Think Out Loud

Oregon communities have some of the nation’s highest rates of alcohol-related deaths among adults age 65 and older. That’s according to a new study conducted by the Woodlands Grove Recovery Campus in Ohio. It used CDC data from 2020 through 2024 to rank metro areas by both alcohol-induced death rates and total number of deaths. 

Of the top 15 cities with the highest rates, six were in Oregon. Roseburg ranked second, Eugene-Springfield fourth and Medford fifth. Salem, Bend and the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area also appeared in the top 15.

Tom Jeanne is the deputy state health officer and an epidemiologist at the Oregon Health Authority. He joins us to talk about the dangers drinking can pose to older adults and what the state is doing to reduce alcohol-related deaths.

Cathedral Park Cohousing is a mixed-income cohousing development in North Portland that was recently awarded $1.4 million in Oregon State Lottery Bond funds. Along with $2 million in funding previously awarded by Oregon Housing and Community Services and other funding sources, the project is expected to break ground early next year. In cohousing developments, residents typically own their own units but share common areas and participate in decisions affecting their community. 

The nonprofit Our Home Inclusive Community Collaborative has spent several years working to secure the funding and partnerships to develop Cathedral Park Cohousing as an inclusive, mixed-income community. Fourteen units are being set aside for affordable home ownership, which people earning 80% or less of the Area Median Income would typically qualify for. The other nine units are being sold at market rate. Priority is also being given to people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, a group that often struggles to find housing options that meet their needs.  

Alicia DeLashmutt is the president and founder of Our Home Inclusive Community Collaborative. Shane Boland is the development consultant on Cathedral Park Cohousing and the development director of Owen Gabbert, LLC. They join us for a discussion, along with Abby Braithwaite, a future owner of a market rate unit at Cathedral Park Cohousing.

The punk organization Volume Bomb has been around in one form or another for the last 10 years. It’s been organizing and promoting local punk bands ever since it began — with one neighborhood block party. Volume Bomb’s mission has gradually evolved since then, says co-founder Jason Rocksmore. Last year, they incorporated as a 501(c)(3) to better fulfill their goals of supporting local punk bands. The nonprofit aims to not only organize shows, but also to pay the musicians.

This weekend, Volume Bomb is launching its newest program called UnMuted, highlighting queer and female-led punk bands. Some of those Unmuted bands will be performing this weekend at the first annual Pride at Full Volume show in downtown Portland. Rocksmore joins us, along with UnMuted program director Jamie Lynne Powell-Herbold, to share more about how the organization has grown and what they hope the next 10 years bring.

The National Civic League has announced the 10 recipients of its prestigious All-American City award. Woodburn was the smallest of the 10 cities from around the country to receive this honor, and the only one on the west coast. The winning cities were chosen by a panel of judges based on how they demonstrated “innovation, civic engagement, and inclusive collaboration.” Woodburn Mayor Frank Lonergan joins us to share details of the award and what it means to the community.

 Centrally Oregon is a co-working space for artists, writers and other professionals which opened earlier this month in Sunriver. The Bulletin previously reported on its opening and owner Stephanie Gregory’s vision for it. Located inside a 1,400-square-foot warehouse, members have access to dedicated desks, an art studio space and workshops Gregory currently teaches on writing, printmaking, watercolor and more. 

Gregory says she created the business because of her own experiences with working remotely and as a writer and artist in southern Deschutes County who often struggled to find local venues to teach her writing workshops. She joins us to share why she thinks her new space is needed in the region and her future plans for it. Kristine Thomas, the executive director of the Sunriver Area Chamber of Commerce and an aspiring mystery writer who has taken writing workshops taught by Gregory, also joins us for this discussion.

As we approach the 250th anniversary of American independence, “Think Out Loud” has been hearing from guests whose life experiences and personal histories illuminate different aspects of what it means to be an American.

We’ll continue that conversation with Tony Johnson, the chairman of the Chinook Indian Nation. The nation represents five tribes whose ancestral homelands surround the mouth of the Columbia River in present-day Oregon and Southwest Washington.

The nation received federal recognition in 2001, only to have it rescinded 18 months later. Johnson joins us to talk about the ongoing fight for recognition and the nuances of being Indigenous in the U.S.

A Washington State University study found that rates of food insecurity in the U.S. vary among members of different racial and ethnic groups. It found, for example, that only 10% of Asian American adults who live in severe poverty are food insecure, compared to 40% of American Indian and Alaska Native adults living in severe poverty. It also found that low-income white adults had similar levels of food insecurity as low-income Hispanic adults while low-income Black adults faced more food insecurity than both those other groups. 

A household whose income is below 50% of the federal poverty level is considered to be living in severe poverty, whereas a household whose income is 100% to 200% above the federal poverty level is considered to be living in near poverty.

Justin Denney, a professor of sociology at Washington State University, joins us to share more details about the study and how its findings could inform outreach efforts to communities with the greatest food assistance needs.

For the first time in nearly 50 years, Portland is hosting the USA Fencing National Championships. The ten-day tournament kicks off this Sunday, with thousands of fencing athletes from around the world competing for national titles.

Michael McTigue served as the executive director of the non-profit Northwest Fencing for 5 years and now volunteers as a coach. He’s been fencing, competing and coaching for the last 48 years. Sandra Marchant is a national fencing champion who’s coming to town to compete. She frequently travels to Portland to host a women’s-only fencing summer camp called The Athena Project. We’ll hear from McTigue and Marchant ahead of the tournament

For nearly 40 years, Store to Door has helped homebound seniors and adults with disabilities in the Portland metro area by taking orders for groceries and delivering them each week with a team of mostly volunteers. These “Kindness Couriers”, as the nonprofit calls them, will enter clients’ homes - if requested -  to unpack the groceries and stay for a brief chat. Those interactions can help ease feelings of social isolation for the clients, most of whom are low-income seniors living alone. In July, Store to Door will offer the grocery delivery service on a sliding scale, with no cost for clients facing the greatest financial need.

During the pandemic, Store to Door began offering clients free weekly phone calls made by volunteers through its Friendly Caller program. The calls are intended to foster regular social connections that may evolve into friendships between volunteers and the clients they serve. 

Joining us for a discussion about Store to Door and the communities it serves are Program Director Cass Listro; Board President and Kindness Courier volunteer Jeri Janowsky; and Gloria Nussbaum, a Friendly Caller volunteer.

 Next month, the Food and Drug Administration committee will consider easing restrictions on some peptides. Some influencers have claimed these injectables improve muscle growth, create better immune function and slow aging, among other things. However, there is very little evidence to support the benefits of many of these drugs in humans. At the same time, prescription peptides that are already on the market, such as GLP-1s like Ozempic, have seen increasing demand for off-label use. Daniel Hartung is a professor of pharmacy at Oregon State University. He joins us to share more on the FDA processes and off-label prescriptions.

Four times a week, you’ll find Camas resident Martins Licis working out in his home garage. Like many people, he will lift repetitions of weights to build strength. But most people don’t do 600 to 900-pound deadlifts or 500 to 700-pound squats.  

Licis is a professional strongman who is currently training to compete in the Giants Live Strongman Classic in London on July 4 and another international competition three weeks later. The Columbian recently profiled Licis before his return to the World’s Strongest Man, which he won in 2019 and finished in sixth place this year. The four-day competition features grueling feats of strength like pulling a truck along a 100-foot course or throwing 30-pound sandbags over a 16-foot-high bar.  

But it’s more traditional feats of strength that Licis is particularly interested in these days. In 2022, he launched with his friend and manager the YouTube series “Strength Unknown.” As host and co-producer, Licis has traveled to more than 15 countries to document and participate in ancient strength traditions, from sumo wrestling in Japan to stone lifting in Pakistan, and to meet the people who are keeping them alive. 

Licis joins us to discuss the series, which is currently on hiatus, and how it’s expanded his understanding of strength.

The Menopunks movement started as a documentary. The goal was to debunk claims about hormone replacement therapy through interviews with doctors and hear the stories of Portland musicians who have benefited from HRT. But it’s now grown into a broader effort to advocate for more comprehensive and accessible menopause care. 

A benefit concert series this weekend aims to raise money for the documentary and awareness around hormonal therapy through a resource fair and panel conversation with doctors and healthcare advocates.

Alicia J Rose is a musician, filmmaker and one of the founders of Menopunks. Gilly Ann Hanner is a participant in the documentary and a founding member of the band Calamity Jane, which will perform this weekend with both of its founding members for the first time in 35 years. They both join us with more details.

High Country News recently reported on how residents within the city limits of White Salmon, Wash. have lacked free mail delivery from the U.S. Postal Service for years now. The agency also does not provide free Post Office Boxes for those residents. High Country News’ reporting also revealed that at least 10 other towns in Washington, Oregon and Idaho also lack both free home mail delivery and free P.O. Boxes provided by the USPS. Meanwhile, White Salmon Mayor Marla Keethler has been trying to no avail since 2020 to work with the agency to create a new mail delivery route or provide free P.O. boxes. 

Susan Shain is a freelance journalist based in White Salmon. She joins us to share more details of her recent reporting.

The men’s soccer team from Jordan lost to Algeria  2-1 to on Monday, meaning they won’t go on to the next round of the World Cup. The team has been using the University of Portland’s Merlo Field as its home base for practice and training sessions between games. 

UP men’s soccer head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt says the school boasts one of the best all-grass soccer fields in the Northwest, if not the country, and that it was a “no-brainer” when FIFA contacted him several years ago to see if the university would be interested in hosting a 2026 World Cup national team. It’s also given him the chance to attend Team USA’s matches, including its victory over Australia last Friday in Seattle, and relive his boyhood memories of cheering on the men’s team from the stands 32 years ago – the last time a men’s World Cup game was held on U.S. soil.  

Carlin-Voigt joins us to share those memories and the new ones he’s making at the World Cup.

The law made changes to SNAP, including eligibility restrictions and work requirements for able-bodied adults 64 and younger without children under the age of 14 in their SNAP household. SNAP recipients who don’t qualify for an exemption can meet the 80-hour monthly work rules in several ways, including paid work, volunteering or participating in a SNAP Training & Employment Program. The program helps SNAP recipients with job placement, career coaching, pre-apprenticeship training, tuition assistance and other support provided by WorkSource Oregon and community-based organizations.

This month, ODHS began requiring interviews to check eligibility for households applying for SNAP or renewing their benefits. Nate Singer, Oregon Eligibility Partnership Director at ODHS, shares how Oregonians are being impacted by federal changes to SNAP, along with Matt Newell-Ching, Senior Policy Manager at Oregon Food Bank, and Jesse Aronson, WorkSource Program Manager at Worksystems, the Portland metro workforce development board serving Portland, Multnomah and Washington counties.