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A student team from Warrenton, Oregon, finished 14th out of 37 teams in the world championships in underwater robotics last year. This weekend, they’re heading to Newport to try once again to qualify — a task that requires teams to design and pilot underwater robots through a series of challenges.

Last year, Noah Thomas of OPB’s “Oregon Field Guide” spoke with the students and their coach about how the robotics competition gives students a chance to test their engineering and problem-solving skills.

And ahead of Mother’s Day tomorrow, OPB’s Allison Frost brings us a story about women incarcerated at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility who partnered with local singer-songwriters to write lullabies for their children.

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

— Winston Szeto

Warrenton students gear up for another run at the world championships in underwater robotics

Robotics coach Heidi Lent is leading five teams of Warrenton students to Newport today to see if they can once again qualify for the world championships in underwater robotics.

Lent, who teaches middle school full-time in Warrenton, said she’s excited to be competing for the 10th consecutive year in the regional qualifier.

To qualify for the regional MATE ROV competition, student teams must design and pilot underwater robots through a series of challenges. MATE stands for marine advanced technology education, and ROV stands for remotely operated vehicle.

Last year, “Oregon Field Guide” followed the Warrenton students through the regional competition. One of Lent’s five teams, the Rays, took the top spot in ranger — the most advanced level — then carried that momentum to the world championship in Alpena, Michigan, where they finished 14th out of 37 teams. (Noah Thomas)

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3 things to know

1. Oregon’s WNBA team, the Portland Fire, will play its first official game of the 2026 season today against the Chicago Sky. (Kyra Buckley)
2. Southern Oregon University’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously yesterday to begin crafting its own strategy for fiscal stability while using Deloitte’s controversial recommendations as guidance. (Jane Vaughan, JPR)
3. On Thursday evening, a federal judge ordered the immediate release of Maria Trinidad Loya Medina, who had been in custody at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Northwest Processing Center in Tacoma since her Jan. 10 arrest in Albany, Oregon. (Holly Bartholomew)

Northwest headlines

• Prescribed burn turns into wildfire 14 miles from Bend (April Ehrlich)
• Oregon’s tuition-free community college aid program could be on its last legs (Tiffany Camhi) 
• Pacific Power asks to split up looming rate increase (Monica Samayoa)
• Nearly 100 local measures on primary ballots across Oregon, many to fund struggling fire districts (Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle)
• Sexual abuse investigations mishandled at Tacoma ICE lockup, UW report finds (Gustavo Sagrero Álvarez, KUOW)

Lullabies co-written by incarcerated and homeless parents to be performed by the Oregon Symphony

For the second year in a row, women incarcerated at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, along with other incarcerated parents and those experiencing homelessness, are being paired with local singer-songwriters to write lullabies for their children.

Ada McGraw was among the first to participate last year, which was the first year that women at Coffee Creek were brought in. A lullaby McGraw wrote for her son, Legend, while he was still in utero and while she was incarcerated, was performed by the Oregon Symphony.

She wrote the song in collaboration with singer-songwriter Bre Gregg as part of the Lullaby Project, created in 2011 by the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall.

This year’s performance of The Lullaby Project is on Tuesday, May 12, at the Alberta Rose Theater in Portland. (Allison Frost)

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/05/09/underwater-robotics-competition-opb-first-look/