07-27-2024  7:36 am   •   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 dramatic spread led fire officials to make unwelcome comparisons to...

Life and death in the heat. What it feels like when Earth's temperatures soar to record highs

BENI MELLAL, Morocco (AP) — In the unrelenting heat of Morocco’s Middle Atlas, people were sleeping on rooftops. Hanna Ouhbour needed refuge too, but she was outside a hospital waiting for her diabetic cousin who was in a room without air conditioning. On Wednesday, there were 21...

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

Why these Apache Catholics felt faced with a 'false choice' after priest removed church's icons

MESCALERO, New Mexico (AP) — Anne Marie Brillante never imagined she would have to choose between being Apache and being Catholic. To her, and many others in the Mescalero Apache tribe in New Mexico who are members of St. Joseph Apache Mission, their Indigenous culture had always...

Japan's Sado gold mine gains UNESCO status after Tokyo pledges to exhibit dark WWII history

TOKYO (AP) — The UNESCO World Heritage committee on Saturday decided to register Japan’s controversial Sado gold mine as a cultural heritage site after the country agreed to include it in an exhibit of its dark history of abusing Korean laborers during World War II. The decision...

California date palm ranches reap not only fruit, but a permit to host weddings and quinceañeras

COACHELLA, Calif. (AP) — Claudia Lua Alvarado has staked her future on the rows of towering date palms behind the home where she lives with her husband and two children in a desert community east of Los Angeles. It’s not solely due to the fleshy, sweet fruit they give each year....

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

Life and death in the heat. What it feels like when Earth's temperatures soar to record highs

BENI MELLAL, Morocco (AP) — In the unrelenting heat of Morocco’s Middle Atlas, people were sleeping on...

Southeast Asia top diplomats condemn Myanmar violence, urge peaceful means to settle sea disputes

VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — Southeast Asian top diplomats on Saturday condemned violence in Myanmar's ongoing civil...

Trump is returning to Minnesota with Midwesterner Vance to try to swing Democrat-leaning state

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) — Donald Trump is taking his campaign back to Minnesota, a state that has favored...

UK drops plans to challenge ICC arrest warrant request against Benjamin Netanyahu

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said Friday that the U.K. will not intervene in the...

Japan's Sado gold mine gains UNESCO status after Tokyo pledges to exhibit dark WWII history

TOKYO (AP) — The UNESCO World Heritage committee on Saturday decided to register Japan’s controversial Sado...

Southeast Asia top diplomats condemn Myanmar violence, urge peaceful means to settle sea disputes

VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — Southeast Asian top diplomats on Saturday condemned violence in Myanmar's ongoing civil...

Linda Deutsch and Anthony Mccartney the Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An attorney for the promoter of Michael Jackson's final concerts said Wednesday the singer's personal physician asked the company for life-saving equipment just days before the pop superstar's death.

Kathy Jorrie, who works for concert giant AEG Live, testified at the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray that she questioned some of the doctor's requests, which also included the possibility of hiring a second doctor to assist him.

"Dr. Murray told me Michael Jackson was perfectly healthy, in excellent condition," Jorrie testified.

She said Murray told her not to worry about Jackson's condition.

"He's great," she recounted the doctor telling her in a conversation the day before Jackson's death.

Murray asked for a CPR machine in case one wasn't available at the concert venue at London's O2 arena, Jorrie explained.

Prosecutors allege Murray caused Jackson's death by providing him with a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol and other sedatives without the proper lifesaving equipment or skills.

Other testimony came from Jackson's former personal assistant, Michael Amir Williams, who recounted a 35-second phone conversation with Murray on the day Jackson died.

"He said `Get here right away, Mr. Jackson had a bad reaction. Get somebody up here immediately,'" Williams told the jury.

He said the doctor never told him to call 911 or described Jackson's condition.

Williams said he arrived at Jackson's mansion just as the singer was being loaded into an ambulance. He saw Murray, who he described as "frantic."

Earlier in the day, a promoter told jurors that Jackson appeared strong during one of the final rehearsals for the highly anticipated comeback concerts.

Paul Gongaware, an executive for AEG Live, said Jackson seemed engaged and energetic during the rehearsal just two days before he died.

Prosecutors called Gongaware to demonstrate the importance of the concerts and in an apparent attempt to show that both the singer and his physician were deeply engaged in preparations for the show before Jackson died on June 25, 2009.

Gongaware also testified that he saw Murray at one of Jackson's rehearsals after people affiliated with the planned concerts complained that the singer had been missing some of the sessions.

Prosecutors wrapped up their direct questioning of Gongaware before defense attorney Ed Chernoff briefly questioned the executive.

Under the cross-examination, Gongaware acknowledged AEG is being sued by Jackson's mother for negligent supervision of Murray when he worked with Jackson.

Jorrie also testified about drafting a contract for Murray to work as Jackson's personal physician.

At one point in negotiations, Murray requested his contract be modified to allow him to hire another physician in case he was tired or unavailable while Jackson was performing in London, she testified.

"He wanted to make sure that there was somebody else available to be of assistance," Jorrie said.

In opening statements Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney David Walgren said Murray delayed summoning emergency crews and lied to doctors and medics when he failed to reveal he had been giving Jackson the medications to try to help the entertainer sleep.

Chernoff claimed Jackson gave himself a fatal dose of medication in a desperate attempt to get some sleep.

He said Murray had been trying to wean Jackson off propofol, but the entertainer kept requesting it on the day he died.

"Michael Jackson started begging," Chernoff said. "When Michael Jackson told Dr. Murray, `I have to sleep. They will cancel my performance,' he meant it."

Prosecutors rejected Murray's version and told jurors the Houston-based cardiologist also had a tremendous stake in Jackson appearing in the concerts.

The doctor had initially asked to be paid $5 million a year for working with Jackson, but Gongaware said he immediately rejected the proposal. Instead, Murray accepted an offer to become Jackson's doctor for $150,000 a month - a sum he was never paid because his contract hadn't been signed before Jackson's death.

Murray has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison and have to relinquish his medical license.

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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

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