First Look

OPB’s First Look: Judge pushes pause again on Guard deployment

By Meagan Cuthill (OPB)
Nov. 3, 2025 3:30 p.m.

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Good morning, Northwest.

A federal judge last night extended an order preventing President Donald Trump from sending members of the National Guard to Portland.

The judge’s decision also states she saw “no credible evidence” that protests at the Portland ICE facility grew out of control in the two months before Trump’s announced intent to deploy the Guard. We start today’s newsletter with the latest.

Also this morning, OPB’s Erik Neumann reports on a Southwest Washington member of Congress becoming a model for centrist candidates.

Plus, have you ever heard of shape note singing? Today’s newsletter concludes with a story about the art form of old haunting tunes about death and the afterlife.

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

—Meagan Cuthill


FILE - Bill Glenn protests against the National Guard deployment to Portland outside of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Ore., Oct. 20, 2025.

FILE - Bill Glenn protests against the National Guard deployment to Portland outside of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Ore., Oct. 20, 2025.

Eli Imadali / OPB

Federal judge blocks National Guard deployment to Portland through Friday

The Trump administration is again blocked from deploying the National Guard to Oregon, now until Friday, Nov. 7 at 5 p.m.

That’s according to a short-term preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut last night, which came at a crucial moment. Her existing temporary restraining order on Guard troops coming to Portland was set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

Immergut’s decision, while not final, suggests she’s likely to side with the states of Oregon and California, and the city of Portland, who say the president’s efforts to deploy troops is unlawful and a violation of state sovereignty. (Conrad Wilson)

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President’s update: We’ve closed the gap

With deepest gratitude, I write to you today to share an important update. Thanks to your extraordinary support, we have closed this year’s $5 million budget gap created when Congress ended federal funding.

— Rachel Smolkin, President and CEO of Oregon Public Broadcasting

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Elaine Leonard picks out plums as her daughter, 5-year-old Eliza Gamage, looks at other food at One Life Food Pantry, located in Real Life Foursquare Church in Vancouver, Wash., on Nov. 1, 2025.

Elaine Leonard picks out plums as her daughter, 5-year-old Eliza Gamage, looks at other food at One Life Food Pantry, located in Real Life Foursquare Church in Vancouver, Wash., on Nov. 1, 2025.

Eli Imadali / OPB

3 things to know this morning

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  • More and more people receiving SNAP benefits across Oregon and Southwest Washington are turning to local food banks, which themselves have less to give. (Joni Auden Land)
  • The Trump administration is making unprecedented demands of colleges in the Northwest and across the country, which higher education experts have called misguided and burdensome(Tiffany Camhi and Northwest News Network) 
  • Southwest Washington Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s centrist politics are being seen as a template for the 2026 midterms. (Erik Neumann)

Uncovering the personal histories of Native American boarding schools

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Klamath Tribes member Gabriann “Abby” Hall has uncovered dark histories of boarding school experiences that affected so many Native American families. (Jenn Chávez and Kami Horton)

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More on this project: “Uncovering Boarding Schools: Stories of Resistance and Resilience” follows Hall’s journey as she digs into her family’s experiences in Native American boarding schools — from the first generation forced to live on a reservation to the present.

📺 This new film from OPB’s “Oregon Experience” airs tonight at 9 p.m. on OPB TV and is available to watch anytime here or on the PBS app.


Dean Defrees, a fourth-generation rancher, at the Defrees Ranch in Sumpter Valley, Ore., on Aug. 30, 2025.

Dean Defrees, a fourth-generation rancher, at the Defrees Ranch in Sumpter Valley, Ore., on Aug. 30, 2025.

Lillian Karabaic / OPB

Headlines from around the Northwest

  • What is it like to be a rancher at 4,200 feet elevation in Eastern Oregon? (Lillian Karabaic)
  • Native plants thrive in Eastern Washington’s dry climate. This organization is working to bring more to yards in the Tri-Cities (Courtney Flatt)
  • Ballots for Washington’s 2025 general election are due Tuesday. What you need to know (Jake Goldstein-Street)
  • Newport says goodbye to its last bookstore this month (Brianna Bowman)

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):


Singers perform at the 34th Pacific Northwest Sacred Harp Singing Convention in Portland, Ore., on Oct. 19, 2025.

Singers perform at the 34th Pacific Northwest Sacred Harp Singing Convention in Portland, Ore., on Oct. 19, 2025.

Joni Land / OPB

Portland convention celebrates haunting art of shape note singing

Hundreds of singers gathered recently for the 34th Pacific Northwest Sacred Harp Singing Convention.

They’re performing one of the oldest styles of American folk music, called shape note singing.

Singers are encouraged to sing as loudly or as quietly as they want. Unlike more traditional choirs, there’s less emphasis on singers staying in the same key and matching one another.

The result is a cacophony of different voices blending together. (Joni Auden Land)

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

THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:

THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR: