Info
Oregon Public Broadcasting Newsroom
Episodes & Posts
Episodes
Posts
2 OCT 2026 · Gluesenkamp Perez and Braun neck-and-neck in race for Southwest Washington swing district, OPB poll finds
2 OCT 2026 · 2 years in, Oregon still has no electric vehicle fast-charging stations through a $52 million federally funded program
1 OCT 2026 · Between AI chatbots, social media influencers and websites offering medical advice, it can be difficult to parse the vast amount of health information online. It also presents a challenge to physicians and other healthcare providers who are fielding questions from patients based on what they’ve read online.
Kristin Whitman is the head of information and learning services at the Oregon Health & Science University Library. Fabrice Jotterand directs the university’s Center for Ethics in Health Care. They join us to offer advice on how to navigate chatbots and other online resources in health-related situations.
1 OCT 2026 · At a time when many rural hospitals are either closing or merging with larger, urban health systems, a group of Oregon hospitals want to try something different.
Eleven hospitals and health systems are asking for state approval to form a clinically integrated network. They say the partnership will allow them to share resources while maintaining their independence.
Landon Dybdal is the CEO of Lake Health District and the chair of the proposed Cascade High Value Network. Nate White is the CEO and president of Cibolo Health, which has helped establish these networks in other states. They both join us to talk about the new partnership.
30 SEP 2026 · The future of a new homeless shelter in Grants Pass is in question after the shelter and the organization providing wraparound services ended their working agreement. Under the terms of a lawsuit settlement, Grants Pass is required to provide space for 150 unhoused people in the city, which the shelter is meant to fulfill.
The shelter, known as Parker’s Place Village, is required to provide case management, housing navigation and other wraparound services in addition to basic needs such as clean drinking water, around-the-clock staffing and sanitation. Local organization MINT agreed to provide those services and was already paying for security, utility and trash service at the shelter. But it will end those services Oct. 15.
Reporter Jane Vaughan has been covering these developments for Jefferson Public Radio. She joins us with more details.
30 SEP 2026 · The Major League Baseball playoffs began on Tuesday. As fans around the nation watch the action, one lifelong fan of the sport in Sisters is busy fielding emails or answering calls to see if he might be available to talk baseball, or rather, baseball cards.
Michael Blesius is the owner of Sports Card Ink, a store in downtown Sisters that specializes in vintage baseball cards and is open for just about three hours a week, by appointment only. Blesius opened it roughly six years ago as a place to house – by his estimation – nearly 2 million baseball cards he has collected over the decades, along with sports memorabilia dating to the 19th century.
The Bulletin recently profiled Blesius, who refers to Sports Card Ink as his “high blood pressure medicine” and a place for making connections, not profits. A good day at work might be spent appraising a collection, hearing stories from a retired professional player, or giving away cards to children who never got to see Willie Mays make an over-the-shoulder catch at the Polo Grounds.
Blesius joins us to share his love of baseball cards and the sport’s golden age.
30 SEP 2026 · Mazama Energy, a Texas-based geothermal company, has recently secured more than $135 million to dig deeper and harvest heat for renewable energy. Project Ceres, which the funding will be put toward, is a horizontal well development in Central Oregon and could generate more than 15 megawatts of power next year. That’s enough to power 4,500 homes. OPB climate reporter Monica Samayoa joins us to share more on geothermal energy in Oregon and its future.
30 SEP 2026 · The poll shows Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan with a slim lead over Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek, though it was within the survey’s margin of error.
29 SEP 2026 · A course at Portland Community College is currently being taught where students use styrofoam, clays, paints and their imaginations to create “haunted” charcuterie boards adorned with fake moldy cheeses, unappetizing crackers and rancid-looking slices of deli meats.
Olivia Vavroch, a Portland artist, teacher and theater designer, is teaching the Halloween-themed class. The Portland Mercury recently profiled Vavroch in its Fall Arts issue, describing the career transition she made into the world of theater several years ago after contracting long COVID-19. Vavroch designs and dresses sets, specializing in making custom theater props that include fake foods like cake or lasagna that can help bring depth to performances and layers of authenticity to the story. She is also one of dozens of artists whose work is being featured in “Inconvenience Store,” an interactive art exhibit currently taking place inside a former 7-Eleven in downtown Seattle.
Vavroch joins us to share more details about the delicious art of making fake food.
29 SEP 2026 · Tape Op is an independently published magazine about the art and science of recording music founded 30 years ago and edited by Portland music producer and studio owner Larry Crane. The magazine features interviews with the skilled technicians and creative minds who help bands and artists realize their vision in the recording studio. The albums they’ve worked on span decades and genres, from hip-hop to bluegrass, pop to death metal and more.
“Making Music: Conversations with Record Producers,” is a newly published collection of interviews from the Tape Op archives. Crane co-edited the book with Tape Op publisher John Baccigaluppi. It contains two dozen conversations Crane and others did with producers who’ve worked with artists like U2, Kendrick Lamar and The Beatles. Crane joins us to share the enduring appeal of Tape Op and the songs that still inspire him in the studio and beyond.
Oregon Public Broadcasting Newsroom
Information
| Author | Oregon Public Broadcasting |
| Organization | Oregon Public Broadcasting |
| Categories | News |
| Website | - |
| - |
Copyright 2026 - Spreaker Inc. an iHeartMedia Company
