05-07-2024  1:50 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

Safety Lapses Contributed to Patient Assaults at Oregon State Hospital

A federal report says safety lapses at the Oregon State Hospital contributed to recent patient-on-patient assaults. The report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services investigated a recent choking attack and sexual assault, among other incidents. It found that staff didn't always adequately supervise their patients, and that the hospital didn't fully investigate the incidents. In a statement, the hospital said it was dedicated to its patients and working to improve conditions. It has 10 days from receiving the report to submit a plan of correction. The hospital is Oregon's most secure inpatient psychiatric facility

Police Detain Driver Who Accelerated Toward Protesters at Portland State University in Oregon

The Portland Police Bureau said in a written statement late Thursday afternoon that the man was taken to a hospital on a police mental health hold. They did not release his name. The vehicle appeared to accelerate from a stop toward the crowd but braked before it reached anyone. 

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.

NEWS BRIEFS

Legendary Civil Rights Leader Medgar Wiley Evers Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

Evers family overwhelmed with gratitude after Biden announces highest civilian honor. ...

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...

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

ENTERTAINMENT

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Gustavo Valdes CNN

(CNN) -- New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez said Wednesday that she plans a new push to repeal the state law allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses.

Martinez, who has tried to get the law repealed twice before, described it as dangerous in a post on her official Facebook page.

"I am once again asking the legislature to repeal the law that gives driver's licenses to illegal immigrants," said Martinez, a Republican. "I am always willing to discuss this issue with legislators from both parties and explore ways to find common ground, but I believe the most effective solution is to simply repeal this dangerous law."

Her comments are the latest salvo in a nationwide debate over the controversial issue.

Some were hopeful that the nod toward compromise was a sign that her approach may have changed from past attempts to repeal the measure.

"We are encouraged that a compromise can be worked out by the legislators and the governor," said Allen Sanchez, executive director of the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops, a group that has fought the governor's attempts to repeal the law.

Martinez, the first Latina governor in the United States, promoted the repeal of the 2003 law during her campaign for governor.

In 2011, she said the law had turned New Mexico into a magnet for people from other states seeking a license.

"We have created an industry of human trafficking," Martinez said in 2011. "People are getting paid to bring other people from all over the country to New Mexico for the whole purpose of defrauding our state."

New Mexico and Washington are the only two states that grant unrestricted driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants.

Utah issues driving privilege cards to undocumented immigrants who have lived in the state for more than six months. Illinois lawmakers approved a measure earlier this month to allow undocumented immigrants to get temporary licenses.

Several New Mexico lawmakers have said this month that they were considering a measure that would be a compromise more in line with the approach Utah and Illinois have taken, CNN affiliate KRQE reported.

"It doesn't benefit the citizens of the state of New Mexico for us to be at a stalemate." Democratic state Sen. Pete Campos told KRQE. "It is important for us to move forward."

For months, driver's licenses and other state benefits have been at the heart of a battle in the nationwide immigration debate.

In New Mexico, supporters of the licenses for undocumented immigrants argue that it's safer to have more drivers trained and insured, and opponents argue that it's a system rife with fraud.

Immigrant rights advocates have defended the current practice.

It was intended to offer undocumented immigrants "the opportunity to buy insurance, register their vehicles and have a driving record available to all law enforcement," said Marcela Diaz of Somos Un Pueblo Unido (We Are a United People).

But critics say the practice is turning New Mexico into a magnet for fraud.

"Currently, illegal immigrants from all over the country come to New Mexico to obtain a license without having the intention of staying here," Demesia Padilla, the state's secretary of taxation and revenue, said in 2011.

The state's Taxation and Revenue department has prosecuted a number of people, including Rosa Pardo-Marrufo, who confessed in 2009 to charging $700 to people who wanted to use her address in fraudulent applications.

CNN's Greg Morrison and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.

 

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast