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Around The Next Bend: June 23-27 On The JX

Whooping cough, dirty creeks, and drinking your veggies are among highlights on The Exchange for the last full week of June.

The process of booking guests is constant, so think of this as a preliminary plan, subject to change.

Regular web users will see these items again, just dressed up with pictures and hyperlinks...

Jefferson Exchange June 23-27, 2014

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Monday, June 23, 2014/8:00        California Whooping Cough Epidemic
By early June, California already had more cases of pertussis (whooping cough) than in all of last year.  Translation: there's a whooping cough epidemic in California.  Pertussis is another disease for which there is a vaccination, but the disease has come back from the brink of disappearing.  We talk to the California Department of Public Health about the causes, the spread, and the treatment.  
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/Pages/DEFAULT.aspx

Monday, June 23, 2014/8:30        Water Wise Lawns (With $ Attached)
It has become nearly impossible to move around the city of Ashland without seeing signs urging people to "Be Water Wise."  Assuming no midsummer rainstorms ending the drought, water restrictions will ratchet down water use in the weeks ahead.  The city continues to offer suggestions on HOW to be water wise, including offering rebates for converting lawns into less water-intensive landscaping.  
http://www.ashland.or.us/Page.asp?NavID=299

Monday, June 23, 2014/9:00        Lucky Planet (Yes, THIS One)
Politicians like to talk about "American exceptionalism."  Let's expand the scope a bit and talk about Earth exceptionalism; that's what British scientist David Waltham writes of in his book "Lucky Planet."  Waltham is both a biologist and a geophysicist, and he says the conditions that produced life on our planet may indeed be unique.  As in, not likely to be duplicated in the universe.  He joins us to make the case for Earth being a lonely planet in the cosmos.  
http://davidwaltham.com/lucky-planet/

Tuesday, June 24, 2014/8:00        Traffic Cameras That Change The Lights
Anybody who's been driving for a while learns to look for the devices buried in the pavement that trigger changes in traffic lights.  But those old devices--you know, make sure your car is directly over the sensor--are being replaced.  Now cameras are being used to gauge traffic waiting for a green light.  The city of Medford just installed several of the camera systems along Crater Lake Highway.  We hear how they work, and what drivers should expect.  
http://www.ci.medford.or.us/SectionIndex.asp?SectionID=8

Tuesday, June 24, 2014/8:30        Stream Bacteria Levels Rise To Unhealthy
And now, another effect of the drought: higher bacteria levels in streams.  It figures: less water means less dilution of naturally-occurring bacteria, and warmer water promotes the growth of bacteria.  But several streams around the region are showing unsafe levels of bacteria.  Those include a handful of Rogue Valley streams.  We discuss the dangers of contact with the contaminated water.  
http://www.rvcog.org/mn.asp?pg=natural_resources

Tuesday, June 24, 2014/9:00        Opera For Everyone
Have art, will travel.  That's the gist of Baila Miller's work.  She travels the country giving lectures on the arts--in English and in Yiddish--to audiences, frequently to senior groups.  And she's back in the region to talk about opera--history, growth and appeal.  Opera lovers and people who never listen to the form will get something out of her preview on The Exchange.  
http://www.bailamillerprograms.com/

Wednesday, June 25, 2014/8:30        VENTSday
We do not schedule guests for Wednesday at 8:30, because that's the time for VENTSday, your chance to vent (politely, please) on a pair of topics in the news.  We bring the topics, you bring the opinions.  It's VENTSday on The Jefferson Exchange, and you participate by calling 1-800-838-3760 or 541-552-6782 or emailing JX@jeffnet.org.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014/9:00        Don't Eat It, Juice It
If your kitchen counter is getting crowded, you may be one of the many homes that now contains a juicer.  Sales of the devices ballooned over the last several years, giving consumers a way to pulverize foods into drinks.  Chef/author/instructor Robin Asbell hopes it's not a fad.  She stretches our views on how to consume fruits and vegetables, with the 65 recipes of "Juice It!"   
http://robinasbell.com/2014/04/juice-fast-way-eat-veggies/

Thursday, June 26, 2014/9:00        Bread Baking For The Brand-New Baker
Maybe you like the IDEA of baking your own bread, but find the process daunting.  We may have just the thing for you, a book on baking bread for beginners, "Josey Baker Bread."  Josey Baker is a former science teacher; with a name like his, he might have been destined to make bread, and he does.  He shares his secrets in the book and in our interview.  
http://www.chroniclebooks.com/titles/josey-baker-bread.html

Friday, June 27, 2014/8:00        Afghanistan, PTSD, and The Gulf Spill in Opera
An opera premiering in Portland in September is meant to be more than just theater with music; it is also meant to heal.  "The Canticle of the Black Madonna" is a modern story of a soldier struggling with PTSD from the Afghanistan war… in his native Louisiana during the oil spill.  The opera is the creation of composer Ethan Gans-Morse and librettist Tiziana DellaRovere of the Rogue Valley.  They join us with a Vietnam combat veteran to talk about their vision for the opera.  
www.CBMopera.com

Friday, June 27, 2014/9:00        Results Of Oregon's Medicaid Expansion
Oregon's 2008 Medicaid (Oregon Health Plan) expansion offered a gift to health researchers.  Since people either got Medicaid coverage or didn't by lottery, large numbers of people--thousands--would be available to test the results of health insurance coverage (or not) on previously uncovered populations.  Bottom line: the covered people are not a whole lot healthier, but they made more use of health care services and spent less of their own money.  We spend an hour getting a fuller picture of health outcomes from the study.  
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1212321#t=articleTop
 

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Geoffrey Riley is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has hosted the Jefferson Exchange on JPR since 2009. He's been a broadcaster in the Rogue Valley for more than 35 years, working in both television and radio.