PNW arborists go out on a limb at local tree-climbing competition

104-year-old donor and her son reflect on fund she created for Astoria cancer patients nearly a decade ago

In 2017, 96-year-old Mary Armington took a trip from her home in Florida to Astoria to visit her son, Dr. William Armington. As a radiologist at the time at Columbia Memorial Hospital, Dr. Armington had diagnosed cancer in hundreds of patients, some of whom had delayed getting care because of financial hardships.    So Mary decided to help by donating $50,000 to start a fund for cancer patients in the North Coast region to pay for expenses like transportation, utility bills, lodging and rent. Nine years later, the Arm-in-Arm Fund has nearly tripled in size and has given grants to dozens of patients at the CMH-OHSU Knight Cancer Collaborative [https://www.columbiamemorial.org/services/cancer-care/] in Astoria.    This year, the Columbia Memorial Hospital Foundation increased to $2,000 the grant money a team of social workers can award to an individual to help them, for example, replace a broken refrigerator or repair a home furnace. Money from the fund has also been used to provide Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday meals for patients and their families. Joining us to discuss the fund and its impact are Mary Armington and William Armington, who is now retired and has also donated to the fund. Mark Kujala, foundation director of Columbia Memorial Hospital also joins us.

PNW arborists go out on a limb at local tree-climbing competition

The Pacific Northwest chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture hosts an annual regional tree climbing competition in a Portland park, where arborists can compete for the chance to showcase their skills at a national and international level. This year, 35 climbers will compete in five events over two days.   Terry Flanagan is the chair of the Tree Climbing Competition Committee at the PNWISA. He competed in his first tree climbing competition in 1981 and has been working in arboriculture for 49 years. Kyle Thomas is the regional coordinator for the tree climbing competition, as well as the operations supervisor for the Urban Forestry Division of Portland Parks and Recreation. They both join us to share more ahead of the upcoming competition in Portland, which will take place June 6 and 7 at Farragut Park.

Portland councilors approve mask ban for law enforcement

Last week [https://www.opb.org/article/2026/05/27/portland-oregon-law-enforcement-city-council-masks-identification/], Portland City Councilors passed a new policy barring law enforcement of all kinds from wearing masks. The policy itself would also direct the Portland Police Bureau to investigate someone who engages in law-enforcement activity, such as detaining someone, and doesn’t show proper credentials.   The ordinance passed in an 8-4 vote, and was introduced by Councilor Sameer Kanal and co-sponsored by Councilor Elena Pirtle-Guiney and Angelita Morillo. Opponents of the law say the policy raises concerns around labor laws and workload for PPB officers. Joining us to share more on the policy and its impacts are PPB Chief Bob Day and Councilor Morillo.

New book catalogues art lost in explosion that destroyed a Portland tattoo studio

A decade ago, a building in Portland's Nob Hill neighborhood exploded in a gas leak [https://www.wweek.com/news/2016/10/19/portland-bagelworks-vanishes-in-northwest-23rd-avenue-gas-leak-explosion/] and was consumed by a fire soon after. That building was home to Portland Bagelworks and the eyewear shop Fetch, as well as Art Work Rebels Tattoo Studio, which was located in the building for seven years [https://www.wweek.com/news/2016/10/20/a-tattoo-studio-was-also-destroyed-in-yesterdays-fire-now-theyre-trying-to-raise-money-to-rebuild/]. Artist Jeff P, who now co-owns Tattoo Smile, was an artist at the shop when this happened. After the dust settled and rubble was sorted, much of the shop was lost, including memories, personal belongings and much of the hand drawn art and flash that many artists like Jeff created.   But for Jeff, some of his work survived as digital scans and phone camera photos he captured as he documented his own work. Now, Jeff has released a book marking the anniversary of the explosion. "Everything That Burned” is a collection of scans and photos of his art and the shop after the fire. Jeff joins us to share more on his memories of the shop and his new book.

Rates of gun-related suicides in OR are higher than national average

Around 44,000 people died in a gun-related injury in the U.S. in 2024, according to a new report [https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/04/28/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-us/] from Pew Research. Suicides make up a majority of those deaths at 62%. But in Oregon, that number is much higher [https://www.alliancesafeoregon.org/annual-report-2024], with 80% of all firearm deaths being a suicide. On top of that, previous reporting has also shown that some of the state’s most rural areas have the highest rates of gun-related suicides, especially for older men. Becca Valek is a research project coordinator at OHSU’s Gun Violence Prevention Center. Katie Lossi is an Associate Professor at OHSU’s department of medicine and a staff physician at VA Portland Health Care System. They both join us now to discuss these figures and what can be done to address them.   If you or someone you know is struggling, you can call or text 988 to reach the national suicide and crisis lifeline. Help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.