Oregon
Gray whale washes ashore in Oregon after orca attack
BANDON Ore. (KPTV) – A juvenile gray whale washed ashore at Tish-A-Tang Beach in southern Oregon this week after being attacked by orcas.
According to a statement by the Coquille Tribe, the tribe will handle the removal of the whale.
Jim Rice, the Marine Mammal Stranding Coordinator with Oregon State University, came to the scene to help find out what led the 18-foot whale to wash-up near Face Rock on Monday, May 6.
The next afternoon, the Oregon Parks and Recreation department reached out to the Coquille Tribe and several tribal staff members took over responsibility of the mammal’s remains during a ceremony on the beach.
Gray whale deaths have cultural significance to the Coquille people.
“We are going to do what our people have done for thousands of years,” said MJ Parrish, one of the tribal members who helped in the retrieval of the whale. “We are going to celebrate this blessing we have received. We are going to respect this great gift and utilize everything we can.”
“We will make certain not to waste its sacrifice,” Chair Meade said, adding that in Coquille Tribal culture an act of this sort is seen as a gift from the creator. “To our knowledge, this is also the first time in generations that our tribe has been able to experience this kind of ceremony. So, this is a truly wonderful gift. And not only for the whale blubber and the bones that we will be able to use. As we prepare to celebrate 35 years since being officially restored as a federally recognized tribe, it is so important that we are able to take this opportunity for the cultural education of tribal members and especially for our youth.”
This area of the southern Oregon coast is of ancestral importance to the tribe.
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EUGENE – The chaos of the transfer portal is almost over. The window for players to enter the portal closed on Jan. 16, and many transfers were quick to commit to new programs.
The Oregon Ducks received another big transfer portal haul. Oregon coach Dan Lanning secured transfer commitments from 14 incoming players. Despite the Ducks filling gaps in the roster, only two incoming transfers ranked inside ESPN’s top-50 transfer rankings.
Where Oregon’s Transfer Portal Additions Rank
Lanning’s top-ranked transfer is former Minnesota Golden Gophers safety Koi Perich. Perich is the highest-ranked safety by ESPN, coming in at No. 11 on the list. The safety posted 128 tackles, six interceptions, four pass deflections, two forced fumbles and a sack in two years with Minnesota.
Perich will look to have a similar trajectory to Oregon 2025 safety Dillon Thieneman. Like Perich, Thieneman also saw previous success as one of the Big Ten’s top safeties with another program in the conference. Thieneman transferred ahead of his junior season, continued his development under Lanning and is poised to be an early pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Joining Perich as one of the top-ranked transfers is former Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola. He’s another player coming off his sophomore season in the Big Ten who looks for a change of scenery. Raiola threw for over 2,000 yards in each of his first two seasons. He finished his second year with 18 touchdowns on 72.4 percent completion.
Raiola ranks No. 30 among ESPN’s top transfers. Oregon quarterback Dante Moore announced that he would return to Eugene in 2026 shortly after Raiola transferred. Moore redshirted his first season with the Ducks after transferring before starting for the team. The expectation is that Raiola will do the same and start in 2027.
MORE: Oregon Ducks Receive Update On Offensive Tackle Transfer Jordan Seaton
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Other Top Transfers with Oregon Connections
The Ducks have been in pursuit of former Colorado offensive tackle Jordan Seaton, who ranks No. 4 among transfers. Seaton is a former five-star recruit entering his junior year. He’s a potential first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, but college programs are currently scrambling to secure his commitment.
Seaton made visits to Mississippi State, Miami and LSU. He was scheduled to take a visit to Eugene, but cancelled. Lanning and Oregon offensive line coach A’lique Terry ended up visiting with Seaton in Atlanta on Tuesday night instead.
Adding Seaton to the Ducks’ offensive line would be major for the program. Oregon lost offensive linemen Isaiah World, Alex Harkey and Emmanuel Pregnon, with each having only one year of eligibility with the team. The Ducks bring back center Iapani Laloulu and add Yale transfer offensive tackle Michael Bennett.
The only outgoing transfer on ESPN’s top-50 list is former Oregon defensive tackle Tionne Gray at No. 39. Gray transferred to Notre Dame with three years of eligibility remaining. The defensive tackle redshirted his first season in Eugene and showed promise in 2025 as a rotational piece. He finished with 18 total tackles during his time at Oregon.
MSU basketball: Video analysis on the Spartans’ win at Oregon
Lansing State Journal columnist Graham Couch and Detroit Free Press beat writer Chris Solari discuss the Spartans’ win at Oregon on Tuesday night.
1. MSU rides a couple great performances to a win in a game it could have lost
EUGENE, Ore. — That’s how you win the Big Ten. Not that performance by Michigan State — the Spartans will have to be better in several ways against stiffer tests later in conference play. But it’s partly games like this — when you find yourself in a battle on the road against a wounded team that seems connected and up for the fight — that decide championships and seeding in the NCAA tournament.
For the second straight game in the Pacific Northwest, MSU wasn’t its best in some of the ways it has been this season. For the second straight game, it pulled away behind the deft play of point guard Jeremy Fears, and this time with outstanding games from two others in its core four, Carson Cooper and Coen Carr.
On a night Jaxon Kohler found himself in foul trouble early and never got going offensively (taking just three shots), Carson Cooper was as close as he’ll ever be to Hakeem Olajuwon, scoring a career-high 19 points, on 8-of-10 shooting, to go with seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Coen Carr, with 15 points and eight rebounds, played with purpose we hadn’t seen from him in recent games.
And so MSU, which trailed 38-35 and led just 42-41, got away with a game that might have gone differently if not for a few great performances and a finish during which the Spartans showed a lot of the mettle we’ve seen all season.
MSU, now 17-2 and 7-1 in the Big Ten, needs wins over Maryland (Saturday) and at Rutgers (next Tuesday) to get to 9-1 at the turn of league play when Michigan visits Breslin Center on Jan. 30.
Coen Carr answers emphatically — and this should be his every night
Tom Izzo won’t have to stick up for Coen Carr after this one. Three days after declaring it would be a “cold day in Hell” before he gave up on Carr after Carr’s uninspiring performance at Washington and January struggles, Carr delivered an emphatic performance — best characterized by his driving layup through Oregon’s Sean Stewart to give the Spartans a 53-42 lead with 7:15 remaining.
That play spoke to his mindset and aggression all night. Forget the shooting — hitting 3 of 5 3-pointers is nice and it would be outstanding for this team if he hit them more regularly. But it was the purpose with which he played all night that stood out.
Carr finished with 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting. But he also pulled down eight rebounds and dished three assists, a couple of them really nice plays, in 27 minutes.
It was a heck of an answer to a lackluster start to the month. He also showed what he’s capable of — on the glass and as a playmaker — and that should be expected every night.
A Trey Fort sighting — when MSU needed it
Trey Fort has become the odd man out for MSU’s basketball team for most of this season. He’s behind Divine Ugochukwu, Kur Teng and Jordan Scott at shooting guard, largely because he hasn’t shown he can offer something at a higher level than those three. Ugochukwu gives the Spartans secondary ball-handling, Teng is the best shooter of the group and Scott is the best defender, rebounder and all-around impact guy.
If Fort were hitting shots at a higher clip than 29% from 3 and 32% from the floor — heading into Tuesday night — or a difference-maker defensively, he’d have a larger role. Instead, he’s getting single-digit minutes most nights, including just three against Northwestern, two against Indiana and five at Washington. To his credit, his body language and attitude have remained positive, at least in public settings and, by all accounts, around his teammates.
That’s important, because he’s a turned ankle from a much larger role. And still a capable player and shot-maker, and someone who can create his own shot — even if sometimes early this season it wasn’t the shot Tom Izzo and Co. wanted.
Tuesday at Oregon, he played 15 minutes, including the final 8:31 of the first half and more than six minutes in the second (another long stretch). He was what he hasn’t been for MSU regularly — a better option than Scott or Teng, neither of whom played aggressively or well.
Fort hit two jump shots n the first half, the first to put MSU ahead 23-22 and then 25-22. Both came at the time the Spartans were struggling to find offense. In the second half, he entered the game with 13:52 remaining with MSU trailing 38-35 and completely out of sorts offensively. On MSU’s second possession with him in the game, Fort came off a screen and buried an 18-foot jumper. He then buried a 3 from the right side to put the Spartans ahead 42-38 with 11 minutes remaining.
Fort is a fearless shooter, which is both a strength and a weakness. On this night, it was a strength, his confidence needed.
MSU was plus-12 with Fort in the game in those 15 minutes and he finished an efficient 4-for-5 from the floor in two extended stints. These weren’t planned stints. But he’ll get more of them in the future because of it. And MSU will likely be quicker to go to him when the others aren’t producing. He got his opportunity and delivered when the Spartans needed it.
“Trey let the game come to him, instead of forcing the game,” Izzo said. “I was not only impressed, but I was excited for him. It’s been a rough go for him.”
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
The northern lights could once again be visible in Oregon in the wake of powerful activity from the sun.
A strong solar flare on Sunday was followed by a severe geomagnetic storm on Tuesday, giving Oregonians and many others along the northern edge of the country another chance to see the auroras.
While Earth has entered the declining phase of solar cycle 25, that doesn’t mean northern lights viewing opportunities are going away. In fact, experts say, the declining phase can have longer, if lighter, geomagnetic storms, as well as powerful “last gasp” storms from the sun.
On Tuesday night, people in 18 states could get a chance to see the auroras on Tuesday night.
The lights could be visible in Oregon, as well as in parts of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Alaska.
To view the lights, stay away from light pollution and look toward the northern horizon.
Follow the Space Weather Prediction Center’s 30-minute aurora forecast to see the latest predictions of where the lights will be visible.
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