🤠 The Roundup comes to Pendleton

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2026 · ISSUE NO. 21

📜 THIS WEEK IN OREGON HISTORY

September 9-18, 1984 - Back in July, we told you about the Rajneeshees buying the Big Muddy Ranch. Here's the darker chapter of that story, which began 42 years ago this week. Hoping to swing a county election by keeping voters home sick, followers of the Bhagwan contaminated salad bars at ten restaurants in The Dalles with salmonella. The first wave of illness ran September 9 through 18, and by the time it was over, 751 people had been sickened and 45 hospitalized. Miraculously, no one died. It remains the first and largest bioterrorism attack in U.S. history.

Portlanders are feeling the impacts of the I-5 closure this week as backups have stretched well north of the Rose Quarter, and alternative routes have seen heavier-than-normal traffic. Overall, though, it seems that folks have done a good job of heeding the warnings, which has so far prevented gridlock-type scenarios. (More)

Sad news as a firefighter passed away from their injuries sustained while battling the Austin Wildfire in the Mount Hood National Forest. The wildfire was human-caused and serves as a grim reminder of disregarding the seasonal fire closures. (More)

Two Oregon lawmakers, a Republican from Douglas County and a Democrat from Portland, are planning on putting together a bill next year that would ban Flock cameras statewide. These AI-powered cameras track license plates and have become a hot-button topic around privacy. (More)

A Supreme Court ruling will allow Oregon’s vote-by-mail process to proceed as normal for this upcoming election. And on that note, the state recently approved $1.25m in emergency funding to add more official ballot drop boxes and improve ballot tracking for this year’s election. (More)

It sounds like Major League Baseball is eyeing a round of expansion, and Portland is supposedly on the shortlist of options. The city has potential funding and a stadium site lined up on the South Waterfront. Now they’ve just gotta find a potential owner to bankroll the expansion. (More)

Over the next 10 years, Providence is slated to receive some big checks from Nike founder Phil & Penny Knight, as they have committed to a $1.1b gift to the hospital. Plans for the money include a new women’s health tower at their St. Vincent campus, along with the tools to provide new treatments at their heart center. (More)

It certainly hasn’t been the start to the season that many had hoped for the University of Oregon football team. After squeaking out a victory in week 1, the Ducks lost to Oklahoma State (a team that only managed to win one game last season). Eek. (More)

The Pendleton Round-Up's two-word slogan has been its rallying cry since the early days. What is it?

Answer at the bottom of today’s newsletter

🤠 Pendleton Round-Up

Pick out your best cowboy boots and hat as its time for the Roundup in Pendleton. The festivities have already kicked off for the week and run through Saturday.

🍺 Mt Angel Oktoberfest

Cowboy boots not your style? How about a pair of lederhosen instead? Oregon’s largest Oktoberfest celebration takes over Mt. Angel this weekend.

🏔 Oregon Alpenfest

Did someone say lederhosen?? Head to the “Swiss Alps” of Oregon for the annual Oregon Alpenfest in Joseph.

🍻 Bend Oktoberfest

*Ok, I promise this is my last lederhosen reference* Did someone say lederhosen, again??? The Deschutes Historical Museum will be looking more like Bavaria on Saturday for its annual Oktoberfest celebration.

🥔 Tater Tot Fest

Remember a few weeks back when the trivia question was centered around tater tots? If so, you might just be enough of a tater tot fan to make the drive out to Ontario to party at the birthplace of these tasty, crispy potato bites.

🍈 Winston-Dillard Melon Festival

Celebrate the waning days of summer with a good old-fashioned melon festival. The schedule calls for an exploding melon on Saturday…hopefully that isn’t one of those exploding whale situations.

🏰 Seaside SandFest

Come see the sandcastle masters at work at Seaside’s annual SandFest. And for folks who want to get their hands dirty, the fest has a learning area where you can get a free lesson on building your own fabulous sand creation.

🐙 Portland Weird Fest

This fest is doing its best to keep the Keep Portland Weird slogan alive. Expect weird performers, weird beer, weird bands, and a chicken beauty contest.

🏄 Cape Kiwanda Longboard Classic

Come watch as folks brave enough to endure the coast’s chilly waters will be competing to see who can catch the best wave under the shadow of Pacific City’s Haystack Rock.

There are scenic drives, and there are scenic drives where you come home with forty pounds of apples. The Hood River Fruit Loop is the second kind, with 35 miles of country road winding from the town of Hood River south through the valley to Parkdale and back.

The valley has been growing fruit since the 1850s, and today more than 14,000 acres of pears, apples, and cherries blanket it, making this one of the world's leading pear-growing regions. The Loop itself, organized back in 1992 to help family farms survive, strings together around 30 stops: fruit stands, u-pick orchards, bakeries, cideries, and wineries.

For our family, this trip is an annual pilgrimage as we load up the back of the car with enough apples and pears to provide a winter’s worth of apple sauce, apples, apple pie filling…(you get the picture).

Here are three of our favorite stops: