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Portland pays Oregon $19.5M to clean the Columbia Slough

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Portland pays Oregon .5M to clean the Columbia Slough


The city of Portland finalized a 15-year settlement with the state to clean up the Columbia Slough, the 31-mile stretch of waterways between Fairview Lake and the Willamette River.

Portland city councilors unanimously approved entering the settlement with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Wednesday morning.

Under the settlement, the city will pay $19.5 million to DEQ over the next three years. The agency will use the money to address storm water discharges and sediment contamination in the slough. The city also commits to building 15 facilities to treat stormwater runoff, and spending an additional $4 million on cleanup projects that it will oversee over the next 15 years.

The settlement marks a new stage of cleanup for the slough’s waterways — including its 19-mile main channel — which for the last century have collected pollution from surrounding industrial and agricultural sites. The slough had also been a local dumping ground until the 1970s.

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Columbia Slough: Portland neighborhood attraction or polluted embarrassment?

Some industrial chemicals remain among the sediment, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and pesticides, which are also consumed by fish. For that reason, the state advises people to limit eating fish caught in the area.

A June 2023 file photo of the Columbia Slough. Portland has agreed to pay Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality $19.5 million, which the state agency will use to address storm water discharges and sediment contamination in the slough.

Kristian Foden-Vencil / OPB

The city owns about 200 outlets discharging storm and waste water throughout the slough. Since 2006, Portland has entered into a series of five-year agreements with the state. Those agreements, city staff explained at the council’s Jan. 15 meeting, mostly focused on investigating sources of pollution and collecting samples. The five-year agreements weren’t legally binding.

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This new settlement, by contrast, is legally binding, outlines a cleanup plan, and helps protect the city from lawsuits.

“It also defines the city’s role and obligations in the long term with a work plan which will result in long-term cost savings for the city,” said Annie Von Burg, who oversees environmental remediation at the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, at last week’s meeting.

City staff said these funds will come out of the bureau’s sewer system operating fund for this fiscal year, as well as the next two fiscal years. The bureau is working with an insurance carrier to recoup some expenses going toward the settlement.



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Oregon

Oregon Lottery Pick 4 results for March 5

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The Oregon Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 5, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Pick 4 numbers from March 5 drawing

1PM: 6-6-8-1

4PM: 7-4-6-0

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7PM: 5-6-5-2

10PM: 3-5-4-4

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Oregon Lottery drawings held?

  • Powerball: 7:59 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Mega Millions: 7:59 p.m. on Tuesday and Friday.
  • Pick 4: 1 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. daily.
  • Win for Life: 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Megabucks: 7:29 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by an Oregon editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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Where Oregon Ducks rank in industry recruiting rankings for 2027 class

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Where Oregon Ducks rank in industry recruiting rankings for 2027 class


With the winter evaluation period of high school football recruiting now behind us, we’ve seen some of the top recruiting sites update their rankings over the past few weeks and start to reset their boards for the 2027 class. In February, On3 shifted players around after getting fresh looks at the class, and 247Sports did the same earlier this week.

So with Oregon’s handful of commits getting new ratings, where does the Ducks’ class rank nationally in this cycle?

If you look at sites individually, it looks different, with 247Sports having Oregon sitting at No. 13 in the nation. At Rivals, though, they take the industry ranking, which factors in their own rankings, plus an average from 247Sports and ESPN.

In the industry rankings, Oregon sits at No. 9 in the nation, with five commitments.

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Going into the summer months, the Ducks are in a great spot, leading or among the top schools for a handful of the top prospects in the nation, like 5-star QB Will Mencl or 5-star WR Dakota Guerrant. We will see what movement Oregon can make in the coming months after official visits take place early in the summer.

Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions. 



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New Data Shows Oregon E-Scooter Injuries on the Rise

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New Data Shows Oregon E-Scooter Injuries on the Rise


Data released by the Oregon Health Authority this week suggests Oregonians are getting hurt on electric scooters more every year.

In recent years, according to OHA, an “e-scooter-specific code” was developed for health care tracking purposes.

From 2021 to 2024, annual injury reports under this code from Oregon hospitals and emergency departments jumped from 211 to 418.

And in just the first nine months of 2025, there had been 509 such reports.

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“These injuries are not minor scrapes,” said Dagan Wright, an OHA epidemiologist, in a written statement. “They often involve head injuries, broken bones, and other serious trauma that requires emergency or inpatient care.”

The city of Portland signed contracts with three e-scooter rental companies in 2018, as the transportation craze spread across the country. But e-scooter injury diagnosis codes are relatively new in health care reporting, Wright said in the OHA statement.

“While the overall numbers remain smaller than for other transportation-related injuries, the rapid increase over a short period of time is a clear safety signal,” OHA added.

The agency highlighted the story of Portland e-scooter commuter Daniel Pflieger, who it says was riding a scooter home when he reportedly slid on ice. He bruised several ribs.

Sometimes outcomes are worse. OHA identified 17 deaths linked to electric or motorized scooters since 2018, and seven of those occurred in 2025.

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OHA says that e-bikes raise many similar safety concerns as e-scooters. The first full year for which e-bike injuries were coded for reporting was 2023. State data shows 392 reported e-bike injuries that year, 683 in 2024, and 760 in the first nine months of 2025.

“Injuries involving e-bikes and e-scooters share common risk factors—speed, lack of helmet use, roadway design, and interactions with motor vehicles,” Wright said.

Oregon E-Scooter Injuries on the Rise (Source: Oregon Health Authority)

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