OPB Politics Now is a weekly podcast that takes a deep dive into the hottest political topics in Oregon and the Northwest. Every Friday, OPB’s political reporters and special guests offer in-depth analysis, discussion and insight into candidates, events and issues.
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Bundyville: The Remnant, a co-production between Longreads and OPB, explores the world beyond the Bundy family and the armed uprisings they inspired. This series investigates extremist violence that results from the conspiracy theories of the anti-government movement, who is inspiring that violence and who stands to benefit.
Coverage and conversation on the federal trial for the people who led the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
It’s the 1990s in the Pacific Northwest. A march of chainsaws clear-cuts the country’s last available ancient forests. Protesters bury themselves in front of bulldozers and spend months sitting in the tallest trees in the world. And at the center, the northern spotted owl becomes the most controversial bird in the country. The "Timber Wars" podcast tells the story of how this conflict reshaped the Northwest and the nation as a whole, and transformed the way we see—and fight over—the natural ...
An ongoing series about gentrification, housing, race and class in urban America. Join Andru and Cornelius as they share news, opinion and conversation about the most important issue facing U.S. cities: the gap between rich and poor. This podcast is a companion to the documentary Priced Out: 15 Years of Gentrification in Portland, Ore. "When homes leaves you." #pricedout #gentrification #gentrified #pdx Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/priced-out-podcast/support
“This Week Back Then” is a podcast and blog series born out of Professor Catherine McNeur’s HST411/511 Public History Lab: Podcasts and History course. Students did research, wrote scripts and blog posts, produced and edited podcasts, and collaborated with classmates to bring history to a broad audience. The class worked with producers at KBOO (90.7) to learn recording and editing skills. The students’ podcasts, posted here, will be broadcast during KBOO’s news hour each Monday starting in J ...
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Know the Name with Sharon Lynn Wyeth


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Know the Name with Sharon Lynn Wyeth
The 'X' Zone Broadcast Network
www.knowthename.com SHARON LYNN WYETH graduated from the University of Redlands with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics at the age of twenty. She began teaching that same year in a public Junior High School in California. During her three years there, she obtained her Master of Arts degree from Azusa-Pacific University in education administration with an emphasis in math. After her initial teaching assignment, Sharón moved to Germany where she taught for the Department of Defense Sc ...
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Think Out Loud


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Cities continue to pass homeless camping ordinances
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Three years ago, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that punishing people for sleeping on the street amounts to cruel and unusual punishment if they have no place else to go. That case, Martin v. Boise, and others have since helped to shape the way that cities and municipalities approach homelessness. We’ll hear from Seattle University School…
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Sex trafficking survivors call for changes, more support
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The Northwest Survivor Alliance was founded by survivors of sex trafficking. Members support each other and advocate for more services to help people deal with the trauma of their abuse. They say law enforcement and the criminal justice system has made some changes in the way they handle those who force children and adults into sex trafficking. But…
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New research focuses on resilience of Oregon’s coastal roads and bridges
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Researchers at Oregon State University used computer modeling to assess the resilience of roads and bridges on the Oregon coast and how this critical infrastructure would fare in the event of a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. A recently published study focuses on local roads as well as transportation infrastructure like highways that connect c…
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OPB Audio


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Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler concedes close congressional primary to challenger Joe Kent
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Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler concedes close congressional primary to challenger Joe KentBy Oregon Public Broadcasting
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Why one downtown Portland business is moving to the Lloyd Center
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After 16 years in Old Town, Portland’s Floating World Comics is moving out of the neighborhood. Customers will now need to head to the Lloyd Center to see the comic store’s new location, which is already open. Jason Leivian is the owner of Floating World Comics. He is hopeful his move will inspire other small businesses to open shop in the mall and…
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Bag & Baggage theater company stages bilingual production of ‘The Tempest’ in Spanish and English
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Starting this Thursday, the Bag & Baggage theater company in Hillsboro will stage free weekend performances of “The Tempest” in city parks. But in this retelling of William Shakespeare’s comedy, Prospero, the magician and exiled Duke of Milan, speaks Spanish as well as English, primarily with his daughter, Miranda, as the timeless story of treacher…
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Using ‘green infrastructure’ to promote equity is a key goal for new Oregon forestry manager
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In June, the Oregon Department of Forestry hired Scott Altenhoff to lead its Urban and Community Forestry Assistance program. Previously, Altenhoff worked as an urban forester for the City of Eugene, where he became aware of temperature disparities due to differences in tree cover between economically disadvantaged and affluent neighborhoods. In 20…
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'Perspectives' exhibit at Portland Art Museum features BIPOC photographers, racial justice protests
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The Portland Art Museum is featuring works of six BIPOC photographers made during the racial justice protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd in 2020. The photos in the "Perspectives" exhibit seek to elevate the stories of people of color, both in the background of the protests but also in the context of how those in BIPOC communities continu…
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Bureau of Land Management looking at long-term solutions to wild horse population
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The wild horse population grows about 20% every year, according to the Bureau of Land Management. In Oregon, there are about 4,500 wild horses but, according to the BLM, the state can only sustain about 2,700. The federal agency is looking for public comments on a proposal of three contraceptive methods. Rob Sharp is the Supervisory Wild Horse and …
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New research shows lotteries rely on low-income people
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A recent report found that state lotteries around the country are supported in large part by people who are least able to afford it. The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism looked at the 45 states that have at least one kind of lottery and found that the retail outlets where lottery games can be played are often in socio-economically disadva…
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Behavioral Health Systems in Oregon face challenges dealing with increasing use of meth
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Oregon has seen an increase in methamphetamine use over the past decade. This has caused an increase in patients experiencing mental health illness induced by meth use within Oregon’s behavioral health system. Many issues have contributed to this problem, including a new formula of meth. Emily Green, the managing editor for The Lund Report tells us…
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Hospitals face rising costs and understaffing
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COVID-19 hospitalizations may be far below their earlier peaks, but many Oregon hospitals are in serious trouble. Staffing shortages and a lack of skilled nurses mean that most hospitals in the state are nearing capacity. And rising costs have led to one of the worst financial quarters of the pandemic so far for some hospitals. Becky Hultberg, CEO …
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McKinney fire impacts Southern Oregon and Northern California
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After weeks of canceled shows due to COVID-19, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival had to pivot once again to move shows indoors due to smoke from the McKinney fire. Nataki Garrett, artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, tells us about how they're handling the challenges they face. Meanwhile, the McKinney fire blazed north of Karuk triba…
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Dating profile reviewer offers perspective
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Dating profiles rarely get a second opinion prior to going public. Sarah Ruby Armstrong believes that is many peoples’ first mistake when trying online dating. She now offers a free feedback service for people and their dating profiles, as first profiled in Willamette Week. Sarah Ruby Armstrong joins us to talk about how to successfully find online…
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In Washington, fish populations improve after dam removal in Elwha River
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About a decade has passed since two dams were removed in the Elwha River. The health of the river has improved and dwindling populations of Chinook Salmon are recovering. Mike McHenry is a fish habitat manager and biologist with the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. He shares more details on how the fish are doing and how their habitat has changed.…
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Million-dollar federal grant boosts efforts to monitor air quality and improve health outcomes in wildfire-prone Southern Oregon
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Last month, the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls was awarded a $1 million grant by the Health Resources and Services Administration to expand research into the impact of poor air quality due to wildfire smoke on hospital admissions in Southern Oregon. The new federal dollars will allow scientists at OIT to buy equipment to monitor ha…
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OPB News Week in Review for Friday August 5th 2022
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We wrap up the week's Northwest news with OPB's Lillian Mongeau Hughes. And we hear from Juliet Grable of Jefferson Public Radio about a coalition in Southern Oregon that's working to help wildlife cross I-5.By Oregon Public Broadcasting
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A conversation with an Oregon doctor about hMPXV, or monkeypox
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This week, the federal government declared a public health emergency around h-M-P-X-V, also known as monkeypox. The virus causes a painful, blistering skin rash. And it's spreading in Oregon: as of Tuesday, there were 72 known cases statewide.By Oregon Public Broadcasting
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Oregon coastal towns crack down on jetty cat colonies
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Beach towns up and down the West Coast have feral cats living near the waterfront. But now, jetty cat colonies on Oregon’s coast are being closed as people say they’re inhumane and a nuisance.By Oregon Public Broadcasting
Oregon’s initial rules for growth governed where we should live and work, but they didn’t say much about how we should get from one place to another. In the fourth part of this special OPB Politics Now series, senior political reporter looks at the state’s complicated relationship with roads and the fight that helped state leaders figure out how th…
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Oregon Home Share matches seniors with spare room with those needing housing
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By Oregon Public Broadcasting
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Why three Washington breweries are suing the state of Oregon
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Three Washington-based breweries filed a lawsuit against the state of Oregon late last month. They are challenging Oregon restrictions on shipping beer directly to consumers from out of state. Breweries outside of Oregon wanting to sell their beer in the state also need to obtain a wholesaler’s permit, which adds additional costs to to those busine…
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988 number now connects directly to national suicide prevention line
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For anyone experiencing a mental health crisis, looking for addiction resources or just wanting to talk to someone on a bad day, there is a new number to call: 988. The three digit number has replaced the national number making it easier to remember and use when it’s needed. This change happened in mid-July, but the previous crisis hotline will rem…
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How a federal agency is contributing to salmon’s decline in the Northwest
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In part three of OPB's joint investigation with ProPublica, Tony Schick reports on ways the Bonneville Power Administration has undermined tribes’ efforts on salmon recovery.By Oregon Public Broadcasting
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Oregon has a housing crisis. Can the next governor solve it?
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Oregon has a housing crisis. Can the next governor solve it?By Oregon Public Broadcasting
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Herrera Beutler, Perez lead in early Southwest Washington congressional primaries
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Herrera Beutler, Perez lead in early Southwest Washington congressional primariesBy Oregon Public Broadcasting
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More Oregon colleges are hiring their first Black leaders
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Several colleges and universities in Oregon recently announced new leaders, and many of the people hired for those positions are also the institutions’ first Black president. We convened a conversation among three of these leaders to hear about how they’re approaching their roles and what it means to them to be a Black leader in higher education. U…
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Lane County nonprofit aims to build manufactured homes for affordable housing
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Oregon is facing a housing shortfall of about 100,000 affordable units. A Eugene-based nonprofit says that need won’t be met by the private market, so they’re taking matters into their own hands. St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County plans to build its own manufactured homes in an old American Steel facility. We talk with Terry McDonald, executive dir…
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Colette Peters Named New Director of Federal Prisons
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Colette Peters Named New Director of Federal PrisonsBy Oregon Public Broadcasting
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What restoration efforts look like for the declining Whitebark Pine Tree
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About 100 seedlings of the Whitebark Pine Tree were planted in Central Oregon early last month. The goal is to help increase their population as it has declined due to fungal disease, bark beetles and climate change. Andrew Bower is a Zone Geneticist for Western Washington and Northern Oregon with the U.S. Forest Service. He is also the program lea…