07-26-2024  11:55 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 dramatic spread led fire officials to make unwelcome comparisons to...

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...

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

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....

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...

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

Netanyahu meets with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, offering measured optimism on a Gaza cease-fire

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu worked to mend ties with Republican...

Homeless people say they will likely return to sites if California clears them under Newsom's order

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three years ago, Joel Hernandez built a small wooden shack under the 405 freeway cutting...

A look at 'El Mayo' Zambada, the kingpin of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel who is now in US custody

PHOENIX (AP) — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the top leader and co-founder of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, eluded...

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...

Linda Deutsch AP Special Correspondent

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A jury reached a verdict Monday in the involuntary manslaughter case against Michael Jackson's doctor. Court officials said it would be read at 1 p.m. PST.

During the six-week trial, prosecutors depicted Dr. Conrad Murray as a reckless physician who abandoned Jackson while he was under the effects of the powerful anesthetic propofol on June 25, 2009.

Attorneys for the Houston-based cardiologist countered that Jackson was addicted to the drug and self-administered the fatal dose when Murray left his bedroom.

Murray agreed to become Jackson's personal physician as the singer prepared for a series of comeback concerts in 2009.

Murray did not testify during the trial but previously acknowledged to police that he gave Jackson propofol and other sedatives on the morning the singer died.

The seven men and five women who hold the fate of Murray in their hands are a diverse cross-section of Los Angeles, people of varying ethnicities from different towns who might never have met if they had not been thrown together in the jury pool.

They are white, black and Hispanic, mostly middle-aged and live in an assortment of suburbs in the Los Angeles urban sprawl. Most have children and some have grandchildren.

They include a professor, postman, bus driver, actor and movie animation supervisor.

The panel was in its second day of deliberations when it reached the verdict.

Murray has pleaded not guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter after prosecutors accused him of administering a fatal dose of propofol to the King of Pop.

The jurors, who were engaged by all the details of the case, were likely methodical in their deliberations.

Nine of them have prior jury experience and one woman, a native of Spain, has served on five juries, all of which reached verdicts. She was once a jury forewoman.

A woman who has worked as a paralegal for 30 years is serving on her first jury and appeared enthralled.

They knew about the involuntary manslaughter charge against Murray before they came to court and most of them know Jackson's music. A few said they were fans and one, the video animation specialist, said he had some interaction with Jackson when the singer was making the video, "Captain EO."

Details about their lives were culled from lengthy written questionnaires obtained by The Associated Press. Their identities have been kept secret and even lawyers in the case know them only by their jury numbers.

In six weeks together the jurors have displayed uncommon attentiveness to the task at hand. Several, including alternates, have taken notes and kept lists of evidence. Once, when the judge was at a loss to find the number of an exhibit, a member of the jury spoke up and told him.

There were no drooping eyelids or distracted glances. When a scientific expert was conducting experiments on the floor of the courtroom, panelists stood up in the jury box to get a better view.

Their attention to evidence and witnesses has impressed Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, who commended them for their commitment, punctuality in getting to court and willingness to give up their personal lives to serve.

When the trial went longer than Pastor had predicted, he apologized, but the jurors seemed unperturbed.

Every night, when he gave them an admonition to avoid the news, the Internet and other sources of information about the trial, they listened as if it was the first time they had heard it and they nodded in agreement.

Many of the panelists have a familiarity with prescription drugs; most of them said they trust their doctors and several believe that celebrities receive a different kind of justice than average people.

Some have learned about the justice system from TV, watching such shows as "Law and Order" and "CSI." Others watched broadcasts of real-life, high-profile trials including the Casey Anthony case and the O.J. Simpson trial.

One woman, an accounting manager, remembered that during the Simpson trial, "a TV was brought to the office for everyone to follow it." A man in his 30s said he followed that trial in school as an educational experience.

While not sequestered, the jurors have had a rare opportunity to bond because they were kept together for lunch and transported together between a secret parking lot and the courthouse. In order to avoid exposure to events outside the courtroom, the judge had lunch catered for them every day.

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