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Good morning, Northwest.

Rising food prices and shrinking SNAP benefits have led to record demand at Oregon food banks.

Some providers across the state are saying they’re struggling to find enough food to stock shelves and freezers. OPB reporter Bryce Dole starts today’s newsletter with a look into the state of food assistance in Oregon.

In other news, Portland City Council approved a term sheet yesterday to guide negotiations with the Trail Blazers.

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

— Bradley W. Parks

Top story

SNAP cuts, soaring food costs and rising hunger grip Oregon families

The hunger crisis gripping Oregon is on full display at food banks like this one in the small town of Dallas. The bank serves as a respite from the grocery costs that have soared more than 30% since 2019.

Here, in the Willamette Valley countryside, the line stretches out the door and around the corner at the end of the month, when federal food stamp benefits dry up and families struggle to fill their pantries.

But what’s facing this facility — its flood of visitors, its crammed quarters and dwindling supply of food — highlights a series of challenges coalescing today on the state’s food assistance network as visits to food banks surge to record levels. (Bryce Dole)

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3 things to know

• Six houses and 15 smaller structures have been destroyed in the Grasshopper Fire on the east side of Mount Hood, the Wasco County Sheriff’s Office said yesterday. Officials are still working to identify if more structures have been lost. (Riley Martinez)
• Portland City Council voted 8-4 to kick off negotiations with the Portland Trail Blazers yesterday, approving a blueprint for hashing out a long-term lease with the team. (Alex Zielinski)
• The city of Hermiston now has a price tag to stop PFAS, known as “forever chemicals,” from polluting the city’s water supply: $26 million. (Antonio Sierra)

Northwest headlines

• Gun sales surged after Oregonians passed new restrictions, study finds (Troy Brynelson)
• Oregon farm to pay $6.2 million in settlement over Lower Umatilla Basin nitrate pollution (Alejandro Figueroa)
• Judge limits motorized vehicles in Oregon Dunes to protect coastal martens (April Ehrlich)
• Oregon State Hospital superintendent is gone after 1 month on job (Lauren Dake)
• Oregon education funding committee recommends increasing school spending by $2.5B to $5B (Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle)
• The Chronicle newspaper shuts down after 117 years of covering Lane County communities (Zac Ziegler, KLCC)
• Portland Fire rally from 29-point deficit but Lynx hang on for 85-81 win (AP)

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):

• West Coast is especially vulnerable to landslides according to new University of Washington database
• Oregon documentary highlights Columbia River bar’s jetty system and its importance to the Pacific Northwest
• Oregon lawmakers urge state corrections department to curtail use of solitary confinement

One more look

Combine demolition derby brings destruction and mayhem to Banks this weekend

Dave Duyck and his brother, Jeff, were hard at work refurbishing an old 1980s combine on a sunny afternoon last August. Jeff swung a sledgehammer to shape pieces of sheet metal while Dave welded them onto the machine. Neither had any intention of using it to harvest wheat.

“We’re taking these derelict combines and we’re reinforcing them,” Jeff said, “so that we can go out and crash and bang them together and have some fun.”

The brothers were preparing for the 25th Annual Combine Derby, a beloved tradition that takes place every August in Banks.

“It’s kind of like a car destruction derby,” Dave said. “But we just do it with bigger toys.”

The town is hosting the 26th annual event this Sunday as part of the Banks Bar-B-Que, a community festival that starts on Friday at Sunset Park. The three-day event features food, drinks, live music, frog-jumping contests, a greased-pole climb, tractor pulls and a parade. (Noah Thomas and Eden McCall)

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/08/13/snap-benefits-food-prices-oregon-first-look/