Claire Rush, Author at The Rapid City Post

Gary Kristensen, dressed up as the character Buddy from the holiday movie "Elf," celebrates after winning a race during the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in Tualatin, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Giant, floating pumpkin races draw large crowds to annual event in Oregon

October 20, 2025

Giant, floating pumpkin races have drawn large crowds to the Oregon city of Tualatin. The Portland suburb has hosted the event since 2004. In Sunday’s event, giant pumpkins that originally weighed roughly 1,000 pounds were carved out, allowing them to float. People dressed in costumes then sat in the hollowed-out pumpkins and used kayak paddles to race around a small human-made lake. Gary Kristensen won the first race of the day in a 936-pound pumpkin that he grew in his backyard. Earlier this year, Kristensen earned a Guinness World Record for longest journey by pumpkin boat after paddling over 58 miles on the Columbia River.

Valerie Nagle, whose DNA recently helped to confirm the remains of her sister Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter, who disappeared in 1974 in Oregon, poses for a portrait with a photo of her sister Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A woman’s remains were found in Oregon in 1976. They’ve been identified 49 years later thanks to DNA

September 18, 2025

Oregon authorities say DNA has helped identify a woman’s remains after 49 years. Oregon State Police announced this week that the remains of Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter were identified in June. She was last seen at a shopping mall in a Portland suburb in 1974 when she was 21. Her remains were found near a mountain creek in Oregon’s Central Cascades in 1976,. She remained unidentified for decades. State police say a breakthrough came this year when information uploaded to a commercial ancestry website helped genealogists find a surviving sister. Police contacted the sister, whose DNA helped confirm the identity of the remains.

Protesters yell at officers as they walk back to the gates after they created a path for vehicles to exit the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, Ore., on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Portland to issue land use violation notice to ICE building over alleged detention violations

September 17, 2025

Portland, Oregon, says it will issue a land use violation notice to the city’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building. The facility’s land use conditions of approval, in place since 2011, don’t allow people to be kept overnight or held for more than 12 hours. The city alleges that the facility violated this provision 25 times between last October through most of this July. The city said it reviewed data released by ICE to the nonprofit Deportation Data Project under public records requests. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Portland landowners have 30 days after receiving a land use violation notice to correct the issue. The next steps could also include a fine or a land use hearing.

Trump threatened Portland with troops to quell protests. The mayor says it’s not needed

September 12, 2025

President Donald Trump has threatened sending the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, to quell protests. There have been nightly protests at the city’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building since June. While disruptive to nearby residents, the demonstrations are a far cry from the unrest that gripped the city during the racial justice protests of 2020. Recent protests peaked in June, with Portland police declaring one a riot and other smaller clashes since then. Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles over the summer, and as part of his law enforcement takeover in Washington, D.C. He has also recently threatened to send troops to Chicago and Baltimore to combat crime.

A guardian drops off a child at the Guidepost Montessori school on Friday, July 18, 2025, in Beaverton, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Immigration arrest outside Oregon preschool rattles parents

July 19, 2025

Parents at a preschool in Oregon are reeling after immigration officers arrested a father in front of the school. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Mahdi Khanbabazadeh this week as he was pulling out of the preschool’s parking lot in Beaverton. Witnesses and ICE say officers broke a car window to arrest him. Khanbabazadeh is a 38-year-old chiropractor and citizen of Iran. ICE says it detained him because he overstayed his visa. His wife says he has always maintained lawful status. The company that oversees the Montessori school says the event is deeply upsetting. It comes as immigration officials have dramatically ramped up arrests across the country.

Stabbing attack at Oregon homeless shelter injures a dozen people

June 2, 2025

Police say a dozen people were injured in a stabbing attack at an Oregon homeless shelter and a suspect was arrested. The Salem Police Department says a man with an eight-inch knife walked into the lobby of the Union Gospel Mission Sunday evening in Salem and stabbed several people. Other people were hurt when they tried to intervene. Police say the man then left the building and stabbed others who were sitting outside nearby. Police arrested the suspect across the street from the shelter. Five of the victims remained hospitalized on Monday.

Claire Rush.