovation, on the results of the study. We’ll also hear from Gates Mayor Ron Carmickle on how fires affected his own community.

Oregon needs about 1900 public defenders to ensure the constitutional rights of those in the criminal justice system, but the state has fewer than 600, a 69% deficit. That's according to a new report by the American Bar Association. Advocates say the crisis is actually longstanding and has steadily worsened. The latest report echoes a 2019 report by the Sixth Amendment Center that found Oregon’s system for public defense was essentially unconstitutional. Advocates say all three branches of government are needed to address the crisis. Metro Public Defenders attorney Tristen Edwards represents indigent people accused of crimes. She says her clients are some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people, and she’s passionate about representing them. But even working six days a week — without taking on new cases — she can never do everything she needs to do. Edwards joins us to share her experience trying to keep up with day-to-day case loads, and about her restorative justice work to address systemic inequity.