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Good morning, Northwest.

Voters in two Clackamas County cities lowkey elected Gen Z mayors this week, giving the suburban county three mayors under the age of 30.

OPB and Report for America’s Holly Bartholomew reports on the young people set to lead cities in one of Oregon’s most-populous counties. Her story starts today’s newsletter.

Also this morning, everything you didn’t know about the invasive (and delicious) Himalayan blackberry.

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

— Bradley W. Parks

Top story

Clackamas County is giving peak Gen Z mayor vibes

Young people in Clackamas County are entering their mayoral era.

Come January, the cities of Oregon City, Milwaukie and West Linn will all be led by mayors born in the year 1999 or later. After election victories this week, Oregon City’s Adam Marl and Milwaukie’s Will Anderson will join West Linn’s Rory Bialostosky as some of the state’s youngest mayors.

This election’s youth wave also reached Oregon’s high desert, where the city of Prineville elected 20-year-old Zach Levesque as mayor. (Holly Bartholomew)

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3 things to know

• Parents in the Bend-La Pine school district are asking for privacy film for school windows, bulletproof glass, and police officers in every middle and high school after a deadly school shooting. They keep hearing the same answer: There’s no money. (Elizabeth Miller)
• An initiative in Washington state to ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ school sports has passed, according to the Associated Press. Many states have similar restrictions, but Washington will be one of the first to require medical testing to verify birth sex. (Sarah Mizes-Tan, KNKX and KUOW)
• A federal judge Wednesday rejected a request from multiple Marion County governments to block the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from draining the Detroit Lake reservoir’s water levels to historic lows. (Joni Auden Land)

Democrats won big, now can they capitalize on it and govern?

Tuesday’s election kept Tina Kotek in the Oregon governor’s office and expanded Democratic supermajorities in the Legislature. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez won a third term in Congress representing Southwest Washington, and incumbents reigned in Portland. OPB reporters explain what the results say about this political moment. (Bryce Dole, Elena Neale-Sacks, Alex Zielinski, Lauren Dake and Dirk VanderHart)

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Northwest headlines

• Multnomah County chair race: Shannon Singleton wins, Julia Brim-Edwards concedes (OPB staff)
• Multnomah County’s billion-dollar climate accountability lawsuit a step closer to trial (Monica Samayoa)
• Bookstore owned by Oregon senator’s wife to repay nearly $1.5M after improperly receiving federal loan (Kimberlee Kruesi and Jennifer Peltz, AP)
• Oregon studies the future of higher education, seeks public input (Jane Vaughan, JPR)
• Amazon, Alaska Airlines cut jobs in Washington state (Monica Nickelsburg, KUOW)

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):

• Grassroots fund helps Silver Rail students, caregivers and staff
• Drive-By Truckers play first West Coast homecoming at Portland’s Revolution Hall

One more look

Berries, blood and mud: Oregon’s most delicious invasive weed

Picking berries is a quintessential summer tradition for many Pacific Northwesterners. The region has many farms, but fruit can easily be found in everyday corners.

For about the past 140 years, the Himalayan blackberry has taken over Oregon’s alleyways, waterfronts, forests and backyards. This thorny vine is actually a cousin of the rose, the plant behind Portland’s most famous nickname, but instead of beautiful flowers, the vines produce juicy fruit.

While generations of Oregonians love to enjoy these blackberries, they might be surprised by the fruit’s prickly history. (Joey Lovato)

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/11/06/gen-z-mayors-oregon-first-look/