OPB’s First Look: Town hall follows power outages

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Good morning, Northwest.

Today’s newsletter starts with Central Oregon reporter Kathryn Styer Martínez’s story on Madras residents’ frustration over Pacific Power’s enhanced safety settings designed to prevent wildfires, which led to multiple power outages this month.

Plus, Darcelle XV Plaza in downtown Portland finally opened this week. Intern Porter Levenson attended the grand opening celebration to learn more.

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

— Winston Szeto

Top story

Wes Curtiss speaks to company representatives at a Pacific Power town hall meeting about recent power outages in Madras, Ore., on June 25, 2026.
*Kathryn Styer Martínez / OPB*

Pacific Power holds town hall after frequent power outages in Central Oregon

About 50 frustrated Pacific Power customers filed into a stuffy conference room in the Jefferson County Public Health building in Madras Thursday to express concern about local power outages stemming from new wildfire precautions.

Pacific Power said seven outages in June were caused by enhanced safety settings that are designed to help prevent wildfires. Those affected more than 2,800 customers, the company said.

“It’s unacceptable, what those of us are living through,” Charles Williams, who lives just outside Metolius, said during the town hall. “It’s unsafe for us – these constant outage[s].”(Kathryn Styer Martínez)

Learn More

3 things to know

Melissa Fireside is running for Clackamas County's board of commissioners
*Courtesy of the Fireside campaign*

Former Clackamas County Commissioner Melissa Fireside was indicted this week on 19 additional theft and forgery charges, the Oregon Department of Justice announced yesterday. (OPB staff)
The state of Oregon has agreed to pay $49 million to the families of inmates who died while in state custody during the COVID-19 pandemic and to the more than 5,000 people who contracted the virus while incarcerated. (Lauren Dake and Conrad Wilson)
The state Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld Washington’s hotly contested regulations for how farmers and haulers of agricultural goods receive the exemption on fuel purchases promised under the state’s cap-and-trade system. (Jerry Cornfield, Washington State Standard)

Northwest headlines

A healthy sunflower sea star is seen on the seafloor in 2014. Sunflower sea stars are important for fish habitat because they eat sea urchins, which can mow down kelp forests if left unchecked. A wasting disease that struck more than a decade ago wiped out about 90% of the population, with the most severe losses in the southern part of the species’ range, off Mexico and California. Sunflower sea stars in Alaska have also died from the wasting disease, but the losses have not been as severe.
*Ed Gullekson / Washington Dept. of Wildlife*

Lawsuit aims to put sunflower sea stars along the West Coast on endangered species list (Yereth Rosen, Oregon Capital Chronicle)
With cracks showing in Washington economy, Ferguson forms new council to look for fixes (Jake Goldstein-Street and Jerry Cornfield, Washington State Standard)
Shadow of massacres darkens joy of World Cup match in Seattle for some (Anna Boiko-Weyrauch, KUOW)
Researchers say they have a solution for Willamette River algal bloom. What’s stopping it? (Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle)

One more look

Drag artist Kevin “Poison Waters” Cook, host of the event, speaks to the crowd at the grand opening of the Darcelle XV Plaza. The Darcelle XV Plaza's grand opening was held on June 25, 2026, in downtown Portland, Ore.
*Saj Sundaram / OPB*

Hundreds celebrate grand opening of Darcelle XV Plaza in downtown Portland

Hundreds of people came out Thursday to celebrate the grand opening of the Darcelle XV Plaza in downtown Portland.

The plaza is dedicated to legendary drag performer Walter Cole, also known as Darcelle XV, who died in 2023 from natural causes. He was 92.

Cole performed as Darcelle for half a century and founded the longest-running drag show in the world, the Darcelle XV Showplace.

The new plaza, located at 800 SW Harvey Milk St., and the longtime-running drag show remain as reminders of Cole’s legendary career. The grand opening featured live drag performances, food, drinks and a musical performance by the Oregon Symphony. (Porter Levenson)