Revisiting Pacific Northwest headlines that lifted our spirits in 2023

The news can be hard-hitting and serious — but that’s not the full story. There are moments of joy to highlight. In 2023, here were some of the stories from the Pacific Northwest that made us smile.

How an Eastern Oregon school district gave teachers ‘life changing’ raises

The Baker School District crunched the numbers and made an announcement for the 2023-24 school year: a new teacher salary scale — with a huge pay bump. It raised the salary floor for certified teachers from $38,000 to $60,000.

The move made Baker among the best paying districts in a state, according to the Oregon Education Association.

Read the full story by Antonio Sierra.

This year, giant wooden trolls came to the Pacific Northwest

Danish artist Thomas Dambo brings whimsy with his wooden creations. He uses reclaimed materials like scrap wood, old pallets and twigs to build giant trolls.

Over the summer, one of his trolls found a home in Oregon, and five more in Washington state.

Read the full story by Elizabeth Castillo.

A grassroots effort to change how to afford a home in Portland

Oregon faces an extreme housing shortage. The issue is one of Gov. Tina Kotek’s main goals to address during her term. While state lawmakers discuss ways to affordably house more Oregonians, a group of volunteers is running an experiment in Portland.

They call themselves PDX Housing Solidarity Project, and their mission is to help connect people with ample resources to Black and Indigenous homebuyers in Portland.

So far, the project has about 10 mutual aid home sales under its belt. The group has also supported participants in meetings with realtors and mortgage brokers during the homebuying process. Other project participants have received cash gifts or a no-interest loan to cover things like a down payment.

Read the full story by Tiffany Camhi.

Along this Central Oregon river, these people are on patrol — for things that sink or stink

The Deschutes River is a beloved site for recreation in Oregon. All that human activity can mean a few things for the river: possibly losing items to its depths or needing to relieve oneself along its banks.

For both, these Oregonians step in.

At one of the busier points of the river, roughly 250,000 people float along it through Bend each summer. Many lose belongings along the way — including wedding rings.

Thanks to local divers who go by “Loot the Deschutes,” some sunk items are finding their way home.

Read the full story by Emily Cureton Cook.

Meanwhile, Jerry Christensen has a job that stinks, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. During the summer, he goes out weekly to clean the outhouses along a stretch of the lower Deschutes River that are only accessible by boat.

“Any other river it’s pack it in, pack it out,” Christensen said. “It’s the only river in the state that regularly maintains bathrooms along the way.”

Read the full story by Ian McCluskey.

A ghost story with cheer, not fears, at the Oregon Coast

To view Craig Winslow’s art, it’s best in the dark. That’s because his medium is light.

He crafts what he calls “light capsules,” intricately mapped projections that resurrect “ghost signs” — those faded historic advertisements once painted on the sides of buildings. Winslow’s first permanent U.S. light capsule in Astoria restores some of that city’s hand-painted signs with colorful beams of light.

Read the full story by Eric Slade.

Oregon leads the booze-free party

Oregon is known for its alcoholic industries — wine, beer, cider, you name it. It’s probably no surprise then that the state is at the forefront of another beverage business: the burgeoning zero-proof movement.

Here’s how some Oregonians are packing a punch in drinks, without the punch of alcohol.

Read the full story by Crystal Ligori.

The end of a merry-go-round search

After more than a decade in storage and a callout by Restore Oregon to relocate it, the historic Jantzen Beach Carousel has found a new home in The Dalles.

While Oregonians and visitors to the Columbia River Gorge likely won’t be able to ride the carousel for at least a few years, the 95-year-old carousel will make the move from a storage warehouse to the National Neon Sign Museum.

Read the story by Kristian Foden-Vencil.

Finally, these animal stories made us meep instead of weep

A list of upbeat news wouldn’t be complete without animals, right? Here’s a handful of warm and fuzzy stories about critters — some of whom are also warm and fuzzy.

• Wolverines are very elusive creatures, but one was spotted in Portland this March — the first wolverine sighting in western Oregon in more than 30 years.
• Dr. Carlos Sanchez walked the “Think Out Loud” team through a day in his job as the Oregon Zoo’s head veterinarian. He cares for more than 1,000 patients (not including fish).
• Similar to the work of Dr. Sanchez, the team at Think Wild hospital and conservation center in Bend gives wildlife, particularly birds, a second chance after they’re injured.
• Staff at the High Desert Museum, also in Bend, treat animals in need, sometimes from interesting circumstances — like how this baby beaver came her way.
• Have you ever heard the squeak of a pika? If you venture into the Columbia River Gorge, you may have more of a chance. The pika population is making a strong comeback after the Eagle Creek Fire burned much of its habitat in Oregon in 2017.
• Another species comeback is in the works in Washington: the once thriving sunflower sea star has all but disappeared along the West Coast, but a San Juan Island lab is cultivating a new generation.