05-17-2024  10:55 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

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.

Portland OKs New Homeless Camping Rules That Threaten Fines or Jail in Some Cases

The mayor's office says it seeks to comply with a state law requiring cities to have “objectively reasonable” restrictions on camping.

NEWS BRIEFS

Rose Festival Announces Starlight Parade Grand Marshal

The Portland Rose Festival announced today the 2024 CareOregon Starlight Parade Grand Marshal is Jenny Nguyen, founder and CEO of The...

Oregon Community Foundation Welcomes New Board Members

Oregon Community Foundation’s Board of Directors has elected two new members who bring extensive experience in community engagement...

Governor Kotek Issues Statement on Role of First Spouse

"I take responsibility for not being more thoughtful in my approach to exploring the role of the First Spouse." ...

Legislature Makes Major Investments to Increase Housing Affordability and Expand Treatment in Multnomah County

Over million in new funding will help build a behavioral health drop in center, expand violence prevention programs, and...

Poor People’s Campaign and National Partners Announce, “Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C. and to the Polls” Ahead of 2024 Elections

Scheduled for June 29th, the “Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C.: A Call to...

For decades, states have taken foster children's federal benefits. That's starting to change

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — By the time Jesse Fernandez turned 18, the federal government had paid out thousands of dollars in Social Security survivor's benefits because of the death of his mother. But Jesse's bank account was empty. The money had all been used by Missouri's foster...

A man investigated in the deaths of women in northwest Oregon has been indicted in 3 killings

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man who has been under investigation in the deaths of four women whose bodies were found scattered across northwest Oregon last year has been indicted in two of those killings — as well as in the death of a woman whose body was found in Washington state. A...

Defending national champion LSU boosts its postseason hopes with series win against Texas A&M

With two weeks left in the regular season, LSU is scrambling to avoid becoming the third straight defending national champion to miss the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers (31-18, 9-15) won two of three against then-No. 1 Texas A&M to take a giant step over the weekend, but they...

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...

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

Even with school choice, some Black families find options lacking decades after Brown v. Board

Since first grade, Julian Morris, 16, has changed schools six times, swinging between predominantly white and predominantly Black classrooms. None has met all his needs, his mother said. At predominantly white schools, he was challenged academically but felt less included. At...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott gave few pardons before rushing to clear Army officer who killed a protester

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — In issuing a full pardon to a former Army sergeant convicted of murder in the shooting death of an armed Black Lives Matter protestor, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pushed a limited executive power to its absolute limit to get a desired outcome in a politically charged...

Missouri candidate with ties to the KKK can stay on the Republican ballot, judge rules

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A longshot Missouri gubernatorial candidat e with ties to the Ku Klux Klan will stay on the Republican ticket, a judge ruled Friday. Cole County Circuit Court Judge Cotton Walker denied a request by the Missouri GOP to kick Darrell McClanahan out of the...

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: Anonymous public servants are the heart of George Stephanopoulos' 'Situation Room'

The biggest challenge for an author tackling the history of the Situation Room, the basement room of the White House where some of the biggest intelligence crises have been handled in recent decades, is the room itself. As a setting, it's pretty underwhelming. In “The Situation...

Book Review: A grandfather’s 1,500-page family history undergirds Claire Messud’s latest novel

Secrets and shame — every family has its share. When it came time to write her most autobiographical novel, Claire Messud relied on a 1,500-page family history compiled by her paternal grandfather. The result, “This Strange Eventful History,” sprawls over a third as many pages — 423, to be...

Movie Review: Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt deserve more than Netflix's ‘Mother of the Bride’

Romantic comedies are in a destination wedding rut. Perhaps it’s a collective post-COVID wanderlust kicking in, or, more cynically, some combination of tax credits and a place producers want to spend time. But between “ Ticket to Paradise,” “Anyone But You,” “ Shotgun Wedding ” and...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

70 years after Brown v. Board, America is both more diverse — and more segregated

On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court laid out a new precedent: Separate but equal has no place in American schools. ...

A former OpenAI leader says safety has 'taken a backseat to shiny products' at the AI company

A former OpenAI leader who resigned from the company earlier this week said Friday that safety has “taken a...

Man who sought revenge for a stolen phone pleads guilty to fire that killed a Senegalese family of 5

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado man pleaded guilty to murder charges on Friday for starting a 2020 house fire that...

For the children of Gaza, war means no school — and no indication when formal learning might return

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza (AP) — Atef Al-Buhaisi, 6, once dreamed of a career building houses. Now, all he craves is...

Subway commuters in Buenos Aires see fares spike by 360% as part of austerity campaign in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Commuters in Buenos Aires on Friday were hit by an abrupt 360% increase in subway...

Taiwan’s foreign minister says China and Russia are supporting each other's ‘expansionism’

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Russia and China are helping each other expand their territorial reach, and democracies...

By Amanda Sloane and Graham Winch


Prosecutors in the George Zimmerman trial walked jurors through several pieces of evidence on Tuesday, including photos of Trayvon Martin's dead body. Martin's father, Tracy, left the courtroom as the photos were displayed. Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, remained seated but avoided looking at the images. She eventually left the courtroom as well. Zimmerman looked down as a close-up of Martin's face flashed on screen.

Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch captain, is charged with second-degree murder for shooting 17-year-old Martin on February 26, 2012. He told police he was pursuing the teenager because there had been a rash of crime in the area. A conflict ensued, and Zimmerman said he was forced to kill Martin in self-defense.

Prosecutor John Guy had a crime-scene technician show jurors the gun Zimmerman used to shoot Martin. The technician, Diana Smith, also showed them the soft drink and Skittles candy that Martin bought that night at a convenience store, along with photos of Zimmerman's head, hands and clothing taken after he arrived at the police station.


The defense used the photos as an opportunity to walk jurors through each of Zimmerman's injuries.

"You see the lumping? You see the lumps around the abrasions and in general on the back of his head?" asked defense attorney Don West.

He pointed out lumps all over Zimmerman's head, cuts on the back of the head and blood behind one of Zimmerman's ears. West said in opening statements that Martin used the concrete sidewalk as a "deadly weapon" against Zimmerman.


Anthony Raimondo, a police patrol sergeant who was one of the first to arrive on the scene, said he broke standard operating procedures by giving Martin mouth-to-mouth resuscitation without a protective mask. He said he considered the situation to be an "extraordinary circumstance."

Raimondo also described how he lifted Martin's body to find the exit wound on the teen's back. He said he asked bystanders for a plastic bag to help seal the wound. When more responders arrived later, they pronounced Martin dead. Raimondo said he was the one to cover Martin's body with a blanket.

Selene Bahadoor, a resident of Zimmerman's gated community, testified that she looked out her kitchen window that night after hearing noise.

"It was not clearly distinguishable but it sounded like, 'No' or 'Uhhh'," said Bahadoor. She also heard "something hitting the concrete, it sounded like running."

She said the view from the kitchen window was blocked, so she moved to the sliding glass doors at the back of her house.

"I saw what looked as figures and arms flailing," said Bahadoor. She added that it was too dark for her to identify the individuals or to clearly see what position they were in.

Bahadoor said a neighbor offered to call police and she went back inside to turn off her stove. That's when she heard the gunshot.

Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda asked her what she saw upon her return to the glass doors.

"It was just a body in the grass," said Bahadoor. "I remember it being face down."

Wendy Dorival, who was a volunteer program manager for the Sanford, Florida, police department in 2012, coordinated and helped start the neighborhood watch programs in Zimmerman's community.

Dorival said she worked closely with Zimmerman, because he helped organize the program for his neighborhood. She told him a neighborhood watch volunteer should act as the "eyes and ears" of the police -- but not like a vigilante.

"If you see a car driving around in circles, and you don't recognize the car in your community, that might be suspicious." said Dorival. "If people are walking around in areas that not typically walked on, that could be suspicious."

Earlier in the morning, Judge Debra Nelson heard arguments on whether the jury should hear about other times when Zimmerman reported suspicious people in his neighborhood, the Retreat at Twin Lakes.

Prosecutor Rich Mantei said Zimmerman's prior phone calls reporting suspicious people in the neighborhood is relevant to the case, because it helps prove motive by showing his "building level of frustration."

Zimmerman's defense disagreed. "They are going to be asking this jury to make a quantum leap from good responsible citizen behavior to seething anger," said defense attorney Mark O'Mara.

The judge has yet to make a ruling on the matter.

Testimony in the trial will resume at 9 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

 

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast