🌧️ Hoping for rain

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2026 · ISSUE NO. 16

📜 THIS WEEK IN OREGON HISTORY

August 7, 1959 - A truck filled with two tons of dynamite and four tons of ammonium nitrate caught fire and exploded on the edge of downtown Roseburg. The Blast, as it came to be known, killed 14 people and injured over 100 others. Numerous buildings were demolished in the blast, and many others within a 30-block radius had to be torn down due to damage from the explosion.

Oregon is about to see a new record holder for the largest wildfire in state history. The Big Grass Fire has burned 513,000 acres across Oregon and Idaho and is approaching the size of 2012’s Long Draw Fire, which burned 557,000 acres across Oregon and Nevada. (More)

Prior to a city council meeting in Salem, during which discussions around a proposed $5.1b data center were on the docket, someone showed up outside the building with a real-life guillotine. Representatives for the data center company left the meeting, citing safety concerns. (More)

The historic Timberline Lodge in Government Camp is getting evacuated due to the encroaching Grasshopper Fire…was the headline getting shared among national news outlets last week. While it is true that the lodge was under a Level 1 evacuation notice, no one had to evacuate, and the lodge was never in any serious risk of burning. (More)

A local response group managed to free a humpback whale that had become badly tangled in old fishing gear outside of Newport. Unfortunately, the whale sustained injuries to its jaw, which made its likelihood of survival very low. (More)

As if this wildfire season already hasn’t been bad enough from lightning strikes. An Ontario man was indicted by a grand jury for starting 15 wildfires in Eastern Oregon that burned thousands of acres of rangeland. (More)

Portlanders bid farewell to the Lloyd Center over the weekend as the mall ended its 66-year run. While the mall has sat as a shell of its former self for years now, locals reminisced over the good times and watched skaters take the ice for one last show. Development now begins on a new mixed-use neighborhood in the mall’s former footprint. (More)

Back in July, it was reported that cyber attacks hit a number of municipalities’ water systems across the upper Midwest. Now we have confirmation that Oregon was impacted, as hackers gained access to at least one water district’s systems. It has not been revealed which district was impacted, and no water safety notices were issued. (More)

In which Oregon city were Tater Tots invented?

Answer at the bottom of today’s newsletter

🛒 PDX Adult Soapbox Derby

One of the most Portland-y events of the year takes place this weekend on the slopes of Mt. Tabor as the soapbox derby takes to the road. If you’ve never been, this is one event that I highly recommend checking out! It features teams racing down the course in their homemade soapbox derby cars that, I must say, are impressively creative. Get there early to grab a seat along the course.

🇳🇴 Junction City Scandinavian Festival

Velkommen to Junction City for a weekend celebrating its Scandinavian heritage. Watch out for the trolls, dance around the maypole, and feast on some aebleskivers and lefse. I’d recommend politely passing, though, if someone offers you some lutefisk (IYKYK).

🌽 Aumsville Corn Festival

Hot buttered corn! The corn parade! Fresh corn for sale! Corn-eating contests! This one-day event in Aumsville truly has it all (and by all, I mean all the corn).

🎸 Capital City Retro Fest

Head to the Gerry Frank Amphitheater in Salem for three family-friendly days of music that sounds familiar, but just a little different. The lineup at this music fest includes tribute bands to Def Leppard (Hysteria), Fleetwood Mac (Taken by the Sky), Red Hot Chili Peppers (Red Not Chili Peppers), Foo Fighters (Fighting Foos), and more.

🎡 Umatilla County Fair

We’ve got three county fairs on tap this weekend, with all of them located around the middle part of the state.

🎻 Sunriver Music Festival

Sunriver kicked off its 49th annual music festival this week. Concerts showcasing some amazing classical music talent will be taking place between Sunriver and the Tower Theatre in Bend.

🎻 Siletz Bay Music Festival

And out on the coast, another 10-day-long music festival kicks off with the Siletz Bay Music Fest. Like the Sunriver Music Festival, this one also features a wide selection of concerts, including a free family concert at Schooner Creek Discovery Park next weekend on the 22nd.

We’ve made the drive from Bend to Crane Hot Springs a few times now, and it never gets old driving through miles of sagebrush before seeing the steam from the hot springs rising up seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

Crane Hot Springs is located ~25 minutes south of Burns and isn’t your trailside pool that you might find in the Cascades or elsewhere further east.

The resort features a huge hot spring pool (of course), along with private soaking rooms, cabins, teepees, and an RV and tent camping area. This makes the long drive a little more palatable as you can set up camp for a day or two and enjoy the hot springs 24/7.

We’ve stayed in the teepees in the past (even in the middle of winter), and they feature their own tubs, which can be filled with the hot mineral waters from the springs. But there is nothing better than heading out to the main pool in the middle of the night, floating on your back, and staring up at the millions of stars in this incredibly dark stretch of night sky.