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Good morning, Northwest.
A cemetery in Portland sold the same plot to different families. It became a lengthy court battle, which led to the disinterment of one family’s relative yesterday.
We start this morning with a story by OPB’s Tony Schick about what the case says about the business of burial plots.
Also in today’s newsletter, we look back on the year’s top news stories on the last day of 2025.
First Look is off tomorrow. We’ll return in the new year.
Here’s your First Look at Wednesday’s news.
—Bradley W. Parks
From left, Kelland Harrison, his mother Paula Tin Nyo and her husband David Williams watch as Tyber Harrison's grave is exhumed on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025 at Skyline Memorial Gardens in Portland, Ore.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
After Portland cemetery sold the same plot twice, a burial is undone
Paula Tin Nyo sobbed as three men dug shovels into the cemetery ground where she’d buried a vault with her 20-year-old son’s keepsakes, baby teeth and umbilical cord, along with some of his ashes.
She had buried them there four years ago, not knowing the funeral company had sold her a gravesite that already belonged to someone else: Jane and Martin Reser. Now, after a lengthy court case, a judge had ordered the vault removed.
So yesterday, at the Skyline Memorial Gardens in Portland’s West Hills, about 30 people gathered to observe the disinterment.
The disinterment followed a long-running dispute between Tin Nyo, the Resers and the $10 billion funeral company Service Corporation International. (Tony Schick)
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The Washington state Capitol on April 18, 2025.
Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero / Washington State Standard
3 things to know this morning
- Tax hikes on big business and rental cars. Unemployment benefits for workers on strike. Here’s a look at some of the new laws taking effect in Washington starting tomorrow. (Jake Goldstein-Street)
- Forecasters with the National Weather Service are warning people across central and north-central Oregon to expect freezing rain this week. (Amanda Linares)
- Tomorrow, rangers and volunteers will lead free guided hikes at more than 55 state parks across the Pacific Northwest to mark the first day of 2026. (Kristian Foden-Vencil)
Historic High Rock Lookout perched on a 5,685 foot peak, offered visitors a front row view of Mount Rainier, making it one of the most popular destinations for hikers in the area. Aerial drone photography by Mary Profit taken in 2018.
Mary Prophit
Headlines from around the Northwest
- The top 15 OPB news stories of 2025 (Sukhjot Sal)
- BLM increases timber sales in Oregon, triples nationwide mandated increase (Zac Ziegler)
- So far, ‘no downside’ to Oregon’s new school cellphone ban (Jane Vaughan)
- Washington state on track for warmest December on record — again (Natalie Akane Newcomb)
- Texas Tech and Oregon are mirror images, set to face off in CFP quarterfinals (Tim Reynolds)
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):
- Poets Reginald Dwayne Betts and Mai Der Vang in conversation
Paddle the Klamath Canoe Trail with relaxing nature sounds
It’s the last day of the year — and the latest installment of OPB’s Slow TV, where we take you on slow, scenic journeys around the Pacific Northwest.
In this video, paddle around Upper Klamath Lake on a sunny day, taking in sights and sounds of migratory birds, wetland plants and Mount McLoughlin. (Brandon Swanson)
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