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Good morning, Northwest.

An Eastern Oregon lawmaker is touting a new subdivision in Stanfield as a viable housing solution in rural parts of the state.

OPB rural communities reporter Antonio Sierra starts today’s First Look with coverage of Sen. Todd Nash’s effort to loosen Oregon land use laws.

Also this morning, probing the performance of poems with Anis Mojgani and “Oregon Art Beat.”

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

— Bradley W. Parks

Top story

Lawmakers look for Eastern Oregon housing solutions in some of its smallest communities

Up close, Stanfield’s Bumble B Estates looks like any suburban subdivision. But zoom out a little bit and Stanfield’s rural roots come into view.

One of Bumble B’s closest neighbors is a cornfield. Farther down Highway 395, a traffic signal manages Stanfield’s only intersection.

State Sen. Todd Nash said Bumble B and Stanfield — a small subdivision in a town of a couple thousand people — are models of what housing development in rural Eastern Oregon should look like.

He’s now bringing fellow lawmakers here in hopes of convincing them to loosen Oregon’s longstanding land use laws. (Antonio Sierra)

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3 things to know

• Several riders spoke with OPB about the first week of TriMet service cuts and changes enacted last week. For many it’s been a minor inconvenience, while for others it’s been a major adjustment. (Riley Martinez)
• A federal appeals court heard oral arguments yesterday from Oregon state attorneys challenging an order that the state change how it houses transgender women in prison. (Joni Auden Land)
• June and July marked the two most active months for immigration arrests in both Oregon and Washington state since the autumn operation when President Donald Trump tried to send the National Guard into Portland. (Troy Brynelson)

Northwest headlines

• Oregon health officials warn of possible measles exposure at crowded Canby Rodeo (Amelia Templeton)
• Mount Hood National Forest expands closures as wildfires burn (OPB staff)
• Oregon DOJ won’t open investigations into 6 reports from Oregonians alleging federal misconduct (Shaanth Nanguneri, Oregon Capital Chronicle) 
• UW struggles to see medical research through as Trump administration guts funding (Stephen Howie, KUOW)
• Washington governor lays groundwork for cellphone ban in public schools (Aspen Ford, Washington State Standard)
• Trail Blazers’ Sharpe out at least 6 months after knee surgery (AP)

Listen in on OPB’s daily conversation

“Think Out Loud” airs at noon and 8 p.m. weekdays on OPB Radio, opb.org and the OPB News app. Today’s planned topics (subject to change):

• Latin dance music with a Pacific Northwest flair

One more look

For Anis Mojgani, every poem ‘is asking to be said aloud’

On a given night, you may find artist and former Poet Laureate of Oregon Anis Mojgani reciting poetry out of his studio window in Portland’s Sunnyside neighborhood for an audience of up to 300 people.

He approaches each reading without expectations, allowing the performance to unfold differently each time.

“Here’s this box that I made, and I’m gonna put it on the stage, and I’m gonna turn it on,” Mojgani said. ”And even though I made it and I’m familiar with the sounds that might be coming out of it, I’m here in this moment like you are, and I don’t know what’s gonna happen.”

For him, that sense of discovery is central to the experience, not only for the audience but for himself. “Every poem, I think, is asking to be said aloud.” (Nora Colie)

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/08/28/eastern-oregon-subdivision-land-use-first-look/