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Good morning, Northwest.

Documents obtained by OPB and ProPublica shed light on the role played by incoming Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon at a company Oregon accused of predatory lending.

Today’s newsletter starts with more investigative reporting into Dundon’s business dealings.

In other news, Portland State University scientists are finding that microbes could ward off soil liquefaction in a Cascadia earthquake.

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

—Bradley W. Parks

New Portland Trail Blazers owner played key role at company Oregon accused of predatory lending

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek is on the verge of giving the Portland Trail Blazers hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars to overhaul the team’s arena.

It’s part of an effort to keep the Blazers’ incoming owner, billionaire Tom Dundon, from moving the NBA franchise to a new city.

The deal came together with little public discussion of how Oregon and other states in 2020 landed a $550 million settlement with the car loan company where Dundon built his wealth. The settlement followed an investigation into lending practices that Oregon’s then-attorney general, in a news release, described as “predatory and harmful.”

Now, OPB and ProPublica have obtained documents that reveal the role Dundon played in pushing some of the key company practices that regulators later presented as problematic. (Tony Schick and Conrad Wilson)

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3 things to know this morning

• Oregon officials are grappling with a new twist this election year: The state’s practice of accepting late ballots might soon be history. (Dirk VanderHart)
• Enrollment in Oregon’s virtual schools now makes up 5% of public school enrollment in the state, yet dropout rates remain high, and graduation rates remain low. (Elizabeth Miller)
• Children playing at the Islamic Community Center of Hillsboro found a bullet on Saturday, March 21. The Hillsboro Police Department is investigating the incident as a potential bias crime. (Holly Bartholomew)

Headlines from around the Northwest

• Trial planned for Mark Morris High School teens accused of sexual assault (Erik Nuemann)
• Between ICE and a hard place: Washington farmworkers fear deportation, family separation (Stephen Howie)
• Portland Community College faculty and staff remain on strike as college leaders and unions apply pressure for final deal (Kyra Buckely)
• Rounding out the debate, Washington governor signs bill addressing retailers’ penny problem (Jerry Cornfield)
• Oregon finds invasive quagga mussel on boat at Ashland inspection station (Mia Maldonado)

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 fails to protect residents against gambling harm, says recent nationwide report

How microbes could protect Pacific Northwest buildings from the Cascadia earthquake

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we’re due for the Cascadia Megathrust Earthquake.

The subduction fault off the coast can generate a magnitude 9+ earthquake that will be felt hundreds of miles away, and our communities are not prepared for what will follow.

The quake will cause intense shaking, tsunamis, subsidence and soil liquefaction — when ground shaking causes the soil to turn into a soupy, liquid mess.

Scientists at Portland State University are finding that certain microbes are key allies in an innovative new technique to prevent damage to buildings during major earthquakes.

If science holds, the gas the microbes produce in the soil will guard against soil liquefaction by pushing out water that can turn solid ground into quicksand. (Jes Burns)

Learn more

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/03/25/tom-dundon-trail-blazers-loans-first-look/