Subscribe to OPB’s First Look to receive Northwest news in your inbox six days a week.
Good morning, Northwest.
Portland-area commuters are bracing for a significant traffic slowdown as a stretch of I-5 closes for repairs next month.
OPB’s Porter Levenson explains when and where lanes are shutting down and how it could affect travel. That story starts today’s newsletter.
Also this morning, a severe botulism outbreak in the Klamath Basin could get worse without federal intervention.
Here’s your First Look at Friday’s news.
— Bradley W. Parks
Top story
FILE - An aerial view of the Moda Center and Rose Quarter in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 4, 2025.
Brooke Herbert/OPB / OPB
ODOT warns of upcoming major road closure along I-5
A major traffic closure is on the way for one of the most important highways on the West Coast. Officials are warning drivers to plan ahead for a significant increase in travel time.
Starting Sept. 11, all southbound lanes of Interstate 5 in Portland’s Rose Quarter will be closed for up to five weeks while the Oregon Department of Transportation conducts critical repairs on a 2-mile section of the highway.
The closure will stretch between Interstate 405 and Interstate 84. Congestion on southbound I-5 is expected to extend into Vancouver, Washington, during the morning and afternoon rush hours. ODOT is encouraging long-distance travelers to take Interstate 205 through the region. (Porter Levenson)
3 things to know
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Kyle Sanders of the Golf Company, 1st Battalion, 189th Aviation, looks down on the Hagen Fire in Umatilla County, Ore., Aug. 10, 2026, during a water drop.
Maj. Wayne Clyne / Oregon National Guard Public Affairs Office
- Thousands of firefighters are still deployed across Oregon. High winds and thunderstorms are in the forecast for large parts of northeast and Central Oregon and across Idaho. (Courtney Sherwood and Riley Martinez)
- The Northwest region needs to build more wind, solar and gas-powered electricity, and fast, according to recommendations released yesterday by a federal planning group. And data centers are one reason. (Monica Samayoa)
- Representatives from the Portland Trail Blazers have agreed to meet on Monday to discuss the terms of negotiating a 20-year lease agreement with the city of Portland. (Alex Zielinski)
Portland puts the Trail Blazers’ future in Tom Dundon’s court
Elected officials in Oregon have been trying to solve a puzzle: How can they ensure the enigmatic new owner of the Trail Blazers doesn’t attempt to take the team elsewhere, but not lose the public’s metaphorical shirt in the process?(Dirk VanderHart and Alex Zielinski)
Northwest headlines
Chef Jonathan Biko Mandela Jones cooking during a preview night for BIRDFAT in Portland, Ore., on July 16, 2026. The pop-up was co-created with winemaker Tiquette Bramlett of Henderson Ave.
Crystal Ligori / OPB
- Klamath Basin needs more water to avoid deadly botulism outbreak, Bird Alliance warns (Riley Martinez)
- Bargaining stalls over wages between classified staff workers and Oregon’s public universities (Tiffany Camhi)
- Birds, banter and bebop: Welcome to BIRDFAT, Portland’s salon-inspired pop-up (Crystal Ligori)
- Oregon has recorded more measles cases this year than peak in 2024 (Mia Maldonado, Oregon Capital Chronicle)
- Washington revenue officials: Income tax will bring in more money than first expected (Jerry Cornfield, Washington State Standard)
- Washington poised to elect its first openly trans legislator (Jake Goldstein-Street, Washington State Standard)
- Southern Oregon Coast seafood processors say tariffs are an old problem, not a new crisis (Theo Greenly, JPR)
- Portland Timbers beat Club Tijuana 3-1 in third Leagues Cup match, but fail to reach knockout round (OPB staff)
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):
- Malheur County schools find new ways to battle chronic absenteeism
- Portland performance series explores Cuban filin music
One more look
Seen in this still from supplied video, a pair of goats boards a TriMet bus in Portland on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026.
Screenshot from TriMet video
Bleat week: 2 goats board a Portland bus, destination unknown
A pair of goats has gone viral after briefly boarding a bus in Portland on Tuesday and then promptly leaving.
TriMet posted an Instagram video of the goats getting on the bus and the doors closing.
“The operator spotted them and reopened the doors,” TriMet wrote in the caption. “The goats wandered back towards the shopping center near the northeast corner of the intersection, where they disappeared from our cameras.”
The agency is taking a philosophical view of the incident: “So where did they come from? Where were they going? Did they have valid fare? Some questions may never be answered.”
The two wayward goats are a known quantity to some residents in the area, who called emergency response on them. (Kristian Foden-Vencil)
Subscribe to OPB’s First Look to receive Northwest news in your inbox six days a week.
