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Good morning, Northwest.
All schools but Silver Rail Elementary in the Bend-La Pine district will reopen this week just days after the deadly shooting at Silver Rail.
OPB and Report for America’s Holly Bartholomew reports this morning on how Bend families are feeling ahead of the return to classes.
Also this morning, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek answers questions about the tragedy at Silver Rail on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
Here’s your First Look at Monday’s news.
— Bradley W. Parks
Top story
The playground at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore., on Oct. 16, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Bend prepares to return to school after Silver Rail shooting
Eileen Sather, a Bend mom of two, headed to a park over the weekend with her kids in search of normalcy after a shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in which three students and a teacher dead.
But even as she pushed her daughter on a swing in the crisp fall air, Sather was already dreading Wednesday, when students in most of the Bend-La Pine School District will head back to class.
“I believe in education, and I believe that school should be a safe space for kids, and to have that shattered, it’s gonna be a hard drop-off,” she told OPB.
Some families are ready for a return to routine. Others say they need more time. (Holly Bartholomew)
Top story
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek speaks during a candlelight vigil at Drake Park after three children and a teacher were killed in a mass shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Ore. on Oct. 15, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Kotek says focus is on families after Bend school shooting
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said Saturday her priority is getting families and the Bend community what they need after a shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School.
Speaking on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Kotek said there are still unanswered questions about the shooter’s motives and how he got the weapon. She declined to wade into gun policy, saying that conversation will come later.
Kotek, who is running for reelection against Republican Christine Drazan, was asked whether gun control should be a key issue in the race. “I don’t think any of us should be politicizing this incident,” Kotek said. (Casey Frizzell)
Unearthing the buried history of Eastern Oregon’s Chinese cowboys
Cowboys in the West were racially diverse, and in Eastern Oregon, Chinese Americans played a big role in ranching and local economies. We’re revisiting the first installment of our special series in collaboration with OPB’s “Oregon Experience,” the SOU Laboratory of Anthropology and JPR about unearthing Oregon history. (Jenn Chávez and Chelsea Rose)
Northwest headlines
A voter drops off her ballot at the East County Library during the fourth iteration of “No Kings” protests in Gresham, Ore., on Oct. 17, 2026.
Jireh Deng / OPB
- Bend residents hold church service after Silver Rail shooting to mourn, pray (Jenny Kane and Joey Lovato)
- At Gresham’s ‘No Kings’ protest, Latinos push to get out the vote (Jireh Deng)
- With midterm elections closing in, ‘No Kings’ event draws heavy crowd in Eugene (Brian Bull, KLCC)
- Portland fee waiver program hasn’t spurred massive increase in new construction (Alex Zielinski)
- Craft flour mill opens on Umatilla Indian Reservation. It could be a boon for Northwest wheat (Alejandro Figueroa)
- 2 million invasive green crabs captured along Washington shorelines (John Ryan, KUOW)
- New UW report shows how feds gather Washington driver data to make ICE arrests (Gustavo Sagrero Álvarez, KUOW)
- Late Thorns goal helps Portland notch 2-2 draw with Bay FC (Drew Renner, AP)
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):
- All but 2 health insurance carriers pull out of individual marketplace in Central Oregon
One more look
Attendees dance for hours into the early morning of the weekend at Barn Radio in downtown Portland on Sept. 19, 2026.
Jireh Deng / OPB
Barn Radio uplifts the Black roots of electronic music in the heart of Portland
Black-managed and -owned music venues in the United States remain rare.
But along a row of nondescript storefronts, away from the fanfare of the main strip of nightlife in Old Town, an international underground electronic music scene has made its home in the heart of Portland.
Every weekend, music lovers are transported on a sonic journey across genres and borders — from the frenetic drum loops of Tanzania’s singeli to the soulful house of Chicago. (Jireh Deng)
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