05-02-2024  11:13 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

Portland Government Will Change On Jan. 1. The City’s Transition Team Explains What We Can Expect.

‘It’s a learning curve that everyone has to be intentional about‘

What Marijuana Reclassification Means for the United States

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is moving toward reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. The Justice Department proposal would recognize the medical uses of cannabis but wouldn’t legalize it for recreational use. Some advocates for legalized weed say the move doesn't go far enough, while opponents say it goes too far.

US Long-Term Care Costs Are Sky-High, but Washington State’s New Way to Help Pay for Them Could Be Nixed

A group funded by hedge fund executive Brian Heywood is attempting to undermine the financial stability of Washington state's new long-term care social insurance program.

A Massive Powerball Win Draws Attention to a Little-Known Immigrant Culture in the US

An immigrant from Laos who has been battling cancer won an enormous jumi.3 billion Powerball jackpot in Oregon earlier this month. But Cheng “Charlie” Saephan's luck hasn't just changed his life — it's also drawn attention to Iu Mien, a southeast Asian ethnic group with origins in China, many of whose members fled from Laos to Thailand and then settled in the U.S. following the Vietnam War.

NEWS BRIEFS

April 30 is the Registration Deadline for the May Primary Election

Voters can register or update their registration online at OregonVotes.gov until 11:59 p.m. on April 30. ...

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...

The Latest | Protests and arrests roil US college campuses

President Joe Biden said Thursday that “dissent is essential for democracy,” but “chaos” has no part in a peaceful protest. He spoke as arrests continue on campuses around the U.S. as police dismantle camps of students protesting Israel’s war in Gaza. At UCLA, officers...

Tension grows on UCLA campus as police order dispersal of large pro-Palestinian gathering

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Law enforcement on the UCLA campus donned riot gear Wednesday evening as they ordered the dispersal of over a thousand people who had gathered in support of a pro-Palestinian student encampment, warning over loudspeakers that anyone who refused to leave could face arrest. ...

The Bo Nix era begins in Denver, and the Broncos also drafted his top target at Oregon

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — For the first time in his 17 seasons as a coach, Sean Payton has a rookie quarterback to nurture. Payton's Denver Broncos took Bo Nix in the first round of the NFL draft. The coach then helped out both himself and Nix by moving up to draft his new QB's top...

Elliss, Jenkins, McCaffrey join Harrison and Alt in following their fathers into the NFL

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Marvin Harrison Jr., Joe Alt, Kris Jenkins, Jonah Ellis and Luke McCaffrey have turned the NFL draft into a family affair. The sons of former pro football stars, they've followed their fathers' formidable footsteps into the league. Elliss was...

OPINION

New White House Plan Could Reduce or Eliminate Accumulated Interest for 30 Million Student Loan Borrowers

Multiple recent announcements from the Biden administration offer new hope for the 43.2 million borrowers hoping to get relief from the onerous burden of a collective

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...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Asian American Literature Festival that was canceled by the Smithsonian in 2023 to be revived

NEW YORK (AP) — A festival celebrating Asian American literary works that was suddenly canceled last year by the Smithsonian Institution is getting resurrected, organizers announced Thursday. The Asian American Literature Festival is making a return, the Asian American Literature...

Critics question if longtime Democratic congressman from Georgia is too old for reelection

CONYERS, Ga. (AP) — U.S. Rep. David Scott faces multiple Democratic primary opponents in his quest for a 12th congressional term in a sharply reconfigured suburban Atlanta district. But with early voting underway ahead of the May 21 primary elections, the 78-year-old is ignoring challengers and...

Hakeem Jeffries isn't speaker yet, but the Democrat may be the most powerful person in Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — Without wielding the gavel or holding a formal job laid out in the Constitution, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries might very well be the most powerful person in Congress right now. The minority leader of the House Democrats, it was Jeffries who provided the votes needed to...

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: Rachel Khong’s new novel 'Real Americans' explores race, class and cultural identity

In 2017 Rachel Khong wrote a slender, darkly comic novel, “Goodbye, Vitamin,” that picked up a number of accolades and was optioned for a film. Now she has followed up her debut effort with a sweeping, multigenerational saga that is twice as long and very serious. “Real...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 5-11

Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 5-11: May 5: Actor Michael Murphy is 86. Actor Lance Henriksen (“Millennium,” ″Aliens”) is 84. Comedian-actor Michael Palin (Monty Python) is 81. Actor John Rhys-Davies (“Lord of the Rings,” ″Raiders of the Lost Ark”) is 80....

Select list of nominees for 2024 Tony Awards

NEW YORK (AP) — Select nominations for the 2024 Tony Awards, announced Tuesday. Best Musical: “Hell's Kitchen'': ”Illinoise"; “The Outsiders”; “Suffs”; “Water for Elephants” Best Play: “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”; “Mary Jane”; “Mother...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Hakeem Jeffries isn't speaker yet, but the Democrat may be the most powerful person in Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — Without wielding the gavel or holding a formal job laid out in the Constitution, Rep. Hakeem...

What is at stake in UK local voting ahead of a looming general election

LONDON (AP) — Millions of voters in England and Wales cast ballots Thursday in an array of local elections...

A new form of mpox that may spread more easily found in Congo's biggest outbreak

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo is struggling to contain its biggest mpox outbreak, and scientists say a new form...

European court upholds Italy's right to seize prized Greek bronze from Getty Museum, rejects appeal

ROME (AP) — A European court on Thursday upheld Italy’s right to seize a prized Greek statue from the J. Paul...

Paris inaugurates giant water storage basin to clean up the River Seine for Olympic swimming

PARIS (AP) — French officials inaugurated on Thursday a huge water storage basin meant to help clean up the...

Broadband internet services are disrupted in most parts of Nepal

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Broadband internet was disrupted in many parts of Nepal on Thursday as Indian vendors...

Boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr., left, and Manny Pacquiao
The Associated Press

The most-anticipated fight in decades. The best-known horse race. A resumption of one of the premier baseball rivalries. The NFL draft. Playoff games, too.

And those are just the highlights.

Super Saturday awaits.
Stock the refrigerator, replace the remote batteries, get the weekend errands done early, invite your friends, fire up that grill and if you're very fortunate, confirm those flights. For the sports consumer, an amazing number of options will be available.
From the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight that could generate $400 million, to the 141st edition of the Kentucky Derby, to the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox colliding for the 2,142nd time to the NFL draft's finishing rounds and so much more, it's a sports enthusiast's dream.
"I don't plan on being there," said Masters champion Jordan Spieth, speaking of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, "but I may be."
Here's the translation. Spieth is playing in the Match Play Championship at San Francisco. If he's ousted before Saturday, his consolation prize is the fight.
"I've never seen anything like this in my life," said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer.
He meant the spectacle surrounding the fight.
He could have just as easily been talking about the worldwide hubbub of what awaits on Super Saturday.
"It's time to fight now ... the biggest fight in boxing history," Mayweather said.

THE FIGHT
The pay-per-view in the U.S. for Mayweather-Pacquiao will cost around $100 to watch in your home, although at least one company is offering to comp the purchase for new subscribers to their service.
There are plenty of other options.
Pacquiao fans will be paying $34 apiece for a seat at Skinny Mike's Sports Bar in Manila — on Sunday morning there, remember.
Front-row seats to watch from a casino are online for about $200, though that casino is actually in Hammond, Indiana, and not Las Vegas.
And in New York, you and 10 of your friends can watch at a club for $3,000, a steep price but one that includes six bottles of champagne, three bottles of liquor and platters of nachos, sliders, chicken fingers and pizza.

THE DERBY
A field of 20 will run for the roses at Churchill Downs, and while the Kentucky Derby might not be the best race of the year, it is certainly the most anticipated, unless a Triple Crown hopeful emerges.
About $125 million was bet on the Derby last year, more than 160,000 fans are expected at Churchill and it's not implausible to think - based on recent years - that 15 million or so will watch on television in the U.S. alone.
"It has become such an event," Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher said.
And to think, it's just part of the show on Saturday.

MORE CHOICES
NASCAR has qualifying at Talladega on Saturday. There's an LPGA tournament, plus Detroit and Kansas City are squaring off in a matchup of two of baseball's best teams early this season, along with that Yankees-Red Sox clash.
Yes, those will appeal to auto racing, golf and baseball fans.
But to those who love the magnitude of over-the-top events, they won't compare to the big show in Vegas.
"They may not follow sports much but they like the big events," said Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager for Showtime Sports. "And this is a big event."

THE PLAYOFFS
LeBron James will have Saturday off, he and the Cleveland Cavaliers won't be playing again until Monday, so he may be watching this fight someplace.
The NHL playoffs will be going on, with Washington and the New York Rangers playing Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Depending on what happens in other games, the NBA might have nothing scheduled that day, which would only give fans and players more time to enjoy everything else.
There's also a chance the NBA could see one or two Game 7s to end the first round.

THE NFL DRAFT
Finally, there's the big event of the NFL offseason — the draft, with the final four rounds coming on Saturday. It starts Thursday night, then resumes with rounds two and three on Friday.
This weekend the mighty NFL feels like an appetizer.
The last pick in the draft gets the title of "Mr. Irrelevant."
Given all going on in the sports world on Saturday, that may never be more appropriate.

AROUND THE WORLD
The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight will be broadcast in at least 52 countries, and who knows how many will be able to access it online globally.
But there's some other big events around the globe Saturday as well, although again, they'll all likely pale in comparison.
The European Rugby Champions Cup Final between a pair of French clubs will be going on, Real Madrid will face Sevilla in a potentially very big Spanish soccer match, and the women's singles and men's doubles world champions in table tennis will be crowned in China.

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast