SUMMARY: The FBI reports that hate crime violence in the U.S. is at a 16-year high. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, meanwhile, says the highest percentage of hate incidents since the 2016 election occurred in elementary and secondary schools. Special correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault takes a look at how this problem has manifest in northwest Oregon -- and what tool teachers are using to intervene.
SUMMARY: A remote area of the Pacific Northwest might not sound like a top theater destination. But as Jeffrey Brown reports, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival has sparked a wave of creative and economic growth in rural Ashland. One of the country’s most important regional theater companies, OSF is acclaimed for provocative show content, community engagement and unusually diverse casting.
SUMMARY: For three weeks in the summer, children who are entering kindergarten in Portland, Oregon, get ready and get excited to start school. While it’s no substitute for pre-K, getting a preview helps ease the transition for kids, and offers parents a sense of connection. Special correspondent Lisa Stark of Education Week reports.
SUMMARY: Firefighters are battling rapidly expanding wildfires across California, facing high winds and triple digit temperatures, while mass evacuations are underway in some areas. Other states like Oregon and Alaska are facing even more severe situations. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on why fire officials say this is “the new normal.”
Miles O’Brien (NewsHour): There are 89 large fires burning more than 870,000 acres across 13 states, mostly in the American West. Oregon and Alaska are each dealing with 15 fires.
SUMMARY: The goal of retiring comfortably off the fruits of one’s labor has become an increasingly elusive goal for many Americans. Now states are taking the problem into their own hands. In Oregon, a new state retirement program lets businesses hook payroll into a system that automatically enrolls employees in a savings plan. Amna Nawaz reports as part of our ongoing series Chasing the Dream.
SUMMARY: New drugs can cure up to 95 percent of patients with hepatitis C, a virus that can be debilitating or deadly. And there’s been a 20 percent rise in new infections from 2015 to 2016 due to the opioid epidemic. In Oregon, a state hard-hit by the disease, new medicines combined with the big surge in those looking for treatment, has led to a unique care model. Special correspondent Cat Wise reports.
SUMMARY: The governors of Maryland and Oregon are making an urgent call for greater federal help to deal with the opioid epidemic in their hard-hit states. Gov. Larry Hogan (R-Md) and Gov. Kate Brown (D-Ore) sit down with William Brangham to discuss the problems in their states, what works and what they need to end the suffering.
SUMMARY: As many as 400 Oregon residents are estimated to die prematurely every year from exposure to diesel exhaust, a toxic carcinogen, and a contributor to climate change. While new vehicles have emission requirements, there are no regulations for the older diesel engines still in use. Special correspondent Cat Wise reports on the ways Oregon is trying to tackle the problem.
SUMMARY: What is it like to be a conservative woman trying to find your voice in a city known for its progressive politics? The NewsHour's Elizabeth Flock wrote an in-depth profile of Trump supporters living in Portland, Oregon, the second half of our series on political divisions in unlikely places. Flock joins Judy Woodruff to take a closer look.
SUMMARY: It's back-to-school season, but these students have taken their brainstorming outside the classroom to solve pressing, real-life problems. Visit a competition where teams of student inventors pitch their entrepreneurial ideas to guests posing as investors, who vote on the best startup ideas. Special correspondent Cat Wise reports from Portland, Oregon.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): As students head back to college this year, some will be doing more than just the usual course work.
Special correspondent Cat Wise has a story about a group of student inventors trying to make their mark, part of our weekly series covering the Leading Edge of science and technology.
CAT WISE, Special correspondent: Music, wine, and ideas were flowing at an event in Portland, Oregon, that brought together college students from around the country who have all been hard at work, between classes and tests, inventing the next big thing.
While the atmosphere was festive, there was some serious business going on. Fourteen teams pitched their inventions to invited guests, who were playing the role of venture investors for the evening, with venture bucks to invest in the ballot boxes of their favorite start-ups.
MAN: Back the team that you think is going to change the world.
CAT WISE: There were plenty of cool ideas to choose from, like a low-cost water contamination detection system from an all-women team of engineers at Santa Clara University, and a device to help babies with respiratory distress syndrome in low-resource hospitals developed by students at Western Michigan University.
And there was even a group from a local high school trying to tackle another common problem in many parts of the world, lack of electricity to charge cell phones.
WILLIAM WU, West Salem High School: We made a thermo-electric generator that can be used in open fire to generate electricity while cooking. The metal rod right here will go directly into the pot they're using for cooking, and the heat will go from the rod into the thermal electric generators that will generate electricity from the heat.
CAT WISE: Many of the products on display are still in the early stages of development, and some build on ideas that are already out in the marketplace.
But a few of the teams have created things never invented before. Katherine Jin is part of the Kinnos team from Columbia University. She and her two co-founders, who are also her classmates, were inspired when they saw a need for better disinfection methods during the Ebola crisis in Africa.
KEVIN TYAN, Co-founder, Kinnos: One of the current problems with the way people decontaminate today is that the disinfectants are clear and transparent, so you can't see where you're spraying. They bounce off waterproof surfaces, just like rain off an umbrella.
CAT WISE: After some late nights and a lot of trial and error, they developed Highlight, a powder that adds temporary color to bleach and enhances adhesion to surfaces.
SUMMARY: Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge grabbed headlines earlier this year when it was seized by armed militants protesting federal control of local lands. But for the past decade, some local ranchers have been striving to find common ground with environmental groups and refuge officials, and important strides have been made for birds and cows. Special correspondent Cat Wise reports.
CAT WISE (NewsHour): The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has reopened to the public, but the headquarters complex remains closed, for now.
CHAD KARGES, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Once the repairs are done, and we're back in the buildings and operational again in full, then we will open up the headquarters.
CAT WISE: Refuge manager Chad Karges says that while cleanup efforts from the occupation are ongoing, everyone's attention is now refocused on the most important visitors here, birds.
CHAD KARGES: Malheur Refuge is about migratory birds, and so this basin is one of the most important spring migratory stopover points for migratory birds in the Western U.S. The basin serves as kind of like an international airport. It's a hub.
CAT WISE: More than 320 species are found here, including Sandhill Cranes, Ross's Geese, Long-Billed Curlews, and Red-Winged Blackbirds. But the birds don't just hang out on the refuge. They land wherever they want.
And at this time of year, that's often on local private ranchland wet with spring runoff. It's wonderful habitat for birds and for cows. Cows outnumber people by 14 to one in Harney County. There's a long, proud tradition of ranching here, and cattle and haying are the main drivers of the local economy.
Cows and birds seem to get along quite well on private ranches, and many in the community appreciate the tourism dollars that birders bring in. But it's when those cattle have to graze on public, government-owned land, which makes up 75 percent of the county, that conflicts between ranchers, and environmental groups, and the federal government become evident.
So, about 10 years ago, refuge manager Karges and a small group in this community decided to try a fairly novel approach to resolving those conflicts, face-to-face conversations. And those conversations have led to this, the High Desert Partnership, a nonprofit that was formed with one goal, collaboration.
MAN: Can you add to the committee, or does it need to be a standing committee?
MAN: I would just recommend that it is a standing group.
CAT WISE: Participants at this recent meeting, held at the historic Hotel Diamond, included ranchers, federal and local government employees, scientists, and conservation advocates, a diverse group you might not expect would share so many laughs.
SUMMARY: Few places on this planet have gone unexplored. Just 60 miles from Portland, Oregon, there's a natural wonder that was first spotted in 2010. Last summer, an expedition team navigated for three days to reach their goal: Valhalla Canyon. Oregon Public Broadcasting chronicles that effort in a new documentary.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): There are few places left that haven’t been explored. But a team in Oregon has documented a natural wonder for the first time that’s just about 60 miles from Portland. It’s a spectacular half-mile gorge and narrow canyon in the Cascade Range.
It was first spotted in 2010 by a Forest Service employee. This past summer, an expedition team spent three days navigating through it, including nine major waterfalls and a grotto that ended at a slot canyon.
Oregon Public Broadcasting chronicled that effort in a new documentary (full video).
Here’s an excerpt about trying to reach the Valhalla Canyon.
MAN: Oh, man.
BEN CANALES, Photographer: Being in Valhalla, it feels like you have gone into the throat of something, through the stomach and you’re in it. You know, for myself, as I would say much more a normal person and not a hard-core adventurer, there’s kind of just a low level of panic at the back of the mind.
It’s like, this is not normal. What’s going to happen here? What’s going to happen there?
MAN: Yah! It’s awesome!
BEN CANALES: And so there’s kind of always a little fight to keep that quelled down.
And then there’s just this thrilling excitement at the rugged beauty of it. All the fears just disappeared, and it was like, this is awesome. You know, the worry was gone, and it was just pure adventure.
The FBI and Oregon State Police have arrested several people in connection to the occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. One person was killed.
Ammon Bundy, Ryan C. Bundy, Brian “Booda” Cavalier, Shawna Cox and Ryan W. Payne were all arrested Tuesday night along Highway 395 between Burns and John Day, Oregon, police said.
Everyone arrested Tuesday night will face felony charges, according to law enforcement.
Officials said one person suffered non-life threatening injuries. The injured person was reportedly transferred to a local hospital.
The arrest of Ammon and Ryan Bundy along with three others took place around 4:30 p.m. PST. Shots were fired during the arrest.
Law enforcement said no additional information will be released at this time about the deceased person.
In a separate event in Burns, Oregon State Police arrested Joseph Donald O'Shaughnessy, 45, of Cottonwood, Arizona. They did not give details about the nature of the arrest. The FBI have also confirmed that Peter Santilli, age 50, of Cincinnati was arrested in Burns.
St. Charles Health System in Bend confirmed a helicopter had been dispatched to Harney County and is on standby awaiting to transport patients to its level II trauma center. The hospital is on lockdown.
Ammon Bundy and a group of armed activists and militiamen stormed the empty headquarters of the remote wildlife refuge in Oregon on Jan. 2 to protest the impending imprisonment of two ranchers convicted of arson on federal land.
Ammon Bundy emerged from a small brick building at the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge shortly after 11 a.m. local time Sunday.
He wouldn’t say how many protesters were present at the site of the occupied federal complex, but fewer than 20 people were visible Sunday afternoon.
The leader of the occupation spoke in cool, calm tones as he explained why he and other self-described militiamen broke into and took over the complex Saturday.
“This refuge, from its very inception has been a tool of tyranny,” said Bundy. He believes the federal government overstepped its constitutional bounds in its original purchase of the land back in 1908.
The occupiers said their mission is to put the federal lands under local control, although it’s unclear by what means. Bundy said the protesters have a plan that will take “several months at the shortest to accomplish.”
The refuge is a popular destination for spring birdwatchers, and the headquarters include a visitor’s center, museum and housing.
Protester LaVoy Finicum, an Arizona rancher, said they’re being careful not to damage buildings or property. He claimed the protesters accessed the buildings after they found a set of keys. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service disputed that claim.
The militiamen came to Burns, Oregon, to support Dwight and Steven Hammond, a father and son pair who were convicted of setting fire to federal ranchlands.
Susan Hammond said Sunday that her husband, Dwight, was already en route to Los Angeles to begin serving his sentence. The Hammonds are due to report to prison Monday morning.
When asked about the refuge occupation, Susan Hammond gave a dry laugh and said she was very surprised by it.
“I don’t even know what ‘occupying the refuge’ means. I can’t judge what’s going on out there because I don’t know what it is,” she said. “I hope they’ve got some warm clothes.”
Temperatures have been frigid in this region of Oregon, with numbers dipping into single digits overnight.
“I don’t really know the purpose of the guys who are out there,” said Susan Hammond. “I kind of understand where they come from, as far as their priorities in life.”
When asked how long they plan to occupy the complex, Bundy would only say, “for as long as it takes.”
Finicum said he plans to stay “until the constitution is upheld.” They brought food, fuel and supplies, and local supporters visited the site Sunday adding to the stockpile.
Bundy said he hasn’t heard from any law enforcement “since we made the stand.” No officers were visible near the refuge, nor were marked police vehicles patrolling the remote, ice-covered highways near the site.
But Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said federal and local officers are paying close attention.
“They’re following it literally by the minute and that’s why it’s so important that we have this close coordination between the FBI, which of course takes the lead at the federal level, because of the wildlife refuge, and the state police, and the Harney County Sheriff’s Office,” Wyden said.
Oregon state police told OPB that a joint command center of federal, state and local law enforcement offices will be established Monday. The Harney County Sheriff’s office released a statement Sunday saying that law enforcement was working to make sure citizens are safe and “this issue is resolved as quickly and peaceful as possible.”
“These men came to Harney County claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers, when in reality these men had alternative motives to attempt to overthrow the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States,” wrote Sheriff David Ward.
The militia is prepared to use force, said Bundy, but they don’t intend to. “We will not be aggressive. We are here to defend the people.”
But would they respond with force, should the federal government act first?
“That would have to be determined at that time,” said Bundy. “If they did, that would be putting lives at risk. We’re not putting anybody at risk right now.”
The protesters come from as far away as Texas, Utah, Nevada, Idaho and Montana. They describe themselves as patriots, militiamen or constitutionalists.
“I came prepared for anything,” said one Utah man who called himself “Captain Moroni.” Many of the protesters provided reporters with names such as “Fluffy Unicorn,” or “Jimmy Joe.”
Captain Moroni said he participated in the 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff, and he was disappointed that more protesters did not arrive.
“I feel quite betrayed. It’s been on Facebook that everyone is going to come. And we show up, and everyone just craps out,” he said. “You come up here, ready to get killed if we have to and these people are just on Facebook about it.
“I’m not here to shoot anyone, I’m here to get shot,” he said, while guarding the entrance to the refuge headquarters Sunday afternoon, patting his hands together for warmth near a sagebrush fire.
SUMMARY: Armed protesters have occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon in protest of federal control of western ranch lands and the treatment of two Oregon ranchers. William Brangham gets an update from Amanda Peacher of Oregon Public Broadcasting.
SUMMARY: Potholes, vulnerable bridges, a lack of sidewalks -- following years of cutbacks in federal transportation funding, states are feeling the pinch. In Oregon, the NewsHour’s Cat Wise explores pressing infrastructure funding needs, like alternative forms of transportation, traffic reduction measures and preparing for a massive earthquake that many predict will hit in the state within 50 years.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): As we reported earlier, after much debate, Congress today passed a short-term extension of the Highway Trust Fund. But years of cutbacks in federal and local transportation funding are being felt in communities around the country.
The NewsHour’s Cat Wise takes a look at some of the key transportation issues facing Portland, Oregon, and the surrounding region.
CAT WISE (NewsHour): Early one morning this week, as thousands of commuters drove overhead, Oregon bridge inspector Joel Boothe hoisted himself 100 feet up in the air and got to work.
Boothe was doing a routine inspection of one of the state’s busiest bridges, the Marquam Bridge built in 1966. It carries about 90,000 vehicles a day on Interstate 5 over the Willamette River near downtown Portland. Unlike some of the other bridges in Portland, it’s in fairly good shape, but it’s still got some issues.
JOEL BOOTHE, Bridge Inspector: So, question, on both sides of the location of those general hanging locations, we have had problems.
CAT WISE: Issues that are being closely monitored by the state’s chief bridge engineer, Bruce Johnson.
BRUCE JOHNSON, State Bridge Engineer, Oregon Department of Transportation: They found some pack rust, so we have got some corrosion going on. We’re losing some section in our steel. The other issue, this bridge has had a lot of fatigue cracking.
And, of course, we have mitigated the cracks by doing repairs, but we’re concerned about the performance of our repairs and how the cracking is going.
CAT WISE: Johnson says that maintaining bridge safety is a huge task for the state.
SUMMARY: Hydroelectricity -- using the flow of water to generate power -- has long been a small but key source of renewable energy. How can cities around the country better harness that potential? A startup in Portland, Oregon, has developed a system that gets energy from gravity-fed drinking water pipes to produce electricity without any environmental impact. Hari Sreenivasan reports.
HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour): Industrial engineer Susan Priddy takes advantage of rare sunny days in Portland to ride her Harley to work. And in her job as director of operations for Lucid Energy, she takes advantage of the regions’s abundant water supply. This small start-up has developed a new technology.
SUSAN PRIDDY, Lucid Energy: How’s it going today?
MAN: Very well.
SUSAN PRIDDY: What is our energy coming out today?
MAN: Right now, we’re running about 40 kilowatts.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Priddy and Lucid engineers were monitoring the energy generated by drinking water as it flows through turbines integrated into these pipes. Lucid has designed the first hydroelectric system designed to harness the energy in gravity-fed drinking water pipes found throughout Portland and in many municipalities around the country.
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GREGG SEMLER, Lucid Energy: The advantage of the Lucid pipe system is that we produce electricity all the time, around the clock, without any environmental impact. So, it’s very unusual to find sources of energy that you can produce electricity without any environmental impact in today’s world.
HARI SREENIVASAN: And how does it compare to the renewable energy sources that most of us are familiar with today, solar and wind?
GREGG SEMLER: When you compare the cost of the Lucid pipe power system with other traditional sources of renewables, like wind and solar, to generate the same amount of energy that Lucid is generating would cost three of four times more for the same amount of energy.
SUMMARY: At a special housing development in Oregon, families who adopt foster children live side by side with seniors who volunteer their time in exchange for affordable rent. The NewsHour's Cat Wise reports how members of the intergenerational community find support and connection together.
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DERENDA SCHUBERT, Executive Director, Bridge Meadows: One of the beautiful features of Bridge Meadows is that there’s reciprocity among the generations, so the elders are providing love and support to the families, and the families are doing the same, and even the children are giving back to the elders.
From the logging towns of Oregon to the hipster bars of Brooklyn, people dream of moving to Portland, Oregon. Drawn like moths to the flame of craft beer and environmental sustainability, these aspiring transplants dream of a utopia of low home prices and artistic opportunity. However, only a select few of those will actually make the trek, and even fewer will find work, grow handlebar mustaches, and start their own food cart. Is Portland for everyone? Hardly, but the Portland myth, perpetuated by the New York Times and others, does sound incredibly tempting. So before you pack your bags, here are 37 things to consider before moving to Portland.
- Can You Tolerate Nudity?
For a city largely populated by pasty, pale people, Portland (points for alliteration) sure likes to get naked. Thanks to a 1985 Oregon Court of Appeals ruling, local nudity laws don’t apply in cases of protest. Thus, Naked City USA has seen an area man strip naked at in an airport security line to protest the TSA and an annual naked bike ride that features 10,000 nudists pedaling around town. In Portland, it’s actually legal to ride a bike naked, but illegal to not wear a helmet. Apparently, the government will not protect its citizens from road rash. There’s also a nudist club that hosts a bare bowling event, a thriving burlesque scene, and don’t forget Portland has over 50 strip clubs, which is a lot for a city its size.- Gluten Shortage?
A cursory glance of area menus and you’ll discover there’s a serious gluten shortage affecting Portland. The city is so lacking in gluten that it’s created gluten-free food fairs, gluten-free vodka, and entire restaurants and food carts completely devoid of gluten. Of course if you have an actual gluten allergy—or simply aspire to have one—then Portland is your gluten-free heaven.- Whitest Major City In America
If Portland were a Baskin Robbins, 24 of the 31 flavors would be vanilla.- Least Religious City In America
Only 32% of Portlanders identify as being religious adherent, the least in America. While the locals aren’t often found at church, synagogue or mosque, the city does congregate in other ways, including at the 24 Hour Church of Elvis. Portland hosts a variety of public spectacles, including an Urban Iditarod where costumed groups race shopping carts for miles through Portland, stopping only to rehydrate at various bars and pubs. There’s also an adult soap box derby, numerous beer festivals, nude bike rides, Star Wars-themed bar crawls, zombie walks, a pirate festival and plenty more.- Can You Grow Facial Hair?
So much has been made of Portland residents propensity to don a beard or mustache that many feel painfully out of place without one. The steampunks, hippies, hipsters, and those who fetishize loggers all appear devoted to the cause of growing facial hair. The city is even home to to the Portland Mustache & Beard Club, the Stumptown Stash & Beard Collective, and the Beautiful Bearded Lady Competition.- Little Farms In The City
Residents are within their legal right to to keep and bear farm animals. The limit is three or fewer chickens, ducks, doves, pigeons, pygmy goats, or rabbits on their property. Those who want pigs, can only keep one Vietnamese Miniature Pot-Bellied Pig with maximum shoulder height of 18 inches, and weighing no more than 95 lbs, so no fatties bacon fans. Absolutely no roosters. Cows or llamas require a special permit. Same for bees.- You’ll Never Pump Your Own Gas
You may never be able to hire a trusted man servant named Stanley, but imagine the luxury of never having to pump your own gas? In Oregon, only the station’s attendant may legally operate the pump thanks to a state law forbidding the driver from doing it on supposed safety grounds. Do it yourself and you’ll get slapped with a $500 fine.- Rain, Rain, Rain…
You know how a long shower is invigorating? Nine months of near constant rain is nothing like that. Amongst major American cities, Portland has the third highest number of rainy days per year. Clouds routinely hide the sun for months and unleash a steady drizzle that keeps the city green, but the sky so very gray. So gray. Some people kind of like it, but they keep it to themselves.- Live Music
You know that band people are talking about that you’ve never heard of? Well they’re from Portland. And so is Blitzen Trapper, Carrie Brownstein, The Shins, The Decemberists, Elliott Smith, Laura Veirs, Pink Martini, Stars of Track and Field, The Dandy Warhols, The Thermals, and a whole lot more. The city has a thriving music scene and if you’d like to join a local band Craigslist lists thousands of openings.- Buying A Home
The median home price in Portland is $242,000, a significant bargain compared to Seattle—$400,000 or San Francisco—$1,000,000. Also, the locals are both handy and creative so you might wind up with a house a cool feature like a nightclub in the basement.- Progressive Politics
The two-party system is alive and well in Portland, but the two parties consist of the Democratic Party and the Green Party. President George H. W. Bush’s staffers called the city “Little Beirut” because of the protesters they encountered, something the locals take pride in. Well, everyone except Jeff in Richmond, who’s a republican.- Mountains Sometimes Go Boom
Would you accept living 50 miles from an 11,000-foot-tall volcano that occasionally erupts in exchange for a stunning mountain view and year-round skiing? Everything comes at a price. On the upside, the volcano that exists under the city is extinct.- Summertime
Portland comes alive in the summer when the skies clear and temperatures average 80 degrees. Locals hang out in city parks, hike in nearby forests, windsurf on the Columbia River, and forage for berries in woods. Nine months of complaining about the rain gives way to basking in the sunshine, except for those whiny imbeciles who choose to complain it’s too hot. They know who they are.- Very Little Snow
Are you a Midwesterner experienced in snow driving? Congrats! If you move to Portland you’ll be one of the best snow drivers in town! The locals are admittedly terrible at it, mostly due to a lack of experience because it only snows a few days per year. Be sure to brag about your driving skills because everyone will be really impressed that some dude from Ohio can drive in the snow.- Sports
Portland isn’t home to an NFL or MLB franchise, or even a college sports power, but it does have the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers and MLS’ Portland Timbers. The Trailblazers have made great strides in recent years in improving their public image after years of being called The Jailblazers (frequent player arrests), but it’s a far cry from the Clyde Drexler days. The Timbers have a strong following made up of aspiring hooligans, Europhiles, people who like to wear scarves, but also thousands of actual soccer fans who really know the game. If that doesn’t do it for you, the city is also home to roller derby, lacrosse,a Triple-A baseball team, Single A baseball team, a major-junior ice hockey team, a touch rugby team, and one heck of an Ultimate Frisbee team in the Portland Stags.- Food Carts
Portland is known far and wide for having over 400 food carts and mobile eateries. Unlike New York, which features the same hot dog cart on seemingly every corner, Portland boasts incredible variety. The city is even home to Kargi Gogo, a food cart serving up traditional cuisine from the country of Georgia (Sakartvelo). Located between Turkey and Russia, Georgia is the kind of a hip, indie country most people have never even heard of, but obviously Portland has.- Share The City With Wildlife
Portland is a modern city, but that doesn’t mean you’ll never encounter wildlife. Bats live under bridges, owls sometimes swipe at hikers, coyotes stalk cats, deer eat your roses, and raccoons sometimes poke their heads inside the doggie door in search of a snack. However, there are no sharks, poisonous snakes, or alligators.- No Sales Tax
It’s a shopper’s paradise, and not just because it’s home to the world’s absolute greatest bookstore—Powell’s Books. There is no sales tax in Oregon, so you’ll save a ton of cash when you shop in Portland, particularly if you don’t have a job because Oregon is home to an income tax instead.- Mass Transit
Portland routinely pops up on lists of the top cities for mass transit in the country with a comprehensive transportation system that includes commuter rail and buses, light rail and streetcar lines, and also bike and pedestrian paths. While the city is facing budget shortfalls, Portland is still out ahead while other cities are playing from behind. Portland was one of the first American cities to reintroduce streetcars when it unveiled modern ones in 2001.- Get Outdoors
Portland is a great city for runners and cyclists, but there are even more outdoor recreation opportunities just outside the city. Nearby forests are great for hiking and foraging, and the surrounding rivers are popular for fishing, kayaking and windsurfing. Nearby Mt. Hood has four ski resorts and the Oregon Coast is less than 90 minutes away in case you want to dip your toe in the Pacific Ocean.- Razor Clamming
You’re not truly a local until you’ve cut your hand hunting the coast’s most elusive of shoreline bivalves—the mighty Pacific razor clam.- Potential for Alcoholism
Portland is home to some of world’s best breweries and brew pubs, and it routinely shows up on lists of best beer cities from the likes of CNN, Esquire, GQ, Men’s Journal, and others. On top of being the Craft Beer Capital of America, the city is also leading a craft spirits movement from its own Distillery Row. Combine that with the exceptional wines from the Willamette Valley and double the bars of neighboring Seattle, and it’s no wonder Portland hosts over 500 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings each week.- It’s Very Green
Portland was ahead of the curve when it comes to sustainable urban planning and wins various awards for its general environmental awesomeness. Locals pride themselves on raising chickens and growing vegetables in their backyards, purchasing locally-sourced everything, and doing a little free ranging of their own in some of the city’s 90,000 acres of green space. Add all that to an urban growth boundary the keeps the urban side urban and the nature side natural and you got yourself some serious green cred. And also a little controversy regarding land use.- Talented Chefs
There’s a lot of buzz about Portland’s culinary scene thanks to nationally-recognized chefs like Andy Ricker (Pok Pok and Whiskey Soda Lounge), Gabriel Rucker (Le Pigeon), Scott Dolich (Park Kitchen), Cathy Whims (Nostrana) and Naomi Pomeroy (Beast). Portland is perfectly located to take advantage of coastal seafood, area farms and orchards, and forests filled wild mushrooms and other edibles. The city is quickly becoming one of the premier food cities in America.- Drawbridge Syndrome
Once you move to Portland, you’ll immediately want to stop others from moving there because they’ll ruin it. Don’t feel bad for being a hypocrite, it’s called “drawbridge syndrome,” and it’s been going on for generations. It’s the real reason some people call Portland “Bridgetown.”- Nobody Uses Their Car Horn
Car horns are not outlawed, but residents generally don’t use their horns much in traffic. Newcomers assume this is because Portlanders are polite, law-abiding people, a perception quickly discarded thanks to the high rate of car prowls and thefts. It’s surprising how badly some people want that old CD collection under the front seat.- Tooth Decay
Unlike practically every other city in America, Portland does not fluoridate its drinking water. The majority of scientific research shows fluoride is helpful for dental health and has no side effects, but voters are still skeptical. Is this just a natural distrust of chemical additives or are the city’s anti-fluoride activists simply in the pockets of Big Cavity? The debate will continue and you’ll be asked to pick a side.- You’ll Have To Buy A Bike
Bicycling Magazine rated Portland the #1 Bike-Friendly City in America in 2012 and for good reason. Twelve times more commuters travel by bike in Portland than the national average, and there are 319 miles of area bikeways. The downside is many people feel it’s necessary to ride unicycles.- #1 Dog City in America
With 33 dog parks, plenty of dog friendly restaurants, and its own social network for dogs, it’s no wonder Portland was named the #1 U.S. City for Dogs by Estately. The city also loves its cats, and the city’s professional soccer team even shares its stadium with a feral cat colony. There are a lot of ferrets as well, which is unfortunate.- Portlandia
Most of Portland is happy to laugh along with the portrayal of the city on the popular show Portlandia. Some residents loathe it, but nearly all have been inspired to stop putting birds on things.- The Importance of Breakfast
Aside from Happy Hour, breakfast is the most important meal of the day in Portland, which is why people will wait in line for hours for it. However, the city is home to an incredible number of delicious breakfast spots, as well as some of the best biscuits outside of the south. And yes, you can still get a donut covered in bacon or Fruit Loops at Voodoo Donuts, provided you can handle long lines.- Not A Fast Food City
Fast-food loving newcomers are often crushed to learn Portland has no Sonic (Tigard has one), Chick-fil-A, or In-N-Out Burger, but you’ll probably be able to console yourself at one of Portland’s many food carts. However, it’s not that the city doesn’t have any fast food love. Oregon is home to the inventors of the corn dog—George and Versa Boyington, who originally called it a Pronto Pup.- Portland Is Hipper Than Seattle
Sure, Portland’s neighbor to the north has a better economy an iconic Space Needle, but even the New York Times knows that Portland is the coolest city in the Northwest (apologies to La Grande). You can judge for yourself here: Northwest Hipster Battle—Seattle vs. Portland in Epic Showdown. Eventually, you’ll probably have to move to Seattle to get a job, but you’ll always have those awesome tattoos to remember your Portland days (5th most tattooed city in America).- Portland’s Nuclear Option
Portland’s Reed College is home to the only nuclear reactor operated primarily by undergraduates… so… good luck.- Portland’s Nicknames
Portland got its name from a very uncreative beginning. Two settlers, one from Portland, Maine and one from Boston, Massachusetts flipped a coin to determine which one they’d name the new city after. Since then, the city’s residents have tried to make up for this lack of imagination by creating a variety of nicknames: Stumptown, PDX, Rose City, Bridgetown, Beervana, Little Beirut, Potland, Munich on the Willamette, Rip City, Hipster Hollow, South Vancouver. Did we forget any?- Umbrellas Are For Tourists
It used to be that only the tourists used umbrellas, but then the Californians moved up and everything changed. Sidewalks grew congested with parasoled pedestrians and the city even put up a statue of a man with an umbrella. You call this progress?- Cinemas Have More Than Popcorn
The good people of Portland are largely responsible for the growing trend of movie theaters serving beer and food. Movie goers can pass on the overpriced sodas and popcorn tubs and instead get a great burger and local microbrew at more than a dozen area theaters.
JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour): And finally tonight, a major advance in stem cell work, but one that again raises ethical questions.
Researchers at Oregon Health and Science University were able to create embryonic stem cells through a cloned human embryo, a longtime goal, since such cells are capable of transforming into tissues and organs genetically identical to a patient who needs them.
Researchers took the DNA from a donor's unfertilized egg, then inserted mature skin cells containing the DNA of a patient. That led to the creation of an early-stage embryo called a blastocyst, a group of 50 to 100 cells. From that, scientists derived stem cells and then transformed them into heart cells.
The blastocyst was destroyed in the process and was never implanted in a human womb.
Rob Stein has been covering this story for NPR and joins us now.
On Dec. 28, 2011 a 2 ½-year-old, male gray wolf entered California after traveling from northeast Oregon. Designated OR7, his behavior, called dispersal, is not atypical of a wolf his age.
Historically, wolves inhabited California, but were extirpated. Before OR7, the last confirmed wolf in California was here in 1924 and since then, investigated “sightings” have turned out to be coyotes, dogs, wolf-dog hybrids, etc. DFG wildlife managers anticipated that wolves would eventually enter California, and have been preparing for it.
DFG provides these maps to show the route that Wolf OR 7 has traveled since his entry into California. The maps will be updated periodically as additional data becomes available. However, there will be an intentional delay in posting new map information to protect the current location of this wolf. This wolf's movement pattern, in terms of timing, direction and distance has so far been unpredictable. Therefore the maps will provide useful information on where he has been recently, but not where he is now.
- The State of California is not intentionally reintroducing wolves.
- Gray wolves pose little direct risk to humans.
- Any wolf that enters California is protected as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.
Background
The male wolf known as “OR7” was born in northeastern Oregon in spring 2009. It weighed approximately 90 pounds when collared with a radio transmitter by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) in February 2011. It is referred to by biologists as OR7 because it was the seventh wolf radio-collared in Oregon. Its collar transmits location information to satellites daily and is expected to continue to function until at least 2013.
Until recently, OR7 was a member of northeastern Oregon’s Imnaha pack. The Imnaha pack was first documented in 2009 and currently occupies much of the Imnaha River drainage (east of the communities of Enterprise and Joseph) in Wallowa County. The founding members of this pack migrated into Oregon from Idaho.
Although it had as many as 16 wolves in 2010, the Imnaha pack may now have as few as five animals. Several members died in 2011, and four radio-collared wolves (including OR7) have dispersed from the pack since December 2010. Additionally, the locations and fates of five uncollared pack members are currently unknown. According to ODFW, it is likely that some or all of these wolves may have also dispersed from the pack.
The dispersal of younger individuals from a pack is common. Dispersing wolves generally attempt to join other packs, carve out new territories within occupied habitat, or form their own pack in unoccupied habitat. In addition to OR7, known dispersers from the Imnaha pack include OR5, OR9 and OR3:
During winter and spring, the Imnaha pack tends to occupy lower-elevation areas consisting of a mix of private and public lands. In summer and fall, the wolves spend most of their time on public lands at higher elevations. The pack has been documented to kill livestock and two of its members were killed by ODFW in May 2011 in an effort to deter further depredation events. In September, ODFW decided to kill two additional wolves from the pack, including the alpha male. However, that action has not yet been implemented due to a court-ordered temporary stay. As an Imnaha pack member, it is likely that at some point OR7 has been involved in livestock depredation in northeastern Oregon. However, since OR7 was collared in February 2011, it has not been documented to have taken part in any depredation events.
- OR5 is a female and entered southeastern Washington in December 2010. Its current whereabouts are unknown.
- OR9 is a male that swam across Brownlee Reservoir and entered Idaho in July 2011. OR9 wears a GPS collar and its locations are regularly monitored by ODFW and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
- OR3 is a male that dispersed westward in May 2011. Its collar transmits VHF radio signals only, making the animal more difficult to regularly locate. It was last located on September 30 in the Ochoco Mountains of central Oregon (northeast of Prineville), and its current fate is unknown.
Dispersal – Oregon
OR7 dispersed from the Imnaha pack in September 2011. Between September and early November it followed an approximately southwesterly course that took it across parts of Baker, Grant, Harney, Deschutes, Lake, Klamath and Douglas counties. During that journey it crossed Interstate 84 and U.S. Routes 26, 395, 20 and 97.
Between November 8 and December 23, OR7’s movements slowed and it occupied a broad area near the crest of the southern Cascades. This area included portions of Jackson and Klamath counties and included much of the Sky Lakes Wilderness. Field work conducted by ODFW determined that OR7 visited an elk carcass and livestock carcasses (bone pile) in this area. On November 14, an animal thought likely to be OR7 was photographed by a hunter’s trail camera on public land east of Butte Falls.
In late December, OR7 left the Sky Lakes area and headed south-southwest to near Howard Prairie Lake and Oregon Route 66. It then turned eastward, ultimately crossing the Klamath River and Highway 97. On December 28, OR7 crossed into California northeast of Dorris, a small town in Siskiyou County.
Dispersal – California
Since arriving in California, OR7 has traveled in the southern Cascades and across portions of the Modoc Plateau. Its average daily movement has been approximately 15 air miles. Since animals do not typically walk in straight lines, the actual distance it travels is likely much larger.
Dispersing wolves can readily traverse most habitat types and OR7 has passed through ponderosa pine forests, mixed conifer forests, lava flows, sagebrush shrublands, juniper woodlands and agricultural lands. Although OR7 has used private lands (timberlands in particular), most of its route has traversed public lands.
No public safety incidents events or agricultural losses stemming from wolf damage have been reported in California. There have been no confirmed sightings of OR7 in California.
Dec 28 – 31. After entering California, OR7 passed through Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge and then continued south-southeasterly across private and public lands (BLM and USFS) near Mt. Dome. On December 31 it was on the Modoc National Forest between Lava Beds National Monument and Medicine Lake.
Week of January 1-7. OR7 remained in roughly the same area between Medicine Lake and Lava Beds NM until January 3. On January 3 and 4, OR7 crossed the Medicine Lake Highlands and moved approximately 30 air miles to the southeastern corner of Siskiyou County. It entered eastern Shasta County’s Fall River watershed on January 5. It soon turned westward and crossed the Pit River and Highway 89. On January 6 and 7, it was in the Cascade Mountains west of Burney. It spent much of its time in an area of regenerating forest that had burned in the 1992 Fountain Fire.
Week of January 8-15. OR7 remained in the Cascades west of Burney until January 9. It then traveled south along the Cascade crest to LaTour State Forest before turning eastward. By the end of January 10, it had crossed Highways 89 and 44 and was in Lassen County near Bogard Buttes (over 49 air miles from its transmitted location point on January 9). OR7 continued its rapid travel on January 11, traveling approximately 30 air miles to near Grasshopper Valley in northern Lassen County.
