Think Out Loud

The NBA draft started last week, and free agency just began. For the Blazers and their fans, some new faces will hit the court, and others will say goodbye. Yang Hansen, a 7-foot-1 center from China, is the Blazers’ newest rookie and was No. 16 in the overall draft. The Blazers also recently parted ways with center Deandre Ayton after a slew of “bad ways,” including tardiness, tantrums and skipping rehabilitation appointments, as first reported in The Athletic. Mike Richman is the host of the “Locked on Blazers” podcast. He joins us to share more on what to expect from Rip City’s beloved team after this player shake-up.  

CAHOOTS, the Lane County program that’s been a model for mobile crisis services around the country, has been facing challenges at the local and federal level.    Services in Eugene came to an end earlier this year as the city managed a budget shortfall.   Lane County offers crisis services that are funded through Medicaid, but CAHOOTS also specialized in homeless and community outreach.  While CAHOOTS is no longer serving Eugene, its contract with Springfield has been renewed. It currently offers 12 hours of service, seven days a week to the city. Justin Madeira is the CAHOOTS program coordinator. He joins us with details about what’s next for the organization and what crisis response efforts look like in Oregon.

Last year, Oregon added the Southern Resident orca to the state’s endangered species list, giving it added protections nearly two decades after it was federally listed under the endangered species act in 2005. Now, a new draft management plan has been released by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to help whale numbers. Currently there are 73 Southern Resident orcas traveling in three pods along the west coast. About 48 whales within two of those pods spend time here in Oregon. There are three main causes for declining whale numbers, including loss of prey, disturbance from vessels and environmental contaminants. The agency is currently taking public comment on the plan that hopes to address these issues. Howard Takata is the Southern Resident orca conservation coordinator with ODFW. He joins us to share more on the plan.

In the last two weeks of the Oregon legislative session, which ended late Friday night,  housing advocates including the Community Alliance of Tenants, the Oregon Housing Alliance and the Urban League of Portland sounded the alarm and protested in Salem over funding cuts. They said the programs for emergency rent assistance and programs to prevent eviction must remain funded to prevent thousands of individuals and families with children from being evicted and becoming homeless. Lisa Bates is a professor of Black Studies at Portland State University and helps run a research program studying evictions across Oregon.   We talk with Bates about the lack of legislative funding for homelessness and housing programs and what’s needed in her view to address the ongoing homeless and housing crisis.  

The Oregon Legislature wrapped up the 2025 regular session on Sunday. Lawmakers passed bills that addressed utility rate hikes, large energy users like data centers and microgrids for local electricity generation, among other environmental issues. But some advocates think lawmakers didn't go far enough in advancing the state's carbon-cutting goals.   Nora Apter is the Oregon director for Climate Solutions, a regional nonprofit that advocates for climate policy. She joins us to talk about what lawmakers did – and didn’t  – pass in terms of climate legislation and how federal rollbacks of environmental protections could impact the state’s climate goals.   

The gavel came down on this year’s session of the Oregon legislature on Friday. Legislators failed to pass a controversial funding package for transportation and infrastructure. They also took up gun bills, civil commitment, wildfire funding and many other issues. OPB political reporter Dirk VanderHart helps us understand it all.  

On Tuesday, Oregon's first measles case of the year was reported in Multnomah County, joining a slew of other states who have had reported cases this year. The individual who tested positive is an adult who is believed to have acquired the disease while traveling abroad and was hospitalized in Portland. The highly contagious disease is transmitted through the air via coughs and sneezes, with symptoms including fever, cough and a rash appearing from seven to 21 days after exposure. Paul Ciselak is the medical director for communicable disease and immunizations at Oregon Health Authority. He joins us to share more.

Two Portland bars are among the top four finalists for this year’s Spirited Awards, one of the most prestigious honors in the cocktail world. Pacific Standard, located inside the KEX Hotel, is nominated for Best U.S. Hotel Bar. Palomar — a Cuban-inspired bar that recently moved from Hosford-Abernathy to Northwest Portland — is a finalist for Best U.S. Restaurant Bar. The awards, which will be announced in New Orleans on July 24, recognize excellence in bars and mixology around the globe. Pacific Standard’s Jeffrey Morgenthaler is also up for Best U.S. Bar Mentor. Morgenthaler joins us along with Palomar’s Ricky Gomez to talk about what the nominations mean, how their approach to running a bar has evolved, and how they’re navigating a cocktail in

Lance Orton is the executive director of CityTeam Portland, which offers shelter, housing and recovery services to its clients. If you hadn’t read about him or heard him tell his story, you’d never guess Orton was himself homeless and addicted to heroin just seven years ago. In addition to being the executive director of CityTeam, he also sits on the board of Central Eastside Together and the Old Town Community Association. He also serves as board chair of Shelter Portland, a public-private initiative by Mayor Keith Wilson to create strategic solutions for homelessness and addiction.  Orton joins us to share more about his personal life transformation about how the faith-based nonprofit he now runs is hoping to expand its services in a new facility that will open soon in the Old Town neighborhood.

Information for Public Use, a group that researches public records, found that the Medford Police Department has collaborated with regional and federal law enforcement agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement.     Medford and other law enforcement agencies in Southern Oregon have shared surveillance technology and tactics, according to a report by Jefferson Public Radio.    In August last year, the ACLU of Oregon sued the City of Medford claiming that the police broke state law by monitoring the social media accounts of local organizers. That litigation is ongoing.    When asked to comment about the latest findings from Information for Public Use, Medford Police Lieutenant Geoff Kirkpatrick responded that due to pending litigation, the department cannot comment on questions on this topic at this time.    We learn more about what’s happening in Medford from Kelly Simon, the legal director of the ACLU of Oregon.