04-26-2024  2:11 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

NORTHWEST NEWS

City Council Strikes Down Gonzalez’s ‘Inhumane’ Suggestion for Blanket Ban on Public Camping

Mayor Wheeler’s proposal for non-emergency ordinance will go to second reading.

A Conservative Quest to Limit Diversity Programs Gains Momentum in States

In support of DEI, Oregon and Washington have forged ahead with legislation to expand their emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion in government and education.

Epiphanny Prince Hired by Liberty in Front Office Job Day After Retiring

A day after announcing her retirement, Epiphanny Prince has a new job working with the New York Liberty as director of player and community engagement. Prince will serve on the basketball operations and business staffs, bringing her 14 years of WNBA experience to the franchise. 

The Drug War Devastated Black and Other Minority Communities. Is Marijuana Legalization Helping?

A major argument for legalizing the adult use of cannabis after 75 years of prohibition was to stop the harm caused by disproportionate enforcement of drug laws in Black, Latino and other minority communities. But efforts to help those most affected participate in the newly legal sector have been halting. 

NEWS BRIEFS

Chair Jessica Vega Pederson Releases $3.96 Billion Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025

Investments will boost shelter and homeless services, tackle the fentanyl crisis, strengthen the safety net and support a...

New Funding Will Invest in Promising Oregon Technology and Science Startups

Today Business Oregon and its Oregon Innovation Council announced a million award to the Portland Seed Fund that will...

Unity in Prayer: Interfaith Vigil and Memorial Service Honoring Youth Affected by Violence

As part of the 2024 National Youth Violence Prevention Week, the Multnomah County Prevention and Health Promotion Community Adolescent...

Mt. Tabor Park Selected for National Initiative

Mt. Tabor Park is the only Oregon park and one of just 24 nationally to receive honor. ...

Net neutrality restored as FCC votes to regulate internet providers

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday voted to restore “net neutrality” rules that prevent broadband internet providers such as Comcast and Verizon from favoring some sites and apps over others. The move effectively reinstates a net neutrality order the...

Biden celebrates computer chip factories, pitching voters on American 'comeback'

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday sought to sell voters on an American “comeback story” as he highlighted longterm investments in the economy in upstate New York to celebrate Micron Technology's plans to build a campus of computer chip factories made possible in part with...

Missouri hires Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch for the same role with the Tigers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri hired longtime college administrator Laird Veatch to be its athletic director on Tuesday, bringing him back to campus 14 years after he departed for a series of other positions that culminated with five years spent as the AD at Memphis. Veatch...

KC Current owners announce plans for stadium district along the Kansas City riverfront

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The ownership group of the Kansas City Current announced plans Monday for the development of the Missouri River waterfront, where the club recently opened a purpose-built stadium for the National Women's Soccer League team. CPKC Stadium will serve as the hub...

OPINION

Op-Ed: Why MAGA Policies Are Detrimental to Black Communities

NNPA NEWSWIRE – MAGA proponents peddle baseless claims of widespread voter fraud to justify voter suppression tactics that disproportionately target Black voters. From restrictive voter ID laws to purging voter rolls to limiting early voting hours, these...

Loving and Embracing the Differences in Our Youngest Learners

Yet our responsibility to all parents and society at large means we must do more to share insights, especially with underserved and under-resourced communities. ...

Gallup Finds Black Generational Divide on Affirmative Action

Each spring, many aspiring students and their families begin receiving college acceptance letters and offers of financial aid packages. This year’s college decisions will add yet another consideration: the effects of a 2023 Supreme Court, 6-3 ruling that...

OP-ED: Embracing Black Men’s Voices: Rebuilding Trust and Unity in the Democratic Party

The decision of many Black men to disengage from the Democratic Party is rooted in a complex interplay of historical disenchantment, unmet promises, and a sense of disillusionment with the political establishment. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Biden officials indefinitely postpone ban on menthol cigarettes amid election-year pushback

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration is indefinitely delaying a long-awaited menthol cigarette ban, a decision that infuriated anti-smoking advocates but could avoid a political backlash from Black voters in November. In a statement Friday, Biden’s top health...

Takeaways from AP's investigation into fatal police encounters involving injections of sedatives

The practice of giving sedatives to people detained by police spread quietly across the nation over the last 15 years, built on questionable science and backed by police-aligned experts, an investigation led by The Associated Press has found. At least 94 people died after they were...

Dozens of deaths reveal risks of injecting sedatives into people restrained by police

Demetrio Jackson was desperate for medical help when the paramedics arrived. The 43-year-old was surrounded by police who arrested him after responding to a trespassing call in a Wisconsin parking lot. Officers had shocked him with a Taser and pinned him as he pleaded that he...

ENTERTAINMENT

Music Review: Jazz pianist Fred Hersch creates subdued, lovely colors on 'Silent, Listening'

Jazz pianist Fred Hersch fully embraces the freedom that comes with improvisation on his solo album “Silent, Listening,” spontaneously composing and performing tunes that are often without melody, meter or form. Listening to them can be challenging and rewarding. The many-time...

Book Review: 'Nothing But the Bones' is a compelling noir novel at a breakneck pace

Nelson “Nails” McKenna isn’t very bright, stumbles over his words and often says what he’s thinking without realizing it. We first meet him as a boy reading a superhero comic on the banks of a river in his backcountry hometown in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia....

Cardi B, Queen Latifah and The Roots to headline the BET Experience concerts in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cardi B, Queen Latifah and The Roots will headline concerts to celebrate the return of the BET Experience in Los Angeles just days before the 2024 BET Awards. BET announced Monday the star-studded lineup of the concert series, which makes a return after a...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Rooting for Trump to fail has made his stock shorters millions

NEW YORK (AP) — Rooting for Donald Trump to fail has rarely been this profitable. Just ask a hardy...

Antony Blinken meets with China's President Xi as US, China spar over bilateral and global issues

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior...

Long flu season winds down in US

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. flu season appears to be over. It was long, but it wasn't unusually severe. ...

Andrew Tate's trial on charges of rape and human trafficking can start, a Romanian court rules

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A court in Romania’s capital on Friday ruled that a trial can start in the case of...

A US-led effort to bring aid to Gaza by sea is moving forward. But big concerns remain

JERUSALEM (AP) — The construction of a new port in Gaza and an accompanying U.S. military-built pier offshore...

Ukraine pushes to get military-age men to come home. Some neighboring countries say they will help

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s foreign minister doubled down Friday on the government’s move to bolster the...

Eddie Pells AP National Writer

So much for the little guys.

Instead of parlaying an historic day of upsets into a second weekend filled with small schools, the NCAA tournament now looks like a who's-who of major college programs.

All but two of the 16 teams in the regional semifinals will be from power conferences. The lone exceptions are Xavier, which is hardly a stranger to this kind of year, and Ohio University, a big school with a small, but no longer unknown, basketball program.

According to STATS, this will be the first time since 2003 that 14 teams from the six major conferences have made the Sweet 16.

Next week's matchups:

-No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 4 Indiana and No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 10 Xavier in the South; No. 1 Syracuse vs. No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 6 Cincinnati in the East; No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 13 Ohio and No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 11 North Carolina State in the Midwest; and No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 4 Louisville and No. 3 Marquette vs. No. 7 Florida out West.

Those 14 power-conference teams have a combined 93 Final Four appearances and 33 national titles.

While two No. 2 seeds, Duke and Missouri, fell to 15s Lehigh and Norfolk State in a history-making second round Friday, all four No. 1s got through the first week safely - the first time that's happened since 2009. A year before that, all four top-seeded teams made it to the Final Four for the only time.

It's possible again this year, though Carolina will have to overcome an injury to a key player to get there.

The Tar Heels defeated Creighton 87-73, but point guard Kendall Marshall broke his right (non-shooting) wrist.

"You can ask any question you want, but I just told you all we know," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said when announcing the injury. "We do not know anything else."

Though there are few small programs - such as the Butlers and VCUs and George Masons that have crashed the Final Four over the last decade - there will be three teams who bring double-digit seeds to the final 16.

The list starts with No. 11 North Carolina State, the program that pretty much set the standard for March Madness upsets and gave us one of the most memorable moments in college sports: Coach Jim Valvano running around the floor at The Pit, looking for someone to hug after Lorenzo Charles grabbed Dereck Whittenburg's air ball and put it in at the buzzer for an upset over powerhouse Houston.

That was in 1983.

In 2012, the Wolfpack snuck in as one of the last at-large teams to make the field. On Sunday, they upset No. 3 Georgetown 66-63 to make it to the Midwest Regional, where they'll play Kansas.

"We always talk about we have such great history at NC State, but it's also time to build some new history," coach Mark Gottfried said.

No. 10 Xavier comes from the Atlantic-10, the closest thing to a power conference without actually being one. This is the fourth Sweet 16 appearance in the last five years for the Musketeers, who made their biggest news this season with an ugly brawl against crosstown rival Cincinnati that led to suspensions and knocked the team out of whack.

"The only guys that know what we went through were the guys who were in the locker room," coach Chris Mack said. "Some would say it's self-inflicted, but I know we have great kids. And I'm really proud of them today."

Then, of course, there's No. 13 Ohio - enrollment 17,000 but with a basketball program that has, well, basically nothing in common with the better-known behemoths from the state that will join them in the Sweet 16 - Ohio State, Xavier and Cincy.

"I do think our guys have a chip on their shoulder," Ohio coach John Groce said. "I think our guys look forward to playing on the big stage against quality competition."

© 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast