OPB’s First Look: National Guard goes home

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Good morning, Northwest.

The U.S. Northern Command demobilized National Guard soldiers in Oregon, California and Illinois yesterday — months after President Trump called them into federal service.

OPB’s Conrad Wilson starts today’s newsletter explaining what this means for troops now and what the president is saying about future domestic military deployment.

Also this morning, archaeologists and historians are digging up stories of Chinese cowboys in Eastern Oregon.

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

—Bradley W. Parks

FILE - Members of the California National Guard and U.S. Marines guard a federal building on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Los Angeles.
*Damian Dovarganes / AP*

Hundreds of federalized National Guard members demobilized in Oregon, Illinois and California

Hundreds of National Guard troops are being returned from federal service to their respective states, U.S. Northern Command announced yesterday.

The troops spread across Oregon, Southern California and Illinois were called into federal service to support the agencies carrying out President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The guard members were federalized over the objections of all three governors.

In November, the Trump administration demobilized some of the Oregon National Guard members under federal control, but retained 100 while the legal case continued to play out.

Late last month, Trump announced on social media that he would pause his effort to deploy the National Guard in Oregon, Illinois and California for now, but said he could change his mind in the future. (Conrad Wilson)

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FILE - Estonian athlete Jaan Roose walks on slackline across the July 15 bridge crossing the Bosphorus from the Asian to the European side, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024.
*Emrah Gurel / AP*

3 things to know this morning

A recreational tightrope strung across a remote Arizona canyon likely triggered a helicopter crash that killed four Oregonians. The tragedy has drawn scrutiny of a little-known extreme sport with scant oversight. (Emily Cureton Cook)
Years of decreasing enrollment, rising personnel costs, stagnant state support and federal funding cuts are pushing Oregon public universities to a breaking point. (Tiffany Camhi)
After an investment in a renewable natural gas facility failed, NW Natural customers could be on the hook for $8.3 million. (Monica Samayoa)

FILE - Portland City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney of District 2 speaks during a meeting at Portland City Hall on Nov. 12, 2025 in Portland, Ore.
*Eli Imadali / OPB*

Headlines from around the Northwest

Portland City Council will elect its next president, but not everyone agrees (Alex Zielinski)
Demand for cannabis remains steady in Oregon as production hits record, driving prices lower (Kyra Buckley)
Railroad company challenges penalty for Corvallis derailment (April Ehrlich)
Attorneys for US DOJ, Portland clash over police records related to ICE protests (Troy Brynelson)
Shuttering primate research center could cost $1 billion over eight years, OHSU report asserts (Joanne Zuhl)
Jackson County Library director placed on paid administrative leave (Jane Vaughan)
Alaska Airlines pilot who safely landed plane in Portland after panel blew out says Boeing unfairly blamed him (Josh Funk)

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):

State program helps Oregonians with brain injuries navigate support services
Oregon’s wildlife connectivity coordinator on improving transportation infrastructure for animals
New director of University of Oregon’s Jordan Schnitzer art museum shares her vision

Chinese American cowboy Markee Tom (L, on far left) photographed circa 1900. Tom worked for the J.C. Moore family at their ranch near Dayville, Ore. as a cook and ranch hand. Dale Hom’s 2023 painting (R) imagines the informal shared moment between friends just before the photograph was taken.
*Courtesy of the Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site and Dale Hom*

Archaeologists and community historians on the trail of Chinese cowboys in Eastern Oregon

Dale Hom looks out over the wild expanse surrounding Stewart Ranch in Grant County, one of dozens of historic ranches that have been linked with early Chinese immigrants in Eastern Oregon.

Hom, a retired forester and artist, has been part of a wider movement to add Chinese pioneers back into Western scenes like this one.

The site is now part of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife Area, accessible only by a rugged dirt road.

This remote location has helped to preserve the early ranch and kept the modern world at bay, allowing researchers to search for evidence of the little-known Chinese cowboys and ranch hands employed here in the early 20th century. (Chelsea Rose, Christie Goshe)