04-24-2024  5:43 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

A Conservative Quest to Limit Diversity Programs Gains Momentum in States

In support of DEI, Oregon and Washington have forged ahead with legislation to expand their emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion in government and education.

Epiphanny Prince Hired by Liberty in Front Office Job Day After Retiring

A day after announcing her retirement, Epiphanny Prince has a new job working with the New York Liberty as director of player and community engagement. Prince will serve on the basketball operations and business staffs, bringing her 14 years of WNBA experience to the franchise. 

The Drug War Devastated Black and Other Minority Communities. Is Marijuana Legalization Helping?

A major argument for legalizing the adult use of cannabis after 75 years of prohibition was to stop the harm caused by disproportionate enforcement of drug laws in Black, Latino and other minority communities. But efforts to help those most affected participate in the newly legal sector have been halting. 

Lessons for Cities from Seattle’s Racial and Social Justice Law 

 Seattle is marking the first anniversary of its landmark Race and Social Justice Initiative ordinance. Signed into law in April 2023, the ordinance highlights race and racism because of the pervasive inequities experienced by people of color

NEWS BRIEFS

Mt. Tabor Park Selected for National Initiative

Mt. Tabor Park is the only Oregon park and one of just 24 nationally to receive honor. ...

OHCS, BuildUp Oregon Launch Program to Expand Early Childhood Education Access Statewide

Funds include million for developing early care and education facilities co-located with affordable housing. ...

Governor Kotek Announces Chief of Staff, New Office Leadership

Governor expands executive team and names new Housing and Homelessness Initiative Director ...

Governor Kotek Announces Investment in New CHIPS Child Care Fund

5 Million dollars from Oregon CHIPS Act to be allocated to new Child Care Fund ...

Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge US to prosecute the company

Boeing said Wednesday that it lost 5 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers. ...

Authorities confirm 2nd victim of ex-Washington officer was 17-year-old with whom he had a baby

WEST RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — Authorities on Wednesday confirmed that a body found at the home of a former Washington state police officer who killed his ex-wife before fleeing to Oregon, where he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was that of a 17-year-old girl with whom he had a baby. ...

Missouri hires Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch for the same role with the Tigers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri hired longtime college administrator Laird Veatch to be its athletic director on Tuesday, bringing him back to campus 14 years after he departed for a series of other positions that culminated with five years spent as the AD at Memphis. Veatch...

KC Current owners announce plans for stadium district along the Kansas City riverfront

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The ownership group of the Kansas City Current announced plans Monday for the development of the Missouri River waterfront, where the club recently opened a purpose-built stadium for the National Women's Soccer League team. CPKC Stadium will serve as the hub...

OPINION

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...

OP-ED: Embracing Black Men’s Voices: Rebuilding Trust and Unity in the Democratic Party

The decision of many Black men to disengage from the Democratic Party is rooted in a complex interplay of historical disenchantment, unmet promises, and a sense of disillusionment with the political establishment. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Sister of Mississippi man who died after police pulled him from car rejects lawsuit settlement

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A woman who sued Mississippi's capital city over the death of her brother has decided to reject a settlement after officials publicly disclosed how much the city would pay his survivors, her attorney said Wednesday. George Robinson, 62, died in January 2019,...

Movie Review: A lyrical portrait of childhood in Cabrini-Green with ‘We Grown Now’

Two 11-year-old boys navigate school, friendship, family and change in Minhal Baig’s lyrical drama “We Grown Now.” It’s an evocative memory piece, wistful and honest, and a different kind of portrait of a very infamous place: Chicago’s Cabrini-Green public housing development. ...

Tennessee House kills bill that would have banned local officials from studying, funding reparations

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s Republican-dominant House on Wednesday spiked legislation that would have banned local governments from paying to either study or dispense money for reparations for slavery. The move marked a rare defeat on a GOP-backed proposal initially...

ENTERTAINMENT

Music Review: Jazz pianist Fred Hersch creates subdued, lovely colors on 'Silent, Listening'

Jazz pianist Fred Hersch fully embraces the freedom that comes with improvisation on his solo album “Silent, Listening,” spontaneously composing and performing tunes that are often without melody, meter or form. Listening to them can be challenging and rewarding. The many-time...

Book Review: 'Nothing But the Bones' is a compelling noir novel at a breakneck pace

Nelson “Nails” McKenna isn’t very bright, stumbles over his words and often says what he’s thinking without realizing it. We first meet him as a boy reading a superhero comic on the banks of a river in his backcountry hometown in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia....

Cardi B, Queen Latifah and The Roots to headline the BET Experience concerts in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cardi B, Queen Latifah and The Roots will headline concerts to celebrate the return of the BET Experience in Los Angeles just days before the 2024 BET Awards. BET announced Monday the star-studded lineup of the concert series, which makes a return after a...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Chicago's 'rat hole' removed after city determines sidewalk with animal impression was damaged

CHICAGO (AP) — The “rat hole” is gone. A Chicago sidewalk landmark some residents...

Supreme Court appears skeptical that state abortion bans conflict with federal health care law

WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Wednesday that state abortion bans...

USDA updates rules for school meals that limit added sugars for the first time

The nation's school meals will get a makeover under new nutrition standards that limit added sugars for the first...

Teenage girl arrested after a student and 2 teachers were stabbed at a school in Wales

LONDON (AP) — A teenage girl was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder Wednesday after stabbing a student...

Australian police arrest 7 alleged teen extremists linked to stabbing of a bishop in a Sydney church

SYDNEY (AP) — Australian police arrested seven teenagers accused of following a violent extremist ideology in...

European leaders laud tougher migration policies but more people die on treacherous sea crossings

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Children dead in the English Channel. Morgues full of migrants reaching capacity in...

Helen Silvis of The Skanner News

Pam Belli signs a petition to recall Mayor Sam Adams, Monday at the campaign office at 421 N. Broadway. Belli was one of a handful of people who came to the office to sign the petition before the closing deadline. Ray Coronado, who has been gathering signatures for the campaign, said voters should be allowed to vote on whether Adams should stay or go. "We got ripped off," he said. The mayor shouldn't be above everyone else. He should be bound by the same rules and conditions and etiquette that we are all bound to follow."

The effort to recall Mayor Sam Adams failed Monday. The campaign failed to collect 32,183 signatures – the number necessary to force a special recall election within the regulation 90-day window.
However far from giving up, organizers Jason Wurster and Theresa McGuire say they will launch a new recall attempt immediately, this time with backing from an unidentified group of business leaders.
"We will have paid signature gatherers this time around," McGuire, the campaign treasurer, told The Skanner.
"We had some very dedicated volunteers, but we also had a week of 90-degree
weather, where it was difficult for people to go out and gather signatures. We could have done with extra time.
"There is no motivation like a pay check."
To force a recall, the campaign will have to collect far more than 32,000 signatures because the city auditor's office will verify every signature and each must match information on the voters roll. Some signatures are invariably declared invalid because of errors.
Wurster, a Portland State University student, has said that the campaign came close to collecting enough signatures, and had collected upwards of 30,000. However Wurster has provided no proof of his claim, and he says he will not turn over the signatures to the city auditor's office. Instead they will be given to Portland Future PAC, the new group registered last Friday to renew the recall campaign. The signatures can't be used, but campaigners can approach signers and ask them to sign the new petition. That clock will start ticking if  a new petition is filed.
Meanwhile, Mayor Adams is paying little attention to the recall effort, instead saying he is working on city business, promoting Portland as a center for sustainable business and development.
Wurster launched the recall campaign after Adams admission that he lied before his election. As a candidate for the mayor's job Adams he denied he had a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old legislative intern in 2005. Adams confessed to the lie, and admitted to the brief relationship, in February after being confronted with witness accounts. An inquiry by Attorney General John Kroger's office found no credible evidence that Adams had broken the law.
Many Portlanders have expressed disappointment and anger with Adams. Coming on the day after President Obama's inauguration, that disappointment made a stark contrast with the jubilant mood of the city. However, although bloggers and citizens interviewed on local media said they felt let down by the mayor, many others rallied to support Adams. And few public figures, with the exception of Karin Hansen, who is married to former Mayor Tom Potter, came out publicly in favor of the recall.
Still unresolved from the Recall Sam Adams campaign is a complaint the group filed with the Secretary of State in September, alleging the mayor "intimidated" a volunteer signature gatherer near Pioneer Courthouse Square.
Who are the business leaders behind the renewed recall effort? That as yet to be disclosed.

 

 

 

 

The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast