Think Out Loud

Since 2017, the Vancouver nonprofit Share has been operating a program that removes roughly 20 tons of trash each month from homeless encampments, parks and other sites in the city. As reported by The Columbian, the Talkin’ Trash program recently received a grant to purchase three large containers and a donated dump truck to improve efficiency and safety for its work crew. But perhaps the biggest impact the program is having is in the lives of the workers it hires, all of whom are either currently experiencing homelessness or transitioning out of it. They receive case management from a social worker to help them secure stable housing while receiving benefits, a salary, work experience and coaching for job interviews - along with other professional skills. Tony Colin is the manager of Talkin’ Trash. He joins us, along with Cassandra Buck, an employee who is currently experiencing homelessness, to share their perspectives about the program, and the challenges facing people who are unhoused.

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced the creation of the Willamette Valley Conservation Area last month. The area is part of an effort to protect oak and prairie habitat and the species that live there like the monarch butterfly and Western Meadowlark. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service published a conservation study in 2017.  It found that grasslands, oak woodlands and riparian habitat in the Willamette Valley needed more protection.  We hear more details from Damien Miller, the project leader of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge complex.

Wilma Acosta, an unenrolled Pascua Yaqui woman living in Portland, went missing in November of last year. Her body was found in the Willamette River in January 2024. The Portland Police Bureau said she was suicidal.  Her family insists she was not. Communication between Acosta’s family and the Portland Police Bureau illustrates some of the challenges in Missing and Murdered Indigenous People cases. Luna Reyna, Northwest Bureau Chief at Underscore News, wrote about this case and joins us to talk about it. 

The award winning poet, writer and essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s genius lies in making connections between the astonishments of the natural world and the particular wonders of her own - and all of our - lives. Nezhukumatathil is the author of four collections of poems, including “Oceanic, and her latest book, a bestselling collection of essays, is called “World of Wonders.” Nezhukumatathil is a professor of English at the University of Mississippi, and joins us in front of an audience of students at McDaniel High School.

Charles Yu has written a lot about the nature of reality, how we understand what is real, and the assumptions we make about each other and the universe we live in. Yu’s first novel, “How to live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe,” follows a time machine repairman who is searching for his father who is lost in time and memory. His latest book, National Book Award winning “Interior Chinatown,” takes place in a Chinese restaurant that’s also the set for a police procedural TV show and a sendup of stereotypes of Asian American characters. Yu talks to us in front of an audience of students from Ida B. Wells High School.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal shows that movie ticket sales are still lagging behind from prepandemic numbers. At the same time, one in three TikTok users say the app drove them to watch a movie in theaters, according to marketing research from the company. What has pandemic recovery looked like for Oregon theaters? Did Barbenheimer save some cinemas? To answer these questions and more we’ll hear from three different theaters. Loretta Miles is the owner of Salem Cinema in Salem. Rachel Flesher is the district manager of special events and theaters for McMenamins. And Steve Herring is the CEO of Living Room Theaters. They all join us to discuss how the pandemic has changed movie going.

The Portland Police Bureau’s annual budget has risen by nearly $90 million - roughly 40% - since 2016. But increased funding doesn't always equate to reduced crime.  A recent investigation by Street Roots shows that Portland hasn't been having a crime wave. It found that reported crimes have increased less than 10% over the past four years, according to data from PPB. K. Rambo is the editor-in-chief at Street Roots and has been reporting on this. They join us to share more.

Albina Head Start provides free daycare and preschool for nearly 900 low-income children who qualify for the Head Start program at 20 locations across Portland. But the nonprofit is now at risk of losing nearly $50 million in funding after it was found to be “deficient” by the federal agency which administers the program. It must now also recompete for grant funds despite decades of serving thousands of infants and children enrolled in Head Start.  AHS has responded by filing a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services. It claims the agency is incorrectly interpreting its own regulations and wrongfully labeled the organization as being “deficient” for the actions of one employee who no longer works there. The Oregonian first reported on the lawsuit and the circumstances leading to it.  Ron Herndon is the director of Albina Head Start and a former president and board chair of the National Head Start Association. He joins us to talk about the lawsuit and what’s at stake for his organization and other local Head Start programs.

Former Oregon Poet Laureate Kim Stafford wrote a “A Proclamation for Peace” poem several years ago. But today it has a new resonance. It’s been published in a new book, along with translations into more than 50 languages and notes from the dozens of translators who were involved. The poem appears in Arabic and Hebrew, Russian and Ukrainian, Tibetan and Mandarin, Tamil, Vietnamese, Polish, Yoruba, Yucatec Maya, and a host of other languages. It also includes QR codes that link to recordings of people reading the poem. Stafford will convene a series of readings at local bookstores, starting with Annie Blooms Books in Portland in October. Stafford and his collaborator, fellow poet, editor and translator, Allison deFreese join us to talk about the project.

Fences are a key part of managing livestock on rangeland. But physical fencing is expensive, maintenance-heavy and potentially harmful to wildlife. Virtual fencing could solve some of those problems by offering a more flexible way to manage grazing herds. It could also help ranchers and rangeland managers adapt to the effects of climate change, including more frequent and intense wildfires. As recently reported in the Capital Press, a project in Wallowa County is testing the potential benefits of virtual fencing in a community forest that supports grazing, recreation and sensitive plant species.  Pete Schreder is a Wallowa County extension agent with the Oregon State University Extension Service. He joins us with more details on the emerging technology.