Think Out Loud

Students at two Portland high schools organize climate justice summit

ON SATURDAY, A CLIMATE JUSTICE SUMMIT [https://ejsummit.my.canva.site/april-11th-2026-lincoln-high-school-student-voices-for-climate-justice-summit-rsvp] WILL TAKE PLACE AT LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL IN SOUTHWEST PORTLAND. THE EVENT IS FREE, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AND IS BEING ORGANIZED BY STUDENTS AT LINCOLN’S ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CLASS AND STUDENTS AT IDA B. WELLS’ ECO ACTION CLUB. IT’S THE FIRST TIME STUDENTS AT THE TWO PPS SCHOOLS HAVE COLLABORATED TO CREATE A CLIMATE JUSTICE SUMMIT, ACCORDING TO TIM SWINEHART, A LINCOLN SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER WHO LAUNCHED THE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COURSE IN 2016.      LINCOLN AND WELLS STUDENTS WILL MODERATE A PANEL DISCUSSION AT THE SUMMIT AND PRESENT WORKSHOPS SUCH AS ONE ON LOBBYING AND GIVING TESTIMONY, WHICH THEY DID AT THE STATE LEGISLATURE IN SALEM EARLIER THIS YEAR AND LAST DECEMBER DURING A PORTLAND PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING [https://www.youtube.com/live/3PMVn-9eGRM?si=-ursvQwzpeFEJmk_&t=2501]. THE STUDENTS ALSO INVITED ADVOCACY GROUPS SUCH AS THE BRAIDED RIVER CAMPAIGN [https://www.braidedrivercampaign.org/], SUNRISE MOVEMENT [https://www.sunrisemovement.org/]AND NEIGHBORS FOR CLEAN AIR [https://neighborsforcleanair.org/] TO GIVE WORKSHOPS ON HOW TO ORGANIZE A PROTEST AND OTHER TOPICS.   Lincoln High School senior Leah Almeida and Ida B. Wells High School junior Emma Lopez join us, along with Swinehart, for a preview of Saturday’s activities.

What the reorganization of the U.S. Forest Service will mean for the Pacific Northwest

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCED A MASSIVE REORGANIZATION [https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/newsroom/releases/usda-prioritizing-common-sense-forest-management-moves-forest] OF THE U.S. FOREST SERVICE LAST WEEK. THE AGENCY’S HEADQUARTERS WILL MOVE FROM WASHINGTON, D.C., TO SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, AND ITS REGIONAL OFFICES WILL BE REPLACED [https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/reorganization] BY 15 STATE-BASED OFFICES. ADDITIONALLY, MORE THAN 50 RESEARCH STATIONS WILL CLOSE ACROSS 31 STATES, INCLUDING ONE IN OREGON AND TWO IN WASHINGTON.  Christine Peterson is a freelance reporter covering wildlife, the environment and outdoor recreation. She wrote about the reorganization [https://www.hcn.org/articles/forest-service-overhaul-sows-confusion-concern/] for High Country News and joins us with more details.

‘Price of Justice’ report says rural, low-income and BIPOC Oregonians suffer disproportionate financial burden in court

THE OREGON JUSTICE SYSTEM IMPOSES FEES, FINES AND RESTITUTION ON PEOPLE FOUND GUILTY OF A WIDE RANGE OF CRIMES. THESE DIFFERENT KINDS OF FINANCIAL PENALTIES ARE HAVING A SEVERE AND DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT ON PEOPLE OF COLOR AND THOSE IN LOW- INCOME NEIGHBORHOODS AND RURAL COMMUNITIES, ACCORDING TO A NEW REPORT CALLED “THE PRICE OF JUSTICE IN OREGON [https://www.ojrc.info/price-of-justice-report].” THE BROAD LOOK AT JURISDICTIONS ALL OVER THE STATE WAS YEARS IN THE MAKING AND RESULTED FROM THE COMBINED EFFORTS OF THE OREGON JUSTICE RESOURCE CENTER [https://www.ojrc.info/], THE POLICY ADVOCACY CLINIC [https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/clinics/policy-advocacy-clinic/] AT THE UC BERKELEY SCHOOL OF LAW, AND THE PORTLAND-BASED CLEAR CLINIC [https://clear-clinic.org/], WHICH PROVIDES FREE LEGAL SERVICES TO OREGONIANS. WE GET MORE DETAILS AND THE REPORT’S POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FROM PORTLANDER GUS PATEL-TUPPER [https://www.law.berkeley.edu/our-faculty/faculty-profiles/gus-tupper/#tab_profile] WITH THE UC BERKELEY SCHOOL OF LAW.

Jackson County nonprofit health provider rolls out new mobile health clinic

In February, a bright blue, 38-foot-long, custom-built mobile health clinic rolled into Jackson County. Five days a week, it provides an array of free or low-cost services in Medford and Ashland that range from filling medications and running lab tests to dental exams and wound treatment. The mobile health clinic [https://laclinicahealth.org/la-clinica-launches-new-mobile-health-center/] is operated by La Clinica [https://laclinicahealth.org/about/impact/], a nonprofit that for nearly 40 years has been helping meet the health care needs of primarily low-income residents in Jackson County.    This is La Clinica’s third mobile health clinic and the first time it has been able to provide these services in nearly three years after an arson fire destroyed its previous mobile clinic just a few days after it began seeing patients. Roughly 160 patients have already visited the new mobile clinic during its stops at food pantries, campgrounds, apartment complexes and other sites, according to Zulma Larios, La Clinica’s field-based care manager. The patients include Latinx residents afraid of visiting hospitals and clinics because of increased federal immigration enforcement, unhoused people and former adults in custody reentering society. Larios joins us to share more details about the impact the mobile health clinic is having.

OHSU program helps children on Medicaid prepare for kindergarten

Access to preschool in Oregon remains limited, with more than half of the state’s school districts reporting that [https://childinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-Oregon-School-District-Preschool-Survey-Report.pdf] demand has outpaced available slots. The deficit could leave many children without the early literacy and math skills they’re expected to bring into kindergarten.    The Kinder Coaching Program [https://news.ohsu.edu/2026/04/01/ohsu-kinder-coaching-program-ensures-young-patients-enter-school-prepared-to-learn] at Oregon Health & Science University aims to incorporate school readiness into medical care. During a routine visit, medical providers can refer children on Medicaid to a team of community health workers who help them develop the cognition, communication and social-emotional skills they need for kindergarten.     Jaime Peterson is a pediatrician at OHSU and director of the Kinder Coaching Program. Isha Syll is a certified community health worker and one of the program’s “kinder coaches.” They both join us to talk about the importance of providing early learning opportunities for low-income families.