Gemma DiCarlo

1 week ago | opb.org | Gemma DiCarlo

The Astoria-Megler Bridge as seen from the Washington side on Aug. 11, 2024. The bridge is one of many managed by ODOT, whose annual bridge condition report says the agency is falling behind on maintaining the state's aging bridges. More than one in five bridges in Oregon was in “distressed” condition in 2024. That’s according to the Oregon Department of Transportation’s annual bridge condition report.

2 weeks ago | opb.org | Gemma DiCarlo

In its attempt to end birthright citizenship, the Trump administration has cited a 19th century lawsuit that denied U.S. citizenship to Native Americans. The president’s executive order has been blocked by multiple federal judges, and his use of Elk v. Wilkins to justify the order is generally deemed invalid by legal scholars. But the use of the lawsuit has raised concerns over immigration enforcement in some Indigenous communities, even though Native Americans were granted citizenship in 1924.

2 weeks ago | opb.org | Gemma DiCarlo

A provided photo of a 2024 reading at Bishop & Wilde in Portland featuring contributors to Oregon Humanities publications. The organization is facing steep funding cuts after a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities was abruptly rescinded. Courtesy Oregon HumanitiesHumanities councils across the country, including in Oregon, recently learned that the federal government is slashing their funding.

3 weeks ago | opb.org | Gemma DiCarlo

In 2013, Oregon implemented a plan to expand access to home and community-based services for Medicaid recipients with intellectual, developmental or psychiatric disabilities. The goal was to allow more Oregonians to receive care at home rather than in an institution. While programs were established for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, no supports have been created for individuals under age 21 who require inpatient-level psychiatric care.

3 weeks ago | opb.org | Gemma DiCarlo

Shortly before the fall of Saigon in 1975, roughly 3,000 children were flown out of Vietnam in an effort dubbed Operation Babylift. The children went on to be adopted by families in the U.S., Australia and other countries. An initiative of the Ford administration, the operation was billed as a humanitarian effort to rescue Vietnamese orphans – many of them fathered by American servicemen – from advancing communist forces.