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Good morning, Northwest.
Wildfires across Oregon showed little sign of slowing down yesterday. More than a million acres have burned statewide so far this year.
OPB reporters and editors will continue to provide updates on the wildfire situation across the region today. Follow those updates here.
Today’s newsletter starts with a story about people providing aid to farmworkers facing brutal, hot and smoky conditions in Eastern Oregon. OPB’s Monica Carrillo-Casas has the story.
Here’s your First Look at Tuesday’s news.
— Bradley W. Parks
Top story
Wildfire smoke hangs over farmworkers as they work in the onion fields on July 24, 2026 in Ontario, Ore.
Monica Carrillo-Casas / OPB
Aid groups focus on Eastern Oregon farmworkers coping with wildfire smoke
A haze of wildfire smoke hung in the distance as the pungent smell of onions drifted through the air in an Eastern Oregon field on Friday.
Rosa Mendoza was picking onions when a white truck arrived on the far side of the field, kicking up dirt and dust. She stopped her work to walk over, wiping sweat off her forehead.
“We are here out of necessity. We have to work,” Mendoza said in Spanish.
She was among more than a dozen workers greeted by the two men in the truck — Eddie Melendrez and Angel Miranda. They had just arrived with supplies to support workers facing another long day in sweltering conditions.
Air quality warnings from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality have expanded across Oregon this wildfire season. Conditions directly affect farmworkers and others working outdoors.
Melendrez and Miranda have been driving to fields to provide sunscreen, N95 masks and water to workers. (Monica Carrillo-Casas)
Developing story
The Bench Fire burns on the Warm Springs Reservation, seen from Culver, Ore., on July 27, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Oregon wildfires explode with no signs of slowing down
Follow updates on the wildfire situation around the region from OPB reporters and editors.
3 things to know
A cyclist passes before the library building at Southern Oregon University in Ashland.
Carol M. Highsmith via the Library of Congress
- Southern Oregon University has been struggling financially for years. The public university’s doors remain open thanks to emergency, one-time funding from the state. The university must make more steep cuts to balance the budget. (Olivia Sanchez, The Hechinger Report)
- Measles cases are once again on the rise in Clark County. Six new infections were identified on Friday by county health officials. The recent cases total nearly half of all those identified in the Southwest Washington county this year. (Erik Neumann)
- The city at the heart of Oregon’s Silicon Forest became the first in the state to enact a moratorium on new land use applications for data centers. The Hillsboro City Council unanimously adopted the 120-day moratorium at a special meeting yesterday. (Holly Bartholomew)
Northwest headlines
FILE - A Japanese macaque at OHSU’s Oregon National Primate Research Center in Beaverton, Ore., April 17, 2025.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
- Warm Springs reservation evacuates as Bench, Beachcomb fires merge (Jen Baires)
- OHSU board greenlights plan for fewer monkeys in research, investments in alternatives (Amelia Templeton)
- Man shot by border patrol in Portland pleads guilty to depredation of federal property (Conrad Wilson)
- City staffer threatens to sue Portland councilor over alleged retaliatory firing (Alex Zielinski)
Listen in on OPB’s daily conversation
“Think Out Loud” airs at noon and 8 p.m. weekdays on OPB Radio, opb.org and the OPB News app. Today’s planned topics (subject to change):
- Oregon Forestry Department on response to wildfires raging across state
- Trail Blazers relocation threat heightens, as Portland city officials approach Moda Center draft sheet deadline
One more look
Morgan Young rides her horse Lena at the Benton County Fairgrounds as they prepare for the Benton County Larry Bell Memorial All Girls Rodeo on Tuesday, July 14, 2026.
High School Journalism Institute
Women across the Pacific Northwest compete in the Larry Bell Memorial All Girls Rodeo
On a sweltering Tuesday morning in July, Morgan Young, 27, leads her horse Lena through their training at the Benton County Fairgrounds.
She mounts and begins to ride around the track, Lena twisting around three barrels. Young is preparing for the Larry Bell Memorial All Girls Rodeo tomorrow.
There are not that many opportunities for women to take the spotlight in competitive rodeo.
Women from across the Pacific Northwest will travel to Corvallis to compete because it is one of the only all-girls rodeos in the region.
During the Larry Bell Memorial rodeo, women showcase their skills in seven different events, including barrel racing, team roping, and ranch, bronc and bull riding.
This story was produced by student reporters as part of the High School Journalism Institute, an annual collaboration among The Oregonian/OregonLive, Oregon State University and other Oregon media organizations. (Sylvia Thorp, Astoria High School and Ricardo Tuz Aviles, McDaniel High School)
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