Think Out Loud Oregon Public Broadcasting

In 1990, Barbara Roberts became the first woman elected governor of Oregon. She began her political career as a member of the Parkrose school board and then the board of Mount Hood Community College. She was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1980 and was chosen by her colleagues to be the House majority leader two years later. Two years after that, she became Oregon's Secretary of State, before going on to the top office. We spoke to Roberts in front of an audience at the Civics Learning Project’s Legal Citizen of the Year award ceremony.

Joel David Beal was a U.S. Marine veteran who served from 2006 until 2010 including deployment to Iraq in 2008. As reported by the military media outlet, Task and Purpose, Beal received multiple military awards for his service and left the service with the rank of Lance Corporal.   After he left the marines, he worked as a mechanic and a technician, repairing wind turbines.

A year ago Beal went to Ukraine to fight alongside the country's military forces against the Russian invasion. He helped form what became known as Chosen Company, made up of foreign fighters attached to Ukraine’s 59th Motorized Brigade. He was killed in combat in October, six months after he began his service. We hear about Beal and his experience in Ukraine from his partner Alex, whose real name we are not using for security reasons.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is thinking of adding some federal protections for a turtle found in Oregon. The western pond turtle is found in fresh water and wetlands west of the Cascades. It is also found in Nevada, Washington and California. If the agency’s proposal is approved, the turtle would be labeled as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Public comments are being taken until May 5, 2024.  

The turtle faces a number of challenges including habitat loss, drought and invasive species, such as bullfrogs, eating turtles when they’re young. But some work has been done to try to help this reptile. The Oregon Zoo has been working on recovery efforts in Washington since the late 1990s. Shervin Hess is the conservation manager there. He joins us to share more on what role this turtle plays in ecosystems and the current efforts to aid the species.

On Monday, students at the University of Oregon began setting up tents on the Eugene campus to protest the conflict in Gaza. They joined students at scores of other universities across the nation, including at Portland State University, where students set up camps, barricades and broke into Branford Price Millar Library. Student organizers of the protest on the UO campus are calling on the administration to divest from companies that have financial ties to the Israeli military. In a statement, the University of Oregon said it is “actively monitoring this situation to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students, faculty, and staff on campus.” KLCC reporter Nathan Wilk joins us to talk about the situation unfolding at the university.

District Attorney Mike Schmidt is facing a challenge from one of his own senior deputy attorneys, Nathan Vazquez. Schmidt came into office as a reformer, with the goal of ending mass incarceration and racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Vasquez says Schmidt has made Portland “unsafe and unrecognizable.” We talk to Vasquez about why he thinks he deserves the job. 

The Salem Police Department recently released an annual report revealing trends and changes in the number of homicides, aggravated assaults, burglaries and other crimes over the past 15 years. Last year, there were 10 homicides in Salem, a 15-year high for the city of nearly 180,000 residents. Violent crime overall has increased by 35% since 2009 in Salem, while property crime has declined by 3% over the same time.  

Meanwhile, Salem police and city officials recently kicked off a series of meetings with community members under a new initiative aimed at addressing the city’s surge in gun violence, especially among at-risk youth. Joining us to talk about crime in Salem is Ardeshir Tabrizian, criminal justice reporter for the Salem Reporter.