The Portland restaurant Kachka has announced a new wage equity plan, which involves charging diners a 22% service charge in lieu of tips, free healthcare for its employees and a profit-sharing model. We talk with Kachka chef and co-owner Bonnie Morales about the new policies and the intent behind them.

The omicron variant surging throughout Oregon is now taking a toll on schools, with administrators shifting to remote learning as staff as students and staff fall ill or quarantine due to possible exposure to the virus. On Tuesday, citing staffing shortages, Forest Grove High School said it will shift to online instruction for 10 days, joining four campuses in the Portland Public Schools district. On average, 20 to 30 percent of students were absent last week, according to the Parkrose school district, which canceled classes on Monday and Tuesday. Durham elementary school in Tigard is also shifting to online instruction for the rest of the week, with roughly 300 students and staff testing positive for COVID-19 as of Friday. Sue Rieke-Smith, the superintendent of the Tigard-Tualatin school district, joins us to discuss the impact the omicron variant is having on instruction and staffing levels in the district.

Within the past month Multnomah and Jackson county have seen deaths related to hypothermia. What happens when our body can’t handle the cold? What does this mean for people in the homeless community who can’t make it to warming spaces? Matt Hansen, associate professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics at OHSU, joins us to answer these questions.

Fishing is a big industry in the Northwest, but scientists say only about 30-40% of a fish is consumed by humans. Mostly the byproduct is thrown away or sold for pet food filler. At the Oregon State University Seafood Lab in Astoria, researchers are hard at work to change that with the help of a grant from a national food and agriculture research foundation. OSU Food Science and Technology professor Jung Kwon says she hopes the project proves it’s feasible to use fish byproducts into tasty food for humans, with the potential for both reducing food waste and helping with global hunger. She joins us as well as Tim Kurt, the Scientific Program Director with the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, who says the potential for sustainable aquaculture has yet to be fully realized.

The Oregon Health Authority has published new directions for hospitals in the event they need to triage patients and decide who gets urgent, life-saving care in a crisis — and who may not — when there aren’t enough critical resources, such as intensive care beds, available. Dana Hargunani, Chief Medical Officer at Oregon Health Authority, explains.

The U.S. generates more plastic waste than the rest of the globe. A startling 8 million metric tons of that waste ends up in the ocean, according to a new report commissioned by Congress. That’s the equivalent of a dump truck full of plastic going into the ocean every minute of every day. Margaret Spring is the chief conservation and science officer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and chaired the committee that wrote the new report. She joins us to explain the genesis and scope of the problem and share the recommendations for a national strategy to keep this waste out of the ocean.

From heavy snowfall to flood warnings and landslides, this week’s winter storms have wreaked havoc for motorists and transportation crews working around the clock to clear debris and make repairs to battered roads and highways. A landslide yesterday caused the closure of I-84 in both directions from Troutdale to Hood River in the Columbia River Gorge. But a buildup of high pressure may bring some relief as we head into the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. We hear from Don Hamilton, a spokesman from the Oregon Department of Transportation and Clinton Rockey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland about the weather and its impacts on roads and highways.

The highly contagious omicron variant has once again changed the risks that many people are willing to take. Meanwhile public health officials are struggling to keep a pandemic-weary public up to date about the latest science. Dr. Jennifer Vines, Deputy Health Officer for Multnomah County Health Department, joins us to talk about what it’s like to work in public health right now.

The insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was one year ago. Domestic extremists overwhelmed Capitol police and attacked the building where lawmakers were formally counting the Electoral College votes for the 2020 election. We look back on what happened that day and its aftermath with two members of Oregon’s Congressional delegation: Democratic U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio and Democratic U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader.

Wildfires throughout Oregon have caused devastating damage to homes and landscapes, yet some artists still managed to create something new for Oregonians to enjoy. Troy Stith, is a Bend resident who creates landscape drawings out of wildfire charcoal. Kelly Howard is the owner of Lincoln City Glass Center and created glass pieces out of the ashes of burned homes. Bryan Griffith is an Arizona-based artist who currently has an exhibit titled, “Rethinking Fire” at the High Desert Museum on display until January 9th. They join us to share what it means to create works of art out of a natural disaster.