10-06-2024  2:07 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

Taxpayers in 24 States Will Be Able to File Their Returns Directly With the IRS in 2025

The pilot program in 2024 allowed people in certain states with very simple W-2s to calculate and submit their returns directly to the IRS. Those using the program claimed more than million in refunds, the IRS said.

Companies Back Away From Oregon Floating Offshore Wind Project as Opposition Grows

The federal government finalized two areas for floating offshore wind farms along the Oregon coast in February. But opposition from tribes, fishermen and coastal residents highlights some of the challenges the plan faces.

Preschool for All Growth Outpaces Enrollment Projections

Mid-year enrollment to allow greater flexibility for providers, families.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden Demands Answers From Emergency Rooms That Denied Care to Pregnant Patients

Wyden is part of a Democratic effort to focus the nation’s attention on the stories of women who have faced horrible realities since some states tightened a patchwork of abortion laws.

NEWS BRIEFS

Oregon’s 2024-25 Teacher of the Year is Bryan Butcher Jr. of Beaumont Middle School

“From helping each of his students learn math in the way that works for them, to creating the Black Student Union at his school,...

Burn Ban Lifted in the City of Portland

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Midland Library to Reopen in October

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U.S. Congressman Al Green Commends Biden Administration on Launching Investigation into 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre; Mulls Congressional Action

The thriving African American community of Greenwood, popularly known as Black Wall Street, was criminally leveled by a white mob...

Governor Kotek, Oregon Housing and Community Services Announce Current and Projected Homelessness Initiative Outcomes

The announcement is accompanied by a data dashboard that shows the progress for the goals set within the...

Idaho state senator tells Native American candidate 'go back where you came from' in forum

KENDRICK, Idaho (AP) — Tensions rose during a bipartisan forum this week after an audience question about discrimination reportedly led an Idaho state senator to angrily tell a Native American candidate to “go back where you came from.” Republican Sen. Dan Foreman left the...

Washington state fines paper mill 0,000 after an employee is killed

CAMAS, Wash. (AP) — Washington state authorities have fined one of the world's leading paper and pulp companies nearly 0,000 after one of its employees was crushed by a packing machine earlier this year. The penalty comes after Dakota Cline, 32, was killed on March 8 while...

Moss scores 3 TDs as No. 25 Texas A&M gives No. 9 Missouri its first loss in 41-10 rout

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Le'Veon Moss was asked if he thought No. 25 Texas A&M shocked ninth-ranked Missouri after his big game propelled the Aggies to a rout Saturday. The running back laughed before answering. “Most definitely,” he said before chuckling...

No 9 Missouri faces stiff road test in visit to No. 25 Texas A&M

No. 9 Missouri hits the road for the first time this season, facing arguably its toughest challenge so far. The Tigers (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) know the trip to No. 25 Texas A&M (4-1, 2-0) on Saturday will be tough for several reasons if they want to extend their...

OPINION

The Skanner News: 2024 City Government Endorsements

In the lead-up to a massive transformation of city government, the mayor’s office and 12 city council seats are open. These are our endorsements for candidates we find to be most aligned with the values of equity and progress in Portland, and who we feel...

No Cheek Left to Turn: Standing Up for Albina Head Start and the Low-Income Families it Serves is the Only Option

This month, Albina Head Start filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to defend itself against a misapplied rule that could force the program – and all the children it serves – to lose federal funding. ...

DOJ and State Attorneys General File Joint Consumer Lawsuit

In August, the Department of Justice and eight state Attorneys Generals filed a lawsuit charging RealPage Inc., a commercial revenue management software firm with providing apartment managers with illegal price fixing software data that violates...

America Needs Kamala Harris to Win

Because a 'House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand' ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Mexican immigrant families plagued by grief, questions after plant workers swept away by Helene

ERWIN, Tenn. (AP) — With shaking hands, Daniel Delgado kissed a photo of his wife, Monica Hernandez, before lighting a candle in a supermarket parking lot. Family members hugged pictures printed on poster board, some collapsing into them in tears as search helicopters flew overhead in the...

In Philadelphia, Chinatown activists rally again to stop development. This time, it's a 76ers arena

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Vivian Chang works on a narrow Philadelphia street that would have been consumed by a Phillies stadium had Chinatown activists not rallied to defeat the plan in the early 2000s. Instead of 40,000 cheering fans, the squeals of young children now fill the playground at Folk...

San Francisco's first Black female mayor is in a pricey battle for a second term

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When London Breed was elected as San Francisco's first Black woman mayor, it was a pinch-me moment for a poor girl from public housing whose ascension showed that no dream was impossible in the progressive, compassionate and equitable city. But the honeymoon was...

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: 'The Last Dream,' short stories scattered with the seeds of Pedro Almodovar films

The seeds of Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar's later cinematic work are scattered throughout the pages of “The Last Dream,” his newly published collection of short writings. The stories and essays were gathered together by Almodóvar's longtime assistant, including many pieces...

Book Review: Louise Erdrich writes about love and loss in North Dakota in ’The Mighty Red’

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Louise Erdrich (“The Night Watchman,” 2021) returns with a story close to her heart, “The Mighty Red.” Set in the author’s native North Dakota, the title refers to the river that serves as a metaphor for life in the Red River Valley. It also carries a...

Book Review: 'Revenge of the Tipping Point' is fan service for readers of Gladwell's 2000 book

It's been nearly 25 years since Malcolm Gladwell published “The Tipping Point," and it's still easy to catch it being read on airplanes, displayed prominently on executives' bookshelves or hear its jargon slipped into conversations. It's no surprise that a sequel was the next logical step. ...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

A Tennessee nurse and his dog died trying to save a man from floods driven by Hurricane Helene

As the Hurricane Helene-driven waters rose around the Nolichucky River in Tennessee, Boone McCrary, his girlfriend...

A faith is on the edge of vanishing in Georgia after being exiled from Russia centuries ago

GORELOVKA, Georgia (AP) — A 10-year-old boy proudly stands beside his father and listens to the monotone...

As affordable housing disappears, states scramble to shore up the losses

LOS ANGELES (AP) — For more than two decades, the low rent on Marina Maalouf’s apartment in a blocky...

At Israel's cafes and bars, life may seem normal. But the war has cast a pall nationwide

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — At a busy Tel Aviv entertainment district, diners spill into outdoor seating and clink...

Militants kill 6 Pakistani soldiers in a shootout

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Militants killed six Pakistani soldiers in a shootout, the army said Saturday, the...

Death threats assail Brazil's trailblazing trans candidates as they campaign

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Benny Briolly beamed as she strode through the concrete favela alleyway in a snow-white...

Nicole Winfield and Colleen Barry the Associated Press

ROME (AP) -- Officials say a German woman who was listed among the missing from the cruise ship grounding off Italy has been located alive in Germany, bringing the number of people still unaccounted for to 21.

The Grosseto prefect's office says Gertrud Goergens identified herself to police. Her name was removed from the official list of missing late Wednesday.

Italian authorities released the names of the missing Wednesday as the search for passengers and crew aboard the Costa Concordia was suspended because the ship shifted slightly from its perch on rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio.

So far eleven bodies have been recovered; 21 people remain unaccounted for.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

ROME (AP) - The first victim from the Costa Concordia diaster was identified Wednesday - a 38-year-old violinist from Hungary who had been working as an entertainer on the stricken cruise ship.

Sandor Feher's body was found inside the wreck, and identified by his mother who traveled to the Italian city of Grosetto, according to Hungary's foreign ministry.

The $450 million Costa Concordia cruise ship was carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew when it slammed into a reef Friday off the tiny Italian island of Giglio after the captain made an unauthorized maneuver. The death toll stands at 11, with 22 people still missing.

Italian rescue workers suspended operations Wednesday after the cruise ship shifted slightly on the rocks near the Tuscan coast, creating deep concerns about the safety of divers and firefighters searching for the missing.

Jozsef Balog, a pianist working with Feher on the ship, told the Blikk newspaper that Feher was wearing a lifejacket when he decided to return to his cabin to pack his violin. Feher was last seen on deck en route to the area where he was supposed to board a lifeboat.

According to Balog, Feher helped put lifejackets on several crying children before returning to his cabin.

Italian authorities earlier released the names of 24 passengers and 4 crew still missing, a list that includes six bodies which have been pulled from the ship since Monday. The missing included 13 Germans, six Italians, four French, two Americans and one person each from Hungary, India and Peru.

Instruments attached to the ship detected the movements early Wednesday even though firefighters who spent the night searching the area above water for the missing could not detect any movement.

"As a precautionary measure, we stopped the operations this morning, in order to verify the data we retrieved from our detectors, and understand if there actually was a movement, and if there has been one, how big this was," said Coast Guard Cmdr. Filippo Marini.

By late afternoon, officials still did not have enough data to reassure them that the ship had stopped resettling. The latest victims were discovered after navy divers exploded holes in the hull of the ship to allow easier access.

Premier Mario Monti offered his first comment on the disaster Wednesday, telling a press conference in London that it "could and should" have been avoided.

Monti also thanked the residents of Giglio, which has a wintertime population of about 900, for opening their doors to the 4,200 refugees who struggled ashore with nothing and were given clothes, food and shelter.

And he acknowledged concerns about the 500,000 gallons of fuel still aboard the ship.

"Everybody can be assured that the Italian authorities are both taking care of the prevention and limitation of any environmental negative implications of this accident, as well as in the first place providing all the necessary help to those affected."

Passengers were still making their way home, with consistent claims that crew members were ill-prepared to handle an emergency evacuation.

"The crew members had no specialized training - the security man doubled as the cook and bartender, so obviously they did not know what to do," passenger Claudia Fehlandt told Chile's Channel 7 television after being embraced by relatives at Santiago's airport.

"In fact, the lifeboats, even the ones that did get lowered, they did not know how to lower them and they cut the ropes with axes," she said.

Much of the focus has been on the cruise ship captain's actions.

In a dramatic phone conversation released Tuesday, a coast guard official was heard ordering Capt. Francesco Schettino, who had abandoned the ship with his first officers, back on board to oversee the evacuation. But Schettino resisted, saying it was too dark and the ship was tipping dangerously.

"You go on board! Is that clear? Do you hear me?" the Coast Guard officer shouted as the Schettino sat safe in a life raft and frantic passengers struggled to escape after the ship rammed into a reef off the Tuscan coast. "It is an order. Don't make any more excuses. You have declared 'Abandon ship.' Now I am in charge."

The officer confronted him with an expletive-laced order to get back on board, which has quickly entered the Italian lexicon. The four-word phrase has become a Twitter hashtag and Italian media have shown photos of T-shirts bearing the command.

Schettino, later in the same exchange, denied having abandoned the ship, replying that he had tripped and fell.

"I did not abandon a ship with 100 people on board, the ship suddenly listed and we were thrown into the water," Schettino said, according to a transcript published Wednesday in the Corriere della Sera paper.

Jailed since the accident, Schettino appeared Tuesday before a judge in Grosseto, where he was questioned for three hours. The judge ordered him held under house arrest - a decision that federal prosecutors are planning to challenge.

Schettino's lawyer, Bruno Leporatti, told a news conference Wednesday in Grosetto that house arrest made sense given there was no evidence the captain intended to flee. He cited the fact that the captain coordinated the evacuation from the shore after leaving the ship.

"He never left the scene," Leporatti said. "There has never been a danger of flight."

Leporatti added the captain was upset by the accident, contrary to depictions in the Italian media that he did not appear to show regret.

"He is a deeply shaken man, not only for the loss of his ship, which for a captain is a grave thing, but above all for what happened and the loss of human life," the lawyer said.

Criminal charges including manslaughter and abandoning ship are expected to be filed by prosecutors in coming days. Schettino faces a possible 12 years in prison if convicted of the abandoning ship charge alone.

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Barry reported from Milan.

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