This is KGW news at 11.
Welcome to KGW News at 11.
I'm art Edwards.
We begin with a house fire near
Hillsborough in North Plains tonight.
Officials say that home is a total loss.
At this point,
we don't know what started the fire and
investigator is looking into that tonight.
To Walton Fire and Rescue along with
Hillsborough fire banks fire crews.
They were able to get the flames
under control about 2 hours ago.
The fire started just before 7:00 PM.
Now, no one was inside the home at
the time and there were no injuries.
Officials do say that.
One person has been displaced
and is now staying with family.
This
fire was a total loss for the home.
About half of it is actually
on the ground at this point.
Now firefighters also told KGW that
the fire was a challenge to stop.
Because the home is in a rural area,
access to water sources
like hydrants is limited.
One person is dead tonight after two
cars collided in Southeast Portland.
The crash happened about 9:30 this morning.
The Portland Police Bureau says
that the crash happened at the
intersection of SE 80th Ave.
and Powell Blvd.
One driver died before officers
were able to get to the scene.
The driver of the other car
involved stayed at the scene.
Investigators have not yet
said what led up to the crash.
It's the third fatal crash in
the city so far this year.
Here's a map that shows the
locations of those crashes,
including the latest from today.
To date, three people have died,
including one pedestrian.
And overnight near Vista House,
a car went over an embankment.
Corporate fire was able to
get the driver out of the car.
As you can see, it's resting on its side.
Rescue crews say that the
driver was not hurt.
Well,
Noma County sheriff's deputies
say the driver was impaired at
the time of the crash and they
have issued a citation.
Deputies also note that there was no
other car involved in that crash.
You don't see a dead whale
on the beach every day.
It's smells like rotten eggs.
Lots of people flocked to the
Oregon coast today to see that
dead whale that had washed up
near Fort Stevens State Park.
Marine experts say it's a sperm
whale measuring 40 feet long,
Blair best reports.
It was a rare attraction for all ages.
I think it's really cool and that and that.
It smells really bad. It's an
amazing part of nature is what it is.
It's cool to see all well,
one of the Ocean's greatest predators
now a spectacle on the sand.
I just think there's such amazing
animals, mammals living out there.
I don't know how they do it. It's wild.
Over the weekend, this whale washed
up onto the beach near Fort Stevens.
State Park, right next to
the Peter Iredale shipwreck.
I think it's a
good educational experience for people.
It's just unusual, you know,
you don't see that everyday or rarely ever.
First reported as a humpback whale,
which is common,
seen as about a half dozen humpbacks
wash up on the Oregon coast each year.
Marine experts later determined
this one was different.
It was a sperm whale.
You can tell by this large
jaw. So they have this really big mouth
with line with a bunch of teeth on it.
So it has a very. A distinct
look Tiffany Booth works at the
seaside aquarium, which is part of
the marine Mammal Stranding network,
meaning they respond to animals dead
or alive along the Oregon coast.
They then report their findings to
Portland State University Sunday morning.
They removed the whales,
lower jaw and teeth.
A lot of scientific value can
come out of the lower jaw,
and unfortunately there are
people out there that will kind
of come and carve the teeth out.
And so it's really important for
us to get that whole jaw off.
As soon as we possibly can.
It's a 40 foot long male.
They're planning a necropsy later
this week to find out why it died,
focusing on the large propeller
like gash in its side. Oh
no, it's just. Feel bad for animals.
There's not a lot of whales left
and so it's it's always sad when
we see one that gets beached,
and that's where it will stay
as it naturally decomposes.
Marine experts encourage people
to look but at a distance, but
we ask people not to touch.
Marine mammals can carry diseases that
can be transmitted to humans and pets,
so it's just a good idea since
especially we don't know exactly
what happened to the whale,
to kind of keep your distance as
people marvel from afar.
They're left with a wave of emotions.
No, it's not sad.
It's great that the public gets to see.
This makes me feel like I won't throw up.
I feel odd by by whales in general.
Don't make me start to cry on
the coast of Oregon, Blair best KGW news.
Fire investigators tonight are working
to find the cause of a fire that
damaged the North Portland home.
The fire started overnight
at this home on Seward Ave.
crews got three dogs out of the house.
No people were inside at the time.
It took them about 20 minutes
to get the fire under control.
Now, the person who lived there says
that she suffered considerable loss and
she did not have renters insurance.
Now to an update tonight.
Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici says she and
her husband are doing much better tonight.
A car hit the couple in Northwest
Portland on Friday night,
Representative Bonamici wrote on Twitter.
Thank you to everyone for your well wishes
and to the first responders and healthcare
workers who provided the care we needed.
My husband and I are continuing to
recover at home and are grateful for your
kind thoughts and support and quote.
After the crash,
representative Bonamici was treated
for concussion and head injury.
She is expected to make a full recovery.
Her husband was treated for minor injuries.
You know getting around the
airport can be difficult enough,
but if you are blind or
you have other challenges,
it could be hard without help.
Now a new indoor navigation app
is available to help in parts of
Portland International Airport.
Tim Gordon reports.
Traveling isn't always fun or easy.
The airport experience can be
confusing and overwhelming at times.
Imagine adding blindness to the equation.
Mike May doesn't have to imagine it.
He's been totally blind since
he was three years old.
30 feet ahead to capers market, capers market
now he's able to use the new Explorer
app from a company called Good Maps
that helps him get around PDX.
May is no stranger to the technology.
Since GPS became available
more than 20 years ago,
he's worked on making navigation tools
accessible to those with disabilities.
Now he's working as an executive
and ambassador with good maps.
It's fulfilling to me personally
because I get to go new places,
but also for somebody who's worked
in the accessible tech field.
For a long time, I'm thrilled to share
this with other blind people and
to facilitate them getting around.
I mean, the better you get around,
the better you engage in life,
whether it's for career or recreation.
PDX is one of two US airports
to accommodate the app so far,
and for now, not all of it is mapped.
Pete Devasta was a member of the
Port of Portland's Accessibility
Committee and looking forward to seeing
the indoor direction app expanded.
I would love to see it more widespread
because it is really a game changer.
But it's already paying off.
One of the features allows your
phone camera to be your eyes.
I can point the camera if
I'm standing in a spot,
I can turn my body around and,
like right in front of me.
If there's a coffee shop,
it'll tell me that.
If I turn left,
it'll tell me like there's a
gate or a restroom or whatever.
The app can also assist
people with other physical
or neurological challenges,
providing the same result.
More independence.
Tim Gordon, KGW news.
That's kind of cool.
Well, Joe Raineri is here
with a look at our weather.
You know, I got up this morning,
it was windy, it was kind of
raining a little bit and I was
hoping all day it was going to
get better. It got better late in
the afternoon, in the evening.
Heading into tomorrow though,
we're gonna be looking at a start
of a basically a dry streak.
Art, we are gonna be seeing mainly
dry conditions for tomorrow.
But as we look at what we saw earlier today,
some impressive numbers in terms of wind.
Not so much here locally,
but up at Timberline Lodge you saw
gusts of about 8485 miles an hour.
This is right around 9:00 o'clock.
This evening, Mount Hood Meadows,
you saw a gust earlier today
at 70 miles an hour,
chehalem mountain over in the Newburgh area,
you saw gusts up to 56 miles an hour.
In the I5 bridge you saw a 46.
So it wasn't just the wind,
it was also the rain.
But rainfall amounts weren't all
that impressive here locally.
But along parts of the Oregon
coast near Newport,
you saw more than an inch
and 1/4 earlier today.
So this is that upper level low
that brought all the wind and rain
earlier today that's going to be
pushing up north into parts of
Washington and into BC heading into
next couple of days we'll be seeing.
Another train of systems moving onshore,
basically bringing in another round of
showers throughout parts of California,
not just parts of it,
but through much of it.
But as they are looking at the
weather headlines here locally,
it's going to be a wet start to the new year.
Since the second day of the year
we seen measurable amount of rain
every day since so far more than
2 1/2 inches of rain.
And heading into tomorrow,
again,
it's going to start a stretch of
two days in a row with dry weather.
I'll talk more about that and we can
expect to see heading in the later
part of this week. All right, Joe,
we'll see you in a little bit.
Thanks a lot. Well, tomorrow is
Martin Luther King junior day, man.
There are a lot of events that are
being held to mark the occasion.
Here in Portland,
many revolve around serving the community.
Today, our Bryant Clerkley had
the chance to attend a service
in honor of Doctor King. Hey,
art. Well, the service to
honor Martin Luther King's legacy
happened at the historic Vancouver Ave.
First Baptist Church,
which is the first largely
African American church.
In Oregon, there were
several keynote speakers, including Mayor
Ted Wheeler and Reverend JW Matt Hennessy.
They spoke about racism,
gun violence and homelessness,
and how we should all work
together to solve these problems.
Shall not.
I think we can. We have to continue
to remember that the fight is not
over and that he was one voice.
But everyone, every single person
is important. Inside
the historic Vancouver Ave.
First Baptist Church in Northeast Portland,
a celebration for the late Martin
Luther King Junior is happening.
Faith leaders from across the
city and elected officials
came to pay their respects.
Grace Rubenstein is from Congregation
Beth Israel and wanted to come
to the service to celebrate.
King's legacy, his
ability to raise
up other voices,
is really what his
legacy means to me.
When guests walked in the church,
they could see artwork
celebrating Doctor King.
The crowd inside the church was
also diverse, something Reverend Dr.
JW Matt Hennessy says MLK
would be proud to see today.
This is not the first time.
We do this all the time and
realize that together we can make
an even stronger impact on the
concerns of our Community and the
opportunity to find good solutions.
There are several more
community events planned.
MLK Day Monday, there's a memorial
walk in Vancouver and the 9th
annual Reclaim MLK event hosted
by Don't Shoot PDX in Portland.
Many will also mark the holiday
with a day of service.
You can choose to join a solve cleanup
starting at Irving Park in Portland.
Packed with pride is hosting a food box
packing event at Tigard High School,
and there's a tree planting at Cook Park.
Cynthia Monk will be honoring MLK's legacy
by joining in a day of service with her.
Grandchildren.
Well, I'll start off in the morning
with doing some work around our
church and then I'll go on in the
afternoon with my grandchildren.
I have no idea what we're doing.
I just know it's a community
service and they asked me to come.
And so we'll see.
It's probably cleaning up something.
Back at the service Sunday,
some of the keynote speakers
brought up issues like gun violence,
homelessness and racism and coming
together to solve the problems.
Mike Fryer came to pick up his son,
who's in the choir.
He says MLK Day is so special.
And if you look at the people who
come here today, OK, you know,
you can see people together,
you know, really together.
And giving was a huge part of this service.
Many people who attended
donated money to the drum major
scholarship fund to help local
students and students who attend
the church pay for college.