March 16, 2025 • 29 mins
A proposed change to Oregon's sex offender registry program is drawing criticism. OHSU research finds a connection between dense breast tissue and an increase risk of break cancer. The Oregon Construction Contractors Board is ready to help you find a contactor for your project. Beward of the DMV text message scam.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to local voices. I'm brad Ford. This week, a
plan to manage convicted sex offenders in Oregon who are
not registered is drawing strong criticism. Research at OHSU has
found a link between dense breast tissue and a higher
occurrence of breast cancer. If you're planning to work around
your house, maybe a remodel, we'll have tips on selecting
(00:25):
a contractor, plus the DMV and O DOT or warning
of a scam that could appear on your cell phone.
Uring in legislature is considering two bills to deal with
a backlog of unregistered sex offenders. They're more than twelve thousand.
(00:45):
The Parole Board is in charge of reclassifying the sex offenders,
but the legislature hasn't provided funding to do it. A
bill would require the Parole Board to only register the
most violent offenders. The bill is opposed by two victims
of serial rapist Richard Gilmore is Danielle Tutor.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
The bill that is most important to us that we
would like to actually see get a hearing is House
Bill thirty eight seventy three. And what that bill actually
does is it creates a work group that will bring
all the stakeholders together on this sex offender registry backlog,
because that's what I think it is. It is a
backlog that it has only grown exponentially. Many of you
(01:24):
may not know the history, but in twenty thirteen, then
State Representative Jennifer Williamson stood on the House floor and
declared that we had a state emergency because we had
four thousand unclassified sex offenders in our state. That was
twenty thirteen. Here we are over a decade later, and
nothing has been done. We changed the law, gave it
(01:45):
to the Parole Board to do, but we have refused
to fund it. And that is the biggest issue, as
the Parole Board has come every two years asking for
money and the legislature has consistently not given them the
funds to do their job. So what we're seeing this
legislative session is Governor Kotec and the Oregon Board of
Paroles proposing at least a trio of bills that will
(02:09):
actually do away with the sex offender backlog. It will
take away any oversight to the Parole Board as to
how they classify these offenders, and it actually will reduce
that eighteen thousand at least that are unclassified to anywhere
as low as eight hundred and fifty to as many
as thirty five hundred, just depending on what literature you
(02:31):
get from the Parole Board that will tell you where
that number falls. And it seems like none of us
really know at this point. But what our bill does
Senate Bill, excuse me, House Bill thirty eight seventy three
is it creates a task force that brings all the
voices together, that includes the voices of sexual assault victims
like myself and Tiffany Edens, who have been very outspoken
(02:54):
on this issue since two thousand and seven and two
thousand and eight. We have consistently stayed on top of
legislation for most of that time, and since even moving
to Oklahoma, I still stay involved here in Oregon because
I am an Oregonian through and through, born and raised.
Can I ever move back safely to my state. Not
(03:15):
at this point, not as long as my offender has
more rights than I do, And that, to me is
such a shame and no Oregonian should be happy with that.
But it creates a task force that brings all the
stakeholders together. Instead of throwing our hands in the air
and saying we can't do this, we don't have the money,
we don't know what to do. So let's just go
off a cliff with a problem that we've never taken
(03:37):
care of, and let's just throw our hands in the
air and say we're done with it. And I don't
think anyone here that has a normal job would be
able to go to their employer and say, I'm sorry,
I can't do the job you gave me. I need
more money, I need more time, so I'm just not
going to do it. You would not have a job
in the normal world. And why does the Parole Board
(03:57):
and its members still have a job if they cannot
get this done? Okay? So it brings stakeholders together that
will include Tiffany and I, and it also requires the
Parole Board to actually consider more information, which apparently is
information they're already looking at when they're classifying a sex offender.
(04:17):
They're just putting it into a static ninety nine and
then ignoring the rest of the information. So it will
do that. Had they paid attention to the information on Gilmore,
they would have seen all his denied parole hearings, his
bad psyche valuations, and how dangerous he is, how many
victims he actually had, But instead of using any of that,
(04:39):
they classified him as a Level one sex offender. So
the other things that this bill does mandates that the
Parole Board actually look at people like me as a victim.
Because Richard Gilmour was not prosecuted for my rape because
the statute of limitations was only three years. He was
not prosecuted for my rape, nor seven other women and
(05:00):
girls in our neighborhood. So he was only convicted for
charges on Tiffany Edens, which then puts him as a
sex offender that only has one offense because of the
statute of the limitations. So what this bill does is
right now under the Oregon Constitution, I am considered a
victim of Richard Gilmore. Yet when the Parole Board is
(05:22):
assessing a sex offender for the registry, they do not
consider me a victim and they do not take me
into consideration, even though that is a violation of my
rights under the Oregon Constitution. This bill takes care of that.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Tiffany Edens was also raped by Gilmore, her case was
the only one that could be prosecuted because of the
statute of limitations. She also opposes the bills.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I was thirteen years old when Richard Gilmore broke into
my home and attacked me and brutally raped me. And
the star don't ever go away. They might get less painful,
but it's I remember when I was talking in legislation
(06:10):
years ago, I think two thousand and eight or nine
or something, and I explained that sense assault victims were
like the walking dead, because that person killed a part
of us that we can never get back, and we're
just expected to keep moving forward and living our life
(06:32):
as normal as possible. My story is a little different.
I went down the road of drugs and alcohol. Prior
to that, I was a tag student for drama. I
was an accomplished ballerina and jazz dancer, studying with Jelaine Stites.
I had dreams and aspirations to become a Broadway dancer.
(06:53):
I lived and breathe ballet and jazz. After that, I
was no longer a tag student. I became one of
those kids, and I started doing drugs and drinking. And
I'm grateful that this last September I celebrated ten years
of cleaning sober time. And so I know that my sissy, Danielle,
(07:19):
we call each other sissy. It's beautiful. She spoke more
about the bills, so I'm going to speak more about
I have questions for the state of Oregon, and I
have a particular question for Tina Kotech. The last time
that I saw her, I was at a bill sunny
ceremony on behalf of Danielle. It was her bill, and
(07:41):
she just couldn't be there, and so I did that
for her, and Tina Kotek hugged me and.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Said, keep fighting, we see you keep fighting.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well, that's lip service, that's talking out the side of
your neck. That means that whatever you just said to me,
it's not valid.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
And for her to come.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
And request these bills to brush approximally nineteen thousand sex
offenders under the rug, take away the voice of the victim,
and to just poof make it go away is appalling.
(08:32):
And I've said it before. It's a slap in the face.
You don't understand. In two thousand and seven eight nine Man,
I felt so supported in the state of Oregon. I
felt supported by media. I felt supported by.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Democrats, Republicans, all of them.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
When I came back after many adventures getting my life
back on track, it was a different culture.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
There was no value Tiffany, you have no value. We
don't want to hear about your walk.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
We don't want to hear your voice. You're messing up
the agenda that we're trying to push. We don't want
to do the right thing. So my question is is
when did tolerance of sex crimes and molestation and abuse
(09:28):
become the norm in Oregon. That should be unacceptable all
across the aisles. That should not be a thing at all.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
That's Tiffany Edens and Danielle Tudor, victims of serial rapist
Richard Gilmore. They support a bill that would create a
process to classify sex offenders from out of state and
include victims in the sex offender classification process. Research from
OHSU the connection between dense breast tissue and breast cancer.
(10:03):
Doctor Jane Lang from OHSU joined us on Local Voices
to discuss the findings from the study. What did the
study look at and what did it find?
Speaker 4 (10:11):
So we were interested in the association between breast density,
which is a measure of sort of the proportion of
kind of fibrous and glandular tissue in the breast as
opposed to fatty tissue. So a relationship between breast density
it's it's something that's typically measured on a mammogram and
(10:31):
risk of breast cancer. And this was a particularly interesting
problem because it's been well known for many many years
that dense breasts are make mammograms make it harder to
detect cancer on mammograms. So, given that it's harder to
(10:55):
detect cancer on mammograms, we felt like it was important
to account for this when looking at the association between
density and cancer risk. So our study basically did some
fancy modeling statistical modeling to account for the fact that
(11:17):
it's harder to detect cancer in women with dense breasts,
and we estimated an association between density and breast cancer risk.
And our estimate was we estimated a one point sevenfold
increase in risks of breast cancer for women with dense
breasts compared to women without dense.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Breass How does a woman know if she has dense
breast tissue? Is that determine when she gets a mammogram?
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Absolutely, yeah, it's determined when you get a mammogram. It's
something that when the radiology radiologist looks at the mammogram
they're able to measure. And there's actually four different categories
we've grouped the top two as dense. In the bottom
too is non dense. But yeah, it's sort of a
(12:05):
something that the radiologists will be able to kind of
a metric upon looking at the mammogram.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Right, I think you touched on this earlier. But why
is the risk of breast cancer higher for women with
dense breast tissue?
Speaker 4 (12:18):
That is a very very interesting question. And I am
not an expert in the biology of breast density, but
I think recent work has shown that density is also
a function of a woman's age, and women tend to
(12:39):
have dense breasts when they're younger and postmenopausal, they tend
to have breast density that decreases, so their breasts become
more fatty, And it's I think there's some interesting work
that again is not necessarily my area of expertise, that
shows that if you're kind of breasts are remaining dnse
(13:03):
at older ages, that might be a risk. And it's
probably has to do with, you know, what's actually comprising
dense breasts versus non dense breass and how that relates
to cancer. But again, this isn't my The biology of
(13:24):
this is not my area of expertise.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Right, does let me ask this though, does the is
it that the dense breast tissue Does it hide the
cancer because the mammogram isn't able to see through it?
Speaker 4 (13:37):
Well exactly. This was why we did the whole study.
It it hides the cancer, so it's called like a
masking problem. But what we found is even if you
look beyond the fact that it hides the cancer, it's
still associated with increased risk.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Interesting, So, if a woman does have dense breast tissue,
are there other types of tests that should be conducted
in order to determine whether cancer exists instead of a mammogram.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
Yeah, so women with dense breass Actually, currently there's a
recommendation from the FDA as of September twenty twenty four
to require momography centers and notify patients of their breast
density and to inform them that dense breast tissue increases
(14:29):
risk of breast cancer and makes it harder to detect
on a mammogram. So, if you do have dense breast
and you know it, there is alternative imaging modalities such
as ultrasound or temosynthesis that can be more effective, and
even MRIs can be more effective at detecting cancer and
(14:52):
dense press So.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
When women go in for a mammogram, I know you
said that since last fall, they're now requires to tell them.
But if they don't say anything, should a patient ask
about it?
Speaker 4 (15:04):
I think absolutely, because it's something. I think it's great
that people are being you know, now being required that
the people are made aware of it because it is
a risk fact factor and it does increase the you know,
how well mammograms are able to detect cancer apart from
(15:25):
it being a risk factor.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
How did this study differ from previous studies about dense
pressed tissue.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Well, that's a great question. So previous studies just to
look at dense breasts and risk of diagnosis. So diagnosis,
as you can imagine in a screen population, will be
affected by how well the screening modality detects the cancer,
so as well as the frequency of screening, et cetera.
(15:56):
So previous analyzes didn't look at that those two factors
at all. They just looked at how does breadth's density
and risk of diagnosis? What's the association mean those two things.
We accounted for the differential detectability as well as different
screening frequency in dense and non dense.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Bress, doctor, anything else you'd like to end.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
I think the takeaway for me is, if you're a
woman who is you know, just about ready to be
of age, where you're getting your first managrams, being aware
of what breast density is and if you have it,
so that you can have continued conversations with your doctor
about the appropriateness of screen modalities and making sure that
(16:47):
you're screened according to the screening guides. I think that's
an important, important takeaway.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
That's doctor Jane Lang from OHSU discussing the results of
a study on the connection between breast cancer and dense
press tissue. Marchie is Home improvement month that the Oregon
Construction contractor is bored. This is the time of year
when we start planning projects around our home that might
(17:14):
need a contractor. Leslie Culpepper is at the Oregon Construction
Contractors Board. Leslie. Doing background work on a contractor before
hiring them is important. How should we check a contractor's
background license and what should we look for?
Speaker 5 (17:28):
So one of the first things that the CCB recommends
when you're hiring a contractor is to ask them for
their CCB license number and then look up that license
number on our website. So if you go out to
our website, it's www dot orgon dot gov forward slash CCB.
There's a big orange button on the front page of
our website that says check licenses, and you can look
(17:48):
up that CCB number by clicking that button. So we
always recommend looking up the contractor by the number, not
the name, just because it's a more precise way to
find the information that you're looking for. You can ask
that contractor for their license number, it's not a weird question.
And if they tell you that they don't want to
give you their license number, that's.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
A red flag.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
And when you go out there, you just want to
make sure that they have an active license. Don't just
take their word for it.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Check that they have an active.
Speaker 5 (18:15):
License, and then you can click into that license and
you can see up to ten years of history on
that contractor's license, so you can see if they have
complaints or if there have been disciplinary issues, and that
can give you some information that you might need when
you're hiring that contractor. You know, there's a big difference
between hiring a contractor that has one complaint seven years
(18:40):
ago versus a contractor that has had seven complaints one
year ago, so you kind of have to take it
in context and you know, use your good judgment when
you're looking at that contractor's license history. But that's a
really important resource that we recommend that consumers use when
they're trying to hire contractors. Another way that you can
look into their background is just by checking references. You know,
(19:02):
ask them for references for consumers who have had similar
work done on their house, so that you're doing kind
of an apples to apples comparison. And you know, those
two things combined with other stuff like vetting other contractors,
can give you a really good idea of which contractor
you want to hire.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Getting an astimate before you start a project is important.
Do you have any advice on how to get that estimate?
What to do?
Speaker 5 (19:25):
Yeah, well, we always recommend vetting at least three contractors
if you're getting like a doing a big job, if
you're building an addition or doing a remodel or something
like that, you know, vet at least three contractors, and
this can help you establish kind of a baseline, so
it'll give you a sense of how much does this
project really cost, what communication style works for me, what
(19:51):
can a contractor do that's going to make me feel comfortable?
What questions should they be asking, you know, because you'll
be able to compare one contractor to another and then
hopefully you'll get three estimates from three contractors. When you're
doing that, some people have a hard time getting contractors
to come out to their house, especially if you live
maybe far from the nearest city, So always try to
(20:12):
maybe check with people you know who have done similar
work on their home. You can always check with trade
associations because they tend to sort the contractors by geographic area.
And something that I've used in the past is you
can also call material suppliers and ask them what contractors
are operational in your area. But no matter who you
ask for that kind of a referral, make sure that
(20:32):
you go out to the website and look up their
CCP number.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
What are the dangers of hiring an unlicensed contractor?
Speaker 5 (20:40):
Well, licensed contractors have a lot of consumer protections, and
when you hire a licensed contractor, you have access to
those consumer protections. So one of the things that we
always point to is the mediation services that we provide.
So if you're a consumer that's working with a licensed contractor,
and you end up in a dispute with that contractor.
(21:02):
We have mediation services that you can tap into and
that can help you settle your dispute without actually going
to court. If you hire an unlicensed contractor and end
up in a dispute or in trouble with that contractor,
your only real recourse is to go to court, and
a lot of people don't want to do that. They're
intimidated by the whole prospect, and so instead they just
(21:25):
end up walking away. Maybe they hire a licensed contractor
to finish the job, or they do it themselves, or
they just eat the cost. Another consumer protection that you
have access to when you're hiring a licensed contractor is
that licensed look up feature that I told you about. Obviously,
you can't look up an unlicensed contractor's licensed history. Licensed
(21:46):
contractors are required to have insurance and bond. They're required
to have workers comp insurance that they have employees, and
these are all things that are in place to protect
you as the consumer that's hiring that contractor. So when
you're hiring an unlicensed contractor, you don't have any of
those guarantees or any of those protections that you can
tap into.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
So if you come across an unlicensed contractor, should that
person be reported?
Speaker 5 (22:12):
We ask the consumers report unlicensed contractor activity. There's a
button on our website, the front page of our website
that says report contractor activity.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
I think it says. And the reason that you know
we want you.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
To do this is because you know we're trying to
go out there find finding unlicensed contractors. But as a consumer,
it benefits you, So unlicensed contractors. There's a high risk
of running into a scam artist when you're hiring an
unlicensed contractor. And really the more unlicensed contractors there are
out there, the fewer licensed contractors there are with all
(22:48):
those consumer protections that you have to choose from. So
when you are reporting those unlicensed contractors, you know you're
doing something that benefits you, You're doing something that benefits
your neighbors. It's a form of protection for you and
the people in your community to report those on licensed contractors.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
What's your advice on door to door project sales?
Speaker 5 (23:09):
So some legitimate contractors use door to door sales, but
unfortunately there are also scam artists that are out there
that use that same tactic. So when you're dealing with
someone who has come to your door. They offer a service.
You want to make sure that you're using all of
(23:29):
the same tactics to protect yourself and hire the right
contractor for you. So always make sure that you check references,
that you check the CCP number, get a contract that
helps keep you and the person on the same page,
and make sure that you vet other contractors. So you've
(23:49):
got this person who's come to your door, they're selling
a service. It sounds like a good service. Still, make
sure that you do your job, your your homework as
a consumer to make sure that you're actually hiring the
best professional for the work. And then, you know, be
aware of the fact that some scam artists do use
door to door sales as a way to you know,
(24:13):
take money from people. So watch out for any red flags.
Watch out for someone that maybe uses high pressure sales
tactics making you feel like you must act now, like
you can't do your homework. Watch out for anybody who
wants to charge you the full amount up front, you know,
watch out for anybody of course, watch out for anyone
who doesn't have a CCB number. Don't hire them, but
(24:36):
you know, uh, just watch out for anyone that makes
you feel like you must act now and or you're
going to be missing out on something.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Yeah, legit contractor is not going to put pressure on
to get the deal closed.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Yeah, they're going to know that.
Speaker 5 (24:50):
You know, if they're a good contractor, you're going to
come back around to them because you know, after doing
your homework, you'll realize that they were the right professional.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
For the job.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
So they're not going to shut you out of that
process where you can actually do your homework right.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
What does the CCB website have to offer besides checking
the license of a contractor or other tips on how
to work with contractors.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
So there's lots of stuff on our website, and fortunately
we've used a lot of buttons on the front page
of our website so you can really access things quickly.
So you go out there, there's a button for checking
a license. There's a button for signing up for our newsletter.
We send out regular newsletters with all kinds of tips
on it. There's a button for ordering free publications. So
(25:32):
we've got this publication that you can order. We'll send
it to your house for free. It is all about
hiring a contractor, and it's about a twenty page booklet
or so, and it's got information in about kind of
the anatomy of a home improvement project from start to finish,
and things like when to get a contract and what
should be in that contract and stuff like that. So
(25:53):
there's lots of different stuff. And there's also a button
for our Home Improvement Month, which actually is going going
on throughout the month of March. We're having some webinars,
including a webinar on fire hardening your home and a
webinar on working with real estate agents and improving your
home throughout the real estate transaction. So there's lots of
(26:16):
different resources and hopefully it's all within easy access if
you just come out to the front page of our website.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
What's the easiest way to find the website, Just.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
Go to www dot orgon dot gov ord slash CCB Leslie.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Thanks for joining us. That is Leslie Culpepper at the
Oregon Construction Contractors Board. Have you received the text message
that claims you owe money for a toll? Well, of
course it's a scam, but some people click the link
on the message and that leads to financial trouble. Joining
(26:53):
us on Local Voices is Chris Krab with the Oregon
Deproperty Motor Vehicles and the Oregon Deprovmaty of Transportation tell
us about the scam.
Speaker 6 (27:01):
Yeah, a lot of people have been reaching out to
ODOD and DMV letting us know that getting texts that
they've received saying they have an unpaid toll fee. I
myself have been got in this text. A lot of
my co workers have gotten this text, so I know
it's definitely going around. The messages vary, but essentially they
claim that you have a pass due toll balance that
must be paid immediately to avoid DMV fines or having
(27:23):
your license suspended. So we want people to know that,
first of all, ODOT does not have a toll program.
These are absolutely fake messages and phishing scams trying to
get people to click a link that will take them
to a fake website. Our scammers will try and steal
their personal and financial information.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
So what's thing the best thing to do? If you
get this message? Can you delete it?
Speaker 6 (27:44):
Yeah, that's the easiest thing to do, and that's what
we recommend is immediately delete the text message and also
block the number so that they don't keep repeatedly spamming you.
You can report it if you want. There are organizations,
including the Department of Justice. They have a consumer hotline
you can file complaints, but really the easiest thing to
do is just ignore it, delete it, block it, and
(28:07):
go about your business.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
It sounds like we should just treat these text messages
the same way we would treat any message from somebody
that we don't know.
Speaker 6 (28:14):
Yeah. Absolutely, And the thing is, as criminals, they keep
getting smarter and some of these look very legitimate, and
people get concerned, you know, they see this, then they're like,
oh my gosh, I didn't realize I didn't pay a toll.
So that's why we really want people to know there
are no tools. ODO does not have that program, and
just make sure, just like anything, check who the sender is.
(28:37):
Make sure you know who it is, and if you don't,
you can also verify the legitimacy. You can contact ODO directly,
or you can contact DMV directly and we'll let you
know if we've sent something. But it's almost one hundred
percent positive that it's a scam.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
If you want to report the scam text message, contact
the Oregon deproverty of Justice Consumer Hotline. It's eight seven
seven eight seven nine three nine two or file a
complaint online. You can also file a complaint with the
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center and the Federal Trade Commission.
(29:13):
Thanks for listening to Local Voices, I'm Brad Bard. You
can hear past episodes on the iHeartRadio app under the
podcast tab. Local Voices is a public affairs presentation from iHeartRadio.
Welcome to local voices. I'm brad Ford. This week, a
plan to manage convicted sex offenders in Oregon who are
not registered is drawing strong criticism. Research at OHSU has
found a link between dense breast tissue and a higher
occurrence of breast cancer. If you're planning to work around
your house, maybe a remodel, we'll have tips on selecting
(00:25):
a contractor, plus the DMV and O DOT or warning
of a scam that could appear on your cell phone.
Uring in legislature is considering two bills to deal with
a backlog of unregistered sex offenders. They're more than twelve thousand.
(00:45):
The Parole Board is in charge of reclassifying the sex offenders,
but the legislature hasn't provided funding to do it. A
bill would require the Parole Board to only register the
most violent offenders. The bill is opposed by two victims
of serial rapist Richard Gilmore is Danielle Tutor.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
The bill that is most important to us that we
would like to actually see get a hearing is House
Bill thirty eight seventy three. And what that bill actually
does is it creates a work group that will bring
all the stakeholders together on this sex offender registry backlog,
because that's what I think it is. It is a
backlog that it has only grown exponentially. Many of you
(01:24):
may not know the history, but in twenty thirteen, then
State Representative Jennifer Williamson stood on the House floor and
declared that we had a state emergency because we had
four thousand unclassified sex offenders in our state. That was
twenty thirteen. Here we are over a decade later, and
nothing has been done. We changed the law, gave it
(01:45):
to the Parole Board to do, but we have refused
to fund it. And that is the biggest issue, as
the Parole Board has come every two years asking for
money and the legislature has consistently not given them the
funds to do their job. So what we're seeing this
legislative session is Governor Kotec and the Oregon Board of
Paroles proposing at least a trio of bills that will
(02:09):
actually do away with the sex offender backlog. It will
take away any oversight to the Parole Board as to
how they classify these offenders, and it actually will reduce
that eighteen thousand at least that are unclassified to anywhere
as low as eight hundred and fifty to as many
as thirty five hundred, just depending on what literature you
(02:31):
get from the Parole Board that will tell you where
that number falls. And it seems like none of us
really know at this point. But what our bill does
Senate Bill, excuse me, House Bill thirty eight seventy three
is it creates a task force that brings all the
voices together, that includes the voices of sexual assault victims
like myself and Tiffany Edens, who have been very outspoken
(02:54):
on this issue since two thousand and seven and two
thousand and eight. We have consistently stayed on top of
legislation for most of that time, and since even moving
to Oklahoma, I still stay involved here in Oregon because
I am an Oregonian through and through, born and raised.
Can I ever move back safely to my state. Not
(03:15):
at this point, not as long as my offender has
more rights than I do, And that, to me is
such a shame and no Oregonian should be happy with that.
But it creates a task force that brings all the
stakeholders together. Instead of throwing our hands in the air
and saying we can't do this, we don't have the money,
we don't know what to do. So let's just go
off a cliff with a problem that we've never taken
(03:37):
care of, and let's just throw our hands in the
air and say we're done with it. And I don't
think anyone here that has a normal job would be
able to go to their employer and say, I'm sorry,
I can't do the job you gave me. I need
more money, I need more time, so I'm just not
going to do it. You would not have a job
in the normal world. And why does the Parole Board
(03:57):
and its members still have a job if they cannot
get this done? Okay? So it brings stakeholders together that
will include Tiffany and I, and it also requires the
Parole Board to actually consider more information, which apparently is
information they're already looking at when they're classifying a sex offender.
(04:17):
They're just putting it into a static ninety nine and
then ignoring the rest of the information. So it will
do that. Had they paid attention to the information on Gilmore,
they would have seen all his denied parole hearings, his
bad psyche valuations, and how dangerous he is, how many
victims he actually had, But instead of using any of that,
(04:39):
they classified him as a Level one sex offender. So
the other things that this bill does mandates that the
Parole Board actually look at people like me as a victim.
Because Richard Gilmour was not prosecuted for my rape because
the statute of limitations was only three years. He was
not prosecuted for my rape, nor seven other women and
(05:00):
girls in our neighborhood. So he was only convicted for
charges on Tiffany Edens, which then puts him as a
sex offender that only has one offense because of the
statute of the limitations. So what this bill does is
right now under the Oregon Constitution, I am considered a
victim of Richard Gilmore. Yet when the Parole Board is
(05:22):
assessing a sex offender for the registry, they do not
consider me a victim and they do not take me
into consideration, even though that is a violation of my
rights under the Oregon Constitution. This bill takes care of that.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Tiffany Edens was also raped by Gilmore, her case was
the only one that could be prosecuted because of the
statute of limitations. She also opposes the bills.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I was thirteen years old when Richard Gilmore broke into
my home and attacked me and brutally raped me. And
the star don't ever go away. They might get less painful,
but it's I remember when I was talking in legislation
(06:10):
years ago, I think two thousand and eight or nine
or something, and I explained that sense assault victims were
like the walking dead, because that person killed a part
of us that we can never get back, and we're
just expected to keep moving forward and living our life
(06:32):
as normal as possible. My story is a little different.
I went down the road of drugs and alcohol. Prior
to that, I was a tag student for drama. I
was an accomplished ballerina and jazz dancer, studying with Jelaine Stites.
I had dreams and aspirations to become a Broadway dancer.
(06:53):
I lived and breathe ballet and jazz. After that, I
was no longer a tag student. I became one of
those kids, and I started doing drugs and drinking. And
I'm grateful that this last September I celebrated ten years
of cleaning sober time. And so I know that my sissy, Danielle,
(07:19):
we call each other sissy. It's beautiful. She spoke more
about the bills, so I'm going to speak more about
I have questions for the state of Oregon, and I
have a particular question for Tina Kotech. The last time
that I saw her, I was at a bill sunny
ceremony on behalf of Danielle. It was her bill, and
(07:41):
she just couldn't be there, and so I did that
for her, and Tina Kotek hugged me and.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Said, keep fighting, we see you keep fighting.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Well, that's lip service, that's talking out the side of
your neck. That means that whatever you just said to me,
it's not valid.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
And for her to come.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
And request these bills to brush approximally nineteen thousand sex
offenders under the rug, take away the voice of the victim,
and to just poof make it go away is appalling.
(08:32):
And I've said it before. It's a slap in the face.
You don't understand. In two thousand and seven eight nine Man,
I felt so supported in the state of Oregon. I
felt supported by media. I felt supported by.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Democrats, Republicans, all of them.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
When I came back after many adventures getting my life
back on track, it was a different culture.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
There was no value Tiffany, you have no value. We
don't want to hear about your walk.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
We don't want to hear your voice. You're messing up
the agenda that we're trying to push. We don't want
to do the right thing. So my question is is
when did tolerance of sex crimes and molestation and abuse
(09:28):
become the norm in Oregon. That should be unacceptable all
across the aisles. That should not be a thing at all.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
That's Tiffany Edens and Danielle Tudor, victims of serial rapist
Richard Gilmore. They support a bill that would create a
process to classify sex offenders from out of state and
include victims in the sex offender classification process. Research from
OHSU the connection between dense breast tissue and breast cancer.
(10:03):
Doctor Jane Lang from OHSU joined us on Local Voices
to discuss the findings from the study. What did the
study look at and what did it find?
Speaker 4 (10:11):
So we were interested in the association between breast density,
which is a measure of sort of the proportion of
kind of fibrous and glandular tissue in the breast as
opposed to fatty tissue. So a relationship between breast density
it's it's something that's typically measured on a mammogram and
(10:31):
risk of breast cancer. And this was a particularly interesting
problem because it's been well known for many many years
that dense breasts are make mammograms make it harder to
detect cancer on mammograms. So, given that it's harder to
(10:55):
detect cancer on mammograms, we felt like it was important
to account for this when looking at the association between
density and cancer risk. So our study basically did some
fancy modeling statistical modeling to account for the fact that
(11:17):
it's harder to detect cancer in women with dense breasts,
and we estimated an association between density and breast cancer risk.
And our estimate was we estimated a one point sevenfold
increase in risks of breast cancer for women with dense
breasts compared to women without dense.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Breass How does a woman know if she has dense
breast tissue? Is that determine when she gets a mammogram?
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Absolutely, yeah, it's determined when you get a mammogram. It's
something that when the radiology radiologist looks at the mammogram
they're able to measure. And there's actually four different categories
we've grouped the top two as dense. In the bottom
too is non dense. But yeah, it's sort of a
(12:05):
something that the radiologists will be able to kind of
a metric upon looking at the mammogram.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Right, I think you touched on this earlier. But why
is the risk of breast cancer higher for women with
dense breast tissue?
Speaker 4 (12:18):
That is a very very interesting question. And I am
not an expert in the biology of breast density, but
I think recent work has shown that density is also
a function of a woman's age, and women tend to
(12:39):
have dense breasts when they're younger and postmenopausal, they tend
to have breast density that decreases, so their breasts become
more fatty, And it's I think there's some interesting work
that again is not necessarily my area of expertise, that
shows that if you're kind of breasts are remaining dnse
(13:03):
at older ages, that might be a risk. And it's
probably has to do with, you know, what's actually comprising
dense breasts versus non dense breass and how that relates
to cancer. But again, this isn't my The biology of
(13:24):
this is not my area of expertise.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Right, does let me ask this though, does the is
it that the dense breast tissue Does it hide the
cancer because the mammogram isn't able to see through it?
Speaker 4 (13:37):
Well exactly. This was why we did the whole study.
It it hides the cancer, so it's called like a
masking problem. But what we found is even if you
look beyond the fact that it hides the cancer, it's
still associated with increased risk.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Interesting, So, if a woman does have dense breast tissue,
are there other types of tests that should be conducted
in order to determine whether cancer exists instead of a mammogram.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
Yeah, so women with dense breass Actually, currently there's a
recommendation from the FDA as of September twenty twenty four
to require momography centers and notify patients of their breast
density and to inform them that dense breast tissue increases
(14:29):
risk of breast cancer and makes it harder to detect
on a mammogram. So, if you do have dense breast
and you know it, there is alternative imaging modalities such
as ultrasound or temosynthesis that can be more effective, and
even MRIs can be more effective at detecting cancer and
(14:52):
dense press So.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
When women go in for a mammogram, I know you
said that since last fall, they're now requires to tell them.
But if they don't say anything, should a patient ask
about it?
Speaker 4 (15:04):
I think absolutely, because it's something. I think it's great
that people are being you know, now being required that
the people are made aware of it because it is
a risk fact factor and it does increase the you know,
how well mammograms are able to detect cancer apart from
(15:25):
it being a risk factor.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
How did this study differ from previous studies about dense
pressed tissue.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Well, that's a great question. So previous studies just to
look at dense breasts and risk of diagnosis. So diagnosis,
as you can imagine in a screen population, will be
affected by how well the screening modality detects the cancer,
so as well as the frequency of screening, et cetera.
(15:56):
So previous analyzes didn't look at that those two factors
at all. They just looked at how does breadth's density
and risk of diagnosis? What's the association mean those two things.
We accounted for the differential detectability as well as different
screening frequency in dense and non dense.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Bress, doctor, anything else you'd like to end.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
I think the takeaway for me is, if you're a
woman who is you know, just about ready to be
of age, where you're getting your first managrams, being aware
of what breast density is and if you have it,
so that you can have continued conversations with your doctor
about the appropriateness of screen modalities and making sure that
(16:47):
you're screened according to the screening guides. I think that's
an important, important takeaway.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
That's doctor Jane Lang from OHSU discussing the results of
a study on the connection between breast cancer and dense
press tissue. Marchie is Home improvement month that the Oregon
Construction contractor is bored. This is the time of year
when we start planning projects around our home that might
(17:14):
need a contractor. Leslie Culpepper is at the Oregon Construction
Contractors Board. Leslie. Doing background work on a contractor before
hiring them is important. How should we check a contractor's
background license and what should we look for?
Speaker 5 (17:28):
So one of the first things that the CCB recommends
when you're hiring a contractor is to ask them for
their CCB license number and then look up that license
number on our website. So if you go out to
our website, it's www dot orgon dot gov forward slash CCB.
There's a big orange button on the front page of
our website that says check licenses, and you can look
(17:48):
up that CCB number by clicking that button. So we
always recommend looking up the contractor by the number, not
the name, just because it's a more precise way to
find the information that you're looking for. You can ask
that contractor for their license number, it's not a weird question.
And if they tell you that they don't want to
give you their license number, that's.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
A red flag.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
And when you go out there, you just want to
make sure that they have an active license. Don't just
take their word for it.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Check that they have an active.
Speaker 5 (18:15):
License, and then you can click into that license and
you can see up to ten years of history on
that contractor's license, so you can see if they have
complaints or if there have been disciplinary issues, and that
can give you some information that you might need when
you're hiring that contractor. You know, there's a big difference
between hiring a contractor that has one complaint seven years
(18:40):
ago versus a contractor that has had seven complaints one
year ago, so you kind of have to take it
in context and you know, use your good judgment when
you're looking at that contractor's license history. But that's a
really important resource that we recommend that consumers use when
they're trying to hire contractors. Another way that you can
look into their background is just by checking references. You know,
(19:02):
ask them for references for consumers who have had similar
work done on their house, so that you're doing kind
of an apples to apples comparison. And you know, those
two things combined with other stuff like vetting other contractors,
can give you a really good idea of which contractor
you want to hire.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Getting an astimate before you start a project is important.
Do you have any advice on how to get that estimate?
What to do?
Speaker 5 (19:25):
Yeah, well, we always recommend vetting at least three contractors
if you're getting like a doing a big job, if
you're building an addition or doing a remodel or something
like that, you know, vet at least three contractors, and
this can help you establish kind of a baseline, so
it'll give you a sense of how much does this
project really cost, what communication style works for me, what
(19:51):
can a contractor do that's going to make me feel comfortable?
What questions should they be asking, you know, because you'll
be able to compare one contractor to another and then
hopefully you'll get three estimates from three contractors. When you're
doing that, some people have a hard time getting contractors
to come out to their house, especially if you live
maybe far from the nearest city, So always try to
(20:12):
maybe check with people you know who have done similar
work on their home. You can always check with trade
associations because they tend to sort the contractors by geographic area.
And something that I've used in the past is you
can also call material suppliers and ask them what contractors
are operational in your area. But no matter who you
ask for that kind of a referral, make sure that
(20:32):
you go out to the website and look up their
CCP number.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
What are the dangers of hiring an unlicensed contractor?
Speaker 5 (20:40):
Well, licensed contractors have a lot of consumer protections, and
when you hire a licensed contractor, you have access to
those consumer protections. So one of the things that we
always point to is the mediation services that we provide.
So if you're a consumer that's working with a licensed contractor,
and you end up in a dispute with that contractor.
(21:02):
We have mediation services that you can tap into and
that can help you settle your dispute without actually going
to court. If you hire an unlicensed contractor and end
up in a dispute or in trouble with that contractor,
your only real recourse is to go to court, and
a lot of people don't want to do that. They're
intimidated by the whole prospect, and so instead they just
(21:25):
end up walking away. Maybe they hire a licensed contractor
to finish the job, or they do it themselves, or
they just eat the cost. Another consumer protection that you
have access to when you're hiring a licensed contractor is
that licensed look up feature that I told you about. Obviously,
you can't look up an unlicensed contractor's licensed history. Licensed
(21:46):
contractors are required to have insurance and bond. They're required
to have workers comp insurance that they have employees, and
these are all things that are in place to protect
you as the consumer that's hiring that contractor. So when
you're hiring an unlicensed contractor, you don't have any of
those guarantees or any of those protections that you can
tap into.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
So if you come across an unlicensed contractor, should that
person be reported?
Speaker 5 (22:12):
We ask the consumers report unlicensed contractor activity. There's a
button on our website, the front page of our website
that says report contractor activity.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
I think it says. And the reason that you know
we want you.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
To do this is because you know we're trying to
go out there find finding unlicensed contractors. But as a consumer,
it benefits you, So unlicensed contractors. There's a high risk
of running into a scam artist when you're hiring an
unlicensed contractor. And really the more unlicensed contractors there are
out there, the fewer licensed contractors there are with all
(22:48):
those consumer protections that you have to choose from. So
when you are reporting those unlicensed contractors, you know you're
doing something that benefits you, You're doing something that benefits
your neighbors. It's a form of protection for you and
the people in your community to report those on licensed contractors.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
What's your advice on door to door project sales?
Speaker 5 (23:09):
So some legitimate contractors use door to door sales, but
unfortunately there are also scam artists that are out there
that use that same tactic. So when you're dealing with
someone who has come to your door. They offer a service.
You want to make sure that you're using all of
(23:29):
the same tactics to protect yourself and hire the right
contractor for you. So always make sure that you check references,
that you check the CCP number, get a contract that
helps keep you and the person on the same page,
and make sure that you vet other contractors. So you've
(23:49):
got this person who's come to your door, they're selling
a service. It sounds like a good service. Still, make
sure that you do your job, your your homework as
a consumer to make sure that you're actually hiring the
best professional for the work. And then, you know, be
aware of the fact that some scam artists do use
door to door sales as a way to you know,
(24:13):
take money from people. So watch out for any red flags.
Watch out for someone that maybe uses high pressure sales
tactics making you feel like you must act now, like
you can't do your homework. Watch out for anybody who
wants to charge you the full amount up front, you know,
watch out for anybody of course, watch out for anyone
who doesn't have a CCB number. Don't hire them, but
(24:36):
you know, uh, just watch out for anyone that makes
you feel like you must act now and or you're
going to be missing out on something.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Yeah, legit contractor is not going to put pressure on
to get the deal closed.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Yeah, they're going to know that.
Speaker 5 (24:50):
You know, if they're a good contractor, you're going to
come back around to them because you know, after doing
your homework, you'll realize that they were the right professional.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
For the job.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
So they're not going to shut you out of that
process where you can actually do your homework right.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
What does the CCB website have to offer besides checking
the license of a contractor or other tips on how
to work with contractors.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
So there's lots of stuff on our website, and fortunately
we've used a lot of buttons on the front page
of our website so you can really access things quickly.
So you go out there, there's a button for checking
a license. There's a button for signing up for our newsletter.
We send out regular newsletters with all kinds of tips
on it. There's a button for ordering free publications. So
(25:32):
we've got this publication that you can order. We'll send
it to your house for free. It is all about
hiring a contractor, and it's about a twenty page booklet
or so, and it's got information in about kind of
the anatomy of a home improvement project from start to finish,
and things like when to get a contract and what
should be in that contract and stuff like that. So
(25:53):
there's lots of different stuff. And there's also a button
for our Home Improvement Month, which actually is going going
on throughout the month of March. We're having some webinars,
including a webinar on fire hardening your home and a
webinar on working with real estate agents and improving your
home throughout the real estate transaction. So there's lots of
(26:16):
different resources and hopefully it's all within easy access if
you just come out to the front page of our website.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
What's the easiest way to find the website, Just.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
Go to www dot orgon dot gov ord slash CCB Leslie.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Thanks for joining us. That is Leslie Culpepper at the
Oregon Construction Contractors Board. Have you received the text message
that claims you owe money for a toll? Well, of
course it's a scam, but some people click the link
on the message and that leads to financial trouble. Joining
(26:53):
us on Local Voices is Chris Krab with the Oregon
Deproperty Motor Vehicles and the Oregon Deprovmaty of Transportation tell
us about the scam.
Speaker 6 (27:01):
Yeah, a lot of people have been reaching out to
ODOD and DMV letting us know that getting texts that
they've received saying they have an unpaid toll fee. I
myself have been got in this text. A lot of
my co workers have gotten this text, so I know
it's definitely going around. The messages vary, but essentially they
claim that you have a pass due toll balance that
must be paid immediately to avoid DMV fines or having
(27:23):
your license suspended. So we want people to know that,
first of all, ODOT does not have a toll program.
These are absolutely fake messages and phishing scams trying to
get people to click a link that will take them
to a fake website. Our scammers will try and steal
their personal and financial information.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
So what's thing the best thing to do? If you
get this message? Can you delete it?
Speaker 6 (27:44):
Yeah, that's the easiest thing to do, and that's what
we recommend is immediately delete the text message and also
block the number so that they don't keep repeatedly spamming you.
You can report it if you want. There are organizations,
including the Department of Justice. They have a consumer hotline
you can file complaints, but really the easiest thing to
do is just ignore it, delete it, block it, and
(28:07):
go about your business.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
It sounds like we should just treat these text messages
the same way we would treat any message from somebody
that we don't know.
Speaker 6 (28:14):
Yeah. Absolutely, And the thing is, as criminals, they keep
getting smarter and some of these look very legitimate, and
people get concerned, you know, they see this, then they're like,
oh my gosh, I didn't realize I didn't pay a toll.
So that's why we really want people to know there
are no tools. ODO does not have that program, and
just make sure, just like anything, check who the sender is.
(28:37):
Make sure you know who it is, and if you don't,
you can also verify the legitimacy. You can contact ODO directly,
or you can contact DMV directly and we'll let you
know if we've sent something. But it's almost one hundred
percent positive that it's a scam.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
If you want to report the scam text message, contact
the Oregon deproverty of Justice Consumer Hotline. It's eight seven
seven eight seven nine three nine two or file a
complaint online. You can also file a complaint with the
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center and the Federal Trade Commission.
(29:13):
Thanks for listening to Local Voices, I'm Brad Bard. You
can hear past episodes on the iHeartRadio app under the
podcast tab. Local Voices is a public affairs presentation from iHeartRadio.
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