01-14-2025  4:09 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

Janelle Bynum Becomes First Black Member Of Congress For Oregon

The former state representative for Clackamas County takes oath in D.C. and joins historic Congressional Black Caucus.

Boeing Still Needs a Culture Change to Put Safety Above Profits, According to the Head of the FAA

It was Jan. 5 of last year when a door plug blew out of Boeing 737 Max flying over Oregon. That led to increased scrutiny of Boeing by regulators and Congress.

How a Local Minority-Owned 'Renewable Energy’ Company is Blazing the Trail to Create 'Smart City' Solutions in Oregon

Smart Oregon Solutions (SOS), a minority-owned enterprise based in Portland has positioned itself to blaze the trail in creating ‘smart cities’ throughout Oregon ‘to create a100% clean energy solution by 2040.

The Salvation Army Announced as Operator of 200 Overnight Winter Shelter Beds

Locations will be existing Salvation Army facilities

NEWS BRIEFS

Joint Center Mourns the Passing of President Jimmy Carter

"We will continue to honor President Carter’s unwavering commitment to public service and his lifelong dedication to racial,...

Civil Rights Museum Statement on the Passing of President Jimmy Carter

A giant among leaders and a true example of the highest ideals of public service, President Carter’s legacy will forever be etched...

Rep. Mfume Announces Winner of Congressional App Challenge

The app, EcoGoal, was designed to help environmental organizations set, organize, and track goals in a private and collaborative...

Sen. Lisa Reynolds to Chair Newly-Formed Senate Committee on Early Childhood and Behavioral Health

New committee to focus on upstream solutions for some of Oregon’s toughest challenges. ...

Union Gospel Mission to Serve 350 Meals on Christmas Day

Union Gospel Mission’s Christmas Day meal will take place on Wednesday, December 25th at 10:00 a.m. at 15 NW Third Avenue. ...

Minnesota Legislature could be headed for a rocky start to its 2025 session

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The 2025 session of the Minnesota Legislature could be headed for a rocky start when it convenes Tuesday, with House Democrats threatening to boycott opening day and House Republicans saying they'll try to recall lawmakers who fail to show up. The messy power...

A tough-on-crime approach is back in US state capitols

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Within minutes of his inauguration Monday, new Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe unleashed a volley of orders targeting crime. The tone-setting move reflects a national trend. After a period of relaxed sentencing laws, a tough-on-crime approach is back in political...

Mitchell, Missouri Tigers square off against the No. 5 Florida Gators

Missouri Tigers (13-3, 2-1 SEC) at Florida Gators (15-1, 2-1 SEC) Gainesville, Florida; Tuesday, 9 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Gators -10.5; over/under is 155.5 BOTTOM LINE: Alijah Martin and No. 5 Florida host Mark Mitchell and Missouri in SEC action...

Bill McCartney, who coached Colorado to its only football national championship in 1990, has died

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Bill McCartney, who coached Colorado to its only football national championship in 1990, has died. He was 84. The charismatic figure known as Coach Mac died Friday night “after a courageous journey with dementia,” according to a family statement. His family...

OPINION

As Dr. King Once Asked, Where Do We Go From Here?

“Let us be dissatisfied until America will no longer have high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds. Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort from the inner city of poverty and despair shall...

A Day Without Child Care

On May 16, we will be closing our childcare centers for a day — signaling a crisis that could soon sweep across North Carolina, dismantling the very backbone of our economy ...

I Upended My Life to Take Care of Mama.

It was one of the best decisions I ever made. ...

Among the Powerful Voices We Lost in 2024, Louis Gossett, Jr.’s Echoes Loudly

December is the customary month of remembrance. A time of year we take stock; a moment on the calendar when we pause to reflect on the giants we have lost. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

The Freedom Caucus takes over the Wyoming House, marking its first chance to lead

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — As President-elect Donald Trump plans bold moves for his first days in office, so too are conservative lawmakers in Wyoming, the first state where Trump-friendly Freedom Caucus members have won control of a statehouse chamber. It will mark a big test for the...

Multiracial boom in 2020 census was mostly an illusion, researchers say

When the 2020 census results were released, they showed a boom in the number of people classified as multiracial in the United States since 2010. Two Princeton sociologists now say that jump was mostly an illusion. The 276% increase largely happened because of a change in how people...

Europe must combat antisemitism as thousands of Jews abandon the continent, top Jewish leader says

LARNACA, Cyprus (AP) — Governments across Europe need to immediately take action against a precipitous rise in antisemitism that’s driving thousands of Jews to abandon the continent, the leader of a prominent European Jewish organization said Monday. Rabbi Menachem Margolin,...

ENTERTAINMENT

Fubo combining with Disney's Hulu + Live TV; lawsuit against Venu Sports settled

Disney's Hulu + Live TV and sports streaming service Fubo are combining in a deal that will also see the settlement of a lawsuit against the creation of Venu Sports. Fubo and Hulu + Live TV both allow customers to stream live broadcast and cable networks on their connected TVs, mobile...

Movie Review: In ‘Hard Truths,’ Marianne Jean-Baptiste gives the performance of the year

Pansy is angry and she doesn’t know why. We all have days like that, when we snap at strangers for a minor infraction: The person who wants the spot in the parking lot that you’re not ready to leave, the couple behaving a little inappropriately in a public place, the chipper...

Media companies scrap Venu Sports streaming service before it even started

The planned streaming service Venu Sports has been scrapped before it ever started. ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery announced Friday they were pulling the plug on Venu. It had been expected to make available sports products from all three services as a mid-priced entry for cable...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Multiracial boom in 2020 census was mostly an illusion, researchers say

When the 2020 census results were released, they showed a boom in the number of people classified as multiracial...

Queen Elizabeth II wasn't told about Soviet spy in her palace, declassified MI5 files show

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II wasn’t told details of her long-time art adviser's double life as a Soviet...

A new rival bid for US Steel is emerging as the US extends deadline on Nippon's bid blocked by Biden

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The bid by Japan's Nippon Steel to buy U.S. Steel may have a new lease on life, even as...

Millions of pilgrims and naked, ash-smeared ascetics take holy dips in India's mega Hindu festival

PRAYAGRAJ, India (AP) — Tens of thousands of naked Hindu ascetics and millions of pilgrims took dips in freezing...

Middle East latest: Israeli strikes kill 18 in Gaza, medics say, as Hamas accepts a ceasefire draft

Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 18 people overnight, including women and children, health...

Ugandan military court rules it can try opposition figure on treachery charge carrying death penalty

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A prominent opposition figure in Uganda will stand trial on the serious charge of...

Michael Pearson CNN

(CNN) -- More prosecution witnesses are expected to testify Thursday in a marathon 11-hour session in the rape trial of two Steubenville, Ohio, football players accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl.

The trial, which is likely to stretch into the weekend, is moving quickly to accommodate the schedule of visiting Judge Thomas Lipps, who is presiding over the trial without a jury. A verdict is expected by Sunday.

Prosecutor Marianne Hemmeter opened the trial Wednesday saying the defendants -- Trent Mays, 17, and Ma'lik Richmond, 16 -- treated the girl "like a toy" with a string of degrading acts during a series of end-of-summer parties in August.

The teens are charged with rape. Mays is also charged with illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material. Defense attorneys say the two are innocent.

According to prosecutors, Richmond and Mays each penetrated the victim's vagina with their fingers, an act that constitutes rape under Ohio law.

They are not accused of having intercourse with the girl, although Hemmeter said in opening statements that one photograph appears to show semen on the girl's body and DNA analysis of semen found on a blanket she was lying on was a match for Mays.

Some of the alleged abuse was captured in cellphone images circulated in text messages and on the Internet, raising the profile of the case and bringing national attention to the town.

The case will hinge not on consent, but rather whether Mays and Richmond knew the girl was too impaired to know what was happening the night of the alleged attacks, Hemmeter said in opening statements Wednesday.

The girl, Hemmeter said, was "too impaired to say no, too impaired to say stop."

Six witnesses for the prosecution testified Wednesday, saying she appeared to be drunk -- stumbling, swaying and throwing up.

One witness, a 17-year-old girl who went to a party with the alleged victim, said she and the girl shared a half a bottle of vodka, which they each poured into a flavored crushed ice drink.

The alleged victim also had a beer and seemed to get drunk very quickly, the witness said.

The party broke up about 12:30 a.m. and the girl left with Mays and Richmond, according to the witness -- who said she pleaded with her not go. The witness said she didn't see the girl again until the next day when she picked her up at another home.

She described the girl as a "mess," wearing her stained shirt inside out.

On cross-examination, Richmond's attorney, Walter Madison, asked the witness if her view of what had happened that night had been framed by the tweets and social media posts she had seen about the victim, and if what she had seen in those messages made her angry.

The girl said it had.

Another witness, a 17-year-old friend of Richmond, said on cross-examination that while the girl appeared drunk, he did not believe she was unaware of what she was doing.

The boy also told Mays' attorney, Brian Duncan, that he hadn't seen the girl drinking and had not witnessed Mays involved in any sexual contact with the girl.

Another witness, a 17-year-old girl, told prosecutors that the girl was unable to lift her head when a now-infamous picture was taken of her being held limply by Richmond and Mays, but she said the girl was not unconscious.

On cross-examination, she told Madison that the girl was able to answer questions and could walk on her own.

The case has cast an unwelcome spotlight on Steubenville, a small, down-on-its-luck town along the banks of the Ohio River.

Critics have accused community leaders of trying to paper over rampant misconduct by players of the highly regarded Steubenville High School football team and have suggested that other students took part in the assaults or failed to do enough stop them.

The case has attracted the attention of bloggers and even the loosely organized hacking group Anonymous, which have questioned everything from the behavior of the football team to the integrity of the investigation.

CNN's Poppy Harlow and Brian Vitagliano contributed to this report.