Grasshopper Fire update: 34,659 acres, 19% contained, 1,264 personnel. inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-pub...

Current satellite timelapse shows smoke from the Grasshopper Fire drifting both to the SE at upper levels & through the Gorge to the west at lower altitude into Portland. Fires in northern WA are really picking up.

The Grasshopper Fire is a mess. It looks like it crossed Hwy. 35 moving westward, unless the hotspots are backburns. Mt. Hood Meadows has evacuated. A lot of prime recreational land has been burned, including Flag Point Lookout & Lookout Mtn., one of my favorite butterfly spots.

If you're a client of Rich's Tree Service in Gresham, their email was hacked this morning & an email went out to customers from them with an attached Excel spreadsheet. Delete this email and do not open the attachment.

Smoke from the Grasshopper Fire is aimed directly at Portland. There's a Red Flag Warning in effect for the western Gorge through Wednesday night. Also applies to southern Willamette Valley. forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.ph...

The Grasshopper, Shingle, Green Mountain, & Hagen fires are the major ones in eastern Oregon today. This week, winds will reverse & create hot, smoky conditions in the Willamette Valley with forecasted highs near 100 on Wednesday.

Fire weather watches & red flag warnings are in effect for areas east of the Cascades Crest in OR/WA: www.weather.gov/wrh/fire?wfo...

So sad. I've been to that lookout many times. Another loss due to the Forest Service's lack of a sound fire management plan with public review.

Zach Urness@oregonoutdoors.bsky.social · 4d ago

Beloved Flag Point Lookout, home to a spectacular view of Mount Hood and one of the few places you could stay in a lookout during winter, burned down in the Grasshopper Fire last night. Just a major blow: tinyurl.com/y4hmwfn6

On 7/29/26, OHA reported 1 new COVID death in Oregon; the total is now 10,973. Hospitalizations remain low at 0.2 per 100,000, the same as the national average. Wastewater levels are mostly plateaued except for The Dalles, Newport, Woodburn, & Grants Pass.

Smoke from the Grasshopper Fire SE of Mt. Hood yesterday.

Washington's Mt. St. Helens at sunset yesterday, with a veil of orange wildfire smoke.

This isn't just a neighborhood coffee shop closing. Portland's doom loop is the direct result of incompetent government hell bent on catering to white-collar, rich residents at the expense of the middle class. www.oregonlive.com/business/202...

Daimler Truck will shut Portland factory, lay off 375 and move production to the East Coast

The decision to shutter the factories ends 84 years of truck manufacturing in Portland, dating to Freightliner's founding in 1942.

oregonlive.com

There will be a work party at the Gorge Discovery Center on Sunday, 8/2 to remove invasive weeds in their wildflower plot. From 10 am - 1 pm. Please RSVP. Barbara Robinson has maintained the plot for years, but recent fires have allowed invasives to get established.

Mario needed treatment for a wound he got in a fight with another cat. My vet was booked out, but there's a new vet urgent care in South Hillsboro, & they had same-day appointments & did a great job. Check out sprucevet.com He's doing fine.

Current satellite view of OR/WA with FIRMS infrared. The big action right now is mostly central OR from Warm Springs to John Day. Lots of road closures, check if you're going out.

City of Portland to launch curbside recycling spy program to check bins for non-recylables: z100portland.iheart.com/featured/por... Scary privacy implications. If you have confidential material, place in bin underneath enough items to prevent inspection, burn it, or bag & put in trash.

Portland Starts Recycling Check Program | Z100 Portland | Portland Local News

The City of Portland is starting a pilot program where city contractors will check recycling bins for wrong items, and then let residents know about it.

z100portland.iheart.com

Current satellite image for OR/WA. If you're in The Dalles, you're getting smoke from the Grasshopper Fire SE of Mt. Hood (not labeled in FIRMS map).

Pinedrops (Pterospora andromedea) is a saprophyte growing in conifer & mixed conifer forests in the Gorge. It's not photosynthetic & depends on a root partnership with a mycorrhizal fungus for nutrients. Little is known about how the flowers are pollinated. Native American ...

2 active fires on the east slopes of Mt. Hood right now. 8 Mile Fire (right) & Grasshopper Fire (bottom).

Wednesday, OHA reported 1 new COVID death in Oregon; the total is now 10,972. The death trend has leveled off, which is encouraging news. Wastewater levels show a slight increase, but well below the levels of last summer.

Twinflower (Linnaea borealis) is a low-growing ground cover with bell-shaped pink & white flowers in twos dangling on short 2 or 3-inch stems. It grows circumboreally in the Northern Hemisphere. Native Americans used the mashed plant for inflammation of the limbs. A poultice ...

When you mix PBOT's efforts to make driving more difficult through confusing road designs & e-bikes, the result is life-altering consequences: www.oregonlive.com/commuting/20...

Cyclist suffers brain damage after crashing into one of Portland’s ‘safety improvements,’ sues city for $28M

The cyclist, who was riding an electric bike at night, says a newly installed concrete “island” in the road didn’t have proper warning markers.

oregonlive.com

The gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus) is widespread & is another one of our urban butterfly species. They're small, gray, & fast so can be easy to miss in your yard. But the wing pattern is a marvel of minimalist design. The tails & bright orange spots distract predators away ...

Southerly flow keeping wildfire smoke out of the Portland area & west/central Gorge, for now.

Friends of the Gorge reports the Lyle Cherry Orchard Trail is closed indefinitely due to the recent fire. Another impact from their reluctance to ask for a public review of the Gorge's fire management plan.

Candystick (Allotropa virgata) is an unusual flower blooming in the Gorge's mid-elevation conifer forests now. Not an orchid, it's from the heath family. It's found in western parts of the US & Canada. It's a mycotrophic plant (myco=fungus, trophic=feeding) that gets ...

The giant helleborine (Epipactis gigantea) is an orchid that grows in boggy areas of the Gorge. Native Americans used it as ceremonial medicine in a girl's puberty rite. The plant was used to treat general body disease, & to purify a newborn infant ...

Iran war dividend:

Best coverage I've seen on the crisis facing Hood River pear growers. While Gov. Kotek's letter to the federal government omits the labor shortage from immigration enforcement, privately state lawmakers are told it's a big issue. The pear psyllid is ... oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2026/07/09/c...

Columbia Gorge farmers seek pear disaster declaration, revised housing and overtime rules • Oregon Capital Chronicle

A ‘perfect storm’ of decimated pear crops, rising labor and fuel costs, fewer workers and farmworker housing rules is too much, growers recently told lawmakers.

oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Blueberries & raspberries are ripening. Now's the time to make traps & a natural spray for Asian fruit fly on berry crops. Here’s how. (thread) 1. Punch 8 holes evenly around top of a clear plastic disposable drink cup. 2. Tape the straw hole shut in the lid to keep water out ...