OPB’s First Look: Shutdown, shelters and spending on troops

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

Good morning, Northwest.

It’s a busy morning in Northwest news.

The federal government has shut down after Congress failed to reach a short-term spending plan last night. Here’s what that means for our region.

And the president’s plans for sending the military into Portland are coming into clearer focus. We run down what we know so far, including how much it will cost taxpayers.

We start this morning’s newsletter with a look inside one of Portland’s new overnight homeless shelters. They’re key pieces of Mayor Keith Wilson’s plan to end unsheltered homelessness in the city by December.

Reporter Alex Zielinski and photo editor Kristyna Wentz-Graff visited with women who stay there.

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

—Bradley W. Parks

Behind the doors of Portland’s plan to end unsheltered homelessness

Alix Rabbas, 58, has slept at a new women’s overnight shelter in Portland nearly every night for six weeks.

“This life wears you out,” she said, leaning on a wobbly, three-wheeled cart packed with her possessions. “But the consistency of having a place to come to every night that’s safe. I find myself thinking, ‘I can’t wait to get to my bed.’”

This shelter is a fundamental component of Mayor Keith Wilson’s homelessness plan.

Here’s a snapshot of what it’s like for the women inside. (Alex Zielinski)

Learn more

What we know so far about the National Guard deployment in Portland

Yesterday, President Donald Trump resurfaced a narrative he’s been repeating for weeks: Portland is a war-ravaged city in crisis, and it needs federal intervention.

The statements came just two days after Trump told Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek that 200 members of the Oregon National Guard were being federalized, placing them under his command.

Since then, the move has received broad pushback from officials in Portland.

Here’s what we currently know about the deployment of the National Guard to Oregon’s largest city. (OPB staff)

Learn more

3 things to know this morning

• Members of Congress were unable to reach a funding agreement by midnight last night, leading the federal government to shut down today. In Oregon and Southwest Washington, that means about a third of the federal workforce could stop working. (Kristian Foden-Vencil)
• The 200 soldiers who may appear in Portland in the coming days will come from National Guard companies based in Salem and Woodburn. The 60-day deployment ordered by President Trump on Sunday is expected to cost federal taxpayers at least $3.8 million. (Dirk VanderHart)
• After a failed effort in 2024, the city of Vancouver will again put a public safety funding levy on the ballot during the Nov. 4 general election. Ballots will be mailed out Oct. 17. (Erik Neumann)

Headlines from around the Northwest

• Northwest airports are sinking, national satellite analysis shows (Jes Burns)
• Oregon DEQ again fines Port of Morrow for wastewater violations (Alejandro Figueroa)
• BPA will get power of wave energy harnessed at Oregon State University test site (Alex Baumhardt)
• Expectations are great for Trail Blazers rookie Yang Hansen in Portland and back home (Anne M. Peterson)

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):

• Oregon Republican Party leader on deploying National Guard troops in Portland
• What federal troop deployment looked like in Los Angeles

When the need rises, these Northwest home bakers fill pantries with bread

Community Loaves began during the pandemic, pairing hundreds of home bakers in Oregon, Washington, California and Idaho with food pantries across the region. The Seattle-area nonprofit has since donated more than 200,000 loaves of fresh bread and some 220,000 energy cookies to food banks.

Now, amid rising grocery prices and federal cuts to food aid for low-income people, demand for the group’s nutritious baked goods is greater than ever.

“Most of our food banks do not get any kind of whole-grain sandwich bread donation,” said Katherine Kehrli, who heads the organization. “When we ask what we could do better, they just say, ‘Bring us more.’” (Jonel Aleccia)

Learn more

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