Think Out Loud

Portland will host Major League Table Tennis events this weekend at the Oregon Convention Center. On Friday, the Portland Paddlers will face off against the Los Angeles Spinners at 7:30 p.m.  Hampus Nordberg is a Portland Paddler player, and Christian Lillieroos coaches the team. They join us with more about what table tennis looks like in Portland and what to expect this weekend.

 Last month, Oregon became the first state in the nation to be verified for its accessibility for travelers with disabilities by the travel website Wheel the World. The company worked with Travel Oregon to assess hundreds of hotels, restaurants, tourism providers and state parks in seven regions across the state for their accessibility. That includes features like step-free entrances at museums or specialized wheelchairs available to venture onto a beach on the Oregon Coast. 

But the state’s efforts to promote its accessibility doesn’t mean that barriers don’t still exist for travelers with physical or neurocognitive disabilities. Small hotel owners and tourism operators may also lack awareness about best practices to engage with these travelers or struggle with how to become more accessible online and in person. 

To address these gaps, researchers at Southern Oregon University recently received a grant from Travel Oregon to develop and roll out training workshops at 12 locations across the state for travel industry professionals and other stakeholders. The training includes guidance on best practices and role-playing exercises where participants can experience, for example, what it’s like to navigate a carpeted hotel lobby in a wheelchair or to receive information during an emergency as a person who is hard of hearing. 

The goal of these trainings and the education they provide is to create a statewide network of “Accessible Tourism Ambassadors,” according to Pavlina McGrady, an associate professor in the school of business at Southern Oregon University. McGrady and Rebecca Williams, an assistant professor in the school of business at SOU, join us for more details. Ulysses McCready, a junior at SOU who is blind, also shares his perspective about inclusive tourism and the assistance he provided McGrady and Williams on their project. 

 In 2007, the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries released a report looking at the seismic safety of more than 3,000 schools and other public buildings. A new analysis from The Oregonian/OregonLive found that of the 138 schools in the Portland area that were considered  at “high” or “very high” risk of collapsing, 110 of those continue to have students. And of those 110, 55 of them still have not had any major renovations. At the same time, some researchers are beginning to rethink whether the current "drop, cover and hold on" safety plan is the best option for students. Lizzy Acker is a reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive. She joins us to share more on the seismic preparedness of Portland's students and schools.

Nationwide polling suggests that about half of Americans oppose the deployment of National guard troops to American cities. But the poll also suggests a significant number - 38% - do support deployment. Dan Mason is a National Committeeman for the Oregon Republican Party and former member of the Oregon Ethics Commission. He says while those are national poll numbers, he suspects they reflect Oregon, including its nearly 730,000 registered Republicans. Mason says he thinks Portland officials may be downplaying the city’s problems keeping the peace and protecting the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland. He sees a potentially positive role for National Guard troops in the city. He joins us to tell us more about his views and what he’s hearing from his fellow Republicans in Oregon and across the country.

In June, President Trump deployed thousands of National Guard members and hundreds of active duty Marines to Los Angeles to respond to largely peaceful protests over the administration’s immigration sweeps. A judge recently ruled that the use of federal troops in LA was illegal since they performed law enforcement duties the military are constitutionally prohibited from doing.

Now, Trump has mobilized 200 National Guard troops to Portland, saying they’re necessary to protect federal officials and property. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield has sued to block the deployment.

Rebecca Ellis covers Los Angeles county government as a staff writer for the LA Times. She previously covered Portland city government for OPB. She joins us to talk about how Angelenos responded to the deployment in their city and what could be in store for Portland.

For the first time since 2019, the federal government has shut down after Congress failed to pass a funding bill before a midnight deadline. A vote called by Senate Republicans on a stopgap funding bill that was passed previously by Republicans in the House failed on Tuesday evening. That bill would have kept the government funded at current levels until Nov. 21. 

Deep divisions remain between Democrats and Republicans to overcome the funding impasse. Among the concessions Democrats are demanding from Republicans are an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year, and rolling back cuts to Medicaid under the GOP tax and spending bill signed by President Trump in July. Republican Congressional leaders and President Trump have sought to blame the shutdown on Democrats. Polls conducted before the shutdown by the New York Times and NPR showed roughly a third of respondents would blame both parties for the shutdown, though more respondents put the blame on Republicans than Democrats.   

Democratic Oregon U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley joins us from the nation’s capital to talk about the shutdown and the deployment of 200 Oregon National Guard members in Portland expected in the coming days.

President Trump’s authorization of the deployment of Oregon National Guard troops to Portland brought swift opposition from civic and business leaders across the state. AG Dan Rayfield has filed a lawsuit and an emergency motion aimed at stopping the deployment. 

Lewis & Clark Law professor Tung Yin, author of “National Security Lies,” joins us to share the legal issues involved in President Trump’s deployment of National Guard Troops under Title 10, section 12406 of the U.S. Code, and how the legal challenges are likely to play out.v

President Trump has ordered 200 Oregon National Guard members into Portland, citing protests outside immigration facilities. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield has filed both a lawsuit and a temporary restraining order to block the deployment. The State of Oregon and the City of Portland will appear in federal court at 10 a.m. on Friday for a hearing on their motion for a temporary restraining order. Rayfield joins us with details of the legal challenge.

Progressive city councilor Mitch Green, who represents Portland’s District 4 and is himself a veteran, called on local members of the military to protest the deployment of National Guard troops to the city. He joins us with more on the deployment.

Several hundred people gathered outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland on Sunday to protest the Trump administration’s decision to send 200 members of the Oregon National Guard to the city. Although the protest was mostly peaceful, more than a dozen counterprotesters verbally clashed with protesters and several protesters were hit with pepper balls as ICE agents attempted to escort cars into the building. 

On Monday, Portland police announced the arrest of two individuals on assault charges outside the ICE building. “We will not accept or tolerate people coming down to the south waterfront for the purpose of engaging in violence,” Portland Police Chief Bob Day said at a press conference on Monday morning. He also praised the role of dialogue officers to reduce tensions during protests, which he cited as an example of the bureau’s reforms to how it manages crowds since the 2020 racial justice protests.

Chief Day talks with us to share the agency’s approach to handling protests outside the ICE facility, planning for a possible uptick in protest activity once the Oregon National Guard has been deployed to the city and how Portland police will communicate with a federalized National Guard.