Think Out Loud

The Central Oregon community is grieving after a gunman opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School on Thursday afternoon, killing three children and a teacher, according to police. Another child and teacher are also hospitalized. Police said that the suspected shooter, a 16-year-old boy, is also dead after he was shot by a community member who followed him into the school.   The community gathered for a candlelight vigil Thursday night where hundreds of people gathered to mourn the loss of the three children.   OPB’s Emily Cureton Cook has been on the scene since yesterday afternoon, and she joins us to share what she knows. You can find live updates of OPB’s coverage here.  

Dozens of volunteers across the state have now signed up to help tally wildlife they observe either dead or alive along Oregon’s roadways. That might mean, for example, taking out their phone to snap a photo of an elk munching on moss next to a country road or a photo of a dead opossum struck by a vehicle. The images will be collected from Oct. 17 to Oct. 25 and uploaded to the iNaturalist community science platform.     The advocacy nonprofit Environment Oregon Research & Policy Center is organizing the Roadside Wildlife Count, as previously reported by Oregon Capital Chronicle. Volunteers can sign up at any point to help during the 9-day count. The collected data will contribute to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s existing projects that also engage the public’s help to share wildlife sightings and roadkills they encounter.    Justin Boyles, conservation advocate for Environment Oregon Research & Policy Center, says its count aims to also raise awareness of the thousands of collisions between vehicles and large animals like deer and elk in Oregon each year and the importance of wildlife crossings to help wildlife safely traverse roads and highways.    Boyles joins us to share more details about the Roadside Wildlife Count and similar surveys organized by the Environment America Research & Policy Center and other state affiliates.    

Since the Klamath Dams came down in 2024, researchers, tribes and conservation officials have all been waiting to see whether salmon would return to the rivers and streams they last populated 100 years ago. A study published in the journal “Nature” this summer shows that they have.   Researchers documented thousands of salmon migrating upstream in 2024 and 2025. They found that Chinook salmon in particular have repopulated 88% of their historical range in the Klamath and its tributaries.    Damon Goodman is the lead author of the study and the Shasta Cascade Director for the nonprofit California Trout. He joins us with more details.  

For more than 20 years, Oregon has been monitoring toxic algal blooms. Other states such as Utah, Wyoming and California have been monitoring the blooms as well. Now, new reporting from High Country News highlights how these blooms are happening more frequently and are lasting longer. Reporter Christine Peterson joins us to share more on why this is happening and what states are doing to try to address it.  

 Since 1986, the Portland-based nonprofit Ukandu has offered a week-long, free camp for children with cancer, ages 8 to 18, and their siblings. In 2022, Ukandu began offering a free week of camp on the Oregon coast for the entire family.      Ukandu is now about to expand its programming year-round with the opening of The Loft on Oct. 21. The roughly 22,000-square-foot community center in the Lair Hill neighborhood of South Portland includes a two-story climbing wall, an arts and crafts room, a lounge for caregivers and other amenities. Free mental health counseling for children, adolescents and parents will also be available on-site, along with support groups and upcoming workshops on financial literacy and cooking.    Jason Hickox started as a volunteer with the organization as a camp counselor in 1988 and is today the CEO of Ukandu. Shauna Lugar is a mother whose 8-year-old son, Mason, has brain cancer and attended Camp Ukandu for the first time this year with his older brother, Avery.  Hickox and Lugar join us, along with the mother of a 16-year-old daughter who is a brain cancer survivor, to share their hopes for The Loft.  

“Think Out Loud” continues our monthly conversations with Meg Samples, general manager of member-supported KMHD Jazz Radio. Each month, we’ll hear about artists to add to your playlist, along with concerts and community events to attend.    In October, that includes a concert by the pioneering, alternative hip-hop group Digable Planets. The trio is currently on tour for the 30th anniversary of their landmark album, “Blowout Comb,” which they’ll play in its entirety at Revolution Hall in Portland on Oct. 21. Kiefer, a Grammy Award-winning producer and pianist from L.A., will also visit Portland for a performance on Oct. 17 at the Star Theater and Starlight Lounge. Kiefer has become a KMHD staff favorite for his ability to blend jazz improvisation with hip-hop beats. Jazz fans won’t want to miss a performance by Buster Williams at The Jazz Station in Eugene on Oct. 25. The legendary octogenarian bassist has performed with jazz giants such as Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock.  

The Portland-based group Seffarine blends traditional music from Morocco and Southern Spain with jazz and other contemporary genres. Their upcoming album, “Abaraz,” explores the music of Southern Morocco and the Arab and West African music that influenced it. The album was inspired by the band’s residency in Mhamid El Ghizlane, an oasis at the edge of the Sahara Desert where the landscape is rapidly shifting due to climate change.    Nat Hulskamp and Lamiae Naki are the founders of Seffarine. We’ll talk with them about the new album and their upcoming shows at the PRAx in Corvallis on Oct. 14 and at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Beaverton on Oct. 16, which will feature clips of interviews with the musicians they met in Mhamid El Ghizlane.  

The Clark County Youth Commission allows young people to offer their input to the county council about the issues youth are facing and how to address them. While their work typically focuses on mental health, the commission has also explored violence prevention, youth homelessness, community resilience and other topics. As reported in The Columbian, commission members created two murals to represent last year’s topic, relationships and mental health. Hunter Bledsoe, Shaunak Deshpande and Evan Decker all serve on the Clark County Youth Commission. They join us to talk about the biggest concerns they have for young people in Southwest Washington and some possible solutions.

Early next year, Portland residents may begin seeing and hearing fleets of drones carrying Amazon packages bound for delivery in as fast as half an hour. The tech giant says it plans to expand its Prime Air delivery service to nearly 500 cities and towns by the end of the year. A company press release from August shows the service is being offered in 10 metro areas in the U.S., including Phoenix, San Antonio, Detroit and Tampa.    According to the Portland Business Journal, Amazon plans to build a Prime Air drone delivery center at its fulfillment center in North Portland and is expected to meet with city officials this month to discuss its proposal. Although the drones haven’t started flying yet, members of the Piedmont Neighborhood Association in North and Northeast Portland have begun expressing their concerns around safety, noise and impacts on local retailers.    Portland Business Journal reporter Sara Edwards joins us to share more details.  

The voter-passed Portland Clean Energy Fund, or PCEF has been awarding grants for about five years. The tax on large retailers who do business in the city has raised far more money than expected. Now Eugene voters will decide whether to pass their own clean energy fund, called ECEF.  It’s modeled after PCEF, but does have differences. We’re joined by representatives from both sides of the campaign: Co-Chief Petitioner  Aya Cockram, and Laura Sedwick, with the no campaign.  

When you think of professional wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment, also known as WWE, may come to mind. But the Pacific Northwest is home to its own indie scene of wrestling. As Katherine Cusumano writes in The Believer, the blood, sweat and tears that go into wrestling take a toll on the body and mind, but the spirit and drive keep many in-ring. Including Derek Drexl and Amira Lukens, both Portland-based pro-wrestlers who were profiled recently. They join us to share their wrestling careers, match stories and more.

Toody Cole has been a pillar in many beloved Pacific Northwest bands, including Dead Moon and the Rats and Pierced Arrows. After Pierced Arrows disbanded in 2015, Toody Cole and her husband Fred Cole performed together until his death in 2017.   Six years later, the 77-year-old would return as Toody Cole and her Band. They just got back from a Summer tour in Europe and will be returning for a Winter tour next month. Toody Cole and her Band join us for an in-studio performance and share more on the upcoming tour, her music and her decades-long career in Portland’s music scene.  

 Portland voters in two of the city’s four districts will soon be casting ballots to elect or re-elect their city councilors. It’s the second election using ranked choice voting. With half of the Portland city council seats up for grabs, what should voters expect? We hear from OPB politics reporters Bryce Dole and Alex Zielinski as they discuss the upcoming Portland election on the latest episode of “OPB Politics Now.”