05-27-2024  3:20 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

NORTHWEST NEWS

Oregon 2024 Primary Results

Maxine Dexter, Janelle Bynum, Dan Reyfield and Elizabeth Steiner secure nominations; other races too soon to call.

AP Decision Notes: What to Expect in Oregon's Primaries

Oregon has multiple hotly contested primaries upcoming, as well as some that will set the stage for high-profile races in November. Oregon's 5th Congressional District is home to one of the top Democratic primaries in the country.

Iconic Skanner Building Will Become Healing Space as The Skanner Continues Online

New owner strives to keep spirit of business intact during renovations.

No Criminal Charges in Rare Liquor Probe at OLCC, State Report Says

The investigation examined whether employees of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission improperly used their positions to obtain bottles of top-shelf bourbon for personal use.

NEWS BRIEFS

Portland Parks & Recreation’s Summer Free For All Returns for 2024

Parks Local Option Levy brings the city a full slate of free movies, concerts (including pop icon Sheila E), Free Lunch + Play, the...

GFO Library Open on Memorial Day

We are remaining open to give our patrons an opportunity to use the library on a day off from work. ...

Montavilla Jazz Festival Adds Concerts and Venues to Fall Festival

Festival features a three-day village-style celebration of local, world-class artistry with more than 30 concerts and events across 12...

Election Day Information in Multnomah County: Ballots Must Be Returned by 8 p.m. May 21

Today, May 21, 2024, is the last day to vote in the primary election. ...

PCC and Partners Break Ground on Affordable Housing

The new development, set to be a vibrant community hub, will feature 84 income-based apartments ...

Idaho drag performer awarded jumi.1 million in defamation case against far-right blogger

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) — A jury has awarded more than jumi.1 million to an Idaho drag performer who accused a far-right blogger of defaming him when she falsely claimed that he exposed himself to a crowd, including children, during a Pride event in June 2022. The Kootenai County...

Ranked-choice voting has challenged the status quo. Its popularity will be tested in November

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s new election system — with open primaries and ranked voting — has been a model for those in other states who are frustrated by political polarization and a sense that voters lack real choice at the ballot box. Used for the first time in 2022, the...

Duke tops Missouri 4-3 in 9 innings to win first super regional, qualify for first WCWS

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — D'Auna Jennings led off the top of the ninth inning with a home run to end a scoreless pitching duel between Cassidy Curd and Missouri's Laurin Krings and 10th-seeded Duke held on for a wild 4-3 victory over the seventh-seeded Tigers on Sunday in the finale of the...

Mizzou uses combined 2-hitter to beat Duke 3-1 to force decisive game in Columbia Super Regional

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Laurin Krings and two relievers combined on a two-hitter and seventh-seeded Missouri forced a deciding game in the Columbia Super Regional with a 3-1 win over Duke on Saturday. The Tigers (48-17) had three-straight singles in the fourth inning, with Abby Hay...

OPINION

The Skanner News May 2024 Primary Endorsements

Read The Skanner News endorsements and vote today. Candidates for mayor and city council will appear on the November general election ballot. ...

Nation’s Growing Racial and Gender Wealth Gaps Need Policy Reform

Never-married Black women have 8 cents in wealth for every dollar held by while males. ...

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...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

South Africa's election could bring the biggest political shift since it became a democracy in 1994

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africans will vote Wednesday to decide whether their country will take its most significant political step since the moment 30 years ago when it brought down apartheid and achieved democracy. This national election will not be as momentous as the...

National Spelling Bee reflects the economic success and cultural impact of immigrants from India

When Balu Natarajan became the first Indian American champion of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 1985, a headline on an Associated Press article read, “Immigrants’ son wins National Spelling Bee,” with the first paragraph noting the champion “speaks his parents’ native Indian...

Pro-independence leader calls on protesters in New Caledonia to 'maintain resistance' against France

NICE, France (AP) — The leader of a pro-independence party in New Caledonia on Saturday called on supporters to “remain mobilized” across the French Pacific archipelago and “maintain resistance” against the Paris government's efforts to impose electoral reforms that the Indigenous Kanak...

ENTERTAINMENT

Drake leads the 2024 BET Awards nominations with 7, followed closely by Nicki Minaj

Drake is the leading nominee for next month's BET Awards, followed closely by Nicki Minaj. The Canadian rapper received seven nominations Thursday, including an album of the year nod for his eighth studio album, “For All the Dogs.” One of the awards he's up for is the music video...

Dabney Coleman, actor who specialized in curmudgeons, dies at 92

NEW YORK (AP) — Dabney Coleman, the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains like the chauvinist boss in "9 to 5" and the nasty TV director in "Tootsie," has died. He was 92. Coleman died Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, his daughter, Quincy Coleman, said...

Book Review: 'Cujo' character returns as one of 12 stories in Stephen King’s ‘You Like It Darker'

In Stephen King’s world, “It” is a loaded word. It’s hard not to picture Pennywise the Clown haunting the sewers of Derry, Maine, of course, but in the horror writer’s newest collection of stories, “You Like It Darker,” “It” ranges from a suspicious stranger on a park bench, to an...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Cyclone floods coastal villages, blows away thatched roofs and cuts power in Bangladesh and India

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A cyclone flooded coastal villages, blew away thatched roofs and left hundreds of...

A woman could be Mexico's next leader. Millions of others continue in shadows as domestic workers

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Concepcion Alejo is used to being invisible. Alejo, 43, touches her face up...

A synthetic drug ravages youth in Sierra Leone. There's little help, and some people are chained

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — In Sierra Leone, a cheap, synthetic drug is ravaging youth. Trash-strewn alleys...

France to lift state of emergency in efforts to allow political dialogue in riot-hit New Caledonia

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron decided Monday to lift the state of emergency in the French...

A Thai court sentences an opposition lawmaker to 2 years in prison for defaming the monarchy

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court on Monday sentenced a lawmaker from a progressive opposition party to two years in...

China has threatened trade with some countries after feuds. They're calling 'the firm' for help

WASHINGTON (AP) — Business is good at “the firm.” The eight-person team at the State...

CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) -- A woman has accused George Zimmerman, the man charged in the fatal shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, of having sexually abused her for about a decade, beginning when she was 6 years old and he was 8.

"He would reach under the blankets and try to do things and I would try to push him off," said the woman, who is identified only as Witness 9 and whose account was released Monday in audio recordings that a judge ordered last week be made public.

"He was bigger and stronger and older. It was in front of everybody. And I don't know how I didn't say anything. But I just didn't know any better," she said.

CNN spoke to the woman's father, who said neither he nor any other member of the family would be speaking on the subject. The woman did not respond to a request for comment.

Mark O'Mara, Zimmerman's attorney, released a statement Monday responding to the allegations. In it, he said his client was not yet 8 years old when the alleged abuse began, and that he was 17 when it ended. O'Mara said the woman is Zimmerman's cousin.

In a motion filed June 18, O'Mara called the accuser's statement "not relevant to the issues of this case," and said the allegations are inadmissible.

He added that its disclosure risked leading to "widespread hostile publicity which would substantially impair the Defendant's fair trial rights, and would pose a serious threat to the administration of justice."

"Now that this statement is part of the public record, the defense will vigorously defend Mr. Zimmerman against the allegations," O'Mara said in his statement Monday.

While on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" Monday evening, O'Mara continued to defend his client.

"There actually were some other events that happened in the family dynamics that we will get into if we need to," he said, calling into question her credibility. "(S)he makes up allegations about sexual abuse, then also seemingly doesn't have any corroboration to them."

The 28-year-old former neighborhood watch captain is charged with second-degree murder in the February 26 death of Martin. The 17-year-old Martin was unarmed when he was killed while walking back to his father's girlfriend's house in a gated residential area of Sanford, Florida.

Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty. He has said he shot in self-defense after Martin attacked him.

The woman said the abuse occurred when her family visited with Zimmerman's. "Every time that we would go up there, I could just look at him and he would give me a certain look and I would know if it was going to happen when we got together for family gatherings. Because he just got this look in his eye like he was going to."

Referring to Zimmerman as "Georgie," she said "he just sucked up to my dad. He was like the son he never had. And he always was just, you know, very charming and personable with everybody in the family, and just always would laugh and entertain everybody. But he was different behind closed doors with me."

In a statement, the Martin family said the woman's testimony could be used in trial to show Zimmerman has a history of violence and manipulation. "Zimmerman's mentality is very relevant to this trial," said the statement, which was sent to CNN by family attorney Benjamin Crump.

It was not immediately clear how -- or even whether -- prosecutors planned to use the woman's testimony in their case against Zimmerman.

"We cannot discuss what will or will not be used," said Jackelyn Barnard, spokeswoman for Special Prosecutor Angela Corey.

Judge Kenneth R. Lester Jr. ruled last week that Witness 9's statements and any jail calls turned over to the defense are part of the public record.

"This statement ... will simply be another piece of the puzzle to be relied upon by those who want to believe there was a racial motive to the shooting, and will be dismissed by those who claim that there was no such motive," the judge wrote.

Zimmerman is free to disclose the nature of his relationship with Witness 9, though she cannot be identified publicly, Lester said.

CNN's Marylynn Ryan and David Mattingly contributed to this report.

 

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast