Wildlife Rehabers Reverse Damage Caused on Highway
In the rural West, summer is roadkill season. But what happens to animals who live through their encounter with our cars, injured, but not dead? Fish and Wildlife agencies, the police, and most vets don’t take them in. That’s where wildlife rehabilitators come in -- the people who act as the emergency room doctors for injured critters. Jessica Robinson has this story.
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7/27/2009
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Savage Rapids Lesson: Removing Dams No Easy Task
After two decades of conflict, crews are finally jackhammering the Savage Rapids Dam into oblivion. The southern Oregon dam on the Rogue River doesn't even produce electricity. Yet, removing it proved complicated and controversial. Efforts to return other rivers to free-flowing channels are getting more attention across the Northwest and in Congress. But what happened with the Savage Rapids Dam gives some indication of how difficult it can be to rip out these engineering feats of the last century. JPR’s Jessica Robinson has this story.
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6/19/2009
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Oregon's Poetry Out Loud Finalist Signs Her Words
Today, a high school student from Oregon will appear in a competition in Washington D.C. called Poetry Out Loud. She’s eighteen-year-old Tiffany Hill of Eugene. Poetry Out Loud is a national recitation contest in which teens memorize and deliver classic poems. Only, Hill won’t be saying anything ... at least not out loud. Hill is the first deaf student to compete in the national competition -- she’ll deliver her poems in American Sign Language. JPR’s Jessica Robinson has this profile.
To watch Hill signing "Inside Out" by Diane Wakoski in the state finals, click here.
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4/27/2009
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Budget Hearing Highlights Stark Choices
Sometimes the best advice for legislators comes from outside of Salem. That’s what state budget writers are hoping as they take their show on the road. Oregon lawmakers face a widening budget gap and they’re turning to everyday Oregonians for help. The Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee held the first of eight hearings Monday night in Lincoln City, along Oregon’s coast. Chris Lehman has this report.
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4/22/2009
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Lawmakers Eye Towing Industry
When you’re stuck by the side of the road, few sights are more welcome than a tow truck. But towing companies are also in the business of towing cars that aren’t broken down ... they’re just parked in the wrong place. This so-called patrol towing is controversial. Oregon lawmakers are moving forward on a bill that’s meant to cut down on the number of people who are towed against their will. Chris Lehman reports.
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4/10/2009
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Economy Thwarts Regional Cap-and-Trade Plan
A plan to regulate global warming emissions at the regional level has stalled. The twin culprits are the recession and the arrival of new blood in Washington, D.C. Last year, the governors of seven Western states –- including Oregon and Washington -- agreed to a regional “cap-and-trade” system. But of the seven state legislatures called to endorse to plan, only one -- California’s -- seems in the mood to play along. Tom Banse looks at what happened and what might come next.
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4/6/2009
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Chocolatiers Hope We Won't Forego Small Luxuries
With budgets tight in our current economy, many people are giving up the extras in life. Things like new clothes, eating out, and taking weekend trips. But chocolate? This weekend, JPR's Charlotte Duren went to the annual chocolate festival in Ashland to see how the recession is treating this small luxury.
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3/9/2009
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Lawmakers Want Voters to Alter Kicker
Oregon has a quirky law called the kicker. That means when times are good and state coffers are flush, taxpayers can expect a kicker refund check in the mail. Times are certainly not flush now, but economists are warning that despite a looming three billion dollar budget deficit, the state could still be in the position of dishing out kicker cash two years from now. A group of Oregon lawmakers introduced a measure Tuesday that would keep that from happening. Chris Lehman explains.
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3/4/2009
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Uncertainty in the Air as Oregon Turns 150
Tourism officials are hoping to take advantage of Oregon's 150th birthday, with celebrations galore planned over the coming year. But the hoopla comes during a time of deep economic uncertainty for Oregonians. In honor of the sesquicentennial, we sent Chris Lehman on a 150-mile tour of Oregon’s heartland to see what people are thinking about as the state marks a century and a half.
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2/13/2009
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Asphalt Dreams: Construction Ready for Stimulus
The region's construction industry will have to ramp up very fast if the economic stimulus package making its way through Congress is to work as intended. Lawmakers in the nation’s capital -- and in Salem -- are putting out feelers to contractors and trade associations. They want to know if there’s enough asphalt, skilled workers, and bidders to go around if every state and city dumps a load of “ready-to-go” projects at once. Tom Banse reports.
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1/27/2009
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