Think Out Loud

Darby Ayers-Flood, the city of Talent’s current mayor, will remain in office after a close mayoral race. After winning by 20 votes over challenger Mark Anderson, Ayers-Flood will hold her post and continue working on the city’s post-fire recovery and economic growth. Ayers-Flood joins us with more on her plans for the city and moving forward after the Almeda Fire struck in 2020.

Although the “red wave” was a wash this November, the GOP did gain seats in the state Legislature. Democrats still hold majorities in both chambers but they no longer have the supermajorities they need to pass tax bills without some Republican support. Senate minority leader Tim Knopp (R-Bend) joins us to talk about Republican legislative priorities and how he’s planning to approach the next session.

Democrats kept their majorities in the Oregon state Legislature in the November election, but they lost their supermajority in both chambers. That means they’ll need a little more support from Republicans to pass some bills. This week, legislators have convened at the capital to talk about priorities for the next session. Dan Rayfield, speaker of the House, joins us to talk about how he’s approaching the legislature in 2023.

Earlier this year, the American Bar Association published a report finding that Oregon barely had 31% of the public defenders it needed to provide adequate criminal defense to those facing criminal charges. That’s something that public defenders themselves have known and experienced first hand for many years. Carl Macpherson, executive director of the Metropolitan Public Defender, says the shortage that’s developed is unconstitutional and unethical. He says part of the problem is an increasing number of people who are entering the system because of a lack of other services, like mental health and substance abuse treatment. And, judges are dismissing cases if a needed public defender isn’t available.

“This is not a public defender crisis,” Macpherson said. “This is a total public safety system failure.”
Multnomah county district attorney Mike Schmidt called the public defender shortage a crisis in an op-ed earlier this year. He recently began publishing the criminal cases that have been dismissed because an attorney couldn’t be provided to a defendant, which is a constitutional right.
We talk with Macpherson and Schmidt in turn to get more on how the shortage is affecting all corners of the criminal justice system and what could be done to help alleviate the crisis.

From 2019 to 2021, Oregon emergency rooms saw nearly double the number of gun-related injuries. That’s according to an OHSU report that looked at hospital and emergency room data on these types of accidents throughout the state. The report found that, on average, there were at least two visits to the ER for firearm injuries per day in 2020 and 2021. Kathleen Carlson is the director of the gun research collaboration at OHSU and an author of the report. Robert McCauley is the emergency department medical director for Good Shepherd Healthcare Systems in Hermiston. They both join us to share what gun violence is looking like in Oregon.

Oregonians passed Measure 114 in November. It would ban the manufacture, purchase or sale of high capacity magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition. It would also require people to take a safety course and pass a background check to get a permit allowing them to purchase a firearm. But that was just the beginning of a story that may well not be complete for years, as as the law is challenged in state and federal courts and the Oregon Department of Justice defends it. On Wednesday a federal court allowed the law to move forward as written, with a 30-day hold on the permitting process that the attorney general had asked for to get the system ready. On the same day a state court in Harney county put the law on hold. Now the DOJ is asking the Oregon Supreme Court to lift that hold and let the law go into effect Thursday. Michael Kron, special counsel to the state attorney general, joins us to give us the latest.

The brown marmorated stink bug is about the size of a nickel, shield-shaped with five sides and eats almost anything. It’s an invasive species that agricultural researchers, farmers and others have been trying to get under control for many years. The bug is wreaking havoc on Oregon hazelnuts and other fruit trees. Max Ragozzino, a biocontrol entomologist with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, says it’s not a discriminating pest. In their labs, he says, the stink bug feasts on fruits, vegetables and nuts of all kinds, and will even eat jellybeans. Ragozzino joins us to tell us more about the success of recent efforts to control this invasive species, and the ongoing work needed to help the state's agricultural crops thrive.

The jellyfish-like Nanomia bijuga is found throughout the ocean, including off the coast of Oregon and Washington. It’s not much to look at, but the unusual way it moves could help humans design better underwater vehicles. Nanomia moves by jet propulsion — pumping water through its body to push itself forward. University of Oregon researchers found that the animal can control these jets based on its needs, either synching them up for speed or pumping each individually for more efficient swimming. Researchers concluded that the feature could help inform how humans can build more efficient underwater vehicles.

Kelly Sutherland is an associate professor of biology at the University of Oregon. She joins us to talk about jet propulsion and bio-inspired design.

Rising rents and an overall housing crisis continues to squeeze renters, causing some to lose their homes and preventing others from getting housing. For domestic violence survivors who are seeking to get their own housing, the situation is especially severe. The Center for Hope and Safety in Salem helps women to secure housing but it’s getting ever harder for them to do that. Rachel Alexander investigated this for Salem Reporter and she joins us to share the details.

In the late 1800s the Paiutes of Eastern Oregon were forced to march from their reservation near Malheur Lake to the Yakima Reservation nearly 350 miles away through the deep winter snow. It was a brutal trial for a nation that had already been through so much. The events that led up to that march have long been mischaracterized in historic accounts, according to a new book by David Wilson, “Northern Paiutes of the Malheur: High Desert Reckoning in Oregon Country.” Wilson joins us to discuss the history he uncovered, along with Nancy Egan, the descendant of a chief of the Paiute tribe.