Beat Check with The Oregonian The Oregonian/OregonLive

Way back in 2011, policymakers in Oregon set an ambitious goal.
By 2025, 80 percent of the state’s 25- to 34-year-old residents would have some kind of college credentials.
The deadline is next year, and the state won’t come close.
Instead, college-going rates have been on the decline in Oregon for the last decade, particularly among certain groups of high school students, including boys from rural Oregon and students of color. The decline outpaces national averages.
College enrollment matters for more than just students. To flourish in the future, the state’s economy needs highly-skilled workers who can contribute to the tax base. And as communities of color fall further behind in higher education attainment, it hurts the state’s efforts to improve equitable outcomes for all its residents.
Reporter Sami Edge set out to understand the decline. Her work is spotlighted in a seven-part series that continues this week in The Oregonian/OregonLive as students around the state graduate from high school.
In this episode of Beat Check, we’ll talk about:
— The skyrocketing costs of college tuition in Oregon.
— How community colleges do — and don’t — appeal to high school seniors.
— The ins and outs of Oregon’s existing tuition grant programs.
— How one tiny rural school in Klamath County sets the standard for high schools around the state.
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Laura Hill was about 30 years old when she helped create one of Portland’s most-iconic designs.
When the Port of Portland was redesigning Portland International Airport in 1986, architecture and design firm SRG Partnership led the project.
Hill retired from the firm in 2008, but at the time she was a principal interior designer for SRG.
In this bonus episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, reporter Lizzy Acker shares her interview with Hill.
Hill explains how the famous design came to be, the research SRG did at other airports and what other designs were pitched. Here's their conversation.
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True crime is popular in the podcast world, and romance novels are seeing a surge in popularity. The Oregonian/OregonLive’s new podcast, in partnership with Wondery, marries the two topics for a six-part exclusive look at the case of Nancy Crampton Brophy, who was convicted of murdering her husband, Dan.
Reporters Zane Sparling, who covered the trial, and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, who reported on her arrest and its aftermath, joined Editor Therese Bottomly on “Beat Check with The Oregonian” to discuss the new podcast, which is available on all major platforms today.
In this episode of Beat Check, we talk about:
--Why investigators zeroed in on Crampton Brophy
--How Crampton Brophy took the stand at trial and it backfired
--Her previous role in the Portland community of romance writers
--Why humans can’t resist anthropomorphizing animals -- that is, attributing human behaviors and motives and emotions to our pets
“Happily Never After: Dan and Nancy,” with Wondery, now has two of the six episodes available.
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In recent years, people have killed increasingly larger numbers of wolves in Oregon as the animals have rebounded in the state. And poisoning has emerged as one of the most common tools used to target wolves. Roblyn Brown, wolf program coordinator with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, talked on Beat Check about the poisonings, what they mean in the context of Oregon’s stagnant wolf population and how to bridge the divide between people who love wolves and those who want them gone.
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Portland and Multnomah County voters are casting ballots this week in a number of local contested races. Candidates in each of them have offered competing visions for how to best address some of the most pressing issues facing Oregon’s most populous county — be it crime, livability concerns or the deadly fentanyl crisis.
In particular, the outcome in the race between Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt and challenger Nathan Vasquez, a longtime prosecutor in that office, could have a profound impact on key policy decisions and priorities in those areas — and provide a telling look at where the Portland area stands politically after weathering some of the most chaotic years in recent memory.
On the latest Beat Check, reporters Shane Dixon Kavanaugh and Noelle Crombie discuss the state of that closely-watched race.
Read More:

Multnomah County DA Mike Schmidt and challenger Nathan Vasquez locked in tight election battle as drug use, crime distress voters

Nathan Vasquez leads in matchup against Multnomah County DA Mike Schmidt, poll finds

Multnomah County DA race: Fact-checking candidate claims about crime, caseloads and convictions

Multnomah County DA candidates trade barbs, blame in televised debate


Portland protests shape District Attorney Mike Schmidt’s young tenure: Now what? (from May 2021)


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The Oregonian/OregonLive last week published the results of a series of polls that shed light on the sentiments of Portland-area residents heading into a May election.
John Horvick, senior vice president of polling partner DHM Research, joined the podcast Beat Check with The Oregonian to review the results and discuss some of the most interesting findings. Also on the panel are reporters Mike Rogoway and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh.
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