OPB’s First Look: Heat waves, cool pages

Subscribe to OPB’s First Look to receive Northwest news in your inbox six days a week.

Good morning, Northwest.

Oregon and Southwest Washington are bracing for another stretch of extreme heat, with temperatures climbing into the upper 90s and even topping 100 degrees from this weekend through Tuesday.

In Portland, three Multnomah County libraries — Central, Midland and Gresham — will stay open two hours later than usual, until 8 p.m., to give residents a place to cool off during the hottest part of the day.

Before the heat peaks around midday, the Portland Japanese Garden will host Obon, a Buddhist festival honoring ancestors. The tradition was featured in OPB’s “Oregon Experience” documentary on Japanese American history, first broadcast in 2019.

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

— Winston Szeto

Amid scorching heat, Portland’s halls of knowledge offer cool relief

Ahead of a multi-day heat emergency throughout the Willamette Valley, libraries were preparing yesterday for crowds of people to arrive, seeking cooler temperatures.

The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat warning for the Portland metro area through Tuesday, with temperatures expected to hover around triple digits for several days. Heat watches and warnings are also in place through most of the rest of the state.

At Multnomah County’s Central Library in downtown Portland, the staff was stocking up on water bottles, towels and electrolyte packets. (Joni Auden Land)

Learn more

Related:

• Extreme heat warning takes effect for much of Western Oregon (Kristian Foden-Vencil) 
• OPB’s resources and information to help you stay cool and safe during hot weather

4 things to know this morning

• On Thursday, a tree-climbing crew scaled about 280 feet to extinguish the fire that burned inside the historic Doerner Fir tree in the Southern Oregon Coast Range. The tree is alive, but it has lost some of the record height that made it the tallest Douglas fir in the world. (Cassandra Profita and Jule Gilfillan) 

• U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut in Oregon is ordering “L-J-P-L,” a Guatemala-born farmworker arrested earlier this month, to remain at a detention center in Tacoma, Washington, but she acknowledged that he is seeking asylum from gang violence in Guatemala and ordered a speedy interview for his case. (Troy Brynelson) 

• The start to the 2025-26 school year at the Evergreen Public Schools district in Vancouver, Washington, will be pushed back by one week, from Aug. 26 to Sept. 2, as pressure mounts around a potential strike of classified employees. (Erik Neumann) 

• The Pacific Northwest’s cherry crop was expected to be a boon for farmers this year. The fruit this season was high quality, and production was up compared to last year. But with a shortage of migrant workers early in the season and then high prices at the grocery store, it was more of a bust. (Alejandro Figueroa)

Headlines from around the Northwest

• Tickets for Kamala Harris’ Portland book tour appearance sell out in just over 2 hours (Meagan Cuthill) 

• Judge blocks Trump from cutting funding over ‘sanctuary’ policies (Associated Press) 

• Former Clackamas County chair named director of Oregon Farm Service Agency (Holly Bartholomew) 

• Intel agrees to give US government $8.9B stake in its company (Associated Press and Kyra Buckley) 

• University of Oregon faculty speak out against looming layoffs next month (Nathan Wilk)

Obon Festival brings a joyful end to summer in Portland

Today, the Portland Japanese Garden is celebrating Obon, a Buddhist tradition that honors ancestors, with bon-odori — a lively circle dance that both entertains and sends spirits on their way.

At the garden, dancers will move around the yagura, a tall wooden platform for musicians and singers. Visitors are welcome to join in, watch participants dressed in summer yukata, and feel the deep beat of the taiko drums.

Back in 2019, OPB’s Nadine Jelsing documented the Obon Festival for her “Oregon Experience” episode “Oregon’s Japanese Americans: Beyond the Wire,” capturing how the annual gathering brings together all ages to share food, music and dance. (Nadine Jelsing)

Learn more

Subscribe to OPB’s First Look to receive Northwest news in your inbox six days a week.