Wages and benefits change in many parts of the region with the New Year. A pair of Monday segments will focus on those.
Later in the week, we'll talk about the preparations for marijuana going legal in Oregon.
And we'll get to imagine literary figures in the smartphone age with the author of "Texting Jane Eyre."
It's the first full week of a new year on the Jefferson Exchange, and here's our list:
Monday, January 5, 2015/8:00 Minimum Wage & Health Insurance
Hurray for a raise. Oregon's minimum wage, tied to inflation, hit $9.25 an hour with the new year, putting it a full two dollars above the federal minimum. The change affects workers, but also affects employers and the benefits they offer, including health insurance. Nikki Jones from Express Employment Professionals fills us in.
http://medfordor.expresspros.com/
Monday, January 5, 2015/8:30 Working For Paid Sick
It's a matter of fact for many full-time workers: feel sick, stay home… and still get paid. But paid sick leave is not a given for all workers. And that's something the Oregon Legislature will be asked to change in its upcoming session. Laurie Trieger of Family Forward Oregon visits with the details on legislation her organization would like to see.
http://www.familyforwardoregon.org/
Monday, January 5, 2015/9:00 Understanding Racism For Kids: "Stella By Starlight"
Sharon Draper is a teacher and a writer, with several awards for her work in both fields. She adds to the pile of books she's written for young readers with "Stella By Starlight." It is set in the depression in the segregated South, and deals with young people coming face-to-face with the Ku Klux Klan and prejudice. Sharon Draper visits to talk about the work and her own life experiences with prejudice.
http://sharondraper.com/
Tuesday, January 6, 2015/8:30 Economy Stuck In Rural Oregon
Oregon's economy took a long time to recover from recession, but total employment numbers are now roughly back to where they were pre-recession. But not everywhere. Rural Oregon, often timber-and-resource dependent, is still stuck in a number of ways. State Economist Mark McMullen joins us to tease out the figures and stories of the slow emergence from recession in the countryside.
http://www.oregon.gov/DAS/OEA/index.shtml
Tuesday, January 6, 2015/9:00 "A Family Sketch" From Mark Twain
You've probably read at least a little Mark Twain. "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn" were required reading for decades of American students. But Twain's work was not focused solely on fictional characters. He turned his attention to the people around him for "A Family Sketch," just one of the components of "A Family Sketch and Other Private Writings," now in print. Editor Benjamin Griffin from the Mark Twain Project is our guest.
http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520280731
Wednesday, January 7, 2015/8:00 SOREDI Boosting Businesses
In or out of recession, there's a constant discussion of helping businesses to start and grow. But just what does that entail? The people at Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development, Inc.--SOREDI--can tell us, and will. SOREDI plans a business conference later this month. Founder Alex Pawlowski joins us with the details of the regular work, and how the conference assists it.
http://www.soredi.org/
Wednesday, January 7, 2015/8:30 VENTSday
VENTSday is our weekly "opinion swarm"… we throw a pair of topics on the table, and let listeners vent--politely--on those topics. They can range from the global to the hyper-local, and all responsible opinions are welcome. 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 emailing JX@jeffnet.org.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015/9:00 Texting For Fictional Characters
Modern technology has profoundly changed our lives. Voice conversation is practically passe' now, replaced by the text message. Now imagine if texting had arrived a century or more ago. Mallory Ortberg does just that on the web, at the-toast.net. She imagines F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald trading message, as well as fictional characters. And now the romp through imagination is in book form, as "Texts From Jane Eyre." Would Scarlett O'Hara "sext" Ashley Wilkes? We'll ask.
http://the-toast.net/category/textsfrom/
http://us.macmillan.com/textsfromjaneeyre/malloryortberg
Thursday, January 8, 2015/9:00 Medical Tourism and "Patients With Passports"
If your doctor won't recommend a medical procedure you want, you can go to another doctor. But would you travel to another country for the procedure? And how about if your insurance required you to travel abroad for medical work? It happens in today's world, a trend called "medical tourism." And as you'd expect, it opens several cans of worms, examined in the book "Patients With Passports." Author Glenn Cohen joins us with stories and ethical discussions.
http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199975099.do
Friday, January 9, 2015/9:00 Oregon Prepares For Legal Weed
A new year is here, but legal pot is still about six months away in Oregon. Voter passage of Measure 91 last November set the date for legal marijuana for personal use at July 1st. And a lot has to happen before then to get users, sellers and authorities ready. Attorney Hilary Bricken has been tracking pot issues for a long time, on the pro-pot side. She joins us with some ideas of what to expect as Oregon gets ready.
http://cannalawgroup.com/
