Think Out Loud

Bishop Michael Curry might be best known for delivering the sermon at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. He is currently the presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church, and is the first African American to serve as in that role. Diana Akiyama is currently the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon. She is the first Japanese-American woman to become an Episcopal priest and the first Asian-American woman to become an Episcopal bishop. Geoff Norcross sits down with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Bishop Diana Akiyama at St. John the Baptist Parish on the campus of Oregon Episcopal School for a conversation about faith, diversity within the Episcopal Church, and the role of justice in the church.

One of Oregon's longest-running high school football rivalries will be played tonight at Coos Bay’s high school. The Marshfield Pirates will attempt to repeat last year’s win over the North Bend Bulldogs. Matt Jarvis has called over 20 of these rivalry games over the years. He’s the Voice of the Pirates for KMHS radio, and the play by play announcer for many high school sports games throughout the region and the state. We talk to Jarvis about tonight’s game and his career.

Hidden in a sea of sand, there are plants, insects and animals that call the Oregon dunes home. But some species, such as the Siuslaw hairy-necked beetle, are seeing their habitat shrink year after year. Dina Palvis is a dune enthusiast and author of the book, “Secrets of the Oregon Dunes.” She joins us to share the ecology of the dunes and how invasive plant life is changing the landscape of Oregon’s coast.

Before the Coos Bay Wagon road was built in 1872, the settlers in Oregon’s Bay Area were more closely connected to San Francisco than they were to the rest of Oregon. Steve Greif is a former history teacher and track and cross country coach at North Bend High School, and a board member of the Coos County Historical Society. He's giving a series of presentations about the road in honor of its 150th anniversary. Grief joins us to talk about the region’s history and geography.

Coos Bay resident Mary Paczesniak played volleyball and tennis in high school and college. She was good enough to place at national championships. But she never got a varsity letter from her teams. That’s because her time on the court was all before Title IX changed the rules around women’s sports. Paczesniak has spent years working to get recognition for female athletes from Coos Bay who competed before Title IX. She joins us to talk about her work.

In Coos County, there are five facilities approved to be a part of the behavioral health resource network. This means for places like Bay Area First Step, a peer-run addiction treatment center, they would receive a share of the roughly $4.5 million that is expected to come to the county from Measure 110. This grant funding is to be used for drug addiction recovery, treatment and other services. For Bay Area First Step, the money will allow them to purchase more housing for those seeking treatment, and to expand their working hours so that they can provide services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Steve Sanden is the executive director of Bay Area First Step. Devin Wilson is the lead peer mentor there. They join us to share what drug use looks like on the coast and the impact M110 funding makes in a community like Coos Bay.

Researchers at Oregon’s South Slough Estuarine Research Reserve are importing teabags from the UK, but they’re not using it to brew a cup of tea in between studies. These tea bags are being used to get a better understanding of what carbon storage is like in the marshes and wetlands outside of Coos Bay. The bags were buried underground in the start of the summer and were recently dug up to examine how much they have decomposed and see how much climate change is affecting the decomposition process. Shon Schooler is the Lead Scientist for the reserve and Colleen Walker is their fall intern. They both join us to share the work they’re doing at the Slough.

Back in May, Bay Area Hospital announced it would be closing its behavioral health unit due to rising costs. But after community outcry, the hospital found a way to stay open for another 12 months using funds provided by Advanced Health, which helps coordinate care for residents of Coos and Curry County on the Oregon Health Plan. Brian Moore is the President and CEO of the Bay Area Hospital. He joins us to share what led to the initial closure and how they will keep it open after the first year is up.

The Port of Coos Bay is hoping to bring a container shipping facility to the region. Coos Bay is already the largest coastal deep water shipping port between San Francisco and Portland. A shipping terminal could bring as many as two thousand jobs to the area. John Burns is the CEO of the port. He joins us to share opportunities this facility can bring and the impact it would have on the local economy.

In 2010, an eccentric art dealer named Forrest Fenn announced that he had buried a treasure box full of gold and jewels somewhere in the wilderness that could be found simply by solving the clues in a poem he had self-published. Thousands of people devoted themselves to the search, some of them to the detriment of their lives. “Missed Fortune,” the new podcast from Portland journalist Peter Frick-Wright, tells the story of one of those treasure hunters, Darrell Seyler. Frick-Wright joins us to share more.