OPB’s First Look: What a record-setting gift means for OHSU

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Good morning, Northwest.

Phil and Penny Knight yesterday pledged $2 billion to Oregon Health & Science University for cancer research.

It’s perhaps the largest single donation to a college in the country — and the school plans to put it to use. World-renowned cancer researcher Dr. Brian Druker said the gift will help OHSU’s Knight Cancer Institute improve the experience for cancer patients in its care.

We start this morning’s newsletter with a story about what this record-setting gift means for the university at a tenuous time for the American health care system.

In other news, the Trump administration is requesting Oregon turn over elections data, some of it sensitive. And a Portland City Council meeting intended to fix meetings running overtime ran overtime.

We head into the weekend with a classic story from “Oregon Field Guide” about the creation of a bald eagle refuge in the Klamath Basin.

Have a great weekend. Here’s your First Look at Friday’s news.

— Bradley W. Parks

Massive donation could chart new course for OHSU’s Knight Cancer Institute

Phil and Penny Knight’s $2 billion donation will help the Knight Cancer Institute become a self-governed institution within Oregon Health & Science University, with its own board of governors.

Dr. Brian Druker said this allows the institute to hire faculty, set its own compensation rates and compete nationally for top cancer research talent.

Druker previously left the institute for what he called a lack of strategic vision. Now, he’s coming back. He said the Knights’ gift will help support the institute’s research mission and innovations in patient care. (Amelia Templeton and Troy Brynelson)

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3 things to know this morning

• On Saturday, Fort Vancouver will host its bicentennial celebration. There will be speeches, and visitors can experience the fort’s blacksmith shop, kitchen bakehouse and watch historic weapons being fired. (Erik Neumann)

• The Trump administration is asking Oregon to turn over elections data — some of it sensitive — and to prove the state is doing enough to ensure ineligible people don’t vote. Secretary of State Tobias Read says he’s not inclined to share information with the federal government. (Dirk VanderHart)

• A Portland City Council meeting to address the problem of meetings being cut short because they run too long was cut short after running over time yesterday. It had to be this way. (Alex Zielinski)

Oregon politicians at odds over Big Beautiful Bill

Oregon could lose more than $15 billion it uses to pay for health care, food assistance and a whole lot more under President Trump’s spending plan. State Republicans have a different take: Overtaxation will hurt Oregonians more than the so-called Big Beautiful Bill.

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Headlines from around the Northwest

• OSU research lab tests how coastal houses stand up to storm surge (Gabriella Sgro)

• Essential facts about emergency alerts in Oregon (Kristian Foden-Vencil)

• Oregon House committee dismisses misconduct allegations against Grants Pass lawmaker (Mia Maldonado)

• Oregon seeks public input on state’s first energy strategy report (Monica Samayoa)

• Annual algae bloom forms on the Willamette River. A bill to stop it died in the Oregon House (Alex Baumhardt)

• Rising crime, overdoses reflect pre-pandemic trends not drug decriminalization, PSU study finds (Mia Maldonado)

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):

• Portland production of Palestinian play “Them” explores life in a war zone

🦅 Restoring bald eagles in the Klamath Basin

The recovery of bald eagles is one of the triumphs in modern wildlife conservation. More bald eagles spend the winter in Oregon than anywhere in the U.S. outside Alaska. The national symbol is no longer endangered.

Yet, as we learn in this classic “Oregon Field Guide” story from 2011, there is one area in Oregon where eagles have trouble successfully hatching eggs.

We meet one of the biologists who helped save them in the state by establishing the Bear Valley National Wildlife Refuge in the Klamath Basin. (Vince Patton)

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