OPB’s First Look: I-5 closure FAQ

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

Good morning, Northwest.

The I-5 closure looming large in the minds of Portland-area commuters begins tonight.

To begin today’s newsletter, OPB’s Riley Martinez answers common questions about how the southbound shutdown of a two-mile stretch of freeway could affect you.

Today is also the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon. We share how Oregonians plan to mark the somber occasion.

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

— Bradley W. Parks

Top story

4 things to know ahead of I-5 closure through Portland

Starting late tonight, all southbound lanes of I-5 through Portland’s Rose Quarter will be closed for five weeks, worsening traffic for commuters and commercial vehicles traveling near one of the city’s major transportation arteries.

The Oregon Department of Transportation is using the all-day closures to repair a 2-mile stretch of the highway, replacing the road’s concrete surface for the first time since 1985. It’s also retrofitting the highway south of the Moda Center to be earthquake ready.

The looming closures are already challenging local businesses as they prepare for what ODOT spokesperson Rose Gerber called “some of the worst traffic this region has seen in some time.”

Here are four things to know ahead of the closure. (Riley Martinez)

Learn More

3 things to know

• Across the state, Oregonians will mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with ceremonies, honor guards, blood drives and community service. Tualatin Valley firefighters are also traveling to New York to attend a national commemoration. (Holly Bartholomew)
• Hexagon Energy, a company known for solar power and renewable projects in other parts of the country, said yesterday it’s investing in geothermal energy in Oregon and Washington. (Courtney Sherwood)
• Tareq Zakarneh, a Palestinian resident of Vancouver, Washington, remains in immigration detention in Arizona a day after he was set to be deported to the West Bank. He told OPB that ICE agents beat him after he refused to board the flight on Wednesday. (Elena Neale-Sacks)

Northwest headlines

• Oregon lawmakers approve $1.25 million for more ballot drop boxes (Lauren Dake)
• Kotek’s push against data centers unlikely to slow expansion in Eastern Oregon, local officials say (Antonio Sierra)
• Fight over Winchester Dam near Roseburg reaches Gov. Kotek’s office (Zac Ziegler, KLCC)
• Washington, Oregon sue to prevent federal changes that would undercut Endangered Species Act (Sarah Mizes-Tan, KUOW & KNKX)
• Affordable Care Act insurance costs to rise steeply again in Washington (Jake Goldstein-Street, Washington State Standard)

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):

• How did 9/11 change the US and what it means to be an American?

One more look

For the Jewish new year, a Portland Torah study group asks ‘queer’ questions of ancient texts

For many Jewish people, the Rosh Hashana holiday is a time for familiar rituals: hearing the Shofar, a traditional horn, eating apples and honey, and revisiting ancient passages of the Torah.

At congregation Shir Tikvah in Portland, a Torah study group has been returning to those same texts with a different set of questions for several years.

But unlike most other Torah studies, this group is one of a handful in Oregon that approaches the text through a queer lens. (Lillian Karabaic)

Learn More

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