Think Out Loud

This weekend, origami experts from around the world will be coming to Portland to attend the Pacific Coast OrigamiUSA Convention, where enthusiasts can take classes and view their exhibits. Robert J. Lang, a leading origami artist and former physicist for NASA, will showcase his work at the convention. We sit down with Lang to talk about how the mathematics and beauty behind origami can be used to solve real-world problems.

The Oregon Health Authority is still investigating the death of an Oregonian earlier this summer after the person purchased vaping products from a licensed dispensary. This comes amid news of severe lung illnesses and deaths in several states. We talk with OHA deputy health officer and epidemiologist Tom Jeanne about the investigation and the current vaping regulations in place.

We get analysis and opinions on some of the big stories of the week from Zakir Khan with the Western States Center, journalist Beth Slovic and former Tualatin mayor Lou Ogden.

A recent New York Times report warned that active volcanoes in the Cascade region are not being monitored nearly as closely as they should be. We hear from Seth Moran, Scientist-in-Charge at the Cascades Volcano Observatory, about how his agency is working to monitor active

The Emmy-nominated documentary “No Greater Law” explores the lives and beliefs of the Followers of Christ, a religious group in the American West that doesn’t believe in the use of modern medicine. Jesse Lichtenstein is the producer of the documentary. He joins us.

According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide rates among veterinarians are two to three times higher than that of the general population. We explore why this might be and talk to The Banfield Pet Hospital about the new program they released today to respond to the problem in its more than 1,000 U.S. locations. And we talk with a veterinarian and educator Melanie Goble about her experience working in this field.

George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel 1984 has been adapted for the stage. The play is being performed by Artists Repertory Theatre and opens this Friday Sept 13. We talk with ART artistic director Dámaso Rodríguez, who also directed this production, and actor Claire Rigsby about how the themes of “Newspeak,” “thought police” and “Big Brother” are resonating right now.

The western pond turtle is a native turtle listed as endangered in Washington and threatened in Oregon. on Tuesday, the Turtle Haven Invasive Species Control and Restoration Project released western pond turtles back into the wild after a long, ongoing collaboration to rehabilitate them. Although the turtles have survived for millions of years, challenges such as shell disease and habitat loss are threatening them to near extinction. Sara Woods, land trust stewardship coordinator for Friends of the Columbia Gorge, and Katie Haman, wildlife veterinarian for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, explain why populations have declined so significantly and how Turtle Haven came to be as a designated habitat for western pond turtles.

Timathy Taylor shot and killed his neighbor in an isolated, rural Klamath County community in 2016. Taylor claimed the murder was out of self-defense, and his 2018 murder trial ended in a split-jury mistrial. Tuesday afternoon, Taylor pleaded no contest to one count of criminally negligent homicide. We hear from Emma Marris, a Klamath Falls-based freelance journalist who looked into the case for her Atavist Magazine article, “Outlaw Country.”

Washington state officials are considering changes to the state's cannabis system seven years after voters legalized recreational use. We hear from the director of the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board about what the board calls "Cannabis 2.0." We hear from the board’s director, Rick Garza.

Oregon public records advocate Ginger McCall abruptly announced her resignation Monday. McCall cited irreconcilable differences with Governor Brown’s staff as her reason for stepping down. We hear from Ginger McCall about her decision.

The state of Oregon has some ambitious goals for increasing the number of electric vehicles on the road by the end of 2020. And state officials say they want 90 percent of all vehicles sold in Oregon to be EVs by 2050. We sit down with Jeff Allen, the executive director of Forth, an EV industry group, to talk about how far the state has gotten on its goals and what barriers stand in the way of achieving those goals.

The Phoenix-Talent School District in southern Oregon recently decided to drop all “pay-to-play” fees for students involved in sports and other extracurricular activities. Officials say Phoenix-Talent families had been paying up to $200 per year in fees. We hear from Phoenix High School assistant principal and athletic director Dave Ehrhardt and 25-year boys’ head soccer coach Dennis Flenner about how the change will impact students.

The city of Newport’s water supply depends on two dams which, like more than 70 others in the state of Oregon, are considered “high hazard” dams. Recently city officials conducted a public tour to highlight structural instability that would result in catastrophic failure in the event of certain — even moderate — earthquakes. The legislature allocated $4 million toward dam replacement, but the overall funding for the project is close to $70 million. They’re still years away from fully funding the necessary construction. We hear from Timothy Gross, director of public works and a city engineer at the City of Newport.

Longtime PCUN director and co-founder Ramon Ramirez retired at the end of August. We talk with Ramirez about leading the oldest Latino organization in Oregon, and the past and future of migrant farmworkers’ rights in the state.

We talk to ACLU of Oregon staff attorney Leland Baxter-Neal about the case brought against the federal government on behalf of U.S. citizen and southern Oregon resident Maria Soto. Soto was denied a U.S. passport despite being born in county hospital in Los Angeles County, California, and having her original birth certificate, and other ample documentation of her citizenship. The ACLU says cases like Soto’s appear to be on the rise.

We hear opinions and analysis on this week’s news from Camilla Mortensen, Maria Caballero-Rubio and Scott Bruun.

College textbooks can cost exorbitant amounts of money, adding to the huge financial burden many students have to shoulder to get a degree. Chemeketa Community College is doing something about that. It's printing its own textbooks, and estimates it has saved students millions of dollars in the last five years. We sit down with the managing editor of Chemeketa Press, Brian Mosher.

A former prosecutor has taken over as the new director of Portland’s Independent Police Review. We sit down with Ross Caldwell to talk about his first few weeks on the job and his vision for the office.

The first time South Dakota first-grader Emmy Conner got her hands on her dad’s handheld Oregon Trail game, she made it to Oregon (virtually). She got so into the game, and the history of the Oregon Trail, that her parents decided to take a family road trip this summer, following the trail and visiting as many landmarks as they could.