Wildfires across Oregon — many fueled by recent record-breaking heat waves in the region — have burned more acreage so far this year than the entire 2023 season, state and federal fire officials told Axios.

Why it matters: Oregon's wildfire season started early this year, in April (it typically gets going in June and peaks in mid-August), and as the warm, dry weather continues, the more intense season is straining resources and fire-fighting personnel.

• "We still have a long ways to go," Carol Connolly, a spokesperson for Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, which handles fire suppression across Oregon and Washington, told Axios.

Threat level: Dry lightning is forecast for today and tomorrow, meaning more wildfires are likely to pop up this week, according to Jessica Neujahr, a spokesperson for Oregon Department of Forestry.

• This could lead to additional evacuations and poor air quality across larger swaths of the state due to wildfire smoke.

What they're saying: "Our wildfire season is off to a very aggressive start," Gov. Tina Kotek said at a press conference on Friday as she declared five emergency conflagrations, which allow the state to pull in additional resources to protect property and life.

• Kotek also extended a state of emergency until October due to wildfires "growing at a concerning pace."

By the numbers: Over 694,000 acres have burned since the beginning of the year in Oregon, per Connolly — more than all of 2023.

• The Durkee Fire near the eastern border with Idaho is the largest active fire in the state and has burned over 173,000 acres since it started last week.
• There are 26 other large wildfires, defined as fires bigger than 100 acres in timber or 300 acres in grass and brush. That includes the Cow Valley Fire outside of Ironside (134,000 acres), the Falls Fire in Harney County (132,000 acres) and the Larch Creek Fire near Dufur (18,300 acres).

The intrigue: Of the nearly 22,000 firefighters and support personnel working fires in the nation, over a third (7,500 of them) are fighting fires in Oregon and Washington, Connolly said.

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Portland has cool little music venues and cinemas, but its live theater scene also offers fine venues where actors can strut their hour upon a stage.

Here are several Portland venues that make going to a play or musical feel like a special event.

The Armory

Anchor tenant Portland Center Stage's upcoming season (starting Sept. 29) includes reliable money-makers such as "Sweeney Todd," "Twelfth Night" and "The Importance of Being Earnest."

• The JAW New Play Festival is July 26-28.

Artists Repertory Theatre

This theater company is rebuilding with mainstage and studio spaces, and recently began showing off its lobby.

• After skipping last year due to financial woes, ART has a mini season with three shows in October.

Patricia Reser Center for the Arts

With its fine acoustics and selfie-friendly lobby, the 2022 Reser is attracting local pop and classical music acts, plus one-off touring bands, making a trip to Beaverton worthwhile.

• Not to be confused with PRAx — the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts in Corvallis — bankrolled by the same food makers.

Lincoln Hall

This Portland State University building houses the theater with some of the best acoustics in the city and is home to opera and experimental theater, especially during the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art's Time Based Art Festival.

• Catch local opera company OrpheusPDX's two shows in August here, "The Rose Elf" and "Acis, Galatea & Polyphemus."

Tell a thespian

🤩 Portland Art Museum now offers special glasses to visitors with red-green color blindness to help them experience works on display with more enhanced hues. (The Oregonian)

Legendary Portland actor Sam Mowry, known for his voice work, died of a heart attack on Saturday at age 64. (Oregon Arts Watch)

🫏 Oregon's top Democrats, including all six in Congress as well as Gov. Tina Kotek, have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the party's presumptive presidential nominee. (OPB)

🧀 Tillamook Creamery was just as surprised as the internet when Britney Spears posted a photo of its Mexican Blend shredded cheese product to her 42 million Instagram followers. (Willamette Week)

Luna Contreas was named Eater Portland's Chef of the Year in 2023, just months after opening veggie-forward Mexican restaurant Chelo. She's not slowing down anytime soon.

🌶️ The latest: Contreas is ramping up production of her small batch hot sauce line at independent retailers in Portland and Seattle, and hopes to have them in New Seasons by the end of the summer, she told Axios.

• Building on the success of Chelo, Contreas also has a "secret project in the works" in NE Portland she plans to launch soon. "Fingers crossed and manifestations have most definitely been made!"

✈️ We wanted to know: If she had one meal left, what would she eat?

• Contreas would travel to the small community in Guadalajara where she grew up.

🦐 Appetizer: As a kid, Contreas would go with her grandmother to the city center via bus and stop at a local seafood market on the way.

• There they would eat "siete mares" — a seafood soup featuring shrimp and octopus in a "spicy yet sweet tomato sauce, jam-packed with avocado, onion, cucumber and brightened by lime juice," she said.

🌮 Entree: Next up, street tacos. And a lot of them. "I remember fondly stopping for tacos in the evening," Contreas said. "My memories tell me it was a dozen tacos."

Her favorite dessert