A high-powered new addition to the Big Ten Conference met the same fate as many before them.
No. 2 Nebraska (23-1, 13-0 B1G) volleyball continues their dominance in the conference with a sweep of No. 12 Oregon (17-5, 9-4 B1G), 25-12, 26-24, 25-18. That makes for 20 consecutive wins and 17 sweeps on the year.
The Huskers dominated the first set, holding the Ducks to negative hitting. The second set needed extra points, but the Big Red prevailed late partially due to one of several correct challenges from coach John Cook. The third set saw Nebraska slowly pull away to take the victory.
Thursday was the second straight match to involve the Huskers and set an arena’s attendance record. Oregon’s new record of 8,566 is nearly 1,200 more than previous record set last year.
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Facing one of the better blocking teams in the nation Nebraska hit .278 with 44 kills, 14 errors and were blocked seven times. Serving and defense were on full display as well with four aces, six blocks and 52 digs for the Huskers who out-dug the Ducks 52-38.
Harper Murray and Taylor Landfair led the way, both hitting over .400 with double figure kills. Murray with 14 and 10 digs on .414, Landfair with 13 and two blocks on .407.
Taylor Landfair celebrates one of her first kills as a Husker. / Amarillo Mullen
Merritt Beason and Andi Jackson chipped in six kills each while Bergen Reilly added three of her own to go along with 33 assists and nine digs.
With her first dig of the match, Lexi Rodriguez took sole possession of second place in career digs in Nebraska volleyball history. The senior Libero finished the match with 14 digs.
Olivia Mauch continued her masterful play from the service line with two aces.
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Mimi Colyer led the way for Oregon with 52 swings and 13 kills as the Ducks broke out a 6-2. Cook told the Big Ten Network after the match that he expected Oregon to go away from the 6-2 after being dominated in the first set, but the Ducks stuck with it an kept the next two sets much closer.
The Pacific Northwest road trip continues as Nebraska will face the Washington Huskies Saturday. That will be another late match, with first serve set for 9:30 p.m. CST.
Box score
Set 1: Nebraska took a 4-0 lead, but Oregon fought back to tie the score at 6-6. Back-to-back kills by Murray, two by Landfair and one by Jackson made it 11-6 Big Red. Landfair added three more kills and a block with Allick as the Huskers built an 18-8 advantage. After Oregon scored three in a row, a service error by the Ducks preceded an ace by Mauch, a block by Allick and Beason and a kill by Murray that made it 22-11 Huskers. A kill by Jackson and a solo block by the sophomore middle blocker gave the Huskers a 25-12 win. NU hit .476 in set one and held Oregon to -.031.
Set 2: Oregon led 8-6 when Murray and Jackson pounded kills, and Murray served an ace for a 10-8 Husker lead. Reilly dumped a kill before Beason tallied another to make it 13-10. But the Ducks ran off three straight points to even the score at 14-14. After a Husker timeout, Murray tooled a block and the Ducks hit long twice to put NU back in front, 17-14. The Ducks rallied to tie the score at 19-19, but Jackson terminated a kill and Allick and Landfair combined for a block and a 21-19 advantage. Landfair ended a long rally with a kill to make it 22-20, but the Ducks came right back to even the score at 22-22 after a kill and a Husker hitting error. After an NU timeout, Landfair posted her eighth kill, but Colyer answered for the Ducks. The Ducks then hit long to give NU set point, 24-23, but a kill by Oregon tied it 24-24. Oregon hit wide to give the Big Red another set point chance, and Murray ended the set at 26-24 with her ninth kill.
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Set 3: Oregon led 6-4 when Kennedi Orr served a 4-0 run to put the Huskers up 8-6. Reilly dumped two kills, and Allick and Landfair each posted one. After Oregon tied the score at 8-8, Landfair earned a sideout kill and Reilly served an ace before an Oregon error made it 11-8. The Ducks came back with a 3-0 run to make it 11-11, but Beason terminated and Mauch served her second ace before Oregon hit wide for a 14-11 Husker edge. After an Oregon timeout, Reilly set Beason for back-to-back kills, and Allick and Beason stuffed a Duck attack for a 17-11 lead. After Oregon got within 17-13, Allick recorded a solo block, and three Murray kills put the Huskers up 22-15. Nebraska finished off a 25-18 win with three kills by Landfair.
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One of the potential statewide measures vying for the November ballot is calling it quits.
FILE – The rainbow flag, also known as the gay pride flag, is a symbol of LGBT and queer pride, left, along with the transgender flag, right, pictured in 2022.
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Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
A coalition led by the ACLU of Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon and Planned Parenthood has announced it is ending a campaign to amend the Oregon Constitution to guarantee the right to health care for transgender people, abortion and same-sex marriage.
Advocates for LGBTQ+ rights in Oregon had hoped to follow the lead of New York state, which passed a similar measure, Proposition 1, by a wide margin in 2024. They’ve been gathering signatures to qualify an initiative for the November ballot, promoting the measure at Pride events, and raising money.
But on Friday, the coalition announced via an Instagram post that the campaign is over. The coalition thanked community members for their support. It did not offer any explanation as to what led to the change of heart.
“This is a particularly difficult time, as the federal government continues attacking our rights, freedom, and basic humanity,” the post concludes. “We still firmly believe that together, we will build an Oregon where all of us can be who we are, and make our own decisions about our lives and bodies, and access the care that we need.”
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The initiative petition had been endorsed by dozens of left-leaning organizations, including heavyweight labor unions like the AFL-CIO and SEIU Local 503.
Campaign finance records show the coalition’s biggest cash expenditures this year — $177,750 — were for polling and surveys.
The measure, known as Equal Rights for All or Initiative 33, had already faced a rocky path to the ballot. Democratic lawmakers had planned to refer it to voters in 2024, but dropped that plan in a deal to end a six-week long walkout by Republicans.
The political action committee supporting the measure has about $130,000 in cash remaining in its accounts.
Oregon law is already protective of gender-affirming care, requiring insurers and the state’s Medicaid program to cover it when it is medically necessary. Abortion is also covered by public and private insurance and Oregon places no specific gestational limit on it.
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But those policies could change if the balance of power in Salem shifts.
As it is, the Oregon Constitution prohibits discrimination on account of sex. The proposed measure expanded on that, stating that discrimination is also prohibited based on pregnancy, gender identity and sexual orientation.
It would have also repealed language in the state constitution that bans same-sex marriage. Oregon voters approved that ban in 2004. The provision has been void since 2015, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional.
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The decision leaves in place a permanent injunction from November that blocked troops from deploying to Portland.
FILE – The James R. Browning United States Courthouse building, a courthouse for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, is seen in San Francisco on Jan. 8, 2020.
Jeff Chiu / AP
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The Trump administration no longer wants to appeal the decision of a federal judge in Oregon that blocked the president from deploying National Guard troops to Portland.
Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice told a federal appeals court last week they’re no longer interested in challenging the permanent injunction issued by U.S. District Court Judge Karin J. Immergut, which found the president’s attempt to send troops to Portland violated the Constitution.
Late Thursday, attorneys for Oregon, California and the City of Portland, who had previously won the case, indicated they too were ready to let the case go without a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
A panel of 11 judges had been preparing to hear oral arguments on the case in June in Seattle. For Immergut’s ruling to officially stand, those appellate judges still need to sign off on the Justice Department’s decision to drop the case.
Attorneys for the Trump administration used little more than a single sentence in its filing expressing the federal government’s desire to halt its appeal.
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Colleagues say Oregon judge who blocked Trump troop deployment is ‘well-respected’ and ‘has no fear’
The government’s reversal marks the end of a chapter, one that began on Sept. 27 when President Donald Trump announced he was sending 200 National Guard troops to Oregon’s largest city. The idea was to help guard federal properties, particularly the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland that has been the site of ongoing protests.
Legal fights over the president’s domestic military deployment also played out in Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Chicago, as the president pushed the bounds of executive power in court.
Trump’s efforts ultimately withered in Portland after Immergut found the Trump administration not only violated federal law, but also the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, one that preserves the rights of the states to hold powers not explicitly given to the federal government.
This is the decision the Trump administration appealed to the 9th Circuit in November. Those judges said that before the appeal moved forward, they wanted to wait to see how a similar case from Illinois would play out at the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Several weeks later, they got their answer when the Supreme Court blocked Trump’s efforts to send troops into Chicago.
In the case over Portland, attorneys for Oregon, California and the city indicated they would be willing to sign off on a dismissal too, so long as the 9th Circuit tells Immergut to monitor and enforce the 106-page permanent injunction she issued in November.
“In light of the President’s continued threats to send troops to Portland, the courts must stay involved,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a statement. “If the Ninth Circuit chooses to dismiss the appeals, it should instruct the district court to keep monitoring and enforcing the permanent injunction in this case — to make sure that the President follows the law.”
Even after the Supreme Court ruling in Illinois, Trump has continued to express his willingness to use the military in American cities, and Portland in particular.
“We can go back,” Trump told reporters about Portland on Jan. 4, while aboard Air Force One. “We’re allowed to go back in.”
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Abiqua Falls, a 92-foot cascade and the surrounding 40-acre property, is up for sale.
How do you determine a price for one of Oregon’s most spectacular natural wonders?
We’re about to find out.
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Abiqua Falls, a stunning and frequently visited waterfall outside Scotts Mills, is up for sale in what may be an unprecedented situation.
In a state where the vast majority of scenic places are on public lands, the sale of a 92-foot waterfall that roars into an amphitheater of basalt is unheard of.
“I couldn’t find anything similar to this situation, at least of this magnitude,” said Lisa Johnson, the managing principal broker for Horsepower Real Estate, one of the two companies working on the sale.
The waterfall is on 40 acres that have been owned by Mount Angel Abbey, and more recently the Abbey Foundation of Oregon, since 1908. Public access has long been allowed, even as the waterfall’s popularity skyrocketed as pictures of it spread across social media.
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“We’ve been very proud to oversee (Abiqua Falls) for such a long period of time. It’s such a lovely place and so many people have had incredible experiences there,” said Amanda Staggenborg, spokeswoman for Mount Angel Abbey & Seminary.
Staggenborg said the Abbey Foundation has been in talks to sell or trade the land for at least a decade, including with the Bureau of Land Management.
But after those efforts didn’t bear fruit, the trustees decided to put it up for sale on Feb. 2.
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“Really, it was just time,” Staggenborg said. “We knew it wasn’t a situation that could last forever. It’s time for the land to be protected under new ownership who can better serve the public interest.”
The sale of Abiqua Falls
The sale of Abiqua Falls is being conducted in an “auction style format without a preset asking price or reserve, allowing the market to determine value,” Johnson said.
In other words, anyone can make an offer, and there’s no baseline price to use as a reference point. Johnson advised anyone interested to make an offer and submit it through a realtor — similar to the way you would buy a house.
“Parties wishing to make an offer may do so at any time using standard written offer documents and submitting them to the listing agent,” she said.
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Johnson said that visits to the property could be arranged.
The sale is being carried out by Cushman and Wakefield Land Advisory Group and Horsepower Real Estate.
Johnson said there isn’t a specific timeline for getting the offers in, and that the Abbey Foundation would take its time to “do its due diligence” on each offer.
“The seller reserves the right to review, negotiate, and accept an offer at its discretion,” the Abby Foundation said.
Will public access to Abiqua Falls be maintained?
Staggenborg said that since word of the sale got out, she heard a lot of concern that a buyer could come in and close off access.
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“That is not what we would like to see,” she said. “We are hoping for somebody to keep the property in its current state and continue the same sort of public access that we’ve allowed for over 100 years.”
However, there is no “conditional requirement” that the buyer keep it public.
“There’s no condition on the bid,” Staggenborg said. She added that the trustees would consider the monetary offer and a buyer’s plans in making a decision.
The property is zoned as forested, a designation “intended to preserve natural resources and limit intensive development,” the property listing says.
Staggenborg also stressed that Oregon has laws, known as recreational immunity, that prevent landowners from being sued when they open their land to recreation at no cost. Those laws were strengthened during the 2024 and 2025 legislative session.
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Oregon agencies say they’re not interested
Whoever purchases the property will face some challenges. The site has difficult access issues including a rough road, ill-defined trail and wonky cables along the creek. Its massive popularity has meant plenty of people get lost and injured.
This past May, a 22-year-old Utah man was rescued after leaping off the falls. A few whitewater kayakers have also made news after plunging off the falls.
Public lands advocate Ryan Ernst said he hoped it would ultimately be a local or state agency that took over managing the property, if not eventually BLM, to ensure it stays public and maybe sees some improvements.
“My hope is that the state can find a way to acquire this special and unique place where the public can continue to find nature and themselves,” he said. “It would be a shame to see it fall into the hands of a private entity where access would be changed.”
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But Oregon agencies don’t seem to be in a hurry to make a bid.
The Oregon Department of Forestry, which manages the nearby Santiam State Forest, said in a statement that it’s not looking to acquire new land. The Oregon Department of State Lands also said it won’t be pursuing purchase of Abiqua Falls because the property “would not likely be a strong investment for the Common School Fund.”
The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, likewise, said it hadn’t had talks to purchase the waterfall.
Travis Williams, executive director of the Willamette River Preservation Trust, which is based in Scotts Mills near Abiqua Falls, said he’d talked to the Abbey about the property and was disappointed by their decision to put it up for sale.
He said a local land trust would be a good option to manage such a complex site, and that putting it up for sale in this way makes it seem like “it’s all about the money.”
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“Whoever buys it is going to have to really care about that place and the local community – I think they could have handled this better,” he said. “And no matter what, whoever buys this is going to have to contend with the fact that people will be there no matter what.”
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 18 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors and BlueSky at oregonoutdoors.bsky.social
