07-26-2024  8:45 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

People Flee Idaho Town Through a Tunnel of Fire and Smoke as Western Wildfires Spread

Multiple communities in Idaho have been evacuated after lightning strikes sparked fast-moving wildfires.  As that and other blazes scorch the Pacific Northwest, authorities say California's largest wildfire is zero-percent contained after destroying 134 structures and threatening 4,200 more. A sheriff says it was started by a man who pushed a burning car into a gully. Officials say they have arrested a 42-year-old man who will be arraigned Monday.

Word is Bond Takes Young Black Leaders to Ghana

“Transformative” trip lets young travelers visit painful slave history, celebrate heritage.

Wildfires Threaten Communities in the West as Oregon Fire Closes Interstate, Creates Its Own Weather

Firefighters in the West are scrambling as wildfires threaten communities in Oregon, California and Washington. A stretch of Interstate 84 connecting Oregon and Idaho in the area of one of the fires was closed indefinitely Tuesday. New lightning-sparked wildfires in the Sierra near the California-Nevada border forced the evacuation of a recreation area, closed a state highway and were threatening structures Tuesday.

In Washington State, Inslee's Final Months Aimed at Staving off Repeal of Landmark Climate Law

Voters in Washington state will decide this fall whether to keep one of the country's more aggressive laws aimed at stemming carbon pollution. The repeal vote imperils the most significant climate policy passed during outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee's three terms, and Inslee — who made climate action a centerpiece of his short-lived presidential campaign in the 2020 cycle — is fighting hard against it. 

NEWS BRIEFS

Iconic Elm Tree in Downtown Celebrated Before Emergency Removal

The approximately 154-year-old tree has significant damage and declining health following recent storms ...

Hawthorne Bridge Westbound Closes Thursday for Repairs

Westbound traffic lanes will close 2 p.m. Thursday, July 25, through 5 a.m. Friday, July 26 ...

Oregon Senate Democrats Unanimously Endorse Kamala Harris for President

Today, in unified support for Kamala Harris as president of the United States, all 17 Oregon Senate Democrats officially...

Dr. Vinson Eugene Allen and Dusk to Dawn Urgent Care Make a Historical Mark as the First African American Owned Chain of Urgent Care Facilities in the United States

Dusk to Dawn Urgent Care validated as the First African American Owned Urgent Care in the nation with chain locations ...

Washington State Black Legislators Endorse Kamala Harris for President

Members of the Washington State Legislative Black Caucus (LBC) are proud to announce their enthusiastic endorsement of Vice President...

California's largest wildfire explodes in size as fires rage across US West

California's largest active fire exploded in size on Friday evening, growing rapidly amid bone-dry fuel and threatening thousands of homes as firefighters scrambled to meet the danger. The Park Fire's intensity and rapid spread led fire officials to make unwelcome comparisons to the...

Senators call on Federal Trade Commission to investigate automakers' sale of driving data to brokers

DETROIT (AP) — Two U.S. senators are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate automakers selling customers' driving data to brokers who package it and then sell it to insurance companies. In a letter to FTC Chairwoman Linda Khan, Democrats Ron Wyden of Oregon, and...

Chiefs set deadline of 6 months to decide whether to renovate Arrowhead or build new — and where

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs have set a deadline of six months from now to decide on a plan for the future of Arrowhead Stadium, whether that means renovating their iconic home or building an entirely new stadium in Kansas or Missouri. After a joint ballot initiative with the...

Missouri governor says new public aid plan in the works for Chiefs, Royals stadiums

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Thursday that he expects the state to put together an aid plan by the end of the year to try to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals from being lured across state lines to new stadiums in Kansas. Missouri's renewed efforts...

OPINION

The 900-Page Guide to Snuffing Out American Democracy

What if there was a blueprint for a future presidential administration to unilaterally lay waste to our constitutional order and turn America from a democracy into an autocracy in one fell swoop? That is what one far-right think tank and its contributors...

SCOTUS Decision Seizes Power to Decide Federal Regulations: Hard-Fought Consumer Victories Now at Risk

For Black and Latino Americans, this power-grab by the court throws into doubt and potentially weakens current agency rules that sought to bring us closer to the nation’s promises of freedom and justice for all. In two particular areas – fair housing and...

Minding the Debate: What’s Happening to Our Brains During Election Season

The June 27 presidential debate is the real start of the election season, when more Americans start to pay attention. It’s when partisan rhetoric runs hot and emotions run high. It’s also a chance for us, as members of a democratic republic. How? By...

State of the Nation’s Housing 2024: The Cost of the American Dream Jumped 47 Percent Since 2020

Only 1 in 7 renters can afford homeownership, homelessness at an all-time high ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

A federal court approves new Michigan state Senate seats for Detroit-area districts

Lansing (AP) — Federal judges gave final approval to a new map of Michigan state Legislature boundaries, concluding a case in which the court previously found that several Detroit-area districts' maps were illegally influenced by race. In December, the court ordered a redistricting...

Autopsy confirms Sonya Massey died from gunshot wound to head, as attorney calls shooting senseless

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Autopsy findings released Friday on Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman fatally shot in her Illinois home by a now-fired sheriff's deputy charged in her death, confirm that she died from a gunshot wound to the head. The report was released shortly before...

Site of 3 killings during pivotal, bloody 1967 Detroit riot receives historic marker

DETROIT (AP) — The site of a transient motel in Detroit where three young Black men were killed, allegedly by white police officers, during the city's bloody 1967 race riot is receiving a historic marker. A dedication ceremony was held Friday in a park several miles north of...

ENTERTAINMENT

Educators wonder how to teach the writings of Alice Munro in wake of daughter's revelations

NEW YORK (AP) — For decades, Robert Lecker has read, taught and written about Alice Munro, the Nobel laureate from Canada renowned for her short stories. A professor of English at McGill University in Montreal, and author of numerous critical studies of Canadian fiction, he has thought of Munro...

Adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s ‘Nickel Boys’ to open New York Film Festival this fall

“Nickel Boys,” an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, will open the 62nd New York Film Festival in September, organizers said Monday. Filmmaker RaMell Ross directed the drama based on the 2019 novel about two Black teenagers in an abusive reform school...

Hikers and cyclists can now cross Vermont on New England's longest rail trail, a year after floods

HARDWICK, Vt. (AP) — A year after epic summer flooding delayed the official opening of New England’s longest rail trail, the 93-mile route across northern Vermont is finally delivering on the promise made years ago of a cross-state recreation trail. The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Autopsy confirms Sonya Massey died from gunshot wound to head, as attorney calls shooting senseless

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Autopsy findings released Friday on Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman fatally...

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ is already breaking box office records, with more possible soon

“ Deadpool & Wolverine ” has gotten off to a supercharged start at the box office, breaking the Thursday...

Damages to college athletes to range from a few dollars to more than a million under settlement

Thousands of former college athletes will be eligible for payments ranging from a few dollars to more than a...

What we know so far about the attack on French train network ahead of Olympics opening

PARIS (AP) — French transport was thrust into chaos Friday just hours ahead of the Olympics 2024 opening...

95 Libyan nationals arrested in South Africa at suspected secret military training camp

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African police arrested 95 Libyan nationals in a raid on a suspected secret military...

Wood pellets production boomed to feed EU demand. It's come at a cost for Black people in the South

GLOSTER, Miss. (AP) — This southern Mississippi town's expansive wood pellet plant was so close to Shelia Mae...

Eddie Pells AP National Writer

So much for the little guys.

Instead of parlaying an historic day of upsets into a second weekend filled with small schools, the NCAA tournament now looks like a who's-who of major college programs.

All but two of the 16 teams in the regional semifinals will be from power conferences. The lone exceptions are Xavier, which is hardly a stranger to this kind of year, and Ohio University, a big school with a small, but no longer unknown, basketball program.

According to STATS, this will be the first time since 2003 that 14 teams from the six major conferences have made the Sweet 16.

Next week's matchups:

-No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 4 Indiana and No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 10 Xavier in the South; No. 1 Syracuse vs. No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 6 Cincinnati in the East; No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 13 Ohio and No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 11 North Carolina State in the Midwest; and No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 4 Louisville and No. 3 Marquette vs. No. 7 Florida out West.

Those 14 power-conference teams have a combined 93 Final Four appearances and 33 national titles.

While two No. 2 seeds, Duke and Missouri, fell to 15s Lehigh and Norfolk State in a history-making second round Friday, all four No. 1s got through the first week safely - the first time that's happened since 2009. A year before that, all four top-seeded teams made it to the Final Four for the only time.

It's possible again this year, though Carolina will have to overcome an injury to a key player to get there.

The Tar Heels defeated Creighton 87-73, but point guard Kendall Marshall broke his right (non-shooting) wrist.

"You can ask any question you want, but I just told you all we know," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said when announcing the injury. "We do not know anything else."

Though there are few small programs - such as the Butlers and VCUs and George Masons that have crashed the Final Four over the last decade - there will be three teams who bring double-digit seeds to the final 16.

The list starts with No. 11 North Carolina State, the program that pretty much set the standard for March Madness upsets and gave us one of the most memorable moments in college sports: Coach Jim Valvano running around the floor at The Pit, looking for someone to hug after Lorenzo Charles grabbed Dereck Whittenburg's air ball and put it in at the buzzer for an upset over powerhouse Houston.

That was in 1983.

In 2012, the Wolfpack snuck in as one of the last at-large teams to make the field. On Sunday, they upset No. 3 Georgetown 66-63 to make it to the Midwest Regional, where they'll play Kansas.

"We always talk about we have such great history at NC State, but it's also time to build some new history," coach Mark Gottfried said.

No. 10 Xavier comes from the Atlantic-10, the closest thing to a power conference without actually being one. This is the fourth Sweet 16 appearance in the last five years for the Musketeers, who made their biggest news this season with an ugly brawl against crosstown rival Cincinnati that led to suspensions and knocked the team out of whack.

"The only guys that know what we went through were the guys who were in the locker room," coach Chris Mack said. "Some would say it's self-inflicted, but I know we have great kids. And I'm really proud of them today."

Then, of course, there's No. 13 Ohio - enrollment 17,000 but with a basketball program that has, well, basically nothing in common with the better-known behemoths from the state that will join them in the Sweet 16 - Ohio State, Xavier and Cincy.

"I do think our guys have a chip on their shoulder," Ohio coach John Groce said. "I think our guys look forward to playing on the big stage against quality competition."

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