05-03-2024  2:35 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

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.

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.

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...

Democratic officials criticize Meta ad policy, saying it amplifies lies about 2020 election

ATLANTA (AP) — Several Democrats serving as their state's top election officials have sent a letter to the parent company of Facebook, asking it to stop allowing ads that claim the 2020 presidential election was stolen. In the letter addressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the...

Police detain driver who accelerated toward protesters at Portland State University in Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Police said Thursday they detained the driver of a white Toyota Camry who briefly accelerated toward a crowd of pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Portland State University in Oregon and then ran off spraying what appeared to be pepper spray toward protesters who confronted...

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

It started with a tweet. What if Harry Potter attended an HBCU? Now it's a book series

It all began with a post on Twitter. It was 2020 during the height of the pandemic and LaDarrion Williams was thinking about the lack of diversity in the fantasy genre. He proposed: “What if Harry Potter went to am HBCU in the South?” “Growing up, I watched ‘Twilight,' I...

Larry Demeritte is just the second Black trainer since 1951 to saddle a horse for the Kentucky Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — If Larry Demeritte is looking for a positive sign heading into his first Kentucky Derby as a trainer, it's right where his horse is assigned. Long-shot West Saratoga is staying in Barn 42 at Churchill Downs, the same location where Seattle Slew was before he...

Judge grants autopsy rules requested by widow of Mississippi man found dead after vanishing

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi judge granted a request Thursday by the widow of a deceased man who vanished under mysterious circumstances to set standards for a future independent autopsy of her late husband's body. Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas formalized...

ENTERTAINMENT

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...

Book Review: 'Crow Talk' provides a path for healing in a meditative and hopeful novel on grief

Crows have long been associated with death, but Eileen Garvin’s novel “Crow Talk” offers a fresh perspective; creepy, dark and morbid becomes beautiful, wondrous and transformative. “Crow Talk” provides a path for healing in a meditative and hopeful novel on grief, largely...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Universities take steps to prevent pro-Palestinian protest disruptions of graduation ceremonies

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — With student protests over the Israel-Hamas war disrupting campuses nationwide, several...

Google, Justice Department make final arguments about whether search engine is a monopoly

WASHINGTON (AP) — Google's preeminence as an internet search engine is an illegal monopoly propped up by more...

Larry Demeritte is just the second Black trainer since 1951 to saddle a horse for the Kentucky Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — If Larry Demeritte is looking for a positive sign heading into his first Kentucky Derby...

China sends a probe to get samples from the less-explored far side of the moon

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China on Friday launched a lunar probe to land on the far side of the moon and return with...

A Chinese flavor of rap music is flourishing as emerging musicians find their voices

CHENGDU, China (AP) — In 2018, the censors who oversee Chinese media issued a directive to the nation's...

Colombia breaks diplomatic ties with Israel but its military relies on key Israeli-built equipment

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia has become the latest Latin American country to announce it will break...

By Mohammed Tawfeeq and Joe Sterling CNN


Bombs blew up at and near Sunni mosques Iraq amid Friday prayers, the latest flurry of attacks in a country seething with Sunni-Shiite tension.

Several explosions occurred in Baghdad, the nation's capital. One explosive planted at the al-Qubeisi mosque in southwestern Baghdad killed four worshipers and wounded 46, police said.

In the capital's northeastern region, four people were injured when a bomb blew up outside the al-Razaq mosque, and six were hurt when a roadside bomb exploded near the Malek al-Ashqar mosque.

South of Baghdad, five people were wounded by roadside bombs targeting mosques in Babel province.

Iraqi leaders and international powers fear that the tensions between Sunnis and Shiites could escalate and bring a return of the full-blown sectarian war that raged last decade.

"The country is at a crossroads," said Martin Kobler, U.N. special representative in Iraq.

"It is the historical responsibility of all Iraqi leaders to assume leadership and take bold initiatives, such as sitting together and calling in one voice for immediate restoration of calm and for a broad-based national dialogue."

He echoed the concern of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who said Thursday that "everyone will lose if civil war breaks out."


Protesters: 'Down, down with al-Maliki'

Since December, tens of thousands of Sunni demonstrators have taken to the streets, demanding that the Shiite-led government stop what they call second-class treatment of Iraq's Sunni community.

Sunnis, who had a lot of clout during the Saddam Hussein era, became a disaffected minority after his overthrow last decade. Sunni discontent contributed to years of bloody insurgent and sectarian violence in the country, where Shiites -- who represent a majority -- now hold sway.

Sunni anger exploded this week over security force actions in the Kirkuk province city of Hawija this week that led to deaths. Kobler appealed to the Iraqi government to conduct a thorough investigation.

Over the past few days, more than 100 people have been killed and hundreds of others wounded in clashes between Iraqi security forces and Sunni tribes in northern Iraqi provinces, including Salaheddin, Nineveh and Kirkuk.

In one town, Sulaiman Pek, government officials and religious and tribal leaders forged a peace deal. Dozens were killed and wounded there in recent days.

Ali Hashim, a Salaheddin provincial council member, said Friday that tribal leaders ordered their people to lay down their arms and let soldiers enter the city.

A lot of the anger is focused on al-Maliki, who is Shiite.

Tens of thousands of Sunni protesters in Falluja, in the largely Sunni Anbar province, aired their ire Friday at the government .

They contend that the al-Maliki government is controlled by the Iranian government. Some called for al-Maliki's removal and burned down an Iranian flag with an image of its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and al-Maliki, a CNN stringer reported.

One imam at the demonstration said that if politicians don't topple the prime minister, people would have to take their fight to Baghdad. The imam, Ali al-Bassri, called on tribal leaders to start an army to defend Sunni demonstrators and demanded the withdrawal of government security forces from the province.

"God is great," protesters shouted. "Down, down with al-Maliki."

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast