OPB’s First Look: Pendleton Round-Up showcases extreme horsemanship

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

Good morning, Northwest.

Today marks the final day of this year’s Indian Relay Races, a four-day horsemanship event held every September at the Pendleton Round-Up for more than a century.

OPB freelance reporter Kathy Aney was at the Round-Up on Wednesday to capture the mesmerizing moments of one of Eastern Oregon’s most iconic spectacles.

Meanwhile in Portland, the estate of Paul Allen has reached a formal agreement to sell the Trail Blazers to billionaire Tom Dundon and a group of other investors. OPB’s Joni Auden Land has more on the deal.

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

— Winston Szeto

Jockeys at Indian Relay Races burn up the track at Pendleton Round-Up

Tyler Peasley hugged his horse tightly with his legs as it danced at the start line.

This was the first heat of the Indian Relay Races at the Pendleton Round-Up. At the sound of a horn, the four mounted competitors bolted from the line and sprinted around the first curve.

Some aficionados consider Indian relay racing the original extreme sport — high-octane competition featuring top-notch horsemanship and speedy, spirited horses.

This wild, fast-paced event has kept mesmerized spectators on the edges of their seats for most of the 115-year history of the Pendleton Round-Up.

Each September, the rodeo draws upwards of 50,000 people and their animals to one of Eastern Oregon’s most iconic spectacles. (Kathy Aney)

Learn more

4 things to know this morning

• The estate of Paul Allen has reached a formal agreement to sell the Portland Trail Blazers to billionaire Tom Dundon and a group of several other investors. (Joni Auden Land)

• The Olympic Pipeline, which delivers gasoline to Oregon, spent around 10 days out of service, forcing prices at the pump to surge across the state, before reportedly restarting yesterday. (Kyra Buckley)

• Northwest states, tribes and environmental groups are moving to restart litigation against the federal government over its hydroelectric dam operations in the Columbia River Basin that have harmed endangered native fish species. (Alex Baumhardt and Emily Fitzgerald)

• Eight months ago, Josephine County Commissioners put their local library in limbo after terminating the lease of the Grants Pass branch. It came after years of turmoil about how the library should be funded and more recent political pressure from county commissioners. (Crystal Ligori)

Headlines from around the Northwest

• A dozen Oregon counties sign on to support sanctuary state lawsuit (Conrad Wilson)

• Oregon’s business reputation has taken a hit. Are businesses really leaving? (Mia Maldonado)

• Months of deportation fears have shaken Northwest Latino cultural events ahead of Hispanic Heritage Month (Adia White, Holly Bartholomew, Kathryn Styer Martínez, Freddy Monares and Monica Carrillo-Casas)

• Appeals court allows Trump’s administration to block Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood (OPB and Associated Press staff)

• Klamath Tribes warn federal proposal to provide more water for irrigation threatens endangered fish (Emma J. Nelson)

No Sexy Vampires: Portland author Keith Rosson on his new book ‘Coffin Moon’

A vampire walks into a Portland dive bar … and starts a story of vengeance and bloody horror.

Fans of scary stories can dig their teeth into “Coffin Moon,” a book set in Portland right after the Vietnam War and full of surprising twists on the vampire genre.

OPB “Morning Edition” host Jess Hazel spoke with Portland author Keith Rosson about his new book. (Jess Hazel)

Learn more

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