Think Out Loud

Earlier this month, Oregon Health and Science University released new nationwide data that found low physician participation in Medicaid. 

Researchers deemed these physicians “ghost” providers: physicians who are enrolled in Medicaid, but don’t care for even a single patient covered by the federal health insurance program.

Those findings also reveale...

The Oregon public defense system has been in crisis for many years. The number of defendants who need representation has far outstripped the number of available public defenders. Previous reports found the state’s system violated Oregonians’ constitutional rights. Earlier this month the Oregon Supreme Court ruled unanimously  that criminal charges against defendants must be dropped if an attorn...

          According to recent surveys, the number of people who say they are experiencing burnout is on the rise. Dr. Zarya Rubin practices functional medicine in Portland who specializes in identifying and relieving burnout. She started a podcast last year that she both produces and hosts called “Outsmart Burnout.” She says burnout can manifest as physical and mental exhaus...

Last month marked the beginning of a statewide ban on cell phones in Oregon schools. The executive order, issued by Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, prohibits the use of personal devices such as phones, smart watches and earbuds during instructional hours, including lunchtime and between periods. School districts were to adopt policies by October 31, 2025, and enforce the new rules beginning January 1.

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The Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River is currently hosting “Black Infinity House,” a free, immersive art exhibit on display for Black History Month until March 29. 

The exhibit is arranged into three spaces - an artist’s studio, a living room and a porch – that visitors walk through to experience art made by more than 30 Black Oregon artists whose ...

The Black newspaper The Skanner was founded more than 50 years ago by Bernie and Bobbie Foster. It became something of an institution and community organization for Black communities in Portland. The paper went entirely online in 2020 but continued to play a critical role in the lives of many Black Oregonians. Recently, the Fosters announced the paper had shut down as of Jan. 30. We sit down with former reporte...

Last August, a van carrying seven farmworkers in rural Marion County was stopped by immigration agents. OPB reported on the arrest of the farmworkers, including a man identified as LJPL in court documents. He was arrested even though he had no criminal record and had a pending asylum application. That case and others involving the arrests of workers at dairy farms in Wisconsin and Vermont and ...

According to its website, The Lavender Network is Eugene’s only LGBTQ+ service and community center. The coalition of five nonprofits offers health care, counseling, a free clothing closet and more to queer communities in Lane County. After renting different spaces around Eugene, the network opened its first permanent space near downtown on Feb. 10.

Laura Henry is the mana...

Last month, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signed an executive order creating an interagency council to better support immigrants and refugees in the state. According to the Oregon Department of Human Services, there are more than 400,000 immigrants in Oregon, making up nearly 10% of the state’s population and nearly 13% of the state’s workforce. 

The Office of Imm...

Stacey Abrams has published more than a dozen books over the last 25 years. Those include thrillers, romance novels, children’s books and political memoirs and manifestos. That would be a full career for most people, but Stacey Abrams seems to have more energy than most people.

While she has always been a writer, she has also been a tax attorney, a Georgia state lawmaker, ...

Portland author David F. Walker and illustrator Marcus Kwame Anderson have worked together before - on a 2021 graphic novel about the Black Panther Party. This time they’ve teamed up on something a little different: an update of the classic American novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” In their version, the escaped slave Jim is more than just Huck’s companion; he&rsqu...

Much of our understanding about the earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and floods that shaped the geology of the Pacific Northwest comes from Western scientists. But those records almost always overlook the oral traditions of Native American tribes who witnessed those events.

An exhibit at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland looks at the eruption of Mount Mazama, ...

Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Portland) escorted a family — including a 7-year-old girl — from an ICE detention facility in Texas back to Oregon on Saturday. The Crespo-Gonzalez family was detained last month while bringing their sick child to urgent care. We sit down with Dexter to hear about that experience and her work in Congress focused on ICE funding and policy. OPB reporter Holly Barthol...

In books like “Breathe” and “South to America,” National Book Award and MacArthur “genius” grant winner Imani Perry writes about Blackness in America with clarity, elegance, rage, and joy. Perry is a Professor of Studies of Women, Gender and Sexuality and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. Her latest book is “Black in Blues,” a meditati...

When Chuck Sams was sworn in as director of the National Park Service in 2021, he became the first Native American to lead the agency. Sams previously served as a member of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and as executive director of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

Not long after Sams returned to Oregon after leaving the agency last year,...

 Lawmakers are meeting in Salem to discuss and decide the fate of a flurry of bills during Oregon’s short legislative session this year. One of those is a bipartisan bill that would hike the state’s lodging tax at places like campgrounds, hotels and Airbnbs from 1.5% to 2.75%. 

The tax increase is expected to raise tens of millions of dollars for wildlife p...

Logan Patterson graduated in May 2025 from Washington State University’s College of Medicine and is currently a resident at the Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. During his four years of medical school, he says that he got almost no formal training in end-of-life care, including how to talk with patients and their families about death and dying.