PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — As night fell, dozens of protesters maintained a spot on the sidewalks in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Southwest Portland as large helicopters and drones buzzed the skies over the area.
It appeared that at least one protester was arrested by ICE agents, but there has been no confirmation of that by officials at this time.
Before dark, about 100 of the protesters came from the Portland peace team with different religious leaders and families with flowers. They marched peacefully in front of the building on SW Macadam as drones — believed to be operated by authorities inside the ICE building — flew overhead.
By 10 p.m., there were about 60 people just standing outside the ICE building.
Portland police were in the area but maintained a very low profile.
Peaceful protesters outside the ICE facility in Portland, September 25, 2025 (KOIN)
Peaceful protesters outside the ICE facility in Portland, September 25, 2025 (KOIN)
A protester holds a sign outside the ICE facility in Portland, September 27, 2025 (KOIN)
A few people stand outside the ICE facility in Portland, September 27, 2025 (KOIN)
A person stands outside the ICE facility in Portland, September 27, 2025 (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)
The ICE facility in Portland, September 27, 2025 (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)
Dozens of protesters outside the ICE facility on SW Macadam in Portland, September 27, 2025 (KOIN)
Dozens of protesters outside the ICE facility on SW Macadam in Portland, September 27, 2025 (KOIN)
Earlier Saturday
“There is no insurrection, there is no threat to national security and no need for federal troops in Portland,” Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said at the very beginning of a press conference Saturday afternoon, hours after President Trump announced his intent to send US troops to Portland.
In a press conference on the banks of the Willamette River on a beautiful Saturday in downtown Portland, Kotek said she spoke with the president Saturday and told him in no uncertain terms that there was no need for federal troops to be sent to Portland.
But she added, “We had no proactive communication from the White House until I reached out.”
Kotek reiterated the city does not need National Guard troops nor federal troops in the city.
“I spoke with the president. I asked him not to send troops. I tried to understand his reasoning and I told him we are taking care of it. I have full faith and confidence in local law enforcement and the folks here today. We do not need federal troops. And I said we disagree. And he said, ‘Well, let’s keep talking.’”
She will continue to communicate with the president to tell him in no uncertain terms there is no reason for federal troops to come to Portland, she said.
She also spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and told her there were no troops necessary in the city.
O’Brien won an Oscar in 1944 for her performance. It was a rare small Juvenile Oscar, an award also won by Garland just five years before for “The Wizard of Oz.”
But 10 years later, it went missing. Then in 1995, it was discovered at a flea market in Los Angeles and returned to her.
The Juvenile Oscar won by Margaret O’Brien in 1944 for her performance in “Meet Me in St. Louis” at Portland’s Movie Madness on Sept. 27, 2025. (KOIN)
O’Brien was at Movie Madness in Southeast Portland on Saturday where her Oscar was placed in a display case already filled with her movie memorabilia.
“Sometimes old treasures come back to you,” she told KOIN 6 News. “And I thought, ‘Where am I going to put the Oscar? It’s not really safe in my house. What am I going to do? Put it in the closet?’ Nobody sees it.”
Owner Mike Clark has been friends with O’Brien for years and she wanted to make sure her Oscar would remain safe.
“Michael Clark’s wonderful museum here, he has several of my outfits and clothes and memorabilia, that would be the place for it,” she said. “So that it would have a permanent home for people to see.”
O’Brien noted she loves visiting Portland, adding she’s happy that her little Oscar will remain the in the Rose City forever.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — One customer shot another customer just after noon Saturday at a Tigard taqueria, police told KOIN 6 News.
Officers rushed to the Sanchez Taqueria on Southwest Pacific Highway after witnesses reported the shooting. The victim was seriously wounded but is expected to survive, authorities said.
The accused shooter drove away from the scene, but was stopped by officers and arrested at Southwest Gaarde and Pacific Highway.
The suspect’s name and charges against him have not been released at this time.
KOIN 6 News will update this as developments become known.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Hours ahead of credible reports of increased federal agents in Portland and before President Trump announced he was sending in federal troops to the city, one Oregon congresswoman introduced a bill to prevent the National Guard from being “used as a political tool for the White House.”
On Friday, Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.) introduced the National Guard Proper Use Act, legislation whichwould restrict the ability for the president to deploy the National Guard for the purposes of immigration and domestic law enforcement.
Although the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 already prevents the use of the military as a national police force, the new act would amend the United States Code to reinforce that the National Guard may not be ordered to support the enforcement of federal immigration laws while on federal pay or under federal authority.
Ultimately, this would be an effort to uphold the long-standing legal tradition of separating national military forces from civilian policing.
“The National Guard should not be used as a political tool for the White House or for ICE to enforce this Administration’s inhumane and harmful immigration policies,” Rep. Salinas said. “While existing law already restricts the President’s ability to deploy the National Guard for immigration and domestic law enforcement, this Administration has shown no respect for the rule of law. My legislation reinforces this legal precedent and would help reign-in an out-of-control President. Members of the National Guard are trained to protect our homeland and respond in times of crisis, not to target hardworking immigrants who contribute to our communities.”
Rep. Salinas has previously brought forth similar amendments for the House Defense Appropriations bill and the National Defense Authorization Act. Salinas’ office said the House refused to consider them.
The current legislation has garnered support from members of organizations such as the National Immigration Law Center, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union.
“A foundational principle of this country is that the military should not police us,” said Naureen Shah, Director of Government Affairs for the ACLU’s Equality Division. “That long-standing legal tradition applies to our immigrant neighbors and loved ones too – our military should not be carrying out deportations. This legislation reinforces that our troops shouldn’t be forced to carry out ICE’s reckless agenda, and we implore Congress to stop this dangerous redeployment of our military.”
Rep. Salinas introduced the bill on the House floor alongside Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii).
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said she has “been provided no information on the reason or purpose of any military mission” after President Trump announced Saturday he sent troops into Portland.
“There is no national security threat” in Portland, Kotek said in a statement. “Our communities are safe and calm. I ask Oregonians to stay calm and enjoy a beautiful fall day. We will have further comment when we have more information.”
KOIN 6 News has reached out to various Oregon leaders for comment on the developing situation and all condemned it.
However, former US Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer — the current US Labor Secretary — thanked Trump for sending the troops to what she called the “crime-ridden war zone” of Portland.
KOIN 6 News will have more information later in the day.
In an early Saturday morning post on Truth Social, President Trump wrote that he will be sending troops to “protect war ravaged Portland” as well as the city’s ICE facility from those he called “Antifa and other domestic terrorists.” More troubling still, the president also authorized his agents to use “full force, if necessary.”
This announcement came on the heels of Friday night’s press conference held by Mayor Keith Wilson and several state leaders, saying that the Trump administration had deployed additional federal agents to Portland’s ICE facility. The mayor labeled the administration’s move as “just a big show,” and along with others in attendance, encouraged Portlanders to “not take the bait,” or physically engage with ICE officers.
At this point, it’s unclear what type of troops the president plans on sending to the city—whether it’s more federal agents or the National Guard—or even how many would be deployed. Trump’s post came with the implied threat of sending troops to other cities with ICE facilities as well.
Deploying the National Guard to assist ICE agents—as the president did in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and plans to do in Memphis—would most likely face legal challenges, and happen under the objection of Democratic Governor Tina Kotek, who said Saturday that Oregon leaders were “provided no information on the reason or purpose of any military mission.”
“There is no national security threat in Portland. Our communities are safe and calm,” Kotek said in a statement issued by her office Saturday morning. “I ask Oregonians to stay calm and enjoy a beautiful fall day. We will have further comment when we have more information.”
For weeks President Trump has been issuing objectively false statements about Portland and the small, almost entirely peaceful protests that have been ongoing at the ICE facility in Southwest Portland. Besides falsely calling the city “war ravaged,” the president has also made other wildly inaccurate claims, including how “many people have died over the years in Portland” due to the protests, and labeling demonstrators exercising their First Amendment rights as “professional agitators and anarchists.”
In reality, while there have been nightly protests at Portland’s ICE facility, the size of the crowd has rarely exceeded a couple dozen people, who regularly taunt the federal agents, but remain—on the whole—peaceful. This is in direct contrast to the federal officers who have reportedly made more than a dozen attacks on protesters, who gather on the sidewalk outside the ICE facility, chanting and squeezing squeaky toys as a symbol of the ease with which federal agents are provoked. Last week, the Oregonian reported and shared video footage of ICE agents shoving and hitting demonstrators, as well as using chemical spray against them, even as they were following the orders of officials, and not standing on federally controlled property. Agents were also reportedly firing less-lethal ammunition rounds specifically at the groins of protesters, repeatedly hitting at least one person in the face and body with their shield, and shoving those trying to help injured demonstrators to the ground, as well as those whose backs were turned away from officers.
A Portland Police officer recently testified in court that some of the clashes at the facility were “instigated” by ICE agents, who were “not following best practice.”
Depending on which troops the president decides to send into Portland, lawsuits are almost certain to follow. Earlier this month, District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer ruled that Trump violated the Posse Comitatus Act by deploying 4,000 National Guard members and placing them in law enforcement roles. The ruling has been appealed by the Trump administration, and the case has been put on pause to allow Trump’s legal team to explain their actions to the court in greater detail.
As he did in Los Angeles, President Trump could also invoke the Insurrection Act to justify sending a large number of troops into Portland, but the rarely implemented action is only intended to be used against “an armed rebellion against the US federal government” and will certainly be challenged in court, as well as by military officials concerned about pitting US troops against American citizens.
Though currently focused on Portland, the president is also expected to send troops into Memphis, Tennessee—another blue city—though he will reportedly only be deploying 150 troops; far fewer than the number sent to Los Angeles and Washington, DC.
Attorney General Pam Bondi joined the president in publishing falsehoods on social media, writing on X Friday night that the federal government would fight back against the “continued onslaught of violence,” while seeking “the most serious available charges against all participants in these criminal mobs.”
Bondi ended the post with the words, “the rule of law will prevail.”
Oregon State Police arrest two in Sprague River homicide case involving a victim from Washington state. MGN Image.
SPRAGUE RIVER, OR – As part of a homicide investigation, Oregon State Police say officers with their SWAT team arrested two men on Thursday near the community of Sprague River in Klamath County.
30-year-old Russell Dwayne Carroway and 31-year-old Devin Tyler Pellerin, both of Sprague River, are suspected in the killing of 47-year old Robert T. Hein of Bellingham, Washington.
Tuesday, Hein’s body was found by a hunter near the Sprague River. The exact cause of death was not made public.
The investigation is ongoing, and OSP is asking anyone with information about this case to contact the OSP Southern Command Center dispatch at 800-442-2068 or by calling *OSP (*677) from a mobile phone. You are asked to reference case number SP25-414701.
Just as a metaphor, I’m remembering iconic photos like the ones of hippies offering flowers to men in uniforms with guns. Let’s follow through with the “hate can never drive out hate, only love can do that” quote we see quite often, but don’t always practice. Let’s make this city so filled with love and positive energy that those being sent here can’t help but feel disarmed by the welcoming atmosphere and peaceful vibes.
PORTLAND, OR – According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Oregon, Michael John Peters, 42, of Portland, has been charged with stealing mail from condominium and apartment complexes in Northwest and Southwest Portland.
Court documents indicate that from May to September of this year Peters used counterfeit or modified postal keys to access mailboxes on at least 12 occasions. Authorities said U.S. postal inspectors, who working with the Portland Police Bureau, executed a federal search warrant on September 23rd at an apartment in the Pearl District that Peters rented using a stolen identity. In the apartment, investigators said they found evidence of identity theft, which included approximately 300 pieces of mail that were not addressed to Peters, false identification documents, stolen identity documents, and counterfeit checks.
Peters made his first appearance before a U.S. magistrate judge in federal court on September 25th. The judge ordered him detained pending further court proceedings.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A local program is helping seniors and people with disabilities escape homelessness.
Their innovative work recently earned them a National Aging Innovations Award.
Rebecca Baker once danced at concerts and played in the symphony. However, after losing her mobile home to fire, she faced homelessness.
“The wiring wasn’t updated, so it burned down. It burned about 10 minutes,” Baker said.
She walked away with nothing. Her antiques, cherished viola and other items were gone. Without insurance or extra savings, she couldn’t afford rent.
A former nonprofit case manager herself, Baker turned to Multnomah County’s Homeless Mobile Intake Team for help:
“I can’t say enough good stuff about being here. It’s wonderful. The food is really good. Get services that I never had before,” Baker said.
Baker now lives in a North Portland assisted living center, thanks to the help she received.
In just three years, the team has helped more than 300 seniors and disabled adults connect to long-term care.
“Homelessness is not a one-fits-all cookie-cutter. There are many different situations, different life circumstances, personal circumstances,” Baker said.
Case manager Catalina Cloud said that with rents rising and senior homelessness growing, the need is only increasing.
She wants people to recognize the importance of these services and help ensure they are sustained long-term.
“We work with a trauma-informed care approach. The county and the State of Oregon make sure that we always keep that in mind or that we work with that approach,” Cloud said.
Baker is now safe and settled, turning her house into a home.
“I plan to stay here as long as possible, as long as god sees fit,” Baker said.
The program is funded mainly by county and state taxpayer dollars.
It also depends on nonprofit partners and public donations of money, time, and essentials like socks and blankets to keep going.
City and state elected officials say the Trump administration has deployed additional federal agents to Portland’s ICE facility. The news came at an emergency press conference on Friday evening, where Portland Mayor Keith Wilson announced that the “rumors about deployment” of national law enforcement “became a reality” today, after a week of escalating rhetoric out of the White House.
Wilson said the city has confirmed sightings of armored federal law enforcement vehicles and agents on Portland’s streets. It’s unclear how many officers have been dispatched to Portland and which agencies they represent. Wilson and other elected officials and community leaders urged Portlanders not to “take the bait” from the Trump administration, encouraging calm and nonviolent protest.
“[Trump’s] goal is to make Portland look like what he’s been describing it as,” Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley said. “Right now, President Trump has one goal. He wants to induce a violent exchange. Let us not grant him that wish. Let us be the force of orderly, peaceful protest, celebrating our rights as Americans to express ourselves and say no to an authoritarian president.”
Local leaders held a press conference at a church in Northeast Portland. taylor griggs
Trump has made various references to Portland in recent weeks, along with threats to send federal troops to the city. During a press conference Thursday, he falsely suggested anti-ICE protesters are burning Portland down, adding he planned to “get out there and…do a pretty big number” on those protesting.
Earlier on Friday evening, US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced plans to send Department of Justice agents to ICE facilities around the US to “safeguard federal agents, protect federal property, and immediately arrest all individuals engaged in any federal crime.”
The ramped up federal response comes just days after a deadly shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas, Texas.
Portland police, for their part, have largely remained on the sidelinesWilson says Portland police are instructed to use “high standards” and “clear guidelines,” mostly staying out of clashes between protesters and federal cops, but interceding when there is “violence or vandalism.”
A few people began shouting over the speakers at the end of Friday’s press conference, calling on local leaders to take more drastic action against the Trump administration and the federal agents deployed in Portland.
“What are you going to do about it?” one person asked. “All of you showed up here to look like a show of force, but you happen to do jack for the community. When are you going to step up?”
Portland leaders repeatedly stated their disdain for Trump’s deployment of federal officers to the city, saying their presence is not needed or welcome.
“I see no operational [or] legal reason for an increase in federal agents on the streets of Portland,” Portland City Councilor Eric Zimmerman said at Friday’s press conference. Our police, our fire and our rescue are dealing with all of the normal calls that a major metropolitan city faces. Our shootings are down. Our violent crime is down. Please continue to let Portland leaders lead, we have no need for federal assistance at this time.”
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — County officials have advanced plans to open a new homeless shelter in Gresham.
With a unanimous vote on Thursday, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners approved a lease agreement for a motel on 24124 S.E. Stark St. The property will serve unsheltered families, offering 53 units when it opens this fall or winter.
“Motels are a trauma-informed shelter option, especially for families,” Homeless Services Department Interim Director Anna Plumb said. “A parent who’s had to work all day can get a good night’s sleep so they’re well-rested when they go back to work the next day. If a child is sick, they have a bed to sleep in and recover… That private, comfortable and safe space can make a world of difference for a family going through a period of instability.”
The shelter will cost about $1.26 million in its first year of operations.
The county previously proposed Cook Plaza, located on 19421 S.E. Stark St., as the site for the new shelter. The plaza previously held an Oregon unemployment office, but officials purchased it in September 2024 with the plan of utilizing it as a “village-style shelter.”
County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon issued a 90-day pause on plans to remodel the space earlier this summer. Gresham Councilor Cathy Keathley had expressed issues with the proposal, noting that the city already has several other shelters and other East Multnomah County communities could benefit from a new site.
But according to the recent announcement, East County families are in need of a shelter after the Homeless Services Department terminated its contract with another family shelter operator.
The county also cited 211info, which found that 20% of people who were on the family shelter waitlist in Fiscal Year 2023 requested a Gresham shelter. Data also show that 42.9% of the homeless families who contacted 211info from April 2024 to March 2025 were registered to ZIP codes that overlapped Gresham and other East County cities.
Portland, Ore. – After the President’s remarks that he would take action against protesters he believes are “burning down Portland every night,” reports now of an increased federal presence in the city. Talking to reporters in the Oval Office Thursday, President Trump said, “We’re going to do a pretty big number on those people in Portland.”
Friday night, at a hastily organized press conference, Mayor Keith Wilson announced, “We now have a sudden influx of federal agents in our city.” He went on to say, “They are here without clear precedent or purpose.” Wilson also described reports of armored vehicles around the ICE building on Portland’s South Waterfront. U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said, “President Trump seems to be following through on his federal conversation about sending forces to Portland.” Merkley went on to say it’s still unclear how many are coming and which service or agency they are from, “Is it Federal Protective Services? Has he organized National Guard to come from other states?”
Wilson and Merkley were joined Friday night by U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, the Multnomah County Chair, several Portland City Councilors, faith leaders and others, who all shared the same message: “Don’t take the bait.” Several speakers reiterated the request for Portlanders to continue to protest peacefully and legally, but asked they not give the Administration any reason to escalate the situation.
This is a developing story and will be updated if more information becomes available.
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — After seeing increased signs of federal presence at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, multiple public officials held an emergency press conference.
The event took place at Westminster Presbyterian Church and featured Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, Senator Jeff Merkley, Rep. Maxine Dexter and others.
“We now have a sudden influx of federal agents in our city. We did not ask for them to come,” Wilson said. “If the federal government isn’t here to lend us a hand, take a hike…It’s just a big show.”
“The president has sent agents here to create chaos and riots in Portland,” Merkley added. “(Trump) wants to induce a violent exchange. Let’s not grant him that wish…Say no to an authoritarian president.”
Pastor J.W. Matt Hennesee, Pastor Mark Knutson, Portland Metro Chamber Chair Michael Liu, Portland City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney, Multnomah County Board Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and Jessica Maravilla of the ACLU Oregon were also in attendance at the press conference, organized within an hour’s notice.
The press conference comes amid reports of more federal agents seen in Portland, including some reportedly driving through the streets of downtown.
“Trump wants us divided and distracted from his failure to govern,” Dexter said. “Anyone who uses this horrific show of force as an excuse to hurt people or damage our home does not have this community’s best interest at heart…We will not escalate.”
Earlier Friday, Oregon lawmakers also sounded the alarm for what they said is the alleged mistreatment of detainees at the Portland ICE facility in a separate press event attended by some of the same leaders.
Midway through the press conference, someone in the crowd could be heard saying, “They are going to escalate anyway. The protest has always been peaceful, but they tackled a pregnant woman…they have caused three miscarriages in the apartment building from the (ICE) facility from their poisonous gas.”
At the end of the presser, a couple of people in the crowd began yelling at officials.
“I have been emailing you for months. When are you going to step up?” one protester said.
KOIN 6 News reached out to the Department of Homeland Security to ask whether they could confirm more federal agents had arrived in Portland. We have not heard back yet.
The entire press conference can be viewed in the video player above.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Multnomah County is bracing for widespread impacts after state and federal cuts left a $32 million gap in its homeless services budget — a 9% drop from last year.
County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson called the reductions “a blow to our safety net and the essential services,” warning that the impacts will be felt across the community.
Anna Plumb, Director of the Homeless Services Department, told the board of Commissioners during a “budget rebalance” meeting on Sep. 25, “We do not have enough funding to sustain the system that we’ve built out to support our community.”
The projected cuts come after the county green-lit a $4 billion budget amid a $15.5 million spending gap in the County’s General Fund in June 2025 — the largest shortfall in a decade, according to officials.
Much of the deficit comes from the state. The county originally budgeted for nearly $54 million in state dollars this year but received less than half — just $26 million.
“There’s not a good place to cut homeless services,” Commissioner Shannon Singleton added. “The loss of housing placement dollars is a significant blow to the system and our ability to actually end people’s homelessness.”
Without intervention, officials warn they could lose 214 shelter beds, cut off rent assistance for nearly 670 people, and eliminate nearly 900 new housing placements.
“These impacts are connected to real people, not just dollars,” Singleton said. “These dollars are connected to a family being able to have a safe place to sleep; someone transitioning out of homelessness to get employment services; whether someone gets treatment when they are ready to get clean and sober or spiraling into hopelessness.”
This year, state funding allocated to help run the county’s shelter program was cut by 55%. The reduction comes after the county reported serving 9,000 people in shelters, with 22% moving on to permanent housing last year.
Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards said, “It’s all the things we know we probably need more of rather than less of being impacted.”
According to the county, emergency rent assistance is expected to shrink by more than 65% this year.
To avoid people losing housing, the department is proposing to backfill $20 million to keep shelters open, using a mix of state dollars and shifted funds from the planned East County Resource Center project.
Leaders also suggest using more than $5 million in capital funds to keep about 600 people already receiving assistance stably housed, though that comes at the cost of fewer new placements this year.
“We anticipated serving 1,015 people with new placements into housing, across rapid rehousing and long-term housing. With the amount we have now, it would support about 150 — a loss of 873 new placements,” Plumb explained.
“I’m so nervous about the future and our inability to have resources available,” Commissioner Meghan Moyer added. “I’m already wanting to think strategically about the 2027 budget, and not having a cliff that is devastating.”
Although officials say the plan buys time, by 2027, the county faces an even steeper drop — an $83 million gap once one-time money runs out.
“I don’t think we’re going to be able to avoid having a cliff in FY 27,” Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said. “So this is the moment where we have to be aligning our strategies, our investments, our goals, our priorities, our values, with our partners in these systems, so that we are being as smart and strategic as we can about the reality we’re all facing in terms of revenue and dollars.”
For now, county leaders say the focus is keeping shelters open and people housed. The Board of Commissioners will continue public work sessions before voting on the rebalanced budget October 16.
It might not have a name yet, but the realization of the much-ballyhooed mid-sized music venue by Portland’s Monqui Presents and AEG Presents is well underway at the corner of Northeast 9th and Multnomah.
Demolition at the site of the former Nordstrom inside the 1.472 million square foot footprint of Lloyd Center Mall has been ongoing since June. The construction denotes an unofficial race to complete a midsized music venue ahead of beleaguered concert promoter Live Nation and their ticketing platform Ticketmaster.
The Lloyd Center site boasts a huge amount of practical pluses for the project’s promoters, as well as for the eventual throngs of music heads beckoned to the venue’s doors when it opens in early 2027. As Monqui’s Mike Quinn explains, the site’s coveted CX zoning designation—intended to provide for commercial and mixed use development within Portland’s most urban areas—negates the need for special use permitting or zoning changes, allowing for established area infrastructure to boost the appeal of the site when it opens.
“The parking structure to the north of us is gonna stay up and that’s 1,200-1,500 spots,” reports Quinn. “There’s tons of surface parking at night there. You’ve got MAX there. You’ve got room for rideshare. You’ve got bike paths. You’ve got the bus. We’re right off I-5 [and I-84]. It’s a great area for all of that.”
Rendering of new Monqui/AEG venue in Lloyd Center.
Upon completion, the as-yet-unnamed venue will span 68,000 square feet, utilizing the old Nordstrom basement, which Quinn says will be used for catering, dressing rooms, storage, and production offices. The interior will provide flexible seating for 2,000 to 4,250 attendees, with a general admission floor for 2,000, as well as a mezzanine and modular stadium seating in the back of the venue to allow for the remaining capacity goals.
Released artist renderings of the venue have thus far only shown exterior drawings; the details of interior plans are still ongoing between the project’s design firm—Works Progress Architecture—and the Monqui/AEG teams. Those familiar with WPA’s Denver, Colorado Mission Ballroom venue will have a good idea of what the final product may resemble, albeit with functional and aesthetic tweaks.
“The Mission was the first of [its kind] that was built, so there’s a lot of improvement that the Portland venue will see based on years of operation at the Mission,” says Quinn. “What’s good, what’s bad, what works, what doesn’t, what could be better. That will all be factored into Portland.”
Discussions around interior details like materials and finishes are advancing and largely budget-driven, though Quinn says most of the color templates and palates are figured out. The eventual name of the venue, Quinn says, is bound to inform those details once it’s decided on.
What Portland needs in a midsized music venue—essentially the sweet spot between theater-sized venues in the 900-1,300 capacity range and the much larger arena-sized shows like those at Moda Center (a Live Nation venue)—has been a goal of Quinn’s for nearly a decade. Working with the AEG offices in Denver and Seattle—owned by Colorado billionaire Phil Anschutz—has proven to be a synergistic partnership, one that Quinn feels confident will yield a top-tier destination for artists and productions of all kinds to Portland’s Eastside.
The rival Live Nation venue project scored a victory in June after Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals greenlit the development of a parcel of land along Water Avenue in Portland’s Southeast Industrial area, despite vocal concerns around public safety and benefit to the area. That project’s $50 million scope will boast a 62,000 square foot venue, developed by local firms Beam Construction & Management and Colas Development Group. The concert promoter is still mired in the throes of a lawsuit brought on by the U.S. Department of Justice and 39 states, including Oregon, for alleged anti-competitive practices.
Calls to halt the progress of the project were spurred on by locals Double Tee Concerts, MusicPortland, and others, drawing a virtual line in the sand between more homegrown Portland promoters and the monopolistic bent of Live Nation. The site on Water Avenue required developers to seek a conditional use permit from the City. Conditional use permits are required for projects on land that may have adverse impacts on the surrounding area including desired character or appearance, public infrastructure, transportation networks.
Despite the perceived rivalry between the Monqui/AEG venue and Live Nation’s venue, Quinn’s optimism around the site of his eventual business venture supersedes the noise. “I wish there was just one [midsized venue being built],” says Quinn. “There’s not much we can do about it; we just think we’re gonna have [the] better venue. I hate to keep comparing, but on Water Avenue, you’ve got the train—we don’t have the train [up at Lloyd].”
Union Pacific freight trains rumbling through the Southeast Industrial neighborhood can often approach a near-immobile state, halting foot, bike, and car traffic for upwards of an hour. “Seventy minutes is my record,” says Quinn. “You see people walking over the train sometimes.”
This same Southeast Industrial area is where Quinn and Monqui’s other music venue construction is ongoing, albeit east of the train tracks. Doug Fir’s location on Southeast Morrison Street in the former Le Bistro Montage space has been facing continual permitting issues with the City and the Portland Bureau of Transportation, along with challenging fees. Quinn says that despite the continued frustrations that have arisen from the delays at Doug Fir, the issuing of building permits in June has driven the project forward.
“We got our structural steel order, so once that gets in place and is installed, we can apply a proper timeline for reopening, because it’s been kind of nebulous,” says Quinn. “But once the steel goes in, that predicates a lot of the finishes and the work after that we can do. It’s been an arduous journey.”
As for the new Lloyd Center venture, it’s too early to start booking artists or placing holds on dates, especially for the venue’s inaugural show, though Quinn says there has been plenty of interest. “We’ve had bands and managers approach us, and I know we’re interested in some local [and] regional Portland stuff,” says Quinn. “We’re looking to open first quarter ‘27, or April or May ‘27. That’s still a long way out for a lot of touring bands.”
In the meantime, you’ll mostly see a lot of construction in that zone of the Lloyd Center. The eyesore promises to be a boon to the area once completed.
Construction at NE 9th & Multnomah. RYAN PRADO
“We’re just psyched that we found this good location,” says Quinn. “We’ve done the rounds with the various neighborhood associations and business groups, and everybody is super psyched.”
USDA has issued a recall for ready-to-eat pasta meals due to listeria contamination.
WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Department of Agriculture is issuing a public health alert that some ready-to-eat pasta meals may be contaminated. According to the department, some packages of Marketside Linguini With Beef Meatballs and Marinara Sauce may be contaminated with Listeria, and the affected product was shipped to Walmart locations nationwide.
The pre-cooked pasta is packaged in 12-ounce clear plastic trays.
USDA has issued a recall for ready-to-eat pasta meals due to listeria contamination.
The agency advises customers not to consume the pasta and throw it away or return it to the store of purchase.
NEW YORK (AP) — Nexstar Media Group joined Sinclair Broadcast Group in bringing Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show back to its local TV stations on Friday night, ending a dayslong TV blackout for dozens of cities across the U.S.
The companies suspended the program over remarks the comedian made in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing. The move means “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will return to local TV on Nexstar’s ABC affiliates in 28 cities, along with the 38 stations where Sinclair agreed to restore the show.
The show will also return to Sinclair’s local TV markets from Seattle to Washington, D.C.
Disney-owned ABC suspended Kimmel on Sept. 17, following threats of potential repercussions from the Trump-appointed head of the Federal Communications Commission. Sinclair also condemned the host — confirming that it would stop airing the show the same day.
The Maryland-based broadcast giant, which is known for conservative political content, called on Kimmel at the time to apologize to Kirk’s family — and taking it a step further, asked him to “make a meaningful personal donation” to Turning Point USA, the nonprofit that Kirk founded.
On the day Kirk was killed, Kimmel shared a message of support for Kirk’s family and other victims of gun violence on social media, which he reiterated during his Tuesday return to ABC. He had also called the conservative activist’s assassination a “senseless murder” prior to being taken off air.
Kimmel’s original comments didn’t otherwise focus on Kirk. He instead lambasted President Donald Trump and his administration’s response to the killing. The comedian did not apologize on Tuesday, but did say “it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man” and acknowledged that to some, his comments “felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.”
He also used a blend of humor and pointed messages to emphasize the importance of free speech.
Even after Disney brought Kimmel back to its national airways, both Sinclair and Nexstar continued to preempt the show.
New episodes of the show air Monday through Thursday. Friday night’s rerun will be of Tuesday’s show — so viewers of Sinclair stations can see Kimmel’s emotional return to the air.
In its statement Friday, Sinclair pointed to its “responsibility as local broadcasters to provide programming that serves the interests of our communities, while also honoring our obligations to air national network programming.”
The company, which operates 38 ABC-affiliated stations, added that it had received “thoughtful feedback from viewers, advertisers and community leaders representing a wide range of perspectives,” and noticed “troubling acts of violence,” referencing the shooting into the lobby of a Sacramento station.
“These events underscore why responsible broadcasting matters and why respectful dialogue between differing voices remains so important,” Sinclair added.
As a result of Sinclair and Nexstar’s boycott, viewers in cities representing roughly a quarter of ABC’s local TV affiliates had been left without the late-night program on local TV. The blackouts escalated nationwide uproar around First Amendment protections — particularly as the Trump administration and other conservatives police speech after Kirk’s killing. They also cast a spotlight on political influence in the media landscape, with critics lambasting companies that they accuse of censoring content.
Ahead of his suspension, Kimmel took aim at the president and his “MAGA gang” of supporters for their response to Kirk’s killing, which Kimmel said included “finger-pointing” and attempts to characterize the alleged shooter as “anything other than one of them.”
These remarks angered many supporters of Kirk — as well as FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who accused Kimmel of appearing to “directly mislead the American public” with his remarks about the man accused of the killing. Ahead of Kimmel’s suspension, Carr warned that Disney and ABC’s local affiliates could face repercussions if the comedian was not punished.
He later applauded Sinclair, as well as Nexstar, for their decisions to preempt the show.
On Sept. 17, Sinclair Vice Chairman Jason Smith called Kimmel’s comments “inappropriate and deeply insensitive” and said that ABC’s suspension wasn’t enough. Smith added that Sinclair appreciated Carr’s comments — and called for “immediate regulatory action” from the FCC “to address control held over local broadcasters by the big national networks.”
Still, in Friday’s announcement, Sinclair maintained that its decision to preempt Kimmel’s show was “independent of any government interaction or influence,” Sinclair’s statement Friday read, adding that broadcasters had the right to exercise their own judgment.
While local TV affiliates broadcast their own programming, such as local news, they also contract with larger national broadcasters — and pay them to air their national content, splitting advertising revenue and fees from cable companies.
Sinclair said “constructive” discussions with ABC were ongoing, and said its proposals to the network to strengthen accountability, feedback and dialogue and appoint an ombudsman had not yet been adopted.
Representatives for ABC declined to comment on Friday.
Matthew Dolgin, senior equity analyst at research firm Morningstar, said he wasn’t surprised by Sinclair’s decision.
“The relationship with Disney is far too important for these firms to risk,” Dolgin said. And setting aside legal rights from either side, he added, “Disney would’ve been free to take its affiliate agreements elsewhere in 2026 if these relationships were too difficult. That scenario would be devastating to Nexstar and Sinclair.”
