About the program…

Join co-hosts Jo Ann Bowman and Dave Mazza every Thursday morning as they bring you informative guests and lively discussions about the issues that are important to you and your community. Every week, Voices from the Edge provides KBOO listeners a place to engage in meaningful talk about racial disparity, government accountability, environmental justice, local and national politics, and other crucial issues of the day. Jo Ann and Dave bring you guests you won’t hear on other talk radio programs and conversation about making Oregon and the nation a better place.

On January 26, Oregonians will be asked to decide how the latest chapter in the state's long-running tax wars will turn out. Opponents of two tax increases approved by the legislature in 2009 succeeded in collecting enough signatures for a referendum on what are now Measures 66 and 67. The former would raise the state income tax rate on those earning more than $125,000 per year while the latter would increase the minimum corporate tax. Supporters of the measures say vital public services are at stake. Opponents say raising taxes during a recession will only make matters worse.

 Denise Morris hosts this show which features discussions of police brutality, the auto industry, Jeffrey Eugenides novel Middlesex, and the movie "Up In the Air."  

 Dianne Feeley is a retired auto worker who writes about the industry and the United Auto Workers Union. She talks with Denise Morris about the future of the industry and the situation of the workers today.  You can read an essay of hers here.  

 Hosted by Joe Uris

Today's show will be The Decade In Review...  Joe will seed the discussion with some of his own observations, then ask for yours.

How should workers respond to the disappointing Senate debate over health care? Three of organized labor's leading single payer advocates---Cindy Young of the California School Employees Association, Matt Schlobohm of the Maine State AFL-CIO, and Tom Leedham of Teamsters Local 206--discuss the Senate bill and the challenges it poses for unions and working people generally.

Fourteen Oregonians died last month in five murder-suicides and one attempted murder suicide. Why this sudden outbreak now of men using guns to murder their spouses, ex-spouses and themselves when domestic violence homicides in Oregon have been on the decline? In 1997, 22 domestic violence homicides took place in Multnomah County alone. In recent years, the state average has been eight murder-suicides a year. Is it the economic climate, a lack of social services, or deep-rooted cultural issues?

This week on Voices from the Edge, Jo Ann and Dave talk with Jennifer Warren, LCSW, a counselor with Portland's Men's Resource Center/Women's Counseling Center since 1998. She specializes in domestic violence intervention and recovery, and has worked extensively with men and women arrested for domestic violence. Join us in this discussion about what's behind domestic violence murder-suicides, how the problem is being addressed and what needs to be done to stop the violence.