Today’s Newsmakers at Noon bounced from Oregon classrooms and highway safety to election season, big-city crime – and, yes, competitive parallel parking.
With Election Day now just nine weeks away, Oregon’s direction was never far from the conversation. But one of our biggest discussions centered on education. As students head back to school, are we spending too much time debating funding and the length of the school year while avoiding the more important question: What are Oregon kids actually learning?
Chronic absenteeism and instructional time matter, but so does what’s happening inside classrooms. We looked at troubling reports of teachers facing verbal threats, physical violence and worsening student behavior. Salem-Keizer alone recorded more than 1,000 reports of staff injuries between 2019 and 2023. Maybe the teacher-retention conversation needs to focus a little less on salary and a lot more on whether teachers feel safe and supported at work.
Elsewhere, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s crackdown involving commercial driver’s licenses and Operation Highway Shield prompted a conversation about highway safety and enforcement.
Then there was another grim reminder of what’s happening in America’s cities: a random stabbing spree in Times Square that left a woman dead. How much disorder are Americans expected to accept as simply part of urban life?
Thankfully, Portland gave us something considerably lighter: a competitive parallel-parking championship. Apparently, people train for this! So we asked – can you parallel park?
And because September 1 is Ginger Cat Appreciation Day, the orange cats finally received the recognition they so obviously believe they deserve.
Links from Today’s Show
On This Day in History — September 1
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy Announces CDL Crackdown
Why Attendance and Instruction Matter in Oregon Schools — OPB
Oregon’s Education Crisis Is Happening in Our Classrooms — Salem Business Journal
Times Square Stabbing Spree — New York Post
Portland’s Competitive Parallel-Parking Championship — ABC News
