Subscribe to OPB’s First Look to receive Northwest news in your inbox six days a week.

Good morning, Northwest.

About 22 veterans die by suicide each day, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. One service-dog program founded in Vancouver, Washington, recently trained and graduated its 300th canine to pair with a veteran and help manage stressful situations. OPB’s Troy Brynelson has the story.

Yesterday, a crowd gathered at Southridge High School in Beaverton, Oregon, to protest the deportation of Paulino Martin San Pedro, a Mexican national who lived in the city before he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this month. OPB’s Joni Auden Land has the details.

Plus, don’t assume your feline friends are strictly indoor companions. As we revisit OPB’s Noah Thomas’ story from last year, a growing number of cats are joining their humans on outdoor adventures.

Here’s your First Look at Saturday’s news.

— Winston Szeto

Nonprofit using service dogs to curb veteran suicides celebrates 300th pairing

The bouts of depression started small for Mario David Stephen Graham-Tutt. At first, they dwelt for a couple of days, but then came to last for weeks or months.

Combined with post-traumatic stress disorder from his nine deployments for the U.S. Navy, Graham-Tutt said he found himself a couple of years ago contemplating ending his life.

As he recounted those dark moments on a Friday afternoon in November, a three-year-old Black labrador retriever named Kayden clung to his legs.

Graham-Tutt and Kayden were connected through Northwest Battle Buddies. Founded in Vancouver, Washington, in 2012, the organization aims to curb high suicide rates among military veterans by pairing them with trained service dogs.

The dogs’ training is tailored to the specific needs of the person they’re working with, but they are all taught to disrupt panic attacks and help veterans feel safer in crowds and other stressful situations.

Graham-Tutt credits Kayden and the organization for saving his life. (Troy Brynelson)

Learn more

3 things to know this morning

• As immigration arrests in Oregon have spiked in recent weeks, dozens of people gathered at Southridge High School in Beaverton yesterday to protest the recent deportation of Paulino Martin San Pedro. (Joni Auden Land) 
• Umatilla County could become the next rural government to allow all-terrain vehicles on public roads, as its Board of Commissioners considered a proposal that would open up dozens of county roads to ATVs at a Tuesday meeting. (Antonio Sierra) 
• A new study by researchers from Oregon State University found that floating solar panels could generate massive amounts of renewable energy: Adding floating solar panels to every federally controlled reservoir could generate enough power for 100 million homes. (Roman Battaglia)

Headlines from around the Northwest

• Washington lawmakers will gather in Olympia to gear up for 2026 session (Jerry Cornfield) 
• Cleaning leaf-clogged bike lanes on Seattle’s Eastside — using bike power (Casey Martin) 
• Northwest horses can’t travel following a national equine herpesvirus outbreak (Anna King)

Adventure cats blaze new trails in Oregon’s great outdoors

Nicol Alcain strolled through the trees in Stub Stewart State Park alongside her Bengal cat, Kazuki. Patches of March snow lingered on the trail, and Kazuki gingerly stepped over them.

“I think we were doing adventure catting before adventure catting was a thing,” Alcain said. “He just prefers to be outside.”

Other than minor distractions from woodland creatures, Kazuki was content staying on the trail. Alcain used a leash and harness to walk Kazuki, something she trains all her cats to do from the time they’re kittens.

“When they’re really little, I will walk them up against the wall so they learn to follow a line,” she said. “Kazuki definitely knows that we’re following the lines here.”

Kazuki is part of a growing community of adventurous felines that are challenging stereotypes about cats and the outdoors. Together, they’re proving that not all domestic cats are content to simply watch the world from a windowsill.

This story was first published on Nov. 17, 2024. (Noah Thomas)

Learn more

Subscribe to OPB’s First Look to receive Northwest news in your inbox six days a week.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/11/29/vancouver-service-dogs-opb-first-look/