Think Out Loud

Portland performance series explores Cuban filin music

FILIN [https://latinomusiccafe.com/2013/03/13/bolero-filin-a-musical-revolution-part-1/] IS A STYLE OF MUSIC THAT COMBINES TRADITIONAL CUBAN BOLERO WITH AMERICAN JAZZ AND BLUES. OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, PORTLAND VOCALIST JESSIE MARQUEZ [https://marquezmusic.online/] WILL EXPLORE THE GENRE IN A SERIES [https://montavillajazz.org/cuban?fbclid=IwY2xjawTq6_pwZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMWJwdlluUm1SeDhQNU0zbkRzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeDpG7OffhO14fBYh1EB47T7feCfyilQWTvnFyeolX-zyg5Egypoa-X1s0JXY_aem_cY_TRpKdXkOifxkYLMvKmw] OF PERFORMANCES AND CONVERSATIONS AT EL CENTRO MILAGRO [https://milagro.org/], THE FIRST OF WHICH WILL TAKE PLACE THIS SATURDAY, AUG. 15. THE SERIES WILL CULMINATE IN A FULL ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE ON SEPT. 5 AS PART OF THE MONTAVILLA JAZZ FESTIVAL.   MARQUEZ JOINS US TO TALK ABOUT HER CONNECTION TO CUBA AND THE MUSICAL RELATIONSHIP SHE SEES BETWEEN THE ISLAND AND THE U.S.

Malheur County schools find new ways to battle chronic absenteeism

Data from the 2024-2025 school year shows that Oregon schools have the second-highest chronic absenteeism rate [https://www.opb.org/article/2026/04/15/oregon-chronic-absenteeism-university-of-oregon-research-solution/] in the country. It breaks down to about a third of Oregon students being chronically absent — missing more than 10 days of school a year. [https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/29/low-attendance-instructional-time-oregon-student-success/]   In Malheur County, though, things are different. A recent analysis of attendance data [https://www.oregonjournalismproject.org/oregon-attendance-malheur-truancy-citations] by the Oregon Journalism Project found that students in Malheur county are attending class more than any other county in Oregon. School districts in Malheur County have a tool in their back pocket: truancy citations, or fines issued as a last resort as a means of motivation for students to attend school regularly. Lawmakers banned the use of these fines in 2021, and school officials in Malheur County saw attendance slip. They brought truancy citations back in the 2023-2024 school year with a local ordinance, and attendance grew immensely, bolstered by wraparound services the district provides to support families struggling with school attendance.   Vale School District Superintendent Alisha McBride says the key to their success isn’t necessarily the fines themselves, of which they issued only one during the 2025-2026 school year, but the conversations that school districts, school boards and the community had to have around attendance in order to pass the local ordinance. We’ll hear from McBride about the ways Malheur County schools are battling chronic absenteeism and how those techniques can be applied to other counties in the state.

Passage of Oregon gun control measure spurred thousands more firearm sales, new study shows

IN NOVEMBER 2022, OREGON VOTERS NARROWLY PASSED A GUN CONTROL MEASURE THAT BANS HIGH-CAPACITY GUN MAGAZINES AND REQUIRES SAFETY TRAINING, COMPLETED BACKGROUND CHECKS AND PERMITS FOR FIREARM PURCHASES. MEASURE 114 AWAITS A DECISION BY THE OREGON SUPREME COURT AND IF IT’S UPHELD, THE SOONEST IT COULD TAKE EFFECT IS JANUARY 2028.   THE PROSPECT OF GUN CONTROL RESTRICTIONS NONETHELESS FUELED A SHARP DEMAND IN GUN PURCHASES IN OREGON LEADING UP TO AND FOLLOWING THE MEASURE 114 REFERENDUM. THAT’S ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047272726001507?via%3Dihub]BY RESEARCHERS FROM OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY, THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON AND THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH.    USING BACKGROUND CHECKS AS A PROXY FOR FIREARM PURCHASES, THE RESEARCHERS FOUND THAT BACKGROUND CHECKS SPIKED NEARLY 160% IN THE TWO MONTHS AFTER THE PASSAGE OF MEASURE 114. THE RESEARCHERS SAID THE MEASURE LED TO 63,000 MORE BACKGROUND CHECKS IN OREGON BETWEEN OCTOBER 2022 AND MARCH 2024 THAN WOULD HAVE OTHERWISE BEEN EXPECTED DURING THIS TIME.    Katie Bollman, an assistant professor in economics at OSU, joins us for more details.

Oregon documentary highlights Columbia River bar’s jetty system and its importance to the Pacific Northwest

The Columbia River bar is a fierce, yet beautiful body of water, spanning across Oregon and Washington. With over 2000 shipwrecks reported since 1792 [https://www.opb.org/news/article/graveyard-pacific-maritime-oregon-astoria/#:~:text=Since%20the%201800s%2C%20the%20Graveyard%20of%20the%20Pacific%20has%20claimed%20over%202%2C000%20ships%20and%20hundreds%20of%20lives.], it is also known as “The Graveyard of the Pacific.” In 1855, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began the construction of a jetty system, as a means to tame the dangerous ocean currents from the Pacific. Oregon filmmakers Brett Eichenberger and Jill Remensynder’s new documentary “Taming the Mouth [https://tamingthemouth.com/],” chronicles this history and how it reverberates today on this vital waterway in our region.

West Coast is especially vulnerable to landslides according to new University of Washington database

Roughly 6.5 million people in the U.S. live in areas that are highly susceptible to landslides. West Coast residents - including on the Oregon Coast and Washington’s Puget Sound - face the second greatest exposure to landslides, after Appalachian communities in and around W. Virginia.    University of Washington researchers made these findings using the Landslide Exposure Database [https://www.designsafe-ci.org/data/browser/public/designsafe.storage.published/PRJ-6361/%2Fpublished-data%2FPRJ-6361%2FProject--landslide-exposure-database-led%2Fdata%2F01_Landslide_Exposure_Database_(LED)?doi=10.17603/ds2-6zgt-4694], an online tool they spent three years creating and recently made publicly available. The scientists say the database provides the first-ever building level assessment of landslide susceptibility across the U.S. for nearly 130 million homes and buildings.   The database also accounts for socioeconomic data, revealing an urban-rural divide to how natural disasters can impact communities. For example, residents in rural areas who are vulnerable to landslides may have fewer financial resources to move or recover from landslides compared to urban residents living in homes perched on hillsides in affluent neighborhoods.   Joe Wartman is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at University of Washington and the director of the Natural Hazard and Disaster Reconnaissance Facility. He joins us for more details.