For people with disabilities, wildfire evacuations required additional time and notice that wasn’t always possible with the rapidly spreading fires.

Data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that 43% of Oregonians whose unemployment benefits came through in July had been waiting more than 10 weeks. That’s far higher than the national average.

New legislation requires every Oregon school district to have plans for suicide prevention, intervention and response, and creates resources to help make that happen.

Four Oregon prisons were fully evacuated last week due to wildfires. Accounts from inmates, their lawyers and family members characterize the evacuation conditions as unsafe and unsanitary.

When Emily Halnon’s mother died of cancer earlier this year, she wanted to honor her with something big. Last month, Halnon set the overall speed record for the Oregon section of the Pacific Crest Trail — over 450 miles in nearly 8 days. In the process, she raised over $33,000 toward cancer research. We talk with Halnon about her trek through the Oregon PCT, and what the run means to her.

In 2013, science writer David Quammen wrote an editorial in the New York Times entitled “The Next Pandemic: Not if, but When.” Quammen has been writing about the spread of diseases between humans and animals since his book "Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic" came out that same year.

The fire chief for the Idanha/Detroit area works part time, and leads a team of 24 volunteers. When the Beachie Creek Fire roared into the Highway 22 corridor, chief Will Ewing and volunteer firefighters helped to lead nearly 80 people to safety. Most of the buildings in Detroit burned to the ground, including the district office and one of their fire trucks, and Ewing says the road to recovery is very long indeed.

Online learning presents challenges for both students and parents, who may be working from home, looking for work or need childcare. Some are forming in-person pods to deal with some of those challenges. We talk with parents from three families who formed a pod for their school-aged children.

Portland police officers feel underappreciated and unsupported by city leadership, according to new reporting from OPB. Activists who have been protesting for months demanding police reform are also frustrated with the lack of action from political leaders. What is the path forward? OPB reporter Jonathan Levinson has been working on this story.

The 242 fire in Southern Oregon burned through thousands of acres, many of them hunting and gathering grounds for the Klamath Tribes. The fire also burned the tribes’ cemetery and at least one tribal member’s house. At the same time, the tribes have seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases.

Many Oregonians are in dire need following the Almeda Fire, the catastrophic blaze that burned down much of Phoenix and Talent in Southern Oregon. Community members throughout the state have formed a network of volunteers to meet the need. We talk with organizer Jesse Azzopardi of the Southern Oregon Relief Team about delivering supplies amid devastating wildfires.

Multnomah County DA Mike Schmidt isn’t pursuing charges against most of the protesters Portland police have arrested, but police continue to make arrests. The police union and others have vociferously objected to his failure to prosecute, especially in cases involving rioting without accompanying charges related to property damage or violence.

Oregon Health Authority director Patrick Allen joins us to discuss the latest trends in infection rates in the state and how the wildfires have complicated data collection.

Prescott Elementary principal Nichole Watson tells us how she’s navigating the school year amid the global pandemic and uprising against racial injustice.

Susan McMillan, 76, lost her home and all of her possessions in the Almeda fire that decimated the southern Oregon towns of Talent and Phoenix. Luckily, she was able to evacuate the fire with a handful of possessions and “all the beating hearts in the house” — her dogs Chico, Boehne and Sammy, and cat Kiki. We talk with McMillan about her experience, and how she is thinking about rebuilding her life in the wake of the disaster.