News

Tonight,  January 20, President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address starting at 6 pm.  

NPR will provide live anchored coverage of the President’s speech as well as the Republican response from Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa.

Robert Siegel will host. He'll be joined in the studio by White House Correspondent Tamara Keith, National Political Correspondent Mara Liasson and Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving. NPR’s Ailsa Chang will report live from the House chamber.

KLCC coverage of the speech and analysis will conclude at 8 pm.

A case of measles has been confirmed in Eugene. Lane County Public Health officials say it's believed to be related to an outbreak linked to Disney theme parks in Southern California.
County Health spokesman Jason Davis says a Eugene man in his 40s went with his family to a Disney park in the outbreak area. After returning to Eugene, he  displayed symptoms and went to a medical provider.
Davis says he believes this is the first Oregon case linked to the Disney parks outbreak. It's the first measles case in Lane County since 2007.

There have been no new reports of University of Oregon students becoming ill with a bacterial infection that causes meningitis. A student who was diagnosed with the infection has been hospitalized and is reported to be in stable condition. 

Philosopher and nature writer Kathleen Dean Moore will merge her words with the music of Rachmaninoff, as performed by concert pianist Rachelle McCabe, in an event called Rage, Rage Against the Dying: Global Warming, Extinction and the Call to Life at the Corvallis-Benton Public Library on Wednesday evening, January 21st. Kathleen Dean Moore speaks with Eric Alan.

It's a milestone for Oregon's only professional Latino theater group...30 years of performances.  Milagro Theater comes to Roseburg next month.

(sounds of set building)

Milagro is getting a show ready to go on the road. The painted cloth, canvas and rope emulate a circus. Co-founder Dañel Malan says that goes back to the roots of Latin American peasant theater:

"The campesino came from the old tradition of carpa, so that was how they would do the shows, in a tent."

In the 25 years that Springfield Habitat for Humanity has helped build affordable homes for low-income families, only three have paid off their mortgages. The Ramirez family is one of them, and they did it early. KLCC’s Tiffany Eckert joined them to celebrate the achievement.

In a ceremonial act, Alfonso and Edith Ramirez lit a copy of their 20 year mortgage on fire (click) and let it burn.

(sound of burning paper)

Every month, they’ve sent in the payments on their zero-interest Habitat for Humanity loan. Now, three years early, they are owners free and clear.

Several hundred marchers gathered in Eugene today to honor Martin Luther King Junior.

 Speakers including Lane County NAACP president Eric Richardson and Congressman Peter DeFazio kicked off the event. Dr. King’s words “darkness cannot drive out darkness only light can do that,” had impact on the bright sunny morning. Several participants thought the race and equality issues of the past year brought energy to this year’s holiday. Eva Bertoglio is a student from Newberg:

W. Kamau Bell uniquely merges comedy with perspectives on racial justice and other tough topics. His FX comedy series Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell was executive produced by Chris Rock; his album Face Full of Flour made many top ten lists. He was recently named an Ambassador of Racial Justice by the ACLU, and serves on the board of the racial justice think tank Race Forward.Before bringing his “Oh, Everything!” tour to the WOW Hall on January 22nd, he spoke to Eric Alan about the value of awkward conversations, what he’d say to Dr.

Meeting Date: Friday January 16th, 2015

Air Date: Monday January 19th, 2015

Nearly one in three working families in the United States and in Oregon has trouble meeting their basic needs. Middle-class families in Oregon are struggling to maintain that status. Women and working families striving to join Oregon’s middle class face more barriers than ever before.

Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek will talk about an “Opportunity Agenda” to address those issues built on three key platforms: expanding opportunity, rewarding work, and ensuring basic fairness.

2014 was the hottest year on record. That’s according to data released Friday by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In the Northwest, temperatures also rose above normal.

After a warm summer and winter, last year was the second hottest on record for Oregon and the fifth hottest on record for Washington.

The hottest year for both states is still 1934, when the Dust Bowl plagued the West.

Karin Bumbaco is the assistant state climatologist in Washington.