Episodios

  • Burning questions on the Portland Public Schools bond

    Burning questions on the Portland Public Schools bond
    May 12 2025
    For this week’s episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, education reporter Julia Silverman tackles a series of burning questions from readers and listeners who are weighing how to vote on the $1.83 billion bond. Have a listen, and don’t forget to turn in your ballot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    23 m
  • A perilous moment for Portland mass transit

    A perilous moment for Portland mass transit
    May 5 2025
    It is a bleak time for mass transit all throughout the U.S. The challenges here in the Portland metro area are many and pronounced.TriMet is providing about 30 million fewer rides each year than it did in 2019 — and the recovery appears to be slowing way down. Rider safety has been a persistent concern since the pandemic. Fare evasion is rampant. Meanwhile, TriMet’s subsidy per ride has soared by more than 400% in the last decade. And the regional transit agency is now raising the prospect of staggering service cuts over the next few years. On the latest Beat Check, Oregonian/OregonLive reporters Shane Dixon Kavanaugh and Mike Rogoway examine this perilous moment for public transit in the Portland region. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    34 m
  • How to keep hope alive as Trump upends climate, environmental work

    How to keep hope alive as Trump upends climate, environmental work
    Apr 28 2025
    In recent months, climate and environmental work have been under threat in the U.S., with the Trump administration dismantling climate legislation, freezing funds and intimidating universities, states and nonprofits. Despite the chaos, there’s still a place for hope, says award-winning environmental journalist Alan Weisman, author of the new book Hope Dies Last. The book profiles scientists, engineers, activists and environmentalists in the U.S. and around the world who are doing extraordinary work to repair our planet’s most devastated ecosystems and prevent climate disaster. Weisman spoke on the Beat Check podcast about how we can persevere despite all odds, how to pass on hope to our children and which four world emergencies need visionary ideas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    40 m
  • Trump’s tariffs and his trade war’s ‘sobering’ impact on Oregon small businesses

    Trump’s tariffs and his trade war’s ‘sobering’ impact on Oregon small businesses
    Apr 21 2025
    When President Trump raised tariffs against China and other countries earlier this month, stock markets plunged, chaos rippled through the global economy and anxiety hit business owners across the United States. The specifics of the tariffs — which soared as high as 145% on China and affected virtually every country on earth — have been changing weekly, if not daily. And the helter-skelter nature of it all has sent businesses scrambling to adapt to Trump’s trade war. In Oregon’s trade-dependent economy, the tariffs are particularly tough on the footwear and apparel industry, which uses factories in Asia. And while business giants like Nike and Columbia are plotting to stay afloat, the dramatic shift in policy is potentially crippling for thousands of small businesses in the state, which don’t have as much financial flexibility and muscle. What’s the mood among Oregon’s small business owners? How are they coping? And what does the future look like? On the latest episode of Beat Check, reporter Matthew Kish, who covers business for The Oregonian/OregonLive, breaks down the impact of Trump’s tariffs on Oregon small businesses. Related reading: • How Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs have rattled Oregon small businesses • ‘Tariff tantrum’ will squeeze Oregon’s sneaker business • Oregon food industry facing extreme uncertainty again, this time from Trump tariffs • As trade war heats up, here are Oregon’s largest trading partners • Trump puts 90-day pause on most new tariffs but an increase on Chinese imports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    22 m
  • Everything you ever wanted to know about polls, because we are not afraid to ask.

    Everything you ever wanted to know about polls, because we are not afraid to ask.
    Apr 14 2025
    In this week’s episode, Politics and Education Editor Betsy Hammond breaks down the key finding of a survey of 600 metro area voters by DHM Research, commissioned by The Oregonian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    21 m
  • Is Portland ready for a large wildfire in Forest Park?

    Is Portland ready for a large wildfire in Forest Park?
    Apr 7 2025
    With wildfire season approaching and southern California still reeling from the January wildfires, Portland leaders are making sure the city can withstand a major urban wildfire. Forest Park, the city’s crown jewel and one of the largest urban forests in the U.S., has been identified as one of the areas most at-risk for wildfire in the city. Kim Kosmas, a senior public education officer with Portland Fire & Rescue who also manages the wildfire preparedness program, talks on Beat Check about what the city is doing to prevent large fires in Forest Park and what homeowners can do to protect their homes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    32 m
  • How officials at one Oregon sewer agency scored years of lavish trips and lots of meals

    How officials at one Oregon sewer agency scored years of lavish trips and lots of meals
    Mar 31 2025
    First-class airfare to Hawaii. Five-star hotel stays. Lots and lots of food. All of it footed — directly or indirectly — by customers of a large Portland-area utility. A recent Oregonian/OregonLive investigation found that executives with Clean Water Services, Washington County’s sewer agency, have spent years enjoying fancy business trips to Hawaii and meals on ratepayers’ dime. None of the lavish travel spending is accounted for in the agency’s annual budgets. And, despite months of probing questions and public records requests, officials have not yet disclosed the total cost of four Hawaiian trips or provided the receipts on hundreds of thousands of dollars in food spending. On the latest Beat Check, Shane Dixon Kavanaugh talks to Jamie Goldberg about her rigorous watchdog reporting led to this month’s series on Clean Water Services. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    33 m
  • Scandals plague Oregon’s adult prisons, youth detention facilities

    Scandals plague Oregon’s adult prisons, youth detention facilities
    Mar 24 2025
    A series of headlines has brought bad news about the management of Oregon’s Department of Corrections and Oregon Youth Authority to public attention. Numerous leadership changes have also resulted at the two departments. The agencies are separate divisions in Oregon’s state government but share the responsibility to care for people incarcerated for criminal convictions. The Oregon Youth Authority takes offenders who committed crimes before age 18 (from 12 to 24) and the Corrections Department houses adults. Senior reporter Noelle Crombie, who specializes in criminal justice journalism, wrote about problems of medical neglect in Oregon’s prisons. Prison officials placed on leave Prison medical care under scrutiny Prisoner lost sight in eye Doctor warned about problems at prisons Top officials dismissed Prison medical care plagued by turmoil at the top (with watchdog reporter Ted Sickinger) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    16 m
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