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Good morning, Northwest.

Last year, the St. Helens School District launched an investigation into St. Helens High School teachers Eric Stearns and Mark Collins, who were arrested for sexually abusing students. Their arrests threw both the district and the wider St. Helens community into turmoil.

The investigative report was completed on Feb. 7, but school district officials have since blocked its release.

In today’s newsletter, I’ll begin with OPB reporter Joni Auden Land’s coverage of the report’s findings. OPB obtained a copy of the report after petitioning the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office.

I’ll also share an audio postcard from OPB’s Alejandro Figueroa at the Oregon State Fair, featuring the people competing to grow the largest onion or the best tomatoes — and the man who judges them.

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

— Winston Szeto

St. Helens High School leaders failed to act on claims of abuse for years, report finds

Nearly five years before police arrested choir teacher Eric Stearns for sexually abusing multiple students, the vice principal at St. Helens High School wrote to Principal Katy Wagner that Stearns likely committed similar acts before.

One month later, Wagner issued an investigative report finding that math teacher Mark Collins had “physically touched students in the upper back, neck, or leg area.”

In both cases, Wagner and other St. Helens High School leadership failed to notify law enforcement, the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Teachers Standards and Practices Commission — all actions required by state law. Both Stearns and Collins are awaiting trial on sexual abuse charges.

These and other findings are included in a report commissioned by the St. Helens School District board in December 2024, with the goal of finding whether high school staff had violated policy in handling reports of suspected abuse.

That report was completed Feb. 7. School district officials fought its release, but OPB obtained a copy Friday after petitioning the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office. (Joni Auden Land)

Learn more

5 things to know this morning

• Every year, the Oregon State Fair draws thousands of people who come for the rides, fried foods of all sorts, the music and livestock competitions. And some Oregonians come to showcase their fruits, vegetables and flowers in the hopes of landing a blue ribbon at the farm and garden competition. (Alejandro Figueroa)

• The Trump administration argues tariffs will create manufacturing jobs in the U.S., but some company leaders in Oregon say import taxes are driving up the cost of parts while demand falls. (Kyra Buckley)

• Oregon’s transportation-focused special session broke down before it could get moving yesterday. As planned, lawmakers descended on the Capitol to take up a contentious question: Whether to pass a package of tax hikes that will put more than $5.8 billion into road upkeep and public transit over the next decade — and avert hundreds of state workers from being laid off next month. (Dirk VanderHart)

• Amid fears over escalated immigration enforcement, Washington County nonprofit Centro Cultural has decided to transition its annual El Grito celebration of Mexican Independence to an online-only event this year. (Holly Bartholomew)

• Multnomah County is facing allegations that sheriff deputies continued to hold a man in custody for 22 hours after a federal judge ordered his release. The man was later turned over to U.S. Marshals, who transferred him to federal immigration officials. (Conrad Wilson)

Headlines from around the Northwest

• Historic 173-year-old Oregon cemetery finally opens to the public (Joni Auden Land)

• Oregon’s Kotek joins other Democratic governors telling Trump not to mobilize National Guard troops for law enforcement (Lauren Dake)

• Want a campsite on short notice? Search for a horse campsite (Kristian Foden-Vencil)

• Loud, early morning explosion in Bend caused by faulty welder (Ryan Haas)

• Washington state transportation officials reject effort to reshape C-TRAN board (Erik Neumann)

• Beavers host Cal in their season opener, looking to rebound from last year’s rout, while Ducks take on Montana State (John Hill)

Invasive smallmouth bass can eat a surprising number of baby salmon

Invasive smallmouth bass can eat a surprising number of baby salmon.

Biologists say they’re largely to blame for a dramatic crash in the fall Chinook salmon population in the Coquille River on the southern Oregon Coast in 2019.

So, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Coquille Tribe are working together to remove as many of these illegally introduced bass as they can through electrofishing. (Cassandra Profita)

Learn more

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/08/30/opb-first-look-st-helens-sexual-abuse/