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Two brothers who’ve been buying up properties in Battle Ground over the past few years have made another purchase — the town’s only newspaper — and it’s generated concern in the community.

The Reflector, a 117-year-old paper, is now owned by Camden and Mac Spiller, who own a fast-growing electrical infrastructure company. The two have also acquired roughly 30 other properties in Battle Ground, raising questions about their growing influence in the community.

In other news, Oregon faces a new lawsuit to put an end to its use of solitary confinement in its prisons. Attorneys allege such treatment is on the rise and violates the Oregon Constitution, which prohibits the “harsh, degrading, or dehumanizing treatment of prisoners.”

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

— John Hill

Top story

Controversial Battle Ground business owners buy community’s only newspaper

Camden and Mac Spiller recently bought Battle Ground’s 117-year-old newspaper, and community members immediately voiced concerns on social media about the two brothers’ growing influence in town.

The Spillers already own Maddox Industrial Transformer, a fast-growing Battle Ground-based electrical infrastructure company whose sales have been fueled by the data center boom. They’ve also bought roughly 30 properties in town over the past several years.

The purchases also have raised questions in the community because of Camden’s connections to religious groups, including people engaged in the “Christian localism” movement.

In an un-bylined story on the Reflector’s website, Camden Spiller said he and his brother “feel a sense of responsibility to support the next chapter of The Reflector at a time when the country is losing local newspapers at an astounding rate.” (Erik Neumann)

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3 things to know

1. An extreme heat watch remains in effect from Sunday morning through Tuesday evening as temperatures are expected to climb into the triple digits. People across the western Columbia River Gorge, east Clark County, central Willamette Valley, and the Portland-Vancouver metro area could see record-breaking heat. (Amanda Linares)
2. In recent years, the state Department of Corrections’ use of disciplinary segregation has trended upward, according to data. Several prisoners say the agency is violating Oregon’s Constitution. (Conrad Wilson)
3. On Wednesday, Republican lawmakers pushed to repeal the “roadless rule” in the Wildfire Prevention Act, a wildfire bill introduced with bipartisan support last year. The provision all but guarantees the bill’s failure, Democratic leaders say, at a time when wildfire prevention work is most needed. (April Ehrlich)

‘OPB Politics Now’

The messy legacy of Bob Packwood

On this week’s episode of “OPB Politics Now,” reporters and a special guest talk about Bob Packwood’s political history and his downfall, which was one of the more shocking scandals in Congressional history. Find the show wherever you get your podcasts. (Lauren Dake and Dirk VanderHart)

Listen

Northwest headlines

• These new Washington laws take effect Thursday (Jake Goldstein-Street, Washington State Standard)

• University of Oregon breaks ground on $83 million Ballmer Institute expansion project (Tiffany Camhi)

• Central Oregon Community College graduates first group of incarcerated students (Kathryn Styer Martínez)

• Oregon resists court order for housing trans prisoners amid federal pressure (Shaanth Nanguneri, Oregon Capital Chronicle)

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):

• Nez Perce playwright tackles ancient Greek tragedy

• REBROADCAST: Italy’s famed marble quarries beckon and inspire Oregon sculptor

One more look

Watch out for the jumping worms hiding in Oregon soil

In a small community plot at Salem’s Sunnyside Gardens in October, Kathy Arnold crouched beside her Swiss chard last October. She turned the soil with a gardening fork until she unearthed what she was looking for and picked up what looked like a typical earthworm. It began twitching and thrashing in her palm.

“They’re just all over the place,” she said.

Arnold was in the midst of a jumping worm infestation. While they closely resemble night crawlers, the invasive East Asian species can usually be identified by its signature thrashing or jumping motion, which is the worm’s defense mechanism.

Jumping worms — also known as Amynthas agrestis — tend to wreak havoc on non-native soil. As they move through the dirt, the worms rapidly consume crucial nutrients and change the soil structure into a dry, coffee-ground texture, which triggers a destructive chain reaction for the surrounding ecosystem.

They have been reported in more than 30 states across the country and are particularly prevalent in the Midwest and Northeast. In Oregon, the first jumping worm was spotted in Grant’s Pass in 2016. Since then, they’ve been seen all over the Willamette Valley. (Noah Thomas and Eden McCall)

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/06/12/opbs-first-look-battle-grounds-only-newspaper-gets-new-owners/