Bruce Ely, The Oregonian/OregonLive

By Grant Butler, The Oregonian/OregonLive

Portland is a city that’s always changing. Old buildings come down, new buildings go up, and neighborhoods change as new people come in.

Sometimes those changes are apparent at eye-level. Think of all the changes on Southeast Division Street or North Williams Avenue in the last decade, and the arrival of all those upscale apartment buildings. Or think about the obvious changes to downtown when a new hotel or government building goes up.

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Oregonian file photo

But other times, you can’t really take in the extent of changes without changing your perspective by seeing the city from above. When you look down on Portland from above, you get a bird’s-eye view of the city’s transformation over the years.

Here are aerial photos of the Portland area that show how much the city has changed over the last 100-plus years.

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Downtown

Portland’s core has undergone more changes that just about any part of town. When the first aerial photos of the city were taken, downtown business was still clustered close to the Willamette River, and many businesses were focused on shipping and trade. Downtown was home to numerous Victorian houses and mansions, not the collection of high-rises and apartment buildings you see today.

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Portland Archives and Records Center

This 1900 photo shows a very different downtown Portland from the one we know today. Much of the west end features Victorian homes and mansions. There are a few visible landmarks that still stand, including Pioneer Courthouse and First Congregational Church.

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Oregonian file photo

This undated aerial view of Portland shows downtown and bridges crossing the Willamette River. The Burnside Bridge is seen under construction, which would make this a pre-1926 photo.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1933 aerial view of Portland shows downtown in the foreground, and the Steel and Burnside bridges crossing the Willamette River.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1941 aerial photo shows downtown Portland's waterfront, where the Battleship Oregon was moored south of the Hawthorne Bridge.

That segment of the waterfront today in the bowl area of Tom McCall Waterfront Park, and is home to many annual events including the Waterfront Blues Festival.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1951 aerial photo looks east from downtown Portland towards Mount Tabor.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1951 aerial photo looks east from downtown Portland towards Southeast Portland.

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Verne Lewis, The Oregonian

This 1957 photo, which was taken from the 12th floor of the Portland Trust Building looking east, shows construction on the westside approach ramps for the new Morrison Bridge. The new bridge replaced the second Morrison Bridge the following year. The second Morrison Bridge, which was built in 1905, can be seen crossing the Willamette River.

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David Falconer, The Oregonian

This 1959 aerial photo shows southern area of downtown Portland along with the Hawthorne Bridge. This section would become the focus of massive urban renewal projects in the coming decades.

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Leonard Bacon, The Oregonian

This 1960 aerial photo looks north over downtown Portland. In the foreground is the old Oregonian building. Also visible: the under-construction Hilton Hotel, and the Paramount Theater (now the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall), and the Heathman Hotel.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1963 aerial view of Portland shows the south part of downtown during the initial stages of urban redevelopment. Just above the center of the photo is Public Auditorium, which would be massively remodeled a few years after this photo was taken and rechristened Portland Civic Auditorium, which we know as Keller Auditorium today.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1963 aerial photo looks west over downtown, going up Southwest Taylor, Yamhill and Morrison streets. Visible in the background is the 22-story Hilton Hotel, which would have the distinction of being the city's tallest building for three years. New buildings would later replace most of the surface parking lots seen in this photo. Portland, Oregon, Aerial view

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Oregonian file photo

This 1963 aerial view of Portland looks northwest over downtown, offering views up Southwest Madison, Main and Salmon streets. Most of the buildings and surface parking lots in the foreground would later be redeveloped.

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Chuck Von Wald, The Oregonian

This 1964 aerial photo shows the under-construction Marquam Bridge (just to the left of the photo's center). In the foreground is Ross Island. Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams can be seen in the distance.

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Leonard Bacon, The Oregonian

This 1967 aerial photo shows the Stadium Freeway (now known as Interstate 405) under construction.

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Jim Vincent, The Oregonian

This 1970 photo shows a sea of downtown Portland surface parking lots that surrounded the base of the Morrison Bridge. Harbor Drive, which was removed in 1974 to make way for Tom McCall Waterfront Park, runs along the Willamette River.

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Jim Vincent, The Oregonian

This 1971 aerial photo of downtown Portland shows the Hilton Hotel and the recently completed 27-story Georgia-Pacific Building (now known as the Standard Insurance Center). In the foreground, there is a surface parking lot that would later become home to the new performing arts center building.

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Oregonian file photo

This undated aerial photo, taken some time in the late-1970s, shows the completed highway system around downtown, including Interstates 5 and 405.

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Doug Beghtel, The Oregonian

This 1983 photo shows the under-construction US Bancorp Tower on West Burnside Street, and One Pacific Square in Old Town.

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Randy L. Rasmussen, The Oregonian

This 1985 photo shows the construction of the expanded performing arts center. The new theater building, which would eventually be christened Antoinette Hatfield Hall, contains the Newmark Theatre, the Winningstad Theatre, and Brunish Hall. Construction was completed in 1987, and 25,000 turned out for the grand-opening celebration.

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Jim Vincent, The Oregonian

This 1985 aerial photo shows Portland Civic Stadium (now called Providence Park), the Multnomah Athletic Club, and the Portland Towers Apartments. The wedge-shaped block contained apartment buildings at the time that were later torn down to make way for a high-rise condominium building.

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Randy L. Rasmussen, The Oregonian

This 2011 aerial photo shows the former Civic Stadium, which was known as Jeld-Wen Field at the time this shot was taken. The home of the Portland Timbers is now called Providence Park, and is undergoing a major expansion to add additional seats.

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The Pearl District

For the better part of the last century, the Pearl District could easily be described as gritty. The Blitz-Weinhard Brewery operated round the clock, filling the air with the smell of hops while providing a soundtrack of clinking bottles. The Pearl was also home to large warehouses, rail yards, and even large horse paddocks for the city’s mounted police.

In the 1990s, that all changed when urban renewal money poured into the neighborhood, turning an industrial, blue-collar neighborhood into one with cache.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1937 photo shows the Willamette River cutting through Portland. The photo looks south to the Broadway and Steel bridges, which connected North and Northeast Portland with the rail yards and warehouses of industrial Northwest Portland.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1991 photo shows Old Town and the Pearl District before urban renewal efforts got underway. Near the top of the photo, you can see the area by Memorial Coliseum that would soon become the construction site for the Rose Garden Arena (now known as the Moda Center), which would open later in the decade.

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Kraig Scattarella, The Oregonian/OregonLive

This 1999 aerial view shows the demolished Lovejoy ramp, an elevated roadway that cut the Pearl District in two. As part of the district's redevelopment plan, the ramp was removed, ushering in new buildings, businesses and apartments. Today, Northwest Lovejoy Street is a major eastbound arterial leading to the Broadway Bridge.

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Kraig Scattarella, The Oregonian/OregonLive

This 1999 aerial view shows the demolished Lovejoy ramp, an elevated roadway that cut the Pearl District in two. As part of the district's redevelopment plan, the ramp was removed, ushering in new buildings, businesses and apartments. Today, Northwest Lovejoy Street is a major eastbound arterial leading to the Broadway Bridge.

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Randy L. Rasmussen, The Oregonian/OregonLive

This 2010 aerial view of Portland train station and the main Portland post office looks towards the West Hills, capturing all the development that had occurred in the Pearl District the previous decade.

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South Waterfront

Portland South Waterfront has undergone two waves of changes that have transformed the one-time industrial district into a mix of high-end condos and apartments. In the 1980s, the section of waterfront closest to downtown was refashioned into the RiverPlace development, creating a popular pedestrian promenade, a marina and an upscale hotel.

In the late 2000s, another wave of redevelopment took place in the waterfront area south of the Marquam Bridge, where high-rise buildings and an extension of OHSU transformed an area that at one time was metal scrap yards.

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Portland Archives and Records Center

The USS Oregon was on display along the Portland waterfront from June 1925 until 1942. In this aerial photo from 1938, the USS Oregon can be seen near the Hawthorne Bridge at the top of the frame. This pictures shows just how industrialized Portland's waterfront was at the time. The scrap yards in the foreground are now home to high-end condominium buildings and parkways.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1969 photo shows the south part of downtown Portland before it was redeveloped. Harbor Drive runs along the Willamette waterfront, and the riverfront land that would later become the RiverPlace development is still an industrial area.

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Michael Lloyd, The Oregonian

This 1980 aerial photo shows Southwest Macadam Avenue during its transition period from a warehouse district to the home of moorages, condominiums, restaurants and office buildings of John's Landing.

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Jim Vincent, The Oregonian

This 1982 photo shows the Southwest Portland waterfront urban renewal project right before it entered the building phase. The 73-acre site eventually became home to the RiverPlace development, featuring a hotel, condominiums, apartments, shops, restaurants and a marina.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1993 aerial view of downtown Portland shows the RiverPlace marina, Tom McCall Waterfront Park, and the downtown skyline as it appeared then.

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Bruce Ely, The Oregonian/OregonLive

In 2005, initial construction on the South Waterfront development was underway.

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Randy L. Rasmussen, The Oregonian/OregonLive

Before it was redeveloped into the South Waterfront District, most Portlanders headed to the area south of the Marquam Bridge to attend performances by Cirque du Soleil. In this 2010 photo, the French-Canadian circus company was in town with its production of "Kooza." It was the last time the troupe performed along the Willamette River before moving its touring shows to the Expo Center in North Portland.

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Randy L. Rasmussen, The Oregonian/OregonLive

This 2013 aerial photo shows the nearly complete South Waterfront Project. Because of the economic downturn, several of the planned condominium towers were converted into apartments, and occupancy rates for the new residential neighborhood was hit-and-miss.

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Bruce Ely, The Oregonian/OregonLive

This 2015 aerial image showcases Portland's newest bridge, Tilikum Crossing, in the foreground.

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Eastside

Portland’s eastside changed dramatically in the 1950s and ‘60s, when American car culture necessitated the development of freeways. While the new roadways improved things like interstate commerce, they also cut cohesive neighborhoods up, splintering the city’s African-American community.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1955 aerial view of Portland looks north over the industrial eastside, and directly up Union Avenue (now known as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) all the way into Northeast Portland.

The industrial eastside would change dramatically in the next decade with the arrival of the East Bank and Banfield Freeways.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1962 aerial photo shows the swath cut for what was then called the East Bank Freeway (now Interstate 5) as it winds through North Portland. Visible near the center of the picture is Memorial Coliseum.

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Leonard Bacon, The Oregonian

This 1963 aerial view of Northeast Portland shows the Banfield Freeway (now known as Interstate 84) as it approaches the Willamette River between the Burnside and Steel bridges. Visible in the upper right is Memorial Coliseum.

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Jim Vincent, The Oregonian

This 1966 photo shows the nearly completed Andrew Jackson High School on Southwest 35th Avenue. The school opened in the fall of that year with 750 students, to be Andrew Jackson High School. The numbers on the photo mark some of the new $4-million school's features: No.1 - classrooms; No. 2 - classrooms; No. 3 - main office; No. 5 - business education; No. 6 - gymnasium. The school is now Jackson Middle School.

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Leonard Bacon, The Oregonian

This 1967 aerial photo shows the eastside intersections of the Banfield Freeway and the East Bank Freeway (now known as Interstates 84 and 5 respectively). Mount St. Helens is visible in the distance.

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Bruce Ely, The Oregonian/OregonLive

This 2015 aerial view of the Burnside Bridge shows the early stages of the controversial Burnside Bridgehead development on the east side. The building under construction in this image is the monolith-like Yard Apartments.

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Swan Island, North Portland

In the early days of aviation, Swan Island served the city as an airport. After World War II, it became a focal point of the shipping industry, as well as dry docks for large ships. Other parts of North Portland saw big changes, too,

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Portland Archives and Records Center

This undated photo shows the Swan Island Airport, which operated from 1926 until World War II.

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Portland Archives and Records Center

This undated photo shows the Swan Island Airport, which served Portland from 1926 until World War II.

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Portland Archives and Records Center

This undated aerial photo shows the Swan Island Airport, which operated from 1926 until World War II.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1947 aerial view of Swan Island, shows rows of military barracks.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1966 aerial photo shows the Drydock Center on Swan Island, which featured three drydocks where ships could be repaired.

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Randy L. Rasmussen, The Oregonian/OregonLive

This 2011 aerial view of the Swan Island lagoon on the Willamette River looks east towards downtown and Northeast Portland.

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Frank Sterrett, The Oregonian

This 1946 aerial photo shows the Portland Union Stockyards in the Kenton neighborhood of North Portland. At the time this photo was taken, during a meat shortage that followed World War II, the stockyards held 1,600 head of cattle -- about half of its normal supply.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1946 photo shows the Amphitheater Drive-In, Portland's first drive-in theater, which was a part of the Union Avenue racing bowl. Films were shown inside the race track, and as many as 600 cars could be accommodated. It would continue showing movies until the 1970s, and was located near Portland Meadows horse racing track, a segment of which can be seen in the foreground.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1979 photo shows the land surrounding Portland Meadows race track. Work began that year on redeveloping the land east of Interstate 5. Today, the area is a mix of big-box retail stores, sports fields and warehouses.

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Oregon State Highway Department

This 1959 State Highway Department aerial shows interchanges, approaches, toll gates and portion of twin Interstate Bridges over Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver. In the foreground is the Big Dipper roller coaster from the Jantzen Beach Amusement Park.

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Leonard Bacon, The Oregonian

This 1964 aerial photo shows the Eastbank Freeway (now known as Interstate 5) under construction in North Portland. The highway, which got the nickname "Minnesota Freeway" because its construction eliminated Minnesota Street and the homes that lined it. The freeway opened later that year. In the distance, Mount St. Helens can be seen.

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Suburban growth

As the Portland-area grew, the suburbs surrounding the city began to take off. In the 1940s and ‘50s, towns like Beaverton, Tualatin and Forest Grove were largely rural. But that changed with improved roadways and infrastructure, which connected Portland with the area around it.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1948 aerial photo looks west from Portland's West Hills, and shows the nearly completed Sunset Highway's 20-mile straightaway going through Beaverton and Forest Grove.

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Randy L. Rasmussen, The Oregonian/OregonLive

Contrast that bucolic image of the Sunset Highway from the 1940s with how it looks in this 2011 aerial, which looks west from approximately Murray Boulevard towards Hillsboro and Forest Grove.

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Portland Archives and Records Center

This undated photo shows Bernard's Airport in Beaverton, a non-commercial airfield that operated from 1928 until 1969. It was then redeveloped as Bernard's Beaverton Mall, and now is known as Cedar Hills Crossing.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1977 aerial photo shows the Washington portion of Interstate 205, where it ended at SR-14, just 1,600 feet from the Columbia River. The final connection with I-205 in Oregon wouldn't happen until 1982, when the Glenn Jackson Bridge across the Columbia River was completed.

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Roger Jensen, The Oregonian

This 1979 aerial photo shows construction of the Glenn Jackson Bridge over the Columbia River. The $170 million project, which was just 10-percent complete when this photo was taken, wouldn't be completed until 1982.

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Other changes

Some changes that have been chronicled by aerial photos don’t necessarily document significant civic changes, but they do offer interesting snapshots of the city as it once was.

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City of Portland Archives & Records Center

This 1952 picture shows the Safeway grocery store at Southwest Barbur and Multnomah Boulevards. The building, which fronts directly onto the sidewalk, was later demolished to make way for a new Safeway store that was set back in the lot behind a large parking lot. In 2012, that second Safeway was demolished and replaced with a third incarnation of the store.

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Jim Vincent, The Oregonian

This 1967 aerial photo shows the Portland's Zoological Gardens in Washington Park (now the Oregon Zoo), and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (in the upper left), while the Kendall Planetarium is under construction. The zoo has been almost entirely renovated, and few of the structures in this photo still stand.

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Randy L. Rasmussen, The Oregonian/OregonLive

This 2010 aerial view of the Oregon Zoo shows the renovated elephant habitat, the lawn where audiences gather for summer concerts, and the aviary and restaurant.

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Wes Guderian, The Oregonian

This 1974 aerial photo shows the old Portland standby power station on the Willamette River. The steam-powered station, which was located at Northwest Front and Nicolai Street, ran for years on sawdust, and was capable of putting out 10,000 kilowatts of energy.

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Oregonian file photo

This 1975 aerial photo shows the VA Hospital and the Oregon Health Science Center complex west of Terwilliger Boulevard.

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Kathryn Osler, The Oregonian/OregonLive

This 2001 aerial photo shows the greatly expanded Oregon Health Sciences University, including a massive skybridge connecting the VA Hospital and the medical school. In the distance, you can see the undeveloped South Waterfront District, where OHSU would eventually expand, connected by the Portland Aerial Tram.

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Bruce Ely, The Oregonian/OregonLive

This 2011 aerial photo shows Portland International Airport's air traffic control tower and its massive short-term and long-term parking garages.

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Randy L. Rasmussen, The Oregonian/OregonLive

This 2010 aerial photo shows industrial Northwest Portland along the Willamette River. Downtown Portland can be seen in the distance.

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More Portland history

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Collage by Grant Butler, The Oregonian/OregonLive

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-- Grant Butler

gbutler@oregonian.com

503-221-8566; @grantbutler