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Good morning, Northwest.

Nearly 40 years ago, three white men brutally beat Ethiopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw to death in Portland.

Today, OPB’s “Oregon Experience” premieres a new documentary on the racist killing of Seraw, what led to it and how the city feels its ripple effects to this day.

Also this morning, snow is in the forecast for Oregon and Washington mountain ranges.

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

—Bradley W. Parks

How the murder of Mulugeta Seraw still resonates

In late 1988, the murder of Mulugeta Seraw by neo-Nazi skinheads shocked Portland.

The grimmest irony is that Seraw had come to Portland in part to avoid a civil war that was raging in Ethiopia.

But outside mainstream awareness, young people in Portland’s punk music scene had been victims of white supremacist violence for years.

While four decades have passed, white nationalism in America has surged in public view.

Watch the new documentary on Seraw’s life and impact on Portland by OPB’s “Oregon Experience.” (Dan Evans and Nora Colie)

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3 things to know this morning

• Avel Gordly, one of Oregon’s most influential civil rights champions and a politician who was often referred to as the “conscience of the state Senate” for her strong moral compass, died at home on Monday. She was 79. (Lauren Dake)
• Oregonians across the Willamette Valley could see snow this week as a low pressure storm makes its way across the state. The storm could drop at least an inch of snow in areas below 1,000 feet. (Lauren Dake and Amanda Linares)
• Oregon legislators are again proposing a bill that would bring more land into Hillsboro’s urban growth boundary, but critics are calling it an unnecessary land grab. (Alejandro Figueroa)

Headlines from around the Northwest

• Looking for a job in Oregon? The pickings are slim — except in health care and social services (Kyra Buckley)
• Federal judge continues to block ICE officers from using tear gas, other munitions outside Portland facility (Conrad Wilson)
• Pendleton votes to drop air service provider in favor of one with larger planes (Antonio Sierra)
• Portland General Electric spends nearly $2B to expand in Washington, acquiring 140,000 customers from PacifiCorp (Kyra Buckley)
• Washington state Senate approves tax on personal income over $1M (Jerry Cornfield)
• Yakima farmers attempt to ‘farm the sun’ (Courtney Flatt)

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):

• Oregon launches multi-agency effort to protect state’s immigrants and refugees
• Eugene’s LGBTQ+ resource center finds permanent home

Horse-drawn hearse for sale in Oregon. DM with questions

The Facebook group hosting classified ads for Grant County was, until recently, a lot like any other online marketplace catering to thrifty locals — a little ceramic vase for $5, waterproof boots for $40, an old brown couch free to whoever could haul it off first.

But this month the posts dominated by humdrum household items took an unusual turn.

A horse-drawn hearse listed for $11,800.

Another post offered a wooden wagon made for taking prisoners to jail.

To own an authentic fully-restored 1880s stagecoach, negotiations started at $65,000.

Dreamscrollers promptly tagged their friends. Mary Jensen hopes some of them will bite. (Emily Cureton Cook)

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/02/18/mulugeta-seraw-portland-first-look/