OPB’s First Look: Skip carmageddon with a bike bus

Subscribe to OPB’s First Look to receive Northwest news in your inbox six days a week.

Good morning, Northwest.

If you need to commute between North or Northeast Portland and downtown during the Interstate 5 closure these days, have you grown tired of driving or sitting on a bus amid the carmageddon?

Turns out, there’s a much more fun way to get around. OPB’s Lillian Karabaic hopped on a bike and rode along with a bike bus — a group of people biking together — led by Portland Bureau of Transportation volunteers.

Plus, OPB’s Jireh Deng spoke with a Eugene man whose family believes he is one of Oregon’s oldest people.

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

— Winston Szeto

Top story

Bike buses give Portland commuters a ‘more fun’ way around the I-5 closure

As the Interstate 5 southbound closures through Portland’s Rose Quarter continue to disrupt metro area commutes, some people are getting to work on two wheels — together.

Every Wednesday through Oct. 14, the Portland Bureau of Transportation is running special bike buses from North and Northeast Portland to downtown. The rides are part of the city’s effort to give people alternatives during the closure, and to encourage biking as a transportation option.

The bike buses operate primarily on Portland’s neighborhood greenways, traveling at a leisurely pace and picking up riders at designated time points. All of the routes converge in downtown Portland at Salmon Street Springs at 8:15 a.m.

The weekly rides during the I-5 closure are a special edition; the other six routes are still only happening once a month. The goal was to focus on the neighborhoods most affected by the I-5 southbound closure. (Lillian Karabaic)

Learn More

3 things to know

1. New records obtained by OPB show that before OHSU fired CEO Tarek Salaway, the hospital system substantiated concerns that he had created an intimidating and hostile work environment for his direct reports. The new documents also bolster Salaway’s claim that OHSU selectively released damaging information about him, while withholding records that soften the most serious claim against him. (Amelia Templeton)
2. A 15-year-old Benson Polytechnic High School student is facing 19 charges, including domestic terrorism, after allegedly releasing toxic chemicals inside the school last month. (Joni Auden Land)
3. Washington’s minimum wage will climb to $17.73 an hour — a 3.5% bump — starting Jan. 1, the state Department of Labor and Industries announced this week. (Jerry Cornfield, Washington State Standard)

Northwest headlines

• Households will pay more for energy — especially in Oregon — because of federal policy changes, think tank says (Jennifer McDermott, AP)
• Trump tried to make an ally out of fishermen. Some have started to turn on him (Patrick Whittle, AP)
• Man sentenced for grabbing glasses off Oregon senator’s face (Bryce Dole)
• Nvidia program on pause year into deal with Oregon to get AI education in schools, colleges (Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle)
• Washington state leaders raise alarm over plans to fast-track oil pipeline to Canada’s West Coast (Adia White, Northwest News Network)

One more look

Eugene man turns 108, reflects on more than a century of living

Less than 1% of the world’s people can claim membership in the exclusive club of centenarians.

Eugene’s Beryl Dillman has well surpassed that. He turned 108 on Thursday.

“Anybody who’s ahead of me in birthdays, raise your hand,” Dillman said, addressing a crowd that gathered in the dining hall of Merrill Gardens at Sheldon Park, an assisted living facility, to celebrate his birthday.

His family suspects that he’s one of the oldest people in Oregon. (Jireh Deng)

Learn More

Subscribe to OPB’s First Look to receive Northwest news in your inbox six days a week.