04-01-2023  12:10 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather
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NORTHWEST NEWS

Most Gig Workers Paid Sick Leave Under New Seattle Law

The measure expands pandemic-era protections and strengthens labor rights for app-based workers.

Seattle Audubon Changes Name, Severing Tie to Slave Owner

James Audubon, a naturalist known for his watercolor paintings of birds, also owned, sold and bought enslaved African Americans through his general store in Kentucky and was a staunch opponent of abolition.

Idaho Law Could Criminalize Helping Minors Get Abortions

The measure would create a new crime of “abortion trafficking,” punishable by up to five years in prison, barring adults from obtaining abortion pills and “recruiting, harboring, or transporting" a pregnant minor.

Legislative BIPOC Caucus Announces 2023 Priorities

In a historic milestone for the state, this is the most diverse Legislature in Oregon history, with 20 BIPOC legislators serving this session.

NEWS BRIEFS

Mask Requirements in Healthcare Settings Lifting April 3

Some health care settings may decide to continue requiring masks even after the statewide requirement is lifted. ...

OHCS Applauds Gov. Kotek’s Signing of HBs 2001 and 5019 to Address Housing Needs

Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) applauds Gov.Tina Kotek who today signed bipartisan legislation addressing the state’s...

County Distributes $5 Million in Grants to Community-Based Organizations

Awards will help 13 community-based organizations fund capital improvements to better serve historically marginalized...

Call for Submissions: Play Scripts, Web Series, Film Shorts, Features & Documentaries

Deadline for submissions to the 2023 Pacific Northwest Multi-Cultural Readers Series & Film Festival extended to April 8 ...

Motorcycle Lane Filtering Law Passes Oregon Senate

SB 422 will allow motorcyclists to avoid dangers of stop-and-go traffic under certain conditions ...

Man charged with murder in deaths of missing mom, girl

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — The man named as a person of interest in the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend and her 7-year-old daughter was charged with two counts of murder in their deaths, police in Washington state said Friday. Detectives from the Vancouver Police Department booked...

52 years after capture, orca Lolita may return to Pacific

MIAMI (AP) — More than 50 years after the orca known as Lolita was captured for public display, plans are in place to return her from the Miami Seaquarium to her home waters in the Pacific Northwest, where a nearly century-old, endangered killer whale believed to be her mother still swims. ...

MLB The Show breaks barrier with Negro League players

LOS ANGELES (AP) — MLB The Show has broken a video game barrier: For the first time, the franchise will insert some of the greatest Negro League players — from Satchel Paige to Jackie Robinson — into the 2023 edition of the game as playable characters. Video gamers are now able...

Jacksonville's Armstrong: HR surge 'out-of-body experience'

Jacksonville’s Kris Armstrong could always hit for power, but never like this. Armstrong slugged six home runs over eight at-bats against Central Arkansas this past weekend, and he's gone deep eight times in 15 trips to the plate since Thursday. “It's kind of an...

OPINION

Oregon Should Reject Racist Roots, Restore Voting Rights For People in Prisons

Blocking people with felony convictions from voting started in the Jim Crow era as an intentional strategy to keep Black people from voting ...

Celebrating 196 Years of The Black Press

It was on March 17, 1827, at a meeting of “Freed Negroes” in New York City, that Samuel Cornish, a Presbyterian minister, and John Russwurn, the first Negro college graduate in the United States, established the negro newspaper. ...

DEQ Announces Suspension of Oregon’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program

The state’s popular incentive for drivers to switch to electric vehicles is scheduled to pause in May ...

FHA Makes Housing More Affordable for 850,000 Borrowers

Savings tied to median market home prices ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Minneapolis and state agree to revamp policing post-Floyd

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The city of Minneapolis and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights signed a “court-enforceable settlement agreement” Friday to revamp policing in the city where George Floyd was murdered by an officer nearly three years ago. The agency issued a blistering...

Developer drops land purchase in historically Black town

EATONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A developer on Friday ended plans to purchase a 100-acre (39-hectare) property from the local school system in a historically Black town in Florida following a public outcry that the deal threatened the cultural heritage of the community made famous by Harlem Renaissance...

North Dakota governor vetoes transgender pronouns bill

North Dakota's Republican governor vetoed a bill that would generally prohibit public schools teachers and staff from referring to transgender students by pronouns other than those reflecting the sex assigned to them at birth. The state Senate voted 37-9 to override the veto Thursday...

ENTERTAINMENT

Review: Sandler, Aniston reteam in 'Murder Mystery 2'

You would have a hard time defending the limp plotting, the bland action-adventure set pieces or the Agatha Christie-light whodunit twists of the first “Murder Mystery.” And, yet, it was kind of good. “Murder Mystery,” one of Netflix's most-streamed films, was chock full of...

Baldwin codefendant gets 6 months probation on gun charge

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A codefendant in the case against actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer on a movie set in New Mexico was convicted Friday of unsafe handling of a firearm and sentenced to six months of probation. Safety coordinator and assistant...

Gwyneth Paltrow won her ski trial. Here's how it played out

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — When two skiers collided on a beginner run at an upscale Utah ski resort in 2016, no one could foresee that seven years later, the crash would become the subject of a closely watched celebrity trial. But Gwyneth Paltrow’s live-streamed trial over her...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Gwyneth Paltrow scores court win that means more than jumi

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — All that for a dollar? Nah, Gwyneth Paltrow ’s motivation to go to trial...

Baldwin codefendant gets 6 months probation on gun charge

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A codefendant in the case against actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal 2021 shooting of a...

Romania: Andrew Tate's detention replaced with house arrest

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Andrew Tate, the divisive internet personality who has spent months in a Romanian jail...

Ukraine marks grim Bucha anniversary, calls for justice

BUCHA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainians marked the anniversary of the liberation of Bucha Friday with calls for...

Russia clashes with US over tactical nukes for Belarus

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia and the U.S. clashed in the United Nations on Friday over Moscow’s plans to...

Journalist's arrest threatens reporting from Russia

NEW YORK (AP) — The arrest of a Wall Street Journal reporter on espionage charges in Russia has news...

Lisa Loving of The Skanner

Portland Police today released their report on alleged sexual abuse in 2006 by former Vice President Al Gore against a massage therapist in a downtown Portland luxury hotel.
The story, which was broken this week by the National Enquirer, has also been investigated by the Portland Tribune, which filed a records request with the police bureau to obtain the documents released Wednesday.
The identity of the massage therapist has not been revealed. It appears that the alleged incident took place as Gore was touring the country with a slideshow about global warming – which eventually grew into the Academy Award-winning film, "An Inconvenient Truth."
The story has particular resonance because Gore and his wife of many years, Tipper, split up this spring -- amid much speculation that their relationship was a solid counterpoint of fidelity compared to that of former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hilary.
The records show that Gore was investigated by the Portland Police sexual assault detail, but that the alleged victim declined to be interviewed by officers until January of last year.
Read the Portland Police report about the alleged sexual abuse here

Police officials released this statement at 4 p.m. Wednesday:

A national tabloid magazine has published a story discussing allegations made by a Portland woman against former Vice President Al Gore. The Portland Police Bureau does not generally disclose information regarding sex crimes, as they are deemed confidential. However, because of the high-profile nature of this case and the fact that the woman involved provided reports to a media outlet, we will provide the following information:
In December 2006, a local attorney contacted the Portland Police Bureau and said he had a client that wanted to report an unwanted sexual contact by Mr. Gore. This allegation stemmed from an incident on October 24, 2006, when the woman involved, a Licensed Massage Therapist, was called to a local hotel to provide a massage to Mr. Gore.
After repeated attempts by Portland Police Detectives to interview the woman involved, the Police Bureau was told by her attorney in January 2007, that they were pursuing civil litigation and declined the assistance of the Portland Police Bureau's Detective Division. A special report was written and the case was exceptionally cleared—a standard procedure when the person involved declines to talk to police. The District Attorney's Office was consulted during this time.
On January 6, 2009, the woman involved came to the Detective Division and explained that she would like to give a statement. On January 8, 2009, a Detective and a victim advocate assigned to the Sexual Assault Detail met with the woman. The woman read from a prepared statement and detailed the events of October 24, 2006. She reported that she was repeatedly subjected to unwanted sexual touching while in his presence.
The woman reported that she still had clothes that she had worn during the encounter. But due to the description she gave of the incident, detectives did not collect the clothes as evidence because they did not feel there was any evidentiary value to the clothing.
After interviewing the woman, the Police Bureau provided additional services per the victim advocate program. The case was not investigated any further because detectives concluded there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations.
In June 2010, the woman involved contacted Detectives and asked for a copy of her statement, which she was given. She then asked if she could edit her statement and was told she could provide detectives with additional clarifications that would be added to her original report. She also advised that she was going to take the case to the media.
The District Attorney's Office has a copy of the reports. At this point, the Police Bureau does not consider this an ongoing investigation unless new evidence is received in this case.
The Police Bureau is releasing the redacted reports concurrent with this news release. In 2007, the Police Bureau released the initial special report regarding the incident after it received a public records request by the Portland Tribune.

MLK Breakfast 2023

Photos from The Skanner Foundation's 37th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast.