Think Out Loud

Five years ago, the Woolsey Fire tore through the dry coastline west of Los Angeles, burning nearly 2,000 structures and killing three people. A group of surfers known as the Point Dume Bombers rallied together to fight the fire and take care of neighbors afterwards. Since then, they have created a community brigade pilot program to educate neighbors, harden local houses, and help people evacuate during fires. The new podcast Sandcastles, focuses on the work of the Point Dume Bombers and the new brigade. Adriana Cargill, producer of the podcast, joins us to explain.

Last month, a new court opened in Vancouver to hear cases involving offenses typically associated with people experiencing homelessness such as illegal camping and storing personal property in public spaces. The people accused of these low-level crimes are known as participants, not defendants, and the legal proceedings take place not in a courthouse but inside the Recovery Café, a substance abuse recovery provider serving Clark County. Reducing barriers to people experiencing homelessness is a key focus of the Vancouver community court, with multiple providers present at each hearing to help participants access services right away and commit to completing a set of conditions, including community service, required by the court to resolve their cases.

Jonathan Young is Vancouver's City Attorney. Brandy Branch is the Vice president of outpatient and community-based services at Lifeline Connections. Christie Emrich is a criminal defense attorney and the owner of Vancouver Defenders. They join us to talk about the Vancouver community court and the impact it’s having.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that they will be investing $400 million for the creation of 12 new regional food business centers. Oregon State University will co-lead a $30 million center with Colorado State University that will serve Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. The goal of these centers is to help ranchers, farmers and other food businesses break out into new markets as well as guide them through potential federal, state and local resources. Lauren Gwin is the interim director of the Center for Small Farms and Community Food. She joins us to share more on the goals of the centers and the impact they will have on the industry.

On April 15, fighting broke out in Sudan amid the collapse in relations between two generals who disagree on a framework to restore a civilian government after more than two years of military rule. The conflict has forced more than 100,000 Sudanese to flee to Egypt and other neighboring countries, and prompted the United Nations to warn of “a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis” amid calls for a cease-fire to safely deliver food, water and emergency supplies.

We hear from Sibongani Kayola, the Sudan country director for the Portland-based international aid organization Mercy Corps, which has been active in Sudan since 2004. She shares with us how the conflict has impacted Mercy Corps’ programs and relief efforts.

In March 1993, The Museum at Warm Springs opened its doors, becoming the first Tribal museum in the state of Oregon and changing the way institutions represent the Native American historic and cultural record. Today, the museum boasts an extensive collection of artifacts, artwork, photographs and heirlooms that the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs started acquiring more than five decades ago from Tribal members and families. It also provides a space to showcase temporary exhibits and contemporary work, such as an “An Eye for the Rez,” a retrospective of Warm Springs Tribal member and photographer Edward Heath currently on display as part of the programming to celebrate the museum’s 30th anniversary.

Joining us to talk about the museum’s legacy and share her vision for its future is Elizabeth Woody, executive director of The Museum at Warm Springs and a former Oregon Poet Laureate.

But first, we hear from Central Oregon Bureau Chief Emily Cureton Cook who recently paid a visit to the museum to learn about its enduring cultural impact. Warm Springs Community Radio K-W-S-O provided archival recordings for this radio story, and KWSO journalist Will Robbins contributed to the reporting.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls was founded in Portland in the early 2000s to provide space for girls and non-binary young people to learn to play and write songs. Now there are hundreds of these camps all over the world, but the one in Portland is changing. Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls is passing the torch to the Portland nonprofit Friends of Noise, which works to give youth access to the music industry. We talk to Andre Middleton, the executive director of Friends of Noise, and two young sound engineers who have been trained by the program: Fox Newey and Mikayla Zoe Best-Prostrednik.

Earlier this year, the Interior Department issued a draft of a new Public Lands Rule designed to “guide the balanced management of public lands,” and help those lands “resist and recover from drought, wildfire, and other disturbances.” Among other things, the rule clarifies that conservation is on a par with other uses of federal lands, such as grazing, oil and gas drilling and mining. The draft rule is open for public comments until June 20. Jonathan Thompson, contributing editor at High Country News, joins us to explain what’s in the draft, and how it might change our public lands.

In Oregon, about 44% of households struggled to make ends meet by the end of 2021. That’s according to a report released by United Ways of the Pacific Northwest and partner organization United For ALICE. People who earn above the federal poverty level but less than what they need to financially survive day-to-day are described by the report as "asset limited, income constrained, employed." We hear more about the issue and what this means for Oregonians from Jim Cooper, the president and CEO of United Ways of the Pacific Northwest.

It’s been more than a year since Russia invaded Ukraine. Shortly after the invasion, we spoke with Tatiana Terdal, a board member of the Ukrainian-American Cultural Association of Oregon and Southwest Washington. We’ll check in with her about how the local community has been affected over the last year. We’ll also hear from Erik Heinonen, an Oregonian aid worker who recently returned to his home in Ukraine after fleeing to Romania last year with his family.

For some, the pandemic lockdowns may seem like a distant memory they would prefer not to revisit. But for parents and students, even though school has been back for more than a year, some effects linger. The educational, social and emotional effects are still not fully understood. Jonicia June Shelton is a mother, a therapist and an assistant principal at HB Lee Middle School. She joins us to share her experiences. And we want to know how the pandemic has affected you and your kids and changed the way you parent, 888-665-5TOL.