Think Out Loud

The Major League Baseball playoffs began on Tuesday. As fans around the nation watch the action, one lifelong fan of the sport in Sisters is busy fielding emails or answering calls to see if he might be available to talk baseball, or rather, baseball cards. 

Michael Blesius is the owner of Sports Card Ink, a store in downtown Sisters that specializes in vintage baseball cards and is open for just about three hours a week, by appointment only. Blesius opened it roughly six years ago as a place to house – by his estimation – nearly 2 million baseball cards he has collected over the decades, along with sports memorabilia dating to the 19th century. 

The Bulletin recently profiled Blesius, who refers to Sports Card Ink as his “high blood pressure medicine” and a place for making connections, not profits. A good day at work might be spent appraising a collection, hearing stories from a retired professional player, or giving away cards to children who never got to see Willie Mays make an over-the-shoulder catch at the Polo Grounds.

The future of a new homeless shelter in Grants Pass is in question after the shelter and the organization providing wraparound services ended their working agreement. Under the terms of a lawsuit settlement, Grants Pass is required to provide space for 150 unhoused people in the city, which the shelter is meant to fulfill.

The shelter, known as Parker’s Place Village, is required to provide case management, housing navigation and other wraparound services in addition to basic needs such as clean drinking water, around-the-clock staffing and sanitation. Local organization MINT agreed to provide those services and was already paying for security, utility and trash service at the shelter. But it will end those services Oct. 15.

Reporter Jane Vaughan has been covering these developments for Jefferson Public Radio. She joins us with more details.

Mazama Energy, a Texas-based geothermal company, has recently secured more than $135 million to dig deeper and harvest heat for renewable energy. Project Ceres, which the funding will be put toward, is a horizontal well development in Central Oregon and could generate more than 15 megawatts of power next year. That’s enough to power 4,500 homes. OPB climate reporter Monica Samayoa joins us to share more on geothermal energy in Oregon and its future.

More than 2,500 zoo and aquarium professionals will gather in Portland this week for the annual Association of Zoos and Aquariums conference.The nonprofit organization is dedicated to advocating for the advancement of zoos and aquariums, as well as being the accrediting body for high-standards of care for animals. Dan Ashe is the president and CEO of the AZA. He joins us to discuss the role of zoos today and their future.

Public school districts across the region are facing dropping enrollment, budget cuts, and other financial strains. Many districts are planning for school consolidation and closures as a solution.

Closing schools is one way to preserve resources and balance budgets, but it’s a deeply personal matter to families, teachers, administrators, and the broader community.

Two of the school districts that have announced they’re weighing options for school closures in coming years: Evergreen Public Schools in Washington, and Salem-Keizer in Oregon.

We speak with Will Denner, education reporter at The Columbian, as well as Eddy Binford-Ross, a Report for America Corps member who covers education for the Salem Reporter. They share more about the challenges the districts are facing and the solutions they’re deliberating.

Menopause is one of the biggest transitions women go through, and for some, the most difficult. For many, it’s a challenge to get medical care and other support during those years. That’s because research and education about menopause and perimenopause has been severely lacking, as well as the cultural space to center women’s experiences — particularly around menses, perimenopause and menopause.

Oregon author Lidia Yuknavitch aims to expand that space with a new book of essays she edited. “The Big M” is a collection by 13 different writers reflecting on their experiences of menopause and perimenopause. The book uses these distinct but unified perspectives to rebrand and reinvent our understanding of “the big change.”

Portland authors Cheryl Strayed and Monica Drake contributed their stories to the book. They join us, along with Yuknavitch, to discuss their essays and their perspectives about the cultural conversation about menopause.

George Saunders’ biting, imaginative short stories and novels have made him one of America’s most celebrated authors. His 2017 novel “Lincoln in the Bardo,” which won the Man Booker Prize, follows Abraham Lincoln as he grapples with a host of spirits following his son’s death. In his most recent novel, “Vigil,” Saunders returns to the afterlife to explore corporate greed, climate change and the nature of salvation. 

Saunders joins us to talk about life, death and everything in between in front of a live audience of students at Portland’s McDaniel High School.