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Gambling app Kalshi donates to Oregon AG Dan Rayfield, Bitcoin up 5%, affordable housing project breaks ground in Boise, Trump pauses 50% tariff on Canadian goods, US national debt hits $40T, Missoula lowers fire danger level, ground beef prices +9% YoY.

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PNW Market Look

As of market close 8.19.26

The Cass Freight Index fell -4.8% YoY in July, to 0.96, matching the lowest level since the 2020 pandemic. (KL)

Treasury doubles debt buybacks as Bessent moves to steady bond market (CNBC)

Headline Roundup

Cancer vaccine from Moderna, Merck shows promise in late-stage trial; both stocks soar (CNBC)
Cost to battle 20 wildfires in Washington has topped $200M (OPB)
Idaho has spent $31 million on firefighting while nearly 700K acres have burned statewide (IDC)
Kalshi Hires Oregon Lobbyists and Gives Rayfield $12,500 (WW)
Historic Fisherman's Terminal building shipshape after $37M rebuild (DJC)
Seattle's SODA law, once hotly debated, is now barely being used. City leaders weigh in on what that means (KUOW)
The U.S. debt tops a record-shattering $40 trillion. Yes, with a T. (KUOW)
Top Projects finalists for 2026 highlight variety of builds throughout Idaho (IBR)
Salem Faces $11 Million Annual Gap Just to Keep Streets From Getting Worse (SBJ)
Idaho state budget’s revenue outlook improves for new fiscal year (IDC)
'On the tip of everyone's lips': Boise breaks ground at Alta Harris Park (IDP)
After petition seeking to block local data center thrown out, farmers appeal to Idaho Supreme Court (BD)
Centennial Mills demolition completed way ahead of schedule, train service restarts (ORL)
Uber Eats to pay $4.4M settlement to Seattle delivery workers (ST)
Invasive beetle that has wiped out millions of ash trees confirmed in Washington (WSS)
Trump pauses 50% tariffs on goods from Canada, says two sides have a deal (Ground)
County Commissioners vote to rezone 20 acres off Highway 97 between Bend and Redmond (BB)
Amazon set to expand drone delivery of lightweight packages to 500 US cities (CDA)
TikTok lays off 75 Bellevue employees amid restructuring (PBJ)

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Community Highlight

Oregon public universities are headed toward steeper cuts and higher tuition, leaders warn (OPB)

“I think our ability to meet the needs of students and parents and the state is diminishing on a yearly basis, and more people need to speak up.”

Leaders have not yet made a specific request for additional money from the state. But at least one estimate says the state “should more than double its budget for public higher education,” from $1.2 billion annually to $2.5 billion, according to a commission subcommittee that analyzed how Oregon compares to other states and the national average in how it pays for community colleges and universities.

The funding problems have pushed public universities into financial disarray. It has also soured negotiations with employee unions who are vying for better pay and say spending growth among administrators has outpaced that of classified staff. Nearly all of Oregon’s public universities have recently faced budget cuts and layoffs in some form.

Often, it has also meant steeper tuition for students. Devlin said he anticipated the annual cost of attending the University of Oregon, for example, could exceed $40,000 within the next two years.”

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Rip’s Spotlight

Moderna, Merck vaccine cuts recurrence and spread of melanoma, raising new treatment hope (Reuters)

“said on Wednesday that a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine reduced the risk of recurrence and spread of melanoma in a late-stage trial, a major success in a new field of cancer treatment that sent Moderna's shares surging as much ‌as 160%.

This is the first positive late-stage trial result for an mRNA cancer vaccine, which trains a patient's immune system to fight tumors by targeting specific mutations in those cells, and the first such study to show that adding a treatment to Keytruda worked better than that therapy alone. Merck, Moderna and other companies are testing similar approaches against lung, breast and pancreatic cancers.

Karen Knudsen, CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, said the Moderna results could signal a new era for treating solid-tumor cancers.

"The positive hit here leads us ⁠into truly this next phase in immunotherapy," Knudsen said. "This is an auspicious start — this is where things begin."

The results signaled a reversal of fortune for Moderna, which has struggled to generate new products beyond its COVID-19 vaccine and faced pushback over its mRNA technology from President Donald Trump's administration. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has criticized the safety and efficacy of mRNA vaccines and cut $500 million in mRNA vaccine projects.

Still, the National Cancer Institute has continued to fund trials of cancer vaccines, including those based on mRNA.

The vaccine — which is a personalized treatment — could be difficult to make and scale up commercially, although Hoge said Moderna is confident it can meet demand over the next few years.”