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Good morning, Northwest.
For those of you participating in the annual Pendleton Round-Up, chances are you’ve been enjoying the rodeo performances, tribal ceremonial dancing and other activities as the four-day event wraps up today.
But have you noticed that the Round-Up’s aura goes beyond the arenas and stadiums? OPB’s Riley Martinez spoke with some of the stylish individuals who brought fashion — and their own stories — to the event.
Here’s your First Look at Saturday’s news.
— Winston Szeto
Top story
Julia Ike-Andrews, a citizen of the Yakama Nation, poses for a portrait wearing her self-made dress and imitation elk bone necklace among her family’s teepees in the grand tribal village at the Pendleton Roundup in Pendleton, Ore., on Sept. 16, 2026. “Lately, I haven't been so happy, but I know I'm a happy person. So, I just felt like if I wore something brighter, something that made me feel at me, that it would bring out more of a happy me,” said Ike-Andrews, who made her dress in one day.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Style is storytelling at the Pendleton Round-Up
Julia Ike-Andrews sits on a blanket surrounded by tipis, arranging the hair ties, necklaces and animal skins laid out in front of her. She wears a pastel-pink dress decorated with strawberries and green-and-blue accents, a color scheme she says was intentional.
“Everything from head to toe truly does, I would say, mean something,” she says.
The Yakama Nation member made her own dress for this year’s Pendleton Round-Up, the largest rodeo in Oregon.
Beyond the skill and showmanship of its adrenaline-fueled events like barrel racing, calf roping, and trick riding, this week the grounds are teeming with hundreds of more quiet spectacles: what rodeo goers choose to wear. (Riley Martinez)
3 things to know
FILE - The entrance of the Northrup Shelter, an emergency overnight shelter in Portland, Ore,. on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. The shelter is one of several opened since Portland Mayor Wilson entered office in January with a goal to end unsheltered homelessness by Dec. 1.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
- Northrup Shelter, Portland’s largest overnight-only shelter, closed its doors yesterday, a year after opening. (Alex Zielinski)
- Classified employees represented by SEIU at Oregon’s public universities have authorized a strike, which could begin as early as Sept. 28. (Nathan Wilk, KLCC)
- Krista Perez of Tacoma, a Democratic candidate for the Washington state House of Representatives, pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence yesterday in her first court appearance after she was arrested last month. (Aspen Ford, Washington State Standard)
Northwest headlines
The entrance to the J.H. Baxter wood treatment plant in Eugene, as seen on Sept. 16, 2026. The facility closed for good in January 2022, after nearly 80 years of operation.
Brian Bull / KLCC
- Killing endangered wildlife is legal if they aren’t the target, new Trump rule says (Matthew Brown, AP)
- EPA acts to control contamination at JH Baxter site (Brian Bull, KLCC)
- International Port of Coos Bay declares emergency for railroad repairs (Theo Greenly, JPR)
- Natural gas initiative ruled unconstitutional by Washington state Supreme Court (Scott Greenstone, KUOW)
- Washington governor takes stand against initiative repealing ‘parents bill of rights’ (Sarah Mizes-Tan, KUOW)
- Kaitlyn Chen makes five 3-pointers on the way to 17 points off the bench, Valkyries beat Fire 82-66 (Janie McCauley, AP)
- Moore throws for 4 TD passes as No. 21 Oregon routs Portland State 84-0 (Owen Murray, AP)
One more look
Thea Strøm, a psychic medium and animal communicator, sits with her first client of the day, Nala, in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 7, 2026.
Stephanie Hensley / OPB
‘I don’t think everything is written in stone’: ‘At Work With’ a Beaverton psychic medium and animal communicator
When people think of a psychic, they may think of someone in a dark room with a crystal ball. But for Thea Strøm, that work looks a little different.
Strøm is a psychic medium and animal communicator based in Beaverton, Oregon. She does about 15 to 20 sessions a week, working with humans and their pets.
Being a psychic isn’t a job most people hear about at a career fair. According to Strøm, it was always something she was interested in, but she wasn’t sure if she could pursue it professionally.
“I myself had some personal experiences of connecting to random energies, random spirits that then clued me into that maybe this is something I have a knack for,” Strøm said. “That then pushed me to take classes to develop the skill and hone it.” (Stephanie Hensley)
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