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Good morning, Northwest.

The Grasshopper Fire in north-central Oregon has charted a destructive path, razing several homes and other structures. It’s a similar story statewide, as large wildfires threaten livelihoods and strain limited resources mostly in small towns.

OPB’s Joni Auden Land and Saskia Hatvany report from Friend, Oregon, as Grasshopper evacuees return home to survey damage.

In other news, a market of free goods is helping people in Talent, a town scorched by wildfire years ago, meet their needs.

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

— Bradley W. Parks

Top story

The Grasshopper Fire destroyed homes and tested firefighters. Many wonder what comes next

When Lisa Sethmann checked out of the Fairfield Inn in The Dalles, it was her third hotel room in four days. Evacuees and fire personnel had packed all the local hotels during the previous week, as the Grasshopper Fire raged across Wasco County.

The blaze, just east of Mount Hood, has burned nearly 90,000 acres as of yesterday and destroyed multiple buildings. Firefighters and residents in Wasco County described harrowing efforts to save properties and help out their neighbors.

But even for an area that’s no stranger to wildfires, there’s an acknowledgement that this season is something unique. (Joni Auden Land)

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3 things to know

• The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission has revised rules to strengthen the department’s efforts to reduce whale entanglements in Oregon’s Dungeness crab fishery. (KLCC staff)
• The Corvallis School Board has voted to send a local option levy renewal to the November ballot. The levy covered about 10% of the district’s operating budget last school year. (Macy Moore, KLCC)
• Coos County expects to see increased timber revenue, but county officials are waiting before deciding how to spend the additional money. (Theo Greenly, JPR)

‘I’m literally just trying to feed my kids’: Hunger in rural Oregon

In this week’s episode, “Evergreen” producer Mía Estrada and reporter Bryce Dole spend about 24 hours in Dallas. They bring us along for one day at free, local food programs in rural Oregon. (Mía Estrada, Bryce Dole and Jenn Chávez)

Listen Here

Northwest headlines

• ‘Every birth is different’: ‘At Work With’ a Vancouver doula (Stephanie Hensley)
• Billions of sea stars have died. A Northwest tribe is trying to save the species (John Ryan, NPR)
• Does lowering speed limits make Seattle roads safer? Data from one deadly arterial suggests it’s a start (Clare McGrane and Teo Popescu, KUOW)
• At this Talent market, everything on the shelves is free (Jane Vaughan, JPR)
• ‘These cats didn’t just fall from the sky’: Rescue organizations help manage Eugene-Springfield’s cat colonies (Hannah Bush, KLCC)
• Leite helps Fire top Phoenix 88-85, spoiling celebration of former Mercury star Taurasi (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):

• Regional orchestra has brought classical music to northeast Oregon and southeast Washington for nearly 30 years
• Umatilla tribal emergency management coordinator on managing drought, wildfires and smoky air

One more look

Arts, crafts and chaos intersect at PDX Adult Soapbox Derby in Portland

Portland’s Mount Tabor Park was the scene of arts, crafts and a little bit of chaos Saturday for the annual PDX Adult Soapbox Derby.

Thousands lined the extinct volcanic butte to watch elaborate vehicles from 42 teams compete in one of the city’s more unusual races. Each team fielded two or three riders and at least one pusher to get their soapbox moving.

Inspired by an illegal punk-filled dash held in San Francisco in the ’90s, and by youth races popularized in the 20th century, Portland’s soapbox derby has taken place in some shape or form for nearly 30 years. (Casey Frizzell and Saj Sundaram)

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/08/17/grasshopper-fire-oregon-recovery-first-look/