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Good morning, Northwest.
The removal of a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter from the Newport airport has worried people in the coastal community’s fishing industry as they prepare for crabbing season.
Rumors that a federal immigration detention center may take the helicopter’s place has created even more fear for Latino residents.
No one can seem to get any answers about either situation.
OPB’s Dirk VanderHart, Eli Imadali and Brooke Herbert start this morning’s newsletter with a report from the coast.
Here’s your First Look at Monday’s news.
—Bradley W. Parks
The sun sets over the U.S. Coast Guard facility at the Newport Municipal Airport, where the rescue helicopter typically is and near the area that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seemingly considering for a facility in Newport, Ore., on Nov. 17, 2025.
Eli Imadali / OPB
With ICE (maybe) waiting in the wings, Newport sits in limbo
On Nov. 12, a spot in Newport’s city council chambers was the hottest ticket in town.
An emergency meeting was set for 6 p.m. and the small chamber quickly swelled to capacity, packed with Newport residents waiting to hear how the council would react to what many saw as a dire threat.
Days earlier, rumors had begun to blow through Newport like a stiff sea breeze. By the time of the meeting, many in the small coastal city were convinced: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was looking to build an immigrant detention center in town.
With its scenic bayfront, popular aquarium and sizable commercial fishing fleet, Newport is an emblem of the Oregon Coast — and, with 10,000 residents, one of its largest cities. But weeks after the meeting, the city finds itself in a sort of limbo.
Facing down twin crises — one over the wellbeing of its crabbers, the other over the wellbeing of its immigrant community — it’s still not sure when, or if, immigration agents might arrive. (Dirk VanderHart)
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Passengers arrive at Portland International Airport in Portland, Ore., on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
3 things to know this morning
- AAA Oregon/Idaho estimates about 82 million Americans, or 24% of the population, will travel 50 miles or more over the long holiday stretch, mainly to visit family. That’s a 2% increase over last year. (Kristian Foden-Vencil)
- Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups is set to appear in court today. He’s being arraigned on charges that he profited from rigged poker games involving Mafia members. (Philip Marcelo)
- California public health officials confirmed late Friday that six babies in that state who consumed ByHeart formula, distributed from Portland, were treated for botulism between November 2024 and June 2025. (Jonel Aleccia)
Indigenous youth make history on a changed Klamath River
“Oregon Field Guide” producer Jessie Sears joins us to talk about the first descent of an undammed Klamath River, how the river has changed, and what it all meant to the Indigenous youth carrying on their ancestors’ work. (Jenn Chávez and Jessie Sears)
PSU scientist Elise Granek inspects lint collected at one of 90 Oregon households taking part in her team's microplastics research, Nov. 5, 2025.
Kristian Foden-Vencil / OPB
Headlines from around the Northwest
- Lane County advocates report at least 15 new ICE detentions (Nathan Wilk)
- PSU study looks at curbing microplastic releases from washers and dryers (Kristian Foden-Vencil)
- Toll could be nearly $1M from vandalism in Washington state Capitol (Jake Goldstein-Street)
- Yakima organization urging city leaders to turn off Flock traffic cameras (Johanna Bejarano)
- Cranberries, turkeys and spuds: A Northwest holiday ingredient spectacular (Anna King)
- Why Portland roller derby makes the perfect setting for a queer coming-of-age story in ‘Leave It on the Track’ (Lillian Karabaic)
- Portland State fires football coach Bruce Barnum and his staff after season-ending loss (Associated Press)
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):
- Stacey Abrams on writing, AI and democracy
Clockwise starting in the upper left corner: Carl Lee, Amy Miller, ASF mascot, Moshe Kasher.
Storytown Ashland
Ashland leans into its quirky side with new Sarcasm Festival
Ashland is known for serious theater, but a new festival hopes to put the town on the map for something else: sarcasm.
The Ashland Sarcasm Festival, a three-day celebration of all things comedy, debuts on Dec. 5-7.
The headliners include Ron Funches, Moshe Kasher and Amy Miller, stand-up comedians with national profiles and, in some cases, Oregon ties. (Vanessa Finney)
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