Drought brings fears of Eastern Oregon dust bowl scenes

'It's like watching your children's future blow away' ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

No images? Click here Monday, June 7, 2021 FIRST LOOK Good morning, Northwest. Farmers say they're facing financial hardship this year. Their costs are just as high as normal, but they're farming fewer acres due to a lack of water. Here's your First Look at Monday's news.   Farmers fear the worst​ Cate Havstad-Casad, co-owner of Havstad-Casad Family Farms in Oregon's Jefferson County didn’t hold back last week while speaking with state representatives about the drought conditions affecting some farmers in the area: “What is happening through the forced dry up of this district ... is a massive ecological and a social disaster that not many people truly understand.” She compared the topsoil loss in Jefferson County to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and asked legislators to support farmers to plant cover crops, which help to reduce dust storms. Pictured, an irrigation pivot in Eastern Oregon. (Michael Kohn​) Learn more   Fencing gone, but security concerns remain at Washington’s Capitol​ Gone are the Washington State Patrol checkpoints and National Guard troops that were in place for the start of the session in January. A temporary chain-link fence surrounding the domed Legislative Building has also been removed. The Washington state Capitol in Olympia is settling into a semblance of normalcy following protests last winter. But security in the seat of state government is still a top-of-mind issue. Officials say more, though less visible, safety measures are in the works. And they still need to guard against the threats made to individual lawmakers. Pictured, a state patrol checkpoint on the first day of Washington's legislative session in January. (Austin Jenkins) Learn more   Are you enjoying First Look? Share it with your friends:     Rafting accident kills off-duty deputy  A deputy from Umatilla County died this weekend after a rafting accident on a day off work. Senior Deputy Jason Post, 34, died Saturday after he and three other adults were thrown from their raft. Post was unable to reach the shore and his body was found shortly afterward. He had served as a deputy at the Umatilla County Sheriff's Office for the past decade. He left in April to join Umatilla County Parole and Probation in order to spend more time with his wife and their baby girl. Learn more   Joseph Canyon fire explodes in northeast Oregon, southeast Washington A fire grew across state lines in northeastern Oregon over the weekend, becoming the region’s largest blaze so far this year. The Joseph Canyon fire more than tripled in size over the weekend, after high winds and low humidity fanned an area struck by lightning storms late last week. By Monday morning, the fire’s footprint had swelled to around 4,000 acres across northern Wallowa County in Oregon, and across the state line into southeastern Washington. The nearest town is Lewiston, Idaho, about 23 miles to the north. Pictured above, a view of smoke from the fire. (Emily Cureton) Learn more     First Look is supported by: Become a sponsor You received this email because you opted to be a part of the OPB community. Thank you! OPB's "First Look" keeps you connected to what is happening here in the Pacific Northwest. Have feedback you'd like to share about First Look? We're all ears. Enjoying First Look? Share it with a friend.   Did you receive this email as a forward? Opt-in here. We won't share your email address with marketers. Contact OPB  | 7140 S Macadam Ave, Portland, OR 97219 | 1-800-241-8123       Share    Tweet    Share    Forward  Preferences  |  Unsubscribe