Discovery Academy celebrates with a ribbon cutting, Aug. 28, 2025. Photo courtesy Cailene Creatives.
Salem, Ore. – Oregon’s first recovery high school with on-site addiction recovery services opens to students next week.
Discovery Academy is a small public school in Salem, operating under the Willamette Education Service District. It initially opened last spring with just a handful of students, all in recovery. Principal Max Preminger says when the school reopens Tuesday, it’ll offer expanded services, marking a first in the state, “The first one that will have the community center, the clinical services, the family engagement and the recovery high school all under one roof.” He says will be allowed to stay on campus for 12 hours, with access to mental and behavioral health services and mentorship. “They’ll get three meals, have a safe space to be, and have recovery oriented activities and a full day of recovery.” The school day will run 9 to 3:30.
Willamette ESD partnered with 4D Recovery for the expanded services. Dr. Nicholas Crapser, with 4D, says students attending Discovery Academy can just walk down the hall when they’re ready for treatment, “Having it in the same spot, you can strike while the iron’s hot. With adolescents sometimes that motivation is just a quick spark.” It also fills a need for the broader region, “To be able to provide, not only services to the folks that are going to Discovery Academy, but also Salem and Marion County at large. There’s just not the services for youth that there should be anywhere in the state, but in Marion County, there’s just nobody providing services.”
Discovery Academy is one of three recovery high schools in the state, serving just a fraction of Oregon teens struggling with addiction, “If we all operated at maximum capacity, we’d be getting about 100 kids or so,” says Preminger, “Oregon Health Authority data showed from January 2022 to May 2023, there was 1,117 youth, between the ages of nine and 17, who received services for substance use.” Dr. Crapser says working with addicts as teens can be very effective, “If we don’t address the problem now, they just become adults with the problem. And it’s much easier to address it now.”
Principal Preminger believes all 25 student slots will be filled by November.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A Portland father who is accused of allowing drug use in his home, leading to the overdose death of a 15-year-old girl in 2023, pleaded guilty to two charges on Wednesday.
According to court documents, 52-year-old Hooman Tony Rahnamoon pleaded guilty to frequenting a place where controlled substances are used and endangering the welfare of a minor.
The case goes back to February of 2023, when Franklin High School freshman Lauren Dominguez died of a fentanyl overdose. Dominguez was in the home of a 17-year-old boy, Rahnamoon’s son, according to court documents.
Rahnamoon was accused of allowing the teens to do drugs after seeing it take place and not intervening.
Lauren’s parents, Tracy and Marc Dominguez, previously said that the last time they saw Rahnamoon was on the morning of Feb. 18, 2023, after they found out Lauren was missing from school. Lauren’s sister found out through social media sleuthing that she had snuck out to visit Rahnamoon’s son the night before.
“The homeowner comes down the driveway, lets us know that our 15-year-old daughter is upstairs and she’s not breathing. She was using drugs with his son, is what he said,” Tracy said.
Prosecutors said Lauren and the son had previously met up to use drugs the night before, with Narcan and drug paraphernalia found after her death.
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Court documents show Rahnamoon later admitted “about 4-5 days, at most a week, before she passed, he had observed his son,” and Lauren using drugs at his home.
Dominguez’s parents told KOIN 6 News in February that they believe their daughter was caught in a perfect storm between the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impacts of Measure 110, the Oregon law that temporarily removed criminal penalties for people caught with small amounts of hard drugs. That state legislature later reintroduced criminal penalties with House Bill 4002 in 2024.
During his arraignment in February, Rahnamoon pleaded not guilty to three misdemeanor charges — frequenting a place where controlled substances are used and two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor — and apologized repeatedly to Lauren’s parents in court.
Now, as part of a plea deal entered Wednesday, the state recommends dismissing all of the charges at the time of Rahnamoon’s sentencing if over the next 18 months he completes a drug and alcohol evaluation and treatment, writes an apology letter to the family of Lauren Dominguez, does not allow minors into his home, refrains from alcohol and drug use and does not allow drugs or alcohol into his home.
Rahnamoon’s sentencing is scheduled for 2027.
An attorney representing Rahnamoon declined to comment on the case.
The parents of Lauren Dominguez were initially told the case did not involve a “ticketable” offense. However, with a new district attorney in office, the Dominguez family said they had hope for accountability.
Speaking with members of the media on Wednesday, Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez said, “I turned to Senior Deputy DA JR Ujifusa and said we have to take action. We have to do better as a community, and we need to make sure this individual is held accountable. And that’s what today is about.”
“I am so proud of my office for standing up for this family,” Vasquez continued. “And I will tell you, I am honored to have met and worked with the Dominguez family. They are incredible parents, and they have worked so hard to honor their daughter’s memory and to help this community get better.”
In a statement shared with KOIN 6 News, Vasquez described the “unique” nature of the plea deal.
“I’d say it’s pretty unique and it is a product of this family, the Dominguez family,” Vasquez said. “This was never about being vindictive. It was about holding this defendant accountable and about seeking better from our community and above all, making sure this doesn’t happen again in that home where children are in danger.”
PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland police is asking for the public’s help identifying additional victims in an alleged counterfeit gold scheme involving a local woman accused of defrauding people out of more than $40,000.
Christina L. Duncan, 37, of Portland, was arrested Tuesday, Aug. 19th, during a controlled transaction at a Northeast Portland coffee shop. Officers coordinated the operation with one of the victims, and Duncan was taken into custody without incident.
She was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges including first-degree aggravated theft, seven counts of theft by deception and identity theft.
The investigation began in July after a man reported buying more than $22,000 in fake gold from a woman during four transactions in December 2023. Detectives later identified Duncan as the suspect and believe she also defrauded at least five other individuals, selling an additional $21,500 worth of counterfeit gold.
The CDC is warning people not to eat, sell or serve recalled eggs. The agency is also advising you to call your healthcare provider if you have any severe Salmonella symptoms.
A wildland fire crew looks on after setting a fire line on Harlow Ridge above the Lick Creek Fire, July 12, 2021, south of Asotin, Wash. (Pete Caster/Lewiston Tribune via AP, File)
SEATTLE (AP) — A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol operation at the site of a wildfire on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula sparked condemnation by Sen. Patty Murray who said firefighters put their lives at risk to keep communities safe.
It was not immediately clear what the Border Patrol action was about, but several firefighters who witnessed the incident told The Seattle Times on condition of anonymity that federal agents demanded identification from firefighters working for two private contractors before taking two into custody.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond Thursday to email messages seeking comment.
Jennifer Risdal, a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service’s Incident Management Team overseeing the firefighting efforts, said they were aware of the Border Patrol activities at the fire site but offered no information about what happened.
“The Border Patrol operation is not interfering with firefighting activity and Bear Gulch firefighters continue to make progress on the fire,” Risdal told The Associated Press in an email.
The blaze has burned about 14 square miles (36 square kilometers) on the north side of Lake Cushman in the Olympic National Forest and National Park and was 13 percent contained on Thursday.
Murray responded to the news on Thursday by saying the Trump administration has undercut wildland firefighting by “decimating the Forest Service” and their immigration policy “is fundamentally sick.”
“Here in the Pacific Northwest, wildfires can, and have, burned entire towns to the ground,” the Democrat said in a statement, “This new Republican policy to detain firefighters on the job is as immoral as it is dangerous.”
During the first Trump administration, DHS issued a statement during the 2020 wildfire season saying CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement were concerned about the impact the fires could have on Western states and said their highest priority was “the preservation of life and safety.”
“In consideration of these circumstances, there will be no immigration enforcement initiatives associated with evacuations or sheltering related to the wildfires, except in the event of a serious public safety threat,” the statement said.
Washington Department of Natural Resources spokesman Michael Kelly told The Associated Press that they were aware of the Border Patrol’s appearance at the fire, but referred questions to federal officials.
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) turned 30 this year, making it both a millennial and the creator of the city’s shiniest experimental performance jewel, the Time-Based Art Festival (TBA). Returning September 4-14, this year’s fest brings a full-force two-weekend lineup packed with multimodal poetry, queer opera, and shape-shifting dance.
You’ll find programming at four venues—PICA’s cavernous Hancock headquarters, Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA), Winningstad Theatre, and Reed College—featuring a lineup that leans West Coast, with artists hailing from Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles.
Earlier this year, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) withdrew PICA’s $30,000 project grant, funding which was earmarked for artists participating in TBA 2025. The loss underscores the precarity that experimental, artist-first organizations like PICA face. If we want risk-takers to keep showing work in our city, now’s the time to support them, yeah?
The festival’s September 6 talk with PICA’s Creative Exchange Lab (CXL) residency participants is worth a listen, and on September 14, Kye Alive’s buoyant Good Dang Weekend2 will close up shop with a blast of a bingo game benefiting Elbow Room. Plenty is going down throughout the run—start here and see what grabs you.
Angelo Scott, Omni Rail
PNCA intermedia student and CXL resident artist Angelo Scott kicks off TBA with Omni Rail, a walk-through sound installation that transforms the college into an instrument. How, you understandably wonder? Designed from the 511 Building’s stairwells, railings, and cable system, the “ambisonic” project (read: immersive, surrounding the experiencer from all directions) conjures tones from the school’s architecture. In collaboration with choreographer Muffie Delgado Connelly, an ensemble will activate the instrument on opening night, sending tones echoing across the atrium, mezzanine, and balcony floors. (PNCA, 511 NW Broadway, performance Thur Sept 4 at 6 pm, on view through Sept 14, free)
San Cha PHOTO BY TEXAS ISAIAH
San Cha, Inebria me
San Cha’s repeat TBA appearances, including the 2019 show that was famously so packed the Mercury’s Martha Daghlian couldn’t get inside, have cemented her as a fest favorite. The LA-based Mexican American musician and performance artist will return with the West Coast premiere of Inebria me, an experimental opera that queers the melodrama of telenovelas with live music, libretto, and alternative family structures. A trans and queer BIPOC team backs the genre-mashing performance, which merges ranchera, cumbia, mariachi, punk, and industrial. (Winningstad Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, performances Sept 5–6 at 8 pm, students/seniors $25, adults $35, true cost $50)
Justine A. Chambers, The Brutal Joy: A Lecture
If you caught Autumn Knight’s PICA performance NOTHING#15: a bed last October, you likely spotted Justine A. Chambers gliding through the warehouse on roller skates. In The Brutal Joy: A Lecture, the Vancouver, BC-based dancer-choreographer explores Black vernacular dance, fashion, and dandyism as living archives; she’ll weave family memories from the South Side of Chicago with reflections on ritual and improvisation, then lead the audience in the Electric Slide. (PICA, 15 NE Hancock, Sat Sept 6, 7:30 pm, sliding scale $10, $20, $50)
Tahni Holt and Emma Lutz-HigginsPhoto Adrian Hutapea
Tahni Holt and Emma Lutz-Higgins, Horizon
TBA veteran Tahni Holt (Duet Love, 2014) joins forces with Emma Lutz-Higgins, who recently premiered her work Floor through Performance Works Northwest’s Alembic Residency, for Horizon. Shaped in collaboration with ambient composer Luke Wyland, artist Jess Perlitz, lighting designers Al Knight Blaine and James Mapes, costume designer Kim Smith Claudel, and dramaturg Kate Bredeson, the dance performance rests in the fuzzy conceptual territory of “becoming.” “Becoming a rock. Becoming a cloud. A sculpture becoming a body… A lightwave becoming a rainbow,” the show statement declares, asserting a wiggly spirit of loose identification and porous expression. (PICA, 15 NE Hancock, Sat Sept 6, 7:30 pm, sliding scale $10, $20, $50)
The Untitled Native Project: Live at PICA
In keeping with the hyperlocal spirit of this year’s TBA, The Untitled Native Project presents a live hybrid talk show centering Oregon history-sharing and contemporary Native perspectives.The show features artists from regional tribal communities—Amber Ball, Leland Butler, David Harrelson, Anthony Hudson, Trevino Brings Plenty, Woodrow Hunt, LaRonn Katchia, and Steph Littlebird—as well as Mvskoke artist Olivia Camfield and Hawaiian artist Kanani Miyamoto. Judging by the event’s cheeky use of Papyrus (“It sure is great being white males!”), expect irreverence. (PICA, 15 NE Hancock, Sun Sept 7, 7:30 pm, in-person or livestream, sliding scale $10, $20, $50, free for Indigenous audience members)
Dao StromPhoto Yaara Valey
Dao Strom, Tender Revolutions/Yellow Songs
Portland poet-artist and 2022 Oregon Book Award winner Dao Strom returns to TBA with another multimodal poetry experiment. (You might remember masking up for the release of her publication Instrument/Traveler’s Ode during the 2020 festival.) Strom’s new hybrid album and chapbook series Tender Revolutions/Yellow Songs reckons with “yellow subjectivities” and the layered terrain of diasporic identity. She’ll transform PICA’s annex with a visual poetry installation and two live performances, joined by Vietnamese women artist collective She Who Has No Master(s) and chamber ensemble Fear No Music for sets blending poetry and diasporic songs. (PICA Annex, 15 NE Hancock, Sept 12–13 6 pm, on view through Oct 4, sliding scale $20, $35, $50)
Who’s ready to have some fun? Well, the Mercury is here to help with FREE TICKETS to see some of Portland’s best concerts and events—our way of saying thanks to our great readers and spread the word about some fantastic upcoming performances! (Psst… if you want to say thanks to the Mercury, please consider making a small monthly contribution to keep us alive and kickin’!) And oh boy, do we have some fun events coming at ya this week! CHECK IT OUT!
Iconic Portland-via-Olympia riot grrrl stars Sleater-Kinney visit the Rev Hall stage for two nights with tunes from their visceral new record, Little Rope! The original show is SOLD OUT, grab tickets for the added show before they’re gone! Get your tickets now or enter to win a free pair!
Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark, Wed Sept 10, 8 pm, $50.17, all ages
One of the most talked about bands in the British scene, Mercury Prize-winning indie outfit English Teacher returns to Polaris with new music! Get your tickets now or enter to win a free pair!
A founding member of sketch comedy troupe The Kids In The Hall, the Canadian writer/actor/comedian shares his new one-man show at the Aladdin! Bruce McCulloch’s ‘Tales of Bravery and Stupidity’ moves brilliantly between funny, relatable and surprisingly touching. Get your tickets now or enter to win a free pair!
Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie, Sat September 13, 8 pm, $43.73-$85.56, all ages
GOOD LUCK! Winners will be notified on Monday, and check back next week for more FREE TIX from the Mercury!
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The sex offender who was recently arrested in connection with the discovery of human remains in a storage unit in The Dalles has been indicted.
A Wasco County grand jury indicted Richard Robinson on the felony charge of second-degree abuse of a corpse on Wednesday. According to court documents, the 59-year-old man “unlawfully and intentionally” abused or moved the body of Meihong He on June 6.
“The state further alleges the degree of harm or loss attributed to the current crime of conviction was significantly greater than typical for such an offense,” Wasco County District Attorney Kara Davis wrote. “The state further alleges the defendant committed this crime to evade criminal sanctions.”
The Columbia Gorge Major Crimes Team recovered He’s remains on 2640 W Sixth St. in late July, after a person called authorities to report that the abandoned U-Haul locker he won in an auction appeared to contain human remains.
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The Dalles Police Department publicly identified the remains as He, also known as Kiki, on Monday. The 39-year-old woman hailed from China and was known to reside in the Mid-Columbia area and Montana.
Police also identified Robinson as a person of interest. He was arrested in Colorado due to an outstanding warrant for failing to register as a sex offender.
According to authorities, Robinson’s arrest marked a major development in the year-long search for He. She was last seen in Glenwood, Wash., on May 25, 2024, while visiting her fiancé, who later dropped her off to go fishing with friends near Underwood.
The Dalles Police Chief Tom Worthy revealed that Robinson had a “known relationship” with He. As of Tuesday, the person of interest was being held in Colorado’s Larimer County Jail pending extradition to Oregon.
“Our community wants answers,” Worthy told KOIN 6. “They deserve answers, and they’re counting on us to get them.”
CALLING ALL SMARTY BRAINS! It’s time once again to put your brainy-brain to the test with this week’s edition of POP QUIZ PDX—our weekly, local, sassy-ass trivia quiz. And this week we’ll be testing your knowledge on a weird thing found in some lady’s back yard, local masked crime fighter (and Multnomah County Chair) Jessica Vega Pederson, and what is possibly THE WORST name for a company EVER! (And no, it’s not “X”—formerly Twitter—but that’s a good guess!) 🤔
But first! How did you do on our last quiz? Wow, how’d you get so smart? And you did especially well on our subjective question about who (or what) should replace President Trump! (But isn’t he already very similar to an angry badger?) 🦡
Anywaaaaaay… READY TO START? Take this week’s quiz below, take our previous pop quizzes here, and come back next week for a brand spankin’ new quiz! (Having a tough time answering this quiz? It’s probably because you aren’t getting Mercury newsletters! HINT! HINT!) Now crank up that cerebellum, because it’s time to get BRAINY!
If you’re reading this, you probably know the value of the Mercury’s newsreporting, arts and culture coverage, event calendar, and the bevy of events we host throughout the year. The work we do helps our city shine, but we can’t do it without your support. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!
GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND!👋
How are you? Fine, I hope! And how’s the weather? Also fine (I hope) with mostly sunny skies today and tomorrow with a predicted high of 88 degrees. And now? The NEWS! (Which is also “fine, I hope.” Like I REALLY hope!)
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Who’s watching out for the watchers? Workers who investigate cops at the current Independent Police Review (IPR) unit have authorized a strike. How come? Well, as you know, Portland is finally implementing its new, civilian-led police oversight system—the one voters approved five (!) years ago. (Sheesh.) Anyway, this new system will have a community board and an office of investigators who review police misconduct complaints. (It will also have more authority than the current Independent Police Review unit that it’s replacing.) So the current IPR staff say they expected to keep their jobs after the transition, since the city will still need professional investigators under the new system, right? BUT! Instead, the city is requiring them to apply for their old jobs. (Not cool, city.) And that’s why IPR workers recently authorized a strike around guaranteed job placement, and it is also why our own Courtney Vaughn wrote down all these details and more in this informative article.
The Oregon Department of Transportation broke ground on the first phase of the I-5 Rose Quarter project this week. But the groundbreaking came and went without fanfare, as the state deals with a major transportation crisis that has led to scrutiny on the state transportation department.
• Oh, and speaking of jobs… DO YOU NEED A JOB? Think you have what it takes to be Portland’s next city administrator? 🙋 Well, current city (and temporary) administrator Michael Jordan is on his way out, which means YOU could be the one to replace him. (Note to Seth, the cashier at the Burnside Plaid Pantry: This job is not easy, and you should be super qualified, please.) So what DOES a city administrator do? Well, according to Mayor Keith Wilson, who will be in charge of making the final selection, they “will set the tone for Portland, inspire and guide city staff, deliver high-quality services that Portlanders can trust, and help us solve our biggest challenges.” (He left out “getting yelled at by City Council.”) Ohhhh, then no sweat! The person who Wilson believes best fits that vague description could make up to almost $400,000 a year (!!)—so brush up your resume, Seth!
• Following two recent stabbing incidents outside downtown’s Central Library, the president of the Portland Metro Chamber (FKA Portland Business Alliance) Andrew Hoan recently published a screeching statement on their site blaming…*rubs eyes, checks notes*… Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson for the stabbings? 🤔 Hoan claimed that Pederson’s “persistent inaction” on… I don’t know what… was and is “a direct contributor to these tragic incidents and the conditions that have enabled them.” Ummm… can someone check on Andrew Hoan? I think the Chamber’s obsession with Pederson and drumming her out of office may have pushed him over the edge. (On the other hand, if this weird statement inspires Pederson to become a masked, crime-fighting vigilante? I AM SO HERE FOR IT! 🦸♀️)
• Trump’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” will most likely take a big, not-so-beautiful bite out of Oregon’s general budget. The latest quarterly revenue forecast predicts Trump’s legislation will yoink a whopping $888.2 million (of your federal tax money) from our general fund—which he will probably funnel into his many, and often racist, scams. That’s why Oregon’s projected ending balance in the 2025-27 general fund is expected to decrease from $473 million to a negative $373 million. (Soooooo… why exactly are we paying our federal income taxes again, and not just funneling that straight to the state? 🤔 Just somethin’ to think about!)
Former Mercury Music Editor Jenni Moore is back with her fortnightly column Hear In Portland! It’s got everything this week: Music industry struggles, an iconic Portland EP release, and one of the biggest names in hip-hop 🎵
• In their most recent attempt to KILL YOU, the Trump White House has fired CDC Director Susan Monarez, leading to the resignation of three other top CDC officials. Monarez had refused to blindly follow the unscientific directives of HHS Secretary/brain worm victim Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and while being pressured, later refused to resign—hence her firing by the White House. As proof of his increasing incompetence, Kennedy ordered the narrowing of COVID vaccine eligibility yesterday for high risk groups, an action which could easily lead to yet another disastrous pandemic.
The newly ousted director of the CDC refused to fire top agency leaders or approve changes to vaccines from RFK Jr.’s hand-picked panel of advisers.
• Meanwhile, Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook is suing the Trump administration for his “unprecedented and illegal” efforts to fire her from her role at the central bank, which would also stop Cook from making any further decisions about the national interest rate—which in turn could have HUGE negative effects on the economy. And apropos of nothing, I’m sure, Cook is the first Black woman to serve on the board of the world’s most influential central bank.
• What Republicans think about Trump… and what Trump really is.
• More tragically unnecessary gun violence: Yesterday an armed murderer gunned down two children and seriously injured 17 more people in a senseless shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic church. The suspected shooter, 23-year-old Robin Westman, was found dead at the scene, presumably from a self-inflicted wound. Though Westman was clearly suffering from mental illness, she was still able to legally purchase the guns she used to murder those children.
• Russia continued their brutal attack on Ukraine last night, bombing the nation’s capitol of Kyiv with missiles, killing at least 18 people, and seriously damaging the European Union’s mission building as well as British Council offices. Among the dead were three children, including a three-year-old girl.
• And finally… do you have trouble learning TikTok dances? (Don’t look at me… I’m great at them.) If so, here’s the tutorial for YOU!
Minneapolis schoolchildren praying in their own church died or suffered grievous wounds because of America’s embrace of transgenderism. The killer, Robin Westman, left behind solid evidence of his motives. That means most of the Cartel media will run away from this story quickly.
Six years ago, Robert Westman told his parents he was a girl. They supported his decision and went to court to change his name and gender. It didn’t do him any good…and ended yesterday when he blew his own brains out. Westman joins a list of about a dozen trans killers who have attacked Americans over the last decade. In his manifesto, he confessed he was “tired of being trans” and “I wish I never brain washed myself.”
He had plenty of help. LGBTQ activists who declare we MUST embrace and affirm transgenderism. Politicians who embrace gender change nonsense. Doctors and hospitals, including OHSU and UW who make piles of money mutilating children with drugs and knives in the name of trans. In the end, the killer voiced his hatred for Christians, Jews, and Donald Trump. In his manifesto, Westman wrote “I don’t want to dress girly all the time…I know I am not a woman but I definitely don’t feel like a man.
Society should have offered this killer psychological help. Instead, for political reasons, they endorsed his delusion and children died.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A mini Nicolas Cage film festival is coming to Portland.
From September 5-21, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is bringing a selection of Cage’s films to the museum’s Empirical Theater – home to “the city’s largest screen.”
“Join us for deep cuts and Hollywood hits, all featuring the man, the myth, the legend—Nic Cage,” OMSI wrote in an Instagram post announcing the Nicolas Cage Film Series.
“Nicolas Cage is a cinema icon whose work spans every genre, from rom-coms to comedies to horror films,” an OMSI spokesperson told KOIN 6 News. “At the Empirical Theater, we try our best to curate films that showcase the wide variety of the art form, and there are few actors who do so as well as Nic Cage. He also has a passionate fan base here in Portland, and we wanted to bring his work back to the big screen for those loyal fans.”
The OMSI spokesperson told KOIN 6 that this is the museum’s first Nic Cage film series.
Ahead of the 16-day fest, OMSI said it is not aware of any plans for the actor to make an appearance at any screenings, explaining, “As far as we know, he has never visited OMSI before, and we aren’t aware of any plan for a visit from him during the film series, unfortunately.”
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The Nic Cage film lineup includes the Oregon-made film “Pig,” along with “Longlegs,” “Moonstruck,” “Red Rock West,” Valley Girl,” “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” and “Renfield.”
Tickets run $9 for adults, $8 for seniors and $7 for youth, with OMSI members receiving half-off admission prices.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Two birthing centers in rural Oregon are not closing months after Samaritan Health Services considered shutting down the facilities in Lincoln City and Lebanon.
The health system, which has five hospitals, said it did more than 70 feedback sessions and discussions with clinicians, staff and leaders.
The organization promises to try alternatives to keep those birthing centers open, meaning deliveries will still continue at all five hospitals.
“The feedback we received was clear – our teams want to sustain essential services close to home, while finding new ways to collaborate, reduce reliance on temporary providers, and strengthen financial sustainability. The modified proposals represent this shared vision,” said Samaritan President and CEO Marty Cahill in a statement.
The Oregon Nurses Association held rallies over the issue, calling the hospital system’s reversal a victory for its entire community, especially the patients.
“From the beginning, nurses and families made it clear these birthplaces are irreplaceable and must be saved. Generations of families got their start here, and generations fought together to make sure future families have access to safe, local healthcare,” ONA said in a statement. “Keeping our birth centers and emergency surgery services open is lifesaving for moms, babies and local families.”
Last week, it was announced that Providence Seaside Hospital will no longer offer labor and delivery services, starting on October 4. After that, the nearest facility for impacted patients will be about 30 minutes away, in Astoria.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Thursday marks the deadline to comment on a proposal to build a short-term detox facility next to Gilbert Heights Elementary School in Southeast Portland.
Parents and neighbors say the location raises safety concerns, but organizers behind the project say it’s about expanding access to treatment.
When students return to Gilbert Heights Elementary next week in Southeast Portland, they’re sure to see some changes.
But what’s planned just next door at 12711 SE Holgate Blvd. — a former retirement home — has some parents like Erin Huynh worried.
“I can’t even volunteer in my kid’s classroom without a background check, and I’m pretty sure that that’s not going to be happening for the people that are at the facility,” Huynh said.
Just over the fence, Rose City Detox plans to turn the former retirement home into a 20-bed, state-licensed short-term detox and rehab facility where people in crisis could stay for up to 10 days.
Billy Anderson, Rose City Detox executive director, said, “It’s important to me to give back as much as I can and help with the need that’s present.”
Anderson grew up just down the street and knows this struggle firsthand.
After years battling heroin addiction, he got help — and now wants to run his own treatment center to help others.
“We’ve set a lot of parameters in place to make sure that the safety of the community was our utmost priority before these conversations ever started,” Anderson said.
He added that he’s working with the school and community to address concerns, adding a fence, security cameras, and taking clients by appointment only to avoid lines.
They also have a background check policy and do not accept:
Sex offenders
Violent offenders
Arson offenders
Treatment in lieu of jail
Patients with severe psychiatric issues that require psychiatric stabilization
But Huynh started a petition, which has already collected more than 200 signatures, asking the city to deny the project.
“I can’t imagine anybody thinking that people going through active addiction should be sharing a fence line with a kindergartner’s recess playground. It’s just something that I don’t want my kid or other kids to be exposed to,” Huynh said.
Huynh explained she supports addiction recovery, just not next to a school.
City planners with Portland Permitting and Development can deny the project if they believe it threatens safety or neighborhood livability under city zoning codes.
Rose City Detox argues that their team is trained, and stigma shouldn’t stand in the way of care.
“I just want the folks to know that there is a place that cares. There is a place that wants to see them run to the next steps of their journey,” Anderson said.
The city will decide by Dec. 3, 2025, to approve, deny, or add conditions to the plan.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Oregon will have $845.5 million less than previously expected in its general fund for the next two years.
State economists presented their latest revenue forecast to legislators on Wednesday, which included the impact of recently passed federal legislation, H.R. 1.
The legislature ended its 2025 session with $472.8 million in available funds. Economic changes, adjustments to the kicker credit, and the passage of H.R.1 are expected to reduce state revenue by $888.2 million over the next two years, according to the Oregon Department of Administrative Services. The new forecast puts the state’s balance at negative $372.7 million.
“Ultimately, the state will have to balance its books,” Chief Economist Carl Riccadonna told KOIN 6 News.
The drastic change in revenue forecast is not the result of economic deterioration, but because of Oregon’s connection to federal tax law, he said.
“A tax cut at the federal level becomes a tax cut at the state level,” he said. “A tax cut means there’s less revenue. The size of that hole is $888 million.”
The most significant change to Oregon’s economic forecast is the passage of H.R.1, otherwise known as the President’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” The legislation contains nearly 115 provisions that affect taxation, according to the state forecast.
Nationwide, the economy has slowed over the last year but has not fallen into a recession. In Oregon, the state has consistently underperformed the national economy, the unemployment rate increased nearly a full percentage point, and employment conditions are deteriorating across a broad array of industries, according to the report.
Economists expect the state could still avoid an overall recession as long as the national economy holds up, but warn that employment declines could be warning signs of sector-specific recessions.
“Vital economic statistics ranging from truck traffic to retail activity to filings for unemployment insurance indicate that the current environment is better categorized as slow and choppy as opposed to recessionary,” according to the report.
The state is also expected to continue facing a number of risks, including trade tensions with countries like China, Canada and Mexico. According to the report, this poses risks to the state’s semiconductor industry and agricultural sector, among others.
“Given Oregon’s export-reliant economy, trade restrictions or retaliatory tariffs could have an outsized impact,” the report said.
Large-scale deportations of undocumented immigrants could also strain the state’s agriculture, construction, hospitality, timber, and food processing industries.
Oil prices, drought conditions and wildfires were also included as potential risks to economic conditions throughout the state.
In 2020, Portland voters approved a major overhaul of the city’s current police oversight and accountability system. A ballot measure called for a new, civilian-led police oversight board and a city-funded team of investigators with the authority to investigate complaints and issue discipline.
Five years later, the new Community Board for Police Accountability (CBPA) is close to being operational, but now, staff with the city’s current independent investigative body say they’re worried about losing their jobs.
Employees with the city of Portland’s Independent Police Review (IPR) have authorized a strike, citing uncertainty over their jobs amid a transition to the new CBPA system. The IPR has been in place since 2001. The office independently investigates complaints against sworn police officers, meaning it’s not part of the Portland Police Bureau and operates as its own entity within the city–the same structure the new investigating body will use.
For nearly 25 years, IPR has served as the only investigative unit related to police conduct, outside of PPB’s own internal affairs unit. Last year, IPR took in 224 police misconduct complaints, 18 of which resulted in full administrative investigations.
The majority of IPR’s staff are trained investigators assigned to review allegations of officer misconduct submitted by the public, or other police personnel. Years ago, after Portlanders voted to revamp the police oversight system, Portland City Council members tried to create assurances that IPR staff would keep their jobs under the new system once the transition from IPR to CBPA went into effect. Now, IPR says labor negotiations with the city haven’t honored those assurances.
“In the new oversight system, right now, the city is saying ‘Yeah you can apply for a job there,’” David Kreisman, representative for AFSCME Local 189-5, which represents IPR workers, told the Mercury. “The city is reorganizing or refocusing on how they’re going to be staffing this, so the main point we’re looking for is successorship language.”
So far, IPR staff say they haven’t gotten that. On August 19, all of the 11 union-represented IPR staff voted to authorize a strike. The work stoppage wouldn’t be immediate. Staff say it would likely occur sometime in the fall if AFSCME and the city reach an impasse over labor negotiations.
Gayla Jennings is an operations coordinator at IPR. She’s worked at the city since 2008, first as a staffer in the Auditor’s Office. In 2022, she moved over to the IPR Division.
Jennings says most of her colleagues are professional investigators at IPR with backgrounds in similar agencies like the Department of Human Services, and Child Protective Services. Some of them have degrees in criminology.
“Through our bargaining efforts, we wanted guaranteed options for future employment with the city, or to be provided an option to exit and receive commensurable compensation that recognizes our stewardship of the current police oversight system during this transition,” Jennings said.
Last month, Jennings wrote a letter to US District Judge Michael H. Simon on behalf of her colleagues. Judge Simon presides over hearings about the city’s settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice regarding the city’s police force.
In a July 16 letter, Jennings cited a budget note from the 2021-22 fiscal year by the former Portland City Council, which “commits to preserving the existing positions in Independent Police Review (IPR) as permanent, ongoing positions.”
“Council acknowledges the importance of the positions and the expertise of the employees who hold them in meeting the terms of the City’s settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice,” the budget note states.
Labor negotiators for the city of Portland have been meeting with AFSCME since March 26. The two parties held mediation talks last Thursday. The following day, the city issued a statement about the ongoing attempts to come to an agreement with its IPR division.
“While we’re disappointed that a strike vote occurred before reaching 150 days of bargaining—and ahead of our first scheduled mediation session yesterday—we remain committed to achieving a fair agreement,” Alison Perkins, a public information officer with the city’s Bureau of Human Resources, told the Mercury Friday.
“Hiring decisions cannot be predetermined in the transition to the Office of Community-based Police Accountability,” Perkins noted, but pointed to a proposal presented to AFSCME Local 189 last month that outlines options for IPR employees to either apply for positions in the new oversight system, or accept a job within the city performing “substantially equivalent work.”
Kreisman, the union rep, says IPR employees shouldn’t have to re-apply for jobs at the city.
“What we’re saying is they’re still going to have to have investigators, and there is no one more qualified to be doing this work than the investigators at IPR,” he said.
The next mediation session is scheduled for Sept. 25. Perkins says the city is “hopeful that we can continue to make meaningful progress.”
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – The Willamette National Forest has issued an emergency closure for areas surrounding the Emigrant Fire, a lightning-caused wildfire burning in the Middle Fork Ranger District.
The fire, first reported Aug. 24th, is burning in a remote area about three miles southwest of Indigo Springs Campground and has grown to approximately 7,400 acres. Officials said the closure is necessary to protect public and firefighter safety during full suppression operations.
The emergency order took effect Wednesday and will remain in place through Nov. 25, unless modified or lifted earlier.
The closure impacts all roads, trails, campgrounds and recreation sites within the designated area, including sites in the Timpanogas Lake region. Specific closures include Sacandaga, Indigo Springs and Timpanogas campgrounds; Timpanogas Lake Shelter; and several trailheads, such as Youngs Rock, Chuckle Springs and portions of the Middle Fork Trail (#3609).
Numerous Forest Service roads are also closed, including but not limited to:
Fire danger in the area remains high, and the Industrial Fire Precaution Level has been raised to Level II. Forest visitors are urged to follow all fire restrictions.
PORTLAND, Ore. – The driver killed in a single-vehicle crash Saturday has been identified as 43-year-old Guillermo Soto Briceno of Portland, authorities confirmed.
Briceno’s body was recovered from the Columbia River following the crash near Northeast Marine Drive and Northeast 122nd Avenue. The Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office made the identification, and his family has been notified.
Emergency crews responded around 8:01 a.m. on Aug. 2 after reports of a damaged guardrail and a vehicle overturned in a shallow part of the river. When officers arrived, the vehicle was found empty.
Portland Fire & Rescue, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office River Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard assisted in the search for the missing driver. The Major Crash Team with the Portland Police Bureau later joined the investigation due to the likelihood of a fatality.
The vehicle was eventually removed from the water. No other occupants were found.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the Portland Police Bureau’s Traffic Investigations Unit at [email protected] and reference case number 25-207638.
Traffic in the area was temporarily restricted but has since reopened.
FILE – A sign stands at an entrance to the main campus of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — The director of the nation’s top public health agency is out after less than one month in the job, U.S. officials announced Wednesday.
“Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wrote on social media.
HHS officials did not explain why Monarez is no longer with the agency.
Before the department’s announcement, she told The Associated Press: “I can’t comment.”
Monarez, 50, was the agency’s 21st director and the first to pass through Senate confirmation following a 2023 law. She was named acting director in January and then tapped as the nominee in March after Trump abruptly withdrew his first choice, David Weldon.
She was sworn in on July 31 — less than a month ago, making her the shortest-serving CDC director in the history of the 79-year-old agency.
Her short time at CDC was tumultuous. On Aug. 8, at the end of her first full week on the job, a Georgia man opened fire from a spot at a pharmacy across the street from CDC’s main entrance. The 30-year-old man blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal. He killed a police officer and fired more than 180 shots into CDC buildings before killing himself.
No one at CDC was injured, but it shell-shocked a staff that already had low morale from other recent changes.
The Atlanta-based federal agency was initially founded to prevent the spread of malaria in the U.S. Its mission was later expanded, and it gradually became a global leader on infectious and chronic diseases and a go-to source of health information.
This year it’s been hit by widespread staff cuts, resignations of key officials and heated controversy over long-standing CDC vaccine policies upended by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
During her Senate confirmation process, Monarez told senators that she values vaccines, public health interventions and rigorous scientific evidence. But she largely dodged questions about whether those positions put her at odds with Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic who has criticized and sought to dismantle some of the agency’s previous protocols and decisions.
The Washington Post first reported she was ousted, citing unnamed sources within the Trump administration.
Depending on which source you believe, we are either approaching or have just passed the official 30th anniversary of the release of Nervous Sooner Changes, the all-killer-no-filler seventh studio album from Portland punk legends Dead Moon.
Crammed front to back with the band’s signature mix of wild-eyed garage-rock and desperatly doomed-folk ballads, the 10-track release is generally considered a high point in the Dead Moon catalog. “Pflichtstoff,” declared the long-running German music magazine Ox-Fanzine in 1996. Translation: “A must-have.”
Not that bassist Toody Cole remembers making it…
“Oh god, it was probably another rush job, because we always used to have to get everything done before the next tour,” she said from her home in Clackamas, Oregon. “I mean, they all kind of blend into one another, but it was always exciting to be able to go out on tour and play new songs.”
Indeed, while Dead Moon left behind a string of cult albums during its two-decade run, they were revered far and wide—especially in Europe—for their ferocious live shows, a ternary attack comprising Toody’s earth-altering bass lines, the steady pummel of drummer Andrew Loomis (who died in 2016), and the searing guitar work of Toody’s husband, Fred Cole, who died in 2017, nearly five months after the couple’s 50th anniversary.
It’s appropriate that Toody has occasionally paid tribute to Fred and Dead Moon since his passing by doing what the trio always did best: Playing live. She did so a year ago at Crystal Ballroom for the inaugural Fred Cole Birthday Celebration, and she’s doing it again this Thursday for the second annual hoopla, which happens to fall squarely on the 77th anniversary of Fred’s entrance into the earthly realm: August 28.
Toody curated the lineup for the birthday celebration, which includes Los Hackals—a tribute to the ’80s Portland punkabilly band The Jackals—and garage-rock combo The Reverberations. Headlining will be her own band, with Kelly Halliburton on drums and Christopher March on guitar (Halliburton played with Fred and Toody in their post-Dead Moon band Pierced Arrows, and he and March play in local country band Jenny Don’t and The Spurs).
“I talked Kelly into playing drums again,” Toody says with a laugh. “That’s not his main instrument—bass is his main instrument—but I said, ‘Sorry, I’ve got that one covered.’”
The idea for a celebration of Fred’s birthday came from Jennifer Carrizo, Talent Buyer at the Crystal Ballroom—an ideal venue for the event, Toody says. “Fred and I just have so much history at the Crystal, and [the venue has] so much history on its own. It’s just one of those rooms where you can feel everybody who’s ever played there. At least, I always have.”
In fact, there will be a number of Cole’s friends and family in the crowd at the show, not to mention fans of Fred’s various bands—King Bee, The Lollipop Shoppe, The Rats, The Range Rats, The Weeds, Western Front, Zipper, and on and on.
And, of course, Dead Moon. The band’s fierce commitment to a DIY ethos has always aligned closely with the independent spirit of Portland, where in 2017 the City of Portland declared October 5 officially “Dead Moon Night” in honor of the trio. Eight years later, their legacy continues to grow and, perhaps more importantly, connect with new generations who weren’t lucky enough to be alive to see the band perform.
“There’s still a lot of interest out there. I’m continually amazed by it,” Toody says. “I don’t know if it’s growing, but what I see is that there’s a lot of younger kids who have discovered the band in different ways. They’ve done their research and are still interested in what we did,” she continues. “I haven’t quite figured out why [Dead Moon] worked as well as it did, but there was just magic there between the three of us. I always called it the perfect storm, and everything fell into place. We were just an incredible combo together.”
The same can be said, of course, for Fred and Toody: Marrying in 1967, settling in Clackamas, building their own home, pressing their own records, raising a family, touring the world and, along the way, becoming an iconic band—both in Portland and in further flung DIY and punk communities.
Thursday’s show is a celebration of Fred’s birthday, yes, but it will also act as a celebration of Toody and the expansive DIY punk world the two built together.
“I miss him like crazy, and I wish he was still here. He went way, way too soon,” Toody laments, taking a rare moment to reflect instead of looking forward to the next thing.
“But you know, that’s the way it happened, and I can’t complain. We had 50 years together and we did the most amazing things. When I tell the stories that I know are real, I’m thinking, ‘God, who would ever believe this?’” she says. “It’s incredible. We crammed 10 lifetimes into that 50 years.”
Fred Cole’s Birthday Celebration featuring Toody Cole and her band, Los Hackals, and The Reverberations. (Crystal Ballroom, Thurs Aug 28, 8 pm, more info here, all ages)
Related: Did you know Fred Cole fronted the ’70s Portland band Zipper? Former Mercury Music Editor Ned Lannamann digs into the band’s only album that still rocks 50 years down the line.
