Think Out Loud

A spike in the population of voles is causing problems for farmers in the Willamette Valley. The rodents are causing costly damage to grass seed, hazelnuts and other crops. Dan Edge, the associate dean for the Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences, tells us about the region’s vole problem.

Over the past several years, workers with the Oregon Department of Human Services grew increasingly reliant on a private, out-of-state, for-profit company to house the state’s most vulnerable children – and once Sequel Youth and Family Services earned Oregon’s business, emails show, the state placed a lot of trust in the company making money off the state to ensure the children received the care they needed.OPB Political Reporter Lauren Dake fills us in.

A recent investigation by Reveal exposed the human toll of Amazon’s speedy delivery times. Reveal journalists found that workplace injury rates are above average for the 23 Amazon warehouses it examined around the country, but the one in Troutdale is by far the worst. Portland Mercury news editor Alex Zielinski spoke to a worker at that facility and she joins us to share what she learned.

The Bend Police Department gives its officers yoga and mindfulness classes, and free health screenings. They say the program doesn’t just improve health, but can make them better police officers. The program has received national praise, and Portland Police are now modeling their own wellness program after the one in Bend. Lt. Brian Beekman tells us how the program works.

The Umatilla Indian Reservation has created a warming station, named Cmuytpama, for homeless tribal members to take shelter during the winter. We talk to James Rinehart about the center and how it went from a possibility to a reality in one week.

Clara Honsinger won a national title in women’s Cyclocross last year. This week, she’s competing in the National Cyclocross Championship and hopes to win again. Honsinger joins us to talk about the sport and her upcoming race.

Portland's police and firefighter unions have concerns about Portland Street Response, a new pilot project to send an emergency medical specialist and a crisis expert to respond to non-emergency 911 calls, instead of police officers. We hear from president of the Portland Firefighters’ Association Alan Ferschweiler, Portland Police Association president Daryl Turner and Karly Edwards, chief of staff to Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty.

Some environmentalists argue that hydroelectric dams are a great source of carbon-free energy in a time of climate crisis. Meanwhile, some Northwest tribes are calling for dams to be taken down to help endangered salmon populations survive. We hear from Kurt Russo, senior policy analyst with the Lummi Nation and Kurt Miller, the executive director of the industry-backed group Northwest RiverPartners, about the cultural, environmental, and economic issues at stake.

There’s a new print publication geared towards a specific audience. “News Inside” is aimed at informing and inspiring people who are in prison. The Marshall Project, the nonprofit news organization behind it, has put Lawrence Bartley in charge of the project. Bartley was recently released after 27 years behind bars and he says he’s excited to be distributing “News Inside” to 30 facilities in 19 states, including Oregon and Washington.

By the end of next year Central Oregon’s population is likely to have grown by nearly 85 percent since 2000. That kind of growth can have a huge impact on public services, including libraries. The Deschutes Public Library is holding a series of public hearings over the next few months to learn how the library can adapt to the changing needs of its patrons.

A.K. Moss joins us to talk about her CD, “The Truth.” On November 14th it won the International Western Music Association’s 2019 Cowboy Poetry CD of the Year Award. She told the Blue Mountain Eagle, “It’s kind of like the Grammy’s.”

The Southern Oregon city of Cave Junction has gotten a lot of media attention lately for a proposal to install security cameras as part of a new public safety effort. The small city does not have 24-hour law enforcement and a volunteer citizen group fills in the gaps. It’s unclear what kind of access this group might have to security camera footage once the cameras are installed. Josephine County Commissioners must first approve the city’s plan. We hear from Cave Junction Mayor Meadow...

We get opinions and analysis on some of the biggest regional stories of the week from Julia Silverman, Naseem Rakha and Eric Fruits.

The writer Ursula le Guin said that fantasy and science fiction genres allow writers to talk about “human life as it is lived, and as it might be lived, and as it ought to be lived.” Oregon State University recently hosted a conference to explore what speculative fiction call tell us about the world we live in today. Philosophy professor Jose Antonio Orosco organized the conference, and gave a talk about Star Trek. Mohammed Shakibnia is a graduate student who writes about Star Wars.

In 2015, rapper Scott Kalama wanted to write a song that captured life on the Warm Springs Reservation where he grew up. The resulting song and music video, called “Rez Life,” won a national Native American Music Award in 2016. Kalama, who performs under the name Blue Flamez, released a new album in 2018, called “Rez Star,” and is working on his next.

Portland is making changes to the way it relates to neighborhood groups. This includes neighborhood associations and the community safety program formerly known as "neighborhood watch." We'll sit down with Portland City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly to talk about the philosophy behind these changes.

Last week Portland Monthly and ProPublica published three women’s accounts of sexual misconduct by Ambassador Gordon Sondland. Spokesperson Jim McCarthy responds.

The US Department of Agriculture has hired a “conflict prevention specialist” in Southern Oregon. Alyssa Mahaney’s job is to help farmers and ranchers find non-lethal methods to minimize the attacks on livestock from predators. We hear from her about her mission and job description.

The Rose City Rollers’ all-star roller derby team brought home their fourth international championship trophy in November. We sit down with the co-captains of the team, Elicia Nisbet-Smith and Nicole Williams, who competes under the name Bonnie Thunders.

Tiara Darnell created a podcast talking about people of color in the marijuana business. She’ll join us to talk about her thoughts on race and the cannabis industry.