Think Out Loud Oregon Public Broadcasting

In a 5-3 vote, the Umatilla County Planning Commission has recommended changes on the number of livestock residents can have. Under the proposed rules, single family dwellings are now allowed to have four small livestock animals per acre of property. The commission in a 7-1 vote also decided not to recommend proposed changes that would limit the number of fowl on a property. Both recommendations will now go to the county’s board of commissioners who will vote on the proposed changes at a June 5 meeting. Berit Thorson is a reporter for the East Oregonian covering this issue. She joins us to share more on the proposals and the community feedback the changes have received so far. 

When SE Portland resident Hannah Wallace went out with members of her neighborhood association in December of 2020 and asked  people living on the streets what they needed most, the two things they heard most were: showers and laundry facilities. Wallace started the Sunnyside Shower project in response. The project began at Sunnyside Methodist Church with Wallace and a handful of volunteer offering showers twice a week. It now has dozens of volunteers and people can come 3 days a week to get a shower and other resources when available, like free toiletries, laundry cards and help connecting with other services, like the Oregon Health Plan and drug treatment.

Since it began, a Multnomah Village’s volunteer group Southwest Outreach began their own version at Riversgate Church. And in February, a new Shower Project opened at the 13 Salmon shelter at the First Unitarian Church. Kelly Clendenon began volunteering several years ago, helped launch the project with some guidance from Wallace and others, and is now the project’s coordinator. He says as a person who lived on the streets for many years himself, his current work is especially meaningful. Clendenon and Wallace join us to tell us more about what it takes to run these projects and what difference one shower can make for someone who would otherwise have no access.

 

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an agency within the U.S. Department of Interior, recently announced next steps for developing floating wind facilities off the coast of Coos Bay and Brookings. These Oregon offshore wind turbines could power more than one million homes with renewable energy, according to the agency. Still, tribal leaders and commercial fishing groups remain concerned about how the projects could affect the ecosystem. We hear more about the latest developments from OPB climate reporter Monica Samayoa.

Oregon's groundwater is being used faster than it’s being replenished, and the state’s aquifers are declining. The Oregon Water Resources Department is proposing new rules in response. The agency would change the way it decides if groundwater will be available for new users. Justin Iverson is the groundwater section manager for OWRD. He joins us to explain what we know about Oregon’s groundwater and what can be done to regulate its use.

It’s been just over a week since protesters took over the Branford Price Millar Library at Portland State University as part of demonstrations against Israel’s war in Gaza. Police eventually cleared the building and classes resumed last Friday, but the library remains closed as damage to the collections and facilities are assessed.

Cris Paschild is an associate dean, university archivist and head of special collections at PSU. She joins us with more details on the Millar Library’s state and when it might reopen.

In 2022, Oregon voters cast ballots for the first time in a newly created congressional district the state was awarded after the 2020 U.S. Census. The 6th Congressional District stretches from suburbs southwest of Portland to Salem, and includes all of Yamhill and Polk counties, as well as portions of Marion, Washington and Clackamas counties.   We hear from two prominent candidates in the Republican primary vying for a chance to flip the seat in the fall. Mike Erickson is the founder and CEO of AFMS, a supply chain and logistics consulting firm based in Tigard. He narrowly lost to Democrat Andrea Salinas in 2022 after winning the GOP primary that May. David Russ, the mayor of Dundee in Yamhill County, is challenging Erickson once again in this year’s GOP primary race. Russ and Erickson join us for a debate to talk about their competing visions.