Think Out Loud

Forest fires, bark beetles, and climate change are devastating the forests of the West. How long will the forests we know and love be able to survive as they are? Not long, says Daniel Mathews, author of “Trees in Trouble.”

Oregon has a new poet laureate, who started his term this week. Poet Anis Mojgani is the state’s 10th to serve in the role, taking the position after Kim Stafford. He’s won many accolades, including several for national poetry slam competitions. He’s published five books of poetry and toured nationally and internationally. Mojgani joins us to share some of his poetry and how he’s thinking about his new role in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mercedes Munoz was named Oregon Teacher of the Year for her work as a special education lead at Franklin High School. That was in October. Now her days are consumed by trying to help students who might not have access to computers or wifi participate in some kind of distance learning. Munoz says “remote learning” is laying bare our educational inequities.

Last week Governor Kate Brown announced a new OHSU study that will help the state decide when and how to reopen. The study will enroll 100,000 randomly selected Oregonians for testing, monitoring, and contact tracing. The aim is to understand the prevalence and transmission patterns of COVID-19 in Oregon. Dr. David Bangsberg, dean of the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, leads the study.

The Oregon Chinese Coalition knew what was coming. Many of the nonprofit’s board members have relatives in China, some in the epicenter of the initial COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan. Once it was clear that the virus had spread to the United States, the coalition wanted to help protect doctors and nurses caring for patients with COVID-19. It took almost a month, but the members were able to use connections with China and donations from around the state to get a shipment of more than 12,000 N95 masks from China and distribute them to Oregon hospitals. Oregon Chinese Coalition board member Qusheng Jin joins us to talk about this community effort.

Many Oregon restaurants closed their doors and laid off workers after Gov. Kate Brown issued her stay-at-home order. Some resumed with takeout and delivery service, while others are still figuring out when, how and whether to reopen once they’re legally allowed to offer table service again. We talk with Nossa Familia’s Augusto Carneiro, Han Ly Hwang with Kim Jong Grillin, and Betsy McDonald with The Lemon Tree in Bend.

After the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States, millions of Americans received a stimulus check from the government to help weather the economic impacts of the virus. Margaret Morales and Michael Andersen, researchers for the Sightline Institute, are writing a series of articles arguing that the U.S. should more regularly use cash benefits to help people in need. They say that cash benefits are more flexible and more helpful than other social safety programs like SNAP or TANF. Morales and Andersen join us.

This May, Portland area voters are being asked to weigh in on a business and personal tax to raise an annual $250 million for homeless services. The regional government Metro says money raised from the measure would go to services such as case management, rent assistance, addiction and recovery services, mental health care and employment support. The measure would add a 1% tax on profits for businesses with annual sales of more than $5 million. Additionally, individuals making more than $125,000 per year and couples earning more than $200,000 would have a 1% marginal income tax. We hear from Portland Business Alliance president and CEO Andrew Hoan, who is in favor of the measure and Cascade Policy Institute research director Eric Fruits, who is opposed to it.

Researchers in Seattle have been creating genetic maps of the new coronavirus since the earliest days of the pandemic. This sequencing helps us to understand how the virus spreads, and how quickly it mutates. Pavitra Roychoudhury is one of the researchers at the University of Washington doing this work.

Last week President Trump used the Defense Production Act to declare that meat processing plants are critical infrastructure. That means they need to find a way to stay open, while also practicing social distancing. Processing plants, like one in Walla Walla County, Washington, have been hotbeds for the spread of COVID-19. Nathan Parker runs the meat lab at Oregon State University. He tells us how Oregon’s meat processors and producers will be affected by the new order.

In the midst of a pandemic, political campaigns and elections must go on. We hear from Ana Del RocÍo, Executive Director of Oregon Futures Lab, about campaigning for candidates of color and better access to childcare from her home. Also, why she thinks the pandemic could be a “moment of reckoning” for economic and racial injustice in our political system.

Jim Moore, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and Kalpna Krishnamurthy share opinions and analysis on the biggest news of the week.

Long-term care facilities around the country have been hit hard by the novel coronavirus. Infections can spread quickly in these places where some of the most vulnerable people live. In Southeast Portland, 21 people have died from COVID-19 at one nursing home. Staff there told state officials they did not have enough protective equipment. Fred Steele is the state’s long-term care ombudsman, charged with advocating for the residents of these facilities. He joins us to talk about how his job has changed due to the pandemic, and what he’s hearing from seniors around the state.

Social distancing measures and an endless news cycle focused on COVID-19 has many people feeling anxious and depressed. The pandemic has also led to a kind of collective grief as we mourn life as we knew it before coronavirus. We speak with licensed clinical social worker Adrianne Miller about the kinds of conversations she's having with her clients right now, and how to cope with the overwhelming feelings that can seem as pervasive as the virus itself.

One tried and true way to pass the time when you’re alone indoors is to read a book.Think Out Loud is starting an on-air book club so we can spend time alone...together. We’ve chosen a book by a Pacific Northwest author that seems to have some resonance with the particular moment we’re living through right now. And we hope you all will read it with us, and then call in to talk about the book with us and the author, Nicola Griffith. Her book, 'Ammonite,' is a science fiction novel about a colony planet quarantined because of a deadly virus that changes everything about how people there live.

The city of Portland’s transportation department said last week that it would not block off roads to car traffic to make more room for pedestrians, as some other cities had done as a response to the coronavirus pandemic. But this week it reversed course, and said it would put up temporary barriers blocking off some city streets to help people comply with state mandated social distancing measures. We talk with the director of the Portland Bureau of Transportation, Chris Warner.

Portland Trader Joe’s employee Karleigh Frisbie Brogan recently wrote an essay for The Atlantic about why she wants people to stop calling her and other grocery store workers “heroes.” We talk with her about her essay and what it’s like to work in a grocery store during the pandemic.

The Portland Fire Bureau has started a “Meds On Wheels” program that gets medication to seniors and other vulnerable residents in need. Firefighter Lisa Reslock tells us how that's going and how first responders are doing in the midst of the pandemic.

Many Oregon high seniors headed to college after graduation are concerned about what effect distance education could have on their higher education plans. We talk with Oregon State University’s Jon Boeckenstedt and Reed College’s Milyon Trulove about how they’re handling those questions. And we talk with Portland Public Schools’ Marquita Guzman about what she’s hearing from seniors and juniors as they navigate the ever-changing COVID-19 landscape.

This weekend Governor Kate Brown apologized for the delays many people are experiencing filing for unemployment in the state. Over 300,000 people have filed unemployment claims, overwhelming the state’s aging computer system and phone lines. Gail Krumenauer, Communications Director for OED, answers your questions.