Latest news with #Siletz
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Healing through song: Culture as medicine
Nika Bartoo-Smith ICT + Underscore Native News This piece was originally reported as part of NPR's 'Next Generation Radio' project and OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting). 'Hundreds of people have come in this room under addiction and sat there and drummed or sat there and listened to songs and changed,' says Aldo Garcia, whose traditional name is Puxtunxt, gesturing around a room at Painted Horse Recovery where he leads Wellbriety meetings. Garcia is a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, with Assiniboine Sioux, Siletz and Miwok descendancy. 'That's just what this represents today, it's just nurturing to this community.' For Garcia, practicing the Native American Washut faith and learning traditional songs have been a key part of his commitment to sobriety. Now, he helps to share these songs and raise his kids in the Washut faith, through the drumming group he co-founded, PDX WALPTAIKSHA. Every Friday, community members gather in a room at Painted Horse Recovery, adorned with hand drums that hang on the walls, to practice drumming and singing traditional Washut songs. They hold services every Sunday, creating a space of healing and connection. 'There's a heartbeat that comes with the song. There's a story that comes with that song,' Garcia says. 'There's a living portion of that song that's actually with you, that's supporting you.' Garcia currently lives in Beaverton with his three youngest sons. But he grew up on the Warm Springs reservation, raised by his parents and grandparents. At 13, Garcia started drinking alcohol. 'It really was a form of generational trauma,' Garcia says, reflecting on the stories from his grandmother and her experiences as a survivor of the Native American boarding school system. For decades into his adulthood, Garcia lived with substance use disorder. In 2015, that all changed. 'My sobriety journey didn't start until I was 38 years old,' Garcia continues, his tattooed hands holding an eagle feather he wears around his neck. 'That's when I had a choice of losing my kids forever, or actually doing sobriety.' "There's a heartbeat that comes with the song. There's a story that comes with that song, There's a living portion of that song that's actually with you, that's supporting you." — Aldo Garcia (Puxtunxt) Citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs On New Year's Day in 2015, Garcia got into an accident while intoxicated. A week later, with the encouragement of his community and friends, he decided to become sober. Facing DUI and drug charges, the courts temporarily took away custody of his seven children from Garcia and his now ex-wife. Garcia stayed sober through months of challenges — from court, to fighting for custody, to his house burning down in May 2015, leaving the family of nine living in their car. 'I remember walking out, and it's the same house that I sold drugs in, and it had this dark feeling about it. That darkness of addiction, that darkness of domestic violence, that darkness of being a bad parent, the darkness of how many people came in and out of our home while we sold drugs as we're trying to raise a family,' Garcia recalls, remembering the last time he left his house as he watched it go up in flames. 'I remember just standing at the door as I was leaving, and this feeling of like, man, it's over. Whatever that is, it's over. It no longer holds power over me. And it was this feeling of this, just, release.' That same month, Garcia returned to court once more. He was faced with a decision: try to argue his way out of the DUI, which his lawyer advised, or admit guilt. In that moment, he knew that in order to move forward, he needed to take accountability for his actions. So Garcia pled guilty. Though he faced felony charges, the judge acknowledged his vow of sobriety, and told him she had been following his story via Facebook. She asked him if he had remained sober. He said he had. '[The judge said] You know what? If you remain sober, and you never come back in my court, I'll take that felony away,' Garcia says. 'Just go to treatment if you do it for your family.' On January 8, 2025, Garcia celebrated 10 years sober. Along the way, Garcia turned to faith in a higher power. In 2017, Garcia left the Baptist Church and started reconnecting to the Native American Washut faith, which he remembers his grandmother participating in when he was younger. "My sobriety journey didn't start until I was 38 years old. That's when I had a choice of losing my kids forever, or actually doing sobriety." — Aldo Garcia (Puxtunxt) Citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 'Washut is a religion, but Washut, spiritually, in recovery, is having the ability to use those songs in order to build a program around yourself,' Garcia says. Garcia dove into learning — songs, drumming, ceremony — and found connection and healing through community and culture. 'There's a living portion of that song that's actually with you, that's supporting you, with your voice, with the way you present yourself,' Garcia says, describing the healing power of the drums and songs. Garcia began to learn traditional Washut songs alongside his three youngest children. Together, they would sing the songs in bed at night until they got tired, lulled to sleep by the melodies that have been passed down for generations. 'Raising them in this Washut way of life teaches them discipline, teaches them the greater good of being of service,' Garcia says. 'From the beginning, my sons have learned songs with me.' At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Garcia stepped into a bigger role, becoming a bell ringer, leading ceremonies. In 2022, Garcia brought his drumming to Portland, co-founding PDX WALPTAIKSHA, which translates to PDX Singers. PDX WALPTAIKSHA is a drumming and singing group Gracia co-founded with Tashina Stahi (wy kush), who is Nez Perce and Yakama, and Lydell Suppah (suuthlmai tmna), who is Warm Springs, Grand Ronde and Lakota Sioux. The group meets for weekly meetings, practices and services they call 'body, heart and spirit' at Painted Horse Recovery. They come together in song, connecting to culture as medicine. 'Once I got into the Washut faith and my kids did, it was, 'I'm no longer my own person.' I'm property of the people,' Garcia says. 'I'm property of the people, meaning that if I'm ever asked, I have to say yes, I have to do the best I can in order to be of service to that person that's in need.' 'I'm property of the people, meaning that if I'm ever asked, I have to say yes, I have to do the best I can in order to be of service to that person that's in need.' — Aldo Garcia (Puxtunxt) Citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Wave of evictions at Native American Youth and Family Center affordable housing
Jarrette Werk Underscore Native News + Report For America PORTLAND, Ore., On Christmas Eve, Buzz Berry, a Siletz tribal elder and disabled veteran living at an affordable housing complex owned by the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) in Portland, was served an eviction notice along with a blanket as a gift. Two months later, after court hearings and prolonged uncertainty, he had to move out of his apartment. As a Siletz citizen utilizing Section 8 housing assistance, Berry said the experience has been destabilizing. 'It's been very, very hard for me, emotionally and mentally, to where I've almost had a breakdown from it,' Berry, 66, told Underscore Native News on Feb. 10 while riding his electric bicycle on the way to deliver a letter to NAYA, before his moveout date of Feb. 26. '[NAYA] is not understanding what they're doing to us.' According to court records, Berry's case is one of at least 35 eviction notices filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court over the past year for three affordable housing complexes in Northeast Portland's Cully Neighborhood co-owned by Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) and Community Development Partners (CDP). Thirty-three of those eviction notices were filed over a 10-month period beginning in April of last year, which equates to one-fifth of the 165 combined units receiving notices in less than a year, although in two separate cases the same tenant received multiple eviction notices. The majority came in a pronounced wave starting in October 2024 into this year. A growing number of tenants are decrying — including at a recent public protest — what they say is a pattern of unjust eviction notices, mismanagement and neglect by property managers, according to documents reviewed by Underscore and interviews with more than a dozen current and former tenants, all of whom are Indigenous. The properties are all managed by FPI Management, which manages 165,000 units in 23 states nationwide. The evictions and tenant complaints, in certain ways, reflect concerns found throughout the broader affordable housing industry in an age of soaring housing costs and rising evictions across Oregon and nationwide. But they also illuminate specific challenges associated with providing culturally affirming housing for urban low-income Indigenous populations in cities like Portland, where Native residents represent a significantly disproportionate percentage of the homeless population. In interviews, tenants and former tenants of the properties describe a pattern of suddenly receiving exorbitant rent bills from FPI Management after not being charged and not knowing how much they owed for months. Tenants also say repeated complaints about subpar living conditions — including plumbing issues, mold, bed bugs and more — have gone unaddressed. Tenants currently facing evictions and nonpayment notices, as well as former tenants with similar experiences, represent a range of demographics, including mothers with small children fleeing domestic violence, young adults who are first-time renters and elders. All the tenants interviewed identify as Indigenous, although not every tenant of the NAYA-owned complexes is Indigenous. The units are designed to meet the needs of low-income BIPOC communities; at Mamook Tokatee, enrolled Siletz citizens are given preference through a partnership with the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. The properties are designed with Indigenous residents in mind, including Native art throughout the complexes celebrating Indigenous cultures to create a more welcoming and culturally affirming environment. At Mamook Tokatee, a NAYA resident services coordinator assists with additional services, and at Nesika Illahee, Native American Rehabilitation Association of the Northwest (NARA NW) provides drug and alcohol support services, behavioral health services and medical resources to tenants. On Feb. 10, a small crowd gathered outside the Hayu Tilixam apartment complex — which saw 10 evictions between October and December 2024 — to make protest signs and sing handdrum songs before walking over two-and-a-half miles to the NAYA campus to hand-deliver a letter demanding that evictions at Mamook Tokatee be dismissed. 'Tell NAYA to stop the evictions,' one woman yelled at passing cars, while holding a sign that read, 'Stop the evictions. Keep Natives housed.' The letter from the Mamook Tokatee Tenants Association asked NAYA to dismiss all of the evictions filed in 2024 'immediately, and that you withdraw all moveout agreements.' 'NAYA is supposed to help us stay housed, not evict us,' the letter continued. It's unclear how many of Mamook's six closed eviction cases — which left five still open as of Feb. 26 — or the closed cases at the other two complexes resulted in the tenant's removal. Berry, one of the six closed cases, had to move out by Feb. 26, and Underscore spoke with other tenants who lost their homes. Mamook Tokatee, along with the other NAYA complexes, was established in direct response to the community's need for housing. The goal was to provide stable, culturally respectful affordable housing for low-income Indigenous and other BIPOC residents, but tenants say mismanagement is perpetuating the same issues that the units are supposed to be countering. Oscar Arana (Chichimeca), chief executive officer of NAYA, said on Feb. 17 that his team was reviewing the concerns outlined in the tenants' association letter and would work to 'make sure that they are addressed and resolved.''We are doing everything we can to make sure that our residents are feeling supported,' Arana said, although he did not outline specific actions. 'What NAYA is here to do is to make sure that we create affordable housing and safe opportunities for the community.' Arana acknowledged that 'not everything is perfect' at NAYA's housing complexes and said some of the issues are related to broader problems across the affordable housing sector. 'A lot of it has to do with just the challenges that come with operating in such a heavily regulated and, in some ways, very underfunded sector,' he said. Arana added that funding challenges are exacerbated by widespread trends of workforce turnover in the industry, among both property management companies and nonprofits working in the realm of affordable housing. 'It's an industry that is really faced with workforce challenges. We are familiar with those as well,' Arana said. 'We're challenged with retention rates. We're challenged with recruitment. We're challenged with being able to pay people livable wages.' 'When you see that, both on the property management side and then also on the nonprofit side, again, because of the way that funding is structured, it's a disservice to the tenants,' he continued. 'They're the ones that are experiencing this impact, having folks come in and out and not being able to have that consistency. So that's a really big challenge.' While NAYA is co-owner of the complexes, Arana said his organization is not responsible for collecting rent or day-to-day management. Those duties fall on FPI Management. Arana said NAYA meets regularly with its community partners and FPI management, which has managed the properties since 2023. 'We do our best, within our role, to be able to hold the property management companies accountable and to work with them and to work with residents,' Arana said. An FPI Management representative declined multiple requests for comment and referred all questions to Arana. Michelle Quick, a volunteer with Don't Evict PDX, attended the Feb. 10 walk to NAYA to offer community support, educational resources on organizing and help tenants understand their rights in eviction court. Don't Evict PDX is a collective of volunteer tenants working to 'prevent, delay, and reduce the harm of evictions' and 'build tenant power.' 'The letter that's being delivered is not only asking to intervene in these evictions, but also about the conditions of the building,' Quick said. 'There are some discrepancies between the stated goals of the building and the actual reality of living there day-to-day.' More than 70 percent of Indigenous people in the U.S. live in urban areas. Portland has the ninth largest urban Indigenous population in the country, with an estimated 58,135 Native Americans representing more than 380 tribal nations. Adequate housing for low-income residents of these communities has long been an issue. According to the latest U.S. Census data, Indigenous people account for 1.9% of the overall population in Oregon yet are overwhelmingly represented in homeless populations. The 2024 point-in-time (PIT) count shows that Indigenous people in Oregon experienced homelessness at a rate 5.84 times higher than their proportion of the population. NAYA, a large Portland-based service provider for Native populations, first moved into housing nearly two decades ago when it identified the need for better, culturally specific low-income housing for Indigenous residents. In 2008, NAYA took over the Sawash portfolio, a 44-unit property, from another housing organization formerly known as Low-Income Housing for Native Americans in Portland Oregon (LIHNAPO), which closed its operations the same year due to lack of funding. From 2010-2012, NAYA developed its inaugural affordable housing project, Kah San Chako Haws, a nine-unit module housing development in the Lents neighborhood. Kah San Chako Haws, which means 'East House' in Chinook, was the first-ever multistory, multifamily modular housing project in Portland, and one of the first in the country. NAYA served as a co-developer for the second project, Generations, a 40-unit affordable housing development that opened its doors in 2012 in the same Lents neighborhood, offering intergenerational townhome-style housing options in a cooperative community designed to support families of foster children by 'promoting permanency, community, and caring relationships, while offering a safe and meaningful purpose in the daily lives of older adults.' NAYA co-developed three more projects with partners including Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, NARA NW and CDP between 2017 and 2022, all located in the Cully Neighborhood. Nesika Illahee, a 59-unit recovery-oriented community, was developed in partnership with Siletz and CDP between 2016 and 2020. Nesika Illahee means 'Our Place' in Chinook. Resident services like housing assistance, mental health services and resources for drug and alcohol recovery are provided for tenants by NARA NW. The property's owners and FPI Management have filed 14 evictions against tenants of Nesika Illahee since 2023, including 11 since April of last year. One eviction, in 2021, was levied under the previous property manager, Viridian Management. Mamook Tokatee opened in 2022 as a four-story apartment building offering 56 units with a mix of studios and one- to three-bedroom units with tribal and artist preference. Twenty of the 56 units at Mamook Tokatee are specifically for citizens of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, which contributed funding for the project. In the last three months alone, 11 evictions have been filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court — including eight in a five-day span in December — against tenants, including Berry, at Mamook Tokatee. The third Cully project, Hayu Tilixam, which means 'Many Nations' in Chinook, opened the same year. Hayu Tilixam, a 50-unit project, was designed for low-income, Native American and BIPOC families to provide permanent supportive housing with on-site case management and wraparound services to nine of the 50 households. The 10 evictions filed at Hayu Tilixam since October of last year represent — similar to the other two complexes — 20 percent of all the units. Together, Nesika Illahee, Mamook Tokatee and Hayu Tilixam properties provide 165 affordable housing units, with Native and BIPOC preference. NAYA, which co-owns all three properties, also opened a shelter last year for Native families experiencing homelessness called khwat yaka haws. According to Arana, NAYA is a national leader in Native-specific affordable housing. Still, he acknowledges room for improvement. 'We're learning and we're applying, and we're shifting, and we're trying to make improvements,' Arana said. 'The three affordable housing developments that occurred in the Cully Neighborhood, they were very close to each other, so as one was getting done, the next one was already underway,' Arana added. 'So it wasn't enough time to start applying that knowledge. We could have really benefited from having a little bit more time to operate, learn some lessons and definitely apply them at the next project.' While tenants have expressed displeasure with NAYA, they direct most of their ire and specific complaints at FPI Management. Interviews with more than a dozen current and former Indigenous tenants of NAYA's affordable housing — most of whom have received eviction or nonpayment notices — paint a picture of mismanagement, constant overturn of property management staff, rent instability and other issues. Tenants also describe long-standing maintenance issues, including claims of mold, bed bugs, unchanged smoke alarm batteries, elders living on the fourth floor and more, with widespread criticism of management's inefficiency and lack of timely repairs. Arana pointed to challenges such as issues related to behavioral health among tenants and tenants who are unaccustomed to maintaining property. 'Some of these units are designed for homeless families, so a lot of the residents may not necessarily have the experience or the skills of knowing how to maintain or upkeep an apartment, so cleanliness might be an issue, right?' Arana said. 'This is not unique to Native properties,' he added. 'This is a challenge that every single affordable housing provider is facing right now, issues of not cleanly units, issues of hoarding, issues of bed bugs. Anybody who is doing affordable housing development, anybody who's doing permanent supportive housing, is running into these issues. What we're trying to do is, as they come up, figure out how to address them and solve them.' A young mother living at one of the properties wrote in a Facebook post that she feels 'lucky' she hasn't received an eviction notice yet, because she has been trying for months to work with FPI to figure out her portion of the rent after a $1,200 domestic violence subsidy is applied. 'I am still waiting to figure out the accurate portion of my rent due,' she wrote. 'Every time a manager was working with me, we'd almost get the accurate number and then they'd leave FPI.' Near constant overturn of property management staff is a recurring issue raised by tenants. 'I live here and we cannot seem to keep anyone willing to hold the job as manager of this building,' another tenant wrote on Facebook. 'I wonder why?' 'It is impossible for those of us who are disabled to get accommodations when on-site managers are rotated out of the building every few months,' states the letter from Mamook Tokatee Tenants Association that was delivered to NAYA. The letter also pointed to accusations that managers have mishandled tenants' housing subsidy paperwork, causing the 'tenants to lose housing subsidies,' in addition to management seeking to 'evict tenants over the amounts that would have been subsidized if management had not mishandled the paperwork.' Richard Scott, 61, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians descendant, has been living at Mamook Tokatee since July 2022. He says he had to fight back at repeated issues with incorrect nonpayment notices and an unjust eviction notice from FPI Management. He believes these mistakes are a direct result of the company's 'incompetence.''It's an abusive pattern that needs to stop,' Scott said. 'And, quite frankly, my hope is that by doing what I'm doing, it will get [FPI Management] removed as management.' Scott said a number of payments 'disappeared' when the switchover from Viridian to FPI management occurred. A person employed at NAYA during the time and who had knowledge of the incidents said FPI 'lost' or 'misplaced' rent payments. The person added that tenants likely have legitimate claims of neglect by FPI Management. 'That is part of what led to some of the problems and that's why some of the people have ended up getting evicted,' Scott said. 'They were probably unjustly evicted.' '[FPI Management] was trying to evict me when I, in fact, have been paying my rent and paying it in a timely fashion,' he added. Scott fought two separate notices from FPI management stating he was behind on rent. One notice from FPI reviewed by Underscore stated that Scott had a $1,532.06 outstanding debt. But Scott, who has meticulously kept records, provided FPI with rental receipts showing that he was up to date. 'I figured, alright, now this should be the last that I hear of it,' Scott said. 'Well, last month comes with an eviction notice for failure of payment. And I'm like, alright, this is ridiculous.' The eviction notice and an outstanding debt of $680 were later corrected, Scott said, adding that he was informed he was instead owed $380 from the management company for overpayment. 'So they gave me an eviction notice for paying my rent,' Scott said. According to numerous interviews with tenants and the letter that was delivered to NAYA, Scott isn't alone in experiencing these types of issues. 'It is unacceptable to evict us for nonpayment of rent if you do not even know how much we owe,' the Mamook Tokatee Tenants Association letter states. 'It has become necessary for us to unite together into a tenant association, because NAYA has failed to appoint an adequate manager of Mamook Tokatee, and now NAYA is trying to evict 9 of us because of their own manager's fault,' the letter continues. According to TJ Noddings, co-founder of Renters Action Network, issues within the affordable housing sector are common throughout the country, with claims of mismanagement and neglect being a recurring pattern. Noddings co-founded Renters Action Network, a grassroots organization made up of renters, activists and organizations dedicated to advocating for the rights and needs of renters across Portland. Together they work to address and 'fight systemic injustices in housing.' 'I think neglect is happening everywhere in the rental market,' Noddings told Underscore. 'There's just a lot being absolutely ignored, looked over.' According to Noddings, eviction rates are skyrocketing across Multnomah County, with rates in 2024 30% higher than in 2023 — which was 30% higher than in 2022. From January to December 2024, there were 28,073 eviction cases filed in Oregon, according to data from Evicted in Oregon, a Portland State University (PSU) group that researches evictions. Multnomah County accounted for 11,761 of those eviction cases. Underscore Native News requested information and documentation regarding rental agreements and eviction details at NAYA properties, among other information. FPI and NAYA denied the requests, citing confidentiality. According to a 2024 PSU report on evictions in Oregon, nonpayment of rent is the most common cause for evictions nationwide and statewide. The report revealed that 76% of evictions in Oregon between 2021 and 2023 were due to nonpayment. In subsidized housing, that figure was 60%, while nearly 40% were for other causes. All 21 eviction notices at Mamook and Hayu were for nonpayment; at Nesika, five were for other violations, including conduct. An analysis of the PSU report by the Eviction Research Network and University of California Berkeley found that Oregon has among the highest eviction rates in the U.S. and that eviction case counts broke all-time state records in 2024. The report also found that CDP was in the top 10 for subsidized housing evictors in Oregon. CDP's eviction rates, like those of other subsidized housing providers, have risen since the pandemic. 'It's a really difficult time in affordable housing,' said Holly Benelli, senior asset manager with CDP. 'After COVID, a lot of properties have struggled with operations in general for a lot of different reasons. I mean, the level of acuity and need that we're seeing within the populations that we could historically serve in affordable housing properties has really shifted, and continues to shift quickly.' Benelli said CDP and NAYA work to address issues as they arise and will continue to do so. 'We recognize there have been some really challenging outcomes or devastating outcomes for some of the folks,' Benelli said. While nonpayment is the most common reason for eviction, tenants at NAYA properties say they have been trying to pay their rent, but run into issues with FPI management. Arana said the property management company, not NAYA, is 'responsible for overseeing the books connected to the buildings.' He added that the properties are audited and that NAYA and other ownership partners like CDP are looking at the finances closely. While Berry said he has secured a new place to stay, he is worried about others who might not be as lucky. He hopes no one else has to deal with what he has. 'We have other people that are going to be living in these buildings, they're going to be treated the same way, so we want to make sure that stops right here, now,' Berry said. 'Nobody should have to go through what we've had to go through.' One first-time renter, after being evicted, said they don't know what to do now. 'I come here from all the way in South Dakota, so this is my only home. Where am I going to go?' they asked during an interview with Underscore. 'I have to go all the way back to South Dakota, and I have to figure out my housing complications from there.' 'We're here for community. We're here for the people,' they asked. 'The community is here, and we're asking for help, but where's our help?' Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute $5 or $10 today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter. This story is co-published by and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest. Funding is provided in part by Meyer Memorial Trust.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Yahoo
‘ARMED AND DANGEROUS': Oregon murder suspect at large
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A 42-year-old man from Oregon is wanted for second-degree murder in connection to the death of 41-year-old Janelle Klaar, whose body was found inside a room at the John Day Motel in John Day, Ore. on Feb. 28. Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter signed a warrant for the arrest of suspect Gary Dylan Cavan on Feb. 28. As of March 4, Cavan is still at large and is considered armed and dangerous. 'On Feb. 28, the Grant County Sheriff's Office responded to a welfare check requested by family members to a 7th Street address in John Day,' a press release issued by the Grant County Sheriff's Office reads. 'After knocking at the residence, no one was located. Deputies attempted phone contact with the occupant and that was unsuccessful as well. A few hours later, staff at the John Day Motel called to report what appeared to be a deceased female located in a room there at the establishment.' 2-year-old Siletz boy still missing as search enters third full day Cavan was last seen in Baker City, located west of I-84 in Eastern Oregon. He is said to have blonde hair and blue eyes, stands 6 feet 2 inches tall, and weighs 215 pounds. The investigation is led by Oregon State Police with assistance from the Grant County Sheriff's Office. Anyone with information regarding Cavan's whereabouts are asked to contact Oregon State Police immediately. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Green Hornets rescue hikers on Larch Mountain
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Two hikers who called for help after getting lost on Larch Mountain were rescued by the Green Hornets in the early hours of Saturday, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said. The rescue began around 7:40 p.m. Friday night when a man called 911 to say his wife and a friend hadn't come back from a hike on Larch Mountain. The hikers were contacted by phone around 8:30 p.m. and said they didn't need any help. And then they did. Search continues for missing Siletz 2-year-old Dane Paulsen Around 10 p.m., the hikers, whose names were not publicly disclosed, called deputies and said they were now lost and would wait for rescuers at the spot where they called. Their cell phone was pinged to a spot about a mile from Nesika Lodge on Larch Mountain, officials said. It took awhile for the Green Hornets to find the hikers. Around 1:15 a.m. the hikers were found and OK despite being cold and hungry. They arrived back with the rescuers around 3 a.m. where they were medically checked out and able to get back to their car at Multnomah Falls. The sheriff's office said the 'Green Hornets are a specialized team of MCSO deputies trained for fast foot searches and wilderness first aid. Many of its members are experienced backcountry trail runners and navigation experts.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oregon, Washington two of the best states for women: WalletHub
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Oregon and Washington are some of the best states for women in the U.S., according to a new report published by the personal finance website WalletHub. Oregon ranked 12th among all U.S. states and Washington, D.C. The state of Washington ranked 9th. 'Women across America still get the short end of the stick – even as they outnumber men in most states,' the report states 'For instance, women make up nearly 51% of the U.S. population, but represent more than two-thirds of all minimum-wage workers in the U.S. Their political representation also suffers, with women making up only 24% of the Senate and 29.2% of the House of Representatives.' Trump says 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports will start Tuesday, with 'no room' for delay The best state for women, according to WalletHub, is Massachusetts, followed by Minnesota, Washington, D.C., New York, Maryland, Maine, Vermont, New Jersey, Washington, Hawaii, Rhode Island and Oregon. The states named the worst for women in descending order are Missouri, Georgia, West Virginia, Wyoming, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi. Search continues for missing Siletz 2-year-old Dane Paulsen To calculate its findings, WalletHub analyzed issues related to economics, social well-being, health care and safety. These categories were weighted using statistics like median earnings for female workers, unemployment rates for women, share of women in good health. WalletHub also assessed each states' abortion policies and quality of hospitals. 'Despite improvements the U.S. has made over the years, women still lag behind men when it comes to economic prospects, executive positions and political representation,' WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. 'On top of tackling these important issues, the best states for women also ensure that they have access to high-quality health care, receive the same educational opportunities as men, and live in safe communities.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
