NEW!621sharesNumi Lee Griffith and Alexis Dinno Griffith is health care advocate for the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group. She lives in Milwaukie. Dinno, is a Portland State University professor of community health and a social epidemiologist. She directs the community health Ph.D. program at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and lives in Portland.So far, Oregon has avoided the worst impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. However, that’s largely because of our state’s rapid response to the threat: Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s “Stay Home, Save Lives” order prevented exponential...…NEW!621sharesNumi Lee Griffith and Alexis Dinno Griffith is health care advocate for the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group. She lives in Milwaukie. Dinno, is a Portland State University professor of community health and a social epidemiologist. She directs the community health Ph.D. program at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and lives in Portland.So far, Oregon has avoided the worst impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. However, that’s largely because of our state’s rapid response to the threat: Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s “Stay Home, Save Lives” order prevented exponential...WW…

NEW!David SarasohnSarasohn served as an associate editor of The Oregonian from 1985 until 2015 and continued as a columnist until 2018. He lives in Portland.When it all started, Susannah Morgan stuck on her office wall a quote from Mark Twain: “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.”She thought it would be useful, because what she was feeling was terror.As soon as COVID-19 began shutting down the economy, the head of the Oregon Food Bank knew that her organization would have to feed many more than the 860,000 Northwesterners it fed in 2019. That number was hard...…NEW!David SarasohnSarasohn served as an associate editor of The Oregonian from 1985 until 2015 and continued as a columnist until 2018. He lives in Portland.When it all started, Susannah Morgan stuck on her office wall a quote from Mark Twain: “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.”She thought it would be useful, because what she was feeling was terror.As soon as COVID-19 began shutting down the economy, the head of the Oregon Food Bank knew that her organization would have to feed many more than the 860,000 Northwesterners it fed in 2019. That number was hard...WW…

NEW!869sharesLinn Goldberg and Louis Speizer Goldberg, M.D., is a professor emeritus at Oregon Health and Science University and research scientist who has received national and international awards for his work in health promotion and disease prevention. He lives in Lake Oswego. Speizer received his doctorate of physiology at the University of Virginia. He has been working in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry for over 30 years and lives in Flemington, New Jersey.Even without a treatment or vaccine for the coronavirus, Oregon has already hit on a successful strategy for keeping the...…NEW!869sharesLinn Goldberg and Louis Speizer Goldberg, M.D., is a professor emeritus at Oregon Health and Science University and research scientist who has received national and international awards for his work in health promotion and disease prevention. He lives in Lake Oswego. Speizer received his doctorate of physiology at the University of Virginia. He has been working in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry for over 30 years and lives in Flemington, New Jersey.Even without a treatment or vaccine for the coronavirus, Oregon has already hit on a successful strategy for keeping the...WW…

NEW!6,267sharesTania Culver HumphreyHumphrey is an artist who lives with her family in Portland.When I got COVID-19, I wanted to be positive. I shared photos of my feet, of my pajama legs, of my view. Cute dog photos.I didn't share what it was really like. I was too scared.Now, as Oregon starts to open up, hearing the voices about should we or shouldn't we, I just feel like shouting, finally, not being quiet -- just shouting to make the chatter stop. Some of you know my story of childhood abuse by my father, MercyCorps co-founder Ellsworth Culver, when I told so many people, and no one...…NEW!6,267sharesTania Culver HumphreyHumphrey is an artist who lives with her family in Portland.When I got COVID-19, I wanted to be positive. I shared photos of my feet, of my pajama legs, of my view. Cute dog photos.I didn't share what it was really like. I was too scared.Now, as Oregon starts to open up, hearing the voices about should we or shouldn't we, I just feel like shouting, finally, not being quiet -- just shouting to make the chatter stop. Some of you know my story of childhood abuse by my father, MercyCorps co-founder Ellsworth Culver, when I told so many people, and no one...WW…

NEW!1,461sharesRobert A. Lowe and Ray G. StangelandLowe, M.D., M.P.H., served as a clinician and teacher of emergency medicine at OHSU from 2001 to 2017. He is now retired and lives in Portland. Stangeland, M.D., is a board certified emergency physician. He retired in 2019 after working in the Portland area for the past 35 years.Oregon is in the midst of a drug addiction crisis; one to two people in Oregon die from a drug overdose every day. As career emergency physicians, we have been on the front lines of this epidemic. We have seen how addiction wreaks havoc on the sufferers' physical...…NEW!1,461sharesRobert A. Lowe and Ray G. StangelandLowe, M.D., M.P.H., served as a clinician and teacher of emergency medicine at OHSU from 2001 to 2017. He is now retired and lives in Portland. Stangeland, M.D., is a board certified emergency physician. He retired in 2019 after working in the Portland area for the past 35 years.Oregon is in the midst of a drug addiction crisis; one to two people in Oregon die from a drug overdose every day. As career emergency physicians, we have been on the front lines of this epidemic. We have seen how addiction wreaks havoc on the sufferers' physical...WW…

NEW!904sharesRobert Harris and Mark FrohnmayerHarris is co-chair of the Independent Party of Oregon. Frohnmayer is founder of the Equal Vote Coalition.“The partisan political process is a cesspool.” “My vote doesn’t matter.” “I can’t vote for my favorite candidate because it would help my least favorite to win.” “Why can’t we have more choices?”We’ve all heard statements like these from our fellow Oregonians. Many of us have said them ourselves. At the root of these complaints is a deeply broken voting method and election structure that divides us, minimizes our choices and magnifies the...…NEW!904sharesRobert Harris and Mark FrohnmayerHarris is co-chair of the Independent Party of Oregon. Frohnmayer is founder of the Equal Vote Coalition.“The partisan political process is a cesspool.” “My vote doesn’t matter.” “I can’t vote for my favorite candidate because it would help my least favorite to win.” “Why can’t we have more choices?”We’ve all heard statements like these from our fellow Oregonians. Many of us have said them ourselves. At the root of these complaints is a deeply broken voting method and election structure that divides us, minimizes our choices and magnifies the...WW…

NEW!250sharesCaroline CummingsCummings is the executive director of, which helps build entrepreneurial ecosystems in Oregon.Oregon’s ability to recover when the immediate threat of COVID-19 subsides depends on people like Riley Hoagland of Lincoln City, a tireless inventor with notebooks full of great ideas. He took a new consumer product to market last year and received his first major international order shortly before the virus hit. And within the last two weeks, he's invented a new home health care device in response to the COVID-19 crisis.It relies on people like Anielis Raas of...…NEW!250sharesCaroline CummingsCummings is the executive director of, which helps build entrepreneurial ecosystems in Oregon.Oregon’s ability to recover when the immediate threat of COVID-19 subsides depends on people like Riley Hoagland of Lincoln City, a tireless inventor with notebooks full of great ideas. He took a new consumer product to market last year and received his first major international order shortly before the virus hit. And within the last two weeks, he's invented a new home health care device in response to the COVID-19 crisis.It relies on people like Anielis Raas of...WW…

NEW!1,425sharesBen ElkindElkind is a smokejumper for the U.S. Forest Service based out of Redmond.I would almost do it for free. The feeling of complete focus and calm after jumping out of the airplane is hard to find elsewhere these days. But the chaos from life and the fire below are making me rethink my career, and that’s a big problem for Oregonians.I’ve been a smokejumper for the US Forest Service for eight years and worked on the Mt. Hood Hotshot Fire Crew before that. I grew up in Oregon and can’t stand to see the wildfires ravaging our public lands and communities, while the smoke...…NEW!1,425sharesBen ElkindElkind is a smokejumper for the U.S. Forest Service based out of Redmond.I would almost do it for free. The feeling of complete focus and calm after jumping out of the airplane is hard to find elsewhere these days. But the chaos from life and the fire below are making me rethink my career, and that’s a big problem for Oregonians.I’ve been a smokejumper for the US Forest Service for eight years and worked on the Mt. Hood Hotshot Fire Crew before that. I grew up in Oregon and can’t stand to see the wildfires ravaging our public lands and communities, while the smoke...WW…

NEW!874sharesLiani ReynaReyna, a former sergeant for Portland police, retired in 2019. She now lives in Naples, Florida.Portland, like cities across the country, is grappling with how to change the culture of its police force and drive out racism embedded in its ranks and practices. As a recently retired Portland police sergeant, and as a woman of color who challenged the bureau over discriminatory actions, I can attest that the need for change is long overdue. Systemic racism in the police bureau is real and thrives in the current lack of accountability that has been allowed to flourish.My...…NEW!874sharesLiani ReynaReyna, a former sergeant for Portland police, retired in 2019. She now lives in Naples, Florida.Portland, like cities across the country, is grappling with how to change the culture of its police force and drive out racism embedded in its ranks and practices. As a recently retired Portland police sergeant, and as a woman of color who challenged the bureau over discriminatory actions, I can attest that the need for change is long overdue. Systemic racism in the police bureau is real and thrives in the current lack of accountability that has been allowed to flourish.My...WW…

NEW!Jacob GrierGrier is a freelance writer in Portland and the author of The Rediscovery of Tobacco: Smoking, Vaping, and the Creative Destruction of the Cigarette.If there were a measure on the Oregon ballot to raise taxes on products that help people quit smoking, such as nicotine patches and gums, there would be no doubt that this would be bad for public health. Oregon’s Measure 108, which would impose substantial new taxes on vaping products, is misguided for precisely the same reason. By raising the cost of the most effective smoking cessation devices ever invented, it will...…NEW!Jacob GrierGrier is a freelance writer in Portland and the author of The Rediscovery of Tobacco: Smoking, Vaping, and the Creative Destruction of the Cigarette.If there were a measure on the Oregon ballot to raise taxes on products that help people quit smoking, such as nicotine patches and gums, there would be no doubt that this would be bad for public health. Oregon’s Measure 108, which would impose substantial new taxes on vaping products, is misguided for precisely the same reason. By raising the cost of the most effective smoking cessation devices ever invented, it will...WW…